Hengsheng gazed at the White Sun. This strange phenomenon was his doing—the result of using the Pure Sun skill scroll to cleanse the taint damage left behind by the Blood Moon.
The sun now shone like a symbol of new hope for the continent.
Restoring the continent to stability would reduce the aftermath the Xia Clan had to manage and ultimately benefit him.
"It's beautiful, right?" Hengsheng said, turning to Yunsu, who was gazing intently at the White Sun.
"Meow," she replied. To her, the sun was so shiny and pretty that she wanted one for herself. With that thought, she immediately commanded the Tenth Heaven in her pocket to make her a white sun of her own.
One human and one cat sat chatting and playing under the warmth of the White Sun, enjoying a rare moment of peace—a holiday after putting an end to the war that had plagued this continent.
Hengsheng knew the Blood Fiend Palace would return eventually. Conflict was inevitable, whether through them or others.
But for now, such troubles were far away.
From this moment, the continent had entered a period of peace.
And the peace would last as long as he desired.
"Let's go back," Hengsheng said as he opened a dimensional tunnel and disappeared from the mountaintop.
…
A month later.
Ding!
[Congratulations]
Daily Sign-In Complete
Day 6,445
…
…
Hengsheng began the day by collecting his daily reward. His expression was gloomy—the rewards lately failed to excite him.
Just another Earth-grade cold iron ingot, one of countless already stacked in both the personal and faction storage. Without a second thought, he tossed it into the item storage portal and promptly forgot about it.
Next, Hengsheng checked his mail for any interesting reports. With a casual wave of his hand, the system display appeared.
Ding!
[The Endless Wealth Company - Faction Control Panel]
[Member Info]
[Facility Management]
…
…
ID Code: EX-000001
[Email]:
—Mailbox: 1,534 Items (7 Unread)
…
Hengsheng's eyes swept over the display in the mailbox menu. There were seven new emails. Most were daily reports, trade updates, or meaningless chatter from his close circle.
Only one remained unread—likely more of the same. With a lazy flick of his wrist, he opened the last mail. After he read it, he abruptly sat up in bed.
It was mail from Xia Zhenxue. She reported that the region the Xia Clan had promised him was ready for transfer.
"That's good news… time to move into the new house," Hengsheng murmured.
After that, he left the chamber and began his morning routine, ending with meditation to prepare his mental state for the important task ahead.
It had been a while since he'd reached the peak of the True Body Realm, yet he hadn't found the chance to break through to the next stage—the Spirit Integration Realm.
Now that the war had ended and most matters were settled, he felt it was finally time to advance.
Hengsheng opened his eyes and rose to his feet, heading to another location to prepare for his breakthrough.
His destination was the cultivation ground, an open courtyard at the center of Maker Mansion.
When he arrived, Yunsu was already there, lying on the ground and asleep. She had come to guard him in case anything went wrong.
On the other hand.
Sensing her human's arrival, Yunsu's ears twitched, and her eyes cracked open briefly before closing again, continuing her nap. She knew her presence wasn't truly necessary—this mountain was the safest place in the entire realm, impenetrable to any enemy. She was here not for protection, but for emotional support.
Hengsheng gently petted the sleeping cat's head, a foolish grin spreading across his face.
'What a cute thing!' Hengsheng thought.
After finishing the ritual, he walked away from the sleeping cat and sat down on the cultivation mat.
Closing his eyes, he began to recall the steps he needed to take.
He began by recalling all the cultivation steps he had already taken.
The Body Awakening Realm was the first step in the cultivation path for Spirit Core owners, where cultivators tempered their bodies and learned to command their Inner Qi through harmony between the body and mind. It was the foundation of all cultivation—a necessary step to prepare the body for the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth and the challenges ahead.
The Qi Gathering Realm was the second step of cultivation, where cultivators successfully formed a basic spiritual sense—the Spirit Body. With this, they could begin to absorb Spiritual Qi from the environment and refine it into their own Qi. This stage also involved opening their meridians, the Qi pathways within their bodies, paving the way for future advancement.
The third step was the Spiritual Foundation Realm. After cultivators reached the limit of gathering Qi—their lower dantian was full, and their meridians and nodes were saturated with power—there was no more space within their bodies to store additional Qi. To advance further, they needed to create more storage capacity for their Qi.
Using their excess Qi, cultivators forcefully opened the upper dantian within their heads. To prevent their heads from exploding from the overwhelming Qi, they needed a strong foundation to support the upper dantian and keep it from breaking.
Their Spirit Body transformed into the Spiritual Symbol—a mimic of the spirit core's function within the lower dantian, composed of their own Idea, Heart, and Will. It became the Spiritual Foundation for their cultivation path.
The existence of the Spiritual Symbol granted them an advanced form of the spiritual sense—the Divine Sense—which helped them control Spiritual Qi more effectively, and their spiritual sense became exponentially more powerful.
The fourth step that he was currently in—the True Body Realm—was similar to the previous step. Cultivators needed more Qi storage within their bodies, so they opened the last dantian, the middle dantian.
Unlike the upper dantian, which was fragile due to its lack of foundation, the middle dantian, on the other hand, had the whole cultivator's body as its foundation. Nothing could be a stronger foundation than this, so they didn't need to form an artifact foundation like a Spiritual Symbol.
In this cultivation realm, cultivators pushed their bodies to the absolute limit, drawing out every hidden potential by opening the True Body Gate buried within them.
The opened True Body Gate granted them access to their True Qi—an advanced form of Blood Qi, the ultimate Inner Qi dwelling within one's body—capable of strengthening their flesh and defying the heavenly laws according to their will.
That was not all—they could push their upper limits even further by forging the True Body through both flesh and True Qi, fortifying the foundation of their middle dantian and expanding its capacity to hold Spiritual Qi.
The True Body not only raised the upper limit of their body but also granted them a special power uniquely their own, a power born from their very flesh and blood.
Hengsheng had already opened all nine True Body Gates—meaning his body had broken its limit nine times.
In the cultivation world, the number nine represented completion; for him, or anyone at this stage, there were no more limits to break, as no further True Body Gates existed within their bodies.
The Ninth Gate was the absolute peak of the True Body Realm for most, but there were exceptions—those born with a mutant body or having a special physique that allowed them to possess more than nine gates.
Such individuals could defy common sense and achieve strength beyond their actual cultivation realm through their exceptional bodies.
But that was not the case for Hengsheng; his body was completely ordinary…
…
Returning to the present, Hengsheng pondered everything he had learned about the Spirit Integration Realm.
In the previous cultivation realms, cultivators focused on increasing their Qi capacity within their foundation. But upon reaching the peak of the True Body Realm, there were no more dantians left to open inside their bodies, no more Qi Storage to add in their system.
The era of simply expanding Qi capacity within their foundation had come to an end.
Now, the focus has shifted to elevating the quality of the cultivation base.
Usually, cultivators rely on their cultivation techniques to improve the quality of refined Qi. But what if their very foundation could amplify this Qi power even further?
The power of their Qi would be exponentially more powerful.
The Spirit Integration Realm marked the first step in this new approach.
To break through to the Spirit Integration Realm, one must first reach the peak of the Ninth Gate of the True Body Realm.
At this stage, the Spirit Gate was revealed.
Unlike the physical True Body Gates, the Spirit Gate was a spiritual gateway that exists beyond the body—a connection point between the cultivator and Heaven and Earth.
By opening the Spirit Gate, a cultivator directly links with the spiritual essence of Heaven and Earth.
Under this intense spiritual pressure of Heaven and Earth, a strange phenomenon occurs within the cultivator—their physical body and spiritual essence begin to merge, elevating their entire existence to a new level.
After reviewing each step, Hengsheng settled into deep meditation.
Soon, he was ready.
Without hesitation, he began the breakthrough.