Chapter 105: The World Cracks
Tai Bai Yun Sheng was still alive.
The willow wind descended from the sky, each green leaf as large as a small boat. They looked gentle as they drifted, but wherever they passed, the air split open in silent arcs.
Below, the lofty tiger roared.
Its body was massive, formed from thick earth qi and calamity dust. Every step it took shook the ground. Its single horn pointed toward the sky, carrying a heavy pressure that made even distant Gu Masters feel their chests tighten.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng was caught between them.
The old man's white beard was stained with blood. His robe had long since been torn apart by wind and dust. He moved with difficulty, dodging between heaven and earth's attacks like a lone leaf in a storm.
A willow leaf brushed past him.
The defensive Gu around his body shattered instantly.
The lofty tiger leapt.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng avoided the main strike, but the force of the attack still sent him tumbling through the air.
Gasps spread among the distant crowd.
"Lord Tai Bai!"
"He cannot hold on much longer…"
"Is this the terror of immortal ascension?"
Fang Ming watched from his high vantage point, his expression calm but his eyes solemn.
So this was calamity and tribulation.
The earlier three qi balance was already dangerous, but it had still been internal. It tested control, foundation, and will.
This was different.
This was heaven and earth striking back.
No amount of human qi control could stop a heavenly tribulation from cutting down.
No clever balance could make an earthly calamity vanish.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng had stabilized the three qi, but he was still being hunted.
Fang Ming's gaze moved from the willow wind to the lofty tiger.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng was undergoing an ordinary immortal ascension, yet his tribulation had already reached this degree. If Fang Ming ascended with the Great Strength True Martial Physique, the calamity would not be weaker.
It would be far worse.
His body carried far greater strength path potential. His aperture was already full to bursting. His dao marks, his Steel Body Gu, and the inheritance he had obtained all pushed his foundation higher.
Higher foundation meant higher reward.
But also higher disaster.
Fang Ming silently engraved this into his mind.
Lesser Human Qi Gu could not solve everything.
It could help him adjust human qi.
It could not stop heaven and earth from trying to kill him.
At that moment, Eighty-Eight True Yang Building suddenly shone.
A thick pillar of light shot upward.
It pierced through the willow wind, tearing several green leaves apart. The heavenly tribulation scattered into pure heaven qi, its sharp killing intent weakened by force.
The pillar swept downward next.
The lofty tiger roared and tried to dodge, but the light followed it like a shadow. Its enormous body shrank each time the light touched it, calamity dust dispersing in waves.
The crowd froze.
Then cheers erupted.
"Old ancestor is helping!"
"Giant Sun Immortal Venerable is protecting Lord Tai Bai!"
"Eighty-Eight True Yang Building made a move!"
Many Gu Masters knelt in excitement, their fear turning into worship.
Fang Ming did not join them.
His eyes remained cold.
Help?
Perhaps on the surface.
But Giant Sun's will would not help Tai Bai Yun Sheng out of kindness.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng was not of Giant Sun's bloodline. His ascension had disturbed Imperial Court blessed land and forced Giant Sun's will awake. If Giant Sun's will truly cared only about rules, it should have crushed him.
Instead, it helped him.
Why?
Fang Ming looked past the light pillar, past the cheering crowd, toward the deeper foundation of the blessed land.
Because Tai Bai Yun Sheng was draining Imperial Court blessed land.
His immortal ascension was not taking place in the outside world. The heaven qi and earth qi he absorbed came from this small world itself.
Every breath Tai Bai Yun Sheng survived allowed him to take more.
Every bit of qi he absorbed weakened the blessed land.
And the land spirit was one with the blessed land.
Giant Sun's will was using Tai Bai Yun Sheng as a knife.
A knife aimed at Frost Jade Peacock.
Deep within Eighty-Eight True Yang Building, the struggle continued.
Frost Jade Peacock screamed furiously.
More green paste melted from its feathers. Several black chains had already broken, but the remaining chains still dug into its body, refusing to let it rise.
Giant Sun's will was no longer fully suppressed.
The hidden arrangements left by Central Continent's Gu Immortals still restrained it, wave after wave of special will Gu trapping it like layers of netting. But Giant Sun's will was vast and ancient. It had already begun searching through the formation's structure, calmly tracing the source that powered those Gu worms.
It was waking.
It was thinking.
It was taking back control.
Fang Yuan had bought time.
But only time.
Outside, Tai Bai Yun Sheng's crisis eased under the light pillar.
The willow wind thinned.
The lofty tiger weakened.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng laughed hoarsely, accepting the sudden aid without hesitation. He did not have the luxury to question why Eighty-Eight True Yang Building was helping him.
He only knew he had survived another gate.
The three qi surged again.
Heaven qi descended in bright streams.
Earth qi rose in golden waves.
Human qi wrapped around him from within.
The three merged and poured into the place where his aperture once existed.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng's injuries vanished.
His flesh, bones, soul, and consciousness were tempered by the qi. His aura changed slowly, rising from mortal toward something higher.
His eyes became clear.
For a moment, the madness on his face faded.
Scenes of his life flashed through his mind.
A young man learning healing methods.
A wandering Gu Master crossing Northern Plains.
People begging for help.
People dying despite his help.
Mistakes.
Regrets.
Kindness.
Cowardice.
Blood.
His entire life became fuel.
Then the Great Dao opened before him.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng trembled.
The mysteries of time path flowed into his mind like a river. Problems that had trapped him for decades suddenly revealed solutions. Old doubts cracked open. Inspirations bloomed one after another.
For a Gu Master, there might only be one such moment in a lifetime.
Heaven and earth were no longer distant.
They were teaching him directly.
Fang Ming watched this change closely.
So this was inspiration from nature.
During immortal ascension, the Gu Master touched the world without the barrier of Gu worms. Heaven and earth revealed truth directly, but only for a brief moment.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng focused on time path.
He did not chase every mystery.
He did not drown himself in greed.
This restraint was the reason he remained steady.
Fang Ming's own gaze deepened.
When his turn came, the Great Dao might reveal strength path to him.
Steel.
Muscle.
Bones.
Force.
Dao marks.
The structure of power.
But if he became greedy, even enlightenment could become a blade.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng's expression suddenly changed.
Regret flashed across his eyes.
His human qi was running low.
Even with his deep accumulation, even with his long life and countless experiences, human qi was still limited. It was born from the Gu Master himself. Once exhausted, the ascension could no longer linger in this state.
A white light descended from Eighty-Eight True Yang Building.
It entered Tai Bai Yun Sheng's body.
His human qi swelled violently.
Fang Ming's pupils narrowed.
Human Qi Immortal Gu.
The true version.
Unlike Fang Ming's counterfeit, this Gu could adjust human qi far more safely. It did not merely add crudely; it supported the balance with precision.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng's qi grew stronger, and with that support, he absorbed even more heaven qi and earth qi.
The blessed land trembled faintly.
Frost Jade Peacock's angry cry echoed from somewhere no ordinary Gu Master could hear.
Fang Ming heard nothing, but he understood.
Giant Sun's will was ruthless.
It strengthened Tai Bai Yun Sheng not to save him, but to make him drain more from Imperial Court blessed land.
The three qi around Tai Bai Yun Sheng contracted.
A strange sound spread through heaven and earth.
It was not loud.
Yet everyone felt it.
The tri-colored qi collapsed inward.
Where Tai Bai Yun Sheng's aperture once was, a new space opened.
An immortal aperture.
Sky formed first.
Then earth.
Then time.
A small world began to breathe.
Heaven qi and earth qi rushed into it madly, expanding its boundaries. The world inside Tai Bai Yun Sheng grew at a speed that made the watching experts fall silent.
The land stretched.
The sky rose.
A tributary of the river of time entered from the darkness, and the flow of time inside the aperture quickened rapidly.
One to ten.
One to twenty.
One to thirty.
Fang Ming's breathing slowed.
The aperture continued until it reached a powerful scale.
High-grade blessed land.
Inside the forming immortal aperture, green grape immortal essence began condensing.
One bead.
Two.
Ten.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Thirty-six.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng had formed thirty-six beads of green grape immortal essence.
Even Fang Ming felt his heart stir.
This was the result of a successful foundation.
A strong normal ascension.
A high-grade blessed land.
But envy did not appear in his eyes.
Only pressure.
If a normal ascension with deep accumulation could reach this level, then a ten extreme physique ascension would be even more terrifying.
The reward would be greater.
The calamity would also be greater.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng took out three Gu.
Man as Before.
River as Before.
Mountain as Before.
The moment he looked at Man as Before Gu, his expression became solemn.
That was his vital Gu.
His final hope.
Becoming immortal did not mean gaining lifespan. If his lifespan had reached its end, even Rank six power would not stop death from taking him.
But if Man as Before could become an Immortal Gu, perhaps he could seize a few more years.
For a dying man, a few years were worth risking everything.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng sent Man as Before Gu into the immortal aperture.
Boom.
The sound echoed strangely, as if it came from both inside and outside the world.
Heaven qi and earth qi gathered around the Gu, forming a thick cocoon.
Fang Ming stared at it.
So this was the final step.
Releasing Gu.
Using heaven and earth qi to refine mortal Gu into Immortal Gu during ascension.
River as Before and Mountain as Before followed, helping stabilize the new immortal aperture.
Fang Ming silently considered his own future.
During his ascension, which Gu should he release?
Which Gu should he risk?
Which Gu could become the core of his path?
These were not decisions to make in the moment.
By then, hesitation would be death.
The qi cocoon around Man as Before Gu trembled.
Tai Bai Yun Sheng's face tightened.
The refinement had begun, but it had not succeeded yet.
Above the golden sky of Imperial Court blessed land, a dark line appeared.
At first, it was thin.
Like a hairline crack.
Then another appeared beside it.
Then another.
The golden sky split slowly.
Through the cracks, darkness appeared.
And inside that darkness, faint stars shone.
Northern Plains.
The outside world.
The distant Gu Masters stared upward, unable to speak.
Some thought they were seeing an illusion.
Some trembled.
Some knelt again, mumbling prayers to Giant Sun Immortal Venerable.
Fang Ming stood silently as starlight fell through the cracks.
Imperial Court blessed land was breaking.
No, not collapsing completely.
Not yet.
But its foundation had been injured.
Too much heaven qi and earth qi had been drawn out. Frost Jade Peacock would rather damage the blessed land than be sealed again. Giant Sun's will was using Tai Bai Yun Sheng to weaken the land spirit. Fang Yuan was hidden somewhere inside the storm, still pushing events forward.
The struggle had gone beyond rounds.
Beyond rewards.
Beyond owner tokens.
Now, the world itself was part of the battlefield.
Fang Ming looked at Tai Bai Yun Sheng.
The old man's ascension was still ongoing.
The immortal aperture had formed, but the Gu refinement was not complete.
The qi cocoon still trembled.
Man as Before Gu had not yet emerged.
Success and failure still hung on a thread.
Fang Ming did not move.
He only watched.
The lesson had not ended.
And neither had the danger.
Above him, the cracks in the sky widened, and cold starlight spilled into Imperial Court blessed land for the first time.
Fang Ming slowly clenched his hand.
His own ascension was approaching.
There was no easy path.
Only timing.
Only preparation.
Only survival.