Tianmen Village·Morning.
Thin mist like gauze coiled around the ancient village walls. In the open ground before the main hall, a hundred brothers gathered, yet silence was broken only by the wind. Lin Che stood on the high platform, his green robes washed to faded white, his aura restrained as usual—only those eyes were deeper than before. Three years of bitter cultivation, and he'd finally hit the Foundation Establishment peak bottleneck. One more step, and it was the Golden Core great dao.
[System Detection: Host cultivation bottleneck: Foundation Peak → Golden Core. Breakthrough success rate: 0.3%. Friendly reminder: Tianmen Village's spiritual energy concentration is insufficient. Forcing breakthrough may cause meridians to explode, death will be ugly.]
Lin Che had long been immune to the system's poison tongue. He turned to Shi Jin beside him and patted his thick shoulder: "Chief Shi, Tianmen Village is in your hands. Protect the brothers, protect the foundation we've built these years."
Shi Jin's eyes reddened. He suddenly cupped his fists, his voice booming like a bell: "Brother Lin, rest assured! I, Shi Jin, guarantee with my life—where I am, the village stands! When you return, we'll conquer the world together!"
"Second Chief, you must come back!"
"We'll wait for you and the Young Miss!"
The brothers below shouted in unison, sound waves scattering the morning mist. Lin Che looked at them, warmth surging in his heart—seven years ago, these were illiterate brutes. Now they could read and calculate, bearing the appearance of men with families.
Lin Ying stood at his side, now a graceful young lady. The thirteen-year-old maiden held maturity beyond her years in her brows and eyes. She tightly clutched Lin Che's sleeve and asked softly: "Brother, are we really going to Canglan Realm? I... I'm a little scared."
[Little Sister Fear Index: 12%. Recommendation: Host may use gentle mode to soothe, success rate 98%.]
Lin Che ruffled her hair, his tone gentle yet firm: "What is there to fear? Your brother is here. Tianmen Village's spiritual energy cannot nourish a Golden Core. We must seek greater heaven and earth." He paused, gazing toward the ruins of Black Wind Village in the distance, "Besides, Heaven Profound Sect's debt should be settled."
---
Black Wind Village·Before the Teleportation Array.
Seven years had passed. The ruins were already covered by vines, but the teleportation array remained intact under Lin Che's secret maintenance. The formation patterns glowed with faint blue light, as if summoning something.
[Teleportation Array Status Check: Energy 100% filled, can teleport 2 people. Destination: Canglan Realm·Luo Wind City (73% probability)·Random Zone (27% probability). Friendly Reminder: Reverse teleportation lacks precise positioning. Host may teleport to demonic beast nests, demonic sect headquarters, or even female cultivator bathhouses. Please be mentally prepared.]
The corner of Lin Che's eye twitched: "...Shut up."
Lin Ying, however, was excited, her cheeks flushed, eyes sparkling as she stared at the teleportation array: "Brother, is this the place that can go to Canglan Realm? It looks amazing!"
"Mm." Lin Che took a deep breath and pulled out five spirit stones from his storage pouch, embedding them in the array eye. The formation patterns instantly brightened, blue light surging like a tide to envelop the brother and sister.
[Teleportation Countdown: 10 seconds. Friendly Reminder: Teleportation process may be accompanied by mild dizziness, tinnitus, soul separation and other side effects. Please hold your sister tight, don't lose her.]
Lin Che instinctively shielded Lin Ying in his arms. The blue light grew increasingly brilliant, blinding to the eyes. The formation patterns beneath their feet spun madly, a powerful suction force pulling them in.
"Brother—" Lin Ying's voice was swallowed by the light aura.
---
The teleportation process was longer than imagined.
Lin Che felt the world spin, his internal organs shifting positions. The system's buzzing prompts sounded in his ears, but he couldn't hear clearly. He didn't know how long passed—perhaps half an hour, perhaps longer—until that tearing sensation finally vanished.
[System Notification: Teleportation complete. Arrival location: Canglan Realm·Sky Wind Mountain Range periphery. Spiritual energy concentration: 300× Tianmen Village's. Friendly Reminder: Host may breakthrough to Golden Core here, success rate raised to 89%.]
Lin Che slowly opened his eyes, the blue light gradually dissipating. Lin Ying still tightly held his arm, her small face flushed with excitement, eyes looking everywhere: "Brother, have we arrived? Is this Canglan Realm?"
Lin Che looked around, his heart shaken.
What entered his eyes was an endless stretch of emerald mountains. Ancient trees reached to the sky, branches and leaves lush. Every leaf faintly glowed with spiritual light. Strange flowers and rare herbs covered the mountainsides, some even floating mid-air, exhaling pure spiritual qi. Distant peaks pierced the clouds, auspicious clouds coiling halfway up their slopes. Faintly, one could see immortal cranes and spirit birds circling.
The small animals all around—rabbits with crystal-clear fur, squirrels with wings, spirit deer pure white all over—were startled by the blue light just now and scattered in all directions, hiding behind trees to peek out, curious yet warily sizing them up.
[Environmental Scan: Sky Wind Mountain Range, Canglan Realm's peripheral third-rate spiritual vein region.]
[Danger Assessment: Demonic beast density medium. Foundation Establishment stage demonic beasts appear with 17% probability. Golden Core stage demonic beasts 1%. Recommendation: Host's current combat power is upper-mid tier in the Sky Wind Mountain Range periphery, basically can walk sideways.]
Lin Che took a deep breath, feeling a stream of pure spiritual qi rush into his lungs. His four limbs and hundred bones all tingled pleasantly. Here... indeed, the spiritual qi concentration was hundreds of times Tianmen Village's.
"Brother, look over there!" Lin Ying suddenly pointed into the distance, her voice full of surprise, "That tree is glowing! And that rabbit, its eyes are purple!"
Lin Che followed her gaze. An ancient bore golden fist-sized spirit fruits that emitted a soft golden light. Beneath it, a purple-eyed spirit rabbit was hugging a spirit fruit and gnawing on it. Seeing them look over, it shot into a tree hole.
His eyes focused slightly, his heart both pleased and worried.
Pleased that the spiritual qi here was so dense, a Golden Core breakthrough was within reach. Worried that such a blessed land would inevitably have experts like a forest, and the Heaven Profound Sect threat was probably closer than imagined.
[System Prompt: Detecting Qi Condensing stage cultivator team aura three kilometers away, 5 people, moving toward host's direction.]
Lin Che's heart skipped a beat. He instinctively shielded Lin Ying behind him and said in a low voice: "Yingying, don't run around. Stick close to me."
"Mm!" Lin Ying obediently nodded, her small hand tightly clutching his sleeve.
However, before the words even settled, Lin Ying's foodie attribute instantly erupted.
She stared at that purple-eyed rabbit hugging the spirit fruit, her eyes lighting up like she'd discovered a new continent. She quietly muttered: "Brother, that spirit fruit the rabbit is holding looks so delicious..."