Chaotic Heaven and Earth

Rumble... Spiritual energy in the forest suddenly surged toward a mountain, only to abruptly scatter moments later. Violent spiritual waves stirred up a gale, instantly snapping the trees and vegetation in the woods and sending withered leaves dancing across the sky. Weather over the sea was ever-changing, and the island's spirit creatures were already accustomed to it, yet sensing the majestic, turbulent pressure in the wind, their hearts trembled with fear. Aside from birds and beasts turning into demons, there were also many plant spirits in the forest. The plant spirits here possessed modest cultivation. Most did not yet have the ability to move their true physical bodies, so they could only retreat their true consciousness into their physical forms, shivering in terror. Here and there, a few ancient trees and spiritual herbs propped themselves up on root tendrils like a thousand legs and sprinted through the woods. Others turned into balls of azure light shooting outward, faintly revealing an emerald-green spiritual herb wrapped within. Yet once the celestial phenomenon passed, the mountain remained quiet for a long time. Inside the cave dwelling. Qin Sang seemed to have returned to normal, sitting cross-legged, though his brow was tightly furrowed. He had suffered damage to his foundation and had not yet healed; that disturbance just now had nearly undone all his previous efforts. "Compared to the Storm Realm, this spiritual energy seems..." Qin Sang lowered his head slightly, gazing at the wisp of light, ethereal energy in his palm. He called that previous minor world the Storm Realm. The worldly energy here was exceptionally rich, far beyond anything in the Storm Realm, yet in his perception, something felt off. When he first entered this world, he had already sensed it. But back then, heavily wounded and desperate to escape, he had assumed it was merely caused by his injuries and had not given it much thought. At this moment, his other hand retrieved a demon core and a piece of demon bone, left behind from hunting the thunder turtle in the storm belt. Probing them briefly with his senses, he found that same feeling of chaotic energy. It was as though the thunder turtle had originated from this world, breathing in the worldly energy here to cultivate until, over time, it was similarly affected. His eyes flickered. Previously, he had assumed the thunder turtle was influenced by the Demonic Voice of the Heavenly Dao, but now it seemed things were not so simple! For a moment, he grew hesitant, uncertain whether he had truly left the Storm Realm. Could he have fallen into Guixu? Viewed from outside, Guixu was boundlessly chaotic and perilous, far too turbulent to be this calm. Yet the cultivators of the Storm Realm knew so little about Guixu that no one knew what realm the depths of Guixu connected to. Recalling the various ancient texts he had read, even before the Demonic Voice of the Heavenly Dao appeared, the ferocious beasts of Guixu had been violent and cruel, incapable of normal communication. Qin Sang could not help wondering: could it be that cultivating in this chaotic energy had affected their primordial spirits, causing a drastic shift in temperament? At this thought, his expression darkened slightly. With the jade Buddha, he did not worry about external forces corrupting his nature, but who knew what other effects long-term absorption of this chaotic energy might bring? At the very least, Qin Sang could already confirm that directly drawing this chaotic energy into his body disrupted even his previously stable true essence, roiling his sea of qi, and in severe cases, might even shake his Dao foundation. Pondering for a moment, Qin Sang released his divine sense. The woods were gradually returning to normal. A tree spirit sprinted to the edge of the forest and stopped, a faint green light flickering across its trunk and gathering toward its canopy. Its branches then waved, cradling the ball of green light like an eye looking back behind it. Just then, a transparent giant hand materialized out of thin air above the tree spirit and seized it. The ground trembled slightly as the tree spirit was uprooted directly, vanishing in an instant. Outside the cave dwelling, an ancient tree appeared. Before Qin Sang hovered a cluster of green light—the tree spirit's spirit. The tree spirit had not yet developed wisdom and was muddled and uncomprehending. Facing Qin Sang, it instinctively felt terror, the green light trembling ceaselessly. Although Qin Sang still possessed Emperor's Flowing Fluid, he had no desire to waste it on such a spirit creature. Dividing a thread of divine sense, he probed into the green light. A moment later, Qin Sang withdrew his divine sense, sighing inward. Sure enough, as expected, this tree spirit's cultivation—by the standards of the Storm Realm—had only recently entered the Demon Spirit stage, equivalent to a human Foundation Establishment cultivator. In the Storm Realm, even if such spirits had not gained true sentience, their intellect would not be low. Yet this tree spirit's intellect was far below normal, and embedded within its nature was a streak of ferocity and manic agitation. No wonder he had sensed a sinister, harsh atmosphere in the woods upon first landing on the island, marking it as no benevolent place. Under normal circumstances, plant spirits born in the wilderness that had never consumed blood and flesh were mostly pure and simple by nature. Yet though this island seemed calm, in truth, a gruesome slaughter took place at regular intervals, driven by that underlying ferocity. Once killing intent arose, it ignited viciousness, sweeping up all the spirit creatures across the island. He seized another newly born flower spirit. Its temperament was noticeably gentler than the tree spirit's, yet that same ferocity was deeply rooted. "Can none of the living beings in this realm escape the fate of becoming ferocious beasts?" Qin Sang wondered silently before entering meditation once more. He painstakingly sorted through and refined the worldly energy, separating the five-element spiritual energies. He found it could be done, but it took several times longer than in the Storm Realm. If he cultivated in this realm, who knew how many years it would take to break through to the Deity Transformation stage. Even so, Qin Sang exercised patience, slowly refining it into his body. Having no better option for now, he could only endure it temporarily until his strength recovered, and then venture out to seek fellow Daoists of this realm and see how they cultivated. "This world can't be filled entirely with demons and monsters, can it?" Qin Sang thought to himself. He had plenty of time, and no powerful demon beasts were lurking nearby. If he used the pills and spirit stones inside his Qianjun Ring, his recovery speed would naturally be much faster, but he had not brought many spirit stones. In the Storm Realm, he was the foremost figure of the age, with no need to rely on spirit stones in battle and practically no occasions to spend them, so he had left the vast majority of his spirit stones behind with the sect. Activating the Ascension Platform had consumed his only supreme-grade spirit stone as well. If the rest of this realm was like this, he could infer that spirit stones formed within this kind of worldly energy were likely not normal spirit stones either. The remaining pills and spirit stones he carried might be his sole reliance during future battles, so he could not squander them lightly. Within the cave dwelling, time lost its meaning. Qin Sang's injuries and cultivation slowly recovered, but only a few days later, he suddenly emerged from meditation, rose abruptly, and looked down at himself with a flickering expression. Over these days, he had painstakingly sorted the primordial energy and refined it into his body. At first, he hadn't noticed, but today he suddenly sensed signs of chaos stirring within his true essence again. The signs were still faint, proving that his method was effective, yet it could not eradicate the root problem. The spiritual energy he had believed to be refined clean seemed to harbor some imperceptible chaotic mechanism that had infiltrated his body. Moreover, the manifestations that accompanied these signs made Qin Sang increasingly uneasy. The signs of disorder did not originate entirely from within; his true essence was actually being stirred by the chaotic energy of the outside world, stripping away the total control he once had over his own body. At this point, his true essence had only recovered to roughly the early Golden Core stage. Qin Sang pondered for a while and took measures to isolate his internal and external qi mechanisms. The condition improved immediately, yet his mood did not brighten. With a few conjectures forming in his mind, Qin Sang sat down cross-legged once more. This time, he wasted no more time, swallowing a bottle of pills while clutching a top-grade spirit stone in each hand, swiftly restoring his strength. A month later, he had recovered to the Nascent Soul stage. His internal true essence was stable, but now he had to employ his divine sense to calm it, locking down his qi mechanism and severing internal from external so as not to be affected by the chaotic energy. By now, Qin Sang had roughly deduced the reason. Cultivators could not exist in isolation from heaven and earth; on the contrary, the higher one's cultivation, the more one sought resonance between man and nature. Internal and external qi mechanisms were never completely isolated, interacting constantly, making it impossible to avoid external influence. Even true essence obtained from refining pills and spirit stones would, over time, be stirred and invaded by the chaotic mechanisms of heaven and earth. His divine sense was powerful, allowing him to suppress it subconsciously, and having only recently arrived in this world, the influence was still shallow. When his cultivation was impaired, he did not need to deliberately employ his divine sense, but as his cultivation gradually recovered and the connection between inner and outer qi grew deeper, he had to maintain it constantly. Furthermore, he had to allocate a portion of his divine sense to suppress the Qilin Source Seed; calculating forward, recovering to the late Nascent Soul stage was likely his limit. Yet this was no permanent solution. Having his divine sense tied down by his own body restricted him greatly, to say nothing of how he would cultivate in the future. Was he supposed to abandon the path of qi refinement entirely for now? Once he refined the Qilin Source Seed and his divine sense advanced greatly, there might be a turning point. However, his fundamental cultivation method was the *Essence Cultivation and Sword Nurturing Chapter*; no matter how strong his physical body and divine sense became, they could not help him break through realms, serving only as stopgap measures. Qin Sang opened his eyes slightly, his gaze piercing like lightning, seemingly penetrating the cave dwelling to look out toward the vast skies beyond. He did not know if there were cultivators in this realm, but if there were, Qin Sang refused to believe everyone possessed divine sense as formidable as his—there had to be a solution! "For now, the priority is to make contact with this world's cultivators as soon as possible!" With his mind made up, Qin Sang halted his circulation, maintaining his cultivation only at the early Nascent Soul stage, and turned his thoughts elsewhere. By now, the qi and blood within his body were steadily stabilizing, posing little obstacle to body cultivation. "What effect will this chaotic heaven and earth have on the path of body refinement?" With this thought surfacing, Qin Sang immediately attempted to cultivate the *Heavenly Demon Refining Form*. Having no Star Platform on hand, Qin Sang could only directly channel the power of the stars using his own body. He stepped out of the cave dwelling, seated himself on a flat rock in the valley, and looked up at the sky above. It happened to be a night of the full moon. High in the sky hung a bright moon, stars arrayed around it. The brilliant moonlight poured down, illuminating the mountain as bright as day. Looking straight at the bright moon, Qin Sang actually felt it was slightly dazzling. The stars in this realm appeared no different from those in the Storm Realm, but that moon was far brighter than in the Storm Realm, its lunar halo noticeably wider. The light radiating from within the moon possessed distinct shades of brightness, being brightest at the center, as though another silver platter were embedded inside the moon. Qin Sang narrowed his eyes slightly, faintly discerning another circle within the full moon, as if two bright moons overlapped to shine upon this realm together. This was a celestial phenomenon, yet it also signaled that this realm was different from the Storm Realm. Gathering his focus, Qin Sang executed the Heavenly Demon Transformation divine ability. The slight lingering restlessness in his qi and blood subsided completely, and he silently circulated the *Heavenly Demon Refining Form*. Over the decades spent traveling through the storm belt, he had never ceased his body cultivation; combined with the serendipitous treasures gathered across the various domains of the Storm Realm, he was not far from the late fourth layer. He also had the spiritual liquid plundered from the Dragon Transformation Pool in his body, so his subsequent cultivation should go quite smoothly. As starlight entered his body, the astral fiend power was kept at bay by the jade Buddha, feeling little different from when he was in the Storm Realm. Yet after only the time it took for an incense stick to burn, Qin Sang suddenly halted his cultivation, a look of slight surprise on his face, before hurriedly circulating the technique again. Three shichen later, Qin Sang let out a soft breath and slowly withdrew his power, a strange light flashing in his eyes. He thought to himself, "I never expected this worldly chaos to have such a benefit. Could this be called losing at sunrise and gaining at sunset?" While tempering his body just now, Qin Sang discovered that when this chaotic energy collided with his qi and blood, it actually had an unexpected tempering effect on his physical body, greatly accelerating his cultivation speed. "No wonder there are so many spirit creatures. Could this be a demon realm?" Qin Sang glanced down at the boundless dense forest below the mountain. With the qi mechanisms of heaven and earth in disorder, demon cultivation was far easier than in the storm belt. Qin Sang secretly guessed that if there were humans in this realm, they likely wouldn't miss out on such uniquely blessed conditions either, so body cultivators should be plentiful. The so-called Great Dao that cultivators pursued, at least before the Deity Transformation realm, could be compared to the Heavenly Dao, which was why cultivation should follow the Heavenly Dao. For madmen wishing to act against the heavens, they could only do so after possessing formidable strength. Without knowing the Heavenly Dao, how could one defy the heavens? For a body cultivator, this place was actually a treasure trove! Yet when Qin Sang thought of the ferocious beasts of Guixu, whether this was a blessing or a curse remained to be seen. If this hidden worry could not be resolved, the practitioners here—whether human, demon, ghost, or monster—would certainly be unwilling to pay the price of a muddled mind in exchange for great power. Thinking of this, Qin Sang summoned the Heavenly Eye Butterfly and the Fire Jade Centipede again. When the two spirit insects began cultivating, they also appeared somewhat uneasy. Spirit insects cultivated divine abilities and would not suffer a loss of control over true essence like Qin Sang, but breathing in chaotic energy would certainly have an impact, especially on their intellect. They had not yet attained wisdom; once the seed of ferocity took root, the repercussions would be endless. Qin Sang dared not let them continue cultivating for now. "I had thought that with the rich worldly energy of this realm, there would be a decent chance of helping you break through even without a Qingshuang Pill, but now we'll have to wait a little longer..." Qin Sang gently soothed the Heavenly Eye Butterfly. The Heavenly Eye Butterfly slowly flapped its wings, conveying affection without the slightest impatience. Qin Sang was like a newborn infant, feeling his way through this world bit by bit. Although he had discovered the benefit of this worldly chaos, he did not allow the chaotic energy free rein to temper his body, as he did not know whether any hidden risks remained. The power of the cosmic stars and the Dragon Transformation Pool were enough to sustain his cultivation, and his progress would not be slow. Twelve years later. From the mist-shrouded valley walked out a Daoist. Compared to twelve years ago, Qin Sang's aura had grown somewhat more formidable, courtesy of the advancement of his physical body. Eager to make contact with the outside world, over these twelve years he had refined and absorbed the spiritual liquid from the Dragon Transformation Pool without regard for the expenditure, and combined with the foundations built up in places like the Shining Gold Sword Cave, he broke through to the late fourth layer of the *Heavenly Demon Refining Form* in one fell swoop! Looking toward the horizon, Qin Sang thought to himself that a late Nascent Soul cultivator would not be considered weak anywhere; relying solely on his physical body was enough to handle most situations. Any deficiency in perception could be aided by the Heavenly Eye Butterfly. If true danger arose, he could also forcefully employ his true essence to unleash treasures and divine abilities; true essence did not fall into total chaos instantaneously—the only issue was that it could not be directly replenished from heaven and earth, meaning he would have to disengage before his true essence was exhausted. Treading forward, Qin Sang flashed into the center of the island. When he reappeared in midair, a spirit stone had appeared in his hand. He had obtained this from the cave of a beast demon; as expected, the spiritual energy within the spirit stone was also chaotic energy. He had long since learned from the island's spirit creatures that there were no Transformation stage great demons on the neighboring islands, and they had never traveled any further. Qin Sang recalled that while drifting at sea earlier, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly had spotted a landmass in the distance while keeping watch. It had seemed vast—even if not a continent, it was far more expansive than this island. Leaping forward, he flew off in the direction from his memory.