Senior Sister Zhao was right.
The Scripture of Inverse Order was indeed an extraordinary manual.
According to the scripture, the operation of Heaven and Earth followed established rules, and sustaining the turning of those rules required a tremendous prime mover.
Cultivating in alignment with the Heavenly Dao could naturally allow one to attain a supreme realm, but inverting those rules could likewise allow one a glimpse into the realm of True Immortality.
Yet the principles of Heaven and Earth were so vast! How could mere human strength achieve such a feat?
Man was yang, and woman was yin.
If one could cultivate a pure yin constitution within a male body, that would mark the very first step toward inverting the principles of Heaven and Earth!
Using this as a starting point, one could continuously pry at the rules and order between Heaven and Earth, turning them into sustenance for one's own sublimation!
...
Li Qing read on, utterly entranced. He was completely captivated by the scripture's depictions of its later stages, where a mere gesture or step could alter Heaven and overturn Earth.
Seeing how deeply absorbed he was, Senior Sister Zhao did not disturb him, quietly gazing at his profile in a daze.
Only when Li Qing finally came to his senses did Zhao Ruoxi pass him a storage ring. "For the coming period, you will have to rely on yourself.
"Though they were only outer disciples, killing them without authorization broke sect rules after all. Punishment is unavoidable."
Seeing the worry in Li Qing's eyes, Senior Sister Zhao consoled him, "It's nothing, merely ten years of secluded cultivation. It just so happens that I can take this opportunity to apply myself to my cultivation.
"Once I come out of seclusion, I will surely slay Qin Shou for you and avenge this grievance!
"During this time, you must not give up on yourself either. The origins of this Scripture of Inverse Order are mysterious. Even my master has never heard of such a manual existing in the Secret Pavilion; it is as if it appeared out of thin air.
"Cultivate diligently. In the future, your realm might not necessarily fail to surpass mine."
...
With today's parting, they would not see each other for ten years.
Reluctant to part, Zhao Ruoxi seemed to have endless things to say.
Not until late into the night, beneath the dancing candlelight, did Zhao Ruoxi and Li Qing interlock fingers, gazing into each other's eyes.
Zhao Ruoxi's eyelashes trembled slightly as she looked upon Li Qing's fair, unblemished skin and tender pink lips.
A feverish warmth could not help rising in her heart.
An unspoken, tender affection quietly spread. Gripping Li Qing's hands tightly, Zhao Ruoxi leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips.
Li Qing felt as if struck by lightning, instinctively moving to push her away.
As if sensing what was in his mind, Zhao Ruoxi did not let go, instead firmly embracing him.
"It doesn't matter..."
"I truly don't care..."
"No matter what you become, as long as it's you, that's enough."
Zhao Ruoxi whispered softly. As if to prove her feelings, she guided Li Qing's hand toward her chest.
Feeling her heartbeat and seeing the deep affection in Senior Sister Zhao's eyes, Li Qing finally abandoned his struggle.
With a flick of her finger, Senior Sister Zhao snuffed out the candle while placing a restriction around the room to keep outsiders from intruding.
Still embracing, they moved onto the bed.
A night of passion unfolded, needing no elaborate words.
The next morning, when Li Qing awoke, Zhao Ruoxi was already gone.
Only a faint, lingering fragrance in the air proved that the scene from the previous night was not just a passing dream.
*Turns out one can make love even without that thing down there,* Li Qing thought, somewhat dazed.
Soon, however, he shifted his attention away from those sultry images, turning instead to examine the Scripture of Inverse Order, which had abruptly crossed the threshold into the beginner stage.
After a long time, understanding dawned upon Li Qing. *Perhaps through what happened yesterday, I completed the initial transition from yang to yin.*
*And so the Scripture of Inverse Order took its first step as well.*
*I even broke through from the middle Qi Condensation stage straight to the late Qi Condensation stage in one go.*
*To think my progress would be this fast...*
Li Qing's eyes flickered, his thoughts unreadable.
"Qin Shou..."
A figure suddenly surfaced in Li Qing's mind.
"My own vengeance, I will claim with my own hands!"
"You had better not die before my divine art reaches completion. Hehehe..."
Li Qing's low laughter echoed through the room.
From then on, in the eyes of the other disciples, Li Qing seemed to undergo an earth-shattering transformation.
His temperament shifted drastically. He interacted less and less with the male outer disciples, while growing exceptionally close to the female cultivators, hitting it off with them better and better.
Li Qing had already possessed extraordinary beauty, making it difficult for anyone to harbor suspicion toward him.
Furthermore, all the female disciples knew of his misfortune—that someone had stripped him of his "instrument of crime"—so they held no guard against him whatsoever.
Instead, pity welled in their hearts, and they looked after him with great care.
Thus, they grew increasingly familiar with one another.
Later, Li Qing even moved directly into the detached courtyard where the female cultivators resided, sharing beds with them by turns.
Throughout this process, Li Qing's physique, appearance, and even voice grew ever more feminine.
Whenever his graceful, lithe figure walked through the mountain gates, it drew the gazes of countless male cultivators.
Even knowing he was male, they could not suppress their innate yearning for such beauty.
To these male cultivators, Li Qing showed only cold detachment, offering not a single pleasant glance.
Just like that, a year went by.
Deep within a secluded cave in the outer sect.
"This place holds the heaviest concentration of yin energy among the outer sect mountains."
"It is perfect to assist my breakthrough today."
Stripped of every thread of clothing, Li Qing sat cross-legged atop a slab of black jade on the ground.
Inside him, spiritual energy resembling thousand-year-old glacial ice slowly circulated, coating the already frigid cavern in layers of white frost.
Even Li Qing himself had never expected that cultivating this Scripture of Inverse Order would go so smoothly.
It was as if the technique had been tailored specifically for her; in a mere year, he had broken through from the late Qi Condensation stage all the way to the late Foundation Establishment stage.
Today, he was even intending to leverage the terrain to charge straight into the Golden Core realm!
Such cultivation speed was something he had never dared imagine before!
It even instilled a faint trace of fear in his heart.
He had concealed his true cultivation all this time precisely out of fear that the Dadao Sect would investigate.
Of course, the reason things had gone so swimmingly was also thanks to those female outer disciples.
Over the past year, any virgin among them who possessed a bit of beauty had her inner yin energy harvested by Li Qing.
Through the Scripture of Inverse Order, those female cultivators had even become utterly devoted and deeply grateful to him.
Not only did they strive to please him in bed to the utmost, but they even offered up every bit of savings and resources they had accumulated over the years.
With the wholehearted support of the outer sect women, Li Qing lived in far greater luxury than ever before, lacking for neither spirit stones nor medicinal pills.
It was the convergence of all these factors that led to such rapid advancement.
At this moment, only a final trace of yang energy remained within Li Qing's body.
As long as it was converted into yin energy, the complete transformation from a male body into a pure yin constitution would be realized.
The Scripture of Inverse Order would also reach initial minor success.
Focusing his mind, Li Qing absorbed the billowing yin energy from the black jade beneath him and the deep recesses of the cavern.
As he silently circulated the Scripture of Inverse Order, past scenes flashed through his mind one by one.
"After today, I bid complete farewell to my past."
"My fate is ruled by me, not by Heaven!"
Chapter 918