The arrival of Hu Qian and his group brought a wave of relief to the eleven elders, who had been pushed to their limits. Their spirits lifted, reinvigorated by the reinforcements.
___
On the other side, Su Qian was grappling with a headache as he faced a small girl who was speaking with earnest conviction, insisting she was there to help.
"Old man, Jia Nan Academy is my home. I don't want to be homeless again!" Zi Yan said, her expression dimming with sorrow.
It was this very old man who had brought her to this place, sparing her from a life of roaming the wilds like a little beast, constantly battling other magical creatures and scrapping for rare treasures.
"Alright, alright! Since you're here, stay put and don't wander off!" Su Qian waved his hand helplessly, a trace of tenderness flickering in his eyes.
Despite knowing Zi Yan's true nature wasn't human, he had always treated her like a cherished granddaughter, never showing her the slightest neglect.
At his words, Zi Yan's heart leapt with joy. She nodded eagerly, her voice sweet and obedient. "Don't worry, old man! I saw the signal flare from the back mountains and rushed over. I won't run off!"
Su Qian nodded with a gratified smile. Though this child could be mischievous at times, she clearly understood the gravity of the situation. "Good," he said.
But then he paused, his brow furrowing. "Wait a moment. Where did you say you came from?"
"The back mountains!" Zi Yan blinked, puzzled. With the old man's cultivation, surely he hadn't misheard?
"The back mountains… the back mountains!" Su Qian muttered, his expression darkening as he recalled the immense surge of energy he'd sensed gathering there earlier. That scale of power was far beyond what a Dou Wang could produce.
And the aura—it was unfamiliar, not belonging to any of Jia Nan Academy's elders.
"That's right! Old man, you won't believe it, but I met a strange person there—a skeleton riding a golden dragon! And he even knew my name!" Zi Yan's crisp voice chattered on as she recounted her encounter in the back mountains.
Su Qian listened intently, and a guess began to form in his mind. His eyes narrowed with suspicion. Could it be Xiao Bai?
Is the unrest of the Fallen Heart Flame… because of him?
What's his goal? Is he after this Heavenly Flame?
Su Qian couldn't help but think this way. Xiao Bai cultivated lightning attributes, yet there had been no trace of lightning energy earlier—only a dense concentration of fire energy. The Fallen Heart Flame had just calmed from its previous rampage, but according to Zi Yan's account, its renewed agitation coincided almost perfectly with Xiao Bai's sudden actions in the back mountains, where he had gathered that massive energy. His resolve seemed unshakable.
Add to that Xiao Bai's identity as a sixth-grade alchemist. For any alchemist, a heavenly flame was a coveted treasure, a dream beyond reach. This only deepened Su Qian's suspicions.
Boom!
A jarring sound interrupted Su Qian's thoughts as the energy barrier trembled.
"Everyone, hold steady! Don't let this beast break through!" Hu Qian shouted, sensing the barrier waver. Its vibrant colors dimmed slightly under the strain.
The outer academy elders were generally weaker than their inner academy counterparts, but their numbers compensated for it. The energy barrier they maintained continued to withstand the relentless assaults of the invisible fire python.
"For now, let's deal with the Fallen Heart Flame!" Su Qian decided, burying his doubts. He held high hopes for Xiao Bai. The young man was not only prodigiously talented in cultivation but also an extraordinarily young sixth-grade alchemist. Su Qian didn't want any conflict to arise between him and Jia Nan Academy.
___
Meanwhile, the Xiao Bai in question was gazing with delight at the changes unfolding within his body.
The fire and water elements, once clashing and disdainful of each other, were beginning to show signs of convergence. Under his careful control and the mediating influence of the earth element, they no longer operated in isolation. Instead, they started to intertwine like two swimming fish, spiraling around each other.
The fire element was fierce and lively, the water element tranquil and profound. In their dynamic interplay—one active, one still—they complemented each other, fire and water in harmony.
The chaotic energy within his body began to settle, carrying a rhythm of balance, a fusion of strength and gentleness. As the energy surged, it flowed through the wide meridians of his body, no longer causing the swelling pain of before. Instead, there was a faint sense of comfort.
As his cultivation technique circulated, the vast energy followed a mysterious path through his body's meridians, steadily transforming into his own Dou Qi.
___
Outside, in the valley:
"Is my lord… succeeding?" Little Gold Dragon stared at the changes unfolding within the yellow light in the sky, its massive eyes blinking in astonishment.
Above, the swirling yellow clouds no longer crackled with the violent clash of water and fire energies. The once-turbulent forces had calmed, now moving in harmony. They resembled two enormous snakes—one black, one red—spiraling around each other.
There was an air of profound mystery to their motion.
"Xun Er, has Xiao Bai… succeeded?" Xiao Yi Xian's worried expression softened, her delicate face turning expectantly toward the figure beside her.
Though she didn't fully understand what Xiao Bai was attempting, she could sense the shift in the atmosphere. The energy fluctuations within the yellow cloud were no longer as chaotic as before.
"I'm not sure if he's succeeded," Xun Er replied, exhaling softly. "We don't know exactly what he's trying to achieve. But at the very least, it seems there's no danger now."
She, too, had been on edge after hearing Little Gold Dragon's account of Xiao Bai's transformation in the Thunderfall Valley.
Under the watchful gazes of the group, the intertwining black and red lights grew larger and more radiant. Yet no matter how vast they became, the yellow cloud expanded to contain them, enveloping the energies securely.
As time passed, the scene in the sky became clearer.
The black and red lights, spiraling together, coalesced into a massive circular shape. The two energies moved like twin fish, rotating in unison. The yellow cloud served as a platform, holding this strange, spinning circle aloft, steady and unshaken.
If Xiao Yan were here, he would have recognized the shape immediately—it bore a striking resemblance to the Yin-Yang Taiji diagram from his previous life. The only difference was the colors: black and white in his memory, red and black here.
The moment this diagram took form, an intangible ripple spread outward. A peculiar sensation stirred in the hearts of the two women and the dragon.
Xun Er felt as though she stood in a sea of golden flames. In a daze, her senses seemed to expand infinitely. I could control any wisp of flame in this sea, burn the heavens, boil the oceans—nothing would be impossible!
Xiao Yi Xian, in a hazy vision, found herself in a shimmering yet mist-shrouded space. The vibrant gray mist around her felt intensely toxic. I could summon any strand of this mist, wield its power, unmatched and overwhelming!
"So vast!" Little Gold Dragon sensed its colossal dragon body, gleaming with golden light, surrounded by massive golden thunderbolts. These bolts, thick as mountains and carrying the aura of annihilation, struck its scales but caused only the slightest tremor.
As the two women and the dragon were drawn into these mysterious visions by the strange rhythm, Xiao Bai's consciousness entered an extraordinary state.
He felt as though he were in a legendary expanse of endless chaos—no time, no space, just a primordial state of formless unity, before the cosmos was divided.
How long had passed? An instant? A million years? In the chaos, a singular point of light appeared. Its glow was faint, flickering as if it might be swallowed by the boundless void.
Yet, over time, the light did not fade. Instead, it began to grow, forming a powerful vortex of energy that devoured the surrounding chaotic currents. As more chaos was consumed, the light expanded.
Finally, when the light reached a critical threshold, a deafening roar echoed, as if the chaos itself had split apart. Xiao Bai's vision blurred, and his perspective shifted—he was now within the light.
Everything was hazy, undefined, as if something were gestating within.
What is this? Xiao Bai wondered.
Suddenly, the misty currents in this space began to churn, as if stirred by some unseen force. Under this mysterious agitation, the currents started to differentiate.
The ethereal vapors rose, forming a vague sky.
The heavier, turbid currents sank, condensing into a vast expanse of earth.
Opening the heavens? Xiao Bai stared, dumbfounded. He hadn't expected to witness the formation of a world.
There was no Pangu, no cosmic axe.
The world's creation didn't pause for his shock. After the initial separation of heaven and earth, the clear and turbid energies began to mingle for the first time in this nascent cosmos.
Boom!
A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, followed by a thunderous roar. At the moment of cosmic convergence, it carried an ineffable rhythm, resonating through the new world.
In the clash of Yin and Yang, after the lightning's flash, five distinct orbs of light took shape. Like spirited sprites or newborn children, they brimmed with curiosity about this world. They wove through each other, repelling and attracting, darting across the heavens and earth, driven by an instinctual purpose to find their place.
After a period of wandering, each light seemed to discover its destiny.
Four directions were claimed by four colors, leaving the center, where a yellow light flickered.
Heaven and earth are set. Is this the establishment of the five directions? Xiao Bai mused, observing the scene.
East glowed green, south burned red, west shone gold, north flowed black, and the center gleamed yellow.
Once the positions were fixed, the central yellow light acted first, scattering into countless specks that sank into the vast earth, stabilizing the world's foundation and bearing all things.
Green light followed, sprinkling across the land, instantly giving rise to countless plants and trees, vibrant with life.
Red light burrowed into the earth's depths, erupting as molten lava and volcanoes, bringing warmth and light to the world.
Golden light fell upon the stones, making them hard and radiant, imbued with a sharp, lethal edge.
Black light roamed the earth, gathering into rivers, lakes, and seas, its waters nourishing the land.
Gazing at this suddenly vibrant world, Xiao Bai felt an inexplicable joy.
But before he could react, his mind jolted, and he opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by the familiar stalactites of the cave.
Was it an illusion?
A trace of ancient weariness flickered in Xiao Bai's eyes. Just as water and fire had achieved balance, an indescribable rhythm had emanated, pulling him into that chaotic vision. He felt a lingering sense of bewilderment.
Shaking his head, he set aside the unanswerable questions. Through that illusory vision, his understanding of the five elements had deepened profoundly.
Raising his head slightly, his gaze seemed to pierce through the cave's ceiling, locking onto the swirling energy vortex in the sky outside.
"Withdraw!"
His voice was soft, yet it seemed to echo beyond the cave, reaching the valley. The two women and the dragon, still reeling from their own visions, snapped back to reality.
Before they could marvel at their experiences, they saw the massive energy cloud, stretching for miles, funnel downward toward the mountain peak where the radiant pillar had first erupted.
Xun Er and Xiao Yi Xian watched, their earlier concerns forgotten. Joy lit their faces. Whatever else had happened, this sight was clear: Xiao Bai was absorbing the energy.
He's coming out!
As the colossal energy poured into his body, Xiao Bai's five viscera blazed with radiant light. The five elemental energies were eagerly absorbed by the five thunder seeds within him.
At the same time, his body began to transform. With the vast energy and the mysterious interplay of the five elements, his physical form was undergoing a metamorphosis.
Gold's unyielding strength, wood's vibrant resilience, water's supple toughness, fire's blazing eruption, and earth's steadfast stability—the five elemental forces wove through his flesh, refining it.
Gradually, Xiao Bai's white hair began to darken, reverting to flowing black locks that cascaded over his shoulders. His physique grew more refined, as if sculpted by the cosmos itself. His muscles took on a natural, explosive grace—powerful yet not bulky, a perfect balance.
Anyone who saw this body would marvel at the wonder of creation.
As time passed and the final strand of energy was absorbed, the light within his five viscera reached its zenith.
Boom!
Five low, thunderous rumbles echoed, like muffled lightning. The five thunder seeds, as if fulfilling their purpose, left his organs and surged into his dantian, which had been empty since his advancement to Dou Wang.
There, they began to move, tracing intricate, mystical paths before settling into position.
The five directions?!
Xiao Bai stared at the thunder seeds, each occupying a distinct position in his dantian. The familiar arrangement stunned him, and he murmured, "It was you all along."
In that moment, he understood. The mysterious rhythm, the illusory vision of the world's creation—it had been triggered by Little Yi and the other thunder seeds, born from the balance and fusion of the five elements.
Is this… forming a world?
The changes in his dantian left Xiao Bai dazed. His cultivation technique had veered onto an entirely new path.
Before, he had planned to fuse one thunder seed per realm, progressing steadily within the framework of the Dou Qi Continent's system. That had been his assumed path, and the five-element fusion was merely an experiment to enhance his power.
But now, because of his actions, everything had changed.
Is this a choice?
He thought of the talisman in his sea of consciousness. It had always remained silent, never interfering, allowing him to cultivate as he wished.
Xiao Bai sank into deep contemplation, weighing the paths before him.