The moment the person left, Qiu Xueshan couldn't hold back any longer. She let out a low growl and with a burst of power, her right palm shot forward, striking out into the open air.

*Whoosh!*

A tremendous whistling sound erupted. Streaks of gray-black, semi-transparent mountain phantoms shot out like lightning, layer upon layer, crashing towards Li Cheng颐.

The sheer force of her technique far surpassed that of Zhang Xueying.

A glint flashed in Li Cheng颐's eyes. He immediately dodged sideways with lightning speed, unleashing his swordplay.

Patches of white lines converged into a white tidal wave, surging towards her from the side.

The wave couldn't evade the impact of the mountains, but it located their weak points, breaking through the surface with pinpoint accuracy. In the blink of an eye, it smashed through the mountain phantoms and hurtled towards Qiu Xueshan.

Unexpectedly, Qiu Xueshan flickered, instantly vanishing and reappearing behind Li Cheng颐. Again, she unleashed a flurry of mountain phantoms in a wild assault.

*Is this a kiting tactic?*

The thought flashed through Li Cheng颐's mind.

If he didn't conceal his strength, he could deal with her. But using only two layers of the Bi Hai Swordplay (Azure Sea Swordplay), and with the timing too late to recover, it was impossible to win.

Realizing he couldn't win, he simply feigned a frightened expression, standing motionless on the spot.

Sure enough, upon seeing this, Lu Shan Gong (Lord of Slaughtering Mountains) waved his hand, instantly dispersing all of Qiu Xueshan's palm strikes.

"Alright. The test has gone far enough."

He glanced at the sky, then casually pointed at the eldest disciple, Xu Suyuan.

"Suyuan, you will instruct Junior Brother in the foundational techniques. Any miscellaneous items needed can be taken from the Second Cave."

"Yes." Xu Suyuan stepped forward, responding respectfully.

From this day forward, Lu Shan Sect had one more, its sixth disciple.

*

*

*

Just as Li Cheng颐 was proceeding step by step, solidifying his future plans.

Outside of Bai Shi (White Eater) Star, in the vast expanse of the starry sky.

Suddenly, a brilliant white radiance burst forth, resembling a pure white disc.

On the disc, countless tiny figures were engaged in a frantic battle, their Xiantian Jin Yuan (Innate Metal Essence) colliding, creating a shower of golden sparks that scattered, illuminating the surrounding area.

"The Xuanji Sect (Star Wheel Sect) people have emerged! Quickly, report to the Clan Head!" someone shouted, relaying the message.

One figure received the message and leaped up, attempting to escape the battlefield.

But suddenly, in the starry sky behind him, a blurry human figure materialized out of thin air in the darkness.

The figure gradually became clearer, revealing a woman dressed in a long pink gauze dress, her black hair styled up, with tiny pink dots flickering faintly within her hair.

Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that these dots were countless tiny pink eyes.

If Xu Suyuan's beauty was gentle and charming, then this woman's beauty was vibrant.

An extreme vibrancy, coupled with a large amount of pink, further enhanced her temperament.

But within the vibrancy, the woman's dark red lips carried a hint of a mocking curve.

"All things are born equal… so are all beings, and so are all people."

Her voice reverberated, spreading rapidly through the vacuum, like tangible ripples, creating its own medium.

At that moment, the woman raised her hand and struck out a palm towards the white disc.

Her palm rapidly extended, swelling and enlarging at an astonishing rate.

In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a palm print as massive as a planet, covering everything.

"Xuanji, do you truly believe you are invincible!?" A furious roar came from the distance.

Accompanying the roar was an equally enormous hand, though slightly smaller.

This hand seemed to be pieced together from many different forces, radiating iridescent light, and it collided head-on with the gigantic palm print.

*Rumble!!!*

The two palm prints exploded simultaneously, scattering countless specks of light.

A portion of these specks flew towards Bai Shi Star.

*

*

*

At nightfall.

At the peak of Lu Shan, Li Cheng颐 was carefully comprehending the first layer of the Lu Shan Bai Bian (Slaughtering Mountain's Hundred Transformations) technique that he had just learned.

Suddenly, he felt something and looked up at the sky.

In the night sky, countless dense, colorful meteors were scattering and falling.

"What is that…?" His sensory perception was no longer spread out; instead, he primarily used the range of his dimension.

But at this moment, these colorful meteors gave him an unparalleled sense of danger.

*My body, in the end, is still only at a level that hasn't even reached first-rate.*

Against a first-rate expert, using Flower Speech, he was confident in being able to handle them. But against someone at the Jin Yu (Gold Jade) level, he felt it was still very uncertain, not to mention the even higher Jueshi (Peerless) and Shenmo (Deity Demon) levels.

After all, the power of Flower Speech also depended on the foundation.

Moreover, those at the Jin Yu level already possessed various unfathomable supernatural abilities, and the Jueshi and Shenmo levels were definitely even more dangerous.

Immediately, he composed himself and continued to comprehend the first layer he had just obtained.

Early the next morning.

Li Cheng颐, who hadn't slept all night, had completely understood the first layer of the technique. However, he didn't cultivate it; instead, he continued to practice the Bi Hai Swordplay.

Currently, the only thing separating him from first-rate was his Zhen Yuan (True Essence).

Zhen Yuan needed to be fused with divine intent to transform into Xiantian Jin Yuan, but his consciousness and divine intent were all being used to fuse with the dimension.

So this time, he paused the dimensional fusion and casually burned some tonic pills he had brought from home. The resulting consciousness rapidly fused with the Bi Hai Swordplay's Hai Yuan (Sea Essence).

He effortlessly cultivated the Bi Hai Swordplay to the ninth layer, the realm of completion.

And upon reaching the ninth layer, there would be a special change. That was, the natural generation of the power of surging tides and raging waves.

At the same time, all the transformed Xiantian Jin Yuan would naturally convert into nutrients for the growth of brute strength.

The more Jin Yuan cultivated previously, the greater the brute strength gained from the conversion.

This was the fundamental reason why this technique was used as the foundational strength-building technique of the Gongshan Clan.

By the time the sky was completely bright,

All the Xiantian Jin Yuan within Li Cheng颐's body had been completely transformed, and the Jin Yuan had begun to rapidly integrate into his body, converting into the power of surging tides and raging waves.

After all, although his consciousness was strong, his body was still very weak and needed to be strengthened.

The total amount of Xiantian Jin Yuan transformed from the nine layers of Hai Yuan was nine times that of ordinary martial artists at the same level.

Half an hour later.

Li Cheng颐 slowly finished his practice.

All the Xiantian Jin Yuan in his body had been integrated into the depths of his flesh and blood. At the same time, this power, more than nine times greater, brought him an incredibly exaggerated all-around enhancement.

Without amplifying his Zhen Yuan,

His strength increased from an output of two hundred kilograms to fifty tons.

His speed soared from the normal twenty to thirty meters per second to five times the speed of sound.

His self-healing ability was the most exaggerated. Li Cheng颐 had spent a large amount of Jin Yuan on it, basically reaching a level where wounds healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Wounds that would normally take a week to heal now only took him a few minutes.

In addition, the strength of his body's flesh, blood, and bones had been elevated to a level similar to ordinary gold and iron, impervious to ordinary weapons but vulnerable to divine weapons and Zhen Yuan-amplified weapons.

This was the limit.

All the ninefold Hai Yuan had been completely integrated into his body, dissipating without a trace.

What he gained in return was Li Cheng颐's powerful body, instantly entering the ranks of monsters.

Normally, experts would retain a portion of their Xiantian Jin Yuan, both to strengthen themselves and to use it for amplification, so as to maximize their power.

But Li Cheng颐 wanted to switch to cultivating Lu Shan Bai Bian, so he didn't care about any of that.

After dispersing his power, he spent only a dozen minutes mastering the basics of Lu Shan Bai Bian.

A wisp of black Zhen Yuan rapidly developed within his powerful body.

Reverting to cultivate the entry level with a first-rate realm was naturally extremely fast.

Just as Li Cheng颐 was earnestly cultivating, single-mindedly focused, more than half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

Aunt Yuan, who was delivering miscellaneous items and clothing from home, mentioned during a casual chat that the Fu Clan was paying a visit to the Gongshan Estate.

The Fu Clan's genius was unmatched, even openly crippling two direct-line clan members who had spoken disrespectfully.

In the end, Gongshan Lei Jiu couldn't help but take action, defeating the Fu Clan's genius head-on and becoming famous in one battle.

Lei Jiu's cultivation had actually reached the seventh layer of the Jin Yu technique. He had almost reached the peak of the nine-layer martial art.

As soon as he made a move, he instantly killed those Fu Clan geniuses who were only at the third or fourth layer of the Jin Yu martial arts.

After hearing the news, Li Cheng頤 sighed slightly and asked Aunt Yuan to take a letter over to congratulate him.

Although Lei Jiu was just a little brat, he was, at least on the surface, one of his two great friends.

As time passed, the matter of Lei Jiu quickly faded from Li Cheng颐's mind.

He wholeheartedly devoted himself to the cultivation of martial arts.

Lu Shan Bai Bian progressed by almost one layer per month. By the seventh month, he was finally temporarily stuck.

It wasn't that he couldn't continue forward, but from the eighth layer onward, he would need additional cultivation treasures to continue.

*It seems this is also the reason why Lei Jiu was stuck at the seventh layer before and had to reveal his true strength... because he needed resources and treasures.*

Another point was that Li Cheng颐 needed time to comprehend the Lu Shan Bai Bian's techniques and divine powers.

As a Jin Yu technique with two divine powers, there was a huge difference in strength between having divine powers and not having them.

And at this level, he could basically begin to completely control the Lu Shan lineage.

The night was hazy.

At the top of Lu Shan, inside the giant cave, a blurry figure was flickering and rapidly heading out of the cave.

Suddenly, another figure shot out from the side, accurately blocking the blurry figure.

"Senior Sister Qiu is in such a hurry. Is there some urgent matter you need to attend to outside?"

The person blocking the way was dressed in a black, form-fitting outfit, with long hair draped over her shoulders and a smile on her lips. It was none other than Li Cheng颐, who had been cultivating here for half a year.

"Junior Brother, is there something you need to block me for?" Qiu Xueshan was masked, with a murderous intent hidden in her eyes, obviously planning to do something secretive outside.

Being blocked at this time, if the other party wasn't a fellow disciple, she would have killed them in a few moves and continued on her way.

"Junior Brother's cultivation has improved recently, but he is troubled by the lack of a sparring partner, unable to know the exact progress. Can I ask Senior Sister to guide me a little and have a serious match? Even if I lose, Junior Brother can clearly see where his weaknesses lie." Li Cheng颐's words were earnest and sincere.

"…" Qiu Xueshan removed her mask, the murderous intent in her eyes gradually shifting its target. "Are you serious?"

A newcomer who had only been practicing for a few months was actually standing in front of her and saying he wanted to challenge her.

Challenging a Senior Sister who had been diligently cultivating Lu Shan Bai Bian for more than ten years!?

"Of course." Li Cheng颐 smiled. "If I lose, this will be my apology." He took out a silver-white deer antler from his sleeve and waved it around.

"Snow Deer Antler?!" A trace of jealousy flashed in Qiu Xueshan's eyes. This was the huge difference between a child of a prominent family and someone from an ordinary background.

She would have to work as a hired guard for more than a year to afford a treasure medicine like Snow Deer Antler.

But in Gongshan Zhu's hands, he just casually took it out.

Looking at it this way, this Junior Brother might be a fool with a lot of money, and it might be possible to continuously get...

As thoughts arose, Qiu Xueshan's gaze softened.

"… Alright, the Master is not here, don't say I'm bullying you."

"Please, Senior Sister, use your full strength and don't hold back." Li Cheng颐 earnestly cupped his fist in a salute.

At the same time, the Violet Emperor's Authority Flower Speech quietly spread out on the flower of evil on the back of his hand.

(End of Chapter)