Mu Ye's heart nearly stopped. He watched in horror as Qian Gu Zhangting, mid-refinement, did the unthinkable: he moved the Ice God Pearl into his Sea of Spirit.
"Madman!" Mu Ye roared.
The sages of the Body Sect were known for their lunacy, but this was a different level of suicidal bravado. The Sea of Spirit is the sanctuary of the mind. To place a divine artifact radiating such absolute energy there was to court dementia, a total mental breakdown, or instant death.
Mu Ye lunged forward, his soul power surging to forcibly abort the session, but Zhangting's eyes snapped open. They were bloodshot, mapped with crimson veins that told of a bone-deep exhaustion, yet they burned with a terrifying, lucid excitement.
"Teacher... don't," Zhangting rasped. "I'm not crazy. I've measured the energy isolation of this pearl. My mental strength can bear it." He gritted his teeth, a petal of 100,000-year-old Tianshan Snow Lotus visible in his mouth. "With this immortal herb protecting my core, my body will not collapse."
Mu Ye froze. He knew the Federation had once considered using the Ice God Pearl as the core for a Level 12 Fixed-Position Soul-Guided Cannon. If it weren't for its unique energy-insulating shell, Zhangting's brain would have been vaporized instantly. Knowing the boy was gambling with calculated odds rather than blind luck, Mu Ye slowly withdrew.
"Do... what you can," the Sect Master whispered, leaving the cave to let his disciple face the fiend alone.
Breaking the Record
For the next day, Zhangting became a ghost in a vortex of violet and blue. The Ice God Pearl in his spiritual sea acted as a lighthouse, keeping his consciousness pinned to reality while the Earthly Fiend energy shredded his physical form.
When Aruheng finally reached his limit, Mu Ye had to carry the boy out. But when Zhangting finished, he didn't wait for help. Despite his swaying, unsteady gait, he stood up on his own and walked—slowly, painfully—out of the Earthly Fiend Cave.
Mu Ye watched him, paralyzed by a mixture of resentment and awe. He had spent the entire day in a state of high anxiety, yet here was a six-year-old child walking out of the abyss under his own power.
Throughout the vast expanse of history, only one other person was recorded doing such a thing: the Founder of the Body Lineage, who walked out of the crushing depths of the sea alone ten thousand years ago.
At this moment, the silhouette of Qian Gu Zhangting overlapped with the legends of old. Not only had he reached the entry level of the Innate Secret Technique in a single session, but he had also manifested two more golden runes than even the gifted Aruheng.
The King's Curriculum
Mu Ye calmed his trembling hands. "You... you will cultivate faster than Aruheng in the beginning," he admitted, his voice lacking its usual confidence. "But never be arrogant. His innate full soul power gives him a long-term advantage."
He cleared his throat, regaining a firm tone only when discussing the schedule. "The cycle is six days. Three days for body tempering and the Innate Secret Technique. The next three days for meditating on soul power. Soul power is the foundation; never neglect it."
"Yes, teacher," Zhangting replied.
But Zhangting didn't return to the guest quarters. He remained in the northwest treasure land, using the rich spiritual energy to meditate on the spot. By staying, the icy aura of the Ice God Pearl in his mind acted as a stabilizer for Aruheng, who was still recovering.
Before drifting into his two-hour sleep, Zhangting turned to his "junior brother."
"Aruheng," Zhangting said, his voice echoing with the authority of the Spirit Pagoda's heir. "Your body is ready for a thousand-year soul ring, but your mind is weak. If the Body Sect hadn't partnered with us, you'd settle for a common hundred-year spirit. But now?"
Aruheng blinked, still dazed. "Is it just about the age of the ring?"
"No," Zhangting shook his head. "It's about access. With my recommendation, you won't buy a spirit from a branch office. You will enter the Soul Spirit Treasury—the inner sanctum of the Spirit Pagoda. There, you will find bloodlines that can break the 100,000-year limit. Wasting a little time now to temper your mind is the price for a future that reaches the stars."
Chapter 23: Two Years
And so, the rhythm of the mountain took hold.
For the next two years, the "Human Auspicious Beast" and the "Golden Body Successor" became the twin engines of the Body Sect's revival. Under the watchful, often terrified eyes of Mu Ye, Zhangting continued to bridge the gap between human and god using a mountain of resources and a will made of permafrost.
The boy who walked out of the sea was no longer a legend of the past. He was the reality of the present.
Time Skip: Two Years Later Qian Gu Zhangting stands at the edge of the Tianqian cliff. He is eight years old. His body is lean, his skin has a faint, metallic luster, and his eyes... his eyes are as cold as the pearl buried in his mind.
It is time to see if the Panlong Staff has learned to breathe in the frost.