I'm caught in the cycle of endless competition, you're waiting for me in the apocalypse.

With just a few leaps, they seemed to have already traveled to a very far place.

"We're almost there," An Xin said cheerfully.

A few breaths later, they landed on the ground. An Xin put Qi Mingxuan down and noticed that his face was very red, and his neck and ears were also bright red. She asked, puzzled, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Did I jump too fast and scare you?"

"No, it's just that the wind is blowing hard..." Qi Mingxuan's feelings were quite complicated, a mix of shyness, excitement, embarrassment, and so on.

"Oh, I didn't notice that, sorry!" An Xin said as she strode confidently toward the giant black mouth. "Hurry up, this is a cave, and there's a Yin-Yang Spring inside."

An Xin was afraid that Qi Mingxuan couldn't see, so she took out a high-powered flashlight from the Qiankun World and held it in her hand.

Suddenly, strong light shone into the cave, making it seem like daytime. Some of the smooth stone walls even reflected the strong light into the swirling Yin-Yang Spring, where the water ripples and refracted different colors onto the cave walls, making the cave even more magnificent.

Qi Mingxuan marveled at the wonders of nature as he explored the cave. He finally stopped at the Yin-Yang Spring and curiously dipped his hand into the water. An Xin immediately saw him recoil as if he'd touched boiling water, shaking his hand frantically. Seeing Qi Mingxuan's unusually expressive face, An Xin smiled and explained to him.

Following Di Ting's words, An Xin explained the formation and function of the Yin-Yang Spring, walked over, took Qi Mingxuan's hand, and slowly reached into the pool.

"Can you feel it? Are there two sensations, hot and cold, surrounding your skin? And they're constantly rotating."

"Hmm, it seems so, but it feels weird."

"Haha, you can pick it up and wash your face." An Xin said with a smile, "Actually, Xiao Jiu discovered this spring. I only came here these past two days. I sweat after practicing my sword, and if I go back to the small building, I'm afraid the noise will disturb you. In the end, I was lucky enough to find this place."

"Um... do you want to take a bath now?" Qi Mingxuan had just scooped up a handful of spring water when he heard An Xin's words and suddenly became flustered.

"No need, no need. Didn't I just advance to the next level? Although I increased the intensity of my sword practice today, I didn't break a sweat. That's why I brought you here! What are you thinking about?" An Xin couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle.

"……oh……"

"I think it's getting light, let's hurry back." An Xin pretended to hug him again.

Qi Mingxuan quickly declined, "No need... let me put my arm around your shoulder."

He raised his arm and put his arm around her entire shoulder.

An Xin then took the opportunity to hug Qi Mingxuan's waist tightly.

—Hey~ What a strong and slender waist!

Thinking of this, she unconsciously touched her hand, then tightened it even more! She coughed guiltily and said, "Then you have to hold me tight~ You can spread your arm out with me, and if possible, concentrate your spiritual energy in your waist and legs, and feel the flow of the wind. When you can communicate well with nature, nature will also become your help."

After saying that, An Xin touched the ground again, steadily lifting Qi Mingxuan's waist. Their first "cooperative" leap began.

As she moved with agility, gracefully leaping up and down, Qi Mingxuan seemed to better understand the freedom of soaring through the sky, his joy indescribable. He then completely surrendered himself to An Xin, closing his eyes and immersing himself in the experience.

As they slowly landed on the platform, Qi Mingxuan opened his eyes, still wanting more. He still held onto An Xin's arm.

The expressions on the faces of the young masters and ladies who witnessed him and An Xin flying over from afar were quite interesting.

An Xin saw them coming and happily ran towards them, arriving in front of them in the blink of an eye.

"You guys are up so early today. Did you not fall asleep after meditating?" An Xin took Fang Yinuo's hand.

"I had an epiphany yesterday, so I took a nap. I woke up very early this morning, intending to climb the Heavenly Ladder, and then I happened to run into these guys... Oh, wait a minute, how did you and Qi Mingxuan fly over from somewhere else?"

"Ah, no, it's not far. I just wanted to let him experience the leap."

"Take me with you!"

"I also want!"

"Xinxin, you're being unfair!"

"Take me flying!"

Sigh... An Xin sighed...

“It’s not flying! It’s jumping, using momentum. Just think of it as light footwork. With the addition of spiritual energy, the time spent in the air will be longer, and it will feel like flying.” Seeing the expressions on their faces that said, “You’re being unfair to me, you didn’t take me,” An Xin could only surrender and said, “You’re not as good at climbing the Heavenly Ladder as Qi Mingxuan, and you don’t have as much spiritual energy as him. There’s really no other way. How about I take you to experience climbing the Heavenly Ladder using my spiritual energy?”

With everyone nodding in agreement, An Xin first had Fang Yinuo hug her, just like Qi Mingxuan had done. She then guided her to concentrate her spiritual energy at the point of leverage when climbing the Heavenly Ladder.

"Enjoy this experience, beautiful Ino~ Let's go~"

With a leap and a loud "Ah—" before the sound had faded, they landed perfectly.

"Hahaha~ Ino, how about it, have you figured it out?" Lei Yao rushed to them in one stride.

"...Experience what? I wasn't prepared at all. I was just shocked, there was no experience to speak of..."

An Xin patted her shoulder: "Why don't you calm down and see if I can take you to play with others~ I'll take you to play with others at the end."

Then, following the same pattern, An Xin led Gu Shuohan and Lei Yao through the Xuanmen Ascending Heaven Ladder experience. Watching from the side, Qi Mingxuan's face grew increasingly dark: Seriously, why are you holding them so tightly around the waist… What are those expressions on those two brats' faces? Are they enjoying being carried like that?

It was Wei Ran's turn. The cheerful young man, who had been eagerly waiting on the sidelines, immediately put his arm around An Xin's shoulder as soon as Lei Yao let go of her, and pleaded, "Xin Xin, Xin Xin~ Good junior sister, I'm now at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, and my spiritual power is much greater than theirs. Can you take me flying over Green Mountain?"

After being coaxed and pleaded with by her senior, and seeing the stars in his big, European-style eyes, An Xin had no choice but to reluctantly agree. After instructing him on the movements and techniques, she lifted the large man and leaped down the mountain.

With a long howl, the two figures vanished. The group quickly moved to the edge of the training platform and looked down through the railing. They saw a black dot already flying far away.

With Wei Ran's excited "Oh~ Yo~ Awoo~" series of howls, An Xin gracefully arrived with him.

Wei Ran was as happy as a child. As soon as he landed, he excitedly high-fived Lei Yao and then loudly announced, "This is so cool! This feeling is amazing! I want to work hard to improve and I want to be like An Xin."

"Alright, then you can train with me to climb the Heavenly Ladder. I'll suppress my spiritual power! Let's work together to improve our explosive power, coordination, and flexibility so we can strengthen our bodies faster. Come on, Ino, I'll show you around one more time."

When the disciples of the temple thought they had arrived at the training platform very early, they found that the six people were already sweating profusely on the giant's stone steps.

Everyone thought: Are we late again?

..........................................

Day after day

Two days later, Master Chen emerged from seclusion. Due to a sudden enlightenment, his long-dormant cultivation had advanced to the advanced stage of Foundation Establishment. Furthermore, he had achieved a liquefaction of spiritual energy, reaching half of his total spiritual energy.

When he proudly shared this good news with his fellow disciples, the Daoist masters were overjoyed. When they asked him why he had achieved enlightenment, he recounted how An Xin had advanced in rank due to enlightenment, and how he had subsequently passed on his experience to his fellow disciples. He even specifically looked at Daoist Du Linyuan, expressing his gratitude for his "generational" transmission of knowledge!

Master Du: It's amazing, it's very interesting. Why did Senior Brother Chen suddenly have an epiphany and advance to the next level? Ah, no, it's because I taught An Xin that An Xin had an epiphany because of my words, and Senior Brother Chen had an epiphany because of listening to An Xin's words. In other words, it was my words that made Senior Brother Chen have an epiphany... So why didn't I have an epiphany myself?

Just as Master Du was still pondering this logic, Master Qiu stood up, quickly gave Master Zou a series of instructions, and then flew back to his room to have an epiphany...

The remaining Taoist priests were speechless...

The days of cultivation and study were fulfilling and joyful.

Inside the Taoist temple, the Taoist priests were busy comprehending and advancing in rank. The disciples were busy getting up early to grab a spot to practice climbing the Heavenly Ladder.

An Xin, on the other hand, followed her own rhythm: practicing swordsmanship, body training, studying, body training, taking medicinal baths, meditating, sleeping...

Two days later, Master Qiu advanced to the advanced stage of Foundation Establishment.

He was radiant and smiling all day long.

Master Zou was very happy for his senior brother, Qiu. Qiu was the oldest Taoist priest here and their senior brother, but he had been stagnating, which made him very sad. Now a young girl had come to the Taoist temple, who was exceptionally talented and whose cultivation had reached his level in just a few days. How could he feel good about that? Although he didn't show it on the surface, everyone knew that this proud old man was very depressed.

Now things are better; we've advanced to a higher level, and at least we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

But looking back, Master Zou was also frustrated. They had all caught up, what was he going to do? Moreover, he had no clue how to break through to a higher realm, and there were no clear records from predecessors, which was very annoying.

So for the next few days, apart from his meditation classes, everyone could only find the abbot in the Shuxianglou (Book Fragrance Building).

A few days later, after finishing reading the entire "Complete Book of Medicines and Stones," An Xin went to the Book Fragrance Pavilion to borrow books and encountered her master, who had a furrowed brow. She thought for a moment; her master had been perfectly fine during class, so what was wrong now? Had he run into trouble? So she walked over to Master Zou, tugged at his wide sleeve, and gestured for him to go to the office next door.

"Master, what's wrong with you?"

"Xinxin, Master is looking for information on advancing to the Golden Core stage, but it's been several days and there's still nothing. Breaking through a major realm is difficult, but not finding a method is even more difficult."

"I've heard that the lack of spiritual energy in our world has limited everyone's cultivation path, with most people only reaching the Foundation Establishment stage. But now that spiritual energy is reviving and becoming increasingly abundant, it should be possible to cultivate up to the Golden Core stage... Master, there are many methods of cultivation. Since the system has been adjusted, we can use multiple approaches simultaneously. For example, we can start with our divine sense, train our mental strength, and meditate or have moments of enlightenment. There's also body tempering; there are ten realms in body tempering, right? The reason I've been advancing so frequently in such a short time is because of the combined effect of these three approaches."

"So, Master really didn't take body training seriously."

"By the way, Master, did you drink the bottle of spiritual liquid I gave you?"

"No, it's because it's too precious. I want to keep it so I can lend a helping hand if anyone is in trouble!"

“Um… Master, please use it. I still have some. There were so many people there, I couldn’t say I had a lot, could I? It’s a crime to possess a treasure! Now that Master needs it, of course I should offer it up.” As she spoke, she took out two bottles from her sleeve and handed them to Daoist Zou. “Master, hide them well. Starting today, drink one bottle before your bath every day. You’ll usually feel pain for half an hour to an hour, depending on the person. You’ll also expel a lot of black oil from your body. Then wash yourself thoroughly several times. Usually three times. Once the black oil is gone, your cultivation or body-strengthening medicinal bath will be much more effective.”

Seeing his little apprentice's smiling face, as if saying, "Go back and try it!", Master Zou's heart melted. He patted his apprentice's head and said, "Thank you, Xinxin. I'll go and give it a try. I'll come to you again if I have any questions in the future!"

An Xin was alarmed: Master, you can't say that! Who's whose master? You still come to ask me for advice? Has my secret been discovered by my master? Has my disguise been exposed?