Reversing the Milky Way

Pang Yuhuai was slightly displeased upon hearing this, but his expression did not show any abnormality.

"Young man, I think what you were practicing just now was the Body Refining Technique. It really brings back memories. But there's another level below the third level of the Body Refining Technique!"

Bai Cheng's eyes lit up upon hearing this.

"What? There's another layer? But I remember Uncle Yu saying that the most basic Body Refining Technique only has three layers. As long as you master the third layer, it's enough to reach the Great Perfection of the Body Refining Realm. If you want to continue cultivating in body refining, then you need to cultivate the Body Tempering Secret Technique. But why did he say there's another layer? Is he trying to trick me?"

Thinking of this, Bai Cheng also feigned a surprised expression.

"What? Such a thing actually happened? But why have the body-refining instructors in that academy never mentioned it?"

Upon hearing this, Pang Yuhuai's face showed a slight embarrassment. He had indeed made up the other layer of the Body Refining Technique, intending to use this opportunity to lure Bai Cheng away.

After thinking it over and over again, he said something that surprised Bai Cheng.

"Young man, actually only our internal staff can cultivate the fourth level of the Body Refinement Realm. The Body Refinement Realm cultivation methods on the market only cover the first three levels. I see that you have already cultivated to the late stage of the Body Refinement Realm at such a young age, which is truly a rare talent. Therefore, I, the inspector, am grateful for your talent and would like to pass on the fourth level of the Body Refinement Technique to you. Are you willing?"

Bai Cheng was slightly taken aback upon hearing this.

"Holy crap? This guy's talking like it's the truth. I'll see what he's up to."

Thinking of this, Bai Cheng also cooperated wholeheartedly.

"What? Is this true? Then please, Your Excellency Inspector, teach me the fourth level now!"

Pang Yuhuai was slightly taken aback after hearing this, and he pondered for a while.

"Well, this fourth level is a closely guarded secret of our Surveillance Bureau. If you wish to cultivate it, you need to find a secluded and deserted place."

Bai Cheng was also stunned when he heard this.

'Huh? Secluded? Deserted place? What's this birdman up to?'

Thinking of this, Bai Cheng's eyes lit up, and he immediately said with great enthusiasm, "Your Excellency Inspector, you see that my courtyard is surrounded by high walls, and we are the only remaining family in the surrounding area. This place is secluded and deserted. No one will notice if I teach here! Please, Your Excellency Inspector, teach me and enlighten me!"

Upon hearing this, Pang Yuhuai looked bewildered.

'Wait, why isn't this kid playing by the rules? Shouldn't he be coming with me to find a secluded, deserted place right away?'

Having thought this through, Pang Yuhuai had already prepared his explanation.

"Young man, the cultivation of this fourth level is quite profound. When in motion, it can shake mountains and territories. When still, it can make the mind as calm as still water. When it roars, it can be as loud as thunder. You can't fully utilize it in your small courtyard."

Bai Cheng was also somewhat moved when he heard these words.

'What's going on? This guy's got a whole story to tell, could it actually be true?'

After thinking about this, Bai Cheng finally gave up the idea.

"To be honest, Your Excellency Inspector, I have only just reached the third level of the Body Refining Technique and have not yet fully mastered it. So please give me some time to become proficient before you teach me the so-called fourth level of the Body Refining Technique."

After speaking, Bai Cheng bowed to him.

Upon seeing this scene, Pang Yuhuai's expression was one of quiet authority, and he slammed his hand on the table.

"Hmph! Ignorant brat, do you know you've missed a tremendous opportunity? Do you know how many people have begged me to teach them the fourth level of this Body Refining Technique, but I've refused them all? You should reflect on your actions. I'll come back to you in a couple of days."

After saying that, he immediately got up, mounted his sword, and rode away.

After he left, Bai Cheng immediately went to the stone table.

"Ouch, my goodness! This stone table can't withstand that slam!"

After a careful inspection, Bai Cheng found that there was nothing wrong with the stone table, indicating that Pang Yuhuai hadn't used any force. He then sat down at the stone table, took out the body-refining manual, and idly flipped through it.

'It seems that Pang Yuhuai's goal is most likely to lure me out, but why would he do that?'

Since the books in this world are all turned from left to right, Bai Cheng was bored and flipped through the pages of the Body Refining Manual, looking at the postures of the characters. Although Bai Cheng had memorized every single movement, he suddenly remembered that when he was in school, he often drew character movements in the lower right corner of the book, and then drew another movement on the next page. This way, when the book was turned quickly, it was like a short animation, presented frame by frame.

Thinking of this, Bai Cheng picked up the Body Refining Manual and let the pages slide automatically from left to right.

Bai Cheng watched the movements, from the first single-point exertion to the final full-body exertion, over and over again, but still couldn't find any secret.

"Tsk, they even said the Body Refining Technique has a fourth level. Where did this fourth level come from? If it did, wouldn't it have been discovered by the world long ago?"

Then, out of boredom, he changed the direction and made the book open automatically from right to left. This way, the content presented was from the final full-body exertion to the exertion at a single point on the first page.

However, this flipping made Bai Cheng somewhat puzzled. He then quickly flipped through it several more times, and the more he looked, the more serious his expression became.

A doubt gradually began to surface in his mind.

"Huh? Wait a minute! This Body Refining Technique, when viewed from front to back, only shows the process from the initial point of exertion to the point of exertion throughout the body. This process is to adapt to the circulation of spiritual energy within the body. But if viewed from back to front, it's like the body is filled with spiritual energy, which slowly gathers at a single point before being exerted. Could this be hinting at how to gather one's spiritual energy at a single point within the body? But after practicing the Qi Condensation Technique, I can already control the circulation of spiritual energy within my body. Could this be some kind of hidden technique? Could there really be a fourth level?"

As Bai Cheng continued to ponder, he became unsure whether his speculation was true or false. He could only wait until the next training rotation to try it out in that mysterious cave.

Two days later, as Bai Cheng returned to the mysterious cave to cultivate, he began to try cultivating backwards from the last page of the Body Refining Manual. However, the process was not very smooth. Although he could now gather the spiritual energy in his body to any point, when he tried to follow the methods in the Body Refining Manual, he always felt that the spiritual energy was constantly surging wildly inside his body, as if it was about to break free of its restraints.

As this spiritual energy circulated throughout his body, the long-absent throbbing pain quickly returned. It felt as if his body was in danger of exploding at any moment. Bai Cheng immediately stopped his cultivation; he was now covered in sweat and sitting cross-legged in the cave.

"Could my guess be wrong? Is this not some hidden technique? Sigh, I'll try practicing it first. It's not like I haven't exploded before."

Bai Cheng was like this because, since he came to this world, apart from the Body Refining Technique and the Qi Condensation Technique, he had not seen any other cultivation methods, which made him wonder.

Since there were no cultivation techniques, how did those cultivators develop their own moves? They couldn't all have evolved them on their own, could they? Therefore, for the next three days, Bai Cheng continued to cultivate according to the Body Refining Technique. As he progressed to the second level of the Body Refining Technique and concentrated his spiritual energy at several key points throughout his body, Bai Cheng was surprised to find that, besides the intense swelling and pain, faint golden arcs of electricity appeared in those areas—that was the spiritual energy within his body!

Bai Cheng was also greatly surprised by this scene, because he had only tried to condense the spiritual power in his body with his palms, and this was the first time he had seen the spiritual power in his body begin to manifest from other places.

Bai Cheng was increasingly puzzled, because it was impossible for him to be the only one who had discovered this method, yet no one had ever mentioned it before. So he decided to continue cultivating in this way and see what would happen.

So Bai Cheng took turns with Yu Qing'an and the others to cultivate in the cave. During this time, Pang Yuhuai also came to find Bai Cheng several times, but Bai Cheng made various excuses to refuse. Bai Cheng also felt that Pang Yuhuai's expression was increasingly unable to conceal his murderous intent.

And so, half a month passed.

Bai Cheng happened to be home today when there was a sudden knock on the door. Bai Cheng was a little confused because this was the first time in the past two weeks that someone had knocked on the door, and it didn't seem to be that jerk.

Just as Bai Cheng was pondering, Yu Qing's voice came from outside the door.

"Bai Cheng, are you home?"

"Yu Qing? It's you?"

The two then went into the courtyard.

Yu Qing's face showed a hint of unease.

"Bai Cheng, do you remember what I told you before?"

Bai Cheng was also taken aback when he heard this.

"Which matter? Didn't you get re-elected as village chief because Zhao Haiming withdrew?"

Yu Qing shook his head

"It's not that matter, it's the matter at the mine."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng suddenly remembered.

"Oh, so that's what it was about. What? Are we about to start a fight with Hejia Village?"

“That’s right, the Lantern Festival is approaching. Three days before the festival, the competition for the mining share will officially begin, so I would like to ask you and Yue Ling to help us in the battle.”

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng immediately agreed.

"Okay! No problem. By the way, are the rules of the competition still the same as before?"

“That’s right. Apart from the village chief’s son, the other two’s bone age must not exceed twenty-two years old. The time will be in five days. I will come to find you then.”

After a series of discussions, Bai Cheng bid farewell to Yu Qing.

That evening, when Yu Qing'an returned, Bai Cheng told Yue Ling about it. Since Yu Qing had already come once before, Yue Ling readily agreed.

At the same time, on the far west side of the Qingyun Mountains in Yunmiao Kingdom, there was a flat-topped mountain, and inside the mountain pass was a sunken basin, which was covered with dense forests and shrouded in clouds and mist.

However, in the very center of the basin sits an ancient circular stone array, the outermost ring exceeding a hundred meters in diameter. Engraved on the stones are obscure and difficult-to-understand patterns, exuding an ancient and awe-inspiring aura. The moss covering the stones tells of how many years ago this array was activated.

Just then, as if sensing something, the stone array on the ground began to tremble slightly throughout the basin. First, the outermost ring lit up, then began to rotate, and so on, layer by layer, continuously driving the inner circular arrays to repeat the process until the innermost core circular array lit up.

Immediately afterwards, a beam of light descended from the sky, enveloping the entire magic array on the ground.

At the same time, the light also instantly illuminated Liuyin Village, several miles away from Wuyin Mountain.

At this moment, a villager from Liuyin Village quickly ran into the village chief's house.

"Village Chief! Something terrible has happened! The teleportation array at Mist Mountain has suddenly activated!"

Upon hearing this, Gui Xuzi slowly raised his head. His wild, beast-like pupils trembled uncontrollably, and the excitement on his face was impossible to conceal.

“A whole century has passed, and finally people have come from over there. Let’s call the other villagers and head to the back mountain together.”

Subsequently, all the other villagers of Liuyin Village followed Guixuzi to Wuyin Mountain.

Upon closer inspection, most of these villagers were wrapped up tightly, with some even having half their faces covered with cloth strips. Others, mostly women, looked like normal people.

After a while, Gui Xuzi led a force of several thousand people to the magic array in the central basin of Wuyin Mountain. At this moment, the light of the magic array slowly began to dim.

After the light disappeared, three people were standing in the center of the formation.

Leading the group was a woman with long purple hair and a veil. Her body emanated a powerful aura of spiritual energy. With just one step forward, the villagers immediately felt an invisible pressure and all knelt down.

The two men beside the woman were rather tall and imposing. One of them had a face that looked like it had been painted with several white stripes, while the other had a full beard and a darker complexion.

Upon seeing this, Guixuzi immediately went to the three of them and knelt down.

"Greetings to Venerable Fierce Tiger and Venerable Mighty Giant!"

Venerable Fierce Tiger looked at the large group of villagers before him.

“Gui Xuzi, it’s been a hundred years. You seem to be doing quite well in Willow Hermitage.”

Guixuzi raised his head slightly after hearing this.

"Venerable White Tiger is joking. Gui Xuzi is under orders to guard the ancient teleportation array. There is no way he could have such a comfortable life."

At this moment, Venerable Juli stepped forward and said to Guixuzi, "Get up. Let me introduce you. This is our demon race's newly advanced demon king after passing the tribulation of transformation, the Purple Moon Demon King! His name is Yue Qingwu."

Upon hearing this, Gui Xuzi slowly stood up. Looking at Yue Qingwu, who wore a purple veil, he trembled slightly. He could sense a terrifying surge of spiritual energy emanating from her—an energy he had never felt from either of the two Venerables.

Gui Xuzi was also secretly startled.

'Is this what the Demon King realm is like?'

After inwardly marveling, he finally asked:

"Then what brings you two Venerable Ones and Lord Purple Moon Demon King to this Starfall Continent? You must know that this is human territory. According to the regulations of the human race from three thousand years ago, demon kings are not allowed to set foot on the Starfall Continent."