Reversing the Milky Way

Thinking of this, Bai Cheng glanced at the slightly rippling lake water.

'No, there might be another way.'

Thinking of this, Bai Cheng swayed his body and then did a few warm-up exercises. That's right, he was going to run across the twenty-mile-long lake. This method might be impossible for others, but for someone with the Thunder Spirit Physique, running a hundred meters per second was no problem at all.

Immediately afterwards, Bai Cheng took a deep breath, looked straight ahead, and golden spiritual energy began to gather beneath his feet. Golden arcs of electricity crackled around his legs, each flash accompanied by a slight tremor in the air.

"drink!!"

Bai Cheng let out a low groan, and after a short run-up, he shot forward like an arrow. With each step, instead of sinking into the water, he stirred up layers of mist, leaving long trails on the surface.

Bai Cheng sped away across the lake; the twenty-mile journey took him less than four minutes.

"Look! What is that?"

Bai Cheng's actions were quickly spotted by the patrolling city guards.

"The captain looks like a person!"

"Stop him quickly!"

Several people approached Bai Cheng, who was running, from the air. The leader even drew his weapon and arrived a short distance in front of Bai Cheng in an instant.

"Kid, stop right now!"

Bai Cheng, who was running, shouted loudly at the city guards who suddenly flew in front of him, "Brother, I can't stop! Can you let me get to the island first?"

Upon hearing this, the city guard captain immediately raised his weapon, and with a forceful swing, a water wall tens of meters high suddenly rose in front of Bai Cheng.

"Anyone who wants to enter the island must undergo an identity check. If you don't stop, don't blame me for being impolite."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng cursed inwardly.

"Damn it, I absolutely can't stop now. If I stop, I'll definitely fall into this lake. I don't know how deep it is, and if I sink, I'll be in big trouble."

Thinking this, Bai Cheng increased his running speed again, so much so that the afterimage between his legs was barely visible. With a powerful stomp of his foot, he crashed into the wall of water in front of him. Accompanied by golden lightning crackling around his body, Bai Cheng shot through the obstacle like a bullet and continued running towards Emerald Spirit Island.

'Very good, less than five li to go.'

However, at that moment, the water in front of him suddenly began to surge violently.

"Boy, you have the guts!"

The city guard captain swiftly descended from the sky onto the lake surface, followed closely by the rest of the guards. He raised his weapon high above his head, then stomped his feet, causing several clones formed from water to suddenly emerge from the surface. The clones' weapons were also half-swords formed from water.

Immediately afterward, he brandished his weapon, and his clone and teammates swarmed forward, launching a direct attack on Bai Cheng. Bai Cheng saw the dozen or so figures rushing towards him and quickly scanned them with his eyes.

'These people can walk on water; do they have some kind of trick?'

Bai Cheng analyzed his own movement trajectory in his mind. Because he was now much faster than these people, after finding their weaknesses and gaps, he quickly bypassed the five clones attacking him with his elegant movements. Then, Bai Cheng rolled and twirled on the lake like a juggler, and even sometimes walked on the lake like a wild beast.

In just a second, he left his clone and patrol team more than 100 meters behind.

However, at that moment, a half-finished sword slashed straight at his chest.

Bai Cheng's pupils contracted sharply, and his body reacted swiftly, bending backward and sliding across the lake like a glider. However, the city guard captain quickly formed a hand seal, and dozens of chains suddenly shot out from the lake, closely following Bai Cheng and extending all the way.

Just as he was about to be caught by the chains formed from water, Bai Cheng leaned forward, quickly performed a hand flip on the water's surface, avoided the chains beneath him, and continued running towards Emerald Spirit Island.

Upon seeing that Bai Cheng had escaped his attack range, the city guard captain immediately accelerated to give chase.

"This kid actually has the Thunder Spirit Body! No wonder he ran so fast!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a stream of water surged up beneath his feet, carrying him at an extremely fast speed towards Bai Cheng. A cultivator in the late stage of the Qi Condensation Realm can reach a speed of 200 meters per second when flying at full speed. At this speed, the distance between the city guard captain and Bai Cheng was rapidly closing.

'We're almost there!' Bai Cheng looked at the land not far in front of him and felt a surge of emotion.

However, he suddenly felt a threat from behind. The city guard captain held his weapon horizontally in front of him, the spiritual energy already accumulating on it indicating the extraordinary power of this attack. With a forceful swing, a spiritual energy slash tens of meters wide flew towards Bai Cheng.

Bai Cheng's eyes were sharp. Just as the spiritual energy slash was about to touch him, he suddenly exerted force with his legs, leaping high into the air like a cannonball. His body drew a graceful arc in the air, skillfully avoiding the fierce spiritual energy slash.

The city guard captain's attack was truly astonishing. The spiritual energy slash struck the lake's surface, instantly creating towering waves, like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, stirring up a massive surge.

The lake water was churned violently by the powerful force, with water splashing hundreds of meters into the air. Bai Cheng landed smoothly under the impact, and when he turned around and saw the attack behind him, he was shocked. However, he was now standing on Emerald Spirit Island, and his eyes revealed a trace of fatigue.

However, he knew the city guard captain wouldn't let him go. Ignoring his need for rest, he immediately reached into his pocket. But just as he expected, the city guard captain's figure broke through the waves in front of him, his half-sword wielding a sharp aura as he attacked Bai Cheng.

The next moment, the city guard captain suddenly stopped. Bai Cheng had already taken out the Bai family's identity token, and the Bai family's emblem engraved on the token was clearly visible. The half-blade in front of him was less than half a meter away from his neck.

The city guard captain withdrew his fierce attack, snatched the token from Bai Cheng's hand and examined it. After confirming the authenticity of the identity token, he also looked at Bai Cheng suspiciously.

"Since you are a member of the Bai family, why do you flee at the sight of us?"

As he spoke, he raised the half-sword in his hand high, pressing it towards Bai Cheng. Bai Cheng, at this moment, also spread his hands in front of him and hurriedly explained.

"I was on the lake just now, wasn't I? I can't swim, so I can only show you my identity when we get to the island."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a sound came from afar.

"Who has landed on this island?!"

Tianhu arrived with the Bai family's patrol guards. Upon seeing that it was Bai Cheng, he lowered his guard. After the city guard captain realized that Tianhu and Bai Cheng knew each other, he tossed the Bai family's identity token back to Bai Cheng.

"Hmph, let's go!"

After saying that, he turned and left with his patrol team. Tianhu approached Bai Cheng and asked him questions.

"What happened? Why are they making things difficult for you?"

After listening, Bai Cheng explained the whole story...

"I see. It's not their fault; they were just following the rules. This time, I won't guide you to Emerald Spirit Island. But remember, there are many places on Emerald Spirit Island that outsiders are not allowed to enter; please be very careful."

“I’ll remember that, Brother Tianhu.”

After parting ways with Tianhu, Bai Cheng continued towards the Earth Spirit Tower in the center of Emerald Spirit Island. Half an hour later, Bai Cheng arrived at the entrance of the Earth Spirit Tower again. After the guards checked Bai Cheng's identity token, they allowed him to enter the tower.

Because the Earth Spirit Tower is underground, Bai Cheng always felt like he was visiting a haunted house whenever he came here. As he walked up the stone steps, he suddenly saw a cultivator flying upwards on a sword. In just one glance, Bai Cheng recognized the person; it was Xu Hongyu, who had fought Luo Fan at the Bai family banquet that night.

At this moment, pink flames of spiritual energy gathered beneath his feet. As he passed by, Bai Cheng could clearly feel the intense heat in the air, as if he were passing by a giant furnace.

When Xu Hongyu saw Bai Cheng descending the stone steps, he quickly glanced at Bai Cheng out of the corner of his eye before continuing to fly upwards. After seeing Xu Hongyu fly out of the exit, Bai Cheng muttered to himself.

"This scorching pink spiritual energy is far more domineering than normal fire-attribute spiritual energy. Could this be some kind of mutated fire-attribute physique? It seems that my understanding of the physiques here is far from adequate."

At that moment, he suddenly remembered Luo Fan, who had defeated Xu Hongyu. Back then, Luo Fan had also manifested a patch of grayish-white, cold flames.

"I remember that Luo Fan's move was more domineering than Xu Hongyu's flames, but I couldn't feel the same intense heat as the former."

After a moment's thought, he continued on his way.

After arriving at the first floor of the Earth Spirit Tower, he greeted Bai Siyong.

"The White Butler."

"Hmm? Bai Cheng?"

The last time Bai Siyong saw Bai Cheng was a month ago.

"Bai Cheng, as a disciple of the Bai family, do you only come to the Earth Spirit Tower to cultivate once a month? You should know that people from other aristocratic families, even if they are not scions of aristocratic families, come at least three to five times a month. If you cultivate like this, it will be difficult for your cultivation to advance further in a short period of time."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng shook his head helplessly.

"What can I do? I don't have any way to gain points right now. This is just a cultivation path provided by the Bai family."

Upon hearing this, Bai Siyong frowned and looked at Bai Cheng.

"The fact that you can cultivate on the second level of the Earth Spirit Tower shows that your talent is extraordinary. Do you know Xu Hongyu of the Overlord Blade Sect? He cultivates on the second level of the Earth Spirit Tower for at least ten days a month. Even our Bai family's young master spends at least ten days a month there. In my opinion, your talent is on par with theirs. You should know that you are currently at the fourth level of the Spirit Induction Realm. Below the Qi Condensation Realm, you are the only one who can cultivate on the second level."

Bai Cheng was also shocked to hear this.

"What? I'm all alone?!"

"That's right! Do you think I tried so hard to stop you from going to the second level before? You should know that a person's speed of refining spiritual energy is mainly related to their cultivation level, and only secondarily to their aptitude."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng also withdrew his surprised expression.

"So that's it..."

In fact, Bai Cheng did not think that his cultivation aptitude was particularly good. He was able to cultivate in a spiritual energy environment that exceeded his physical limits, which was all thanks to the mysterious fragment of his physical strength. Without that mysterious fragment, he would not have been able to withstand a cultivation environment with twenty times the spiritual energy.

However, continuing to cultivate in places with even higher spiritual energy concentrations is not impossible, but for Bai Cheng in his current state, even going to places with higher spiritual energy concentrations would be of no use, because his body has already reached its limit for cultivation environments with twenty times the spiritual energy. Even if he went to a cultivation environment with thirty times the spiritual energy, his cultivation speed would remain the same; the excess spiritual energy would only be absorbed by the fragments within his body.

"Hey, look who's here!"

A sound broke Bai Cheng's mood.

A man dressed in magnificent clothes walked out of the secret cultivation chamber next to him. Upon seeing him, Bai Cheng immediately recognized him as Bai Jiang.

Bai Jiang sauntered over to Bai Siyong, humming a little tune as he did so, clearly in a pleasant mood.

“Uncle, I think I just heard someone whose talent is comparable to my cousin’s.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Bai Cheng beside him.

“I remember you. You are a disciple from outside the Bai family that my second uncle specially recruited. Although you also have the surname Bai, don’t forget that you are not a member of my Bai family. The fact that you can cultivate in this Earth Spirit Tower for one day a month is a favor bestowed upon you by my Bai family. Otherwise, you wouldn’t even be able to enter the gate.”

Bai Cheng remained unperturbed by Bai Jiang's mockery.

He turned to Bai Siyong and said, "Steward Bai, I shall take my leave now."

After saying that, he ignored Bai Jiang's gaze and walked onto the teleportation platform.

At this moment, Bai Jiang's playful expression slowly turned serious.

"What is this kid trying to do?!"

Afterwards, in front of Bai Jiang, Bai Cheng activated the teleportation array and disappeared into the array's light.

Bai Jiang looked very surprised after seeing this scene.

'This guy can actually activate the teleportation array?!'

He quickly turned to look at Bai Siyong.

"Uncle, do you know this guy's background?"

Bai Siyong returned to his seat with a calm expression.

“I’ve heard about this from my cousin. His background is still unclear. But I remember it was something like this: he was someone that Shirakawa Kai rescued when he was out there, and then he lived with him.”

"Uncle, don't you find this strange?"

"What's wrong with this?"

"Think about it, my uncle has been out of contact for more than 20 years, while this Bai Chengren is only in his early twenties."

Bai Jiang's meaning was very clear, but upon hearing this, Bai Siyong suddenly stood up angrily, and the emotional fluctuations caused his spiritual power to be released wildly around him.