Reversing the Milky Way

With that in mind, Bai Cheng ran towards what he thought was the direction of the lake.

However, what he didn't know was that because of his previous rapid back-and-forth maneuvers, he was now completely lost. But Bai Cheng knew that as long as he ran in one direction, he would definitely reach the lake.

"Fortunately, the attacks of these flying insects are not as strong as those of cultivators, and they hardly consume the spiritual power in the mysterious fragment in my body. If I can maintain this state, I can maintain it for about half an hour now, which is enough time for me to run out of the range of Emerald Spirit Island and Sunset Lake."

As Bai Cheng ran in one direction, he didn't notice that the ground beneath his feet was getting darker and darker, and as he ran, the spiritual plants he had picked earlier fell out of his pocket.

When Shangguan Zhi, who was chasing after the trees, saw the area ahead, his expression suddenly turned serious.

"here it is?!"

He quickly used his spiritual power to activate the black ball in his hand, and at that moment the black ball emitted bursts of sound waves. These were low-frequency sounds that were imperceptible to the human ear, but cultivators could sense them using the spiritual energy in the air.

"return!"

At the same time, the flying insects that had been chasing Bai Cheng and launching attacks stopped as if they had heard a command.

Afterward, the flying insects quickly returned to the black ball in Shangguan Zhi's hand. Once gathered around the black ball, they began to fidget with their mandibles in front of Shangguan Zhi.

"My little darlings."

Shangguan Zhi took out a spirit stone and put it into the hole in the black sphere. Only then did the flying insects crawl into the black sphere one by one.

These flying insects are called Scaled Silk, a fourth-grade flying spirit pet. Their abdomens store purple venom full of spiritual power. Once they get stuck, even cultivators can be killed instantly. Their food consists of substances full of spiritual energy.

After summoning all the flying insects back into the black ball in his hand, Shangguan Zhi looked at Bai Cheng, who was running into a purple bamboo forest.

"You asked for this."

Then, he glanced at the completely setting sun, gave a disdainful snort, turned around, and flew south.

After noticing that the flying insects around him had stopped chasing him, Bai Cheng gradually stopped as well. At this moment, he also noticed the scene in front of him. Since it was already dark, most of the plants on the island were glowing with spiritual light, especially the bamboo forest in front of him, where every bamboo stalk was emitting a purple spiritual light that was flashing.

He didn't rush to observe what was in front of him, but instead calmed down and used his divine sense to probe the surroundings to ensure that Shangguan Zhi and the insects he controlled were coming after him. While probing, he was surprised to find that his divine sense seemed to be able to detect ranges up to two hundred meters away. This was because as his cultivation level increased, the range that his divine sense could detect also increased, and he became more and more proficient in perceiving the surrounding spiritual energy.

Only then did he calm down and approach the bamboo shimmering with purple light.

"What kind of bamboo is this? I don't think I've seen it in any of the previous books. But since it can emit spiritual light, it must be a kind of spiritual plant."

In a daze, Bai Cheng suddenly saw that the surface of the bamboo was covered with a layer of flowing silk threads. The threads were so fine that they could not be seen unless one looked closely.

"Huh? What's this?"

Filled with curiosity, Bai Cheng slowly reached out his hand, wanting to touch the surface of the bamboo. However, the moment his fingertips touched the bamboo, a strong electric shock suddenly spread from his hand, and blinding sparks of electricity burst before his eyes. The energy emanating from his palm made him stagger back several steps.

Bai Cheng, who had regained his balance, was startled.

"What?! What's going on?! This purple spirit bamboo is carrying a strong electric current?! Does such a magical plant even exist in this world?"

While marveling at the sight, Bai Cheng continued forward, seemingly forgetting Tianhu's earlier warning and completely absorbed in the mysterious purple forest before him.

After traveling several hundred meters, a flashing light suddenly appeared ahead of him, accompanied by faint crackling sounds in the air. Bai Cheng grew increasingly curious about what was happening before him. He approached and saw an ancient bronze pavilion standing before him, its edges enveloped by a visible array. A woman sat in the center of the pavilion, her clothes billowing in the surrounding lightning, exuding an ethereal and otherworldly aura.

Around the woman were six broken pieces of purple bamboo arranged in an orderly fashion. At the gaps in the bamboo, a thin line made of purple lightning continuously coiled around the woman, rotating as if it were alive. Each flash of the purple lightning intertwined with the surrounding lightning, eventually converging into the woman's body.

Bai Cheng was also extremely shocked when he saw this scene, because he could sense from the movement of spiritual energy that the woman in front of him was actually cultivating. However, he had never heard of such an astonishing cultivation method, which made him take a few steps back.

However, at that moment, he felt a jolt from behind and immediately turned around in alarm.

He was startled to find an elderly man with a white beard and temples standing behind him.

'When did this old man appear? I didn't even notice!'

The old man was looking at Bai Cheng with a menacing gaze, which made Bai Cheng feel uneasy, because he sensed that the old man in front of him had reached the late stage of the Meridian Opening Realm.

"Junior Bai Cheng greets Senior."

Bai Cheng reacted quickly. Having been in this world for so long, he had figured out how to behave when he saw these powerful figures. In short, whenever he saw a powerful figure of this level, he would first bow in respect.

"Who are you? Why are you here? Don't you know this place is off-limits?"

Although the old man's voice was calm, his words carried a slight hint of hostility.

"I only wanted to leave this island, but I never expected to lose my way and unintentionally wander into this place."

"In that case, I will see you off."

Having said that, the old man slightly raised his hand and reached out towards Bai Cheng. At that moment, Bai Cheng felt as if he were locked in place by an invisible force, unable to move, a feeling that terrified him. If he hadn't sensed that the old man meant him no harm, he would have almost activated the power of the fragments within him.

"Wait, Elder Jing!"

The woman's voice came from the pavilion; it was unclear when, but she had stopped cultivating.

"Junior Brother Bai Cheng, is this our first formal meeting?"

Upon seeing the woman's face, Bai Cheng was also taken aback. Although he had seen many stunning faces in this world, he was still captivated by the unique charm of the woman before him. The woman in front of him seemed to have stepped out of the dream world of anime. Her delicate features were perfectly proportioned, and her eyes radiated a pure light that seemed to dispel all gloom. A unique charm enveloped her entire being.

"Young lady, why do you call me junior brother?"

The woman smiled gently, and that smile seemed to plunge Bai Cheng into a vortex of infatuation, subconsciously even making him think of a name for the child.

"My name is Gu Wanru, and I am a formal student at the White House Academy."

'Gu Wanru? I think she's the branch head of Tianxing Pavilion, Gu Xinglan's daughter.'

Thinking of this, Bai Cheng shook his head.

'No! I already have Ling'er in my heart.'

After gathering his emotions, Bai Cheng respectfully said, "So it's Senior Sister Gu. My apologies for my rudeness."

“Junior Brother Bai Cheng, please don’t be so formal. This place is an excellent spot for gathering lightning, and the spiritual plants growing here are called Thunder Bamboo. Because the spiritual light they emit looks like a pale purple, this place is also known as the Purple Bamboo Forest. And this is the guardian of the Purple Bamboo Forest, Senior Jing Yezhou.”

'Purple Bamboo Grove... Thunder Bamboo...'

Bai Cheng silently recited the two names in his heart, and he suddenly recalled how Gu Wanru had been cultivating just now.

"Senior Sister Gu, may I ask if you were cultivating just now? Why have I never seen this kind of cultivation method before?"

However, before Gu Wanru could speak, Jing Yezhou spoke first: "This is a cultivation method unique to those with the Thunder Spirit Physique. It is a special cultivation method that allows one to directly refine the surrounding lightning into one's own body. This method is extremely dangerous, but the benefits it brings are also enormous."

"Directly refining the surrounding lightning!?"

Bai Cheng was shocked. He hadn't expected that someone with a lightning spirit physique could achieve such a level of power. However, he quickly recalled being struck by lightning before. He clearly felt that after being struck by lightning, his body seemed to have endless power.

'If there's a way to cultivate, does that mean I won't need to cultivate in the Earth Spirit Tower?'

Thinking about this, Bai Cheng couldn't hide his excitement.

"May I ask, Senior Jing, if we cultivate using this method, how does it compare to the concentration of spiritual energy in the Earth Spirit Tower?"

"That depends on what auxiliary items you use for cultivation. Take the Thunder Bamboo for example; it needs at least three hundred years of growth before it can be used for cultivation. Otherwise, if the bamboo isn't old enough, the cultivation effect will be greatly reduced. As for the cultivation method..."

At this point, Jing Yezhou looked at Gu Wanru, his eyes darting around uncertainly.

Gu Wanru then chimed in.

"I obtained this cultivation method by chance in a cultivator's cave. If you want it, you'll have to see what you can offer in exchange."

Bai Cheng felt somewhat disappointed as he ended his visit there.

'That's true, how could she possibly tell me about such a special cultivation method?'

Thinking of this, he immediately asked.

"Senior Sister Gu, what items do you need in exchange for this special cultivation technique?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Wanru also adopted a thoughtful posture.

"Since it's an exchange, it must be in exchange for items of equal quality. This method corresponds to at least a Heaven-rank cultivation technique. If you can offer the same cultivation technique, or a treasure no less than a high-grade spiritual artifact, or a seventh-grade lightning-attribute spiritual plant, I will teach you this cultivation method."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng was completely stunned. He had never even heard of the conditions Gu Wanru mentioned, let alone seen them before. He knew that the silver spear Bai Zhentian had used was only a mid-grade spiritual weapon, and weapons of that level possessed overwhelming power, let alone high-grade spiritual weapons.

As for Heaven-rank techniques, needless to say, he had previously seen the Bai family's Wind Soul Spear Technique, which was only a low-grade Profound-rank technique. This was the highest-level technique he had ever seen so far.

Bai Cheng thought about it carefully. Of the three conditions, only a seventh-grade lightning-attribute spiritual plant seemed to be the simplest. However, even with this condition, Bai Cheng couldn't possibly meet it, because not only did the seventh-grade spiritual plant have to be lightning-attribute, but he had only seen fourth-grade spiritual plants a few times.

Upon thinking of this, Bai Cheng's gaze immediately focused on the surrounding Thunder Bamboo.

"I wonder, what grade of spiritual plant is this Thunder Bamboo?"

Jing Yezhou stroked his white beard and said, "Before it matures, the Thunder Bamboo can only be considered a third-grade bamboo. After a three-hundred-year growth cycle, it will reach the fourth-grade level."

"Rank 4? This rare item is only a Rank 4 spiritual plant?"

“That’s right. Once a spiritual plant exceeds the third grade, it has extremely demanding requirements for its growing environment and conditions. In the entire White Maple City, only this place can grow Thunder Bamboo. And once a spiritual plant exceeds the sixth grade, its growing environment is unimaginable. Even some of the larger sects have relatively few records of spiritual plants above the seventh grade, let alone spiritual plants with the lightning attribute.”

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng was once again dumbfounded.

'So, that means it's practically impossible to create a seventh-grade lightning-attribute spiritual plant.'

Thinking of this, Bai Cheng sighed.

"Senior Sister Gu Wanru, the things you mentioned, let alone me, I'm afraid no one in the entire White Maple City could offer anything in exchange for them, right?"

"That's right, that's exactly it."

A surge of emotion welled up inside Bai Cheng.

'Damn, isn't this a joke? Well, that makes sense. I wouldn't easily exchange such a precious cultivation method with someone else either. But this cultivation method has given me a thought; perhaps I could also…'

Upon realizing this, Bai Cheng immediately cupped his hands and said, "It seems I have no affinity with this cultivation method. It's getting late, so I'll take my leave now."

After saying that, Bai Cheng turned to leave. But Gu Wanru gave him a look, and Jing Yezhou understood immediately.

"Kid, I said I'd give you a ride, so let me take you away."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng turned around in confusion, only to find Jing Yezhou's hand already on his shoulder.

"Ok?"

Just as Bai Cheng was wondering, lightning suddenly flashed in Jing Yezhou's eyes. Then he felt a huge energy gather on his shoulder and envelop his entire body.

In an instant, Bai Cheng felt the scene before him rapidly recede into the distance, and the surrounding environment immediately transformed into blinding beams of light, leaving only Jing Yezhou's appearance clearly visible.