Reversing the Milky Way

Just as Bai Cheng was still astonished by what was happening before his eyes, the surrounding environment suddenly became clear, and the surrounding light disappeared. Bai Cheng looked around in shock and found that he was now at the shore of Sunset Lake.

"What! What happened?"

Bai Cheng opened his mouth in surprise and looked at Emerald Spirit Island in the center of the lake.

'This is unbelievable! The center of Emerald Spirit Island is at least fifty miles from the shore of Sunset Lake, and only five seconds have passed, yet I've already been transported to the shore of Sunset Lake?!'

At this moment, Jing Yezhou slowly removed his hand from Bai Cheng's shoulder, and the strange energy surrounding Bai Cheng's body slowly dissipated.

Seeing Bai Cheng's blank expression, Jing Yezhou stroked his beard smugly.

"Hehe, are you quite surprised, young man?"

Bai Cheng steadied himself, tightly closing his mouth which had opened in surprise. His Adam's apple bobbed slightly as he forced down his astonishment. As the turbulent emotions surging within him gradually subsided, he finally asked the question.

"Senior, what kind of move was that just now?"

"Heh, you want to learn? But you're not qualified to know right now."

After speaking, Jing Yezhou slowly turned around. His back view made Bai Cheng feel that he was incredibly large, like an insurmountable towering figure. You must know that his speed just now was definitely in the range of ten miles per second, and one mile in this world is equivalent to one kilometer on Earth.

In other words, my speed just now reached ten kilometers per second on Earth, which is equivalent to the speed of a certain Dongfeng Express.

Previously, Bai Cheng was surprised and even complacent about his ability to run 100 meters per second. But now he clearly felt the gap between himself and the old man in front of him.

Then, Jing Yezhou's body crackled with countless bolts of lightning. In an instant, he transformed into a beam of light and vanished at a speed that Bai Cheng could not comprehend.

At the same speed, in less than three seconds, he disappeared from Bai Cheng's sight and vanished into the lush and verdant Emerald Spirit Island. Gazing in the direction where Jing Yezhou disappeared, Bai Cheng remained stunned for a long time. It could be said that his experience this time had completely refreshed his understanding of the Thunder Spirit Physique.

After calming himself down, he turned and walked toward the White House Academy.

In the bamboo grove, Jing Yezhou returned to the bronze pavilion, then placed one hand flat on his chest and bowed respectfully to Gu Wanru.

If this scene were seen by outsiders, it would be hard to imagine that a cultivator in the late stage of the Qi Opening Realm would bow to a cultivator who is only at the Great Perfection of the Qi Condensation Realm. However, Jing Yezhou did do so, and Gu Wanru did not find anything wrong with it.

At this moment, Gu Wanru had withdrawn the innocent expression she had shown when facing Bai Cheng, and her brows were tightly furrowed, leaving only a serious look.

“Elder Jing, if this person enters the Purple Bamboo Forest again in the future, there is no need to drive him away.”

After speaking, she looked into the star-filled night sky with her bright, beautiful eyes, and a thought began to drift through her mind.

'Strange! Why is there a deviation?!'

As night fell, Bai Cheng returned to the entrance of the White House Academy, his mind still replaying the events of the day.

"Hmm, it seems I've forgotten something? Right, what about the spiritual plants I picked?"

Bai Cheng subconsciously searched his pockets, only to find that the seven grade-three spiritual plants he had picked had all disappeared.

"How could this happen? Did we lose it when Shangguan Zhi was chasing us? Damn it, isn't this a huge loss?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Bai Cheng's resentment towards Shangguan Zhi intensified.

'I never imagined Shangguan Zhi would be such a master at handling insects. It seems I need to find some ways to deal with those flying insects, otherwise their terrifying toxins are far too dangerous. Moreover, based on my experience with Shangguan Zhi, he's bound to be vengeful; he might come after me again at any time.'

Bai Cheng returned to his room and reviewed his cultivation progress. He then channeled his spiritual energy once more, condensing it into a weapon in his hand. Beneath its golden exterior, he could see tens of thousands of golden arcs of electricity surging within the weapon's surface.

He then tried to gather more spiritual energy into his weapon, which began to emit dazzling lightning. He then experimented with transforming the weapon into various forms, including a sword, axe, hammer, spear, and even chains.

During the process of change, he also clearly felt the spiritual energy in his body rapidly dissipating with each change.

"It's so difficult to condense objects with spiritual power. I've already reached the fifth level of Spirit Induction, so I should be able to cultivate the Spirit Control Technique."

After discarding his weapon, Bai Cheng began his cultivation as usual.

The next day, Bai Cheng arrived at the academy's cultivation technique pavilion early. Since Bai Cheng was not a formal student, he could only enter the first floor of the pavilion. However, to his surprise, Shangguan Yu stopped him outside before he even entered the pavilion.

Shangguan Yu was not only an elder of the Cultivation Techniques Pavilion, but also the father of Shangguan Zhi and Shangguan Rongze of the Shangguan family. He had already learned about Bai Cheng and their situation from his two sons, so when Bai Cheng arrived, he refused to let him enter the Cultivation Techniques Pavilion without any hesitation.

"Elder Shangguan, what do you mean by this?"

"Bai Cheng, you are not yet a student of this academy and are not qualified to enter the Cultivation Techniques Pavilion. I will only let you in after you obtain a student's identity token!"

Hearing this, Bai Cheng was puzzled, but upon learning that the person opposite him was Shangguan Yu, he instantly understood the man's intentions. After all, he and Shangguan Zhi had an unpleasant encounter on Cui Ling Island the day before.

Seeing Shangguan Yu's smug expression, Bai Cheng was also burning with anger.

'The Shangguan family, right...?'

Bai Cheng's thoughts were almost entirely reflected on his face, but he was powerless to do anything about it. Shangguan Yu was a cultivator at the early stage of the Meridian Opening Realm. Although he was not afraid that the other party would openly attack him in the White Palace Academy, he clearly could not enter the Cultivation Pavilion in this way.

"Elder Shangguan, I remember that Vice Dean Chu Xiaohe clearly told us when we entered the academy that as long as we reached the fifth level of the Spirit Guiding Realm, we could go to the Cultivation Technique Pavilion to receive the Spirit Control Technique. You are disregarding the Vice Dean's orders and arbitrarily blocking students from entering the cultivation technique pavilion. Are you trying to act arbitrarily? This White Palace Academy is not your Shangguan family's private place. What right do you have to stop me from entering?"

Bai Cheng's conversation with Shangguan Yu attracted the attention of some of the surrounding students.

Shangguan Yu did not back down when faced with Bai Cheng's questions.

"Hehe, why? It's because I'm an elder of this cultivation technique pavilion. I can say who can enter and they can enter, and I can say who can't enter and they can't enter. Don't try to use the vice dean's title to pressure me. Since he agreed to your request, then go find him."

After speaking, Shangguan Yu casually waved his hand, and a wave of spiritual energy rapidly spread in all directions, exuding a powerful aura that forced Bai Cheng to retreat repeatedly.

Then he hunched over and turned his back to Bai Cheng, saying, "I will not let you enter the Cultivation Technique Pavilion until you have obtained the White Palace Academy identity token!"

After saying that, he strode into the cultivation technique pavilion.

Bai Cheng, who remained where he was, was burning with rage. He watched as someone of the same cultivation level as him, who had entered the academy in the same batch, walked out of the cultivation technique pavilion. As if he had made up his mind, he turned and left amidst the strange gazes of those around him.

After he left, Shangguan Yu looked disdainfully in the direction Bai Cheng had gone.

"snort!".

Half an hour later, in the back mountain of the academy.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!!"

With a loud bang, the rock in front of Bai Cheng was shattered by a single punch.

By now, his fists were covered in pebbles and dust, some of which had even dug deep into his skin, drawing blood. His anger, however, remained unabated.

"I thought joining the Bai family would reduce obstacles on my cultivation path, but now it seems it has no effect. But is the Shangguan family really just related to the Bai family through marriage? Knowing I'm already a Bai family disciple, they still directly made things difficult for me. Is there some other inside story I don't know?"

Thinking of this, Bai Cheng, driven by anger, pounded hard on a large tree beside him. Several green leaves drifted down in front of him, and a bird's chirp came from above his head before fading away.

He immediately sat down cross-legged and took a deep breath, trying to calm his anger.

'No, we can't rush this. I need to ask Elder Hongyun myself; I refuse to believe he shares the same attitude.'

Thinking of this, Bai Cheng immediately stood up. Just as he turned to leave, a voice suddenly came from the valley. The voice was deep and powerful, and when it reached Bai Cheng's ears, it felt as if the entire earth was talking to him.

"When encountering a strong opponent, one should temporarily avoid their sharp edge. While youthful ambition is admirable, one must not let others perceive any suspicion in one's heart, otherwise, one may face a fatal disaster. Twenty li to the west, passing Wangning Lake, one will reach the foot of Waterfall Mountain."

As the sound gradually faded away, Bai Cheng snapped out of his daze, and all around him was silent.

"Was that the vice dean's voice just now? Was that telepathy?"

Although he didn't know why the vice dean had called him over, Bai Cheng still proceeded in the direction indicated by the words he had just heard.

After a while, Bai Cheng arrived at a lake. This was a lake in the academy, called Wangning Lake.

On the opposite side of the lake, there is a waterfall cliff that is no less than 500 meters high. A large amount of spiritual energy surges into the middle of the waterfall like a vortex, surrounded by spiritual plants, giving it the feeling of a fairyland.

"Is it here? It's unbelievable that the vice dean's voice transmission could reach our ears from twenty miles away!"

Suddenly, the waterfall in front of Bai Cheng surged with spiritual energy. Then, he saw the waterfall, which was originally hanging down, begin to change direction, and cross the lake like an arch bridge, coming to Bai Cheng.

Bai Cheng was quite surprised to see this.

"Let's talk after we come to the waterfall."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng tentatively stepped onto the arched bridge formed by the waterfall. The moment he stepped on it, Bai Cheng could feel that the water beneath his feet was as solid as the ground. The surface water no longer surged, while the water in the center continued to circulate from the center to both sides. He could even see some fish swimming back and forth in the water beneath his feet.

After confirming that nothing was amiss, Bai Cheng headed towards the distant waterfall. The water bridge was a full mile long, and when he reached the end of the waterfall's flow, a gap suddenly appeared in the water wall.

Bai Cheng then saw that behind the waterfall was a brightly lit cave. The spiritual energy at the cave entrance was constantly gathering, and its density was comparable to what he had felt on Emerald Spirit Island.

Just as he was about to continue forward, he was suddenly blocked by a transparent barrier. Upon contact with the barrier, its surface rippled rapidly outwards like water ripples.

A sound came from deep within the cave entrance.

"open!"

The barrier at the cave entrance vanished rapidly, and in an instant, the spiritual energy inside the cave rushed towards Bai Cheng like a storm, making it difficult for him to breathe.

Bai Cheng was shocked, for he discovered that the spiritual energy here was even more concentrated than the first level of the Earth Spirit Tower, about fifteen times that of ordinary areas. The cave was filled with spiritual herbs, even the lowest grade of which was a first-grade spiritual plant.

On the walls were symbols he couldn't understand, whether they were writing or paintings. As Bai Cheng continued walking inside, he found that the cave suddenly opened up, with a ray of sunlight shining through a circular hole in the ceiling, casting dappled light and shadow on the ground.

In the interplay of light and shadow, Vice Dean Chu Xiaohe sat cross-legged, his plain robe billowing, his eyes slightly closed.

"Vice Dean, why did you call me here?"

Chu Xiaohe slowly opened his eyes and looked at Bai Cheng in front of him.

I've already heard about what happened to you.

He immediately raised his hand, and a book flew to Bai Cheng's front—it was the Spirit Control Manual. Bai Cheng accepted the book and immediately began to express his gratitude.

"Thank you, Vice Dean. But I don't understand. Does this mean that the elders in the academy don't follow what you've said?"

"Elder Shangguan has been with our academy for over thirty years. Although he is now eighty-three years old, he still has the opportunity to break through to the Tonghai Realm in the future. Although he usually has a very low profile, he is considered a well-behaved person in the academy. In addition, he has a connection with the Bai family. Generally, as long as he does not do anything excessive, I will not interfere."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng felt somewhat indignant.

"Are we just going to let him run rampant like this? As a cultivator, I came to the White House Academy without hesitation after learning that it could provide me with many benefits on my cultivation path. If not, what's the difference between cultivating here and cultivating on my own?"

"Bai Cheng, do you know why this is so?"

"Why?"

"Although you were recruited by the Bai family, you still don't have any real backing. While the Bai family can offer some conveniences, they can't be overly biased towards you. The problem is that they are the leading family in Baifeng City, and their every word and action affects their reputation within the city. This applies not only to them but also to the other two major families and six major sects. Therefore, if you want others to respect you, you must be strong enough yourself. When you are strong enough to make everyone who looks directly at you bow their heads, you will have a true foothold in this world."