Reversing the Milky Way

After what he had just experienced, Bai Cheng was certain that as long as he could re-enter that state, he was absolutely confident of defeating Zhao Bo. However, he didn't know what the triggering condition was. Thinking of this, he walked towards the waterfall. His strength had almost fully recovered, and if he experienced that oppressive feeling again, he might be able to reactivate it.

Thinking of this, he slowly moved from the edge of the waterfall towards the center. Because of his previous experience, he couldn't even get up, so this time he wanted to be more careful and avoid another face-plant.

And so, Bai Cheng slowly moved to the center of the waterfall. In the blink of an eye, the immense water pressure once again slammed him against the rocks, forcing him to his knees. At this moment, Bai Cheng felt as if his internal organs were about to be crushed; the powerful water pressure once again defeated him. "That's right, that's it, come on, ah...ah...ah...ah..."

The pig-like screams echoed throughout the cave once again. At this moment, all the spiritual plants in the cave seemed to hear Bai Cheng's roar, and they all trembled slightly under the vibration of the sound.

After a while, Bai Cheng crawled out of the waterfall in a disheveled state. He was now lying on the edge of the waterfall's pool, his lower body submerged in the water, panting heavily.

"Ughhhhhh! Why not?!" he shouted, raising his right hand and pounding his fist against the ground. Bai Cheng was venting his anger, and soon his actions left a small crater in the ground.

After venting his anger, Bai Cheng stopped what he was doing, and blood was seeping from his right hand. He slowly turned around and lay flat on the edge of the pond, his lower body still submerged in the water. He knew that only the state he had just been in could defeat Zhao Bo, but he had already endured in the waterfall for a very long time, longer than the first time he had endured in the center of the waterfall. This had reached his physical limit; if he stayed any longer, he would surely die.

But the feeling in his chest never came; it was like a disposable item, used once and then gone. "Could it be that my cheat experience card is only for one use?" he wondered, when a feeling of hunger welled up in his stomach. "I should eat something first."

Bai Cheng then staggered out of the pond and started picking mushrooms to eat from the rocky cliff in the distance. When he was thirsty, he drank some spring water directly. In addition, he also picked a lot of wild fruits in the grass. However, most of these wild fruits did not glow; only the spiritual plants that nurtured them would glow.

At that moment, he suddenly remembered that there were several shrubs over two meters tall next to the waterfall, and the fruits on those shrubs were glowing, even brighter than the glow emitted by ordinary spiritual plants.

Bai Cheng returned to the bushes, staring at the fruit in deep thought. His expression revealed a fierce internal struggle. He slowly raised his hand and grasped the fruit, which emitted the strange light. "Tsk..." In the end, Bai Cheng gave up. What if something went wrong? It would be too much of a loss. He only wanted to become stronger, not to die. He shouldn't take risks without being sure of success; after all, he didn't want to become a firework.

And so, Bai Cheng gave up on the idea. After Bai Cheng filled his stomach, he was not discouraged. Instead, he kept trying, climbing out of the pond countless times, repeating the cycle until finally, the exhaustion became too much for him to bear, and he collapsed onto the grass and fell asleep with his head tilted back.

At this moment, nestled among the lush spiritual plants above the waterfall, lay a snow-white deer. Its body was flawlessly white, and its antlers radiated a seven-colored light. Its emerald eyes seemed to possess the essence and truth of all things, containing all the wisdom and vitality of nature. Its eyebrows were delicate and long, adding to its graceful and playful charm.

After Bai Cheng's heart-wrenching screams ceased, two wooden earplugs enveloped in green spiritual energy flew out of her ears. Then, she let out a soft sigh, "Sigh~," and curled her head into a ball, falling asleep.

After an unknown amount of time, Bai Cheng woke up from his sleep. He didn't know what time it was; he had simply woken up naturally according to his body's biological clock. He then slowly stretched and said, "Ah, I've never slept so comfortably." Bai Cheng felt refreshed and energetic; he had never felt so good. "Could this place actually help me sleep?" he wondered. After thinking this, he stood up and shouted, "Another beautiful day has begun!" His voice was loud and clear, echoing throughout the cave.

This is understandable. During the nearly one month of training, whenever Bai Cheng was about to give up, he would shout at the top of his lungs. This reaction is a natural human instinct. Since there was no one else in the cave, Bai Cheng didn't feel embarrassed.

However, the white deer, who was sleeping on the waterfall, heard Bai Cheng's call. Her white ears, like radar, twitched slightly upon receiving the sound, indicating that she had woken up. Then, her eyebrows furrowed, and an angry symbol slowly appeared above them. But Bai Cheng was unaware that his actions had offended a white deer.

Below the waterfall, Bai Cheng resumed his cultivation, repeatedly attempting to train in the central area, only to fail time and again, letting out painful howls. At this moment, the white deer above the waterfall could no longer endure Bai Cheng's cries. She instantly raised her head, and faint steam seemed to rise from it. She slowly approached the edge of the waterfall, gently lifted her left foreleg, and with a stomp, a stone emitting a faint blue light flew down from the surrounding rock face.

The stone, enveloped in green spiritual energy, hovered beside him. At that moment, her eyes were fixed on Bai Cheng below the waterfall, who had just crawled out, lying on his back on the grass, resting. Seeing her opportunity, Bai Lu's eyes sharpened, and the glowing stone beside her swiftly flew towards Bai Cheng.

Bai Cheng, who was resting on the grass, suddenly saw a glowing stone flying towards him. "Huh?...Ouch, damn it!" With a scream, Bai Cheng's body instinctively curled up, and the stone struck him squarely in the stomach before bouncing into the grass beside him.

Bai Cheng looked at the stone in front of him and felt a strange sense of familiarity. After picking it up, he examined it carefully and suddenly realized that this stone was very similar to the one he had found before his transmigration. It was very similar in both light and texture, only the light was much dimmer. After all, the stone on Blue Star could still be seen emitting light even in daylight, but now in this dark cave, this light would be hard to see once it was outside.

Bai Cheng then looked up in the direction the stone had come from, gazing at the top of the waterfall, but found nothing. Just then, a woman's voice suddenly came from the pool beside him, her voice delicate and gentle: "Your previous state was driven by spiritual power."

Then, Bai Cheng saw a humanoid water person walk up from the pond. She was completely transparent, but Bai Cheng could clearly see from her outline that it was a woman's body. Even the clothes on the water person's body were incredibly lifelike. With each step the water person took, the clothes on her body swayed around her as if there was no wind.

Bai Cheng was also taken aback by this scene; he had encountered a powerful figure. He quickly cupped his hands and said, "This humble one is Bai Cheng. I was unaware that a great immortal was here. I have been very rude." Although Bai Cheng had never encountered such a situation before, based on what he had read in a certain cultivation novel, this was certainly the case.

Water Elemental: "I have been observing you for more than half a month. Your previous condition should be due to a spiritual entity driving you."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng also looked puzzled: "A spiritual object?" At this point, Bai Cheng also remembered the fragment, so it really was that thing.

Thinking of this, Bai Cheng asked again, "Didn't they say that the body in the early stages of Body Refinement Realm cannot withstand the intensity of spiritual energy?"

Water Elemental: "That's generally how it is, but depending on each person's physique or race, some can cultivate spiritual energy from birth, while others need to train their bodies to a level that can withstand spiritual energy, like... you."

After listening to the water-man's explanation, Bai Cheng was completely bewildered: "Me? But I'm only at the early stage of Body Refinement, how can I withstand spiritual energy?"

Water Man: "Of course you can't right now, but I can see that there seems to be something in your body absorbing the excess spiritual energy. Your previous state was because the thing inside you absorbed the spiritual energy and then converted it into spiritual power and burst out. The reason you can't enter that state now is probably because you don't have enough spiritual power. No matter how much you struggle under the waterfall, you won't be able to enter that state in a short time."

Hearing this, Bai Cheng finally understood. To put it simply, he had a battery inside him that could transform him when it was charged. He was currently in a state without power, and this so-called power was spiritual energy.

Then he said, "Oh, so if I want to enter that state again, do I need to cultivate spiritual energy? Will I explode and die like they said?"

After hearing Bai Cheng's words, the Water Elemental slowly closed its eyes, then suddenly opened them. The Water Elemental's pupils had suddenly turned a faint, emerald-green color. This was the white deer above the waterfall, using its eyes to observe Bai Cheng's body through the Water Elemental's.

At this moment, through Bai Lu's eyes, one could clearly see Bai Cheng's pulse. Most notably, Bai Cheng's heart, which was enveloped in spiritual energy, was slowly emitting a pale blue energy from its center, which flowed through his blood vessels to every part of his body.

"This...is truly astonishing. Could he have tempered his body with some extraordinary treasure?" As she thought this, she narrowed her eyes, trying hard to see what was inside Bai Cheng's heart. However, it seemed as if some mysterious force was blocking her view. After all, she was the divine beast Bai Ze, and there was almost nothing in the world that she couldn't see. But this thing gave her a feeling that she had seen it somewhere before, but it was too long ago, and she couldn't remember it for the moment.

After observing, the water spirit's eyes returned to their previous transparent color, and she slowly said, "Although it is very weak, there is indeed a slight spiritual energy circulating in your body, but this spiritual energy is too little. Even if you are in the Qi Condensation Realm, you cannot use this little bit of spiritual energy. As for what is inside your body, I cannot see it for the time being."

After listening to the water spirit's explanation, Bai Cheng bowed with both hands and said, "Please, immortal, teach me the method of spiritual energy cultivation."

The water spirit chuckled after hearing Bai Cheng's words, then looked at the stone in Bai Cheng's hand and asked, "Can you sense anything different about this stone?"

After listening, Bai Cheng calmed his mind and focused, closing his eyes to carefully feel the stone in his hand. He seemed to have entered his own inner world again, where all the surrounding sounds slowly disappeared. After an unknown amount of time, a strange sensation began to emanate from the stone in his hand. Although very faint, Bai Cheng could definitely feel a weak energy slowly emanating from the stone.

So he opened his eyes and said, "I do feel as if some kind of energy is coming from here."

Water Elemental: "So that's how it is. It seems that you've been accumulating spiritual energy too slowly through external cultivation in a short period of time. If you want to re-enter that state in a short time, the only way now is..." As he spoke, Water Elemental turned his head to the bushes beside the waterfall, where the fruits were emitting an orange glow.

......

I don’t know how long it took.

"Bai Cheng! I've come to get you." Yu Qing'an called out as he walked out of the pool. When he reached the shore, he found Bai Cheng already dressed, sitting cross-legged on the grass with his eyes closed. His entire demeanor had changed drastically. Yu Qing'an looked at Bai Cheng with disbelief in his eyes. He hadn't expected his state of mind to change so quickly. The last time he saw Bai Cheng, he wasn't like this at all; back then, his face was filled with tension and unease.

Bai Cheng slowly opened his eyes after discovering Yu Qing'an's arrival.

Upon seeing this, Yu Qing'an asked Bai Cheng, "Are you ready? Bai Cheng, the duel is tomorrow."

Bai Cheng smiled slightly: "Of course, I'm ready." The previous irritation on his face was gone, and he looked full of confidence.

The two then left the cave.

At that moment, a pair of emerald green eyes were fixed on the direction Bai Cheng had left, above the waterfall.

Bai Ze: "It's truly astonishing. I never imagined that in this remote and impoverished place, there would be someone who could utilize their internal spiritual energy at the early stage of Body Refinement. Speaking of which, I feel like the thing inside him looks familiar, but what exactly is it? Oh well, I'm going to sleep now. At least I can get a good night's rest." With that, she took her white steps and walked deeper into the area. Tiny spiritual plant seedlings were sprouting from the footprints she left behind.