Reversing the Milky Way

Bai Cheng: "Is this the breakthrough?"

Bai Cheng carefully examined his body. The dormant feeling within him had become vibrant again, as if his entire body had evolved and become more adapted to the flow of spiritual energy.

Bai Cheng circulated his mind and released some of his spiritual energy. He found that after reaching the mid-stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, his control over spiritual energy became more stable. Moreover, because he had advanced to the mid-stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, the bottleneck he felt for the next realm seemed to have become a bottomless pit.

Bai Cheng: "More than two months have passed. Although there are still points left, let's go back and take a look now."

Bai Cheng walked out of the cultivation chamber.

A voice also came from the guard's platform.

"In less than a year, I never expected you to have reached the mid-stage of Qi Condensation. It seems that you should reach the late-stage of Qi Condensation in less than two years."

Bai Cheng looked up and found that Ming Qianren was staring at him.

Bai Cheng: "What do you mean by that, senior?"

Ming Qianren: "You broke through to the mid-stage of Qi Condensation so quickly, I suppose you haven't circulated your Small Heavenly Cycle 70,000 times, right?"

Bai Cheng: "No, I only ran it about 50,000 times before reaching a bottleneck. After taking the Condensing Yuan Pill, I broke through to the mid-stage of Qi Condensation."

Ming Qianren's slightly aged eyelids twitched up slightly.

Ming Qianren: "You broke through in one go?"

Bai Cheng: "Hmm? Is it possible that this breakthrough will fail?"

Seeing Bai Cheng's puzzled expression, Ming Qianren burst into laughter.

Ming Qianren: "Failed again? Haha! Hahaha! But that makes sense. For someone with such extraordinary talent as you, failure is indeed not an easy thing. But I am a little curious, will you succeed on your first try when you reach the late stage of Qi Condensation?"

Bai Cheng pursed his lips helplessly.

Bai Cheng: "Senior is joking. I have only just broken through to the middle stage. It is still unknown when I will reach the later stage."

Ming Qianren: "Didn't I just tell you? The number of times you need to circulate your Small Heavenly Cycle to break through from the mid-stage to the late-stage Qi Condensation Realm is about twice the number of times you need to break through from the early to the mid-stage. At your current cultivation frequency, you will break through to the late-stage in less than two years. Among all the exceptionally talented people in Baifeng City, you have the least time to cultivate at the Earth Spirit Tower, and you don't come very often. Moreover, I see that you can already skillfully withstand a spiritual energy environment of thirty times, which is rare among the younger generation in Baifeng City. However, as a senior, I must remind you that being too sharp and shrewd is not necessarily a good thing."

Bai Cheng: "Thank you for your kindness, senior."

Bai Cheng stepped onto the teleportation array, leaving the third level of the Earth Spirit Tower and returning to the first level. He intended to greet Bai Siyong there, but discovered that the person guarding the place was not Bai Siyong, but Xue Qianfu from the Xue family.

Upon seeing the other person, Bai Cheng's mind raced with various thoughts.

'What's going on? I remember the position of Elder Guardian of the Earth Spirit Tower is always held by someone from the Bai family, right? Why is Xue Qianfu here? Could it be related to the Xue family patriarch's advancement to the Tonghai Realm?'

Bai Cheng, who intended to go up and say hello, walked straight to the door. Xue Qianfu had already noticed Bai Cheng and kept his eyes on Bai Cheng's back as he walked out of the Earth Spirit Tower.

Xue Qianfu: "Isn't he Bai Cheng? Only two years have passed, and he has already broken through to the mid-stage of the Qi Condensation Realm? How is that possible?!"

As Bai Cheng stepped out of the gates of the Earth Spirit Tower, the sweltering heat unique to summer hit him.

He clearly remembered that when he stepped into the Earth Spirit Tower, it was springtime. Fortunately, the Emerald Spirit Island was densely forested due to its spiritual energy, and the breeze in the air carried a pleasant coolness.

He looked around and found that the guards at the gate had changed into two groups. Originally, there were only guards dressed in the uniforms of the Bai family disciples, but now there was a row of people wearing clothes he didn't recognize. Although he didn't recognize the style, he recognized the characters on the clothes; one of them had the character 'Xue' written on it.

The two sides stood facing each other, each guarding half of the border. The air seemed thick with tension, yet strangely quiet.

Upon seeing this, Bai Cheng immediately sensed something unusual; he felt as if he had missed many things in the past two months. Just then, two figures rapidly approached on their swords from not far away.

Upon their arrival, Xue Yao and Xue Qingmu of the Xue family were discovered. Their arrogance was palpable, and the Xue family guards bowed respectfully upon seeing them.

Xue family guard: "Greetings, Second Miss and Third Young Master!"

Xue Yao: "No need for formalities."

Xue Yao spoke slowly and deliberately, glancing at Bai Cheng beside her, while the Bai family guards on the other side remained motionless with livid faces, creating a rather incongruous scene.

Xue Yao: "He is... Bai Cheng?!"

Xue Yao looked at Bai Cheng. The scene of humiliating him in the back mountain of the academy seemed like it was just yesterday. At that time, Bai Cheng had just advanced to the early stage of Qi Condensation.

'I can't believe he reached the mid-stage of Qi Condensation in just one year? My cousin mentioned him recently; he only started body tempering three years ago, and in just three years, he advanced from body tempering to the mid-stage of Qi Condensation! What an terrifying speed! Compared to the self-proclaimed geniuses of the aristocratic families in Baifeng City, his talent is many times greater! In comparison, I'm only twenty-six years old this year, and I've been forced by my family to temper my body since I was sixteen. Now it's been a full ten years. While my talent might not be top-tier in Baifeng City, it's at least among the upper echelons. But he…'

After pondering this point, Xue Yao's gaze towards Bai Cheng became more solemn.

Xue Qingmu: "Sister, let's go inside."

As she spoke, Xue Qingmu glanced at Bai Cheng intentionally, but she didn't see any change in his expression.

The two walked through the gate, and Bai Cheng slowly walked to the side of one of the Bai family guards.

Bai Cheng: "Brother, has something big happened in Baifeng City recently?"

Bai family guard: "I'm sorry, I've been on this island for a long time, and some of my information is just hearsay."

No sooner had the guard finished speaking than the voice of a guard from the Xue family came from the other side.

Xue family guard: "Hehe! Judging from your appearance, you probably haven't come out for a long time, right? Let me tell you the truth, the situation in Baifeng City has changed. The three major families are no longer led by the Bai family, but by my Xue family."

The man spoke fluently, his face radiating uncontrollable excitement.

Bai Cheng also learned some information during his subsequent account.

The story begins with the Xue family's Tonghai banquet. Besides celebrating Xue Tianmu's advancement to the Tonghai realm, many other events occurred at the banquet. The first was the Xue family's provocation of the Bai family. Xue Tianmu personally attacked Bai Zhentian. Although Bai Zhentian held the title of city lord and possessed a wind-attribute spiritual power physique, his cultivation level was ultimately only at the mid-stage of the Kaimai realm, making him no match for the Tonghai realm. Fortunately, Xue Tianmu stopped short of defeat at the banquet, but this incident led the guests to re-evaluate the ranking of the three major families' power.

Not only that, after making his move, Xue Tianmu took the opportunity to propose re-electing the city lord, a suggestion that Nie Chaosheng, who was present, also agreed to. Although the Bai family members at the banquet objected, they still seemed somewhat outnumbered compared to the other guests.

Among these guests were families closely associated with the Bai family, but none of them joined the Bai family in opposing this matter. To put it bluntly, about 70% of the Bai family's prestige rested with Bai Muxuan, and since Bai Muxuan left, those suppressed families had become restless. Now that they saw the Xue family patriarch break through to the Tonghai Realm, they also wanted to take the opportunity to put pressure on the Bai family. As a result, over the past three months, the territory controlled by the Bai family's city lord's mansion has been continuously taken over by the Xue family's forces, with the Supervisory Bureau inevitably mediating the situation.

Take Emerald Island for example. Previously, only those with the identity tokens of the Overwatch Council, the White Palace Academy, and the Bai family could enter. Now, the Xue family has intervened, and now they can also enter with their identity tokens. As a result, many members of the Xue family have come to the island, which has led to frequent and unavoidable disputes.

Another matter is that the Shangguan family intends to match Shangguan Lan with the Xue family. Initially, Shangguan Ba ​​wanted Shangguan Lan to marry Xue Zhen of the Xue family. However, an unexpected incident occurred at the banquet. Some unknown force spread rumors about the Shangguan family's scandals, which were then circulated among the guests.

Enraged by witnessing his family's disgraceful affair, Shangguan Ba ​​slapped his son, Shangguan Yu, out of the banquet hall. The marriage proposal was thus abandoned. However, after the banquet, the Shangguan family repeatedly approached the Xue family, discussing various matters. Ultimately, the two families reconciled, but the target of the marriage changed. The Shangguan family still sought Shangguan Lan, but the intended partner was now Xue Qingmu, the third son of the Xue family.

Moreover, this matter has not been finalized. Although they were willing to form a relationship, the Xue family only said that it depended on the wishes of the two people. To put it bluntly, the Shangguan family was being snubbed. In addition, Xue Qingmu is only twenty-four years old this year and his cultivation level is only at the early stage of Qi Condensation.

Back to the present, after listening to the story, Bai Cheng's gaze also turned to the gate of the Earth Spirit Tower.

The Xue family guards were still chatting away nearby, but they were only talking about things that Bai Cheng found insignificant.

Xue family guard: "Haha! How about it, kid? Several disciples from your Bai family have already switched allegiance to our Xue family. I see you're young and promising, why don't you consider it too?"

Upon hearing this, the Bai family guards opposite him all glared at him with resentment.

Xue family guard: "Hey, what are you looking at? You don't mean to make a move, do you?"

Seeing that the Bai family disciple did not reply, and the Xue family disciple who had spoken did not continue to provoke, because when they first took over this place, several Xue family disciples were taught a lesson by the Bai family disciples for provoking them, and one of them was even killed.

The Xue family immediately sent people to investigate, and even the head of the Xue family, Xue Chuan, came to demand an explanation. In the end, Bai Zhentian stepped in to mediate the dispute and ordered the Bai family disciples not to take action on their own.

Bai Cheng ignored the Xue family disciple. He wasn't thinking about such things now, because now that he had reached the mid-stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, he could do some things that he couldn't do before, such as the forging method that Gu Wanru had promised to teach him.

Bai Cheng didn't linger and turned to leave.

From a great distance, Bai Cheng could hear shouts coming from the bamboo grove.

"Ah! Uh!"

Upon closer inspection, Bai Cheng discovered that several Xue family disciples had been beaten unconscious. Although severely injured, they were not yet dead.

"Listen up, you disciples of noble families! This is not a place for you. Get out of here, or don't blame me for being impolite!"

The sound, accompanied by vibrations in the air, came from the purple bamboo forest, and Bai Cheng immediately recognized it as Jing Yezhou's voice.

A Xue family disciple got up in a disheveled state, his eyes glaring fiercely at the Purple Bamboo Forest.

A disciple of the Xue family said, "No matter who you are, just you wait! When the head of the Xue family arrives, you'll be in for a world of trouble!"

Jing Yezhou: "Hmph! Get lost!"

As the sound approached, accompanied by a shockwave in the air, the Xue family members quickly got up and left the scene.

Bai Cheng arrived at the stone tablet in the Purple Bamboo Grove. Before he could speak, he heard Jing Yezhou's voice coming from beside him.

Jing Yezhou: "Young friend Bai, you've arrived. Miss Gu invites you in."

After hearing this, Bai Cheng stepped into the purple bamboo forest.

As Bai Cheng strolled through the surrounding bamboo forest, he felt a surge of charged particles in the air. Before long, he saw the scene from when he first came to the Purple Bamboo Forest.

Inside the ancient bronze pavilion, Gu Wanru stood suspended in mid-air, a vortex of lightning swirling and intertwining around her before finally merging into her body. When Bai Cheng first witnessed this scene, he didn't know what she was doing, but now he clearly sensed that she was cultivating.

Strangely enough, although Gu Wanru cultivated in the Purple Bamboo Forest, Bai Cheng had never seen her cultivate in the Earth Spirit Tower.

Bai Cheng arrived at the pavilion, but the other party did not stop cultivating. Instead, he waited for half an hour before stopping.

During this time, Bai Cheng saw the Golden-Winged Thunderbird, which had now grown to three meters tall and whose feathers were beginning to turn gilded gold.

Gu Wanru: "I didn't expect your cultivation level to improve so quickly."

After a while, Bai Cheng and Gu Wanru sat facing each other in the pavilion, with Bai Cheng observing the bronze pavilion beneath his feet and responding slowly.

Bai Cheng: "Just lucky."

Gu Wanru: "You came here this time because of that thing I told you before, right?"

Bai Cheng: "That's right. My current situation is very special. I don't have any basic spiritual power in my body, which makes it impossible for me to use techniques based on the five elements. When I hear that other attributes can be used to forge objects, I naturally can't wait to do so."

Gu Wanru: "This is what I promised you."

As she spoke, she looked at Bai Cheng.

Gu Wanru: "To be honest, I obtained this skill by chance."

After saying this, Gu Wanru stopped speaking and instead communicated with Bai Cheng using telepathy.

Gu Wanru transmitted her voice: "This technique is called the Heavenly Thunder Heart-Shattering Technique. As for what it looks like, you have already seen it."

Bai Cheng transmitted his voice: "Heavenly Thunder Heart-Shattering Technique?"

Gu Wanru transmitted her voice: "That's right. This technique is a special technique that uses lightning energy from outside oneself for self-cultivation. If you only want to cultivate the use of lightning spirit to forge objects, you only need to cultivate the first half. The second half requires you to temper your body before you can cultivate it."

As soon as she finished speaking, Gu Wanru took out a bamboo scroll from her bosom. Bai Cheng was very familiar with the format of this bamboo scroll. It was basically the same as the bamboo scroll that Bai Cheng had obtained that recorded the Heavenly Evolution Thunder Heart Technique. After opening it, the characters on the bamboo scroll were surrounded by lightning. It was clear at a glance that this was not an ordinary technique.

After accepting the cultivation technique, Bai Cheng immediately stood up and bowed to Gu Wanru in gratitude.

Bai Cheng: "Thank you for your help, Fairy Gu. I will repay your kindness with all my might in the future!"

Gu Wanru smiled, her jade-like hand gently brushing the strands of hair beside her ear.

Gu Wanru: "Really? Then you must remember your promise today. If I need your help in the future, you must do your best to help me."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng vaguely sensed that Gu Wanru had grand ambitions for the future, but for now, she had indeed genuinely helped him.