Reversing the Milky Way

At this moment, in the Bai family courtyard, Bai Fengze was sitting cross-legged in a secret room. Around him were a circle of stones emitting a faint blue light—the same kind of stones Bai Cheng had seen in the cave; these were spirit stones. A faint cyan energy emanated from each spirit stone, swirling around Bai Qiran in a vortex-like pattern. Just then, a servant outside announced, "Young Master Fengze, Xue Qingmu, the third young master of the Xue family, is waiting outside."

After listening, Xue Qingmu slowly opened her eyes. The azure spiritual energy around her gradually disappeared, and the floating clothes around her returned to calm. Then she replied, "I understand."

At this moment, Xue Qingmu was waiting outside the gate of the Bai residence. He also wanted to fly in on his sword, but it was not possible. Such aristocratic residences in Baifeng City were protected by array formations; only those wearing identification tokens could enter from the air, otherwise they could only enter through the main gate.

The Xue family mansion uses a mid-level Yellow Rank formation, capable of blocking intruders at the early stage of the Meridian Opening Realm or below. The Bai family mansion, on the other hand, uses a high-level Yellow Rank formation, capable of blocking intruders at the late stage of the Meridian Opening Realm or below.

(Supplementary settings: Formations (arranged from low to high, each rank is divided into: low-level, medium-level, high-level): Yellow Rank, Mysterious Rank, Earth Rank, Heaven Rank, (no distinction between low, medium, and high levels) Immortal Rank, Saint Rank)

As the patterns on either side of the Bai family mansion's main gate lit up, the gate slowly opened from the inside. With the gate open, Bai Fengze appeared before Xue Qingmu. He was raising his hand, using his spiritual power to control the slowly opening gate. Upon seeing Bai Fengze, Xue Qingmu quickly stepped forward and greeted him, "Senior Fengze."

Upon seeing this, Bai Fengze asked in confusion, "Hmm? What a rare guest! Why aren't you cultivating at home and have come here instead?"

Upon hearing this, Xue Qingmu replied, "That's right, junior has something important to ask senior today."

"I see. Then please come to my humble abode for a chat."

After Bai Fengze finished speaking, the two entered the mansion and arrived at a courtyard. As they sat down, the servants of the Bai mansion prepared tea and brought it to them. Then, Bai Fengze waved his hand, and the teacups on the tray flew to the two of them. The teapot, emitting a faint blue light, floated to the teacups in front of them and poured the tea into them.

At this moment, Bai Fengze slowly spoke up: "Junior Brother Qingmu, please try this. This is Fengmu Spring, a top-quality spiritual tea grown in my backyard. It is a second-grade spiritual plant with the effect of calming the mind and soothing the spirit."

After hearing this, Xue Qingmu replied, "Then I shall accept your offer." He then picked up the teacup and took a small sip. As the tea entered his stomach, he felt a refreshing spiritual energy spreading through him, and the restlessness in his body instantly disappeared.

"Good tea!" Xue Qingmu exclaimed with a sophisticated expression after tasting it.

"So, what brings you here today?"

After listening to Bai Fengze's question, Xue Qingmu pondered for a moment before saying, "It's like this, my uncle has some businesses in Wuling Town, and he is also the town's mayor. My cousin just wrote to say that there is a village called Yujia Village north of Wuling Town, and a person surnamed Bai has been found there with extraordinary talent. He wrote to inquire whether he is a member of your household?"

After hearing this, Bai Fengze raised his eyebrows and his interest was piqued.

Then, with a mocking expression, he asked, "What's this person's name?"

Upon hearing this, Xue Qingmu immediately replied, "This person is named Bai Cheng. I heard that he completed body tempering in just one month and advanced from an ordinary person to the early stage of body refining."

Bai Fengze frowned upon hearing this: "Is that so?!"

"Ha...ha...ha...I only saw it mentioned in the letter, so there's bound to be some exaggeration. In the entire Baifeng City, which spans five hundred miles east to west, who doesn't know that you, Bai Fengze, are the number one genius of the Bai family? You only took three months to go from Body Tempering to the early stage of Body Refinement, and even before reaching the Great Perfection realm, you demonstrated your physique's ability to cultivate spiritual energy. Then, you only took five years to reach the Great Perfection of the Qi Condensation realm. We are truly envious. Unlike me, I've only reached the mid-stage of the Qi Condensation realm after four years of Body Tempering."

After listening, Bai Fengze smiled slightly: "You really dare to say that. It takes an ordinary person many years to go from Body Tempering to the Great Perfection of Body Refinement. You have reached the mid-stage of Qi Condensation in four years, which is already a genius. How can you belittle yourself? But then again, there is no such name in the family as Bai Cheng. It should just be a coincidence."

After hearing Bai Fengze's answer, Xue Qingmu pretended to think and replied, "I see, thank you for clearing up my doubts, Senior Fengze." After chatting for a while, Xue Qingmu left.

After Xue Qingmu left, Bai Fengze recalled what had just been said, "Speaking of which, my little sister seems to be in Wuling Town. Let's send her a message and ask her to keep an eye out."

After thinking it over, he returned to his study and found a very unusual piece of paper. Calling it paper was a stretch; it was more like the skin of some kind of animal, simply made to resemble paper. Then, with a slight thought, Bai Fengze conjured words written with spiritual power on the paper, without even needing a pen.

After writing it down, he made a hand gesture and chanted, "A message travels a thousand miles, arrives swiftly, go!" Then the paper transformed into the shape of a crane, quickly flew out of the window, and soared into the sky.

In Wuling Town...

At the town gate in the north, a group of government officials stood in front of the bulletin board. One of them held several documents bearing the seal of the Northern Government Office and read aloud: "Today, four bandits from Nanshan Village, who harmed the people and disturbed public order, have been formally apprehended. These four have been captured by those with a sense of justice, and their identities have been verified. This is hereby announced." After reading the documents, the official posted them on the bulletin board behind him. Immediately, the surrounding crowd erupted in noise and discussion. Among them, two people, their eyes filled with fear, quickly left the crowd and walked out of Wuling Town.

As the two walked along the road leading to Yujia Village, they looked around and, seeing no one, disappeared into the woods on the right side of the road. This main road north of Wuling Town leads not only to the eastern entrance of Yujia Village but also to the western entrance of Hejia Village. The two villages are adjacent, and a round trip takes only half a day.

Hejia Village's geographical location is somewhat complicated. Besides being backed by Yunluo Forest to the north, it is bordered by Xiaonanshan Mountain to the south, separating the village from Wuling Town. East of Xiaonanshan Mountain are stretches of forest, followed by one of the twin mountains. Therefore, the best way for the people of Hejia Village to reach Wuling Town is to take the road west of the village.

Inside Nanshan Village, a burly man with red hair sat atop a high platform. This was Wu Yong, his face contorted with rage. To his right sat Hao Motou, his face dark with anger, and he remained silent. To his left sat a man dressed in a black robe and wearing a hood. Below them were the two henchmen from the crowd, disguised as peddlers mingling in Wuling Town, surrounded by a group of bandits.

At this moment, Wu Yong shouted angrily, "Damn it, they're all trash!" After saying that, he waved his hand and knocked the tea on the table in front of him away. The tea flew like a cannonball and hit the wall, then exploded into pieces. The group of underlings below were all trembling with fear.

Then he glanced at Hao Motou beside him out of the corner of his eye. Hao Motou was keeping his head down and not saying a word. He knew that this time it was because of his mistake that many brothers in the mountain stronghold had been lost.

At this moment, the black-robed man sitting on the other side began to speak: "This matter is not the fault of Hao Mo's second-in-command. Who knew that Yu Qing would insist on playing the hero halfway through? Otherwise, Bai Cheng would have been dealt with long ago."

"This time I lost three of my late-stage Body Refinement Realm brothers and nine mid-stage Body Refinement Realm brothers. These were all my best men. Damn it, not only did I not get the money, but I also lost my brothers for nothing." After saying this, Wu Yong's face was covered in bulging veins, and he looked like a mad beast.

Upon seeing this, the man in black robes said, "Indeed, I did not consider this matter thoroughly. The client did not provide more detailed information, only specifically stating that the person named Yu Qing'an was not simple, and that the kid named Bai Cheng, although I thought that there was nothing to fear about his early stage of Body Refinement Realm skills, I found out that he was not simple when I went to check the woods to the east the next day."

After speaking, the man in black robes recalled what he had seen.

The next day, when he arrived at the eastern woods and searched along the direction Bai Cheng had fled, he discovered a spot in the dense forest where lightning had struck that day. The surrounding plants and trees were all charred, but he paid it no mind until he found a ravine over fifty meters long. Following the ravine to its end, he saw Huang Biao's mangled body, his bones shattered—a gruesome sight. He then found three other bandits nearby, their deaths extremely gruesome. Not far away, he discovered a trail over eight hundred meters long, where trees were destroyed and rocks were broken. He initially thought it was caused by a powerful spirit beast or demon. However, as he reached the end of the trail, he was horrified to find a long sword deeply embedded in a large tree. Only the hilt remained of the sword; the blade was deeply embedded in the tree.

After recalling the events, everyone present was astonished, even Wu Yong, who was sitting in the main seat, showed a surprised expression. "Could it be that we encountered a Qi Condensation Realm cultivator?" After saying that, he fell into deep thought.

At this moment, the man in black robes also responded, "It is indeed very possible. After all, although Wuling Town is just a town, there are more than a dozen Qi Condensation Realm cultivators in it. They account for nearly half of the entire Surveillance Bureau. It is very likely that a Surveillance Bureau inspector happened to be passing by and made the move."

Upon hearing this, Wu Yong immediately retorted, "No way. These people are arrogant and will not bother with us unless there is something in it for them. Even for me, the reward is only three hundred silver coins. For those Qi Condensation Realm cultivators, it's not as profitable as catching a third-grade spirit beast. Otherwise, with Liu Yuntian's late-stage Qi Condensation Realm cultivation, he would have wiped out the bandits around Wuling Town long ago. We wouldn't even be in their shoes."

After hearing this, the man in black robes fell into deep thought.

Two days later, in Yujia Village...

Bai Cheng groggily opened his eyes, and the familiar ceiling of his room came into view. He rubbed his head and sat up in bed. "Uh... what am I...?" Just then, Yue Ling came in carrying a basin of water. Seeing that Bai Cheng was awake, she immediately put down the basin and came to his side.

Yue Ling asked anxiously, "Brother Bai Cheng, you're awake. How are you feeling now?"

After listening, Bai Cheng moved his body slightly but did not feel anything different, nor did he experience any unusual sensations in any part of his body.

He then replied, "I'm fine, I don't seem to feel any problem."

"Wait here, I'll go get Father." Yueling then hurriedly called Yu Qing'an over. Upon arriving at Bai Cheng's side, Yu Qing'an immediately checked on his condition. Finding nothing wrong...

He said nervously, "You're really reckless, daring to forcibly absorb spiritual energy."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng recalled his own experience. Before being struck by lightning, he had indeed noticed a faint blue energy emanating from his surroundings, which he initially mistook for fog. Thinking of this, Bai Cheng muttered to himself, "So, that was spiritual energy?"

Then Yu Qing'an added, "But you really are lucky; thankfully you didn't explode."

Bai Cheng: "Body explodes..." Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng suddenly remembered the scene of his body bleeding on its own. Thinking of this, he immediately checked his body.

Upon seeing the flustered Bai Cheng, Yu Qing'an said, "No need to look anymore. I gave you five Body Tempering Pills, and your abnormal condition completely stopped." It turned out that when Bai Cheng was lying in bed, his body would still slowly bleed. Later, Yu Qing'an kept giving Bai Cheng Body Tempering Pills, and after giving him three more, his body was completely free of abnormalities.

Bai Cheng was shocked to hear this: "What? Five?!" He hadn't even reached the mid-stage of the Body Refinement Realm yet, and he'd already used five Body Tempering Pills. That was too wasteful! Thinking of this, he lay helplessly on the bed, his eyes glazed over, muttering "five...five..."

Seeing this, Yu Qing'an breathed a sigh of relief. "It seems you're alright. Rest at home for a couple of days, and go back to school when you're feeling better."

After saying this, he glanced at Yue Ling beside him and said, "That's settled then, you should rest first." He then left Bai Cheng's room with Yue Ling. After leaving, Bai Cheng lay on his bed, reflecting on his experience.

Although he was struck by lightning, he didn't say anything. He still doesn't understand why. When he was struck by lightning, he felt as if he were in the sun. Before he could think, his whole body felt like it was burning, and he was instantly filled with energy.

As for the surrounding spiritual energy, it seemed to have vanished after the lightning struck him. However, Bai Cheng didn't dwell on it; he had been unconscious for five days, and many things had been delayed.

Especially regarding the matter of asking the administrator to copy the books, although he broke his promise, he was unconscious at the time, so the old man shouldn't be angry, right? "Hmm... I seem to have forgotten something, oh... right, it seems Instructor Su still has to test the Spirit Herb Record." Thinking of this, Bai Cheng quickly got up and took out the Spirit Herb Record from his backpack to read it.