Reversing the Milky Way

Bai Cheng nodded and said, "This... truly surprises me. You know, Liu Yuntian, the inspector of Wuling Town's supervisory office, is only at the late stage of the Qi Condensation Realm. So what kind of severe injury did you suffer? How could your strength have fallen so low?"

After Bai Cheng finished speaking, Yu Qing'an continued, "That year, I went to the Yunluo Mountains to find a runaway demon general. I tracked it for ten days, thinking I would have to go deep into the mountains, but I encountered Yue Ling's mother at the foot of a cliff. She was fighting the runaway demon general, and I rushed to her aid. That's how I met her. The Yunluo Mountains were fraught with danger, and even I didn't dare to venture deep into them easily. When I first saw Yue Ling's mother, she was in her prime, with outstanding beauty and grace—truly a stunning woman. The first time I saw her, I was deeply attracted to her, as if by magic. Later, seeing that she was alone in the mountains and might encounter danger, I joined her. During this time, we gradually fell in love." Afterwards, I proposed to her that we become husband and wife and I would bring her back. However, she strongly resisted and refused to leave the Yunluo Mountains. Seeing this, I didn't force her. I then learned that she was a young lady from a noble family who had fled to the mountains for refuge after suffering persecution. Upon hearing this, I offered to help her, but she refused, saying that even the emperor of the Huoyun Kingdom couldn't help her. I was shocked to hear this; if even the emperor of the Huoyun Kingdom couldn't help her, then I was even more powerless. Then, I stayed by her side for a year. Perhaps sensing my sincerity, she agreed to leave the Yunluo Mountains, but only to go to sparsely populated villages. Upon seeing this, I immediately agreed. Thus, we concealed our cultivation levels and settled in Yu Family Village.

At this point, Yu Qing'an paused and continued, "Every night with her back then, she was like dry tinder and a raging fire, and I always obliged her. Since we were both cultivators, even if we had countless sexual encounters, it wouldn't affect us in the slightest."

Hearing this, Bai Cheng said with a dark expression, "Hey, Uncle Yu, we were just discussing how your cultivation disappeared, and you suddenly brought up sexual intercourse? Even if you have good stamina, you don't have to show off like this. Are you just taking advantage of the fact that I don't have a wife?!"

After hearing Bai Cheng's explanation, Yu Qing'an coughed twice and continued, "Ahem, I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush. So, after we had been intimate for a while, I suddenly felt my spiritual energy decrease. However, two months later, my cultivation level dropped to the early stage of the Meridian Opening Realm. At first, I thought it was a problem with my cultivation and didn't pay much attention. But as time went on, my cultivation level dropped to the late stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, and then back to the early stage. After that, I started seeking medical help, but to no avail. When I realized something was wrong, she told me she was pregnant. I was overjoyed and forgot all about my dropped cultivation level. So, I took meticulous care of her every day, and even when she wanted to have sex while heavily pregnant, I didn't refuse. Finally, when Yue Ling was born, my cultivation level dropped to the Great Perfection of the Body Refinement Realm. Afterwards, I told my friends about my dropped cultivation level..." My wife, whom I thought would despise me, showed no disgust whatsoever. She said I had been poisoned by a strange toxin in the Cloudfall Mountains, causing a continuous loss of spiritual energy. She then found a cave—this is where I am now—and instructed me to cultivate here to replenish my spiritual energy. When I arrived, I was astonished. Not only were there countless spiritual herbs, but the rich spiritual energy within the cave was something even major sects rarely saw. So, I began cultivating here to replenish my spiritual energy, but whenever I had spiritual energy, it would inexplicably disappear, likely due to the strange poison she mentioned. Time passed, and it was Yue Ling's full moon. That day, when I returned home, I didn't see my wife, but I found a letter she had left. She said there was a family matter, and she had to return, but she couldn't take me and Ling'er with her. She would return when Yue Ling came of age and take Ling'er away. So, I began caring for Ling'er, but because of this, I had no time to cultivate in the cave to replenish my spiritual energy, until now.

After listening to Yu Qing'an's description, Bai Cheng stared at Yu Qing'an with his mouth agape, completely dumbfounded.

Then he said, "Well, Uncle Yu, do you think it's possible, just one possibility, that your loss of cultivation was because of your wife?"

Upon hearing Bai Cheng's words, Yu Qing'an immediately became agitated and replied excitedly, "Impossible, absolutely impossible! Qingwu and I are truly in love, how could she possibly harm me?"

Upon seeing this, Bai Cheng immediately comforted him, "Uncle Yu, don't get agitated. I was just making a hypothetical situation."

After saying that, Yu Qing'an's mood gradually calmed down. After a moment of silence, he said to Bai Cheng, "I'm sorry, I lost my composure."

After saying that, he turned and left, continuing as he walked, "Since the water people you mentioned refuse to show themselves, I will come to pick you up in two days."

After saying that, he left the cave.

Now only Bai Cheng remained in the cave. He sorted through what Yu Qing'an had just said. Since this was a world of cultivation, there might be techniques that absorbed cultivation power. According to Yu Qing'an's description, Yue Ling's mother was very likely practicing such a technique. Thinking of this, Bai Cheng sighed and said, "Ah, love really does drive people crazy."

Then, Bai Cheng sat cross-legged and began to cultivate spiritual energy. He had already seen that Yu Qing'an and Yue Ling could use spiritual power, so he naturally couldn't fall behind. Soon, he gradually felt the surrounding spiritual energy flowing into his body. This time, the pain was significantly less, and he could even slightly feel the faint sensation of the spiritual energy entering his body. The free-flowing spiritual energy roamed within Bai Cheng's body.

As Bai Cheng sat cross-legged in meditation, the spiritual energy in the cave seemed to swirl around him. After a while, Bai Cheng suddenly opened his eyes. "Damn it, have I reached my limit?"

At this moment, Bai Cheng's forehead was covered with sweat, and he felt a throbbing pain all over his body. He immediately realized that if he continued to cultivate spiritual energy, he might end up like last time, with his whole body bursting with blood.

Then, he stood up and carefully sensed the spiritual energy within his body. The spiritual energy within him was like silk threads, filling Bai Cheng's entire body. Bai Cheng began to try to control the spiritual energy within his body. Then he stretched out his palm, trying to urge the spiritual energy within his body to gather in his palm.

As time passed, Bai Cheng could clearly feel the spiritual energy in his body converging towards his palms. However, there was nothing in his palms. Subsequently, Bai Cheng increased the output of his spiritual energy, and sweat began to stream down his forehead.

As time passed, fine, golden spiritual energy fluctuations, as delicate as hair, slowly began to form in Bai Cheng's palm, flickering continuously. "It...it's a success!!"

Ignoring his exhaustion, Bai Cheng cheered joyfully in the cave. "But this is too small! It seems my cultivation physique is of the metal element, but how exactly should I cultivate? I've already grasped the basics of spiritual energy entering my body, but I still haven't figured out how to condense spiritual power. Oh, I forgot to ask Uncle Yu how to use spiritual power!"

After speaking, Bai Cheng continued cultivating spiritual energy within his body. He discovered that when he mobilized his internal spiritual power, most of it was completely beyond his control, frantically converging on the fragment in his heart. Before cultivating spiritual energy, Bai Cheng hadn't noticed anything unusual about this fragment, but as soon as he started, the fragment in his heart acted like a magnet, frantically absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy, even the spiritual power within his own body.

Although his current cultivation level is only at the mid-stage of Body Refinement, his physical strength has far exceeded that level, reaching the mid-to-late stage of Body Refinement. His body cannot yet fully withstand the influx of spiritual energy, but the fragments in his heart are like a bottomless pit. Every time he feels uncomfortable due to the influx of spiritual energy, the fragments in his heart absorb the excess spiritual energy his body cannot handle.

Thinking of this, Bai Cheng suddenly had an idea. He began to try using the fragment in his heart to release spiritual energy. Previously, he could only fill his blood with spiritual energy, but now he wanted to see what kind of spiritual energy would be generated from this fragment.

He then extended his palm again, beginning to activate the fragments within his heart. This time, however, the fragments only released spiritual energy without emitting any light. Bai Cheng, just as before, controlled the spiritual energy released by the fragments, guiding it towards his palm. Gradually, his arm entered the previous state, the veins on his arm beginning to glow with a blue light, but no spiritual energy materialized.

Upon witnessing this, Bai Cheng had no choice but to give up. All he could think of now was that the fragment could simply increase his physical strength; he couldn't see anything else for the time being. The good news, however, was that he could now partially control this state, instead of becoming completely enveloped in blue light like before. With that in mind, Bai Cheng decided to focus on improving his physical cultivation first, and then entered the center of the waterfall to begin his training.

Late that night, there was a rhythmic knocking on Zhao Haiming's front door, "knock, knock, knock." Zhao Haiming, who had just fallen asleep, heard the sound and immediately got up to investigate. He arrived at the door holding a golden spirit-storing pearl in one hand and asked, "Who is it?"

At that moment, the knocking stopped, and then a man's voice came: "It's me."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Haiming immediately opened the door, where he saw a man dressed in black, wearing a hood and with his head pulled low.

"What are you doing here?" After hearing this, the man in black slowly replied, "I'm here for the village martial arts competition in two months."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Haiming quickly invited the man in black into the courtyard to begin discussions.

Zhao Haiming said, "The village chief came to see me the day before yesterday. According to our agreement, I have already refused the matter. Apart from my Zhao Bo, Yu Tianqing can't find anyone more capable than my Zhao Bo before the age of twenty."

After hearing this, the man in black also spoke up: "Very good. I hope that this year's village competition will proceed without any surprises."

At this moment, Zhao Haiming asked, "Didn't you promise to find someone to take care of Bai Cheng? How come this kid is still alive and kicking?"

Upon hearing this, the man in black was clearly agitated: "How dare you say that? I suspect that Bai Cheng might have a secret."

Zhao Haiming was taken aback after hearing this: "A secret? What secret could a mere early-stage Body Refinement Realm cultivator possibly have?"

After hearing this, the man in black said jokingly, "Hehe, your son is at the mid-stage of Body Refinement Realm, yet he was defeated by him. Moreover, I also sensed fluctuations of spiritual energy on Bai Cheng."

After hearing this, Zhao Haiming pretended to think and said, "But didn't you already check and find no treasures on Bai Cheng?"

Upon hearing this, the man in black immediately replied, "What if he had consumed something containing spiritual energy beforehand? Like some kind of spiritual plant or herb?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Haiming was shocked. "That's impossible. He's only at the early stage of Body Refinement. Even if he ate a spiritual plant containing spiritual energy, he would only be around the first grade at most."

After listening, the man in black immediately replied, "You don't understand. Although we cultivators only manifest our cultivation physique when we reach the Great Perfection of the Body Refinement Realm, you must know that those without a cultivation physique cannot convert spiritual energy into spiritual power. Although I don't know what method this kid used, I could clearly feel that his spiritual power was leaking out of his body at the time. He must have consumed at least a third-grade spiritual plant. You should know that third-grade spiritual plants are rare even in the Xue family's medicine pavilion in Wuling Town. Where would someone in the early stage of the Body Refinement Realm get a third-grade spiritual plant? Even second-grade spiritual plants have many spiritual beasts around them to grow."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Haiming fell into deep thought, "A third-grade spiritual plant... could it be that Yu Qing'an's doing?"

After saying this, the man in black said, "Yu Qing'an is a hunter, and he often deals with these kinds of prices. The lowest price for a grade three spiritual plant is three hundred silver coins. How could he not know that? How could he possibly give Bai Cheng something so valuable?"

In fact, Yu Qing'an did not know that Bai Cheng had eaten the spirit fruit growing next to the waterfall before the competition.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Haiming fell into deep thought before saying, "Alright, I'll have someone keep an eye on Bai Cheng from now on. Recently, Bai Cheng has been staying in the Cloudfall Forest for several days at a time. He must have found a Grade 3 spiritual plant somewhere."

After saying that, his brain seemed to be struck by lightning, and he said in surprise, "So that's why he has improved so quickly!? But even so, how does he withstand the spiritual energy inside a grade three spiritual plant? You know, even a late-stage Body Refinement Realm martial artist wouldn't dare to try it lightly."

As soon as he finished speaking, a voice came from inside the room: "Master, who are you talking to?"

Zhao Haiming was also drawn to Yu Qingwan, who came out of the inner room, by this sentence.

At this moment, Yu Qingwan continued, "Master, what are you doing alone in the courtyard in the middle of the night?"

Upon hearing Yu Qingwan's words, Zhao Haiming turned around and glanced back, but the man in black was already gone. He then said to Yu Qingwan, "It's alright," and went inside.