Standing atop the lake, ten thousand fiery streams of light swirled around his body, seeming to warp the very space around him.
Teng Qingshan gazed eastward. The morning sun had fully risen, its light growing ever more dazzling.
"I have finally reached the Void Realm!"
Teng Qingshan felt as if a sun had also risen within his heart. Back during the battle at Great Yan Mountain, facing the overwhelmingly powerful Azure Lake Island, he had been forced into a humiliating retreat, declared an enemy of the world, hunted everywhere like a rat crossing the street. Ultimately, he had fled north of the North Sea—to the Duanmu Continent!
In the winter he turned seventeen, he had left his home in Jiangning Commandery, Yangzhou!
His eighteenth year was spent in Wu City, after which he was forced to burrow underground to escape several pursuing Innate Golden Core masters.
At nineteen, within the forbidden grounds of Bright Moon Island, he gained the opportunity to comprehend the divine jade stele left behind by the Poet Sword Immortal, 'Li Taibai.'
...
Now, he was twenty-one.
"More than three years," Teng Qingshan sighed inwardly, his gaze burning. "I have finally reached the Void Realm! Even in the Nine Provinces, a Void Realm expert stands among the strongest at the pinnacle... With one Void Realm master, even one of the Eight Great Sects could remain established for centuries!"
"And I am a Void Realm expert now!"
"If Master, and Father and Mother knew that I've reached the Void Realm, they probably wouldn't dare believe it," Teng Qingshan allowed a faint smile to surface.
Reaching the Void Realm at twenty-one!
It was undoubtedly the most astonishing and incredible feat since the creation of heaven and earth. When Teng Qingshan reached the Innate realm at seventeen, it had already stunned people. Just four years later, he had stepped into the Void Realm! If the Supreme Elder of Azure Lake Island—the Void Realm expert known as the 'Blind Sword Saint'—were to know, he would likely stop at nothing to kill Teng Qingshan as soon as possible!
It was terrifying, this speed of progress!
In truth, Teng Qingshan’s achievement of reaching the Void Realm at twenty-one had several contributing factors.
His previous life of 29 years had allowed Teng Qingshan to reach the Grandmaster realm. This meant—in this life, from the moment he was born as a baby—he was already at the level of an Internal Martial Arts Grandmaster! Subsequent comprehension of the Five Elements Fist and the creation of his own Form-Intention Five Elements Spear Technique had been a further process of refining and elevating that foundation.
Adding the two lives together, Teng Qingshan's actual time spent cultivating had surpassed forty years!
Furthermore—
Teng Qingshan had forged the path of Internal Martial Arts, a route no one in the Nine Provinces had ever trodden! Over forty years of comprehension within the Internal Martial Arts realm, combined with the aid of the 'Divine Jade Stele' and the 'Thirty-Six Stone Carvings of Mountain Splitting,' plus the repeated setbacks encountered on his cultivation journey, finally propelled him into the Void Realm!
To step into the Void Realm was akin to ascending to the heavens in a single stride!
From that moment on, he had leaped over the dragon gate, soaring into the nine heavens, his status completely transformed.
Moreover, Teng Qingshan was the very first Void Realm expert of the Internal Martial Arts lineage in the entire history of the Nine Provinces!
"Finally, it's done! My Internal Martial Arts lineage can also reach the Void Realm!" Teng Qingshan broke into a happy smile. "In countless future generations, those who practice the Fire Element Fist and the other four boxing techniques I transmit will also have the chance to glimpse the Heavenly Dao." The thought that future generations practicing his Internal Martial Arts could follow his footsteps into the Void Realm filled Teng Qingshan with elation.
"Nine Provinces..."
"Wait for me to return!" Teng Qingshan's gaze shone brightly.
"A Void Realm expert... it truly is vastly different."
Teng Qingshan sensed the distinction upon achieving the Void Realm. If an Innate expert was merely an ant beneath heaven and earth, then a Void Realm expert was a localized ruler of a segment of heaven and earth! The more 'Dao' one comprehended, the greater the power they commanded, and the more they could control.
"This is the Void Realm!" Teng Qingshan closed his eyes.
His 'Spirit' at this moment was one with the surrounding Fire Element energy. He clearly perceived every minute fluctuation of air within the entirety of Rising Sun City—every fluctuation representing a living being, be it human, animal, or beast. Within a radius of thirty to forty li where the Fire Element energy spread, Teng Qingshan could sense everything distinctly.
There were millions of vital signs within the entire Cloud Dream Ancient City. Each one was like a drop of water in the vast sea, or a single star in the Milky Way, utterly inconspicuous.
"Hmm... So strong!"
Teng Qingshan suddenly felt that amidst the dense multitude of millions of life signs, there was one particularly powerful aura—it resembled a 'sun' formed from a convergence of immense lightning and dark, sharp radiance. Among the myriad 'stars' of various auras, this 'sun' of gathered lightning and dark radiance was unprecedentedly conspicuous.
"Is that... the Cloud Dream War God?" Teng Qingshan clearly sensed that aura belonged to the Cloud Dream War God.
The moment Teng Qingshan perceived the Cloud Dream War God’s presence, the Cloud Dream War God simultaneously perceived Teng Qingshan!
A colossal mass of flame gathered from endless fire.
Within the entire Cloud Dream Ancient City, this presence was so overwhelming that it was like the sun appearing among ten thousand stars; once the sun shone, all other stars paled in comparison.
"Oh?"
Teng Qingshan was startled. He actually sensed a thread of goodwill and joy within the fluctuation of the Cloud Dream War God's aura.
Moreover, this powerful presence was rapidly approaching.
...
In front of the East Flower Domain Pavilion, Li Jun, Teng Shou, Yang Dong, Fu Yuping, and even the two maids all gazed out at Teng Qingshan standing upon the water.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, Teng Qingshan pushed off the water’s surface, moving like a drifting fallen leaf, covering several dozen zhang in distance before landing lightly on the wooden platform.
"Qingshan," Li Jun exclaimed with visible delight, "you've reached the Void Realm?"
"Yes," Teng Qingshan replied with a smile, nodding. "Prepare yourselves. The Cloud Dream War God and Mu Wang are coming."
"The Cloud Dream War God is coming?" Li Jun, Fu Yuping, and the others were somewhat bewildered... They wouldn't find it strange if Teng Qingshan said he heard someone approaching. But... relying only on his ears to discern who was coming and how? Moreover, Mu Wang and the Cloud Dream War God moved with an unusual subtlety that made detection difficult.
Teng Qingshan smiled. "Little Ping, take the two of them to prepare."
"Uh... Alright," Fu Yuping nodded quickly.
The two maids looked at Teng Qingshan with undisguised reverence. In their eyes, this man, acclaimed outside as the strongest Martial Saint, possessed abilities that were frighteningly unbelievable.
"Haha, Qingshan, congratulations," the Cloud Dream War God’s hearty laughter drifted from afar.
The laughter was still echoing in the courtyard when the Cloud Dream War God, Mu Wang, appeared at the garden gate.
"They really came?" Fu Yuping, who had already gone with the maids to prepare tea, turned around and gasped in shock.
"Brother Teng, you have taken a step ahead of me. Congratulations," Mu Wang’s eyes held undisguised envy. He too dreamed of reaching the Void Realm; considering there were only two War Gods on the entire Duanmu Continent, the difficulty was evident. Yet today, Teng Qingshan, having reached the Void Realm, stood before him.
"I had a momentary insight and crossed the threshold into the Void Realm," Teng Qingshan smiled lightly.
"This step of yours is truly an ascent to the heavens," the Cloud Dream War God laughed heartily. The three then entered the main hall together, where Fu Yuping and the maids had already presented the tea.
The three sat down.
"Qingshan," the Cloud Dream War God said, his gaze intense, "I came today for two reasons: first, to congratulate you on reaching the Void Realm, and second, to discuss the matter between you and the Sky Wind War God... Haha, I almost forgot, you still don't know this old man's name, do you? My name is Mu Tao. Now that you’ve entered the Void Realm, among Void Realm experts, there's no need to address each other as senior or junior. You can simply call me Old Brother Mu, and I'll call you Brother Qingshan, how about that?"
Teng Qingshan cupped his hands and smiled. "Old Brother Mu."
Stepping into the Void Realm also extended his lifespan to five hundred years! At this level, seniority was indeed meaningless.
"Brother Mu Wang," Teng Qingshan smiled, looking towards the Great Elder, 'Mu Wang.' "Now, you are the only one left who hasn't stepped into the Void Realm."
"This final step is incredibly hard to cross," Mu Wang replied with a helpless smile.
He had been stuck at this final barrier for far too long.
"Mmm," Teng Qingshan nodded. When he had created the eighth move of the Earth Element Fist, Teng Qingshan had exhausted every method, even procuring more of the Thirty-Six Stone Carvings of Mountain Splitting, yet he could not break through the final layer. Who would have thought that the later Fire Element Fist would lead to an epiphany and breakthrough when Teng Qingshan happened to be watching a sunrise?
Enlightenment made it simple.
Without it, one remained stuck, no matter what.
"Qingshan, you and that Sky Wind War God..." the Cloud Dream War God, Mu Tao, began.
"Naturally, we are irreconcilable enemies," Teng Qingshan stated.
"Qingshan, for now, do not engage him. Although you are no longer afraid of him, you are still not his match," the Cloud Dream War God advised.
"I understand."
After entering the Void Realm, Teng Qingshan instantly became aware of many things. For instance, the worldly power the Cloud Dream War God could manipulate was clearly far more robust than his own. Currently, he could only control the Fire Element energy.
"However, he cannot kill you either," the Cloud Dream War God chuckled. "For one Void Realm expert to kill another, as long as the weaker one wishes to flee, it is almost impossible for the stronger one to succeed. You must have noticed just now that Void Realm experts can easily detect the approach of another."
Teng Qingshan nodded.
With his Spirit fused with heaven and earth, merging with the Fire Element energy, he could easily perceive every living thing within a radius of thirty to forty li. And the aura of a Void Realm expert was intensely conspicuous!
"But Qingshan, you have just entered the Void Realm; you haven't truly fused your Spirit with heaven and earth yet," the Cloud Dream War God explained.
"Truly fuse Spirit with heaven and earth?" Teng Qingshan asked, puzzled.
"Yes. Right now, you can communicate with heaven and earth, and your True Essence is boundless. If you deliberately use your Spirit to control the Fire Element energy, you can sense an area of thirty-four li radius! But if you don't intentionally expend your 'Spirit,' you cannot sense it. Isn't that right?" the Cloud Dream War God queried.
Though surprised by the precise figure of 'thirty-four li' that the other mentioned, Teng Qingshan still nodded in acknowledgment; without intentionally exerting his 'Spirit,' he indeed could not sense things.
"Haha... Every Void Realm expert senses the area within their domain naturally, without expending their 'Spirit,'" the Cloud Dream War God laughed. "What you need to do now is completely fuse your 'Spirit' with the Fire Element energy, so that the 'Spirit' residing in your Niwan Palace is imbued with Fire Element characteristics."
"Once you achieve this, it will be like your eyes naturally seeing what is in front of you. You will be able to sense the auras of every living thing within a radius of thirty-four li automatically!"
"Integrating the 'Spirit' fully with Fire Element characteristics will probably take about ten days to half a month," the Cloud Dream War God explained.