Thanks to the introductions from Feng Xiao and You Quan, I finally grasped what the Land of Heroes truly was! But I still had one lingering question!

"The Orcs already possess the Night-Luminescent Pearl, so why haven't they rushed to enter the Land of Heroes first?"

"It's not that they don't want to," You Quan replied. "It's that they simply can't get in."

"Does entering the Land of Heroes require some special condition, similar to when we first entered the Celestial Sanctuary?" I asked, curiosity piqued.

"You could put it that way," You Quan conceded. "To enter the Land of Heroes, one must open the Gate of Heroes, and to open that gate, a specific, powerful energy is required—an energy that only Spirit Pearls can possess."

"You mean the Spirit Gathering Pearls you carry?" I was considerably surprised.

"Precisely. The Spirit Gathering Pearls were originally created for the sole purpose of opening the Gate of Heroes," You Yue stated.

"I see now," I finally understood with sudden clarity.

"Furthermore, you need the power of at least three Spirit Pearls to open the Gate of Heroes. This is precisely why our three major tribes formed an alliance."

"So, you need three experts at the First Level of the Spirit Pearl realm present simultaneously?" I unconsciously glanced toward Ao Fei, Feng Fei, and You Yue!

"En," Feng Fei and Ao Fei both nodded slightly.

"Right now, we happen to have three people carrying Spirit Pearls," Feng Xiao said. "We can enter the Path of Heroes at any moment, but the Orc race has none, rendering their Night-Luminescent Pearl useless."

This situation, I mused, was certainly complex: we held the key to the Land of Heroes, yet the Orcs were guarding the entrance, waiting for us to walk into a trap.

"The only course of action now is to split up," Mo Luo Yin Feng declared. "The Night-Luminescent Pearl held by Ji Du is our last hope. We must find them and enter the Land of Heroes before the Demonic Dragon Cult Master returns. Otherwise, once the Cult Master is back and secures the entrance, we will truly have no chance whatsoever."

Everyone subconsciously looked at me.

"I can only do my best," I replied with a wry, helpless smile.

For the moment, no one could devise a better plan, so they dispersed. Until we found Ji Du and the others and secured that final "one" Night-Luminescent Pearl, we decided to wait and see, refraining from any rash actions for the time being.

Xing Ye and I returned to the cave where Xing Zhan was hiding.

However, there was still no progress in calibrating the Thousand-Mile Sound Transmission, leaving us with nothing to do but wait patiently, unable to think of any other viable solution!

As for magic, I hadn't even scratched the surface. Xing Ye and Xing Zhan, like me, possessed the Demonic Devourer Physique, but having spent so many years in the Black Flag Army, they at least knew a little about the basics!

Though they couldn't cast spells themselves, debugging the Thousand-Mile Sound Transmission and adjusting its magical frequency was something they could manage easily enough.

The principle was much like modern radio signals, divided into several bands, each containing countless frequencies.

What Xing Ye and Xing Zhan needed to do was use specially crafted Mana Convergence Towers (equivalent to radio transmitters) to broadcast magical signals across different bands (equivalent to radio broadcasts). Once these signals spread out, if the frequency matched, the Thousand-Mile Sound Transmission connection with Ji Du and the others would be established.

Once the connection was made, we could communicate with them!

This was the only method we could currently conceive.

Of course, it sounded simple in theory, but the actual operation was incredibly tedious! It required immense patience and could not afford the slightest carelessness! Every frequency, every band, had to be checked!

After all, we were in an unfamiliar environment; no one could guarantee which frequency would be the correct one.

Days passed, yet there was still no success. The magical signals broadcast across the various bands disappeared as if sunk into the sea, receiving absolutely no response.

And I had nothing else to do but wait idly.

However, I was never one to sit still. Since waiting wouldn't yield results anytime soon anyway, I decided to calm my mind and focus on pondering some crucial issues.

I had originally thought that mastering the Cold Star Strike would allow me to move unchallenged, but the appearance of Tian Mu utterly shattered my confidence.

To be honest, escaping this time was pure luck.

I was genuinely curious whether that final blow during my escape had actually damaged Tian Mu. Logically, under those circumstances, Tian Mu couldn't possibly have emerged completely unscathed.

If I could have pierced him clean through with a single sword strike, that would have been the end of it.

But I knew that was just wishful thinking. Although my luck seemed to be good generally, my intuition told me that Tian Mu would not be taken down that easily.

In the future, I would inevitably have to engage him in a bitter struggle.

Ah! What a troublesome opponent!

To defeat him, I had to become stronger!

But how exactly could I become stronger? For a moment, I racked my brain!

If I could grasp the sixth form of the Nine Heavens Star River—Stellar Shift—perhaps I would have a fighting chance.

Stripped down, Stellar Shift was an extremely peculiar technique for reflecting damage: the stronger the enemy, the greater the damage they sustained. The theory was quite similar to the principle of 'borrowing strength to strike' (Jie Li Da Li) in Tai Chi.

Of course, understanding the concept was one thing; mastering its execution was entirely another.

Previously, I had to rush to enter the Celestial Sanctuary, which is why I had to skip practicing Stellar Shift. But now, while Xing Ye and Xing Zhan were calibrating the magical frequencies, I could use the time to master this move.

With that thought, I eagerly pulled out the Star River Sword Manual and began to study it closely.

Nine Heavens Star River Sixth Form—Stellar Shift!

If the opponent is strong, you are strong; if the opponent is weak, you are weak. Return the enemy's power upon themselves; this is Stellar Shift! Originally an unshared secret art of the Murong Clan of Gusu. I have learned this technique by fortunate coincidence!

................

The diagram for Stellar Shift showed a vivid, perfectly round Tai Chi sphere.

Beside it were a few lines of detailed annotations!

Tai Chi separates into Two Energies!

The Two Energies are Yin and Yang!

Yin is stillness; Yang is motion. Therefore, Tai Chi is the embrace of the Two Energies: Yin containing Yang, and Yang containing Yin; stillness within motion, and motion within stillness—a combination of movement and stillness!

Stellar Shift is intentional yet formless. Yet, one only needs to understand the principle of Tai Chi and grasp the transformation of Yin and Yang to borrow any force! No force cannot be utilized; no move cannot be broken!

...........

Reading through the string of stiff, ancient literary Chinese made my head spin, and what made matters worse was that this technique surprisingly lacked any concrete sword posture diagrams—only a plump, round Tai Chi sphere!

Damn it! What was the first generation Dragon Shadow thinking? Did he really expect everyone to be a genius like him? To leave me with just 'intentional yet formless' descriptions!

Upon reading this, I felt a massive headache coming on!

Mastering this move wasn't extremely difficult, nor was it easy; the key lay in comprehension!

If you understood it, you understood it; if you didn't, you wouldn't figure out a single thing even if you racked your brains raw!

For the next few days, Xing Ye and Xing Zhan were busy tuning the magical signals, while I stared blankly at the magnified image of the Tai Chi sphere on the wall.

Regrettably, after staring at it for so long, I still couldn't make heads or tails of it!

"Dad," Xing Ye and Xing Zhan, while working, finally couldn't resist and came up beside me. "What is this sphere? Why have you been staring at it for days?"

"Tai Chi," I murmured absently.

"Tai Chi?" Xing Ye looked confused. "What is that?"

"It's not a thing," I snapped irritably.

"Not a thing?" Xing Ye was taken aback. "Then why are you looking at it?"

"But there are things hidden inside it," I continued.

"Hidden things?" Xing Zhan also grew interested. "Hidden what? I don't see anything."

"It just looks like a ball to me," Xing Ye commented.

"This Star River Sword Art is truly bizarre," Xing Zhan mused. "Can you even master a sword technique just by staring at a ball?"

"That's what genius is," I said, feigning profound mystery.

"Well, Dad, after staring at it for so many days, what have you figured out?" Xing Ye asked.

"If I understood it, would I still be sitting here staring blankly?" I retorted sharply.

"Isn't it just circles?" Xing Zhan subconsciously made a circular motion with his hand, looking unimpressed.

"Circles." Watching the circle Xing Zhan casually drew, a spark flashed in my mind. Damn it, what is used most often in Tai Chi? Drawing circles!

Anyone who has studied physics should know that the trajectory of a circular arc is the most perfect path for cushioning impact forces. If the angle is controlled well, one can even use the circular arc to neutralize the impact while adding centrifugal force to rotate and reflect the impacting object back!

Of course, borrowing strength to strike (Jie Li Yong Li) is not a unique secret technique; it is utilized in many combat skills and sword arts across the Mafa Continent.

But I had never heard of a technique that could reflect all of an opponent's attacks.

This suggested that the theory of borrowing strength hadn't been pushed to its absolute limit.

And the simple circle Xing Zhan drew just now triggered my inspiration.

If I could deploy a curtain of Dou Qi energy in front of me in the form of a Tai Chi diagram using the Dou Qi energy within my body, wouldn't that be the Stellar Shift described in the diagram!

In an instant, my thoughts cleared up completely!

With that realization, I almost jumped up!

"Damn it, what Tai Chi, what Yin and Yang? Isn't it just using a circular arc to neutralize, plus the pull of centrifugal force, to reflect the impact energy back? Why complicate it with so much ancient prose?" I almost cursed out loud, enraged. "This first-generation Dragon Shadow wasn't a good guy either!"

"Dad, did you burn your brain out?" Xing Ye looked concerned.

"You're the one who's burnt out!" Feeling that the problem plaguing me for days was solved, my mood soared.

"Which one of you wants to spar with me?" I instinctively fixed my eyes on the two youngsters.

"Hehe," Xing Zhan quickly sidestepped. "I still have work to do, hehe. Let Xing Ye spar with you."

"Uh, which frequency were we testing just now?" Xing Ye reacted just as fast, trying to push away, but I grabbed him.

"Don't run, it's you," I said with a malicious grin. "You are very lucky to experience the ultimate secret art, Stellar Shift, which your father just mastered."

"Ah," Xing Ye looked on the verge of tears. "No way, you're using me as the test subject?"

"Nonsense," I replied sharply. "There are only the two of you here. If I don't pick you, who else would I pick?"

Before Xing Ye could prepare a defense, I swiftly unleashed a peculiar, spiraling sword energy! It was precisely a strange cluster of Dou Qi arranged according to the pattern of that Tai Chi diagram.

Fortunately, Xing Ye reacted quickly and hastily swept out a crescent moon shape!

Bang! A strange, dull impact sound!

There was no violent explosion, no powerful shockwave!

But the moment the crescent moon collided with the spiraling sword energy, it inexplicably flew backward and struck Xing Ye in the chest!

"Holy crap." This bizarre change caught the unprepared Xing Ye entirely off guard, and his expression shifted drastically.

He quickly executed a nimble dodge, evading the returning blow.

Whoosh! The missed crescent sword energy slammed into the cave wall, blasting a small crater!

"What kind of move is that?" Xing Ye looked utterly incredulous. "My crescent bounced back?"

"The Sixth Form of the Nine Heavens Star River," I said with studied mystery. "Stellar Shift."

"What's Stellar Shift?" Xing Ye seemed surprised, though mostly dismissive. "That's all the power it has?"

"Stellar Shift: If the opponent is strong, you are strong; if weak, you are weak," I chuckled softly. "It completely reflects the opponent's attack."

"No way!" Xing Ye's face changed dramatically. "Completely reflecting the opponent's attack?"

"Doesn't that mean the stronger the enemy's attack, the stronger the reflected force?" Xing Zhan was equally stunned.

"Theoretically, yes," I boasted. "How about it? Want to try again?"

"No need," Xing Ye backed away. "What kind of cheap trick is that? The stronger the attack, the stronger the reflection—isn't that just fighting yourself?"

"Heh, you could put it that way," I admitted with a dry laugh.

"Then in the future, even if you encounter Tian Mu, Dad, you can stand undefeated," Xing Zhan exclaimed happily.

"It's not that simple," I sighed wearily. "There are no shortcuts in this world. This so-called damage reflection probably only holds true when the disparity in strength between the two parties isn't too great. My Dou Qi cultivation level differs too much from Tian Mu's. Completely reflecting his damage, while not impossible, will certainly not be as easy as we imagine."

"There is a buffering and conversion process involved. Only after completely neutralizing and buffering the enemy's attack can it be reflected back. Moreover, this must happen precisely when the opponent unleashes an overwhelmingly powerful ultimate move; the timing is crucial. Too early or too late, and it fails."

"In other words," Xing Ye looked dejected, "if we face Tian Mu, Dad's chances of winning are still slim."

"Slim, but not zero," I asserted confidently. "Even if I can't completely reflect the damage, at least I can neutralize his heavy killing blows."

"Dad means Stellar Shift can be used defensively?" Xing Ye's eyes lit up.

"Precisely," I replied with a faint smile. "In terms of pure destructive power, Cold Star Strike is enough to kill Tian Mu. However, Tian Mu's speed is too great, and his attacks are too fierce, which is why I didn't have many opportunities to deploy Cold Star Strike during our fight. But with Stellar Shift, I won't be so battered when facing Tian Mu's furious onslaught in the future."

"En," Xing Zhan nodded slightly. "If Elder Feng Xiao and Elder You Quan's injuries also improve, the three of you working together should be able to handle Tian Mu."

"Things aren't that simple," Xing Ye countered. "The enemy has many other experts. If you, Feng Xiao, and You Quan join forces, there will be no one left to counter the other high-level threats."

"We can only take it one step at a time," I said gravely.

Beep-beep. Just then, a strange sound suddenly cut through the air.

"What was that sound?" I asked, confused.

"Ah!" Xing Zhan was overjoyed. "It's the Thousand-Mile Sound Transmission! We have a signal on the Sound Transmission!"