Chapter 1242 Breakthrough in Retreat

The afterglow within the Meteorite Palace had not yet completely dissipated. Particles of immortal energy floating in the air, like fine gold foil, landed on Liu Yang's bare wrists, sending a tingling sensation through him… He gazed at the Ice-Fire Immortal-Slaying Sword and the Thunder-Patterned Armor suspended in the center of the palace. With a slight movement of his fingertips, the two ancient artifacts flew into his palm—the sword's blade was as cold as frost, yet contained a burning warmth; the thunder patterns on the armor's surface, nourished by immortal energy, slowly swirled, pulsating as if alive…

"Let's find a safe place to cultivate in seclusion first..." Liu Yang turned to look at Li Qingyue and Bai Jingjing behind him, his voice slightly hoarse from just coming into contact with immortal power, "The power of the Meteorite Immortal Crystal is too immense. If we don't refine it quickly, it might burst our meridians..."

Li Qingyue had already taken out the Hundred Herbs Classic she carried with her. The pages automatically turned to the chapter on "Secluded Cultivation and Protection" under the influence of her immortal power. She looked around the hall: "There's a stone chamber on the west side of the hall. I explored it just now; the stone walls contain a natural spirit-gathering array, perfect for seclusion..." Bai Jingjing, holding a spatial teleportation mirror, her fox-clan-specific vertical pupils slightly contracted: "The spatial fluctuations in this mirror are strange; it seems to reflect the outside world, but it's currently blocked by immortal power. Perhaps you can unlock it after your breakthrough..."

The three hurried towards the western stone chamber. As soon as they stepped inside, a rich spiritual energy rushed towards them—the stone walls were covered with deep blue patterns, from which seeped transparent spiritual liquid, dripping into a stone trough on the ground and forming a small pool of spiritual spring… Liu Yang walked to the center of the chamber, sat cross-legged, and took the Meteorite Immortal Crystal from his dantian. The moment the crystal left his body, it emitted a blinding white light, instantly filling the entire chamber with immortal power, even making the air thick and viscous…

“I will set up a defensive array here. Qingyue, you will be in charge of refining the Immortal Marrow Liquid. If there is any unusual activity, we will wake you up immediately…” Bai Jingjing said, flicking three foxfires from her fingertips. The foxfires landed in the corner of the stone chamber, transforming into three red light shields that isolated the stone chamber from the outside world… Li Qingyue then opened the jade bottle she had found in the hall. The Immortal Marrow Liquid inside was pale gold and emitted a healing fragrance. She took out one-third of it and poured it into a specially made jade cauldron, slowly heating it with her own spiritual power, preparing to replenish Liu Yang's spiritual energy while he refined the Immortal Crystal…

Liu Yang took a deep breath and pressed the Meteorite Immortal Crystal back into his dantian... The moment the crystal touched the golden core within, it melted rapidly, like ice and snow encountering a raging fire. A surge of immortal power, far exceeding his tolerance, instantly swept through his meridians... He groaned, fine beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead. He hurriedly circulated the newly acquired "Meteorite Immortal Technique"—as the incantation flowed through his mind, the ice, fire, and lightning elemental energies within his body began to actively meet the immortal power, like three rushing streams merging into a river, forming a three-colored, interwoven torrent of spiritual energy within his meridians...

The immortal energy continuously washed over his meridians. His dantian, which could only hold the Golden Core, was now being forcibly expanded by the immortal energy. The patterns on the surface of the Golden Core gradually became clearer, as if it were being reforged... Liu Yang could clearly feel a new life being nurtured inside the Golden Core. Each impact of the immortal energy made that life sign more obvious... He gritted his teeth, immersing himself entirely in cultivation, isolating himself from all external noise...

After an unknown amount of time, Bai Jingjing's voice came from outside the stone chamber: "Liu Yang, you've been in seclusion for three days. Why don't you stop and rest for a while?"

Liu Yang opened his eyes, a hint of doubt flashing in them—according to his perception, at least ten days had passed, so how could only three days have gone by? He was about to ask when he suddenly noticed something unusual about his body: the flow of his immortal energy seemed to be more than three times faster than outside, and even his breathing rate was much slower than usual… He subconsciously looked at the hourglass in the corner of the stone chamber. More than half of the sand remained, and at its normal flow rate, the hourglass should have run out two days ago…

"There's something wrong with the flow of time here..." Liu Yang's voice carried a hint of surprise. "One day outside is probably equivalent to three days here..."

Bai Jingjing and Li Qingyue exchanged a glance, both seeing shock in each other's eyes... Li Qingyue put down the jade cauldron in her hand and walked to the door of the stone chamber: "No wonder my speed of refining the Immortal Marrow Liquid is so much faster than usual. It turns out it's not the effect of the Immortal Marrow Liquid, but the speed of time flow... In this way, your breakthrough time can be greatly shortened, but the consumption of immortal power will also increase exponentially. Do you want me to give you the rest of the Immortal Marrow Liquid?"

Liu Yang shook his head. Although the immortal power in his body was still being consumed, the Meteorite Immortal Crystal was still releasing immortal power, which was enough to sustain him for the time being: "No need, you keep the Immortal Marrow Liquid. In case of danger, you can use it to recover... By the way, is there any movement outside? Has the Valley Master of Burning Heaven reacted?"

"Not yet..." Bai Jingjing's voice carried a hint of relief. "I just used the fox clan's secret technique to investigate. The restrictions on the Meteor Palace are still there, and because of the immortal power you released during your cultivation, the restrictions have become even stronger. It's impossible for outsiders to penetrate them... The Valley Master of Burning Heaven should still be suspicious of the anomalies in the forbidden area, but he can't find its location yet..."

Liu Yang breathed a sigh of relief, closed his eyes again, and continued to circulate the Meteorite Immortal Technique... As time passed, the golden core in his dantian began to gradually shatter, and a small figure slowly rose from the fragments—the figure wore the exact same clothes as Liu Yang, and the expression in his eyes and brows was exactly the same; it was his soon-to-be-formed immortal infant... As soon as the immortal infant appeared, it opened its small mouth and began to actively absorb the surrounding immortal power. With each absorption, its form became more solid...

Five more days passed (about a day and a half outside), and the concentration of immortal energy in the stone chamber had reached saturation. A faint golden sweat began to seep from Liu Yang's skin, a sign of excess immortal energy overflowing from his body... He could feel that the infant immortal's form had essentially solidified; only one final step remained before it could completely break free from the constraints of the golden core and truly take shape...

Just then, Li Qingyue suddenly exclaimed, "Liu Yang, stop! Your spirit body can't hold on much longer!"

Liu Yang suddenly opened his eyes and saw fine cracks appearing on his arm, from which red blood seeped, mixing with the golden sweat on his skin, creating a striking sight... He then realized that although the accelerated flow of time had greatly increased his cultivation progress, his spiritual body's resilience had not increased accordingly. The continuous impact of immortal energy had brought his spiritual body to the brink of collapse...

"Sister Qingyue, give me the Immortal Essence Liquid!" Liu Yang shouted urgently...

Li Qingyue dared not delay and immediately passed the refined Immortal Marrow Liquid through the crack in the stone chamber door... Liu Yang took the jade bottle, tilted his head back, and drank the Immortal Marrow Liquid in one gulp... The pale golden Immortal Marrow Liquid, as soon as it entered his throat, transformed into a gentle energy that flowed throughout his body. The cracks on his arm healed at a visible speed, and the pain in his spiritual body also disappeared... He took the opportunity to accelerate the circulation of the Meteorite Immortal Technique. The Immortal Infant in his dantian suddenly opened its eyes, letting out a silent roar, completely breaking free from the shackles of the Golden Core, and hovering in the center of his dantian...

The instant the celestial infant took shape, a surge of celestial power far exceeding anything before erupted from Liu Yang's body. The defensive array surrounding the stone chamber shook violently, and the three foxfire light shields set up by Bai Jingjing shattered instantly... Li Qingyue and Bai Jingjing hurriedly retreated, their faces filled with shock—at this moment, Liu Yang was surrounded by a halo formed from the three elements of ice, fire, and lightning spiritual power, and a semi-transparent celestial infant phantom floated above his head. The entire Meteor Palace trembled slightly with the fluctuations of celestial power...

"That's wonderful! The Immortal Infant has taken shape!" Li Qingyue exclaimed excitedly. "After consolidating it for a while longer, you'll be able to break through to the Ascension Realm!"

Liu Yang nodded, about to continue circulating the Meteorite Immortal Technique, when he suddenly sensed something unusual—the nascent soul within his dantian seemed to be resonating with the Meteorite Palace, and the immortal energy within the palace was beginning to converge towards the nascent soul at a speed several times faster than before... He looked in the direction of the flowing immortal energy and saw that a tiny crack had appeared in the dome of the Meteorite Palace, from which a faint seven-colored light shone, as if something outside was summoning the nascent soul...

"This is... an ascension phenomenon?" Bai Jingjing's voice carried a hint of uncertainty. "The ancient fox clan records that when one breaks through to the ascension realm, a seven-colored glow descends upon the world. Are you about to break through now?"

Liu Yang's heart stirred, but he didn't stop cultivating... As immortal power continuously flowed into the celestial infant's body, the illusory image of the celestial infant became increasingly solid, gradually forming a strange connection with Liu Yang's true form... He could feel his consciousness merging with the celestial infant, and the surrounding space seemed to become clearer. He could even "see" every detail outside the stone chamber and inside the Meteor Palace, including every pattern on the Ice and Fire Immortal-Slaying Sword...

Two more days passed (approximately fourteen hours in the outside world). When the last wisp of immortal power merged into the infant immortal's body, the infant immortal suddenly transformed into a golden light and returned to Liu Yang's dantian... Liu Yang suddenly opened his eyes, and two golden lights shot out from them. The halo around his body instantly dissipated, replaced by an even more restrained yet more powerful aura—he had achieved the early stage of the Ascension Realm!

He stood up, stretched his limbs, and felt an inexhaustible surge of power. With a gentle stomp of his foot, cracks appeared in concentric circles on the floor of the stone chamber... He attempted to manipulate spatial power; with a slight movement of his fingertips, a small spatial rift appeared before him, through which he could see the scene outside the Meteor Palace...

"Success!" Liu Yang couldn't contain his joy and pushed open the door of the stone chamber as he walked out...

Bai Jingjing and Li Qingyue immediately surrounded him, their faces full of joy... Li Qingyue carefully examined Liu Yang, a hint of amazement flashing in her eyes: "The aura of the Ascension Realm is indeed different. Now, I'm afraid even the Valley Master of Burning Heaven Valley is no match for you..."

Bai Jingjing then raised the spatial teleportation mirror in her hand, the spatial ripples on the mirror's surface even more pronounced than before: "After your breakthrough, the restrictions on the teleportation mirror were also lifted, and now you can see the outside world... Look, over there in Burning Heaven City..."

Liu Yang leaned closer and saw that the mirror reflected the scene of Burning Heaven City—the cultivators within the city were all looking up at the sky, their faces filled with terror, while the Valley Master of Burning Heaven Valley was clutching his chest, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, clearly injured... Below the mirror, a line of small print read: Outside time, one day...

"It seems that during my ten days of seclusion, only one day truly passed in the outside world..." Liu Yang said thoughtfully. "The Valley Master of Burning Heaven Valley must have sensed the unusual activity of the Meteor Palace and tried to force his way in, but was severely injured by the rebound of the restriction... In that case, it will be much safer for us to leave Burning Heaven Valley..."

Li Qingyue nodded and handed the remaining Immortal Marrow Liquid and Immortal Gathering Pill to Liu Yang: "Take these. Although you have already broken through, the Immortal Marrow Liquid can improve the purity of your spiritual body, and the Immortal Gathering Pill can be used to restore your immortal power when you encounter danger... When shall we leave?"

"Let's go now..." Liu Yang took the pills, donned the Ice-Fire Immortal-Slaying Sword and the Thunder-Patterned Armor, then picked up the spatial teleportation mirror. "Leave Burning Heaven City first, find a safe place to activate the teleportation mirror, and return to the real world..."

Bai Jingjing and Li Qingyue had no objections. The three of them packed their things and headed towards the exit of the Meteorite Palace... Just as they reached the palace entrance, Liu Yang suddenly stopped and glanced back at the center of the Meteorite Palace—the place where the Meteorite Immortal Crystal had once floated, now only a faint imprint of immortal power remained... He silently said "Thank you" in his heart, then turned and followed Bai Jingjing and Li Qingyue, disappearing into the shadows of the Meteorite Palace...

Meanwhile, Burning Heaven City was in complete chaos... The Valley Master of Burning Heaven, clutching his injured chest, stood outside the Meteorite Forbidden Ground, his face so grim it could drip water... He couldn't understand why the restrictions within the forbidden ground had suddenly become so strong. He had only taken one step closer when he was severely injured by the rebounding immortal power, and hadn't even seen the entrance to the forbidden ground...

"Valley Master, what should we do now?" the elder beside him asked cautiously...

The Valley Master of Burning Heaven took a deep breath, suppressing his anger: "Send people to guard the area around the forbidden zone. No one is allowed to approach... Also, pass on my order to have all the branch leaders return. Find the person who broke into the forbidden zone at all costs!"

Unbeknownst to him, the person he was searching for had already quietly left the Meteorite Forbidden Zone and was heading towards the outskirts of Burning Sky City... while an even greater storm was just beginning to brew...