Chapter 37: Repelling the Heavenly Demon, the Tiger Roar of Qingfeng Gorge Shakes the Sky

"Hmph."

At this moment, Chu Lingyue let out a cold laugh.

With just that one sound, the large black hand that had been reaching in suddenly froze.

Then, Chu Lingyue, with her hand sealed in a gesture, coldly pointed at the black hand and said, "All things that receive, continue, and eventually perish are called shadowless; they are called extinction."

As soon as these words were spoken, a terrifying aura of destruction surged forth, as if the scent of decaying corpses had suddenly appeared. With Chu Lingyue's arrogant gesture, the wave of destructive power surged toward the black hand like a tidal wave.

"Boom!"

A silent explosive sound followed, and the massive black hand, which had been surrounded by black mist, suddenly recoiled, with sparks beginning to flicker on its fingertips.

"Is it extinction without a shadow, or should you roll back to the demon realm? Choose one."

Chu Lingyue's voice was as cold as ice.

The black hand withdrew its fingers and slowly clenched into a fist, seemingly hesitating.

"Roar!..."

At this moment, the silent world suddenly echoed with a dragon's roar, followed by an angry voice that thundered, "Who dares to offend my Qingxuan!"

Upon hearing this, the black hand formed from the outerworld demon immediately stopped hesitating and swiftly retreated through the window, disappearing as if it had never been there.

Thunder, wind, and rain immediately returned to the world.

"The little black dragon guarding the gate of Qingxuan Sect actually sensed this outerworld demon? I've underestimated him, but it seems he only sensed it, and didn't actually discover its presence."

The now more transparent Chu Lingyue glanced towards the direction of the Qingxuan Sect's mountain gate. Then, with a faint smile, she turned her gaze back to Xu Taiping, who had fallen into a meditative trance, continuing to murmur, "But today, thanks to him, without that sound, I probably would have had to use the Extinction Fire Curse, and if that had happened, I wouldn't have seen the little guy for at least thirty years."

Although thirty years was just a fleeting moment for her, after spending time together, she had truly started to feel some attachment to the little one in front of her.

"I was originally planning to deal with that tiger demon with the little guy, but now it seems impossible. If I don't go back to the earth-fruit to sleep, this fragment of soul will have problems. Never mind, I'll leave a letter for the little one, telling him the method of the Ice Breath Technique. With the Ice Breath Technique and his talent for comprehension, he'll definitely be able to deal with that tiger demon."

As Chu Lingyue whispered to herself, she used her spiritual consciousness to control a brush on the table and began writing on a piece of white paper.

This brush was one of the few objects that her current fragment of soul could hold.

"Little Taiping, when you see this letter, I will have fallen asleep in the earth-fruit's dead branch. There are a few things I must tell you."

After writing the last line, Chu Lingyue exhausted all her strength. Her form turned into light smoke and drifted out of the room, eventually entering the buried earth-fruit's withered branch in the medicinal garden.

...

Meanwhile, Xu Taiping finally used his Remnant Mist True Energy to break through the invisible barrier around his dantian.

He had successfully broken through to the Opening Door realm.

"So this is the Qi Sea?"

The moment Xu Taiping broke through, he gained the ability to look inward. With a thought, he could see the "Qi Sea" that had opened up after the barrier in his dantian was broken.

Standing within the Qi Sea, it felt as if he was in a vast, grayish world, occasionally seeing several clusters of energy floating about, condensed from true qi.

Even with just this brief observation, Xu Taiping could clearly feel the vast difference between the Qi Sea and his dantian.

"No wonder Daoist Ziyang said that only after reaching the Opening Door realm can one practice Dao techniques. A small dantian can't even contain enough true qi to use Dao techniques."

Xu Taiping, filled with awe, marveled inwardly.

"Right, I need to tell Lingyue sister this good news quickly."

He suddenly thought of Lingyue, who had been guarding him by the bed, and immediately calmed his mind and opened his eyes.

"Hm?"

To Xu Taiping's surprise, Lingyue was not in the room. The window was wide open, and a strange, unsettling aura filled the room, as if some dangerous presence had just entered.

"Lingyue sister?"

Feeling increasingly uneasy, Xu Taiping rolled off the bed and called out to the door.

There was still no response.

As he was considering whether to check the medicinal garden, his eyes caught sight of a letter pressed under the seal on the table.

He quickly went up, picked it up, and read it:

"Little Taiping, by the time you see this letter, I will have fallen asleep in the earth-fruit's dead branch. I've left this letter to inform you of a few things."

The words that greeted Xu Taiping's eyes were elegant and carefree, clearly written by Lingyue.

However, as he continued reading, the joy from his breakthrough quickly vanished:

"When you broke through, you attracted the outerworld demon, which is likely related to your soul's aptitude."

"Outerworld demon?"

Xu Taiping had never imagined that such an entity, which he had only read about in the Qingxuan Sect's records, would appear so close to him.

...

A moment later, Xu Taiping had finished reading the entire letter.

Although there were many things he didn't fully understand, such as the "Clear Heart Dao Heart" and the "Outerworld Demon," he understood why Lingyue had suddenly fallen asleep again.

"At the moment I thought I had succeeded in my breakthrough, Lingyue sister was risking her life to help me drive away that outerworld demon."

With this thought, Xu Taiping put away the letter, and the excitement and surprise in his eyes faded like a receding tide.

He closed the window, carefully placed the letter into the wooden box his grandfather had given him, and sat back on the bed, cross-legged, to meditate.

The events of the night had given the young Xu Taiping a glimpse of the perilous path of cultivation.

"If it weren't for Lingyue sister, even if I had broken through to the Opening Door realm tonight, my soul would have been devoured by the heavenly demon. The road ahead is long, and I can't always rely on Lingyue. Now that I have the qualifications to cultivate, I must work a hundred times harder than other cultivators. I will make this mortal body walk the path to the heavens! If the tiger demon stands in my way, I will slay it; if the heavenly demon stands in my way, I will cut it down!"

Xu Taiping silently made a vow in his heart.

Perhaps, even Lingyue didn't realize, Xu Taiping's greatest strength on the cultivation path was not some Clear Heart Dao Heart, but the indomitable will forged by his grandfather since childhood.

...

At the same time, on this night, in the Tiger Demon's cave in Qingfeng Gorge.

"Roar!..."

The tiger demon stood on the peak of the gorge, letting out a mighty roar. The force of the sound created ripples in the air, like waves spreading across the mountains, causing the beasts in the area to cower in fear.

"My injuries are almost healed. In a month, I'll fully recover!"

The tiger demon let out a sinister laugh and then touched the long scar on his face. His eyes glowed with murderous intent as he looked toward the red maple forest outside the cave, saying, "墨钧 of the Sixth Peak, you think you can make me your mount? You're not worthy! Once I fully recover, if you dare come to Qingfeng Gorge again, I'll make you taste the power of the Soul-Devouring Pearl of the Shuo Wind Tiger Clan."

As he spoke, he suddenly reached into his mouth and took out a silver-white pearl.

"Boom!"

As the Soul-Devouring Pearl appeared, fierce winds suddenly swept through the red maple forest outside the cave. Several thick maple trees were sliced in half by the wind blades.

Watching the destruction outside, the tiger demon swallowed the Soul-Devouring Pearl, then turned his gaze coldly toward the direction of Qingzhu Residence, his voice icily saying, "And you, little brat from Qingzhu Residence, dare to harm my phantom soul? I will turn you into a phantom soul and make you suffer under my torment for all eternity!"