Within the Heavenly Beast Forest.
Ye Yunfei and Su Qingluo walked side by side through the mountain forest.
"Ever since leaving the Full Moon City, it's only now that I've finally gotten the chance to take a stroll with you," Su Qingluo said softly, her beautiful eyes resting on Ye Yunfei.
"Yes. No matter what, we're together again," Ye Yunfei nodded.
The two of them leaned lightly against each other.
Right at that moment.
Boom...
On a distant mountain peak, dark clouds gathered densely, forming a heavy black layer in moments. Bolts of lightning, like shimmering snakes, writhed within the clouds.
"Xiao Hui is finally breaking through! Come, let's go take a look!"
Ye Yunfei's face lit up with joy. He had instructed Chu Ji to relocate a group of the most important personnel to the Heavenly Beast Forest, and Xiao Hui was among them!
Whoosh!
Xiao Hui suddenly rushed out from a secluded chamber on the mountain peak, soaring upwards into the air to face her Lightning Tribulation.
The commotion of the tribulation attracted a large crowd of onlookers.
"Master!"
Hu Miao arrived beside Ye Yunfei. Qiqi, Xiao Xue, Pan Yi, Huang Shang, and a large group of Qingyun Palace members all came as well.
Boom...
The thunder high in the sky began to strike down relentlessly.
Xiao Hui shot into the sky, a huge illusory phoenix spreading its wings behind her as she resisted the thunder.
Half an hour later.
The thunder ended.
Xiao Hui sat cross-legged high in the air, beginning to open up the vital acupoints within her body.
Boom, boom...
A series of energy roars continuously emanated from within Xiao Hui's body.
In the end, Xiao Hui successfully opened a total of thirty-three vital acupoints—one more than Su Qingluo! Such talent placed her at the top level among the younger generation of the Canghuang Realm.
Of course, this didn't necessarily mean Xiao Hui's innate aptitude was higher than Su Qingluo's, as both of them were only at the early stage of the Acupoint Opening Realm. They would each have two more opportunities to open vital acupoints within their bodies. It was only upon breaking through to the late stage of the Acupoint Opening Realm that the final tally of opened acupoints would be known.
"Xiao Hui, congratulations on your successful breakthrough," Ye Yunfei said to her.
"I plan to go look for my brother and travel around a bit," Xiao Hui replied.
"That's fine. You're a disciple of the Violet Mountain Sect now, so you should be relatively safe moving about the Canghuang Realm. Keep an eye out for Wu Heishan and the others while you're at it," Ye Yunfei thought for a moment before nodding in agreement.
"Take these cultivation resources with you. Be careful on your journey."
Ye Yunfei took out several spatial rings and handed them to Xiao Hui. After all, Xiao Hui had also come from the Tianxuan Continent. Naturally, Ye Yunfei wouldn't treat her poorly; he had always regarded her as his own little sister.
"Young Master Ye, we also wish to say our goodbyes."
Qiqi, Xiao Xue, and Pan Yi came to bid farewell to Ye Yunfei as well.
"You're leaving too? Alright then, I'll give each of you a specially crafted communication jade slip of mine. If anything happens in the future, you can send me a message. And here are some pills, a gift from me."
With a wave of his hand, three communication jade slips and three spatial rings flew out, landing before Qiqi and the other two.
Soon, Xiao Hui, Qiqi, Xiao Xue, and Pan Yi all left the Heavenly Beast Forest.
In the following days, Ye Yunfei and Su Qingluo stayed in the Heavenly Beast Forest, cultivating in seclusion together, while also taking time to be with his parents.
However, most of the time, Ye Yunfei led everyone in cultivating within the Phantom Tower. Its temporal property ensured they had ample cultivation time.
Ye Yunfei had long ago separately taught his parents cultivation techniques far superior to any found in the Canghuang Realm. Coupled with sufficient cultivation resources, Ye Tianpeng and Miao Ziqiong's strength began to improve at an increasingly rapid pace.
Ye Tianpeng was now at the early stage of the Stellar Bridge Realm, while Miao Ziqiong had reached the late stage of the Domain Realm and was on the verge of breaking through to the Heavenly Thunder Realm!
Inside the Phantom Tower.
Ye Yunfei cultivated in seclusion for two years.
Of course, the two years inside the tower amounted to less than half a month in the outside world.
Throughout these two years, Ye Yunfei continuously cultivated the Nine-Yang Scripture, honing the foundation of his spiritual power.
One day.
"Time to break through again."
Ye Yunfei opened his eyes and murmured to himself.
The next moment, Ye Yunfei left the Phantom Tower and exited his cultivation chamber.
Above, the sky was already thick with dark clouds. Streaks of lightning flickered unceasingly, their booming roars filling the ears.
Ye Yunfei was currently at the late stage of the Sea Transformation Realm. If he broke through now, he would reach the Acupoint Opening Realm!
"The Palace Lord is breaking through!"
The Qingyun Palace members all knew the location of Ye Yunfei's cultivation peak. Thus, when they realized he was about to break through, they gathered around one by one.
Ye Tianpeng, Miao Ziqiong, Su Qingluo, Hu Miao, Huang Shang, and others also emerged from the Phantom Tower to watch from nearby.
"Oh? I wonder how many vital acupoints someone of Ye Yunfei's strength can open. I should go out and take a look."
Soon, the middle-aged man from within the Myriad Beasts Realm also received the news and emerged.
Ye Yunfei had already renovated the entrance and exit of the Myriad Beasts Realm, allowing the lower-strength demonic beasts to move in and out freely.
Boom...
Soon, the thunder high in the sky began to roll down.
Roar...
The Thunder Beast within the Nine Palaces Totem Wheel rushed out and stood beside Ye Yunfei, beginning to devour the endless stream of thunderbolts raining down from above.
This Thunder Beast was a simulation conjured by Ye Yunfei's technique, essentially an extension of Ye Yunfei's own body. Therefore, the Thunder Beast resisting the thunder was equivalent to Ye Yunfei himself resisting the Lightning Tribulation!
One could see Ye Yunfei standing there with his hands clasped behind his back, not moving an inch, looking utterly relaxed.
All the thunderbolts raining down from the sky were devoured by the Thunder Beast, leaving not a single one!
This...
This scene stunned many of the onlookers.
Typically, martial artists facing a Lightning Tribulation treated it as a great enemy, fighting with all their might, even bathing in blood, just for a chance to succeed.
Yet Ye Yunfei's method of undergoing the tribulation seemed like a leisurely stroll.
After the better part of an hour, the tribulation finally ended.
The Thunder Beast's aura was now much stronger than before!
Ye Yunfei sat cross-legged high in the air.
He had reached the final step: opening the vital acupoints within his body!
"I wonder how many vital acupoints Fei'er can open within his body?"
Miao Ziqiong was a little nervous.
Ye Tianpeng's gaze was also fixed intently on Ye Yunfei.
"Don't worry, I have faith in him," Su Qingluo, standing beside them, said comfortingly.
"Yes, everyone, rest assured. The number of acupoints Master will open will surely be very high," Hu Miao laughed.
Only Hu Miao was perpetually brimming with confidence in Ye Yunfei. For in this world, only she knew Ye Yunfei's true origins!
Boom!
Suddenly, a blast of energy erupted from within Ye Yunfei's body.
This indicated the successful opening of a single vital acupoint.
Following that.
Boom, boom...
More roars continuously sounded.
"Master has opened thirty vital acupoints!"
After a continuous string of energy roars, Hu Miao clapped her hands and exclaimed.
But it hadn't stopped.
A constant stream of energy roars still emanated from Ye Yunfei's body.
"Sixty!"
Shortly after, amidst the astonished expressions of the crowd, Hu Miao cried out excitedly.
"This will do for now."
Ye Yunfei stopped continuing to open acupoints.
The human body contained a total of one hundred and eight vital acupoints, meaning Ye Yunfei had opened nearly half of them.
"This is only the early stage of the Acupoint Opening Realm. Sooner or later, I'll open all one hundred and eight acupoints, achieving a state of perfection," Ye Yunfei silently thought to himself.
At this moment, Ye Yunfei's breakthrough was completely finished, the scene calm and serene.
High in the air, Ye Yunfei stood up and walked towards his parents and the others.
Right at that moment.
Ye Yunfei's expression suddenly shifted. He retrieved a communication jade slip.
"They're back!"
The jade slip contained only that one sentence.
"It's the people from the other half of the Canghuang Realm. They've indeed returned!"
Ye Yunfei's gaze sharpened.