Chapter 197: The Day Has Come!

Summer of the year 9680 in the Longshan Calendar.

Beside a tranquil lake, beneath a massive leaning willow tree with swaying branches, a young man in white robes sat cross-legged in quiet leisure, fishing. This young man was Dongbo Xueying, concealing his true appearance while searching for traces of demons. Naturally, he was constantly using the power of heaven and earth to observe the area within a hundred-mile radius. Within that range lay many villages, and even a den of bandits.

Thousands of willow branches danced in the wind, and ripples occasionally stirred the lake’s surface.

Suddenly—

The fishing line trembled, and the water rippled.

“Oh?” Dongbo Xueying immediately lifted the fishing rod and cast it. A large fish leapt from the water, flying toward the shore.

“Jingqiu, I’ve caught another fish—another big one. It must weigh about three jin,” Dongbo Xueying messaged to Yu Jingqiu through his communication ring.

“Master Xueying, you’re having great luck today! That’s already the fifth or sixth fish. I’m browsing clothes at a shop. It’s just an ordinary clothing store, but the clothes are personally designed by the owner, who is a rather ordinary mage. Still, the designs are quite nice,” Yu Jingqiu replied. Searching for demons was a dull task, so they had to find ways to entertain themselves. “Oh, by the way, Master Xueying, are you not planning to visit Qing Shi at the Changfeng Academy? Qing Shi has just attained the Rank Title level. As his older brother, you should go and celebrate with him!”

“Is reaching the Rank Title level such a big deal?” Dongbo Xueying asked.

He said it with a casual tone, but inwardly, he was delighted.

He had watched his younger brother grow up, and the bond between the two brothers, who had relied on each other for survival, ran deep in his heart.

“I shouldn’t spoil the kid too much. Now that he’s just reached the Rank Title level and is feeling proud, if I rush over to congratulate him, he’ll get an even bigger head,” Dongbo Xueying said. “I should cool him down a bit and keep him grounded, so he doesn’t get carried away.”

“Don’t underestimate your younger brother. To ascend to the Rank Title level, his mental cultivation must have reached an extremely high level. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have achieved unity with heaven and earth,” Yu Jingqiu replied.

They chatted for a while before ending the conversation.

Dongbo Xueying continued fishing, gradually shifting his thoughts toward contemplating the profound mysteries of spear techniques.

Over the years,

his Aura had long since reached the peak of the Saint level, and his physical body had attained the early Saint level. Yet in truth, these achievements had come relatively easily—merely requiring time to absorb energy from source stones.

Whether among countless mortals or the Xia Clan’s transcendents, everything continued along its normal course, though frequent casualties were unavoidable. Each time demons rampaged and slaughtered, many mortals perished. While these losses were insignificant compared to the entire Xia world, Dongbo Xueying and his companions often arrived too late to stop the demons, seeing far too many tragic scenes.

“Boom!”

As Dongbo Xueying sat beneath the willow, fishing and pondering spear techniques, countless threads of thought in his mind converged toward a single endpoint.

Suddenly, everything became clear!

“This feeling is amazing,” Dongbo Xueying gazed around. The sky seemed the same as before, the lake remained unchanged, and the distant trees and mountains still stood with wild beasts and birds. Everything appeared just as it had.

Yet… it was different.

The scenery hadn’t changed! The world hadn’t changed!

But he had.

He now perceived a deeper, more authentic aspect of the world, glimpsing the fundamental “mysteries of existence and operation” behind all things. Though he had only pierced through a small portion of these mysteries, it was a part very close to the essence itself. This gave Dongbo Xueying a sense of “dominion” over this world.

Just like an ordinary person learning a craft—if one knows nothing, it seems terribly complex. But once one truly masters it, the essence becomes clear.

The same principle applied here.

Now that he had truly grasped a certain “Essence,” Dongbo Xueying felt as though he held a “sharp blade,” a tool capable of prying open the operating rules of the entire world. The closer this blade was to the essence, the more terrifying its power to disrupt all laws became. The “blade” Dongbo Xueying had just grasped while fishing was clearly terrifyingly powerful.

“The entire world around me, every location within a hundred miles, is now within my attack range,” Dongbo Xueying felt intoxicated by this sensation.

“Let’s test it,” Dongbo Xueying raised his hand, and a distant fallen leaf flew into his grasp.

Held between his index and middle fingers, he flicked it.

Whoosh!

The leaf carried no Aura, yet its surface bore a tangible force! This mysterious force was the materialization of the laws of existence—the very manifestation of “Essence” itself, the combination of profound cosmic rules!

The leaf instantly pierced through spatial barriers, its force overpowering all resistance.

A hundred miles away,

on the peak of a distant mountain, the leaf reappeared out of nowhere. It shot straight toward a large stone over ten feet tall. Upon contact, the layer of “Essence” enveloping the leaf immediately invaded the stone. Silently, the portion of rock touched by the Essence began to be pierced—not through physical destruction, but through the piercing of cosmic laws themselves!

Not at the molecular or atomic level, but at an even deeper level of particles— By force piercing and disintegrating the most fundamental particles composing the “rock.” This was destruction at its most fundamental level!

“Scatter!” Dongbo Xueying willed it.

The Essence surrounding the leaf immediately dissipated. The leaf had already pierced through the stone, now floating midair before slowly descending.

As for the massive rock, it now bore a hole the thickness of a finger, yet no dust or debris surrounded it.

“If I hadn’t consciously dispersed the Essence, a single leaf might have pierced through thousands of miles,” Dongbo Xueying mused. “Unknowingly, I’ve reached a level comparable to the The Strong One who left battle traces at the bottom of the Heifeng Abyss, within that cave dwelling.”

That The Strong One had destroyed the hall wall of the cave dwelling with a single strike, tearing through over a hundred miles underground.

Dongbo Xueying’s attack, however, was far more focused on a single point!

Though their powers might still differ in strength, at the very least, they now belonged to the same level of might.

“The power of a Demigod?”

Dongbo Xueying marveled.

Not only was the attack through the “Essence” of cosmic laws terrifyingly destructive, but the Essence itself carried immense power. Now that he had fully grasped the “Ultimate Piercing Essence,” the power it carried—

If Dongbo Xueying stood in midair and threw a punch, the resulting devastation could reduce an entire city spanning a hundred miles to ruins, turning mountains into dust!

The mysteries of cosmic laws themselves possessed the power to stir heaven and earth!

Of course, this was the crudest form of power.

True terror came when power was combined with the “mysteries of cosmic laws”! A strongman swinging his fists blindly at an enemy could only cause limited damage. But when that immense strength was paired with a sharp blade, the power multiplied exponentially.

Pure power was like brute strength, while the cosmic law mysteries contained within the Essence were like the “blade” itself!

This was precisely why everyone pursued higher levels of Essence!

“Master Chen,” Dongbo Xueying remained seated, rod in hand.

“Xueying?” Master Chen was in his study within the Xihuo Palace of the Xia Capital. His study was already piled high with countless documents. Though he remained stationed at the Xihuo Palace, he was the central commander coordinating all the Xia Clan’s transcendents! Even the Longshan Pavilion, a vast intelligence network spanning the world, answered to Master Chen as its supreme leader. To hold such a position, he had long since dedicated his soul to the clan—his loyalty was unquestionable.

At this moment, Dongbo Xueying’s message sent a tremor through Master Chen’s heart.

Because… Dongbo Xueying rarely contacted Master Chen directly. And judging by the timing, it seemed… the moment had arrived.

“Master Chen, I have now fully grasped the complete Essence!” Dongbo Xueying transmitted.