Thanks to the time he had spent cultivating quietly at the villa, Wang Sheng's comprehension of the Daoist realm had been steadily improving for some time. Unfortunately, his cultivation level had not kept up. It was a consequence of his breakthrough from the early to the middle stage of the Illusory Core Realm. To keep up with progress, Wang Sheng had forced the breakthrough using several alchemical pills. Even if the pills had no real side effects, forcing a breakthrough in cultivation before his comprehension had matured went against the principle of gradual progress. More importantly, it strayed from the essence of what was meant by "natural." In most cultivation methods of the Daoist sects, it was essential in the early stages to maintain a mindset that allowed things to unfold naturally. As long as one's mindset remained stable and accumulation was sufficient, the Daoist realm could improve. Cultivation was about building a strong foundation before making a sudden leap. Now, Wang Sheng had accumulated enough to take a small step forward. After their outing, his cultivation was on the verge of breaking through to the late stage of the Illusory Core Realm. Although Wang Sheng still worried about his master and senior sister, his Dao Heart remained stable. After all, the Small Nether Realm was calm for now. Ever since a wave of malevolent ghosts had crawled out from the Eighteen Levels of Hell, nothing else had happened. He centered his qi and quietly recited the Clear Mind Incantation. The night breeze blew gently. In the distance, faint beastly roars could be heard coming from the Nether Gate. Wang Sheng slowly entered a state of Dao comprehension. Xi Lian gently brushed her fingers through the air, forming a simple qi-gathering formation. The surrounding primal qi began to flow toward Wang Sheng. Just as his master had said, a single Golden Core Realm Daoist would not drastically affect the matters related to the Small Nether Realm. Hence, he was in no hurry to break through to the Golden Core Realm. He simply cared about the safety of his master and senior sister. Besides, forming the core was a rather unusual process. As his senior sister had once said, it required a certain feeling. When that feeling came, a snap of the fingers could lead to the successful formation of the Golden Core. Wang Sheng's core formation would not be as dangerous as Mu Wanxuan's. As long as he did not get impulsive enough to attempt to form the "legendary sword-shaped Golden Core" and instead settled for forming a simple spherical one, failure would be unlikely. Once his Dao Heart calmed down, Wang Sheng realized that he did not have to force anything. If he wanted to take risks, he should wait until that feeling arrived. He sat down to meditate, completely ignoring the repeated vibrations from his phone. Over an hour later, Wang Sheng began to emanate a mysterious aura, within which was a sense of completion. He had reached the late stage of the Illusory Core Realm. Then, Wang Sheng opened his eyes, his expression thoughtful. Xi Lian sat a short distance from him. The hem of her ancient-style skirt covered her slender legs, and her long silver-white hair looked as if it were coated in frost. She did not disturb Wang Sheng. However, he did not continue cultivating but instead focused deeply on understanding his breakthrough. Wang Sheng had a smooth transition to the late stage of the Illusory Core Realm. He also vaguely sensed that he was just a step away from completing this realm. Being so close to the peak of the Illusory Core Realm allowed him to sense the gap. Had he been far from it, he would have felt full and satisfied after the breakthrough rather than immediately sensing room for further progress. Once he filled that final gap, he would complete his Illusory Core Realm, the very peak of the realm. Only then would he be fully prepared for core formation. Looking at his qi sea, it had already turned pure gold with specks of stardust scattered within, giving it a sense of mystery. The Illusory Core floating above the qi vortex now felt almost solid, radiating a sense of fullness and harmony. The sensation was indescribably wonderful. While immersed in it, he completely lost track of time. Nevertheless, he did not linger too long in the joy that the breakthrough had brought. He picked up his phone, glanced at a few messages, and chuckled quietly. Huai Jing, who had been searching for him, had brought over a batch of Qi-Nurturing Stones that his mistress had sent. It was already past four in the morning. His senior sister and the others had set off an hour and a half ago. Since no news had arrived, everything was likely going smoothly. If they had faced any real danger, the Special Investigation Unit would have notified him and Xi Lian to prepare. After sharing his location with Huai Jing, Wang Sheng waited quietly for a while. The delicate-looking monk soon arrived under the cover of night. His bald head gleamed. "Amitabha. Greetings, Patron Xi Lian. It is an honor to meet you." Because of Santong, Xi Lian actually felt more at ease around monks than Daoist priests. Sitting quietly, she smiled at Huai Jing and signaled that he need not be so formal. Huai Jing walked over to Wang Sheng, sat down cross-legged beside him, and pulled out two Crane-Spirit Treasure Pouches from his robe. "The investigation unit entrusted these to me. I just happened to be on my way to find you." Wang Sheng took the pouches. "When did you arrive?" "Earlier tonight. I spent the first half of the night meditating with my master," Huai Jing replied while watching the swirling dark clouds several kilometers away. "The Nether Gate appearing in the world is an ominous sign." "Mm," Wang Sheng responded. He relaxed, leaned back with his hands behind him, but was still pondering the Pure Yang Immortal Mantra in his mind. Huai Jing smiled. "Are you worried about Fairy Bu Yu?" "A little. Move three meters to the left. I'm setting up a formation." Wang Sheng gave a brief instruction, then took out thirty-six Qi-Nurturing Stones and laid down a qi-gathering formation along with a qi-guiding formation. These were the only basic formations he had mastered at the moment. The formation spirit senior had given him quite a few formation techniques, but he had not had the time to study them. He had long since made copies and submitted them to the research institute. As the surrounding primal qi gradually thickened, Wang Sheng began to absorb it slowly and asked, "Do the Buddhist sects have any way to send the Nether Gate back to its original place?" "I've never heard of any," Huai Jing said. "This was probably caused by the corpse of that Celestial Immortal. In front of such an existence, we are no different from ordinary mortals. Amitabha. In a way, it is quite ironic." Huai Jing muttered under his breath, "We struggled for years to level up, thinking reaching level thirty was already impressive. Then suddenly, a level ninety-something player drops into the server. With a flick of a finger, it destroyed a level fifty dungeon, and monsters around level fifty to sixty are about to slaughter us newbies." Xi Lian laughed and scolded, "You're a monk. Instead of chanting sutras, you're thinking about all this nonsense?" "That's just how he is," Wang Sheng said. "Huai Jing is truly an odd one. He plays games in his free time and somehow manages to break through cultivation realms. Nobody else can pull that off." Xi Lian asked curiously, "Is that even possible? What kind of game? Some sort of cultivation MMO?" "Amitabha." Huai Jing pressed his palms together, a faint smile on his lips. "Fei Yu knows what it is, but not why it is so." Soaking in the thickened primal qi, Wang Sheng cupped his hands. "Please enlighten me, Master." "The term 'online game' is not as simple as you think. You assume that I'm just playing flashy game content, but that's not the case. The content of top-tier single-player games is far better than the garbage offered by unscrupulous online game companies. However, the spirit of online games lies in people and the interactions between them. If you want to sound modern, it's a series of Jianghu worlds. "Here, you can meet all sorts of people, especially..." Wang Sheng leaned in with interest. "Especially what?" Huai Jing smiled with satisfaction and said calmly, "I have done my research. Among all online gaming environments, esports games have the most trolls and the foulest language. It will test your mental stability the most. Each day, I wander through that world, not for some illusory ranking, but to temper my state of mind. "As the saying goes, 'Let him curse; I'll sneak the tower. Let them gank, I farm in the jungle.' Each time I have a revelation in my mindset, my cultivation naturally advances." Wang Sheng and Xi Lian both stared at him in disbelief. Xi Lian scolded, "Stop slandering the name of Buddhist arts!" "Please do not be angry, Patron. It is simply a matter of mindset," Huai Jing said with a calm smile, clearly enjoying himself. Wang Sheng shook his head, unsure how to argue back. It sounded like nonsense, yet somehow, it made a strange sort of sense. He figured he should focus on how to quickly fill in the gaps in his realm and try to find that elusive feeling of core formation. "I just had another realization. I'll continue cultivating now," Wang Sheng said. "Good. I'll stay here as well," Huai Jing replied. "Things are a bit dull on Master's side anyway." Xi Lian did not engage with either of them. She hugged her knees and leaned forward, resting her face against her knees. Her long, silver-white hair draped downward as she silently gazed at the Nether Gate. Once Wang Sheng slipped back into Dao comprehension, Xi Lian quietly murmured, "Little Xuanxuan is so afraid of ghosts. I wonder if she's scared right now." Huai Jing blinked and suddenly remembered the video that he had just seen while picking up the Qi-Nurturing Stones at the temporary Special Investigation Unit outpost. He did not know if Fairy Bu Yu was afraid, but the Daoist masters… seemed to be having a great time. In the Nether Realm, on the Yellow Springs Road, three vehicles of varying armor thickness traveled in a line at the highest speed. They would reach Fengdu City within ten hours. Flying freely through your heart...♪ The frontmost jeep was blasting deafening music. At the wheel was Zhang Zikuang, Yan Zhengnan was in the passenger seat, and Qing Yanzi was in the back. The three Daoist masters were about the same age. As they drove across the open wilds, they bobbed their heads to the beat. Mu Wanxuan sat beside them, holding her forehead with one hand. She stared blankly out the window at the crimson ground. During a break between songs, Qing Yanzi asked, "Little Xuan, did you sense anything new?" Mu Wanxuan gently shook her head and raised two fingers. She had still only received two distress calls. There hadn't been any new developments since. The second call came the moment she entered the Nether Gate. This time, the message from the female corpse was longer. —Be careful on the road. I will do my best to suppress it while I wait until you arrive. Qing Yanzi and the others finally sighed in relief. The female corpse had not gone mad and was confident she could restore the Nether Realm to its original state.