Lin Wei’s heart trembled as he returned once more.
The instant his consciousness sank into the jade pendant, the world collapsed into silence. The familiar void stretched endlessly before him—dark and boundless.
He steadied his breathing, forcing down the unease in his chest.
Then he began to search.
Step by step, his figure moved through the emptiness, his gaze sweeping across the darkness.
His eyes searched for that figure, the mysterious woman whose presence had left a deep impression in his mind. Yet no matter how far he looked, there was no trace of her anywhere.
A faint disappointment surfaced within him. He had returned with a sliver of hope, thinking that perhaps he might encounter her again and seize an opportunity.
After all, someone like her might have been willing to accept a disciple if fortune allowed it.
Lin Wei let out a quiet sigh, shaking his head as he dismissed the unrealistic thought from his mind. His current self was nothing more than a normal youth who had barely stepped onto the path of cultivation.
For someone like that woman to take interest in him would be nothing short of a miracle.
“If she’s not here… then I can only rely on this place,” he muttered softly, his voice swallowed by the void. The dense qi surrounding him was far beyond anything he could access in the outside world, making this place a rare opportunity. Even if he gained nothing else, simply cultivating here was already a blessing.
He chose a spot at random and slowly sat down, crossing his legs as he steadied his breathing. His hands rested on his knees as he began circulating his technique, drawing in threads of qi with careful control.
Though the process was slow and taxing, the richness of the qi made every effort worthwhile.
***
Not far from him, Meng Lin remained seated in silence, her figure unmoving as if she had been part of the void from the very beginning.
Her gaze was distant and unfocused, yet her spiritual consciousness had covered the whole void space. Every movement Lin Wei made was reflected clearly within her perception.
She watched as he wandered aimlessly, his anticipation gradually giving way to disappointment when he failed to find her.
His emotions were simple and easy to read, lacking any form of concealment or depth. In the end, he chose a place not far from her and sat down to cultivate.
Strangely, although Meng Lin was clearly within his line of sight, Lin Wei showed no reaction at all. His gaze passed through her as if she did not exist, as though her presence had been completely erased from his perception.
It was not an illusion, nor did Meng Lin use the Formless Cultivation Method, rather the void between them shifted, bending the surrounding space, thus forming a small domain around her.
Meng Lin did not question this phenomenon, nor did she show any sign of concern. Her eyes lingered on him briefly before drifting back into the distance, returning to that same vacant calm.
To her, his presence held no urgency, no significance beyond simple observation.
Thus, within the endless void, two figures remained seated in silence. One cultivated with effort and determination, unaware of anything beyond his own limits.
The other simply existed, detached from all things, watching without intent or emotion.
Time passed slowly, hours slipped by as Lin Wei continued refining the qi he had drawn into his body, his breathing gradually becoming more stable. Though his progress was minimal, it was far greater than anything he could achieve outside.
Eventually, he opened his eyes, a faint trace of satisfaction appearing on his face. Even such a small improvement was enough to encourage him, strengthening his resolve. Rising to his feet, he cast one final glance into the empty darkness.
Still, there was nothing.
Suppressing the lingering disappointment in his heart, Lin Wei allowed his consciousness to withdraw. His figure gradually faded, disappearing from the void as he returned to the outside world. The space fell silent once more.
Meng Lin remained seated, her posture unchanged as if nothing had occurred at all. She neither reacted to his departure nor acknowledged the shift in the space around her. To her, time passed without meaning.
***
Several hours later, the void rippled faintly as Lin Wei returned once more. This time, his caution was gone, and he quickly walked to a nearby spot and sat down again.
He crossed his legs and immediately began cultivating, drawing in qi with steady focus. Having already experienced the benefits of this place, he no longer questioned its value. To him, this was a rare opportunity that could not be wasted.
Meng Lin’s gaze shifted slightly as she looked toward him again. Her attention lingered longer this time, as though observing something she had previously ignored. It quickly became clear that the young man did not understand the true nature of this void.
The qi he absorbed was shallow and scattered, taken only from the faint qi the token itself released into the space to support itself.
Deeper within the void, there were a few spiritual beast souls aimlessly floating within the edges.
If he were able to capture even a few Rank 1 beast souls wandering within this void, then his cultivation would increase exponentially.
Such entities were formed from remnants of souls, carrying far more concentrated essence than the ambient energy around them. Absorbing even one would surpass days if not months of crude cultivation.
As for why there would be a few rank 1 beast souls within the void, Meng Lin didn't bother to think as to how they got into the void space.
Rather she wondered why almost all of them were oceanic spiritual beasts, there were a lot of Golden Carp Fishes, a few Thunder Scale Eels, there was even a rank 2 Blue Copper Snake.
Suddenly, Meng Lin looked ahead and noticed that the young man was gone.
Again, without her notice he seems to appear and disappear in the span of a few minutes.
Meng Lin fell into contemplation, she had realized long ago that she doesn't seem to feel the flow of time as she used to, rather just a few minutes for her seems to be hours outside.
She had not been aimlessly sitting all these times, rather she had been trying to focus and perceive the shift in time.
Within the distance she was observing the movements of the floating aimless spirit beast souls, she noticed that within the few hours of watching them, they would all be in completely different places, as though they had teleported.
But she realized that she was the one who appears to go completely blank, skipping a few minutes to a few hours before regaining awareness.
To her it appears as though they had disappeared but to an outsider, it should be as though she becomes completely still.
She also noticed another problem, it's been about three days since she woke up yet she doesn't feel as though three days has passed, rather only a few minutes.
"System."
[Meng Lin]
[Nascent Soul Realm (Early)]
[Experience Points: 10.2 > 30.9%]
[System Coin: 34,730]
[Immortal Jade: 11>26]
[Taoist Gacha Wheel: 20]
[Spiritual Roots: [Water > Fire > Gold > Wood > Earth]]
Elemental Qi:[Water] [Darkness] [Fire] [Gold 20%] [Wind 1>2%]
[Variant Elemental Qi: [Mud] [Erosion] [Ice 25% > 30%][Lightning] >[Shadow]
[Heavenly Dao]
[Death]
[Comprehension 0.10 > 1.08%]
[Void]
[1>20%]
[Main Cultivation Method: [Elemental Qi Convergence Method]]
[Side Cultivation Methods: [Basic Qi Gathering] [Formless Cultivation Method] [Brute Vortex Cultivation Method] [Black Tortoise Essence Art, 5th Layer] [Imperial Water Art] [Jade Spirit Codex]]
[Techniques: [Unnamed Lightning Technique] [Celestial Moonlit Sword Art] [Hundred Unity Techniques] [Wrath of Thunder] [Physique Cleansing Sutra] [Vital Essence Exchange] [Six Lotus Rebirth Path - 5th Cycle]]
[Secret Techniques: [Stellar Soul Shield] [Stellar Soul Sword]]
[Skills: [Immortal Flesh] >[Heavenly Gale Slash] > [Dead]
[Bloodline Traits: Brute Core Amplification, Brute Flesh, Royal Pulse (Sealed)]
[Ancient Spirit Seal: Crimson Tortoise Dragon]
[Market] [Hundred Arts] [Daily Mission]
"Hmm."
Meng Lin wasn’t surprised by the increase in her experience points. It was most likely the effect of the sacred-grade wine. Even though she had only consumed half of it, it still granted her a full twenty percent increase.
The drawback… was the lingering intoxication.
Her gaze shifted inward, settling on the newly formed elemental qi.
Shadow.
“Isn’t darkness the same as shadow… or is there a fine line between them?”
Her thoughts paused briefly before drifting elsewhere.
And this… Void.
That must be the reason.
Ever since she woke, there had been no need to learn or experiment with the void. The knowledge simply existed within her—as if it had always been there, showing her how to reach into the void… how to use it.
Thinking back to that void of the death space, that place—endless, silent, with no sense of movement—her body instinctively shuddered.
She quickly focused shifted her focus.
Death.
As her thoughts shifted to the Death Dao, instinctive knowledge and fragments appeared within her mind.
Necromancy.
Soul devouring.
Even manipulation of lingering spirits.
All of that… from just one percent.
Her brows furrowed slightly.
“Are there different classes?”
It didn’t feel balanced.
She felt that Twenty percent Void Dao only slightly surpassed the one percent Death Dao.
That shouldn’t make sense.
As the thought lingered, Meng Lin suddenly noticed something.
The spirit beast souls she had been observing—
They had “moved” again.
Or rather…
She had gone vacant.
“…Tsk.”
A faint irritation surfaced.
To her, it felt like they were disappearing and reappearing at random. But deep down, she already knew the truth.
She was the one losing time.
Suppressing the annoyance, she turned her attention elsewhere.
The Dead skill.
Focusing on the skill, a description quickly formed under.
[Dead]
This state represents the prolonged influence of death on an entity. Those who remain dead yet conscious for extended periods gradually lose vitality, identity, and resistance, becoming closer to Death itself.
The user gains increased affinity and influence over entities who are dead and is immune to the basic death affinity attacks.
Limitations.
Exposure to the dead state may alter the user’s personality, making them closer to an undead.
Meng Lin’s eyes scanned the description carefully however it only confused her, she didn’t feel any different. Not colder, not detached, not closer to an undead.
“…hmm.” She tilted her head. “Maybe that’s why the system used the Crystal of Awakening.”
She paused, thinking, then shook her head. “but even then I didn't feel any different after it's usage, so… nothing really changed."
"And this this time-skip thing happening to me… it’s not the skill. It’s me. I’ve lost my sense of time.”
Her gaze shifted toward the floating interface. “Let’s check the system market.”
A faint irritation surfaced again as she recalled the spirit beast souls drifting in and out of awareness.
The system market hovered before her, a semi-transparent array of items, tools, and curiosities, each pulsing with faint glow.
"Hmm, what's this."
Within the system market, Meng Lin noticed a new area within the market.
[Recommendation Section]
[1. Advanced Void Convergence (Technique) – Refines control over Void Qi, decreases limitation of Void Qi usage, and enhances integration with other elemental Qi. Price: 8,500 System Coins.
2. Death Mastery Path (Skill) – Increases comprehension and potency of Death Dao techniques, reduces user corruption risk, and amplifies effects on Dead state entities. Price: 132,000 System Coins + 112 Immortal Jade.
3. Formless Void Art (Technique) – Combines Formless Cultivation Method with Void Qi for unpredictable, high-damage attacks that bypass conventional defenses. Price: 19,000 System Coins + 8 Immortal Jade.
4. Shadow Infusion Art (Technique) – Allows Shadow elemental Qi to be infused into both attacks and defensive techniques, improving versatility and efficiency. Price: 7,000 System Coins.
5. Nine Lotus Rebirth Path– 7th Cycle (Technique Upgrade) – Extends the Six Lotus Rebirth Path to a near indestructible body with high life-force recovery and spiritual resilience. Price: 95,000 System Coins + 30 Immortal Jade.
6. Temporal Awareness (Skill) – Enhances perception of time flow within any area. Can counteract temporal dislocation and improve reaction speed. Price: 4,000 System Coins + 2 Immortal Jade.
7. Imperial Ocean Art – Advanced Flow (Technique) – Advanced application of Imperial Water Art, enabling controlled water elemental manipulation and Qi storage. Price: 9,500 System Coins + 1 Immortal Jade.
8. Stellar Soul Form (Secret Technique Upgrade) – A soul-focused combat form that channels soul energy into all attacks. Price: 20,000 System Coins + 4 Immortal Jade.
9. Celestial Sword Art –( Technique) Channels celestial energy into sword strikes, enhancing spiritual damage and precision. Attacks glow with radiant force, capable of piercing defenses and subtly weakening enemy energy. Price: 8,000 System Coins + 3 Immortal Jade.
10. Realm Stabilizer Token — A token that helps stabilize a cultivation realm. Price : 10,000 System Coins.]
......
Meng Lin’s eyes raised as she swept through the new section, scanning the list with sharp focus. Each technique, each skill, seemed tailored to her growth—Void, Death, soul attacks.
She paused at the Death Mastery Path. The description made her frown slightly. “Interesting… a skill to actually cultivate the death dao… but the price…” She tapped her chin, knowing her system coins were limited.
Her attention finally caught on Temporal Awareness(Skill), and she couldn’t hide the sudden sparkle in her eyes. "This… this could actually help me right now, and it's not expensive."
Meng Lin exhaled and shook her head with a small, reluctant smile, she was interested in half of these items. “Well… I can’t take everything right now.”
Her thoughts shifted, confirming her purchases. Temporal Awareness first—the skill to deal with the current situation. And then Formless Void Art, integrating the void dao into her formless art attacks would make them very unpredictable.
Quickly a rush of information appeared within her mind, all the compatible areas that the void can be utilized with the Formless Cultivation Method.
"This feeling" Meng Lin quickly realized how different her surroundings felt.
It felt as though there was an invisible ocean around her.
Meng Lin closed her eyes for a brief moment, letting the faint currents of the invisible ocean wash over her.
“This…” she murmured, opening her eyes, it was as though she could sense the passing of each second.
A slow smile formed. “So this is time."
She quickly let the feeling go, getting up from her seated position.
It was time to leave.
"Oh right, clothes."
[Meng Lin]
[Nascent Soul Realm (Early)]
[Experience Points: 10.2 > 30.9%]
[System Coin: 11,230]
[Immortal Jade: 17]
[Taoist Gacha Wheel: 20]
[Spiritual Roots: [Water > Fire > Gold > Wood > Earth]]
Elemental Qi:[Water] [Darkness] [Fire] [Gold 20%] [Wind 2%]
[Variant Elemental Qi: [Mud] [Erosion] [Ice 30%][Lightning] [Shadow]
[Heavenly Dao]
[Death]
[Comprehension 1.08%]
[Void]
[20%]
[Main Cultivation Method: [Elemental Qi Convergence Method]]
[Side Cultivation Methods: [Basic Qi Gathering] [Formless Cultivation Method] [Brute Vortex Cultivation Method] [Black Tortoise Essence Art, 5th Layer] [Imperial Water Art] [Jade Spirit Codex]]
[Techniques: [Unnamed Lightning Technique] [Celestial Moonlit Sword Art] [Hundred Unity Techniques] [Wrath of Thunder] [Physique Cleansing Sutra] [Vital Essence Exchange] [Six Lotus Rebirth Path - 5th Cycle]] >[Formless Void Art]
[Secret Techniques: [Stellar Soul Shield] [Stellar Soul Sword]]
[Skills: [Immortal Flesh] [Heavenly Gale Slash] [Dead] >[Temporal Awareness]
[Bloodline Traits: Brute Core Amplification, Brute Flesh, Royal Pulse (Sealed)]
[Ancient Spirit Seal: Crimson Tortoise Dragon]
[Market] [Hundred Arts] [Daily Mission]
