Chapter 226: 100 Years
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While the other kingdoms were busy preparing for a possible war against the demons within the next decade, things were completely different at the Phoenix Sect.
The increase in spiritual Qi in the air, combined with the improvement of the sect's cultivation techniques, brought a drastic boost to the cultivation progress of all disciples. They wasted no time and worked hard to take full advantage of this opportunity.
It wasn't just the outer disciples who made progress, inner disciples, core disciples, and even the elders joined in.
Only one person was exempt from all this effort: Feng Huang.
After years spent cultivating within Ethan's minor dimension, she had grown accustomed to its unique environment.
Returning to her old routines was beginning to bore her more and more.
The only thing that still entertained her a little was helping her first direct disciple, Xiang Hua, with her cultivation.
Although Xiang Hua had also planned to use this period to advance her own cultivation, her master had asked her to practice a different technique from the one she was already accustomed to.
Trusting her master, she didn't put up much resistance and began practicing it, and before long, she started seeing the benefits.
Unfortunately for her, the biggest challenge wasn't practicing a new technique but forging a bond with a spiritual beast.
Unlike Feng Huang, who had managed to summon a spiritual beast aligned with her element, Xiang Hua faced problems in this area.
The first beast that responded to her summoning was an ice deer, a spiritual beast of an element opposite to her own.
Usually, a spiritual beast aligned with one's element would respond to the summoning.
However, in her case, beasts with opposing elements continued to appear.
Perplexed, she sought Feng Huang's help, and her master quickly identified the root of the problem.
It turned out that Xiang Hua had a certain affinity for the Ice element as well, something that hadn't been revealed when she took the elemental affinity test years ago.
In short, she had two elements, and they were polar opposites.
This caused no small amount of trouble, and Feng Huang didn't know how to help her effectively, as there were no techniques suitable for her situation, at least not any that weren't flawed like her previous one.
The best they could do was wait for Ethan to emerge from his isolation in a year or two to see if he had a solution.
However, as luck would have it, someone else intervened.
Bai Yu, had decided to take a look at the outside world while Ethan was still in seclusion.
For Bai Yu, although only a few months had passed for Feng Huang, decades had passed for her.
During this time, Bai Yu hadn't been cultivating, and with her cola confiscated by Ethan for an indefinite period, the only thing she could do was explore and see if there was anything interesting to occupy herself with.
Needless to say, the two women hadn't stopped bickering with each other. Yet, despite this constant friction, Xiang Hua benefited greatly from their interactions.
While all of this was happening, time within Ethan's minor dimension passed quickly. The more the years went by, the more changes could be seen.
From landscapes that continuously shifted to beasts that kept evolving, nothing remained the same during this period.
Even Zhong Hei continued to advance in rank, eventually reaching the peak of the fifth stage, making him not only the strongest beast within Ethan's minor dimension but also the most powerful beast in the outside world.
A beast of this level could rival beings at the peak of the Fifth Stage, something only a few other creatures could manage, and those that could usually took centuries, if not millennia, to reach such a stage.
For Zhong Hei, however, this was not an issue. Thanks to his mysterious origins, his growth rate was monstrous, second only to Ethan's.
The enormous beast had now reached a length of 500 meters and a diameter exceeding 25 meters.
But his size wasn't the only thing that had changed.
His eyes had grown sharper and more intelligent, while the horns on his head had become longer.
What once resembled a black snake now looked more like a creature evolving into a classic oriental dragon, much like Bai Yu.
Although Bai Yu had grown accustomed to his presence and even fond of him to some degree, she still felt an invisible suppressive aura weighing on her bloodline.
She understood that this wasn't intentional but rather something natural given the disparity between their respective bloodlines.
She couldn't help but think that if he ever appeared on the Celestial Plane, many figures would be shaken by his mere presence.
Time continued to pass, and before anyone realized it, a hundred years had gone by within the minor dimension.
Even Bai Yu eventually returned.
After helping Xiang Hua practice a technique she had provided, she wandered aimlessly for a while. Eventually, bored once again, she returned to Ethan's minor dimension.
At this moment, in an area not far from the herb garden, a figure hovered in a meditative position, his body beginning to glow.
Bai Yu stood a few meters away, watching the scene with a worried expression.
"It's starting."
As if her thought had triggered something, Ethan's glowing figure suddenly began to crack.
Visible fractures appeared all over his body, from his hands to his feet, even across his face.
From these cracks, radiant white energy poured out, growing more and more intense as though his body could no longer contain it.
And then, all at once, it burst free.
BOOOOOM!
It was as if an atomic bomb had gone off, unleashing a massive explosion that spanned several miles and reached almost to the skies of the dimension.
Had such an explosion occurred in the outside world, it would have leveled at least a third of a kingdom instantly.
Although the dragon woman was within the explosion's range, she didn't seem concerned. She remained where she was, her gaze fixed ahead.
At first, nothing could be seen in the aftermath, but she kept watching, and eventually, something came into view.
A small white sphere, no larger than a fist, hovered in the air, radiating an intense light.
Bai Yu didn't react to the sight of it. She simply continued to watch, her expression still laced with worry.
The sphere hung in the air for a while without any changes, and then, finally, something began to happen.
Thin, almost invisible threads of light started to grow from it, spreading and intertwining like roots extending beneath the ground.
They continued to grow and branch out until, they formed an indistinct figure.
The threads twisted and wove together, forming a spinal column.
Once the spine took shape, ribs, a pelvis, and other parts followed.
Bit by bit, the threads crafted a complete human skeleton.
Once it was finished, muscles began to emerge, spreading from the head down to the feet, wrapping the skeleton with veins and organs.
Gradually, the structure was enveloped in skin that grew alongside it.
In what seemed like an instant, the radiant sphere disappeared, leaving in its place the tall figure of a man with long black hair that had a dark green hue at the end.
His face was flawless, with well defined features, and his body was perfectly proportioned.
His clothes had been completely destroyed during the process, leaving his form exposed.
Yet he appeared unconcerned as he stood there with his eyes closed, showing no signs of life.
Then, a faint heartbeat sounded from his chest, growing stronger until it reached a steady rhythm.
Finally, the man opened his eyes, which now gleamed with a crystalline blue hue, tinged with a faint green around the edges of his iris, as sharp as a needle.
Taking a deep breath, he exhaled and said:
"So this is what it feels like to reach the Spiritual Realm." ⬇️