"Breakthrough… how?"

Wang Chen barely had time to catch his breath after his relentless Tower runs when his body began to tremble.

The qi inside his meridians stirred on its own—no longer gentle or obedient, but wild and untamed, surging like a raging river. It flowed upward, toward the space between his brows, pulsing with unstoppable momentum.

In an instant, every trace of fatigue vanished. His blood roared. His entire being felt as though it were being reforged in fire.

Shock flashed across his face, followed by disbelief. Then, instinct taking over, he closed his eyes and focused inward.

The qi that normally trickled like a calm stream now thundered through his body like a storm-tide, colliding against the walls of his meridians with frightening force. The pressure built higher and higher, until a faint tingling sensation bloomed at the center of his forehead—like something ancient and immense was about to awaken.

"My… spiritual space," Wang Chen whispered, his voice trembling.

He knew what this meant.

When a cultivator reached the very peak of the Qi Refining Realm, the next step—the Foundation Building Realm—was an important threshold. It marked the moment one's body birthed a spiritual space, a separate world independently existing. It was the origin point of power, the foundation upon which all cultivation stood.

To form one's spiritual space was to create a ladder that could allow one walk to climb the peak of cultivation.

It was for this reason this Realm was called foundation building as the quality of ladder will decide your future potential.

Because of its importance, Peak Qi cultivators prepare for months and some even years before finally starting their breakthrough.

Minutes passed. The violent surging within his body gradually began to calm, transforming from chaos into order. The roaring current of qi slowed, then settled into a steady, harmonious flow.

Only then did Wang Chen exhale softly, relief flooding through him.

"No… no abnormalities. Everything's stabilizing normally," he murmured.

The corners of his mouth curved upward in quiet satisfaction. If nothing unexpected happened, this breakthrough would soon carry him fully into the Foundation Building Realm.

And yet—something didn't sit right.

After a long silence, his brow furrowed. "Strange… I didn't consume any Heaven and Earth treasure recently. How could I possibly be breaking through?"

A naturally occurring heaven and earth treasure was very important while breaking through.

He sat motionless, thoughts racing. The logical explanation didn't exist—at least, not a normal one.

His mind rewound through recent events, analyzing every detail: the Tower runs, the rewards, the strange trembling in the void after he obtained the Garden of Eternity skill. His eyes flickered sharply as the realization began to take form.

"The Garden…" he whispered. "Don't tell me this skill—"

The thought hit him like lightning.

The Garden of Eternity wasn't just a realm—it was a living world anchored to his soul. A spiritual dimension capable of growth and evolution. Wasn't that the exact same principle as a cultivator's spiritual space?

Slowly, the pieces began to fall into place.

"Could it be… the Garden of Eternity is becoming my spiritual space itself?"

As the words left his lips, the very air around him shuddered.

…

Outside, the skies above the Phoenix and Dragon Dojo began to twist.

Without warning, sunlight dimmed. The serene blue heavens turned pitch-black, and violent gales tore through the air like roaring beasts. Dust and leaves whirled upward in frenzied spirals as the clouds churned and swelled.

Lightning danced silently across the sky, webbing the darkness in brilliant arcs.

The ground trembled faintly. Even the air seemed heavier—charged with an immense, suffocating power.

The Phoenix and Dragon Dojo had long been considered a forbidden ground within the Imperial City. No cultivator in their right mind dared to approach it. Yet, a few reckless ones who sought to use the dojo's boundaries to hide from their enemies suddenly found themselves choking in terror.

The qi in the air—usually rich and stable—was vanishing. Drained. Consumed.

And then came the sound—a deep, sonorous hum that resonated across the heavens, like the world itself was vibrating.

Panic erupted. Within moments, the onlookers fled in all directions.

To those who remained, it felt as though night itself had fallen upon the city.

…

Within the dojo courtyard, Lin Huang and Li Mei stood frozen, staring up at the darkening sky.

The light had dimmed so fast it almost felt unnatural. Moments ago, the courtyard had been bathed in warm morning sunlight. Now, it was wrapped in shadows and an ominous pressure that made the skin crawl.

"What's going on?" Lin Huang muttered, his tone tight, eyes narrowing toward the storm above. For a fleeting instant, the memory of the Blood Fang Gang's last attack surfaced in his mind.

But before he could act, Li Mei's trembling voice broke through.

"Senior brother… look there."

"Look where?"

Without answering, she grabbed his chin and gently turned his face upward—toward their master's meditation quarters.

The sight that met Lin Huang's eyes stole the breath from his lungs.

A river—an actual river of qi—was flowing across the sky, glowing with golden-white light. It cascaded like liquid starlight, falling straight toward the Phoenix and Dragon Dojo's rooftop before vanishing into nothingness.

"...What in the world…" Lin Huang whispered.

He could feel the vastness of it from here, the sheer spiritual density pressing down like a mountain.

"That's… a river of qi," he said, disbelief threading through his voice. "But why is it here?"

Li Mei's delicate features turned pale as she stared at the phenomenon.

"Maybe…" she murmured, "Master had another breakthrough."

At that, Lin Huang's shoulders relaxed, a small, proud smile replacing the alarm.

"So that's it. Just Master breaking through again."

But even as he said it, a flicker of unease crossed his eyes. Didn't he just have a breakthrough a few days ago?

How could his cultivation rise this fast?

Li Mei, though born in the Upper Realm and no stranger to heavenly phenomena, couldn't tear her gaze away.

"A qi river almost ten meters wide…" she whispered in awe. "Master… just what in the heavens are you doing?"

…

Elsewhere, in the Sharp Tooth Gang headquarters, Sui Zhang snapped out of meditation, his expression contorting in shock.

The rich qi he'd been absorbing a moment ago suddenly dissipated—like a candle snuffed out by an unseen force.

"Where did the qi go?" he muttered, scanning the dim chamber in confusion.

The air felt thin—drained. Every cultivator in the gang could feel it.

Even the mysterious expert sealed within the black ring artifact stirred, its deep, raspy voice whispering in Sui Zhang's mind.

"Something… unnatural has awakened."

…

Meanwhile, across the city, Song Po wiped the sweat from his brow, his face pale under the flickering lamplight.

When the heavens had first turned black, his heart had nearly leapt out of his chest. For a brief moment, he'd thought the demons had finally launched their invasion.

But then he saw it.

Through his divine sense, the truth revealed itself: a radiant river of qi flowing above the Phoenix and Dragon Dojo, its light visible even from miles away.

"This dojo again…" he muttered through clenched teeth.

His jaw tightened as he forced himself to calm down. "The envoy from the Thousand Sword Sect will arrive any moment now. For the time being…"—he exhaled slowly—"let that mysterious man do as he wishes."

…

The celestial disturbance continued for an entire day.

Lightning flashed, winds howled, and the qi river pulsed with a brilliance that could be seen from every corner of the Imperial City.

And then, just as suddenly as it had begun—

It ended.

The winds died. The light faded. The skies cleared, leaving behind a silence so profound it felt like the heavens themselves were holding their breath.

But in that silence, deep within the Phoenix and Dragon Dojo, a new world was quietly being born.

Wang Chen's breakthrough was complete.

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