83: A century of change, Qinghe refines its qi.

"Yes! Revered Master!"

Li Qingfeng and Wang Tiezhu responded in unison.

"Iron Pillar,"

Iron Yama's projection looked toward Wang Tiezhu.

"Iron Pillar, you are pure-hearted and value loyalty. I have tested you several times, and you have always held fast to your original heart, which greatly pleases me. The path of cultivation is long; I hope you follow your Senior Brother in the future, working together with one heart, and do not fail this Opportunity."

Wang Tiezhu's face turned red with excitement, and he nodded vigorously:

"Yes! Revered Master! This Disciple will certainly do his utmost!"

Iron Yama's gaze turned toward Li Qingfeng:

"Qingfeng, Iron Pillar is a child with a sincere heart, and he is truly devoted to you. I hope you will keep your bond as fellow Disciples in mind, look after him more, and treat him well."

"This Disciple understands! I will not fail Revered Master's trust, nor will I fail Iron Pillar's friendship!"

Li Qingfeng made a solemn promise.

"Mm."

Iron Yama nodded slightly, and his tone suddenly shifted to the main topic:

"Alright, enough small talk, let's get back to business."

His projection seemed to become more solid, and his voice carried a weight that seemed to pierce through time and space:

"Qingfeng, Iron Pillar, do you know what this land beneath your feet, the Desolate Mountain Domain, was like several hundred years ago?"

He answered his own question, revealing a long-buried secret:

"This place was once a true land of chaos! The forces of the Righteous, Demonic, and Demon paths were intertwined here. Nominally, each had its own jurisdiction, but in reality, they suppressed and fought one another incessantly, eventually becoming a sinister, lawless wasteland!"

"Later... for some earth-shattering reason that even I, with my current status, find difficult to see in its entirety, an unprecedented war broke out here that affected the entire realm!"

"Our Righteous Path side, led by the Seven Great Immortal Sects including our Qingxuan Sect, joined forces with many Righteous Path powers to clash head-on with an Alliance of five great Demonic Sects and four great Demon Kingdoms, with countless vassal forces beneath them!"

Iron Yama's voice carried a historical weight:

"The process of that great war has been deliberately erased or hidden deep away; even I have no way to verify the details. I only know the final result: the Seven Great Immortal Sects won a pyrrhic victory! Of the five great Demonic Sects, three had their lineages crippled, and two fled far beyond the domain. Of the four great Demon Kingdoms, three were completely annihilated, leaving only one to flee into the depths of the wilderness to linger on."

"However, the price of victory was also unimaginably tragic! Among the dozens of Golden Core True Monarchs from the Righteous Path Sects who fought then... eight fell forever on the battlefield of the Heaven Beyond Heaven! Their Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, their Dao dissipating as they died!"

Li Qingfeng and Wang Tiezhu were shaken to their cores! Golden Core True Monarchs! Those were legendary existences they could currently only look up to! To think that eight of them fell in a single war! How tragic was that?!

"Today, the pillar of our Azure Profound Upper Sect is one of the True Monarchs who survived that great war and catastrophe, the Ancestral Master Zixiao Qingxuan Miaodao True Monarch!"

Having finished the heavy historical background, his tone changed:

"Listen carefully to what I say next, for it concerns the fate of you two, and even the entire Desolate Mountain Domain for the next several hundred years!"

"The Ancestral Master used supreme divine powers to deduce the heavenly secrets, and together with several other surviving grand experts, established an edict for the Sect. The Earth Vein Spiritual Opportunity of the Desolate Mountain Domain, which has been dormant for hundreds of years, will completely recover within the next thirty years!"

"The countless ancient battlefields, Secret Realms, ruins, and even the places where grand experts fell during that great war... will surface like sunken ships as the earth veins recover, constantly manifesting in the world!"

"More importantly!"

The Revered Master's voice suddenly rose, carrying a decisive tone that brooked no doubt.

"The Ancestral Master and several other True Monarch experts will join forces in the Heaven Beyond Heaven to use great divine power to refine and stabilize those core battlefield ruins that hold immense value and contain Law fragments or Origin power, turning them into small Grotto-heavens for low-level Cultivators to explore, which will descend one by one across the Desolate Mountain Domain!"

"Within thirty years, the Grotto-heavens will manifest! Who can seize the Opportunities within, who can use them to soar to the sky, and who can stand firm in this era of great competition... everything depends on your own fortune!"

Iron Yama's projection gradually became ethereal, and his final words carried a hint of vagueness and expectation:

"The great trend is coming, the winds and clouds are rising. Whether you become a Dragon or a worm, whether you soar through the Nine Heavens or fade into the dust, it all depends on your own grasp. I have said all I can; take care of yourselves!"

The light faded, and the jade pendant returned to tranquility, lying quietly in Li Qingfeng's palm.

In the study, only the heavy breathing of the two remained, along with those earth-shattering words echoing repeatedly in their minds.

The Desolate Mountain Domain was about to face a massive change that would sweep across heaven and earth!

...Deep in the backyard of the Town Guardian Residence, a newly built secret room isolated the noise of the outside world.

The four walls, the ceiling, and the floor were all paved with a strange deep blue Ore.

This was Cold Jade Ore that Li Qinghe had led people to laboriously salvage from a dark underground water vein deep in the outskirts of the Black Mountains.

The Ore had been soaked in the water vein containing water spiritual power for an unknown number of years. It was ice-cold to the touch, and it could not only refresh the mind and calm the spirit, but also naturally gather and absorb the water-attribute Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi floating in the air, making it an excellent Material for assisting in the Cultivation of water-element Cultivation Techniques.

At the top of the secret room, a small skylight had been specially carved out to allow only moonlight to pass through.

At this moment, Li Qinghe sat cross-legged on a prayer mat in the center of the secret room.

He had a solemn expression, and he was surrounded by a circle of small jade bottles—exactly thirty-five of them.

Each bottle contained the Full Moon Qi he had painstakingly collected and condensed on full moon nights.

Tonight at the Hour of the Rat would be the final full moon. At this moment, he would absorb this thirty-sixth strand of lunar essence and finally refine and fuse the thirty-six strands of Full Moon Qi within his body, transforming them into a strand of incomparably pure Taiyin True Qi to break through to the Qi Refining realm!

To ensure absolute success, Li Qingfeng had almost emptied his coffers, piling all the Spirit Stones accumulated by himself, Wang Tiezhu, and Zhang Shitou—totaling over five hundred—around Li Qinghe.

The dense Spiritual Qi almost condensed into a faint mist on the Cold Jade walls, prepared for the massive consumption of Spiritual Qi that would occur during the Breakthrough.

Time flowed in silence.

Above the secret room, Li Qingfeng sat by the skylight, looking up at the night sky with a nervous expression.

When the bell for the third quarter of the Rat hour seemed to ring in his heart, strands of silver-white lunar essence were drawn down, pouring through the skylight and into the secret room below.

The entire process lasted about half an hour. When no more lunar essence flowed through the skylight, Li Qinghe's calm yet slightly nervous voice finally came from below:

"Third Brother, it's time!"

Li Qingfeng did not hesitate for a moment, immediately picking up a heavy Cold Jade slab prepared beforehand that fit the skylight perfectly, and steadily embedding it into the skylight's groove!

"Fourth Brother! You must succeed!"

Li Qingfeng's voice came through the thick Cold Jade slab, filled with deep concern and prayer.

"I've got this, Third Brother!"

Li Qinghe's voice remained steady and full of confidence.

As the last trace of light was completely cut off, the secret room fell into absolute darkness.

Only the thirty-six jade bottles surrounding Li Qinghe began to emit a soft, cold glow, casting his figure in a hazy and sacred light.

Li Qinghe took a long, deep breath. The cool air, carrying the unique water-moist Spiritual Qi of the Cold Jade Ore, surged into his lungs, allowing his restless mind to settle down completely.

His gaze flickered in the darkness with the firmness of a rock.

He raised both hands, his fingers flying as he performed the complex hand Seals he had practiced thousands of times in his mind.

"Release!"

With a low murmur, the Seals on the mouths of the thirty-five jade bottles all shattered at once!

In an instant, the cold glow inside the secret room exploded! It was no longer the reflection from the bottle walls, but the light truly blooming from the pure Full Moon Qi within the bottles!

Thirty-five strands of silver-white light emerged from the bottles, while the last strand—the freshest and densest lunar essence—was drawn by the technique from the position where it had just fallen from the skylight, merging into the group.