When this breath of Immortal Qi entered his body, Li Hao's every pore emitted billions of dazzling lights, as if a splendid, divine, flaming sun had been engulfed within him.
The accumulated snow around his body began to rapidly evaporate and melt away.
His flesh and blood throbbed and writhed, transforming and refining, purging impurity from the bone and marrow, with a silvery white radiance seeping from his pores, shrouding his figure within a mist of Immortal light.
His physical body was transforming, so too was his True Force, and even Li Hao's spiritual soul and dharma aspect transcended because of this breath of Immortal Qi. His golden divine soul shrank, shifting from the form of a youth to that of an infant.
It then grew from infancy back to the form of a youth.
Only now, the originally staunch and vigorous spirit had acquired a few more traces of an ethereal, detached-from-dust aura.
The little white fox leaped out of Li Hao's embrace in shock, sensing that vast Immortal might and showing a look of fear in its eyes, wanting to approach yet not daring to.
It just raised its tiny paw, tentatively and gently touching it.
But the Immortal mist appeared like an illusion; unaffected by the touch of its small paw, it seemed untouchable.
The transformation continued, the snow between the mountain peaks boiling and melting, turning into clear mountain springs, flowing down through the gullies and crevices, making the entire mountain look as if it had been rejuvenated.
The sweeping bitter cold wind turned into gentle rainwater. As it approached within several yards of Li Hao's body, the rainwater quietly changed its course, falling elsewhere.
The area where the youth sat alone remained clean and quiet.
The rain, like nourishing Spirit Rain, fell on the newly brightened mountain peak cleared of snow, and gradually, the ground began to sprout a lush green glow—tender shoots emerging with great vigor from the solid mountain, drawing upon a certain power.
They grew rapidly under the nourishment of the rain.
In the depths of winter, yet this mountain flowed with warm springs, in stark contrast to the pure white snow outside, standing out like a striking peak.
The mist of Immortal light that surrounded Li Hao gradually dissipated.
Returning into his body, contracting through his pores; when all the light was hidden away, Li Hao also slowly opened his eyes.
In his eyes, a silver-white brilliance gently bloomed, his skin as clear as glaze, as white as dawn's light, containing a restrained luminance, with each pore filled to the brim, holding boundless strength.
Li Hao understood that this was the limit of the Grandmaster Realm.
After spending the better part of a year, he had finally taken this step.
He looked at the mountain he sat on, where tufts of green grass clustered, and new tender green buds sprouted on the branches of old trees that had withered in autumn and winter.
This was the manifestation of his current power. Before, his Qi Force was purely strength, devoid of property unless he cultivated various specific properties of Cultivation Techniques, such as cold or blazing flames, polishing them over a long time, could he imbue his Qi Force with some special dark forces.
Just like Song Qiumo, her attacks inherently carried an undercurrent of the ultimate Yin cold force.
After a prolonged engagement, it could even freeze an enemy's body, slowing down the movement of their Qi Force.
Li Hao had mastered various Cultivation Techniques before, and his Qi Force also contained these dark forces, but most of the time, Li Hao didn't need them. His fights were often resolved swiftly with fast sword slashes cutting through complications in just a few moves.
But now, all these characteristics had fused into this breath of Immortal Qi.
All myriad changes arise from the heart!
His power could cover all kinds of properties and could freely switch between any of them.
A realization dawned upon him;
"All that I've lost was never mine to start. All that I seek only traps me within its grasp."
"All things serve my purpose, but none belong to me."
"A gentleman uses things but is not used by them."
"The Great Tao is simple; desirelessness is firmness."
"Without action, all actions are possible!"
At this moment, Li Hao's Grandmaster State of Mind reached perfection in the Extreme Realm.
From seeing one's true self to seeing the world, and then all living beings, he came to understand the simplicity of the Great Tao, where all things converge into one!
His understanding and application of power had transcended that of a typical Great Grandmaster. Just as with the tender shoots on the mountain, his power did not inherently possess the effect of reviving plants. He merely cleared the Falling Snow from this mountain.
Allowing it to transition from the depth of winter into spring and autumn.
Thus, the flowers and plants on the mountain grew on their own.
While the outcome was the same, the application of power was different. This shift in philosophy was extremely important. A typical Celestial Master would absorb the power of the heavens and earth into themselves and then slay their enemies.
But how limited would that be to carry within oneself?
Li Hao dispersed all his personal Qi Force, leaving only this breath of Immortal Qi standing within his body.
If he needed power, he could draw it from the vast world at any time. This was the principle of "all things serve my purpose, but none belong to me."
He no longer absorbed the power of the heavens and earth into his body, leaving the power with the world. Whenever he needed it, he would merely borrow a bit.
This was "A gentleman uses things but is not used by them; he controls the force without being restricted by it."
If one treats this power as their own, greedily drawing from the world, they're bound by it and also by the limitations of their body; after all, if the body is a container, it has a point of overflowing.
Li Hao lifted his hand, slowly assuming a stance, moving his fists and feet, and self-contemplating his State of Mind.
What is the world?
Between his fists and feet, lay the world.
As long as a breath of Immortal Qi endures, he could establish his own world.
Li Hao's Martial Arts realm had transcended the Great Grandmaster Realm. He hadn't reached the three Immortal states, but he already surpassed them.
He called a dried branch to serve as a sword; between the sword's blade and his breast, lay the world.
He stepped forward, and between his two feet, again lay the world.
Li Hao casually swung the dry branch, unleashing a surge of Sword Qi.
In an instant, the Falling Snow in the sky seemed to split quietly, the Sword Qi, as if formless, light, and airy, pierced through dozens of miles in a flash, extending even further, soon reaching a hundred miles away, tearing through the clouds in the sky, slicing open a trail of sword light within the dense clouds that continuously spilled out heavy snowflakes.