The cultivation of the Five Thunder Righteous Law was not going smoothly for Chu Zheng, as his internal organs were struggling to cope with the Five Elements Primordial Qi.
Each breath he took felt as if his heart was scorched by fire and his lungs were cut by knives, causing considerable damage to his organs.
Although his organs gradually toughened after repairs through the interface, the pain reached deep into his bones.
Sweat poured from Chu Zheng's forehead like a spring; soon, a puddle formed beneath him.
The five-colored spiritual energy flowed in and out of his nostrils, entering his Dantian and then reaching his organs where it slowly refined the Five Elements Qi.
Through constant repairs, Chu Zheng distinctly felt the changes in the spiritual energy of the surroundings; compared to the outside, the fluctuations of spiritual energy inside the Small World were more noticeable, gradually becoming sparse.
After stepping into the Jade Bone Realm, the energy required to repair his body soared. With only one spirit vein in the Small World to cultivate spiritual energy, which still needed time, signs of strain quickly became apparent.
In the blink of an eye, several days had passed...
Having undergone continuous repairs and strengthening, Chu Zheng's organs had finally met the basic requirements to operate the Five Elements.
Chu Zheng slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid Qi. The Five Elements Qi in his body circulated, reaching his limbs and converging in the palms of his hands to display Yin and Yang.
His left hand gathered Yin, black as ink; his right hand wielded Yang, blazing like the sun.
Taking a deep breath, Chu Zheng solemnly activated a portal, arriving atop a desolate island in the outside world, his hands forming a Dao Seal.
In an instant, the Yin Yang Dual Qi merged, evolved into two instruments and then Chaos.
A wisp of faint blue lightning suddenly appeared and in the blink of an eye transformed into a dazzling thunderbolt.
The thunderbolt, like a giant dragon plunging downward, brought a sweeping gale, crossing miles across the island, which violently shook; vegetation was uprooted, rocks and dirt flew about, and dust rose a thousand feet into the air.
In an instant, the island was split apart, large sections of land collapsed and fell into the raging Angry River. After a short duration, the remnants had disappeared without a trace, hidden beneath the waves.
With one strike, the island before him had been sunk by Chu Zheng, the faint blue lightning spreading across the water's surface to more than ten miles away.
Suddenly, water demons overturned the river, and the surface floated a layer of white bellies.
Chu Zheng's face was pale, his fingertips trembling uncontrollably, his body nearly hollowed out.
As the interface operated, his complexion soon returned to normal. Looking at the various types of fish and water demons floating on the water, he fell into deep thought.
Barely managing to summon a burst of the Thunder Method, the Primordial Qi within him had been drained. If it weren't for the presence of the interface, using it against enemies would be somewhat forced.
This divine skill primarily used his own strength to trigger the power of heaven and earth, yet Cangyun Realm's heaven and earth had just refrained from lending him power.
The underlying reasons were unclear to Chu Zheng, who decided not to ponder it momentarily.
The power of the Five Thunder Righteous Law hadn't disappointed Chu Zheng; as long as he nurtured his organs and practiced diligently, this Thunder Method, as a trump card, was entirely sufficient.
Chu Zheng heaved a sigh of relief and, adhering to a principle of not wasting, began to gather the various river delicacies and several unconscious water demons on the river surface.
In the process of cultivating this divine skill, he had absorbed quite a lot of energy from the Five Shapes Yuan Pills, and his cultivation improved further, nearing the Mid-Stage of the Jade Bone Realm.
Even his Immortal Path Cultivation had risen, experiencing a transformation and was about to step into the peak of the Spirit Spring Realm.
This too was an unexpected gain.
A moment later, Chu Zheng had finished cleaning up and returned to the Small World.
The Small World now felt rather cold, inhabited only by Song Lingqing, Song Yun, Bai Nian, and Chu Zheng himself.
The rest had been left by Chu Zheng at the Song Residence; those Grandmasters left over by Geng Yiyang were mostly older, half a step into the grave, and keeping them by his side, which would divide his attention, was somewhat inconvenient.
Chu Zheng sent a message to the others, then transformed a portion of Primordial Qi and ignited a Mundane Fire to start processing the ingredients.
Having not eaten in a long time and seeing so much river fare, he momentarily felt a desire to indulge, seeing no need to resist.
Bai Nian, who was closest to where Chu Zheng was, arrived first. Seeing the ground covered with water demons and various river delicacies, he picked up a silver fish weighing at least a hundred pounds, his eyes filled with astonishment.
There were no large rivers around Illusory Spirit City, at most some mountain streams, and he had never seen such a large fish in his life.
Chu Zheng spared him a glance, sighing inwardly.
Bai Nian's talent in cultivation was meager; lacking the Immortal Bone, his training in the Martial Path was also slow.
Chu Zheng had once thought about having him try other methods, like the perfectly restored "Cold Sky Poetry Collection."
This was the only Confucian Path scroll found from that notebook.
Second Order in quality, reading it a hundred times would nurture Vast Righteous Qi, easily warding off evils for those with exceptional talent.
But after some deliberation, Chu Zheng decided to temporarily abandon this idea.
After all, in the Cangyun Realm, the fate of those on the Heretic Path was most likely death.
Chu Zheng's own path forward was still uncertain, and there was no need to drag another down with him.
He had brought Bai Nian out of Illusory Spirit City to give him a chance to live, not to hasten his death.
Song Yun and Song Lingqing arrived almost simultaneously.
Song Yun first bowed in greeting, then turned towards Song Lingqing, his expression calm, and greeted her as well,
He had never been close to Song Lingqing since childhood, and this had remained the case even after she went to the Immortal Sect.
Song Lingqing's talent in martial arts was not high, and her nature had been somewhat reclusive as a child, rather distant even from Song Lingxue.