The boundless Gobi desert exhaled white-hot vapors as the temperature soared over a hundred degrees Celsius, hot enough to boil water. Bizarrely, there were two suns in the sky above, so when one looked up, it was as if seeing two enormous grindstones, red and glowing.
These suns were four or five times larger than the ordinary sun, seemingly pulled closer to Earth, no wonder it was hot enough to steam sweet potatoes. Such giant suns were worrisome indeed, with scorching heat waves rolling over the desert, making every step feel like a sauna.
Despite the extraordinary heat, some plants still managed to grow here, though most were wilted from the sun, only countless cacti stood strong and unwavering.
Cacti were the most common sight in this desert, growing exceptionally tall, most over ten meters, with girths so large it would take two or three people to encircle one. To withstand such high temperatures, these were undoubtedly not simple plants, but powerful plant-type desolate beasts.
Xiang Beifei had been trekking across this barren wilderness for who knows how long, yet could not see any end to it. Since traveling also required Spiritual Power, he decided to rest for a moment.
He found the most robust cactus, which offered a large shadow underneath it for rest. He simply used the breath soil to separate the ground below, creating a small, cool pavilion.
Xiaohei, feeling thirsty, wanted a drink of water. It saw bulging pouches on the cactus, mistaking them for water storage, so it poked one, rupturing the inflated pouch.
A foul-smelling, corrosive ink sprayed towards Xiaohei, who narrowed its eyes and leapt to safety. The ink hit the ground, hissing as black smoke rose.
But the cactus came to life, shooting out myriad spines with a "whoosh whoosh whoosh". Unable to see Xiaohei, it redirected its aim towards Xiang Beifei, countless thorns hurtled his way.
Xiang Beifei lazily lifted his eyelids, and "Abruptly Stop" emerged effortlessly, halting all the spines mid-air.
"Woof!" Xiaohei bared its teeth at the cactus in a fierce grin.
Erha, often ridiculed by Xiaohei for being silly, finally found its chance to return the favor. With a proud swish of its tail, the cactus that had been violently targeting Xiang Beifei suddenly froze mid-assault, then obediently extended an inconspicuous root in their direction.
The root split open to reveal a clear water sac, the laboriously stored water of the cactus.
Erha patted the cactus contentedly and took the stored water.
After a thought, feeling it shouldn't take the water for nothing, it swished its tail again, a green light rippling from its tail to the cactus. The cactus seemed utterly comfortable as it shuddered, becoming noticeably thicker.
Erha had the ability to control all plants and was kindly regarded as the king of plants, usually friendly towards plant-type desolate beasts.
Xiang Beifei sat beneath the cactus, pondering over the two massive suns in the sky.
"But come to think of it, why are there two suns here?"
He found it very strange since there had only been one sun in the sky when he started his journey. As he moved forth and the heat intensively grew, suddenly a second sun appeared. The sun being directly overhead, Xiang Beifei didn't pay much heed and didn't even notice when the second sun appeared.
Xiaohei felt there was something sinister about that second sun and asked Xiang Beifei if they should ascend and attempt to pluck this thing from the sky to examine it.
"You can give it a try," Xiang Beifei said.
He had tried such a thing before; the skies of the outer realm wasteland were incredibly high, and one couldn't fly out of this space even after ascending tens of thousands of kilometers. The higher one went, the stronger the oppressive force, which even Xiang Beifei couldn't withstand.
Xiaohei wagged its tail listlessly.
Xiang Beifei sat cross-legged on the ground and began cultivating. His grandfather had mentioned that to become a master of the Heavenly Connection realm, he must focus on comprehending the Orifice Perception of black and white.
The Chaos Yin-Yang Formula circulated slowly, flowing through his entire body, shrouded in alternating black and white energies. These energies flowed through every meridian, nurturing his soul.
"To comprehend the cosmic laws, how should one go about it?"
Xiang Beifei pondered the elusive cosmic laws. They were too abstract for him to grasp. His grandfather said the key lay in the Yin and Yang Spiritual Power, but he wasn't yet sure how to comprehend it.
Xiang Beifei manipulated his Spiritual Power, letting it spread outwards to sense everything around him. Hot blasts of air permeated the surroundings, their scorching touch unbearable against the skin.
He felt the surrounding heat waves and let his Spiritual Power ripple with them, merging seamlessly, indistinguishable from one another.
The desert winds were strong and carried heat due to the high temperatures. Xiang Beifei suddenly had an idea; he swiftly merged his Spiritual Power into these heat waves, then rapidly transformed the power into black and white energies.
The black Spiritual Power quickly enveloped the hot air within the wind, while the white Spiritual Power clung to the wind itself. The black and white energies spiraled around, and as the howling hot winds blew through this Spiritual Power, they were filtered and emerged as cool breezes.