Within the miniature world.
The gentle glow of the lunar essence illuminated this realm that belonged solely to Li Mo. It seemed slightly different from the moon outside, yet it was hard to pinpoint exactly how.
Li Mo withdrew from his inner vision. His sixth aperture of Divine Observation had reached the pinnacle of perfection—what could be called... the Absolute Peak of the Sixth Aperture of Divine Observation!
Only one final condition remained for his breakthrough.
A truly exhilarating battle.
"With my speed of advancement, even when facing the prodigies of the Hidden Dragon Ranking, I can confidently say that none of them can quite match my brilliance, right?"
Young Li Mo felt that only the "Ice Block" might stand a chance against him.
He couldn’t help but feel a little smug.
Divine Observation was the third major realm. And in most cultivation novels, what was the third realm?
Qi Refining... Foundation Establishment... Golden Core!
In other words, he was about to become a late-stage Golden Core grandmaster.
Well... "about to."
"Master, I... I've broken through!"
Jiang Chulong spotted the figure standing in the Yin-Yang Dao Field and hurried over with light, tapping footsteps.
"Hmm? Chulong, you... reached the second aperture of Divine Observation?"
The Heavenly Venerable was momentarily stunned. So fast.
It seemed even quicker than his own breakthrough back then...
"Actually... it's the third aperture."
Jiang Chulong sounded a little uncertain as she placed a small hand over her dantian and said,
"I listened to you, Master, and rested properly... Before I fell asleep, I felt the little mouse in my dantian... scurrying around again."
In short.
The little princess had slept for two days straight and woke up to find she had broken through two realms in one go.
"!"
The Heavenly Venerable’s imposing demeanor faltered for a moment, nearly breaking his composure.
"M-Master, what’s wrong? Did I... not improve enough?"
Jiang Chulong asked cautiously.
"Ahem, no, not at all. Since that’s the case, today you’ll be facing a new opponent."
Li Mo steadied himself. Upon reflection, Jiang Chulong’s rapid advancement wasn’t entirely unreasonable.
She had regained her Sword Bone, a case of destruction and rebirth, or perhaps the culmination of long accumulation.
Had she never lost her Sword Bone, she might have already surpassed the third aperture of Divine Observation by now.
With a wave of his hand, the power of sentient beings from the Void Myriad Colors Pagoda flowed into the Primordial Return Mirror. Its radiance illuminated the Divine Observation Diagram he had retrieved.
A majestic, mountain-like draconic pressure surged forth, unmistakable in its dominance.
And so, the little princess began her battle for the day.
Her goal now wasn’t just victory—she also needed to temper her sword intent under the pressure of the dragon’s might, then use that sword intent to break through.
This was the path Li Mo had laid out for her, modeled after his own Heaven-Defying Battle Will and supplemented with a divine technique—the Thousand Forms Art.
Thus, despite being in the Divine Observation realm, she had yet to truly "observe the divine."
Jiang Chulong’s Dragon-Slaying Swordplay, in the midst of battle, faintly carried the aura of mastery.
After completing her training and leaving the miniature world,
Li Mo shed the inscrutable demeanor of the Heavenly Venerable and picked up the Divine Observation Diagram, raising his gaze.
There, he met the solemn, authoritative eyes of the Yellow Dragon’s projection. Its coiled form loomed over the entire Yin-Yang Dao Field, its overwhelming draconic presence less violent than the Crimson Dragon’s but far more profound—like a mountain slowly pressing down upon him.
Young Li Mo took a deep breath, suppressing the tremors in his body.
This wasn’t fear.
It was excitement.
"I hope you... can give me a good fight."
......
One hour later.
The battered projection of the Yellow Dragon cast one last deep glance at Li Mo—or rather, at the Great Sage’s phantom looming behind him—before finally dissipating.
Li Mo sat cross-legged at the center of the Yin-Yang Dao Field and solemnly retrieved an object.
It was the Divine Form of the Great Dao, one that did not belong to the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths—The Great Sage Stirs the Heavens.
The Great Sage’s phantom blazed with light, as if expressing immense satisfaction with his performance over this time.
Gazing at this Divine Form, Li Mo sensed the divine intents within gradually becoming clearer.
Among them, one shone particularly bright!
Even among countless divine abilities, it stood out like the North Star amidst a sea of lesser lights.
Divine abilities had their own hierarchy.
Before Li Mo’s eyes, the mist seemed to part, the vision drawing nearer.
Above the celestial clouds, divine soldiers and heavenly generals dared not approach, keeping a cautious distance. Though each radiated an aura of power beyond anything Li Mo had ever witnessed, compared to the two figures at the center, they were but flickering fireflies.
This time, the Monkey King remained as defiant as ever, yet carried an air of solemnity.
Opposite him stood a strikingly handsome man, adorned with a jade crown and clad in golden battle armor. A vertical mark between his brows sent a piercing pain through anyone who dared meet his gaze, yet his lips curled in a faint smile.
A three-pointed, double-edged spear.
A mystical golden-patterned hound.
"This Erlang Shen isn’t right."
Even as his consciousness was submerged in the grandeur of the scene, an absurd thought surfaced in young Li Mo’s mind:
"He looks nothing like Jiao Enjun..."
A thunderous roar, like the voice of an unimaginable existence, boomed across the heavens.
Li Mo strained to listen, but all he caught were fragmented murmurs lost in the chaos.
"You too have once defied the heavens..."
Suddenly, the True Lord Erlang slammed his spear down. The tip gleamed with cold starlight, the blade reflecting frost.
The very essence of heaven and earth erupted in turmoil. A tempest rose, and within the endless surge of energy, his form expanded—towering, eclipsing the sky, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the sun and moon.
Now, his breath carried the rumble of wind and thunder, his third eye blazed like a scorching sun, and his divine might swept across the cosmos.
Opposite him, the Great Sage’s figure likewise ascended amidst the howling gales. The Ruyi Jingu Bang had transformed into a pillar of heaven, its top piercing the firmament, its base plunging into the underworld. A mere shift could stir the winds and clouds of the world.
CLANG—
A world-shaking, earth-rending collision.
Awe-inspiring. Overpowering.
The vision abruptly shattered, unable to withstand the sheer force of these two beings.
Li Mo knew he wasn’t even qualified to spectate such a battle. Even across time and space, even as a mere projection, the aftershocks could obliterate his soul.
Yet he had already grasped the nature of this supreme divine ability.
Heaven and Earth Manifestation!
As all images faded,
Li Mo remained seated at the heart of the Dao Field, taking a long while to regain his senses. The Stone Monkey’s divine pattern flickered, imparting a sudden realization:
"To master this supreme divine ability, one’s physical form must transcend mortality and attain sainthood. Upon success, the body may manifest ten thousand zhang in height."
"When the inner and outer worlds are not in harmony, use with caution—lest the flesh collapse under its own might."
This divine ability needed little explanation.
It was neither flashy nor complex—just raw, overwhelming power, embodying the principle of "absolute force crushes all techniques."
The bigger, the stronger.
But the demands it placed on the user were terrifyingly high.
By far, this was the most difficult divine ability Li Mo had ever encountered.
His physique was strong—but only by the standards of his realm.
If fully unleashing Heaven and Earth Manifestation meant becoming a mountain, then right now, he wasn’t even a climber. At best, he was a distant observer, barely glimpsing the silhouette of this colossal peak.
Yet Li Mo’s heart still surged with exhilaration!