The Harmonization of the Spirit with the Heavens and Earth

　　As he stood on the lake, tens of thousands of red, streaming lights whirled through his surroundings, twisting the empty space.

　　Teng Qingshan looked far towards the east. The morning sun had already completely risen; the sunlight was dazzling.

　　“Finally, I have attained Emptiness Realm.”

　　Teng Qingshan felt as if the sun had also risen in his heart. He had faced the powerful and invincible Qing Hu island in the Great Yan Mountain and was forced to flee in embarrassment. The Qing Hu Island announced the pursuit to the world and he was like a rat cursed and beaten by everyone. Eventually, he escaped to the other side of the North Sea—Duanmu Continent.

　　The winter when he was seventeen, he left his hometown, the Jiangning County of Yangzhou!

　　At age eighteen, he spent his days in Wu City, being hunted down by Golden Dan Innate Experts, and had to dig into the ground to escape.

　　At age nineteen, he spent his time in the Forbidden Area of Bright Moon Island, analyzing the Celestial Jade Annulus that Poetic Sword God Li Taibai had left behind.

　　……

　　…..

　　Now, he was already 21.

　　“It’s been more than three years,” lamented Teng Qingshan, but his eyes remained bright. “And I have finally arrived at the Emptiness Realm. Emptiness Realm Experts are powerful experts that stand at the pinnacle of the nine prefectures…If a sect has an Emptiness Realm Expert, it would exist for a few hundred years even under the suppression of the eight Supreme Sects!”

　　“And now, I am also an Emptiness Realm Expert!”

　　“If teacher and my parents knew that I had reached the Emptiness Realm, they probably wouldn’t be able to believe it.” A smiled appeared on Teng Qingshan’s face.

　　He was 21 years old and had reached the Emptiness Realm!

　　This must have been the most incredible thing since the beginning of the world. When Teng Qingshan arrived at the Innate Realm at age 17, it was already stunning. Four years later, he has arrived at the Emptiness Realm. If the Grand Elder Supreme of Qing Hu Island—the Emptiness Realm Expert, Blind Swordmaster—found out, he would risk everything to try to kill off Teng Qingshan!

　　This speed of improvement was frightening!

　　In truth, there were many reasons as to why Teng Qingshan could reach the Emptiness Realm at the age of 21.

　　During the 29 years of his previous life, Teng Qingshan has already reached the Grandmaster Realm. Thus, in this life, when Teng Qingshan was just a baby, he had already achieved the Grandmaster Realm of the Internal Martial Arts! He then comprehended the Five Element Fists and during the creation of the Xing Yi Five Elements Spear Arts, he refined himself and progressed again.

　　Adding up the total cultivation time of his two lives, Teng Qingshan had actually already cultivated for over 40 years.

　　Furthermore…

　　Teng Qingshan cultivated the Inner Martial Arts, a path that no one in the Land of Nine Prefectures had followed before. Over 40 years of practicing the Inner Martial Arts, with the help of the Celestial Jade Annulus’ and the stone inscriptions of the Thirty-six Splitting Mountain Forms, and by overcoming the setbacks he had experienced when cultivating, he finally stepped into the Emptiness Realm.

　　Stepping into the Emptiness Realm was akin to stepping into the sky.

　　From now on, his status would be very different from before. He would be like a fish leaping over the gates of the dragon and soaring above ninth heaven.

　　Furthermore, Teng Qingshan was the first Emptiness Realm Expert that once cultivated the Internal Martial Arts!

　　“Finally, I did it! My cultivation methods of the Internal Martial Arts has the potential to reach the Emptiness Realm.” Teng Qingshan smiled. “The future generations who practice my《Fire Element Fist》and the other four fist arts will also have the chance to achieve the Dao of Heaven.” Thinking of how the future cultivators of the Internal Martial Arts could follow in his footsteps and enter Emptiness Realm, he felt excited.

　　“Nine Prefectures…”

　　“Wait for my return.” Teng Qingshan’s eyes were bright.

　　“Emptiness Realm Expert… there was a huge difference.”

　　Teng Qingshan felt the difference within himself after attaining the Emptiness Realm. If the Innate experts were the ants of the earth, then the Emptiness Realm Experts was the ruler of a certain region in this world. The more one understood, the more power and control one had.

　　“So this is the Emptiness Realm!” Teng Qingshan closed his eyes.

　　At this moment, his ‘Spirit’ and the surrounding Fire Elemental Power combined into one. He could clearly feel every energy of the Rising Sun City; each energy represented a person or animal or a living creature. Within 34 Li, as long as it was within the scope of Fire Elemental Power, Teng Qingshan could clearly feel it.

　　Every breath in Dreamy Cloud ancient city appeared as numerous as the stars in the milky way, and inconspicuous as drops of water in the ocean.

　　“Yes……what power!”

　　Suddenly, Teng Qingshan felt that among these numerous energies, there was one that was particularly strong. It was like a ‘sun’ formed by a great amount of thunderbolts and black beams of light, and among the millions of other ‘energies’, this sun of thunderbolts and black beams of light was unprecedentedly conspicuous.

　　“This is… Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal?” Teng Qingshan clearly felt that the energy was from Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal.

　　As Teng Qingshan felt the Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal, Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal also felt Teng Qingshan’s existence.

　　Teng Qingshan was a gigantic ball formed by limitless amount of flames.

　　In Dreamy Cloud ancient city, this strong energy was like a sun outshining the million of stars. When the sun emerged, the other stars all lose their colors.

　　“Huh?”

　　He suddenly felt a rush of kindness and happiness in the undulating aura of the Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal.

　　And this strong energy was approaching fast.

　　……

　　…..

　　At the Easter Flower Tower, Li Jun, Teng Shou, Yang Dong, Fu Yuping, and the two maids looked at Teng Qingshan who was standing on the water.

　　Zoom!

　　Suddenly, Teng Qingshan pushed off with his toes and flew several dozen Zhang like a leaf and landed on top of a board.

　　“Qingshan,” Li Jun said happily, “You’ve reached the Emptiness Realm?”

　　“Yes.” Qingshan smiled and nodded. “Get ready, the Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal and Mu Wang are coming.”

　　“The Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal is coming?” Li Jun, Fu Yuping, and the others looked confused. If Teng Qingshan said he heard people coming close, they wouldn’t doubt him. But how could anyone know who was coming just by listening? On top of that, it was extremely difficult to find Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal and Mu Wang to begin with while they were traveling.

　　Teng Qingshan smiled, “Little Ping, take the two maids and go get ready.”

　　“Eh… okay.” Fu Yuping nodded.

　　The two maids looked at Teng Qingshan with admiration and respect. In their eyes… this man who was known as the strongest expert of all, held an incredibly great power.

　　“Haha, Qingshan, congratulations.” The Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal’s laugh could be heard from far away.

　　As his laughter still echoed in the garden, the Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal and Mu Wang appeared in front of the garden’s entrance.

　　“You’re really here?” Fu Yuping said, shocked, as she brought the maids to prepare some tea.

　　“Brother Teng, you are now one step ahead of me. Congratulations.” Mu Wang couldn’t hide his admiration for Teng Qingshan. He also dreamt of attaining the Emptiness Realm. In the entire Duanmu Continent, there were only two Martial Immortals. Thus, it was obvious that reaching the Emptiness Realm was incredibly difficult.

　　And today, Teng Qingshan had reached the Emptiness Realm and appeared in front of him.

　　“I coincidentally gained enlightenment, went past the threshold and stepped into the Emptiness Realm.” Teng Qingshan smiled.

　　“Taking this step is like stepping into the sky.” Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal laughed heartily. The three men entered the room. Fu Yuping and the maids had already prepared tea for them.

　　The three of them sat down.

　　“Qingshan.” Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal’s eyes lit up. He smiled and said, “I’m here today to firstly, congratulate you for making it to the Emptiness Realm. Secondly, I would also like to discuss your situation with Tianfeng Martial Immortal. Haha… I almost forgot to mention, until now, you still do not know my name. My name is Mu Tao. Now that you have stepped into the Emptiness Realm, you are also considered an Emptiness Realm expert, there is no need for formalities. You can call me Older Brother Mu and I will refer to you as my Younger Brother Qingshan. How does that sound?”

　　Teng Qingshan cupped his hands together and smiled, “Older Brother Mu.”

　　Once an individual steps into Emptiness Realm, their lifespan increases by 500 years! At this point, use of such formalities was meaningless indeed.

　　“Brother Mu Wang,” Teng Qingshan smiled and looked at the elder Mu Wang, “Now it’s only you who has yet to attain Emptiness Realm.”

　　“This last step is difficult to take.” Mu Wang smiled helplessly.

　　He has been stuck at the last step for too long now.

　　“Yes.” Teng Qingshan nodded. After he created the eighth move of the《Earth Element Fist》, he tried everything to achieve a breakthrough. He even collected the stone inscriptions of the 《Thirty-six Splitting Mountain Forms》, and yet, he still could not achieve a breakthrough. Who knew that it would be《Fire Element Fist》 that would help him breakthrough.

　　Once understood, it was simple.

　　If you couldn’t comprehend, you would be stuck there and achieve nothing.

　　“Qingshan, that day, you and Tianfeng Martial Immortal…” Said Mu Tao.

　　“Naturally, the both of us cannot co-exist.” Teng Qingshan said.

　　“Qingshan, don’t get in contact with him yet. Although now you have no need to fear him, you are still no match for him,” said the Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal.

　　“I understand.”

　　Once he stepped into the Emptiness Realm, he suddenly understood many things. The Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal’s ability to control the Power of the Heavens and Earth was obviously even stronger than his own ability. That power was obviously much stronger than what he has. For now, he could only control Fire Elemental Power

　　“But he is not able to kill you either.” Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal laughed. “For an Emptiness Realm Expert wanting to kill another Emptiness Realm Expert… as long as the weak opponent wants to escape, the stronger one wouldn’t be able to kill the other anyway. You’ve probably already realized just now that an Emptiness Realm expert can easily feel another Emptiness Realm expert coming close.”

　　Teng Qingshan nodded.

　　After Harmonization of the Spirit and the Heavens and Earth is combined with the Fire Elemental Power, he could easily feel everything that is 34 Li around him. And the aura of the Emptiness Realm Expert was extremely dazzling!

　　“But Qingshan, since you have only just arrived at Emptiness Realm, you have not yet achieve the true Harmonization of the Spirit and the Heavens and Earth,” explained the Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal.

　　“Achieve the true Harmonization of the Spirit and the Heavens and Earth?” Teng Qingshan asked, confused.

　　“Yes, right now you are able to communicate with the Heavens and Earth and possess an inexhaustible True Origin. If you deliberately try to use your ‘Spirit’ to control Fire Elemental Power, you will be able to feel everything within 34 Li around you. But if you don’t use your ‘Spirit,’ you won’t be able to feel it, isn’t that right?” Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal asked.

　　Although Teng Qingshan was surprised that Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal so accurately described the scope of his vision, he nodded in agreement. If he didn’t deliberately use ‘Spirit,’ he wouldn’t feel anything.

　　“Haha… An Emptiness Realm Expert does not need to use his ‘Spirit’ to sense everything within his own domain. It’s a natural thing.” Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal laughed. “What you need to do now is let your ‘Spirit’ and Fire Elemental Power completely blend together. Let your Niwan Palace and ‘Spirit’ contain the characteristics of the element fire.”

　　“If this happens, then it would be like how your eyes are unconsciously able to see what is in front. You would be able to naturally feel what is around you within 34 Li.”

　　“To let the ‘Spirit’ completely contain the characteristics of the element fire, you would probably need around ten to fifteen days” explained the Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal.