Zhang Yuhe walked up to the training platform in the cave.
With a wave of his right hand, five small flags imbued with mysterious spiritual energy flew out and positioned themselves around the platform.
He then took out a formation plate and placed it gently on the ground nearby.
Next, he retrieved a large pile of spirit stones, arranging them around the formation flags and the plate with practiced precision.
Once everything was in place, Zhang Yuhe pinched his fingers into a spellcasting gesture. The Five Elements Spirit Gathering Array lit up instantly, radiating tiny rays of light.
Spiritual energy surged toward him, quickly forming a vast sea of energy that surrounded the platform.
Zhang Yuhe sat cross-legged at its center.
"Let's see if I can deduce the Nine Heavens Primordial Sword Formation."
He recalled how easily he had deduced and improved the Renshui Thunder Absorption Array in just a few days.
Naturally, his thoughts turned to the more complex Nine Heavens Hunyuan Sword Formation. If only it could be improved.
The formation was already incredibly powerful, but if it could be enhanced further, wouldn't its power become even more astonishing?
Without hesitation, Zhang Yuhe focused his mind on the sword formation. Thoughts and ideas flooded his consciousness.
But after a while, he opened his eyes and sighed.
"I was too naive."
After a more careful deduction, he realized the Nine Heavens Hunyuan Sword Formation was already perfect.
Trying to modify it as he had imagined wouldn't strengthen it—in fact, it would weaken its power and might even destabilize the entire formation, making it impossible to deploy.
"Let's try another one. Maybe the Great Desolate Heaven Prisoner Finger can be improved."
Zhang Yuhe redirected his focus toward that magical power, intent on refining it.
However, after a long and detailed analysis, he gave up.
It, too, could not be improved.
Through these deductions, Zhang Yuhe came to a sobering realization: all magical powers at the Heavenly Rank or above were already perfected. They could not be further deduced or modified.
Attempting to force an improvement would only dilute their power—or, at best, result in the creation of an entirely new magical power.
But that would be invention, not refinement.
"Better to focus on diligent cultivation."
With that, Zhang Yuhe abandoned his attempts to enhance existing supernatural powers.
He was not the only genius in the world. Those who could create heavenly-level magical powers were true prodigies.
Each Heavenly-tier spell had been pushed to its absolute limit. Nothing more could be changed.
…
As the Hunyuan Tianhun technique circulated slowly within him, the surrounding sea of spiritual energy surged into his dantian.
The spiritual energy formed waves within, and the purity of his magic power increased slightly.
"It's still a little slow," Zhang Yuhe muttered as he mentally calculated his progress.
Even with daily cultivation and no interruptions, it might take him twenty to thirty years just to reach the middle stage of the Void Refining Realm.
And that was while benefiting from the acceleration effect of the Five Elements Spirit Gathering Array.
At the second level, the array doubled his cultivation speed.
Without it, he estimated it would take several decades just to reach the same stage.
"No wonder Lu Mingfang said that some elders in the sect haven't progressed in cultivation for thousands of years."
The sheer slowness of progress could easily drive someone to despair.
Even with his exceptional talent, he was moving at what felt like a snail's pace.
How much more difficult would it be for others?
Some might cultivate for hundreds of years without advancing a single step.
How could anyone endure such stagnation?
"Ah… the path of cultivation truly tests one's patience."
Still, there was no need to panic.
Step by step.
Zhang Yuhe shook off his distracting thoughts and focused his full attention on cultivation.
…
Tianxing Sea – A Deserted Island
A graceful woman with a stunning face walked slowly across the island, holding a formation plate in her delicate hands.
As she moved, her fingers danced in rapid hand gestures, forming spell techniques.
Behind her, several shadowy figures trailed closely, each one cloaked in raging demonic flames.
One of the black shadows spoke, its tone edged with impatience.
"Master Mingyue, are you certain this is a spatial weak point? Can we really open a fixed passage to the Holy Realm here?"
The woman turned her head, smiling like a blooming peach blossom—charming and intoxicating.
But the shadows behind her remained unmoved. To them, her beauty meant less than a slab of meat on a dinner table.
Still smiling, she answered calmly.
"Don't worry, Lord Black Demon. I wouldn't have come here personally if I weren't confident."
"Not long ago, one of my avatars passed through this area and detected intense spatial fluctuations."
"You know as well as I do—Yufantian's space is normally stable. It doesn't fluctuate without reason."
"That tells me this place has a weakened spatial barrier. Perhaps a battle took place in a nearby realm, and the aftermath rippled through, disturbing the space here."
The black shadow's eyes gleamed.
"A realm near Yufantian? That could only be the Holy Realm. If we open the space here, there's a high chance we'll establish a fixed passage."
The woman was Zhao Mingyue, leader of the evil cult.
She had spent centuries searching for a way to solve the soul-loss problem caused by mastering too many supernatural powers.
Though she had tried every method she could find, nothing worked.
Eventually, she heard of the Demon Palace in the Demon Realm, which maintained contact with the upper realm.
The Demon God in the upper realm was equivalent to a true immortal—and surely capable of solving her dilemma.
Of course, Daosheng Sect also once had the means to communicate with the upper realm.
But Zhao Mingyue couldn't go to them.
That would be suicide.
Her battles with Daosheng Sect had lasted for generations. Their enmity was deep and irreconcilable.
Asking them for help was a fantasy.
Desperate, Zhao Mingyue resolved to open a space channel on her own.
If she could let the demons enter Yufantian, they could annihilate Daosheng Sect—and settle her scores.
Meanwhile, she could enter the Demon Realm and request aid from the Demon Palace.
She knew it was dangerous.
But she had no other choice.
After nearly ten thousand years of cultivation, Zhao Mingyue still hadn't achieved perfect fusion.
If she waited any longer, her body would age past its prime, and she would forever miss her chance to enter the Mahayana realm.
So she made contact with the remaining demons in Yufantian.
Together, they experimented with many methods.
The Tiangang Breaking World Formation they had set up in Jingkong City was one such attempt.
But all of them failed.
Yufantian's spatial barrier was too stable.
The Tiangang Breaking World Formation could only open temporary rifts—and only demons below the Nascent Soul stage could pass through.
If they wanted the Mahayana-level demons from the Demon Palace to arrive, they needed a fixed passage.
Like the one the demons had opened a hundred thousand years ago.
Unfortunately, that passage was located behind Daosheng Sect's mountain and was guarded by Mahayana cultivators.
Zhao Mingyue had tried everything, but she still couldn't find a way to infiltrate it.