The uproar in the Martial Arts Arena gradually subsided with Pang Song’s departure.
Chu Bai stood quietly, ignoring the worshipful gazes of the surrounding guards. Instead, he slowly closed his eyes, sensing the surging Magical Power within him, which flowed like a great, relentless river.
This half-year of arduous cultivation had not only pushed him to the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer but had also granted his Magic Techniques a qualitative leap to the Microscopic level.
At a flicker of his thought, the Divine Thought that had been retracted deep within his Sea of Consciousness now burst forth like a deluge, expanding madly in all directions with him at the center.
Ten feet, thirty feet, fifty feet...
Only when it reached a full hundred feet did the expansion of his Divine Thought finally halt.
[Secret Technique: Guardian Scripture (Mastery)]
In that instant, what appeared in Chu Bai’s mind was not the Martial Arts Arena as seen by the naked eye, but an omnidirectional, three-dimensional, and exquisitely detailed miniature map.
Within a hundred feet, he could perceive the finest details.
He could sense the fluttering of two sparrows fighting over a feather under the eaves at the hundred-foot mark. He could hear the faint RUSTLE of an earthworm churning the soil deep underground. He could even perceive the accelerated heartbeats of a few nervous guards at the edge of the Martial Arts Arena, as clearly as rolling thunder.
’This feeling of control...’ A profound smile touched Chu Bai’s lips.
Cultivating Divine Thought is extremely difficult, a feat nearly unattainable during the Qi Refining Stage.
But Chu Bai, having used a Secret Technique to reach the Mastery Level, now possessed a Hundred Feet Divine Thought comparable to most specialized Reconnaissance Techniques.
During their recent sparring match, every move Pang Song made—every twitch of his muscles, every shift in the flow of his Magical Power—had been rendered almost comically slow under the coverage of Chu Bai’s Hundred Feet Divine Thought.
If he wished, Chu Bai could predict all of his opponent’s moves before he even lifted a hand.
’This is a true strategic advantage on the battlefield.’
Chu Bai slowly retracted his Divine Thought. An area of effect this large was practically a god’s-eye view for his daily patrols.
Over the past six months, Anping County had entered a rare period of peace and prosperity.
Thanks to Chu Bai’s terrifyingly efficient patrols, any nascent Demons were precisely targeted before they could fester and spread Resentment within the county, then swiftly exterminated by the ferocious Demon-slaying Team.
The Noble Races kept their heads down, and Demons vanished without a trace.
Now, the people of Anping County lived in peace and prosperity, so safe that they didn’t even lock their doors at night.
With this half-year of stability, Chu Bai’s reputation among the common people had soared to unprecedented heights.
He opened his eyes, his gaze falling on the blood-red sunset painting the horizon.
With breakthroughs in both his Divine Thought and his Cultivation Technique, he had accumulated significant power within the Middle Stage of Qi Cultivation.
’I suppose it’s time to attempt another breakthrough.’
As the year drew to a close, the winter winds and snow in Anping County were harsher than usual.
High in the firmament, the Law Net of the Great Zhou Immortal Dynasty pulsed with light, a manifestation of the supreme imperial power settling the accounts of Cause and Effect, of merits and demerits, for all living things.
For Chu Bai, the year had passed with unusual tranquility. After the Demon-slaying Team purged the long-entrenched Great Demons from Anping’s territory, the entire county had entered a rare period of respite.
Chu Bai spent most of his time in seclusion, presiding over Qingfeng Courtyard and transforming it into an impenetrable fortress for his cultivation.
Lü Qing of the Merit Department had sent him another private message, its tone tinged with a hint of resignation.
In this year’s Merit Examination, Chu Bai had been rated "Good."
In the world of officialdom, this was not considered a setback.
His "Excellent" rating last year was for defeating a stronger foe, slaying a Pseudo-God, and rebuilding the Government Office—a true "paradigm-shifting achievement."
This year, however, his achievement was one of stability—making Anping County so safe that people didn’t lock their doors at night. In the Merit Department’s evaluation system, it was nearly impossible to earn consecutive "Excellent" ratings for maintaining peace unless one had also resolved some earth-shattering crisis that shocked the entire Prefecture City.
Lü Qing’s letter urged, "Junior Brother, a ’Good’ rating is already outstanding for an Official. The Prefecture City holds this evaluation in high regard. Don’t let this create any ill will."
Chu Bai just smiled faintly. He had never cared for empty titles.
As long as the resources and rewards from the Merit Department remained undiminished, such titles were meaningless to him.
This time, in addition to the standard three hundred taels of Spirit Stones, the reward included a bottle of [Qi Transformation Pill] from the Celestial Observatory’s Alchemy Room.
This type of Pill was lustrous and smooth, containing a pure Qi. It was specifically used by Late-stage Qi Cultivators to stabilize their foundation when breaking through a Small Realm. Though not as rare as an Earth Treasure, it was exactly what Chu Bai needed at the moment.
’I can save this for when I push for the Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer...’
A sharp glint flashed in Chu Bai’s eyes as his fingertips caressed the jade bottle.
「Spring passed into autumn, and the seasons turned.」
Qingfeng Courtyard, Anping County.
More than four hundred days had passed since the battle in the forest on New Year’s Eve.
Since the sparring match in the Martial Arts Arena a year ago, Chu Bai had rarely made any public displays of his power.
The internal power struggles of the Anping County Yamen and the endless scheming among the Noble Races all seemed a world away from his tranquil little courtyard.
By now, Qingfeng Courtyard’s environment was comparable to that of a Grotto Heaven Blessed Land.
The Five Elements Gathering Spirit Array had been running on overload for a year and a half. This, combined with the dense Earth Qi ceaselessly produced by the Earth Treasure, [Mountain-Suppressing Platinum], filled the air above the courtyard with a nearly tangible, five-colored mist.
Under the sun, the mist refracted a dreamlike kaleidoscope of light, yet each wisp was as heavy as lead.
If a Mortal were to set foot here, a single breath of this potent air would likely cause their body to explode, unable to handle such rich nourishment. Even an Early Stage of Qi Cultivation cultivator would find their meridians aching from the sheer density of the Spiritual Pressure after just a few moments.
Inside the Cultivation Room, Chu Bai sat cross-legged. The acupoints all over his body acted like miniature vortexes, madly devouring the surrounding Spiritual Mechanism.
His Microscopic-level Guiyuan Technique was operating at its absolute peak.
The moment a wisp of the five-colored Spiritual Mist entered his body and touched his meridians, it was instantly and forcibly dismantled by his powerful Divine Thought.

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