The Body Cultivators tempering their bodies in the gravity on the outskirts, and the merchant caravans carefully detouring with their goods, soon noticed the figure in green robes strolling out of the "Death Forbidden Area."
At first, they all thought their eyes were playing tricks on them.
After all, not even birds dared to fly over the core area, where the clang of metal rang out day and night. A Mortal body entering that place would be shredded to pieces in an instant.
But as the figure drew closer and that terrifying aura—subdued, yet still as sharp as an unsheathed sword—washed over them, the color drained from everyone’s faces.
"Hiss... His aura is so powerful! He must be a Foundation Establishment Cultivator..."
A bare-chested brute, who had been doing squats with a massive, thousand-pound boulder, felt the oppressive might of the aura. His hands trembled, and the boulder crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. He paid it no mind, however, his eyes fixed on Chu Bai in terror.
"To just walk right out of the core region, clothes pristine and pace unhurried... What kind of terrifying physical prowess does that take!"
The pupils of an older caravan guard standing nearby contracted. He lowered his voice, his tone laced with disbelief.
"If he were a Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator, he’d just fly high overhead on a Dharma Artifact when passing by. We’d never even see him... Could this eminence be an ascetic who’s been training here?"
"Not necessarily. He could be some eccentric senior," someone else whispered, quickly making a hushing gesture, his face deathly pale. "Quiet! We need to keep our distance. We can’t afford to provoke him..."
In an instant, the once-noisy periphery fell completely silent.
Whether they were the Body Cultivators, who were normally spoiling for a fight, or the shrewd, worldly merchants, everyone now stopped what they were doing with a silent, mutual understanding. They all retreated to the sides of the path, some even bowing their heads in respectful deference, terrified of blocking the great man’s way.
Like Moses parting the sea, the crowd automatically cleared a wide path.
Chu Bai remained calm, walking straight through without a sideways glance.
His Divine Thought already extended over a thousand-zhang radius, so of course, their hushed discussions and reverent gazes did not escape his perception.
But he paid them no mind, not even bothering to lift an eyelid.
This was the disparity in station, the starkest reality of the Cultivation Realm.
’A Foundation Establishment Immortal Official corresponds to the Grand Zhou Regular Seventh Grade.’
Chu Bai reflected calmly. ’In a County, this level makes one the County Magistrate—the absolute authority, holding the power of life and death. Even in a Prefecture City like Dayuan Prefecture, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator is an honored guest of every major family, their words carrying immense weight.’
To these Low-Tier Cultivators still struggling in the Qi Cultivation Stage, to these traveling merchants and Petty Officials who would risk life and limb for a few Spirit Stones, he was a figure who dwelt among the clouds.
Their reverence was only to be expected.
In fact, it would have been abnormal if they *hadn’t* moved aside.
’The Gravity on the outskirts is less than triple the norm now. For my Geng Metal Body, it’s no different from walking on level ground.’
Chu Bai felt the faint pressure around him, now too weak to stir the qi and blood in his body. He gently shook his head.
’This place offers no more tempering.’
’Since the "warm-up" is over, there’s no need to restrain my pace any longer.’
Chu Bai paused for a moment, then took a single, light step.
BOOM!
The gravel beneath his feet exploded outward, leaving a small crater.
Before the onlookers’ horrified eyes, the figure in green seemed to perform the Shrinking Inches technique. With a single step, he crossed several dozen zhang, transforming into a green afterimage that kicked up a gust of wind and vanished at the end of the road in an instant.
He left behind a crowd of dumbfounded cultivators who stared after his distant figure, not daring to straighten their backs for a long time.
「The north wind scoured the land, snapping the withered grass.」
The land beyond Luoxing Slope felt like a different world, as if he had crossed an invisible boundary.
The dark-red, arid desert gradually gave way to a vast expanse of gray-white permafrost. The dryness in the air vanished, replaced by a damp cold that seeped into one’s very bones.
It was a cold wave from the Frozen Sea to the east, mixed with the Evil Qi from the northern Barbaric Land, which perpetually scoured this region.
One month. Two thousand li.
To a Mortal, this would be a long migration. To a Foundation Establishment Cultivator using Sword Flight, it was little more than a leisurely trip of a day or two.
But for Chu Bai, it was a long and silent ascetic trial.
On the main road, a figure in green robes advanced at a steady, unhurried pace.
His gait was steady. Each step he took landed as if precisely measured, the distance between them never varying in the slightest.
He wasn’t moving fast, covering a little over ten li per double-hour. For a Mortal, this was merely a brisk walk, not even a jog.
However, if an expert were to observe him with a discerning eye, they would be shocked to discover that with every step, the man was wrestling with an invisible, immense power of the world.
Within his chest, the golden shackles personally placed upon him by the Merit Department Chief radiated the scorching, divine power of a Decree.
Most people would see this exile as a sentence to hard labor, but Chu Bai saw the road as his forge.
A long plume of white vapor streamed from Chu Bai’s mouth and nose. It was a wave of heat generated by his qi and blood circulating under extreme pressure, and it hung in the air three feet before him, refusing to dissipate and driving away the biting cold.
Along the way, Chu Bai hardly rested or slept.
After reaching Foundation Establishment, his physical body was perfected and self-sufficient. His Spirit, Essence, and Qi formed their own self-sustaining cycle, making sleep no longer a necessity. He poured every waking moment into the monotonous act of walking.
By day, he used the sunlight to cultivate his *Geng Metal Body Casting Technique*, drawing upon the Great Sun Golden Flame to resonate with the Geng Metal Qi inside him and temper his bones.
By night, he bathed in starlight to circulate his *Five Elements Unification Technique*, drawing the cold, desolate qi of the world into his Dantian Chenn Palace to strengthen the Circulation Wheel.

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