Chapter 136: Outbreak (Second Update)

Above Antarctica, inside a Qiankun-class intelligent fighter jet.

Qin Ming stood up, his face beaming with joy as he tapped his intelligent wristwatch.

"Aren't you in seclusion?" Babata projected himself. "Finished? Is something the matter?"

This artificial intelligence spent most of his time surfing the web, gossiping during the day and chatting late into the night—a truly carefree existence. As per their agreement, Babata rarely emerged unless Qin Ming requested it.

"Take a look?" Qin Ming spread his arms, smiling.

"Hmm? Something is different!" Babata said. His eyes widened, and a wave of energy pulsed from the intelligent wristwatch, scanning Qin Ming’s entire body. He shuddered, then let out an incredulous shriek, "How is this possible? My god, how? You’ve actually reached the first level of the Stellar tier! Qin Ming, tell me, how did you do it? You were only at the ninth level of the Planetary tier; even under normal circumstances, it would have taken at least a decade to break through. How did you do it so quickly?"

"I just broke through, that's all," Qin Ming replied without offering an explanation.

Pushing open the cabin door, he flew out. Violent winds swept across the land, and the blizzard felt like blades, yet they could not touch him in the slightest. Standing on the peak of an Antarctic mountain, he embraced the vast, lonely expanse.

"I have finally taken this step!" Qin Ming let out a long roar.

"You’ve crossed over into a new realm," Babata noted. "Genetic evolution and the sublimation of life mean you will be closer to the origin laws of space. Especially the innate patterns in your body; they should have changed as well. From now on, your comprehension of the laws of space will be much faster. Excellent, truly excellent!"

Qin Ming remained silent, instead activating his domain.

The range expanded from a nine-kilometer radius, instantly reaching ten kilometers with him at the center. Ten kilometers might not seem like a significant increase, but both Qin Ming and Babata understood that this range would continue to double as his cultivation level rose—just as it had during his Planetary stage. Ten kilometers at the first level of the Stellar tier, twenty at the second, thirty at the third, and so on. Of course, this range also determined the distance of his teleportation.

"There are no satellite signals scanning this area for the moment. Want to try teleporting?" Babata suggested.

"Alright!" Qin Ming responded, and in an instant, he appeared ten kilometers away. His figure flickered; the limit of his teleportation was exactly ten kilometers. In the blink of an eye, countless afterimages were left in the skies over Antarctica—the visual residue of his rapid teleportation.

"With the ability to teleport, all those movement techniques like the Phantom Void Step are rendered useless!" Babata exclaimed repeatedly. "Qin Ming, keep developing your domain. If you can twist space within your domain to isolate everything outside, then when you face an enemy, you can teleport at will—who could possibly be your opponent? Just thinking about it is terrifying and makes my blood boil."

Qin Ming smiled silently. In the early stages, and indeed before reaching the Immortal stage, teleportation was an incredibly heaven-defying ability.

In the following period, after consolidating his gains, Qin Ming began a new round of frantic self-improvement. One day, he closed his eyes and entered the Yuquan Mansion within the Great Hong World.

Qin Ming became Jiang Fan.

Jiang Fan sat cross-legged on the Enlightenment Platform, contemplating, "There are only five days left before the time I agreed upon with Ji Changkong."

"Five days? That is more than enough!"

Because the time flow between the two worlds was one to one hundred—one hundred days in the *Swallowed Star* world was only one day in the Great Hong World, and vice versa—this terrifying time ratio allowed him to reach a horrifying level of progress in comprehending secret techniques and refining his cultivation.

Calming his mind, Jiang Fan began to circulate his cultivation technique.

Inside his mind, the Purple Mansion space suddenly surged with turbulence. His liquid mana churned violently, forming a terrifying vortex that threatened to tear the Purple Mansion apart. The Dao Platform beneath his Primordial Spirit figure suddenly vibrated, emitting a strange rhythm that connected to every corner of the Purple Mansion, creating a resonance. As Jiang Fan circulated his technique, he held his focus firmly.

This breakthrough was entirely different from the leap from the Planetary tier to the Stellar tier in the *Swallowed Star* world. These were two completely unrelated systems; they could only be compared in terms of raw power.

*Hum, hum, hum!*

The Dao Platform suddenly collapsed, transforming into individual runes that scattered throughout the hundred-mile-wide Purple Mansion space. The Primordial Spirit figure drifted up and down in the turbulence, appearing as if it could be shredded at any moment. Yet, despite the raging waves, the Primordial Spirit remained unharmed.

In less than a tenth of a blink, the runes that had formed the Dao Platform suddenly converged toward the center, dragging all the mana with them. The terrifying tidal wave of mana, which could have destroyed anything, underwent a miraculous transformation. Under the influence of the Dao Platform's runes, the push of the technique, and the interference of his will, the mana rapidly transformed into rays of light, forming a palace around the Primordial Spirit figure—a palace the size of a small temple.

The Primordial Spirit sat enthroned within it.

Looking around the entire Purple Mansion, it was now empty; no trace of mana remained. The Dao Platform had transformed into the Purple Mansion, and the Earth Immortal stage had been attained.

The Earth Immortal stage involved forging a Dao Palace to further protect the Primordial Spirit. Within the palace, the Primordial Spirit looked around. Other than himself, it was empty, save for the walls, which were filled with endless Dao patterns. Every nine Dao patterns formed a Dao Seal, and these seals connected, weaving like chains throughout every corner of the palace.

"A First-Grade Dao Palace!"

The Primordial Spirit figure was filled with wild joy. To become an Earth Immortal, one had to collapse the Dao Platform and condense it into a Dao Palace. This step was extremely dangerous; if handled incorrectly, the entire Purple Mansion could collapse. In the Great Hong World, many peak Primordial Spirit experts had suffered the collapse of their Purple Mansion while attempting to reach the Earth Immortal stage, their bodies turning to ash under the surge of mana. Many others, lacking confidence, remained stuck at the peak of the Primordial Spirit stage forever.

The condensed Dao Palace had grades, with the ninth grade being the worst and the first grade being the best. The books in the True Illusion World’s stone house recorded clearly that most who attained the Earth Immortal stage condensed a ninth-grade palace. Eighth-grade was rare, and seventh-grade was seen once in ten thousand years. Even in the so-called Immortal World, condensing a fourth-grade palace was the mark of a rare genius, and a third-grade was almost legendary.

Yet, Jiang Fan had condensed a First-Grade Dao Palace.

"The soul essence of Uncle Yu and Nangong Rou allowed me to open up a Purple Mansion space unprecedented in history. That must be the reason I condensed a First-Grade Dao Palace!"

"A First-Grade Dao Palace...!"

"The most direct result is that I am now virtually invincible among Earth Immortals!"

Even Jiang Fan felt his heart tremble. After calming down, he went to the True Illusion World, absorbed high-grade spiritual liquid, and filled his Purple Mansion. From now on, his Primordial Spirit was the root, the Dao Palace was the foundation, and the Purple Mansion was secondary—he could even discard his physical body if necessary.

"Now, let's try the Profound Dao Technique!"

"Suppressing the physical body with the Earth Immortal realm, driven by boundless mana!"

"With high-grade spiritual liquid for support, the fourth layer of the Profound Dao Technique shouldn't be difficult!"

Jiang Fan continued to sit on the Enlightenment Platform. Sitting there, his thought speed increased by more than ten thousand times—it was truly terrifying. Otherwise, even with the bonus from the *Swallowed Star* world, it would have been impossible for him to reach the Earth Immortal realm so quickly. Look at the Earth Immortal experts in the world; which one of them wasn't an old monster of several hundred years? Many had likely existed for over a millennium.

Earth Immortal—this was having one foot across the threshold of the Immortal realm; only one more step remained to ascend and become a true Immortal. Keeping his heart steady, he pushed his technique forward.

Jiang Fan’s aura grew stronger once more. Each breakthrough in the Profound Dao Technique was actually a restructuring of his physical body. This stage required not only understanding the essence of the technique but also mastering every subtle change in his body, and most importantly, having sufficient resources. Without enough energy, how could the physical body undergo such a transformation? This hurdle alone would have stumped countless people in the Great Hong World. But with his supply of high-grade spiritual liquid, he had no such fears.

Jiang Fan's aura rose again and again until it finally reached a peak.

*Hum, hum, hum!*

His aura vibrated, his power shaking the heavens. Stretching his arms slightly, Jiang Fan felt as if he could tear through the sky and shatter all laws.

Stepping off the Enlightenment Platform, he entered the True Illusion World. He found a Great Demon of the Earth Immortal level and obliterated it with a single strike of Pure Yang Thunder. He found another and shattered it with three punches.

"Now, I am truly a humanoid beast!" Jiang Fan was overjoyed.

Returning to the Yuquan Mansion, he used the Enlightenment Platform to quickly master his surging power, retracting it all into his body and returning to his true, calm, and indifferent self. With a thought, he left the Yuquan Mansion and returned to the Dong'an Pavilion of the Jiang family.

At this moment, the sun had just set; it was dusk.

"This is the fourth day. Tomorrow, we begin the siege on the God-Concealing Sect. No rush!" Jiang Fan thought to himself.

"Young Master, you've come out of seclusion!" Xiao Qing cried out in joy, sprinting toward him.

"Young Master, we missed you so much!" Xiao Qian’s eyes turned red.

"Yes, I'm out," Jiang Fan said, feeling great. He looked the two maids up and down. "Not bad, not bad at all. Both of you have reached the peak of the Xiantian stage. Put in a little more effort, and you’ll be able to enter the Dao."

"It’s been so long; if we hadn't reached this level by now, we would have just died of shame!" Xiao Qing said. "Young Master, the Master and Mistress gave orders that as soon as you came out, we were to notify them."

"Let's go together!" Jiang Fan waved his hand.

As they walked, the two girls chattered away, telling him everything that had happened during his absence. Overall, the commandery was peaceful, and nothing major had occurred. The Jiang family's businesses were expanding rapidly.

In the great hall, a banquet was set, and the family was lively and warm. After three rounds of drinks, Jiang Zhengan set down his glass, looked at Jiang Shan, then at Jiang Fan, and spoke, "Our family hasn't had any new additions for a long time."

"Third Uncle, I have just entered the Primordial Spirit stage and need to consolidate my cultivation!" Jiang Shan muttered, lowering his head to focus on his food.

"That is no excuse!" Jiang Zhengan said with great authority. "You and Fan must choose the women you like soon. If you don't, we will arrange it for you. You must be married before the year ends. Both of you carry the responsibility of continuing the family line. Now that you have achieved success in cultivation, it becomes harder to conceive as your level grows. We cannot wait any longer!"

"We cannot wait any longer!" Nangong Yue’s attitude was equally firm. Family inheritance was a matter of paramount importance.

"Third Brother, it's all on you!" Jiang Fan laughed.

"You are the direct descendant!" Jiang Shan replied helplessly.