---
Shadow Vanishes, Void Beckons
The air within Ye Ling's abode had grown thick with residual spiritual energy. The faint shimmer of the Holy Golden Bell still lingered in the room, a testament to the defensive fortress he had recently acquired. It brought him comfort, but not complacency.
He sat with his eyes closed, thinking about the cruel reality of the cultivation world.
> "Even with a powerful sword to strike and an indestructible bell to defend, what happens when I face something… or someone… I cannot overcome?"
He had seen it before.
In his previous life, he had watched supreme geniuses fall because they lacked the ability to flee. Proud and confident, they stood their ground only to be obliterated in an instant by someone stronger, someone older, someone crueler. Even those who had divine weapons and heaven-shaking battle arts were sometimes trapped because they lacked one thing—
A way to escape.
> "Sometimes," Ye Ling murmured, "living is more important than winning."
Without hesitation, he stood, cloaked himself once more in the Great Dao Concealment Technique, and left his abode under the cover of night.
His destination was the same, yet his purpose different.
The Ye Clan Scripture Pavilion.
A silent tower of knowledge, lit only by moonlight.
---
Within the Pavilion
> Ding!
[Sign-In Available: Ye Clan Scripture Pavilion (3rd Sign-In)]
Would you like to sign in? [Y/N]
> "Yes."
[Sign-In successful.]
Reward: Shadow Steps (Earth Rank Movement Technique)
Would you like to enhance by 10,000-fold? [Y/N]
> "Enhance."
[Enhancement complete.]
You have received: Void Steps (Heaven Peak Tier)
Description: A supreme void movement technique that allows the user to temporarily phase into the space between worlds. When cultivated to its peak, it enables travel across thousands of miles in a single breath, unnoticed by even Nascent Soul cultivators. This technique does not require mastery of the Great Dao of Space and Void, but naturally brings the user closer to its threshold.
Ye Ling's heart pounded.
> "A void technique…!"
The name alone stirred memories of ancient spatial arts that only Heaven Realm or Dao Realm experts could use. To touch the void—to travel through space itself—was akin to dancing with the laws of the universe.
He sat cross-legged and began cultivating the technique.
---
Visualizing the Void
When Ye Ling activated the scripture, his mind was pulled into a dark and silent world.
No light. No noise.
Only the endless stillness of the void.
There were no directions here. No gravity. No time.
> Step into the shadow.
Fade into the silence.
Walk where none can follow…
The chant of the technique echoed within his soul.
He felt his body become weightless, his soul shifting just slightly out of phase with the physical world. He existed somewhere between—between the material and the immaterial, between light and shadow.
When he returned to the world, he exhaled sharply.
> "So this is… the power of the void."
He practiced again. And again.
Each time, his spiritual energy followed the strange meridian pathways of the Void Steps technique, and he found himself phasing faster, moving further, and reappearing silently in other places.
---
Testing the Power
By dawn, he stood atop a cliff near the outer perimeter of the Ye Clan's inner territory. It was still early, the sun barely cresting the horizon.
Ye Ling took a deep breath.
With a flick of his sleeve, he activated Void Steps.
Shuuu!
His body flickered. For a moment, he became nothing more than a shadow—and in the next instant, he reappeared miles away, standing on another distant peak.
Even he was startled.
> "I'm… only at the first stage of Foundation Realm," he said aloud, trying to process what had happened.
Ordinary Foundation Realm cultivators could move fast—fast enough to match supersonic flight by Earth's standards. But what he had just done… was beyond that.
> "This… is the movement speed of a Core Formation Realm expert at the very least."
A jump of an entire major realm in speed!
He moved again.
Another step into the void. Another blur of space. Another silent reappearance.
> "At this rate… even if I face a Nascent Soul cultivator, I can flee."
He clenched his fist.
He now had offense.
Defense.
Soul protection.
Concealment.
And now… Escape.
---
The Ascent Continues
Each technique he acquired was like a building block—stacking toward the tower he would one day become.
The Void Steps gave him not just the ability to flee, but also the foundation to touch the Great Dao of Space and Void—a path few dared to tread, one that could eventually lead to dimensional manipulation, teleportation, and beyond.
> "It's still far," he admitted. "But step by step, I'm getting there."
He looked up toward the sky.
> "Heavens… can you still see me?"
There was no answer.
Thanks to his concealment techniques, perhaps they couldn't.
But it didn't matter.
Because when he returned to the peak…
He wouldn't just defy the heavens.
He would destroy them.
---
End of Chapter 9
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