We made you practice martial arts, and you've mastered the Great Golden Body?

“...It is not appropriate to tell you my true identity now, otherwise it will affect the final plan. Therefore, you can call me Taiyi for the time being.”

As that ethereal voice slowly resounded from the depths of the void, gently echoing in the Origin Void Sea, a tall and imposing virtual image gradually coalesced in the endless void.

The virtual image's face bears a striking resemblance to the current Shen Bailian, with a similarity of about 60-70%. However, upon closer inspection, it exudes a sense of maturity and experience honed over time.

His height far surpassed Shen Bailian's; he stood tall and straight like a pine tree, exuding a dignified air that had witnessed many vicissitudes of life.

What's even more striking are his eyes, which are completely different from Shen Bailian's youthful exuberance.

These eyes seem to have witnessed countless seasons, bearing the marks of time. The youthful spirit of youth has been replaced by a deep and serene composure, as if they have seen through the world after years of experience.

And there was a hint of weariness and relief in his eyes.

"So that's how it is..." Gaia gradually understood after hearing the explanation from the owner behind the ethereal voice.

Taiyi is Shen Bailian, but Shen Bailian is not Taiyi.

Therefore, Taiyi cannot kill Shen Bailian, but Shen Bailian can kill Taiyi, just as even the strongest man can never lift himself up.

However, it is clear that Shen Bailian could not easily kill Taiyi, otherwise Taiyi would not have appeared in the Yuanxu Sea.

"So I still don't understand, what exactly is your purpose?" Gaia's thoughts raced, and she quickly realized a key point:
"Or rather, what is it about Shen Bailian, a low-ranking human, that makes it worth spending billions of years waiting for him?"

In fact, Gaia had no greed for what Taiyi wanted.

It was simply curiosity, and curiosity was also an important reason why Gaia was able to remain clear-headed for billions of years.

Otherwise, He would have spent most of His time in a deep sleep.

He was very curious about what crucial thing Shen Bailian possessed that was worth Taiyi spending over a billion years planning and waiting for.

It should be understood that over a billion years is enough time for even a mortal to become a god.

And more importantly, after all these years, where is Taiyi's true form? Why is it that none of the gods high in the sky have discovered Taiyi's existence?

"It's because Shen Bailian is a transcendent being, and it's also because Shen Bailian was once a part of me. If I want to reconcile the timeline in the Great Thousand Worlds, I must, as always, eliminate Shen Bailian in this world."

"A Breakthrough?" Gaia couldn't help but feel a ripple of doubt in her heart.

He could understand the second half of the sentence, but he couldn't understand the first half. For him and Taiyi, what kind of power could be called breaking the rules?

Breaking the fifth wall?

However, in Gaia's view, although Shen Bailian was strong, he was still considered among the geniuses in the entire universe, and he was far from being able to become a god or a demon in an instant.

“It seems you still don’t understand.” Taiyi shook his head slightly and continued to explain: “Shen Bailian’s potential is truly limitless.”

Given enough time, he will eventually break through not only the fifth wall, but even the sixth. And there will be no barriers before him. Do you understand what this means?

Taiyi clenched his fists, showing a hint of resentment.

Truly limitless potential?!
Upon hearing this, Gaia, even after billions of years and having witnessed countless deities, couldn't help but be slightly moved.

I was quite shocked.

Such beings could not have been conceived by a single universe, nor could they simply be ordinary humans.

“But…” Gaia’s confusion didn’t dissipate after hearing Taiyi’s explanation; instead, it only deepened. He asked curiously:

"You said Shen Bailian was once a part of you, but why does he have unlimited potential while you don't?"

Although the relationship between Taiyi and Shen Bailian is not simply that of the main body and the clone.

However, in any case, logically speaking, Taiyi, as Shen Bailian's origin, should be stronger than Shen Bailian in every aspect.

However, reality is quite the opposite.

"I don't know what exactly happened to him, but I saw hope for transcendence in him." At this point, Taiyi suddenly stopped, his eyes flickering slightly as he cast a hopeful glance at Yuan Xuhai, and said softly:

"As a friend, I hope you can help me. I not only need Shen Bailian trapped and killed in that low-energy world, but I also need to obtain his relics and his essence of transcendence."

"Therefore, while trapping Shen Bailian, you must remember the coordinates of that world, otherwise my billions of years of waiting will have been in vain."

"I don't know how long I'll have to wait for it to appear again, and I can't wait that long anymore." Taiichi breathed a sigh of relief as he finished speaking the last word.

It gives one a sense of twilight, like the setting sun, not physically, but psychologically.

The greatest enemy of immortality is loneliness.

Even the high and mighty, almost immortal gods could not escape the curse of loneliness, which is why the special race of the gods was born.

Gaia fell silent upon hearing this.

Having said all that, Taiichi had basically revealed what he wanted to express.

Shen Bailian possesses something extraordinary, and one of the abilities of that extraordinary thing is the ability to grant people unlimited potential, truly unlimited potential.

That was what Taiyi had planned over a billion years.

But the key question now is: to whom does that transcendent thing belong?

Is it Shen Bailian's innate ability? Or did it originally belong to Taiyi?

If it's the latter, what kind of predicament did Taiyi encounter that forced him to give away such important things in order to protect himself?

But if it's the former, then Taiyi's behavior is no different from that of a robber.

Because at this point, Shen Bailian had long since become an independent individual, and was no longer a vassal of Taiyi.

"Okay." Gaia finally agreed to Taiyi's request.

The reason is simple: for Gaia, the One is His first friend since His awakening of His spiritual wisdom, and He sides with His own people regardless of right or wrong.

Furthermore, Shen Bailian was not meant to belong to this world; to Gaia, he was merely a dispensable human.

Gaia knew perfectly well which was more important.

"Thank you." Taiyi's face showed a hint of relief. He wasn't surprised at all that Gaia had agreed.

Everything was as expected; this was the confidence of an immortal.

However, Taiyi also knew that Gaia must have guessed it too, and that he wasn't telling the truth.

To be precise, nine out of ten of Taiyi's words are true and one is false. As for which ones are true and which ones are false, that is no longer so important.

Importantly, on the current Earth Star, the gods have fallen silent, and Gaia, as the aggregate of the Earth Star's cosmic consciousness, is the strongest being.

With Gaia's help, there is nothing Taiyi cannot accomplish.

As for selfishness?
For some powerful individuals, treasures belong to the virtuous. But who is the virtuous?
In a world that embodies immense power, the strong are the virtuous, just like the gods who have stood high in the sky for countless epochs and hundreds of millions of years.

The fist is power.

Only the one with the biggest fist holds the truth.

When power reaches its extreme, if the world becomes uneven, then the world is the one in the wrong. This is the power that Shen Bailian has always pursued: the power to change reality.

A single thought can destroy a mountain, a single thought can fill the sea.

...a hundred miles away from Hulao Pass.

No matter how the external situation changes, the speed of time will not speed up or slow down, but before you know it, ten days have passed.

At Hulao Pass, two-thirds of the three-week military training has already passed.

The four academies still hold a dominant position in the overall points rankings, because, to a certain extent, the power of the collective is far greater than that of the individual.

Unless there is something that defies common sense.

"Boom~"

As a massive, ferocious beast crashed into the forest, causing huge trees to topple, a burst of enthusiastic cheers erupted behind Chen Yifei and Su Ruozhi.

"Stable!"

"It's safe, this time it's definitely secure!"

Two-thirds of the three-week military training has passed. Judging from the situation in previous years, the final rankings will basically be known by this crucial time.

For most high school students, high school is not three years but two.

By the second semester of the second year of high school, students' grades generally stabilize, and unless something unexpected happens, it's unlikely that they will experience the kind of erratic changes seen on a heart rate graph.

"Phew~" Chen Yifei looked at the enormous ape that was still five or six meters tall even after it fell down, and his tightly clenched heart suddenly relaxed, and he let out a long breath.

This behemoth is called the Firestorm Ape, a mid-stage Tier 3 overlord-level ferocious beast.

Since the Firestorm Ape had just been killed, its blood was still like magma, radiating an abnormally high temperature. The temperature of several hundred degrees caused all the trees that came into contact with the remains to catch fire and burn fiercely.

This was the strongest guardian beast that Chen Yifei and his companions had encountered in the past ten days.

Fighting someone of a higher level?

This is not a battle between opponents of a higher level at all.

Because Chen Yifei and other martial arts students were hunting down this powerful Firestorm Ape, in accordance with the military training regulations of the Heavenly Gang Academy.

They have already lost more than a dozen martial arts students and seriously injured more than thirty others. Every surviving martial arts student has some minor injuries.

In addition to countless conventional firearms, even two of the precious infantry armors were destroyed.

Furthermore, behind these martial arts students, there is a martial artist in the late stage of the Opening Sea Realm supporting them, and at such close range, there is also the effect of a debuff.

With the perception of a third-tier ferocious beast, it would be able to detect it easily, putting a certain amount of psychological pressure on it.

However, for a group of martial arts students who have only been enrolled for half a year and whose martial arts realm is only at the mid-stage of the Life Establishment Realm, such a record is something to be proud of for a long time.

No matter what, the Fiery Ape is a third-tier overlord-level ferocious beast, and there is a full two major realms between it and these martial arts students.

"Keng~"

Amidst the clanging of machinery, the machine spirit rejoiced, and Chen Yifei's blood-stained standard soldier armor began to slowly shrink and deform, eventually compressing into an unremarkable belt tied around his waist.

"Not bad, your strength has improved again in just over a week." A voice suddenly rang out behind Chen Yifei. Without a doubt, this person was his good friend, Su Ruozhi.

At this moment, Su Ruozhi was carrying a three-meter-long sniper rifle and slowly walking over.

The Nebula M48-96 sniper rifle, a product of the Apocalypse Army, can use conventional ammunition as well as 99mm armor-piercing rounds, and can kill conventional Tier 3 Overlord-level ferocious beasts.

This sniper rifle deserves one-third of the credit for killing the Fire Ape this time.

If Su Ruozhi had blown out one of the Fire Ape's eyes in time, it's unclear how long the battle would have lasted. It's even possible that the martial arts instructor behind the scenes would have had to intervene.

"Nonsense." Chen Yifei silently gave Su Ruozhi the middle finger and said with emotion, "Practice makes perfect. Indeed, the fastest way to learn is through actual combat."

“Nonsense, it’s like risking your life, how could it not be fast?” Su Ruozhi wasn’t annoyed and laughed, “If we’re talking about someone who has a deep understanding of this, there’s no one else in the entire Tiangang Academy except for one person.”

"Who?" Chen Yifei asked with curiosity.

Because at this moment, he could not concentrate well, because there was still a slight rumbling in his mind that had not completely subsided.

"Big Brother!"

“Indeed.” Chen Yifei paused for a moment, then nodded with deep feeling.

Upon closer reflection, aside from his secluded cultivation, Shen Bailian was either in actual combat or on his way to actual combat, which explains how he was able to achieve the Sea Opening Realm in such a short time.

This experience is certainly related to it.

……

Tiangang Academy, Nanhu Villa District, No. 4137, detached villa.

"Boom!!!"

The sound was like thunder.

Terrifying roars continued to emanate from villa number 4137, and the surrounding elemental energy condensed into a dense substance, forming a funnel that poured into the villa.

This scene naturally attracted the attention of many martial arts students.

Although it's winter break, for sophomores and above in Wuhan University of Science and Technology, winter break is the time to overtake others on a curve; being fast on a curve is the real speed.

As the top martial arts university in the Great Xia Dynasty, among the six major universities, the most common thing is to roll up papers.

One step at a time, one step at a time.

That's the truth.

Even if you don't cultivate, some people are willing to, and that's the same principle.

The more sweat you shed in peacetime, the better your chances of survival on the battlefield.

"Is this the commotion caused by Shen Bailian's cultivation? That's a bit terrifying." Some martial arts students stood at a distance, listening to the rumbling sound coming from the 4137 detached villa, and couldn't help but exclaim:
"When those martial arts teachers were practicing, they never caused such a big commotion."

"Could it be that he has made another breakthrough?" some people speculated.

"How is that possible?! He only recently broke through to the Sea Opening Realm. In such a short time, ordinary Sea Opening Realm warriors would struggle to even stabilize their cultivation level, let alone break through again?"

“Have you ever thought about this?” a martial arts student said with a strange expression, “Shen Bailian is no ordinary person.”

All of a sudden.

The martial arts students around them fell silent, because what that person said was indeed true.

The practice of breathing techniques involves the concept of frequency, so the soundproofing measures in the Tiangang Academy villas are excellent in order to prevent the influence of others' practice.

Even the noise caused by an ordinary Sea Opening Realm martial artist can be isolated.

However, Shen Bailian was no ordinary martial artist at the Opening Sea Realm.

Sudden.

The roaring sound began to gradually subside, and even the vortex of primordial energy above the 4137 detached villa slowed down its rotation.

"Are we about to leave the pass?" (End of Chapter)