Crossing Over: The Strongest Mage

Yanhuo stood in the middle of his room, surrounded by a swirling sea of spiritual energy. It was as if his entire space had been filled with invisible currents, vibrating with an intensity he had never felt before. His mind raced—**what was the next step?** He had read the instructions carefully, but now, with the pressure mounting, he was momentarily lost.

"Right! I need to continue absorbing," he reminded himself, and the moment the thought crossed his mind, the spiritual energy surged toward him like a torrent. Yanhuo's body, though talented, was still a mortal vessel. It had never been subjected to such an overwhelming force before.

The moment the energy rushed in, he felt excruciating pain as though his very flesh was being torn apart. His muscles, his bones, his veins—all seemed to be fighting against the pressure as it pushed and pulled at his body. But he could not stop. The **Nine Five Qi** within him, an internal force of great power, instinctively guided the spiritual energy toward his **dantian**, his core.

"Ah!" Yanhuo cried out, but he quickly stifled the noise. He didn't want to attract attention, especially from **Xiuning**. His teeth gritted as he endured the unimaginable pain, his whole body trembling under the strain.

An hour passed like this. The spiritual energy continued to pour into him, surrounding the golden points that marked his **Nine Five Qi**, and forming a rotating energy field inside his **dantian**. Each new wave of energy added more to the growing ball of power, pushing it outward. The pressure inside him seemed unrelenting, and his body was on the brink of collapse.

Finally, Yanhuo could no longer bear the pain. He severed his connection to the energy, forcing himself to stop the intake.

The room's energy seemed to dissipate as the spiritual energy lost its focus, slowly fading into the air. The oppressive atmosphere lifted, and Yanhuo exhaled deeply, relieved. He slumped back on the bed, sweat dripping down his face. "Thank heavens… it's finally over…"

The relief, however, quickly turned to confusion as Yanhuo began to inspect his body. He expected to feel battered, sore, or even drained—but there was nothing. His body didn't hurt at all. In fact, it felt… lighter, more invigorated than ever.

"What's going on?" Yanhuo wondered, his hands brushing over his skin. It had a faint, luminous sheen, almost like a glow. His muscles felt stronger, his movements smoother. It was as if his entire body had been purified and refined, but he had no idea how.

As he focused his mind, he realized something even more extraordinary. The **seven meridians and eight veins** that ran throughout his body had been strengthened and opened. The pathways that had previously been blocked and unresponsive were now clear and unimpeded. Even the spiritual energy that had not been absorbed into his **dantian** had flowed outward, circulating through his entire body.

This process had left him with more than just spiritual energy—it had transformed his physical form. **His body had been completely remade.**

Yanhuo smiled with a sense of triumph but was also baffled. He had no understanding of how this had happened, but he felt a surge of vitality coursing through him.

"I've never felt anything like this," he muttered. To a martial artist, this kind of improvement would have taken decades of effort, but Yanhuo had accomplished it in a single hour. His body now felt as though it had the inner strength of someone who had been cultivating for thirty years, a level of power that would make even the most seasoned warriors take notice.

"Who would have thought that the **Xiaoyao Heart Method** could be so powerful?" Yanhuo chuckled, though he didn't fully understand how it worked. He believed the source of his newfound strength was the method itself, not realizing that the mysterious **Nine Five Qi** was playing a larger role.

"Still… the process was so painful," he muttered to himself, remembering the agony he had just endured. "I'm glad it's over." He stretched his arms and legs as he stood up from the bed. The sensation of discomfort had completely vanished, replaced by an overwhelming sense of energy.

"Well, since I'm not sleepy… I might as well go for a walk and stretch my legs a bit," he decided.

He moved quietly to the door of his room and stepped outside, careful not to make too much noise. As he stepped out into the cool night air, a sudden, strange cry echoed from the nearby forest.

"What was that?" Yanhuo's senses sharpened immediately as he focused on the sound. He squinted into the night.

"Oh, it's just an owl," he realized, his heart still racing from the sudden noise. "I didn't expect it to be so loud."

As he scanned the surroundings, he noticed something strange. He had been standing at least a hundred steps away from the forest, yet his vision was incredibly sharp. "How can I see so clearly from so far away?" Yanhuo muttered, confused. The night was dark, with only a faint moonlight filtering through the trees, but his eyes seemed to pierce the darkness, seeing every detail with perfect clarity.

He looked up at the sky, which was covered in a thin, clouded haze. The moonlight barely illuminated the surroundings, yet he could make out every object within a hundred steps with crystal-clear detail.

"This… this is impossible," Yanhuo thought, blinking rapidly in disbelief. "My vision is sharper than it's ever been before. I can see better in the dark than I can during the day."

Something strange was happening. His body was clearly undergoing extraordinary changes, but what else had changed that he wasn't yet aware of? He didn't fully understand his own potential, but he could feel that the path he had just stepped onto was going to lead him into uncharted territory.

And just as he thought this, something caught his eye from a distance—something that shone faintly under the moonlight. Yanhuo's gaze locked onto it, and he felt an inexplicable pull.

It was something small, black, and gleaming in the forest. He narrowed his eyes, instinctively drawn toward it. "What's that?" he wondered, already stepping forward to investigate.

"Ha ha! So this is the power of cultivation? If I could see this clearly at night, imagine how far I could see during the day! This is amazing! Tomorrow, I'll climb to the top of the mountain and have a good look at **Yan City**," Yanhuo laughed excitedly, practically bouncing off the walls with joy. But as he leaped into the air, he realized too late that something extraordinary had happened.

"**What the heck?!**" Yanhuo suddenly found himself suspended in mid-air. He was hovering about ten zhang (about thirty feet) above the ground.

"**Ahh!**" He screamed, his body flailing in panic. "How am I floating in the air?!" The next thing he knew, he was plummeting toward the earth. "Boom!" The impact shook the ground as Yanhuo landed heavily, his body crashing into the dirt.

After a brief moment of shock, he scrambled to his feet, dusting himself off. He looked at his body, and his face broke into a huge grin.

"Ha ha! I actually jumped that high! And from such a height, I fell to the ground with no injury whatsoever! Ha ha ha!" Yanhuo laughed uncontrollably, his joy echoing through the forest. "Cultivation, this is the true power of cultivation!"

Laughing maniacally, Yanhuo dashed through the forest, leaping and bounding in every direction, his newfound abilities making him feel like a wild, unstoppable force. The animals in the forest woke up to the sound of his laughter and the chaos of his movements. It turned into a sleepless night for the creatures of the forest as Yanhuo, filled with excitement, made a ruckus.

As the first light of dawn broke, the sunlight hit the peak of **Yan Mountain**, illuminating a small figure sitting there. The golden light that seemed to emanate from Yanhuo's body flashed and shimmered. Despite the pain visible on his face, a faint smile lingered at the corners of his mouth.

Yanhuo's **dantian** was absorbing spiritual energy at an incredible rate, and a rotating mass of energy formed within it. At the center of this swirling mass was a golden glow. As the energy cloud expanded, the golden core flickered, and the surrounding spiritual energy slowly converged toward it.

The compression of this energy didn't just fill his **dantian**; it had transformed it. The spiritual energy underwent a qualitative leap—what was once a faint and unstable energy had now become more solid, more potent. Even the excess spiritual energy was seeping into Yanhuo's body, enhancing every part of him.

Unbeknownst to Yanhuo, through this sitting meditation, he had already advanced to the **mid-stage of the Entry Realm**. His **Dragon Phoenix Body** combined with his **Nine Five Qi** acted as a foundation to absorb the world's spiritual energy and refine it into his own power. While cultivating typically took years for others, Yanhuo's progress was beyond the ordinary—it was happening at a speed that was a hundred times faster than the average cultivator. His unique nature made him a prodigy, and if there were more like him in the world, the boundaries of cultivation might very well be shattered.

However, such a rare and powerful existence was not something the **Immortal Realm** would easily accept. **Yanhuo's journey to transcendence would be fraught with unimaginable challenges**, and the trials he would face during his tribulations would be far more brutal than those of ordinary cultivators.

After a long while, Yanhuo let out a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes, revealing clear, unfathomable depths within them. The pain he had endured the night before seemed far lighter now. As his cultivation deepened, the pain seemed to gradually dissipate.

"It seems like the spiritual energy in this mountain is strongest during the night and at dawn," he murmured. His body felt light, as if the suffering from before had melted away. With a calm and composed demeanor, he stood up and surveyed the vast expanse of mountains around him. A deep sense of reflection and appreciation filled his heart.

"Before last night, I was just a helpless child who couldn't even control my own destiny. But today, I feel as though I'm looking down on the world, as though I could stand above everything else. Life truly is full of so many twists and turns. **Senior Chongyang**, thank you for giving me a second chance at life. If I ever get the opportunity, I, Yanhuo, will definitely go to the **Nine Continents** and seek you out in the **Xiaoyao Immortal Sect**, to serve you and learn from you," Yanhuo whispered, his eyes shining with newfound determination.

He then faced the direction of **Nine Continents**, bowed deeply, and whispered, "**Thank you, Senior Chongyang.**"