49.

After making sure he was more than five miles away from the city, Yang Ze stopped in his tracks and looked around. In the nighttime, the forest seemed like a primordial monster opening its fangs to the unsuspecting travelers.

In the nighttime, when even the most fearsome beasts slumber into a deep sleep, the lone figure of Yang Ze slowly made its way towards the cave in the distance. The area around Yuyang City was relatively peaceful due to constant patrols throughout the area. Hunters and gatherers constantly roam the forest in search of their prey and resources. So, there was almost no danger for him here.

But even then, Yang Ze blocked the entrance of the cave with a heavy rock and made his way to the center of the cave. After putting a cloth on the ground, Yang Ze sat cross-legged on it.

Taking a deep breath, he looked at the screen in front of him with great excitement. Today, he was going to step into a realm that no one else in the thousand miles radius has been able to.

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{Name: Yang Ze}

{Realm: Peak Qi Guiding}

{XP: 2300/2000}

{Technique: Seaheart Art Fifth Layer} +

{Martial Arts: Vajra Body(100 XP)+, Willow Steps(100 XP)+ }

{Personal Space : 3 cubic meters}

{Efficiency : 300 XP/day}

{Level: 2} (201/100 spirit stones needed to upgrade) +

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Ignoring the '+' behind the martial arts, Yang Ze focused his eyes on the Seaheart Art. After many days of sleepless nights and excitement, he finally got enough XP and the last volume to step into this unknown realm. Compared to the Qi Condensing and Qi Guiding, this was an entirely new realm. The majority of the people don't even know the name of this realm. Not to mention stepping into innate, just meeting someone who stepped into innate was considered an honor. Throughout the history of Yuyang City and even Ignis city, countless people have tried to step into this realm, but without a doubt, they all failed.

Some of them didn't have the secret arts, some didn't have resources, and some didn't have enough time. No matter how many people rose, none were able to step into Innate.

Yet, today, inside a cave just a few miles away from the Yuyang City, in an unremarkable area, a miracle was bound to happen.

Taking a deep breath, Yang Ze calmed down his raging emotions. With firm eyes, he looked at the '+' sign behind the Seaheart Art and pressed it.

.

.

.

"BOOOOOOOOOM."

The moment he pressed '+' a loud explosion seemed to ring throughout his ears.

Yang Ze slowly felt darkness overtake his eyes, yet unlike before, he wasn't losing consciousness. Right now his head was as clear as water. It was at this moment, that the feeling of fullness suddenly filled his body. His body was slowly starting to breathe out the Qi that was inside the body.

With every heartbeat, his body would exhale some Qi before absorbing more Qi from the surroundings.

'Taking the energy of heaven and earth and using it to replenish the Qi inside the body.' These were the main characteristics of an Innate level powerhouse.

Even though his body was able to breathe Qi, the promotion wasn't over. If only breathing Qi would be enough to step into Innate, then there would be countless Innates in existence.

With every breath, the body exhaled less Qi and started taking more and more energy from the outside.

"Fuck." Feeling his body that was starting to swell like a balloon, Yang Ze cursed in a loud voice. He didn't have any qualifications for cultivation, yet here he was, trying to step into a realm that was nigh impossible even by the most talented people.

His body swelled at a speed visible to the naked eyes. In a blink, his body occupied about half the cave.

"Uuugh." It was so painful, that Yang Ze couldn't even speak or move. He could only muffle in a low voice. The clothes that were covering his body were long gone; turned into a pile of rags that were now lying on the ground.

If anyone were to come to this place at this time, they would be horrified to see a giant ball-like flesh monster grunting in pain. At this moment, Yang Ze looked nothing like a human.

Just when Yang Ze thought he was going to burst open and die a miserable death, a gentle force suddenly started to restrain the heaven and earth energy. His body which was going to explode stopped expanding.

"Is..... It..... Over???"

Speaking with great difficulty, Yang Ze tried to look around, but due to his excessive size, he couldn't even move, much less examine his surroundings.

'It can't be... I am not going to stay like this forever now, am I?'

Yang Ze wanted to cry, but at this moment, even tears were a luxury. Just when he thought it was going to continue like this, an earth-shattering pressure erupted from the sky above him.

'Fuck me. What now!?'

Yang Ze felt a horrendous pressure suffocating him. The pressure he felt was unlike anything he had ever faced in his both lifetimes. The pressure was so immense that he felt like an ant looking at the sun.

A little while later, Yang Ze heard loud rumbling from the outside.

"Wait..... This is not what I think it is, right?"

Feeling terrified in his heart, Yang Ze prayed that all of this would somehow turn out to be an illusion. Yet, reality gave him a hard slap in the face.

Moments after his words, a long streak of lightning flashed through the sky before making its way towards the cave where Yang Ze was.

"BOOOOOOOOM."

In an instant, the entire forest was illuminated white. The insects, birds, and animals that were sleeping peacefully, suddenly started rushing outside the forest. The entire forest seemed to be in chaos.

Yang Ze's situation wasn't getting any better. That streak of lightning not only blew away the cave but also scorched him black. If not for the majority of the power wasted on the cave, he was sure the lightning would have killed him.

Feeling tingling pain throughout his body, Yang Ze was sweating cold.

"Gulp." Looking at the sky, Yang Ze swallowed hard before tears almost fell from his eyes. The entire sky was full of clouds. At the top of his head, a hurricane of clouds was formed, rotating so fast, that Yang Ze could still feel the airflow even down here.

In the middle of the hurricane, giant streaks of lightning were continuously forming, giving it an appearance of an electric net stretched inside the hurricane.

Before Yang Ze could do anything, a giant streak of lightning fell from the sky towards him.

"I AM FUCKING DEAD...."

Cursing in a loud voice, Yang Ze closed his eyes. In that instant, his entire life flashed before his eyes. Yet before the lighting streak could have reached him, a gentle power that restrained the qi in his body earlier slowly formed a protective layer around him.

"Zzzzzzzz." As soon as the lightning struck the protective layer, it seemed to disappear completely.

"Huh?" Opening his eyes, Yang Ze saw an incredible scene in front of him.

Continuous streaks of lighting were falling from the sky, hitting the protective layer, yet with each hit, the lightning would disappear and his body would feel a tingling sensation before contracting slightly.

As the process went on, the streaks of lightning in the sky became less and less. By the time lightning disappeared from the sky, Yang Ze's body was back to normal.

"This... This..."

Yang Ze was stunned for a long time. He couldn't even register what happened to him. Looking at the sky that was now clear, Yang Ze felt like he was dreaming.

The sky was back to normal as it was before his promotion. If not for the broken cave and scorched mark all around the forest and on his body, even Yang Ze would have doubted his senses.

Clenching his fists, Yang Ze felt a sense of power like never before. His entire body seemed to be breathing along with him. Closing his eyes he felt the changes in his body.

The Qi inside his body that was like a mist before has now turned into liquid. Inside his body, Yang Ze was able to feel a newly constructed set of meridians. The liquid Qi was now traveling through those meridians to every part of his body, constantly strengthening it.

Lifting his hand, Yang Ze pointed to the nearest tree. At this moment, the surrounding heaven and earth energy seemed to obey his commands. In that instant, the tree was lifted from the ground into the air.

"Holy Shit!!!"

Moving the tree up and down, Yang Ze shouted at top of his lungs.

He has now truly stepped into a realm that no one in the thousand-mile radius was able to reach. He was now in a true sense the powerhouse that could rule any city he wanted to.

"HA... Hahah... hahahahahahaha."

In the dark forest, the only sounds were the sounds of Yang Ze laughing maniacally.