Time passed quickly, and half a year went by.
The turmoil in Wutan City gradually subsided, and the Xiao Clan ultimately succeeded in firmly establishing its footing there. However, after the reshuffling over the past six months, Wutan City had been put through quite an ordeal. Fortunately, the chaos did not last too long; with the intervention of several long-established family forces, Wutan City was finally restored to its former prosperity.
At night,
the moon hung like a silver plate amidst a sky full of stars.
While most members of the Xiao Clan had already fallen into deep slumber, Xiao Yue was currently wearing a set of practice clothes, standing in the Xingyi San Ti Shi posture within the secluded courtyard that belonged exclusively to her.
Moonlight like water spilled over her young form. The surroundings were completely silent, save for the faint chirping of unknown insects coming from somewhere in the courtyard—one sound, then two, low and intermittent.
Her gaze was calm and clear. With her palms parting, her movements were gentle and slow as she pushed them forward left and right, then slowly pulled them back. The motion appeared leisurely, but in the next second, her left foot scraped the ground like an iron plow while her right foot kicked off fiercely, and her fair, slender right fist shot out like a heavy spear.
"Pop!"
A sonic boom materialized out of thin air, generating a gust of wind within the courtyard that caused the flowers and plants in the distance to sway violently.
This very move was the Beng Quan (Crushing Fist), which belongs to the wood element in Xingyi's Five Elements.
Following that, Xiao Yue began to dart, turn, leap, and shift around the courtyard. Using the Xingyi San Ti Shi as her foundation, she executed the Five Elements power-release boxing frames of Xingyi Quan—crushing force (Beng Jin), horizontal force (Heng Jin), chopping force (Pi Jin), cannon force (Pao Jin), and drilling force (Zuan Jin)—along with the twelve animal forms and footwork (dragon, tiger, monkey, horse, chicken, harrier, swallow, snake, alligator, ostrich, eagle, and bear).
When she finished the entire routine of martial arts, Xiao Yue pivoted her body and came to a stop. She abruptly brought her hands up to the level of her eyebrows, then slowly pressed them down toward her abdomen, lightly stamped her left foot on the ground, and exhaled a long breath.
"This world is a warrior's paradise..."
Xiao Yue murmured softly to herself.
The space of this realm seemed to contain a peculiar kind of energy, allowing her to feel entirely in her element here!
At this moment, her mind was as calm as still water, and her spirit was infinitely relaxed, resembling a calm lake without a ripple. She could clearly sense the condition of every part of her physical body, from major organs down to every single meridian, inch of flesh, skin, and hair throughout her whole body!
It was just like the Daoist legend of inner vision.
Inner vision—a state that many martial arts grandmasters of her past life would break their heads trying to achieve. She had practiced martial arts since childhood, yet she had never experienced anything like it. Yet after coming to this world, at just five or six years old, she had achieved it effortlessly.
Although she could not cultivate the Dou Qi of this world, she could sense a special energy permeating the air. As she threw punches, with every inhalation and exhalation, she was able to clearly capture and absorb this energy to strengthen her own physical body.
"Whoosh, whoosh~~"
The extremely faint sound of blood flowing within her body, resembling a babbling brook, and the robust beating of her heart were both distinctly audible.
"Truly miraculous..."
Xiao Yue sighed softly in amazement.
She felt wonderful; every movement she made carried the rushing sound of the wind, and her physical body even possessed a translucent luster, brimming with vitality and endless strength.
"Is this the spiritual energy of heaven and earth?"
Xiao Yue thought to herself, deep in thought.She did not know how to describe it accurately, so for the time being, she defined this strange energy in the air as something similar to what she already understood—what is commonly and easily referred to as spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
The reason she thought this was because she had once skimmed through an ancient text.
"However, compared to things like spiritual energy, the scroll in my mind is far more important," Xiao Yue murmured to herself.
That visualization scroll was something she had discovered in an ancient ruin; she did not know why it had crossed over into this world with her.
With that, she turned and returned to her room. She sat cross-legged and focused, her mind immersing itself in her inner world. In a hazy state, she felt her body growing lighter and lighter, as if some force were pulling her soul upward, causing her to rise continuously.
Gradually, she reached a critical threshold.
Not knowing what she had encountered, she felt a slight resistance, which she instinctively broke through.
Suddenly, an image appeared in her mental world.
It was an illustration of a ferocious white tiger, set against a backdrop of mountain ranges, rolling forests, and a starry night sky. A roar, seemingly from the ancient past, echoed through the heavens, stirring the clouds and mist, ringing in her ears, and shaking the spirit of anyone who heard it.
The tiger is the lord of all mountain beasts.
The massive, ferocious white tiger was coiled upon a mountain peak, with a somewhat eerie blood moon hanging in the sky above. The detail was exquisite; every leaf in the forest was crisp and clear, and the intricate, mottled stripes on the White Tiger Mountain Lord were as distinct as the stars in the night sky.
"Hum!"
Just as Xiao Yue was visualizing the scroll in her mind, the blood moon hanging high within that scroll suddenly emitted a blinding, eerie, crimson light.The next moment, a buzzing sound echoed in Xiao Yue's ears, and her consciousness darkened. Then, she felt as if she had stepped into the world of a painting, vaguely transforming into the white tiger depicted within. Standing upon a mountain peak, she sought to swallow the blood-red moon hanging in the sky.
Amidst the hazy blur, she no longer knew whether she was human or tiger, having forgotten all of her past and knowing nothing of the future...
"Click—"
How much time had passed, she could not tell, but the bedroom door was pushed open.
Her younger brother, Xiao Yan, who was nearly three years old, appeared at the entrance. The sound he made pulled Xiao Yue back from that bizarre world of the painting.
"Whoosh!"
The instant Xiao Yue opened her eyes, Xiao Yan froze in the doorway. Meeting her icy gaze in the moonlight filtering through the window, he was struck dumb.
Xiao Yan involuntarily took a step back, feeling as though his older sister's eyes had suddenly turned chillingly cold.
There was no fluctuation within them, only a terrifying, bone-chilling frost.
Moreover, a faint, murderous aura seemed to shroud the entire room, stirring a surge of dread deep within Xiao Yan's heart.
"...Sister?"
Xiao Yan's little face turned pale as he uttered a childish, infant voice, his tone trembling slightly.
Ever since his birth into this world, this was the first time he had called her sister. After all, as a transmigrator whose mental age was that of an adult, he had naturally felt some inner resistance toward calling a five-year-old girl his sister.
Yet, upon seeing that pair of icy, crimson pupils gleaming in the darkness of the room, he admitted that discretion was the better part of valor, and that word "sister" slipped naturally from his lips...