Chapter 287 - 286: Evolving Primordial Spirit, Bai Qingyue Cultivating More Heaven and Earth Luck!

The Rank 8 Golden Immortal Beast, its Celestial Jade horn pulsing with a soft, rhythmic glow, ascended into the sky above the Golden Diting Province. High above the majestic amber trees and the winding rivers of liquid gold, Lin Yuan and Bai Qingyue sat comfortably upon the creature’s broad, golden-scaled back.

Below them, the grand central plaza of the Golden Immortal Temple was packed with thousands of cultivators. The entire Jin family hierarchy, led by the ancient Patriarch Jin Wang and the young genius Jin Rou, had gathered to witness the departure of Lin Yuan.

"May the Heavens forever bow to you, Senior Lin!" Jin Wang’s magically amplified voice echoed upward.

"We await your victorious return from the Sacred Grounds, Senior Lin!" Jin Rou shouted, waving enthusiastically, his golden-yellow robes fluttering in the wind.

Lin Yuan gave a single nod, a faint smile appearing on his face. The Golden Diting Province had fulfilled their debt perfectly. They had indeed provided him with a mount worthy of such an enormous reward.

Lin Yuan turned his gaze toward the distant horizon. He gently placed a hand upon the beast’s neck and channeled a faint strand of his Qi into its body, establishing a telepathic connection between them.

Once the connection was formed, Lin Yuan transmitted the complex spatial coordinates of the Sacred Grounds directly into the beast’s mind.

"To the northern coordinates," Lin Yuan commanded calmly.

The Golden Immortal Beast let out a low, majestic purr that vibrated warmly through the golden scales. The creature did not physically accelerate, nor did it beat the ambient air to achieve flight.

The spiraling, translucent Celestial Jade horn upon its forehead suddenly flared with a brilliant, blinding silver light.

Whoosh!

The entire Golden Diting Province below them seemed to violently, sickeningly stretch, as if the landscape itself were a painting being folded in half. The physical space directly in front of the beast compressed into a singularity, while the space behind them expanded infinitely.

Down in the plaza, the Jin family cultivators gasped as they watched the beast vanish in a literal blink of an eye.

"An Earthfold Step!" an elder shrieked, pointing at the empty sky, his eyes wide with absolute disbelief. "Reducing the earth to a single step! I have read of this in the ancient texts, but to see it manifested by a beast!"

"Capable of traversing a massive magnitude of space in a single bound!" another grandmaster murmured, clutching his chest. "It is the true manifestation of the Immortal Cloud Step!"

Jin Rou stared at the empty sky, awe and pride swelling in his chest. "The beast is merely reflecting the might of its rider. An expert who frequently touches the Origin draws out the absolute limit of any creature he commands."

High in the stratosphere, suspended within the bizarre tunnel of the spatial fold, Lin Yuan remained perfectly composed. The friction raging outside the spatial bubble would have stripped the flesh from a Void Refinement expert, but upon the back of the beast, the air was entirely still.

Lin Yuan looked at the phenomenon with cold, analytical interest.

This isn’t even teleportation, Lin Yuan realized, his comprehension dissecting the mechanics of the Earthfold Step as it occurred. Teleportation implies moving an object from point A to point B. This is a flash step that physically reduces the distance between the two points to zero. But this... this is the true manifestation of the Immortal Cloud Step! My version relies on Spiritual Energy to slip through space, but with actual Immortal Qi, the Immortal Spell can literally reduce the earth to a single step!

He glanced down at Bai Qingyue. His wife was leaning comfortably against his chest, completely unbothered by the speed they were traveling at. The Celestial Jade horn lived up to its legend; despite traversing thousands of miles in seconds, a cup of tea placed upon its back truly would not have spilled a single drop.

Lin Yuan immediately rested his hand over hers, his thumb gently brushing the fabric of her gown where their unborn child rested safely within.

They were making phenomenal time. At this velocity, they would reach the hidden coordinates of the Sacred Grounds in a matter of hours rather than weeks.

But suddenly, Lin Yuan’s deep purple eyes narrowed. The golden-purple light of his Dao Intent flared within his irises.

"Halt," Lin Yuan commanded silently through the telepathic link.

The Rank 8 Golden Immortal Beast responded instantly. The blinding silver light of the Celestial Jade horn dimmed, and the spatial fold smoothly, flawlessly decelerated, depositing them in the physical plane without so much as a jolt.

They were hovering above a desolate, grey mountain range. The peaks were jagged, unforgiving, and completely devoid of any spiritual Qi. The wind howled through the canyons, carrying the bitter, freezing chill of a stagnant, forgotten region.

"Husband?" Bai Qingyue asked softly, sitting up slightly. "What is the issue? Are we under attack? Did the spatial turbulence of the Hollow Beyond disrupt the beast’s path?"

"No," Lin Yuan replied smoothly, his eyes fixed on a specific, unremarkable rock face on the side of the mountain below them. "We are entirely safe."

Lin Yuan guided the beast to descend. The magnificent creature landed lightly upon a snowy crag, its golden scales providing a stark contrast to the dreary landscape.

Lin Yuan dismounted, turning to offer his hand to Bai Qingyue. He helped her down, and led her toward the unremarkable rock face. To the naked eye, and even to her formidable Core Formation divine sense, it was nothing but solid, jagged bedrock. There was absolutely no spiritual fluctuation, no hidden array signature, and no sign of artificial tampering.

Lin Yuan stood before the rock, and raised his right hand, his fingers blurring through a complex sequence of hand seals.

He activated his divine skill, [Shatter Illusion, See Truth].

A massive ring of golden-purple lightning expanded from his palm, carrying the conceptual weight of absolute truth. As the ring struck the grey bedrock, the illusion did not shatter like glass; it simply unraveled like a complex tapestry, dissolving into harmless green lightning that quickly faded into the wind.

The solid rock face vanished.

In its place was a gaping, pitch-black maw of a ten-foot-wide cavern.

The moment the illusion fell, a terrifying, suffocating wave of pure Origin Energy erupted from the cavern.

It was Origin Energy of the Thunder nature!