As his chest rose and fell, a wisp of white breath, as thick as a baby's arm, was visibly inhaled into his nostrils. After one cycle, he exhaled a wisp of gray breath from his mouth.
The moonlight was as clear as water, and all around was silent. The only sound in the world was Xiao Ning's heartbeat, which could be heard clearly.
At this moment, Xiao Ning had reached the most critical juncture. He had a feeling that he would break through to the Grandmaster realm of martial arts today.
This feeling is as if it were innate, something that cannot be explained, described, written, or painted.
In Xiao Ning's mind, strands of spiritual energy continuously condensed in his Niwan Palace, like swallows returning to their nests.
I don't know how much time passed.
"Smack!"
A crisp sound rang out from the Niwan Palace.
Xiao Ning remained seated motionless, but a phantom image leaped out from his body.
The illusory figure was a hazy gray, looking like a cloud of mist. However, as it appeared outside the world, boundless primordial energy of heaven and earth surged in and gradually transformed into a human form.
First, it grew limbs, then a head, but its features were completely blurred, like a ghost from legend.
The illusory figure floated three inches above Xiao Ning's head, looking frail and delicate, as if it were about to be swept away by the wind.
The moment the phantom detached from his body, Xiao Ning felt as if he had been freed from a shackle, and a feeling of great freedom and joy welled up in his heart.
He looked down and was shocked to see a figure sitting cross-legged at his feet. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was his own body.
"Is this what astral projection feels like? It's such an amazing sensation!"
Xiao Ning murmured to himself.
Just then, a gust of wind blew by, and he felt as if his whole body was being cut by knives, and a splitting headache came over him.
"Oh no! My soul has just left my body and I can't stay outside for long. I need to go back!"
Xiao Ning's soul let out a scream and plummeted downwards.
Then, he felt as if he had entered a magical place, as comfortable as if he had returned to his mother's womb.
Opening his eyes, Xiao Ning discovered that his soul had returned to his body.
"That was close! I almost lost my soul!"
Xiao Ning patted his chest, still shaken by the experience.
Astral projection is one of the hallmarks of a martial arts grandmaster.
In Taoism, this is also known as the astral projection of the Yin spirit.
At the Grandmaster level of martial arts, one achieves the True Elixir of Immortality, embodies the Oneness of Qi, and allows the soul to leave the body, forging a flawless true body, locking in the body's Qi and blood, and attaining immortality for 500 years.
Because of the use of the Nine Aperture Golden Elixir, Xiao Ning vaguely sensed that his lifespan was far more than five hundred years. He estimated it to be around eight hundred years.
After the soul can leave the body, spiritual power can solidify from the illusory, allowing it to influence reality and create illusions to confuse mortals.
It can also transcend space with one's thoughts to directly attack enemies.
For example, one can imbue their spiritual power into calligraphy and painting, using a single character to suppress an enemy.
In addition, his perception of heaven and earth and his understanding of martial arts have both improved significantly.
Moreover, once the soul solidifies, the control over one's own true energy and physical strength reaches a new level.
Xiao Ning thought to himself that with the same power, he could defeat three versions of himself before his breakthrough once he broke through.
However, at this point, he could not yet be considered a complete martial arts grandmaster.
A breakthrough on a spiritual level is only one aspect of it.
Only when one's true qi and physical body break through simultaneously can one be considered a flawless grandmaster.
After stretching his body a little, Xiao Ning sat down cross-legged again, his mind sinking into the darkness, his internal meridians flowing with true fluid.
As the [Dragon Elephant Body Refining Technique] was activated, the Nine Aperture Golden Core deep within Xiao Ning's heart suddenly unleashed an extremely terrifying medicinal power.
As the medicinal power surged and the cultivation technique was activated, Xiao Ning felt his entire body radiating a scorching heat, with a large amount of medicinal power being rapidly absorbed by his body.
As time passed, the eastern sky turned red, and the clouds on the horizon also turned red. A red sun, like a furnace of boiling molten iron, burst forth, sparkling and dazzling.
The rising sun, independent of anyone's will, slowly ascended into the sky. From its crimson hue, countless rays of light shot forth, piercing through the trees and filtering the dense morning mist, illuminating the earth and the world.
"Snap!"
A clear sound emanated from Xiao Ning's body, like the sound of a shell breaking.
Finally, at this very moment, it seemed as if some shackles had been broken within Xiao Ning's body.
An invisible and intangible wave emanated from his body, which was like a black hole, absorbing all the energy in the world, including the power of heaven and earth, the power of stars, the power of earth veins, the power of elements, the power of geomagnetism, space rays, and so on.
Like a whale swallowing its prey, Xiao Ning's body absorbed the boundless energy of heaven and earth. Above his head, a huge, invisible funnel formed, and countless energies were poured into his body.
"Tick-tock! Tick-tock!"
Within Xiao Ning's dantian, the originally liquid golden true liquid was compressed to its limit, from the extreme yang to the extreme yin, and a trace of the extreme yin true liquid was produced.
As soon as the power of Yin appeared, a miraculous change occurred between it and the power of Yang. They attracted each other, yet opposed each other, and chased each other.
Finally, it seemed to form a yin-yang symbol, like a Tai Chi symbol.