Chapter 82: Breakthrough!

Heaven and earth are boundlessly vast, and within the human body are three hundred sixty-five apertures. If one aperture opens, then heaven and earth connect; if a hundred open, the world is illuminated. Should three hundred sixty apertures be mastered, the universe is contained in the palm of one's hand; should all three hundred sixty-five be unlocked, the body grows light, the mind clear, and one gazes anew upon all creation.

The difference between the Primal and the Celestial lies thus: those of the Primal realm borrow the power of heaven and earth to merge with their own, condensing the True Intent of Primordial nature, thereby greatly enhancing their strength. Celestials, however, achieve mastery by opening all three hundred sixty-five apertures, gaining command over the forces of the universe itself. With each aperture unlocked, one controls a space of one meter; these apertures are called "gates," and each gate is a meter of the world under one’s dominion.

When all three hundred sixty-five apertures are open, they connect and amplify one another, expanding the realm controlled from a mere three hundred sixty-five meters to a full kilometer. Xue Kai, Huang Yue, and Mo Hu had all achieved this pinnacle: Celestial masters who perfectly command the power within a kilometer’s reach.

Normally, the chasm between the Postnatal, Primal, and Celestial realms is so vast that words fail to describe it. Human strength is finite; the Primal marks the threshold of touching heaven’s power, but the Celestial commands it directly. Though not governing all of creation, they wield dominion over a kilometer of it—an almost seamless unity.

No one had ever dared to claim they could fight across such boundaries, until the moment Zhou Yi and his companion did just that, leaving the others astounded beyond measure. They believed they had reached the summit, only to witness, one after another, unimaginable events that shook the very core of their resolve.

Zhou Yi, having just stepped into the Primal realm, stood against three Celestial masters at their peak, withstanding an onslaught equal to three thousand meters of the world’s power. More astonishing still, he advanced in the midst of battle from the entry of the Primal realm to its very summit.

Yet even this was not his limit. It was clear now that the peak of the Primal realm was far from his boundary; he was attempting to break through to the Celestial, to open the Gates of Heaven.

All this unfolded with bewildering speed—one impossible feat after another playing out before their eyes, upending everything they thought they knew. Even in the act of breaking through, Zhou Yi refused to take the usual path. Where others opened one gate at a time, he did not; two at a time, still no.

Watching the points of light appearing on Zhou Yi’s body, growing ever more numerous and radiant, Mo Hu and the others felt a chill seize their hearts, all other emotions swept away by a single overwhelming sensation: shock.

“Three hundred sixty-five!” Soon, as Mo Hu stared fixedly at Zhou Yi and saw no more points of light appear, his gaze swept over Zhou Yi once more, and in a numb voice he spoke.

“He’s about to break through to the pinnacle of the Celestial realm in a single leap!” Huang Yue murmured in a daze, unable to help herself.

“A monster—truly, a monster!” Xue Kai looked from Zhou Yi to Song Hai, and after a long moment, forced out these two words.

…

As Zhou Yi realized what the spherical vortices before him truly were, the darkness around him underwent infinite transformation.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The vortices, now round spheres—apertures—began to spin, unleashing boundless suction that stretched forth, forming invisible channels through the void. Through these passages, colorless energy flooded in.

“What is this?” Zhou Yi sensed these forces with his mind. The familiarity—it was like the very fabric of the world. Heaven and earth… Yes, heaven and earth!

“This is the power of the world itself?” Zhou Yi was shaken, words failing him as he watched the energy stream into his body through unseen channels.

Speech was unnecessary. As awe gripped him, the power of heaven and earth poured in, flowing along these pathways into the three hundred sixty-five spheres that spiraled and hovered within the darkness.

Whoosh!

As the world’s power entered these apertures, they began to transform. Previously colorless and transparent, nearly invisible in the darkness save for a faint shimmer, now, as the power of heaven and earth surged in, each sphere took on its own hue, displaying vibrant and varied colors.

Heaven and earth: such a vast term, difficult to define in a single word, for the world encompasses all things.

Metal, wood, water, fire, earth—the five elements; wind, thunder, light, darkness—the elements; and so much more, beyond words.

Now, Zhou Yi possessed three hundred sixty-five aperture spheres, each opening a passage through the void. The suction from their rotation extended out into the world, drawing in its myriad energies.

Each sphere was unique, its pull targeted and distinct, sifting out all irrelevant matter like a funnel so that only the desired essence entered, passing through the channels and into the spheres within his body.

He had no time left for amazement or shock. As the energies entered, their colors shifting with the forces absorbed, Zhou Yi found himself immersed within an extraordinary, yet strangely familiar, state.

The world is vast: mountains and rivers, lakes and seas; flowers, grasses, trees; birds, beasts, insects, and fish; earth, water, fire, and wind—countless things roam, drift, and thrive within it.

Every being, in seeking to live, emits its own unique signature—a breath of life that permeates the world, declaring its existence to all who perceive it.

I am a flower, fragrant and bright; I am grass, lush and green; I am a tree, towering and ancient; I am a mountain, majestic and unyielding; I am the sea, boundless and profound. I am… I am…

This is the breath of life, the breath of existence, the breath of the world—this is… heaven and earth.

Zhou Yi became one with the world, his consciousness roaming freely, greeting every mountain, every lake, every flower, every blade of grass, every tree, every living thing.

In this moment, he forgot all else, remembering nothing—his mind a blank slate filled only with curiosity, and the pure joy that arose each time he encountered something new.

As his spirit wandered the world, the three hundred sixty-five aperture spheres within him spun ever faster, accelerated by each new greeting and every communion with the world’s creations. On the attribute panel, behind the word “God,” the numbers ticked slowly yet relentlessly upward, their pace quickening with each passing moment.