Calamity of Tomorrow

Ying Hui still shook his head, "Zhou Bai risked his life for humanity. He even rejected Ming Yue the Immortal. How could he possibly side with the Heavenly Demon? Is he ill?"

Yun Chonghe didn't speak and thought about Meng Ruocun, whom he had highly favored and mentored but who eventually sided with the Immortals.

Shaking his head, Yun Chonghe said, "The evidence is very unfavorable for him. Even if he hasn't truly betrayed humanity, it's very likely he's now in the clutches of the Heavenly Demon. This makes the already tricky situation in West Mountain City even worse.

Although the doubts about us have temporarily been suppressed, our original defensive duties have changed, relegating our sectors to some unimportant positions."

Ying Hui asked, "Was it Qing Yangzi's doing? Does he not trust us?"

Yun Chonghe shook his head, "It's not about distrust, but it certainly was to be expected, and I understand him."

Ying Hui sighed and turned to Zhao Shouyi, "Old Zhao? Why aren't you saying anything?"

Zhao Shouyi blinked slightly, then lifted his head, "Huh? What did you say?"

"About Zhou Bai," Ying Hui said. "Many people here in West Mountain City are pointing their fingers at us now, thinking we haven't taught our students well, and even suspecting that we might lean toward siding with the Heavenly Demon."

Zhao Shouyi looked puzzled, "Why? What has Zhou Bai done?"

Ying Hui and Yun Chonghe exchanged a worried look.

Zhao Shouyi said with a bitter smile, "Have I forgotten something again?"

Yun Chonghe looked at Zhao Shouyi with concern, "Old Zhao, you should stick with me from now on. Don't get me wrong, I'm worried about you."

Zhao Shouyi waved his hand, "Between us brothers, there's no need for explanations. I understand."

...

Inside the Heavenly Demon Forbidden Zone, after a night of harsh cultivation enhanced by high-level pressure and the aid from Dharma Saint Relics, Zhou Bai's Primordial Spirit power surged directly from 4375 to 4775.

His Primordial Spirit within his sea of consciousness seemed much more agile, and with every move, it seemed his spirit power could cover the entire sea, displaying powerful control.

Especially after the Primordial Spirit power increased, the Primordial Spirit became more robust. Zhou Bai felt that with each breath, his spirit seemed almost to float free, eager to move as if, with just a thought, it could fly out of the sea of consciousness and roam the universe.

Zhou Bai understood that with the increased strength of his Primordial Spirit, Emergence would be much easier.

He thought for a moment, then decided to see if he could achieve Emergence.

Christina said, "Are you sure you want to try? I'm not sure about the Mysterious Lady, but Wei Cang, as the former Sect Leader of the Evil Sect, will definitely sense an emerging Primordial Spirit.

And the Heavenly Demon fought humans for many years before the distortion of Heavenly Dao. They have methods to lock onto a Primordial Spirit; wouldn't Emerging expose you now?"

Zhou Bai shook his head, "One must not let the Primordial Spirit Emerge, it's one of the three great tenets of cultivation. For over a hundred years, no cultivator has violated it. If they discover I've Emerged, they will only trust me more, believing I've truly turned."

Nodding at his words, Christina felt that Zhou Bai had a point.

Then, Zhou Bai sat down cross-legged, focusing his attention on the Primordial Spirit within his sea of consciousness.

With his movements, the sensation of his physical body gradually faded until Zhou Bai completely lost the perception of his flesh.

He opened his eyes and discovered that his consciousness had arrived within the Primordial Spirit, and his limbs had transformed into a skinless, flesh-bound form of the Primordial Spirit.

Then, Zhou Bai stood up and with a light leap, he felt as if gravity had vanished, and his body flew out like a cloud of mist, whizzing out of his sea of consciousness and into the Material World.

The first intense feeling the Primordial Spirit experienced in the Material World was pain.

Zhou Bai felt as though the entire world around him was filled with sulfuric acid, constantly stinging his Primordial Spirit and making him wish to dive immediately back into his sea of consciousness.

Without his physical body, without the protection of the rune vaccine, Zhou Bai's direct contact with the endless polluted spiritual forces from the outside world made him feel as though he was soaking in poison.

Although Zhou Bai felt excruciating pain, the Primordial Spirit showed no signs of deformity; in fact, it started adapting to the polluted spiritual forces.

He felt the Primordial Spirit energy within him spontaneously start to operate, constantly warding off the invading polluted forces, keeping them outside his Primordial Spirit which now resembled a shimmering, translucent diamond, impervious to the outside poisons, no matter how fierce.

About ten seconds later, the stabbing pain gradually faded. Zhou Bai, curious, observed the world around him and, with a slight flicker of his form, he had already appeared a hundred meters away.

'The mobility of the Primordial Spirit is so strong, free from the constraints of the physical body, feeling incredibly light and free, perhaps five times faster? Or ten times?'

Zhou Bai turned back and saw his physical body sitting quietly on the ground, eyes closed, breathing normally as if he were asleep.

Meanwhile, as soon as Zhou Bai's Primordial Spirit had emerged, the woman's eyes suddenly hardened, and her mind received an alarm transmitted through the Heavenly Demon communication network.

'Unknown Primordial Spirit detected... Unknown Primordial Spirit detected... Target locking... Target locking...'

The woman was slightly shocked, "A Primordial Spirit detected? How is that possible? Who could perform Primordial Spirit Emergence?"

She knew that many of the Heavenly Demon's defensive mechanisms had the capability to scan mental waves to lock on to the Primordial Spirit, but this function, though still operational, had not detected a Primordial Spirit for a very long time.

It was usually only considered by human monks resolved to suicide during past battles against humans.

Following the transmission from the Heavenly Demon's devices, she abruptly jerked her head forward, and as her mechanical pupils slightly shifted, they covered a layer of fluorescence followed by a series of scans and data modeling, visualizing the Primordial Spirit in her mind.

It was a figure without a trace of skin, its muscles, and bones completely exposed.

At that moment, the figure floated before her, curiously looking at her.

The woman exclaimed in surprise: "A Primordial Spirit? Whose Primordial Spirit are you? How did you come to look like this?"

Zhou Bai looked at her and smiled, "You can see me?"

The woman looked towards Zhou Bai's sleeping physical body and then back at the floating muscle-bound figure, saying in amazement, "You can still perform Primordial Spirit Emergence? Of course, you are a mutant, and Primordial Spirit Emergence won't harm you. But your mutation is special, retaining so many monk abilities."

"Yes," Zhou Bai squeezed his palm, feeling the robust Primordial Spirit energy swirling inside, "I want to try out my combat power after performing Primordial Spirit Emergence. Maybe you could let Xu Dela join me for a bit of fun."

He thought to himself, 'Let's test the combat power of Primordial Spirit Emergence, and also harvest some of Xu Dela's luck, drain him dry. After all, the stronger the Primordial Spirit energy, the stronger my combat power after Primordial Spirit Emergence.'

The woman nodded excitedly, her gaze on Zhou Bai filled with joy, "Right, we must test the power after Primordial Spirit Emergence, get well acquainted with it. Primordial Spirit Emergence is indeed very useful. If it weren't for the fact that human monks can't perform Primordial Spirit Emergence, they wouldn't have suffered such heavy losses in the battles against the Heavenly Demons."