There was no explosion of sounds or rain of dirt. In fact, the world remained silent as Qin Yun's fist collided with the hard surface and broke through it as if it wasn't even there, displacing all that mass without much effort; only a hole big enough for his arm remained.

Qin Yun's pupils dilated at the sight, feeling the surrounding space twist as if to accommodate the force of his blow without the world being subjected to its existence. This was more than pure physical force but an extension of the world's law as they bent to restrict its destructive nature.

Furthermore, the mass that stood in the way of his strike seemed to have disappeared altogether; whether it was due to displacement through sub-space or disintegration into energy remained unknown.

Qin Yun grew intrigued by this phenomenon. Although he could feel his strength's growth—if he ignored the new way it manifested itself—it wasn't as drastic as he first thought. Still, it was to be expected.

Some might misunderstand what achieving perfection in the Body-Strengthening realm entailed. They might believe it would result in a massive gain of strength, but that was only a side effect. In fact, its true wonders lied in how one used qi.

For most cultivators, the qi centre—or dantian—is used to accumulate qi. Then, through a cultivation technique, the qi is diffused through the meridian before being used to manifest either a spell or a technique. The amount of qi able to be stored inside the flesh is minimal at best, purely because the body simply cannot tolerate it. Forcing it would usually lead to a breakdown.

In Qin Yun's case, his body became fully attuned to qi, enabling him to infuse as much qi as he wanted without backlash. However, no matter how pure the qi was in his current realm, there was only so much qi he could infuse at once. After all, the seed had yet to bloom. Without truly building his foundation, the flow of qi from his dantian would remain limited.

Still, this is more than enough for my current needs. I should be able to stand against someone of Ma Yongzheng's calibre without much difficulty. Yet, this doesn't mean my current fighting style doesn't possess any weakness others could exploit...

Qin Yun had thought long and hard about his chosen path, opting for one that focused more on strengthening the body, as it seemed the most compatible with his earth-element spiritual roots. After all, the earth element was renowned for its defensive nature.

Satisfied with his little test, Qin Yun rose from the crater. Noticing how battered his robes were, he quickly changed them before looking around, observing the destruction his breakthrough had wrought upon his surroundings.

Nothing remained of the natural formation he had used as a shield, destroyed by heaven's intent. Although it was a shame to have lost it, Qin Yun was glad he had taken the time to fully observe it. Once he reached the appropriate realm, it would be worth trying to recreate it. After all, this type of defensive formation would be priceless if it were to fall into the hands of any half-decent sect.

For now, Qin Yun’s destination was already set. He looked toward the west, seeing an orange glow paint the sky as the sun began its descent. Although night was upon him, Qin Yun didn’t feel weary in the slightest, even after his breakthrough. He didn’t even feel the need to consolidate his realm. If anything, tribulation qi had perfectly fused into the seed, as if the two of them were made for each other.

This wasn't surprising for Qin Yun as the two came from the same source. Both were born of the Heavenly Dao, but only the spiritual seed had been granted to living beings. Therefore, they had to make do with sub-par spiritual qi to make it bloom, resulting in an unstable fusing.

Why it was granted to humans alone could only be deemed heaven's secret... After all, the way spirits cultivate differs too much from the path humans walk. Although I can speculate, there's no way to know for sure, short of asking her directly.

With slight apprehension of what was to come, Qin Yun pushed himself off the ground, leaving only a subtle imprint of his foot upon the soft dirt. Yet, his body was propelled upward much higher than he intended.

Although only slight, the sudden increase in strength had left him unable to fully adjust it as he used his strength mostly unconsciously. Doing so would take some time; however, Qin Yun chose to do so as he moved.

He fell back to the ground at a high velocity, yet once his foot touched it, there was no hard collision as his muscles fully absorbed the impact. Then, if ever so slightly, he pushed the tip of his foot against the ground using only his ankle before being propelled forward at even greater speed, gliding just a metre above the ground as if a plane supported by the wind.

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He raced toward the setting sun, swerving around the surrounding rock formations that blocked his path without ever slowing down, his breath steady and his usage of qi almost non-existent. While the amount of qi he could use was limited by his realm, there was one thing that separated high-purity qi from the norm, namely its endurance.

Although not as explosive as he would have liked, this qi was almost inexhaustible. He only had to infuse a moderate amount into his flesh to produce decent results, and he could quickly replenish what he used within his dantian before it was entirely consumed, making Qin Yun something close to a perpetual motion machine. However, whether this could be maintained in the heat of battle remained to be seen.

He ran for the entire night, feeling no exhaustion whatsoever, until he finally reached the edge of the western wasteland, where the desert slowly encroached upon the plains. As far as the eye could see, there were no signs of flora, just an ocean of sand rising up to the horizon.

The sun began its ascent as Qin Yun stepped upon this desolate landscape, feeling the scarceness of spiritual qi in the atmosphere. Furthermore, the flow of underground spirit veins became almost imperceptible, as if the world had lost all its vitality. Yet, somehow, Qin Yun could still feel the beauty hidden in this painting of bleakness, a feeling of isolation gripping the hearts of men.

With a slight melancholy, he trudged upon the dunes, fighting against the harsh sun's heat overhead with no shade or clouds to resist its might. Fortunately, Qin Yun could easily regulate his temperature using qi, dispersing the heat outwards.

His destination was a small city close to the edge, near one of the few oases scattered around this unending desert. However, before he could reach it, he stumbled upon a most peculiar scene, a display of carnage and gore, most unsuited to this parched land.

Laying on the sand were countless corpses of bloodied beasts, their flesh showing signs of lacerations and a few burn marks. These creatures could be mistaken for worms if not for their exaggerated size.

Standing next to one, Qin Yun estimated its length to be almost three times his height and its width to be more than the span of his arms. Had it been alive, the opening of its mouth would have been enough to easily engulf someone his size.

Speaking of this orifice, it was laced with countless rows of pointed teeth, sharp enough to rip apart flesh; the evidence of its last meal remained in its maw, masses of flesh stuck on its teeth. Whether or not that flesh was human was impossible to know without a closer look, something Qin Yun was uninterested in finding out.

All around this massive creature were countless smaller ones, maybe half of Qin Yun's size. Their razor-sharp teeth were barely formed, yet they had already tasted blood. Still, even those had been slain without mercy, showing the same kinds of wounds as the previous ones.

Fresh signs of battle, Qin Yun thought as he bent down, touching the bloody footprint still visible on the soft sand. Heading west, probably trying to reach the city. They were ambushed... Judging by the number of footprints left behind, they were quite a big group, yet they didn't come out of the battle unscathed.

He brought the blood to his nose, and as he expected, it didn't possess the stink of the surrounding dead sandworms. As he rose and looked in the distance, he saw some unnatural traces upon the sand dunes, something impossible to be created by the wind alone.

Even more worms are stalking them, probably following the scent of blood...

As he considered whether to follow those traces, a rumble occurred under his feet. He pushed on the soft sand, jumping to the side just fast enough to avoid the ground caving under him, unveiling the abyss of serrated teeth that appeared where he stood.

The worm jumped out of the sand, engulfing air as it ripped through space before doing a half turn and falling back down, creating a sand explosion as it dove back into the dune. Although brief, Qin Yun noticed that the creature resembled the biggest corpses lying on the sand.

The world remained silent as Qin Yun waited for the worm to surface again, yet contrary to his expectation, he didn't seem to be the target.

A few seconds later, a hole opened below the dune, creating a sand avalanche that attracted all the corpses to its core, where the creature opened its maw and waited for them.

Feeling his feet sliding under him as the sand fell toward the bottom of the hole, Qin Yun pushed himself against a nearby corpse, using it as a springboard to reach the top of the dune where he could observe his opponent. However, instead of trying to seek its teeth into him, the worm seemed more inclined to feast upon the corpses of its own species.

There's no point dealing with this one. I'm sure there's an unending supply of these creatures in this place. My time would be better spent trying to reach the city.

Leaving this place behind, Qin Yun quickly made his way west, following the fresh traces left in the sand by those who had trekked this place before him. As expected, they were headed the same way.

Qin Yun changed his bearing ever so slightly, if only to reach the city without encountering any complications, yet it seemed the world had other plans in mind.

"Junior sister, let's go! He's already gone; you should think about yourself!"

A voice cut through the desert wind, the tone strong yet laced with desperation. Qin Yun stopped and listened closely if only to hear a rumble in the distance swiftly coming closer.

Soon enough, he saw three individuals wearing similar clothes rushing toward his direction, a large cloud of dust and sand closely following them. There were two males, one with an injury to his legs being supported by the other, while a woman launched some attacks behind her, trying to slow down their pursuers, but to no avail. The cloud of sand gained on them at every moment.

Their desperation was evident in their eyes, yet as soon as they spotted Qin Yun, they rushed toward him without hesitation, closely followed by the giant maw seeking to engulf them.

Qin Yun knew what was to come yet made no indication of moving. Things went exactly as he expected. The trio bypassed him, leaving him alone to fend against the giant worm that ripped the dunes apart.

He only heard the wounded man utter a small “Sorry...” as he passed him by, his reluctance apparent on his face. With a sigh, Qin Yun unsheathed his black crystal blade, ready to face the tide.