When Chen Xia took the Observing the Profound Elixir, he had discussed it with the two brothers, Big Yellow Dog and Chi Yu.
If anything went wrong, they would wake him up immediately.
And the most effective way to wake someone up was a loud, clear, and appropriately forceful slap.
Rarely could anyone remain silent after being slapped with a resounding slap.
After all, it didn't cause much harm, but it was extremely humiliating.
Could you endure it if it happened to you?
If it was someone more hot-tempered, they would immediately explode their spiritual awareness on the spot and wish to die on the same year, month and day as you.
But now there was a problem.
Who would go slap Chen Xia, or rather, who dared to go slap Chen Xia?
Zhang DaoMing clearly didn't dare. He immediately tucked his hands into his sleeves and sighed,
"I've been working hard day and night recently and suffered some injuries, so I'm not suitable for taking action. I need to recuperate, so I'll just watch you two perform."
What kind of work could injure your hands?
Big Yellow Dog looked at Zhang DaoMing doubtfully, feeling that the old man was not being upright.
Now Big Yellow Dog and Chi Yu were also hesitating.
Although they had righteously promised to slap earlier, when it really came time, they didn't dare try it.
After all, this was a real slap, not just joking around.
"You do it. Weren't you saying you even dared to slap your dad?" Big Yellow Dog urged Chi Yu.
"I dare to slap, I dare to die," Chi Yu solemnly replied. It seemed he was prepared to perish, and he pondered deeply in place for a long time but still didn't make a move.
"Are you afraid?" Big Yellow Dog frowned and asked.
"No," Chi Yu shook his head. "I was thinking about where my grave should be buried after this slap."
This...
It shouldn't be that serious, right?
Big Yellow Dog looked around again. Zhang DaoMing had already retreated to the back, head tilted, stamping his feet, acting as if it had nothing to do with him.
Chi Yu was still pondering, clasping and unclasping his slapping hand. It was obvious he was very conflicted.
Big Yellow Dog gritted his teeth, feeling that he couldn't rely on these two. He stretched out his 5 centimeter dog paw towards Chen Xia's 20 centimeter face.
Amidst the stars filling the sky.
Chen Xia finally stepped out. Right now he was like a star, roaming through the shattered star realm, seeing the inverted bronze tower there.
Outside the bronze tower were 30,000 dense, tangled laws, each like a star, roaming within, continuously transforming.
And the inverted bronze tower was the entire star realm.
Chen Xia looked over the 30,000 laws, but no matter how he looked, he couldn't see clearly. He could only glimpse a few twisted characters.
He felt there were two reasons:
First, this Observing the Profound Elixir was impurely refined. After all, it was only half a pill, so the effects were still insufficient. He estimated that he would need to directly consume a whole pill, or eat several more, to increase the effects.
Chen Xia still didn't know that just sprinkling some powder into the medicine would be enough.
The second reason was that this was the limit of the Observing the Profound Elixir's effects. After all, it was just a medicinal pill, so what he saw would naturally differ from the real Great Profound Capital.
This was the difference between genuine and pirated versions. The clarity of pirated versions was generally lacking.
Chen Xia sighed. His gaze shifted towards the inverted Great Profound Capital, but still wasn't able to see anything. Just as he was about to withdraw his gaze, his eyes suddenly condensed.
He seemed to see the characters for "Turtle Breathing".
Chen Xia immediately focused his mind and looked closely again.
Turtle Breathing Technique!
It really was these three characters.
Chen Xia's mind shook. He took another step forward, wanting to look more clearly. But as he took this step, the entire inverted bronze tower suddenly stopped, with the 30,000 laws motionless.
Yet Chen Xia could still only read the three characters for Turtle Breathing Technique. The other texts were like heavenly scripts to him now. Let alone understanding them, even comprehension was difficult.
Apart from the three characters for Turtle Breathing Technique, as Chen Xia's eyes scanned over them, he discovered two large characters he recognized at the very top.
Life Technique
These two characters enveloped the Turtle Breathing Technique and many other texts, as if they were all contained within the Life Technique.
And Life Technique was easy to understand. It referred to cultivation techniques that used one's lifespan or longevity.
Connecting this to the Turtle Breathing Technique below, it was likely an art that employed longevity as its driving force.
This was extremely attractive to Chen Xia. What he lacked most was lifespan. Trading even 100 years for 1 year would be a steady profit.
But right now he still couldn't understand these techniques at all. He could only recognize the five characters for Turtle Breathing Technique and Life Technique, staring blankly at them, not knowing what to do.
The motionless inverted bronze tower suddenly shook once. The 30,000 laws began flowing again, only this time their trajectories were slower, and the routes were different.
Chen Xia followed the flowing laws with his eyes. His pupils instantly contracted.
At the top of the inverted bronze tower, an upside-down sitting elder had appeared at some point. He had white hair, face, clothes and meditation cushion.
The elder sat steadily, even his clothes were perfectly still. He quietly watched Chen Xia. After a moment, he spoke in a gentle heavenly voice:
"You've come too early. This place isn't one you can access yet."
"No problem, I'm just strolling around," Chen Xia laughed and replied while scratching his head. He added, "If it's inconvenient, I can leave now."
The white-faced elder shook his head. "You can't leave. The time hasn't arrived. You were led here, so you can only wait until the time comes before departing."
"Then can I stroll around a bit more?" Chen Xia tentatively asked.
The white-faced elder shook his head again and looked at the stars behind Chen Xia. He replied blandly without emotion:
"Those stars behind you are all people who have lost their way here."
Chen Xia's expression sunk. "Will I also..."
"Unknown," the white-faced elder shook his head. "As you crossed through the star realm on your way here, did you keep track of how much time passed, how many days and months went by? If..."
"Your time in the outside world had already ended, or you encountered misfortune, then naturally you cannot return."
Chen Xia's expression was calm. He wasn't panicking at all since he had the "tablet".
The points in the system had only increased by two, meaning only two years had passed. It really hadn't been long at all.
After the white-faced elder finished speaking, he closed his pale eyes. He no longer looked at Chen Xia and murmured softly:
"Or perhaps you can bring away one technique, but not now."
After saying this, the white-faced elder fell silent. He sat steadily atop the inverted bronze tower, hugging the extremely white Buddhist relics. His clothes were also white Daoist robes.
This outfit was quite rare indeed, especially the white Daoist robes, which formed a contrast with the black robes Daoists typically wore. Paired together, it was a bit like a Yin-Yang fish.
While Chen Xia was pondering this, the scenery in his eyes suddenly vanished. Endless starlight and a deafening sound replaced it.
"Slap!"
Chen Xia opened his eyes to see the dog paw before him and froze briefly.
Big Yellow Dog quickly retracted his paw and righteously declared, "Chi Yu, since you don't dare hit him, I'll sacrifice myself for justice!"
After saying this, Big Yellow Dog muttered under his breath, "For brotherhood, I fear not breaking my bones."
Chi Yu and Zhang DaoMing didn't respond. They stared at the deep red dog paw imprint on Chen Xia's face and fell silent.
Big Yellow Dog was capable indeed. When there was an issue, it really would hit someone.