Chapter 341: Shattering the Void

Bai Lang stepped out casually, and in a corner of the garden, a man seemed to be standing in midair, high above. He looked like an old man, bearing the air of someone who has seen the world and with silver hair, but his face showed at most middle age, hardly any wrinkles, and his eyes—he was still young, his gaze filled with endless curiosity and spirit.

Bai Lang didn't mind the man's lofty stance; he simply looked at him, sensing the aura filling heaven and earth, and said after thinking, "Yuhua Tian? Shi Zhixuan doesn't have this level of martial cultivation—though it sounds unlikely, you must be a Yuhua Tian who has lived several hundred years." Seeing the man's cheek twitch, he said, "I am Xiang Yutian." Bai Lang clapped his hands and said, "Exactly, Xiang Yutian really is an old monster; you've lived at least two hundred forty or fifty years, right. Yuhua Tian, no wonder I feel oddly familiar—this isn't the West Factory Superintendent Yuhua Tian?"

It seems that old monster above doesn't know what "West Factory Superintendent" means, and Bai Lang certainly wouldn't say that's a matter of a thousand years from now. With this old monster suddenly appearing, Bai Lang could roughly guess what he wants. "You want to shatter the void? So you came to fight me, the 'number one expert under heaven'?" Bai Lang said; the other chuckled in acknowledgment. "Wait, wait until the child is born, then I'll fight you."

This Xiang Yutian seems to have dropped the pretense and jumped down directly. Bai Lang raised his eyebrows; this man truly is standing in midair, his skill and martial arts are extraordinary. Bai Lang also thought: in this world, he truly lacks confidence to achieve that. In his original world, with his White Tiger Howling Wind ability, he could do it easily—"It's just standing in midair; I can even use the Ice River, so a mere midair stance is nothing."

Bai Lang had Xiang Yutian stay there and hurried back to the production site. At that moment, Madame Shang Xiuzhu gave birth, and soon after were Madame Wei Zhenzhen and Madame Shang Xiufang; Shang Xiuzhu bore a son while the other two had daughters. Bai Lang nodded at the three children, smiled at each of the three women, then resolutely turned to go fight. "I don't even feel real—am I really a father now? Speaking of which, I'll be leaving soon; will I be seen as a deadbeat dad? After all, the fathers who disappear fastest are deadbeats."

Thinking of this, Bai Lang also went to his study for a moment—the study was bright and splendid; besides the I Ching, the Four Books and Five Classics were all brand new, while the histories and collections showed signs of having been read. He casually pulled a few books from the shelf, placing the items tucked inside on the desk. "In the end, I can't teach them personally." He sighed, but it didn't matter; the eighteen cavalry had become his retainers and could fully impart the basic true qi cultivation method to these three children.

Bai Lang finished his preparations and went straight to the rear garden. He hadn't expected the three women to already be waiting there, holding their babies—speaking of women who practice martial arts, their postpartum recovery is astonishing. Less than half an hour after giving birth, they could walk about without hindrance. Bai Lang sighed for a while, "Oh, I'm afraid I won't be able to stay. After this fight with him, I'll likely have to break through and leave. These children will then have to be left in your care."

That's basically a bit better than being a deadbeat dad, but not much better. The three women wore expressions of utter disbelief, apparently finally convinced that what Bai Lang said was true. "Cheer up; no matter what, I suppose I've already shattered the void." Bai Lang continued shamelessly; he could only do that—would he really cry and make everyone feel heavy? Life entails partings and deaths.

In short, he let out a long breath, "Well then, goodbye. These years have been truly good." Bai Lang didn't look back, walking straight toward Xiang Yutian standing by the pond. Both rose into the air—one drifting like the wind, the other hopping along—yet equally fast. The three women said nothing to stop Bai Lang; they tightly shut their mouths, enduring, determined to etch his retreating figure into their hearts.

The two quickly left Everlasting Peace City and went outside... "Better go into the mountains; damaging others' fields out here would be bad." Bai Lang said, charging first toward the southern End South Mountain, and Xiang Yutian smiled and followed.

In End South Mountain, the two faced each other. Xiang Yutian said nothing more, just gestured. Instantly a great force appeared out of nowhere, pressing toward Bai Lang, who responded with a punch that shattered it. "The Heart‑Seeding Demon Grand Art is wondrously abnormal, but perhaps it's meant to enhance one's own comprehension?" Bai Lang had this suspicion shortly after the fight began—Xiang Yutian didn't seem much stronger than Shi Zhixuan; at least in punches and kicks, the difference is only a thousand versus fifteen hundred catties of force.

That is to say, this is just a slightly stronger Shi Zhixuan, with no qualitative leap? The difference from Bi Xuan also seems small—could it be that this world only goes this far? Bai Lang compared himself and felt it was indeed about the same. As he thought that, Xiang Yutian changed as well; this time he directly disturbed the heavenly and earthly qi, and immediately before Bai Lang's eyes unfolded a transformation of earth, water, fire, and wind.

Xiang Yutian embodied heaven, became earth, then stirred the four seasons; all of this turned into illusions and actual attacks pressing on Bai Lang. "This is stronger than Bi Xuan, yet it doesn't match the cultivation of someone two hundred fifty or sixty years old—by rights, shouldn't he be wielding heavenly thunder and blasting wildly?" The jade fish on Bai Lang's body began to glow, and the sense of oppression from the demonic realm that had been weighing on him eased considerably.

In the depths of his mind, Bai Lang felt that the Jing Nian Chan Yuan seemed to be hiding itself, likely having entered this world more deeply, perhaps releasing some "toxins" aided by the demonic realm to continually alter the world. Regardless, he felt at ease. Bai Lang gave a soft shout, and a gale immediately swirled around him. "Now it's also time for you to see what true command of heavenly and earthly qi really is."

That's right; Xiang Yutian isn't fighting Bai Lang to defeat him, but to continually absorb heavenly and earthly qi under Bai Lang's pressure in order to reach the threshold of ascension—that is, to shatter the void. And Bai Lang can now satisfy him: the whirling wind lifted Bai Lang's form. He raised his hand, and a tornado rose from the ground, blowing away Xiang Yutian's true qi. Then Bai Lang pressed his hand downward, and another tornado fell from the sky, shattering Xiang Yutian's protective aura.

Xiang Yutian absorbed heavenly and earthly qi into his body, his manifestations of earth, water, fire, and wind being half‑illusory, half‑real, while Bai Lang's tornado truly commanded the wind as if it were an extension of his limbs. A huge white tiger also appeared on Bai Lang's body, truly taking shape in this world. The gale around Bai Lang kept spreading, and in the blink of an eye became a storm ring hundreds of zhang in diameter. "It's time to send you into the shattered void."