「The next day, Wencheng Yunshan Public Cemetery.」
Yi Beidou bathed and changed his clothes, then made his way to a quiet corner of the cemetery.
On a gravestone there, a black-and-white photograph depicted a married couple. The woman looked gentle and elegant, while the man was strikingly handsome with thick brows and bright eyes.
These were Yi Beidou's parents. After their tragic deaths, their ashes were interred together.
"Father, Mother, your son has been unfilial. I can never repay you for the life and love you gave me; I can only kowtow in gratitude. Now that I have mastered the Freedom Technique, all is well. Your spirits in heaven may rest easy."
Yi Beidou's tall frame prostrated on the ground. He touched his forehead heavily to the earth, performing three solemn kowtows.
In that moment, he was not the Free Celestial Demon, not the legend who had achieved Body Ascension. He was just a child who felt he had failed his parents.
Years ago, to pursue his cultivation of the Free Heart Technique, he had sealed himself off from the world. This had caused his parents, Yi Wen and his wife, immense worry. They blamed themselves, thinking their busy careers had led to neglect, which in turn led to Yi Beidou being abducted by traffickers and developing trauma-induced autism.
While they were alive, his parents had gone to great lengths, searching everywhere for a cure for his supposed autism. Unfortunately, Yi Beidou could not explain the truth, as much of it was simply beyond explanation.
Even when his parents passed away, he had to forcefully sever his grief to prevent his cultivation from failing at the final stage. He did not shed a single tear. He never even dared to visit the cemetery, fearing the sorrow would trigger a Demon Tribulation.
It was the greatest trial on his path of cultivation, one that nearly shattered his state of mind.
Only now, with his Freedom Technique complete, could he finally come here.
After finishing his kowtows, Yi Beidou remained prostrate on the ground for a long time. When he finally rose to his feet, his expression was once again perfectly calm, his eyes devoid of any ripple of emotion.
He shed the identity of a son and returned to the Dao.
His business in the mortal world was settled for now. It was time to attend to his own affairs.
He walked out of the cemetery. Standing before the main gate, Yi Beidou's gaze drifted to a corner of the road.
An ordinary-looking van was parked there. Inside, Zhou Baiwei and several of her subordinates from the Special Security Bureau were tailing him.
He could understand why the higher-ups were worried he might cause trouble, but he did not enjoy the feeling of being constantly monitored.
Averting his gaze, his mind grew still.
He did not know his purpose, nor did he have a clear destination.
After twenty years of cultivation, he had no real understanding of the Donghua Martial Arts Realm.
But that didn't matter. His intuition would guide his way.
The Free Heart Technique developed the Brain Realm, giving Yi Beidou's mind extraordinary qualities.
Humans rely on sight and smell to find food. A Celestial Demon, however, relies on intuition to find its prey.
They can pick out beings worthy of being "hunted" or "hindered" from the vast sea of humanity.
This is what is known as "Celestial Demon Sensing."
And with his Brain Realm developed by the Free Heart Technique, Yi Beidou had honed this sense to a terrifying degree.
And what sort of ordinary being could ever be considered prey by a Free Celestial Demon?
That was what he was now searching for.
As if guided by some unseen force, he seemed to understand his direction. With a light step, he strode forward, his figure vanishing into the woods beside the road.
"Captain Zhou! He's gone into the woods!"
A member of the Special Security Bureau shouted from inside the van.
"Damn it!"
Zhou Baiwei's expression changed. She immediately threw open the door and sprinted after him at top speed.
The woods were dense with overgrown vegetation and uneven terrain, making it difficult to traverse. For most hikers, it would be a challenge requiring a full set of gear to handle the dangers of the wilderness.
But Yi Beidou, dressed in a single layer of clothing, moved as if he were on level ground. He was incredibly fast. To him, forests, roads, and mountains were all the same. He simply moved in a straight line.
At first, Zhou Baiwei was able to follow the traces Yi Beidou left behind. But as the distance between them rapidly increased, she soon lost all sense of his direction.
She had lost him completely.
An ordinary person, with training, could travel two hundred li a day on a flat road without much difficulty. A Martial Arts expert with superior Physical Ability could easily cover three to four hundred li. But in complex terrain, their speed would inevitably decrease.
An expert who had reached Body Ascension, however, could achieve the legendary feat of traveling eight hundred li in a day. Even in dense, mountainous forests, five hundred li a day was no problem at all.
And that was just their normal pace. If they were to go all out, they would be even faster.
"Captain, the drone lost him! The terrain is too complex, and his movements are too fast and evasive. We lost his direction after just a few moments!"
The self-reproachful voice of her team member crackled from the walkie-talkie on her hip.
"It's fine. It's not your fault," Zhou Baiwei sighed. "He can travel eight hundred li a day and cross mountains as if they were flat ground. Out here in the wilderness, if he doesn't want to be followed, none of us can keep up. Report it to the higher-ups."
She understood that her ability to tail him depended entirely on his whim.
A person like that possessed Fasting techniques, able to go a week or even half a month without food after a single large meal. They could cross forests and scale cliffs as if walking on flat ground and could travel eight hundred li in a day.
If such a person deliberately chose to hide in the vast wilderness, it would be virtually impossible to capture them.
They could go anywhere in the world, which was one of the reasons the state was so wary of them.
"Understood. We'll report it immediately."
Her subordinate's voice on the walkie-talkie was filled with disbelief. They knew the capabilities of many Martial Arts masters, but this was their first time facing an existence on this level. It defied all common sense.
After traveling for three or four hours, Yi Beidou had already left the Wencheng region.
He wasn't following roads but traveling in a straight line, ignoring all terrain. As a result, his progress was even faster than some cars.
WHOOSH! SPLASH!
Yi Beidou had just emerged from the mountain forest and reached a bend in the road when he suddenly stopped and looked up at the Sky.
A mountain wind kicked up, dark clouds gathered in the Sky, and rain began to fall.
Even one who had achieved Body Ascension could not predict the whims of the heavens. Compared to the vast, boundless sky, he suddenly felt his own insignificance.
'Even Body Ascension made one nothing more than a fleeting passerby in the grand scheme of things.'
'This isn't my limit. And it shouldn't be humanity's limit, either.'
SCREECH!!
Suddenly, the piercing screech of brakes echoed. A red sports car was taking the corner at high speed. Yi Beidou was standing in the blind spot of the traffic mirror on the bend, and the driver, clearly not expecting to see a person standing there, instinctively slammed on the brakes.
"Why are you standing there? That's incredibly dangerous, you know!"
Seeing that Yi Beidou was unharmed, the driver pulled the red sports car over to the side of the road. The door opened, and a young, athletic woman wearing sunglasses stepped out.
"My apologies. That was my fault."
Yi Beidou said with sincerity. He had been lost in thought, contemplating the shifting heavens and the insignificance of his physical form, and had nearly wandered into the middle of the road. Even though he knew the car couldn't have hurt him, it was still his fault for creating a dangerous situation.
"Are you a hiker? Traveling light? Why are you out here in the middle of nowhere with no gear?"
The woman looked Yi Beidou up and down. Seeing his tall frame dressed in casual sportswear, she assumed he was a hiker traveling light along the road.
"You could say that. I'm heading somewhere."
Yi Beidou nodded.
"It's starting to rain, and it's not safe out here. Where are you headed? I'm on my way to Cyan Wood Mountain. If it's on your way, I can give you a lift," the woman offered.
'Cyan Wood Mountain...'
Yi Beidou had simply been following his intuition, with no clear destination in mind. He wasn't even sure what region he was in. But upon hearing her mention that name, he felt a sudden sense of clarity, as if his heart had been touched by inspiration.
That was his destination.
"I'm heading to Cyan Wood Mountain as well," Yi Beidou said.
"Perfect, that's on my way. Hop in, I'll give you a ride," Li Qingdai said with a cheerful wave of her hand.
Yi Beidou was alone in the middle of nowhere, and his behavior was a little odd. As a young, attractive woman, she normally wouldn't get involved with a stranger like this, but Li Qingdai wasn't the least bit afraid.
She was an accomplished martial artist, capable of fending off three to five strong men at once. Yi Beidou might be tall, but his posture was completely relaxed, lacking any hint of a Martial Artist's stance. He was full of openings. She was confident she could take him down in a single move.
In fact, if he did have ill intentions, she would be delighted. It would be a perfect chance to test her skills, punish evil, and uphold justice.
Sensing a touch of fate in her offer, Yi Beidou didn't refuse and took the passenger seat.
The sports car started up and pulled back onto the road.
"So what are you hiking to Cyan Wood Mountain for? Sightseeing?" Li Qingdai asked curiously as she drove, feeling that there was something odd about him.
"I'm going there to learn a skill," Yi Beidou answered truthfully.
"Oh? You want to study under a master and learn our Cyan Wood Heart Intent Fist?" Li Qingdai exclaimed in surprise, tilting her head to size him up.
"Cyan Wood Heart Intent Fist? Something like that, yes."
Yi Beidou nodded. He was, in fact, going there to learn a fist art, so her assumption wasn't entirely wrong.
"You've got a good eye," Li Qingdai said, her tone swelling with pride. "There are many Martial Arts Schools with genuine skills in all of Han Province, but our Cyan Wood Heart Intent Fist is counted among the very best. Our school has a lineage stretching back over two hundred years. A century ago, during a time of national crisis, we even produced a grandmaster who reached the pinnacle of the Martial Arts Dao—Body Ascension. Do you have any idea what Body Ascension means?"
"Body Ascension? I know," Yi Beidou replied truthfully. "I am one."