Ding Yun, finding herself with nothing to do at home and little in common with the old man, would often venture into outer space. Her cultivation and tribulation advancements were also carried out in the void, bringing her close to immortalhood.
Had she not worried about being unable to return after ascending, she might have already transcended.
Currently, she dared not increase her cultivation any further. She only dared to visit extremely cold planets or celestial bodies like red dwarfs and white dwarfs, using their unique environments for body refinement. Any further increase in cultivation would necessitate tribulation, but body refinement seemed to have no upper limit, and she hadn't heard of anyone achieving tribulation solely through body refinement.
Moreover, the cosmic environment was exceptionally suitable for body refinement.
Thus, Ding Yun became engrossed.
While her current physique wasn't strong enough to bathe directly in terrifying orange, yellow, white, or blue stars, she could now swim freely on the surface of the lowest-tier red stars. And this was with her bare physical body, not clad in a super divine mecha, making her comparable to the legendary Golden Crow.
Having achieved this, Ding Yun secretly set herself a new goal: to continuously improve her physique. If she swam in red stars today, she'd aim for orange and yellow stars in the coming days, and even white and blue stars in a few years.
It was essentially like leveling up in a game!
And far more thrilling than any game.
However, despite her physique reaching an incredibly terrifying level, Ding Yun still needed her super divine mecha for travel. She had, by chance, returned just in time for the ninth great spiritual energy resurgence. She had left in good condition, but upon returning, she found herself unable to retrace her path.
Her intended teleportation landing spot was a hidden, deep, and low-key corner within the Kunlun Mountains. From there, she would retrieve her mecha and then use her own cultivation to teleport home from within the planet.
This was both discreet and efficient.
But this time, as Ding Yun teleported her super divine mecha to her usual landing spot, she crashed into some unknown creature with a resounding clang, causing a traffic accident.
Upon closer inspection, she realized that the original pit had not only expanded manifold but was also filled with water. And coiled around her former landing spot was a terrifying, hornless dragon the size of a thousand meters. Or rather, it should be called a broken-horned dragon, for Ding Yun's teleportation with her super divine mecha had just snapped off its single horn.
In that instant, Ding Yun was stunned.
The dragon was equally bewildered.
It had just emerged, hadn't had a chance to do anything wrong, and already someone was attacking it. And this attacker was so fearsome, not only breaking through its physical defenses but also shattering its most formidable horn. What kind of monster was this?
A normal cultivator certainly wouldn't possess such power.
At this moment, Ding Yun's reaction speed was faster. After all, she was the one who caused the accident. Though she was in the wrong, the other party wasn't human, making discussions about compensation difficult. Furthermore, this dragon was likely one of a kind in this world, a truly endangered species.
Killing it seemed inadvisable.
Therefore, the moment Ding Yun recovered, she immediately engaged in hit-and-run tactics, using her mecha to teleport to her pre-selected second fixed landing spot.
Then, she proceeded home as usual.
By the time the dragon reacted and sought to attack the culprit who had broken its horn, it was too late.
Ding Yun had already returned home.
As for the consequences, the Kunlun Heavenly Pond churned with colossal waves, accompanied by the dragon's enraged roars, which swept snow from the pond's edges, causing widespread avalanches. Ultimately, several combined-body ancestors from the cultivation sects in the Kunlun Mountains united, subdued it, and reinforced the original seal.
It was quite a miserable fate...
Feeling wronged and with nowhere to complain!
All it could do was retrieve its broken horn from beneath the Heavenly Pond, attempting to restore it and recover from its injuries.
It wasn't until Ding Yun returned home and went online that she learned what had happened and why her original landing spot had changed so dramatically.
Following this, she promptly opened her video conferencing software, pulling her son, daughter-in-law, and grandson into a video call for a discussion.
"You're all aware of what just happened. With the re-emergence of various factions, sects, and aristocratic families, social order might become unstable. So, what are your thoughts? Do you want to return and accept my protection, or continue your ventures outside?"
As soon as they were all connected, Ding Yun immediately inquired.
"Grandma, our school should be relatively safe, right? I'm in a university town with many cultivation universities nearby. There are over three hundred Golden Core level tutors alone, and six or seven Nascent Soul deans.
This is a significant force, so safety is assured, and there's no need to worry too much. Plus, I've already broken through to the late Golden Core stage thanks to this spiritual energy surge.
If something happens, I can protect myself. So please don't worry. I can't always live under your protection, and besides, haven't you prepared many life-saving measures for me? I'll be fine!"
Guo Yuntao directly stated his desire to remain at the academy, unwilling to be constantly protected.
He wanted independence and growth.
Concurrently, Guo Haiqian and Fu Yarun, who were vacationing on a beach near a coastal county, also politely declined to return. It was unclear whether they genuinely felt confident in their ability to venture out freely, or if they feared being confined to their rooms again and pushed to cultivate.
Ding Yun didn't press them.
After all, in a world where most were only at the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages, the survival capabilities of these three Golden Core cultivators were considerable. Theoretically, as long as their luck wasn't abysmal, they should be fine and not encounter disaster.
Therefore, Ding Yun offered a few more words of caution, urging them to be careful in the future, to activate their life-saving measures promptly if danger arose, and not to confront it head-on. Then, she prepared to end the call.
Just then, behind Guo Haiqian and his wife in the video conference, the previously calm coastline erupted with towering waves. A flying fish over a hundred meters long soared out of the water, but instead of harming the humans below, it seemed to be fleeing, vanishing instantly.
Following this, an extremely grand broadcast echoed through their video call: "Everyone, evacuate quickly!
Retreat inland, retreat inland.
Three Soul Transformation level marine demon races have just awakened in the Pacific waters and are actively preying on lower-level demon races to restore their cultivation and vital energy. The sea beast tide has arrived, the sea beast tide has arrived. Everyone retreat with all your might, retreat with all your might.
Those with lower cultivation, quickly grasp the descending rays of light; this is the official rescue channel!"
"Repeat that, I'll repeat it again..."
"Everyone retreat quickly!"