Among the world's ancient civilizations, several boast a very long history of cat domestication. However, while other countries classify cats by breed, Hua Xia categorizes them by coat color.
Hong Fei Jushi named this little white cat Ali. The man and the cat were inseparable companions.
Hong Fei Jushi doted on Ali, often using secret techniques to groom its body and help awaken its intellect.
He also frequently fed Ali rare and precious treasures.
Yet, birth, aging, sickness, and death are natural laws that cannot be escaped; the day of death will eventually arrive.
Hong Fei Jushi sensed that he had less than a year left to live. With no children and no family, his only concern was Ali.
Although Ali's lifespan had been greatly extended and strengthened by his grooming and enhancements, easily reaching forty to fifty years, it would still eventually die.
Therefore, Hong Fei Jushi decided to bestow a fortuitous opportunity upon Ali before his death.
Hong Fei Jushi, utilizing all his lifelong learning and the treasures he had accumulated, spent his final months selecting a prime location with excellent feng shui. He then employed sorcery to transform this area into a natural Yin gathering formation.
The core of this Yin gathering formation was the array carved onto the massive stone.
This massive stone was no ordinary object; it was the essence of the earth, condensed from countless eons of earth-attribute spiritual energy.
The formation on the stone could convert the Yin-attribute spiritual energy continuously gathered by the outer formation into pure spiritual energy, which would then nourish Ali, situated at the formation's center.
This effect was somewhat akin to the Beast Taming Garden within Ling Tian's Spirit Realm, though Ling Tian's garden was far more advanced.
The reason a Yin gathering formation was used instead of a Spirit gathering formation was that natural Spirit gathering formations would create immense celestial phenomena, attracting unwanted attention.
If anyone discovered such a formation, they would desperately seek its core, potentially finding Ali cultivating within and bringing disaster upon her.
Just days before his life's end, this natural formation was finally completed and began to operate.
Finally, the day of Hong Fei Jushi's death arrived. He brought Ali to the center of the formation on the massive stone. After settling Ali, he used a secret technique to transfer all his lifelong knowledge into Ali's mind.
This immense volume of knowledge was a tremendous burden for a cat, even one with awakened intelligence.
Ali quickly fell into a coma. As consciousness faded, tears streamed from its eyes.
Hong Fei Jushi settled Ali, fully activated the entire formation, and then peacefully passed away.
Thus, Ali slumbered within the formation, continuously nourished by spiritual energy.
Despite being in a deep sleep, its thoughts continued to churn slowly. Ali fell into sorrow during its slumber, knowing that Jushi was gone.
Though she wished to die and join Jushi in the next world, she understood that Hong Fei Jushi wanted her to live a healthy and happy life. This was his dying wish, and Ali did not wish to disappoint his hopes.
In this manner, Ali slept and cultivated, slowly digesting the knowledge Hong Fei Jushi had imparted, including secret cultivation methods for demonic beasts.
For these demonic beasts, sleep was the best form of cultivation.
Thus, a thousand years passed in the blink of an eye!
Over these thousand years, Ali cultivated into human form!
Originally, according to Hong Fei Jushi's design, the formation could operate for thousands of years, enough time for Ali to achieve true enlightenment and gain control over her own destiny.
However, some things Hong Fei Jushi had not foreseen.
Firstly, the continuous development of human productivity led to the constant destruction of the natural environment. The original primeval forests were exploited by humans, and even villages like Hantan Village appeared nearby.
Another unexpected event was the approach of the Immortal Palace asteroid towards Earth, causing the continuous resurgence of spiritual energy!
The resurgent spiritual energy greatly accelerated the rate at which this Yin gathering formation collected Yin energy, leading to frequent anomalies within the formation.
These supernatural occurrences conflicted with human life, ultimately triggering the current events!
As for the seven-gilled eel in the pool, it had entered Hantan through underground rivers hundreds of years ago.
A group of seven-gilled eels had entered the pool at that time, and eventually, only the strongest one, after consuming all its brethren, became the sole survivor.
After centuries in the pool, this seven-gilled eel evolved into a monster over twenty meters long.
However, different animals develop in different directions as they cultivate to a certain extent. Creatures like fish, when they achieve sentience, can only develop in terms of size.
The seven-gilled eel instinctively sensed that Ali on the massive stone was a great tonic. Therefore, after reaching a certain size, it began to frequently attempt to attack Ali on the stone.
However, in order to protect Ali, Hong Fei Jushi had placed a protective barrier on the stone's surface – the white protective light shield.
The seven-gilled eel spent hundreds of years emerging frequently, attempting to shatter this light shield, but all efforts were in vain.
Undeterred, the seven-gilled eel would retreat into the pool after each injury, silently cultivating until it became stronger before attacking the stone again.
The last attack from the seven-gilled eel was thirty years ago. On that occasion, the seven-gilled eel was severely injured, but it also discovered that the light shield seemed to be showing signs of collapse.
So, the seven-gilled eel hid in Hantan, enduring hardship for decades, becoming thicker, larger, and stronger.
Coincidentally, the seven-gilled eel, hidden in the water, discovered Ling Tian's arrival. It was thrilled at the prospect of fresh blood food after so long.
However, when the seven-gilled eel poked its head out, it found Ling Tian had disappeared. Angered and frustrated, the seven-gilled eel then launched a furious barrage of attacks on the massive stone in the center of the lake...
Within the light shield, Ali was extremely panicked. Despite being a cat demon with a thousand years of cultivation and having transformed into human form, her mindset was still that of a timid, curious cat.
Under intense fear, Ali quickly reverted from human form to her original body. Ling Tian saw the little cat, entirely snow-white but with a large black tail, and was utterly delighted.