Lin Yi simply shrugged, "Hatred, when indulged, is an expensive emotion, consuming energy and clouding judgment. Practicality, on the other hand, is significantly cheaper, and far more rewarding in the long run."

Xu Ling regarded him with a long, appraising look, a new layer of understanding forming in her ancient mind. "There is another saying," she offered, her tone thoughtful.

Lin Yi gestured with an open hand, indicating for her to continue. "Go on."

"The smiling fox who meticulously counts his grain, carefully planning every move and maximizing every resource, is often far more dangerous than the roaring tiger who merely bares its fangs in a display of brute, impulsive strength." Her gaze was knowing, a silent acknowledgment of the predator Lin Yi had become.

Lin Yi let out another laugh, a genuine, unburdened sound. "I’ll accept that comparison, with pleasure."

Xu Ling stepped closer to the very edge of the Star Compass, her ethereal form seemingly unaffected by the boundary, and cast her gaze upon Tianyuan Star. Its outline had now expanded exponentially, no longer a distant, shimmering point of light, but a colossal, fully realized world hanging majestically before them, filling their entire field of view.

Oceans below glimmered with the lustrous depth of polished sapphires, their vast surfaces catching and reflecting the starlight. Enormous landmasses, stretching seemingly without end, lay partially obscured beneath swirling layers of white cloud, hinting at continents yet to be explored. Strange, vibrant auroras rippled and danced across the upper atmosphere, luminous curtains of light that were clear signs of an incredibly dense and vibrant spiritual energy permeating the planet’s very essence.

Even from their high vantage point in orbit, Lin Yi could distinctly sense the palpable pulse of life emanating from the world below. He felt the countless, varied auras of monsters, some powerful, some predatory, all teeming across the wild terrain.

He sensed the echoes of ancient ruins, sleeping monuments to forgotten civilizations, and the raw, untamed wilderness that stretched across vast, uninhabited regions. It was a world brimming with both immense opportunity and formidable danger, a perfect crucible. It was, in essence, everything he needed for the next crucial stage of his journey.

Xu Ling’s expression, which had softened with amusement, now turned serious once more, her silver eyes conveying a deeper gravitas. "Tianyuan Star is not at all like your home planet, Lin Yi," she warned, the stark reality of it evident in her voice.

"I expected as much," Lin Yi replied, his tone unwavering, betraying no surprise.

"The weak die quickly there, Lin Yi. Without mercy, without hesitation," she emphasized, trying to impress upon him the brutal reality of this new world.

Lin Yi simply nodded, his gaze sweeping over the planet. "And the strong," he countered, his voice steady, "merely die slower." His words were not fatalistic, but a stark acknowledgment of the universal truth of survival in dangerous realms.

Xu Ling glanced at him, a flicker of something unreadable in her eyes. "You speak lightly of such a grim prospect," she observed.

"I speak accurately," he affirmed, his conviction absolute.

The Star Compass began its final descent, a gradual, majestic plunge towards the vibrant blue world. Clouds parted around them in layers, majestic white oceans giving way as the artifact gracefully pierced the upper atmosphere. Brief, transient flames of friction curled and danced around the edges of the formation, fiery coronas that licked at the protective shields, before being swiftly and efficiently suppressed by the Compass’s powerful, ancient arrays.

Below, the scale of the world became breathtakingly apparent. Mountains, so vast they seemed the size of entire nations on his home world, rose majestically from the rolling terrain. Forests stretched out infinitely, unbroken carpets of green that vanished into the hazy horizon. Great rivers snaked across the landscape like gleaming silver veins, carving their paths through valleys and plains. In one particularly distant region, almost obscured by the curvature of the world, Lin Yi’s eyes locked onto a peak so impossibly tall it pierced through the thick cloud layers, its summit vanishing mysteriously into the higher, stratospheric skies.

The Ascendant Mountain. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Even from this immense distance, it radiated a palpable, crushing pressure, an aura of ancient power and ultimate challenge. A slow smile spread across Lin Yi’s face, a genuine, unforced expression of anticipation.

"There it is," he murmured, a note of quiet triumph in his voice.

Xu Ling studied his expression, observing the subtle shifts in his demeanor. "You are excited," she noted, stating the obvious with a hint of curiosity.

"I am," he confirmed without hesitation, his eyes still fixed on the colossal mountain.

"For the gate itself, then?" she inquired, assuming his ambition lay with the final ascent.

Lin Yi shook his head, a slight, almost imperceptible movement. "No," he clarified, his smile widening, "for the leveling first. For the journey to get to that gate."

Xu Ling let out a soft sigh, a sound of gentle, ancient exasperation mixed with understanding. "A man who gazes upon the very gates of heaven, upon the promise of ultimate ascension, and still finds his first thoughts turning to mere experience points..." she trailed off, shaking her head faintly.

Lin Yi folded his arms across his chest, his posture resolute. "A man who reaches heaven alive, fully prepared and powerfully leveled, is infinitely better than one who admires its distant glory while still woefully underleveled and unprepared," he retorted, his logic unassailable, rooted in a practical wisdom born of hard experience.

Xu Ling almost smiled again, a glimmer of wry amusement returning to her eyes. The Star Compass, having completed its perilous atmospheric entry, slowed its descent further as it reached the edge of the world’s atmosphere, now hovering majestically above a vast, untamed continent. The land below teemed with a dense, vibrant aura of spiritual energy, a rich tapestry of wild, challenging terrain.

Lin Yi looked down at Tianyuan Star, a new stage of his journey laid out before him, full of unknown variables and immense opportunities.

Then, his gaze shifted forward, to the distant horizon. And finally, upward, to the towering Ascendant Mountain and the celestial path it promised. The arduous, often brutal road to the Middle Domain had truly begun, its challenges beckoning with an undeniable pull.

And somewhere, far beyond that winding road, beyond the gates and the domains, Cang Yutian was undoubtedly waiting. Whether he knew it or not, his fate had already been meticulously planned, sealed by the very man he had once humiliated.