Volume One: The First Steps Into the Dao Chapter Eighty-Eight: Life Needs a Little Imagination

At this moment, Ye Junze felt an overwhelming surge of power coursing through his entire body—an intensity he had never before experienced. He even harbored the illusion that he could easily lay waste to this place with a mere thought.

“Let’s first test the true strength of the Nascent Soul stage,” Ye Junze murmured, clenching his fists and feeling their newfound weight.

With that, he channeled his spiritual energy into his hands and uttered a low command, “Go.”

Instantly, a tangible surge of spiritual energy burst forth from his fists, forming a massive energy fist that roared ahead with earth-shattering momentum. The force was so great that it left a trail of explosive sonic booms in its wake. Even before he could witness the true destructive power of his strike, the sheer majesty of the display left Ye Junze utterly astonished.

This power was worlds apart from anything he had wielded before—so vast was the gulf between his current might and his previous attempts that it was almost unfathomable.

As the spiritual energy fist barreled forward, the already uneven ground before him was torn asunder, a deep chasm gouged out in its path. Then, with a thunderous crash, the energy fist smashed into the ground ahead, leaving behind a gaping crater as if it plunged into the abyss itself. Numerous cracks radiated out from the impact.

Ye Junze stared at the scene in shock. Staring down at his fists, he exclaimed in amazement, “That was just a preliminary test, yet it already wields such power. The Nascent Soul stage truly cannot be underestimated.”

“It seems there’s more to this realm than just an exponential increase in strength. Aside from instant movement, I think I can even walk on air now, can’t I?” Ye Junze mused.

Contemplating the marvels of the Nascent Soul stage, Ye Junze felt a surge of excitement. He was eager to attempt teleportation and flight, desires he could no longer suppress.

Just as he was about to unleash his abilities, he realized a troubling dilemma.

“But I’ve never studied the knowledge of the Nascent Soul stage before. How exactly does one teleport?” Ye Junze frowned, puzzled.

He racked his brain for a long time, but having received no guidance from others, he was at a loss.

“Forget it. I’ll just try it out—after all, this is a dream, isn’t it? I should be free to do as I wish,” Ye Junze thought, somewhat haphazardly.

A sudden gleam flashed in his eyes, as if inspiration struck him. He exclaimed with delight, “Maybe it really will work! Just now, I broke through to the Nascent Soul stage simply by thinking about it, didn’t I?”

“In that case, then—” Ye Junze muttered to himself, an idea forming.

“Teleport,” he silently intoned in his mind.

And then, as soon as this thought echoed within him, it was as if some unseen force had heard his call. A miraculous transformation began: Ye Junze’s body slowly grew indistinct and blurred. Yet, he remained oblivious to his own vanishing form. In just a few breaths, his figure faded away completely from the ground.

Not long after, a startled cry rang out, “Why am I here?” The voice was unmistakably Ye Junze’s.

He looked around, finding himself enveloped in total darkness, utterly unsure of where he was.

“No, wait—regardless of where this is, the fact that I suddenly appeared here, could it mean I’ve succeeded in teleporting?” Ye Junze wondered aloud, his tone turning to one of delight.

“Though it seems the destination isn’t quite right…”

He looked up to survey his surroundings again, only to let out another exclamation.

“What?! How can it be here?” Ye Junze cried out in disbelief.

He raised his head and realized he was at the bottom of a deep pit. Looking up at the mouth of the crater, he instantly recognized it as the massive hole created earlier by his test strike. By some twist of fate, he had teleported right into the very crater he himself had made. No wonder he was so taken aback.

“How am I supposed to get out of here now?” Ye Junze muttered gloomily, his expression troubled.

After thinking for a while, he came up with an idea. “Maybe I should try teleporting again—see if I can get out.”

“But this time, I need to change my approach. I can’t just end up somewhere unknown again,” Ye Junze mused.

“Let’s see if I can return to where I was before.” As he spoke, he felt as if guided by some invisible hand, conjuring up a vivid image of his previous location in his mind.

He silently uttered, “Teleport,” once more.

As soon as the thought formed, his body blurred again. In the blink of an eye, he vanished from the pit.

“Huh?” came a surprised sound, quickly replaced by a tone of elation. “Could it be that I’ve returned?” Ye Junze said, his face alight with joy.

He looked around and found himself back in the familiar place he had left.

With a smile, Ye Junze said, “It seems I’ve found a bit of the trick—though I’ll need more practice yet.”

Emboldened, he began to experiment further.

What followed was a most bizarre spectacle: the space around him would intermittently echo with the word “Teleport!” and then a figure would blur and vanish, only to reappear somewhere else, fully formed once more.

To any unknowing observer, this would surely have seemed the work of ghosts.

...

“Whew—” A weary sigh, as if from someone who had exercised too long, suddenly broke the silence. It was Ye Junze, who had been ceaselessly practicing his teleportation.

“I didn’t expect that even at the Nascent Soul stage, repeated teleportation would be so draining,” Ye Junze panted, talking to himself.

After catching his breath, he chuckled, “Still, it’s worth it—I’ve made some discoveries.”

Indeed, after so many trials, Ye Junze had discerned certain patterns to teleportation. Recalling how he’d unwittingly teleported into the pit, he smiled wryly. “That’s what comes of inexperience.”

Through repeated experimentation, he learned that each teleport required a clear destination in his mind. Otherwise, as had happened at first, he’d wind up somewhere completely unintended—like the pit. To confirm this, he deliberately tried it several times. Once, he focused on the pit as his destination, and sure enough, he materialized there again. Another time, he refrained from visualizing a specific spot, and found himself in a completely unfamiliar place.

After these trials, Ye Junze was convinced of his theory and ceased his teleportation practice.

After a brief rest, his curiosity stirred once more. With a smile, he murmured, “Perhaps it’s time to try something else.”

What Ye Junze had in mind was none other than the art of walking on air—the ability to fly.

After all, the freedom to soar through the skies is a dream shared by many. Even knowing it to be impossible, people cannot help but imagine it. It is these dreams that inspire humanity’s relentless drive to explore, leading to the invention of airplanes, drones, and countless other flying machines—all born from the yearning to fly.

Not to mention Yang Ming, who had once recounted his own dreams—Ye Junze himself had longed for the carefree joy of flying. Though he had flown many times with his parents on trips, relying on machines could never compare to the exhilaration of flight under one’s own power.

So it was no wonder that, upon first obtaining the Lingxu Sword, Ye Junze had immediately asked Dream Origin whether he could fly on his sword.

Shaking off his wandering thoughts, Ye Junze focused on how to achieve flight.

“Perhaps it’s just like before,” he thought, recalling his earlier experiences and growing confident that this method might work.

Rising to his feet, he dusted off his hands and declared, “No use just thinking—let’s try it.”

He visualized himself flying and silently recited, “Walk on air.”

As if responding to his intention, a gust of wind suddenly rose from the ground, swirling and gathering around him.

He felt countless streams of air coalesce at his feet and back. As more and more energy concentrated there, Ye Junze suddenly sensed his body growing weightless, as if gravity had ceased to exist. He began to float, slowly ascending higher and higher.

When he glanced down, he saw that he was already several yards above the ground.

“Could it be that I’ve really succeeded?” Ye Junze thought in delight.

But that was not all. The air currents continued to lift him until he hovered high in midair, only then halting their ascent.

Sensing that he had stopped rising, Ye Junze tentatively took a step forward. He had worried he might fall, but as soon as he moved, his fears vanished—he felt as steady as if walking on solid ground.

Yet as he strolled through the sky, he found himself unsatisfied. The reality fell short of the swift, soaring flight he had imagined.

“Perhaps it’s time to try for more,” Ye Junze mused, rubbing his chin in contemplation.