The instant Jiang Yun's figure completely vanished, countless specks of light suddenly shot out from the void above Dao Tianyou's head, re-entering his eyes and transforming into two runes before disappearing in a flash.

Freed from the runes' restraint, the black lightning bolt reappeared.

However, the lightning, which should have continued to strike, remained suspended in the air, seemingly unsure where to go after losing Jiang Yun as its target.

Even the ancient face in the sky showed a hint of confusion.

For a moment, the entire Heaven and Earth fell into a state of complete stillness, but the oppressive atmosphere grew even heavier, as if it could erupt at any moment.

Fortunately, after nearly fifteen minutes, the black lightning and the ancient face finally began to dissipate slowly. In just an instant, the sky-filling dark clouds vanished without a trace, leaving a clear sky, as if nothing had ever happened.

At the same time, Gu Bu Lao's voice echoed in Jiang Yun's ears: "This Dao Energy of mine can conceal your aura for a year, allowing you to avoid the Heavenly Dao of this world. Additionally, I will give you a lei ji heavenly pearl. This pearl was brought back by me from Lei Ji Heaven and contains Thunder Power. After swallowing it, dissolve it with Spiritual Qi and guide it into your eleventh Meridian. You might be able to open it!"

"But if you cannot open your eleventh Meridian within a year, that Heavenly Protection will reappear. By then, I'm afraid no one will be able to save you! You must take care of yourself!"

As Gu Bu Lao's voice faded, a palm-sized golden orb of light indeed appeared before Jiang Yun, but he didn't even glance at it.

Jiang Yun had clearly witnessed everything that transpired after he broke through the Heavenly Dao barrier: Dongfang Bo and the two others helping him neutralize the first black lightning bolt, Dao Tianyou blocking the second black lightning bolt with two runes, and finally, Gu Bu Lao's Dao Energy.

He understood that they were doing their utmost to help him, and therefore, he could not let down their expectations. Since he hadn't even opened his tenth Meridian yet, no matter how good the lei ji heavenly pearl was, he couldn't use it at the moment, so it was better to ignore it.

Although Gu Bu Lao's Dao Energy completely concealed Jiang Yun's aura, in reality, Jiang Yun remained seated on the giant rock within the Hidden Peak waterfall, still able to absorb Spiritual Qi to repair his increasingly weak Physical Body.

Thus, Jiang Yun continued to absorb the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi of the Mountain and Sea World while simultaneously using his Physical Body strength to open his tenth Meridian, striving to cross the limit of nine.

Above the sky, Gu Bu Lao, who had transformed back into a child, swept his sleeves and brought the dispirited Dongfang Bo and the two others back to their respective residences. He then took a step and sat on the peak of Hidden Peak, looking at Dao Tianyou who walked over and said, "During this year, unless the Sect faces a crisis of Life and Death, do not allow anything or anyone to disturb Hidden Peak!"

Dao Tianyou's face was also extremely pale, especially his usually bright eyes, which had dimmed considerably. Hearing Gu Bu Lao's words, he nodded and said, "I understand."

After a pause, Dao Tianyou continued, "His Physical Body strength, plus the lei ji heavenly pearl you gave him, can at most only allow him to open his eleventh Meridian. He still won't be able to reach the Great Perfection state of Tongmai Realm. Isn't that a bit of a pity?"

Gu Bu Lao calmly said, "Do you know that I once had a Demon Race Named Disciple!"

These words made Dao Tianyou slightly startled, a little confused as to why Gu Bu Lao would suddenly bring up a Demon Race Disciple.

Gu Bu Lao evidently didn't expect Dao Tianyou to answer and continued speaking to himself, "After I obtained this lei ji heavenly pearl, although I couldn't use it myself, I wouldn't be reluctant to let others use it, especially my Disciples!"

"Back then, I gave this lei ji heavenly pearl to that Demon Race Disciple of mine, hoping to help him open his tenth Meridian!"

Hearing this, Dao Tianyou already vaguely understood something, but he still didn't speak, instead staring directly at Gu Bu Lao.

"As a result, the Demon Race Disciple was instantly blasted into ashes and smoke by the Thunder Power contained within the lei ji heavenly pearl the moment he dissolved it. It happened so quickly that even I didn't have time to save him!"

"If I remember correctly, the Demon Race's Physical Body is the strongest among all races, and that Named Disciple of mine even possessed a Demon Body!"

Gu Bu Lao closed his mouth and stopped speaking, while Dao Tianyou stood there in a daze. It was a long while before he came back to his senses, his face extremely grim as he said, "The Demon Body, ranked third among the ten great Demon Bodies, is much stronger than Jiang Yun's current Physical Body! You giving the lei ji heavenly pearl to Jiang Yun isn't helping him; it's clearly killing him! What exactly do you mean?"

By this point, Dao Tianyou naturally understood the meaning behind Gu Bu Lao's sudden words.

Forget about reaching the Great Perfection state of Tongmai Realm; if Jiang Yun could survive the power of the lei ji heavenly pearl, it would already be a blessing!

"It means nothing; I just want to verify some of my conjectures! All right, we have guests arriving again. As the Sect Master, you should at least entertain them!"

Although Dao Tianyou looked at Gu Bu Lao, who had his eyes closed, and was itching with anger, four powerful auras had already appeared outside Wen Dao Sect, so he could only stomp his foot in frustration and say, "Gu Bu Lao, if there's an opportunity in the future, I will definitely request a different Dao Protector!"

After dropping these words, Dao Tianyou's figure disappeared, and Hidden Peak finally returned to complete tranquility.

However, at this moment, Gu Bu Lao's eyes slowly opened. After sweeping over his three Disciples one by one, he finally looked towards Jiang Yun in the center of the waterfall.

Others couldn't see Jiang Yun, but he could, after all, the Dao Energy that concealed the aura belonged to him.

Staring at Jiang Yun, Gu Bu Lao muttered to himself, "Breaking through the Heavenly Dao barrier of this world with his Physical Body strength indicates that his Physical Body strength does not originate from this world."

"But he does have the aura of the Mountain and Sea World surrounding him, which means he has lived in this world for at least over ten years. Even if he truly came from another world, the strengthening of his Physical Body still happened in this world!"

"Therefore, there is only one possibility left—although he grew up in the Mountain and Sea World, his Physical Body strength was cultivated and strengthened bit by bit by someone using things from other worlds!"

"The one capable of doing this must be a strong individual, possibly even stronger than me!"

"And the purpose of this strong individual doing so is clearly to enable Jiang Yun to shatter the Heavenly Dao barrier of this world with his Physical Body strength and to enter the tenth level of Tongmai Realm!"

"Having gone to such great lengths to hide from the Heavenly Dao and do so much, he would certainly not allow Jiang Yun to perish easily. Therefore, he must have left something or some power on Jiang Yun that can save his life when Jiang Yun faces a Life and Death crisis!"

"Once the lei ji heavenly pearl dissolves, the moment Jiang Yun faces a true death threat, it will definitely appear! As long as it appears, I can gain some clues about that strong individual. In this way, perhaps I can verify my conjecture—he intentionally sent Jiang Yun to me!"

This was Gu Bu Lao's true purpose for giving the lei ji heavenly pearl to Jiang Yun, despite knowing its immense power, to help him open his eleventh Meridian!

Even Dao Tianyou couldn't fathom Gu Bu Lao's thoughts, and Jiang Yun was naturally even more oblivious to them. However, at this moment, he had no time to consider other matters; all his attention was focused on his tenth Meridian.