Chapter 1

Yin Xianyu opened her eyes; the ever-burning lamp in the cave dwelling was already on the verge of going out.

The last faint glimmer before her spiritual power was exhausted trembled over the cold bed, casting the shadows of scattered pill bottles in the corner.

Still sitting cross-legged on the bed, she did not move at first. She lowered her head and looked at her own hand. The green traces of spiritual power moving through her palm were still there, their color so faint it looked as if it had been washed away. They extended from her wrist to her fingertips, then gradually vanished.

The Immortal Sects Grand Tournament, held once every ten years, was drawing near. For this tournament, she had been pushing herself to break through, but her golden core cultivation remained completely unmoved.

She stared at that fading green trace for a long time, long enough for the ever-burning lamp to go out completely and the entire cave dwelling to sink into darkness before she slowly let out a breath.

This was already the fourth Chongyuan Pill she had taken, using its medicinal force to force a breakthrough to Nascent Soul. Yet despite its fierce potency, it had done nothing to her.

Five years ago, she could still exchange three hundred moves with Xie Qingrang on the trial platform without falling behind. Now, the other party had already entered the God Transformation stage, while she did not even have the slightest sign of a breakthrough.

Yin Xianyu clenched the last two pill bottles in her hands. From outside the cave dwelling came the faint sound of the Qingyin Bell; it was the signal summoning fellow sect members to the trial platform to watch the proceedings.

Time passed unnoticed in the cave dwelling. Only then did Yin Xianyu suddenly realize that today was actually the day of the entrance trial. According to custom, the sect master would have Xie Qingrang demonstrate; with a single sword strike that split heaven and severed earth, she would let the newly admitted disciples see what true immortal cultivation looked like.

Yin Xianyu abruptly stood up. Having sat too long, her knees went weak and she nearly knelt again. The spiritual power in her body was depleted, and she was no different from an ordinary person now.

She steadied herself against the stone wall, shoved the two pill bottles into her interspatial sleeve, and pushed open the stone door of the cave dwelling.

Sunlight made her squint. Yin Xianyu narrowed her eyes. Outside, mountain winds blew fiercely, sending her robes whipping about.

Sure enough, from the direction of the trial platform came the deafening roar of cheers. Faintly, she could hear someone shouting, "Immortal Lord Qingrang!" The wind shredded the sound and stitched it back together again and again, drilling into her ears.

Yin Xianyu swallowed two spiritual-restoring pills before she finally managed to fly on her sword to the trial platform.

As one of the ten great immortal sects, Lingzhan Mountain had extremely strict assessments. Outer disciples had to reach the great perfection of body tempering; only top-tier martial artists were eligible to enter.

Inner disciples, on the other hand, needed to be at the Qi Sea stage and able to draw on heaven and earth’s spiritual energy to cast techniques before they could enter. Beyond that were cultivators in the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages. A tiny difference in realm could mean a world of difference in outcome. Most of the people here were Foundation Establishment cultivators participating in the formal disciple assessment.

Only formal disciples were allowed to have a sect lineage and a cave dwelling. When inner disciples took part in the assessment, formal disciples would all sit in the viewing stands to observe and select promising seedlings for the sect, taking them under their wing so they could become future support.

Of course, the Qingxu Sect where Yin Xianyu was located had already fallen into decline in recent years. Her master had gone missing; the senior sister had gone out to search for news of their master and vanished without a trace.

The second senior sister had once quarreled with a subordinate sect and, in a moment of miscalculation, shattered the spiritual root of the son of the Xuantian Sect’s sect master. After fleeing, she disappeared without a trace.

The third senior sister, in order to shoulder the burden of the sect, forced a breakthrough to God Transformation, suffered qi deviation, and became a cripple.

The fifth junior sister, in order to find medicine for the third senior sister, fell into the path of demonic cultivation and was still being hunted by righteous cultivators to this day.

The once-mighty Qingxu Sect was now left with only her.

Naturally, Yin Xianyu no longer had the privilege of sitting in the high viewing stands. She could only find a random corner. There was no need even to restrain her aura; in her current state, she was no different from these inner disciples, and the formal disciple robes on her body were not conspicuous.

Fortunately, no one paid her any mind. Yin Xianyu casually found a place and sat down.

Dark clouds filled the sky. Xie Qingrang’s white robes were brighter than snow; her brows and eyes were cold as the never-thawing ice atop Kunlun Mountain. With one sword, she split the air open. The clouds scattered like receding tides, heavenly light burst forth, and spiritual resonance shook in all directions!

Today was the first day of Lingzhan Mountain’s inner disciple assessment. Everyone below the platform was astonished by that sword strike.

The disciples beneath the viewing stands were stirred with excitement and felt refreshed all at once. Staring at the direction where that figure in the sky had vanished, someone muttered in confusion:

"Is it just my imagination? Why does it feel especially comfortable after that sword strike? My head doesn’t feel dizzy anymore, and it’s clearer too."

Several people turned to look at the disciple waiting for assessment. Someone kindly replied, "You don’t even know that? You must be here for the assessment for the first time. In previous years, the entrance assessment always had the most outstanding person of that generation use the Demon-Slaying Sword to cut away the heart demons of the disciples being assessed. It’s normal for it to have this effect."

"Heavens, I thought the Demon-Slaying Sword was just a gimmick. I never expected someone could actually cultivate to this level and cut away heart demons..."

"Of course. Junior Brother, if you’re not good, then train more. That was Xie Qingrang!"

"..."

All eyes in the viewing stands were drawn to that sword strike just now. The crowd buzzed with discussion, every conversation circling back to the person who had drawn the sword: Lingzhan Mountain’s famously gifted genius, Xie Qingrang.

She had entered the sect ten years ago and cultivated from a mere outer disciple in the body-tempering stage to the great perfection of God Transformation, walking a path that others might not even finish in a hundred years. She had become one of the foremost formal disciples of Lingzhan Mountain and a hot candidate for sect master.

Her Wuding Sword Art was used with transcendent mastery; among her peers across the ten immortal sects, none could match her. Both inner and outer disciples respectfully addressed her as Immortal Lord Qingrang.

The figure in the clouds had already vanished, yet the crowd still did not withdraw their gazes, greedily trying to memorize the immortal bearing of the person they had just seen.

Xie Qingrang would never participate in such a selection. If she did not cultivate the Heartless Dao, and did not rely on any external support or associate with others, then probably every cultivator would be scrambling to seek her out at her cave dwelling.

After piercing through the clouds, the inner disciple assessment officially began.

On the trial platform, blades flashed and swords gleamed; magical treasures appeared one after another. Spirit-gathering puppets overturned several disciples who had gone up to challenge them. In several consecutive rounds, not a single person managed to last even a moment under the puppets’ hands.

The formal disciples in the viewing stands shook their heads one after another and left the morning session with some disappointment.

Many of the people here had rushed over in hopes of taking a shortcut into the immortal sect’s trial by filling numbers. The disciples who truly had the skill to cultivate well had basically already passed the assessment earlier.

Seeing that there was nothing to be gained, the formal disciples left in dribs and drabs. The remaining people were mostly here to observe and absorb combat experience.

The few disciples in front of Yin Xianyu were still talking endlessly. They seemed to have no shortage of things to say and cared little about the gazes and probing of the people around them.

The female cultivator at the center wore inner disciple robes. Her cultivation had already reached the later stage of Qi Refining, and spiritual energy overflowed around her. She was only one step away from perfection and could break through to Foundation Establishment at any time; she was the highest in cultivation among this group.

The others, men and women alike, followed her lead and surrounded her with flattering words.

"Senior Sister Zhao, didn’t you get a Foundation Establishment Pill the day before yesterday? Why are you still in the later stage of Qi Refining? The immortal sect trial grand ceremony is imminent; are you not participating this time?"

Zhao Ruitian only glanced at the junior disciple and smiled lightly. "Senior Sister Yaoguang of the Jade Stone Sect told me to break through under the hands of the spirit-gathering puppet, so of course I need to leave a good impression on the elders doing the selection."

When the people around her heard this, they all drew in a sharp breath and then hurriedly congratulated Zhao Ruitian.

After becoming a formal disciple, which sect one was chosen by was also crucial.

Every one of the seventy-two peaks of Lingzhan Mountain could potentially become their future home, but each peak had different resources; after entering the sect, the treatment could be worlds apart.

Disciples without backing usually lingered in the inner sect. Even if they were lucky enough to break through, they might still be assigned to a lineage with very little spiritual resources. The Jade Stone Sect ranked among the top twenty peaks of the sect, and now that Zhao Ruitian had this connection, her future was limitless.

Yin Xianyu watched quietly, only feeling that the name sounded a little familiar. For a moment, she could not remember who it was.

The other group of female cultivators standing beside them sneered at that moment. "What’s there to be smug about? It’s just a Foundation Establishment Pill. Taking one can temporarily suppress cultivation, but if you really want to break through, nothing can stop it unless you have a magical treasure on you."

The female cultivator glanced at her, clearly not believing Zhao Ruitian could produce anything decent. Someone like her, who relied entirely on herself, looked down on people who only came to the outer sect to gild themselves with a layer of prestige; they relied on connections higher up to make their cultivation path unusually smooth. Once they reached the later stages and lacked the tempering they should have had, they would never amount to much.

Zhao Ruitian did not get angry. Instead, she looked at the female cultivator with interest. "Of course. You’re still wandering around the inner sect. Without a senior sister, even if you become a formal disciple, you’ll probably only be assigned to the Qingxu Sect."

Yin Xianyu, who had suddenly heard the mention of her own sect, lifted her head. The female cultivator’s face turned red, and she drew her sword to point it straight at Zhao Ruitian. "You’re cursing me!"

Zhao Ruitian refused to yield and drew her sword back at her. "I didn’t curse you. Senior Sister Yin was once a figure of equal fame with Immortal Lord Qingrang. The two of them came from the same lineage, and her cultivation wasn’t low. Who knows, maybe after you become a formal disciple you could condense a golden core like she did. Junior Sister, why be so angry?"

At that, the surrounding disciples burst into laughter. The female cultivator’s face turned livid. Someone beside her could not help but say, "Senior Sister, your words are a little too harsh. Immortal Lord Qingrang has long since left the Qingxu Sect. Who doesn’t know the real Qingxu Sect has already declined? Senior Sister Yin’s cultivation stopped at the golden core and can no longer advance. We are all cultivators; why speak such venomous curses?"

Zhao Ruitian and the others laughed. None of them cared at all about Yin Xianyu’s face as a senior sister.

"Senior Sister is just stating the facts. You people with bad luck should just be honest about it. Why compare what you don’t have with what we do? A bunch of sour grapes. Get lost!"

"When your Jade Stone Sect was bullying the Qingxu Sect, wasn’t that often enough? And now I’m the one being called sour? What are you pretending to be so righteous for?"

"Junior Sister, know when to stop. Who hasn’t stepped on someone else before? Are you really that innocent..."

Suddenly, their laughter stopped short. Everyone stared blankly at a figure walking out of the darkness.

Yin Xianyu had taken off the outer robe over her formal disciple attire. Her face was very pale as she gave the crowd a smile.

Several people clearly recognized the formal disciple robe on her body and stammered, "S-Senior Sister Yin."

Yin Xianyu nodded and said nothing. Just as everyone was about to breathe a sigh of relief, she flung out two palms and shattered the magical artifacts on the two groups of people. Several of them spat blood and collapsed to the ground, yet none dared to strike back.

Formal disciples held absolute authority over inner disciples; she had only just come out of seclusion and her spiritual power was insufficient. Otherwise, that palm strike would have definitely killed these people.

Zhao Ruitian fell to the ground, horrified to the core. She only felt the spiritual energy within her body rapidly draining away, impossible to gather again. In her fury, she blurted out whatever came to mind: "Yin Xianyu, you actually injured me! I’m a member of Jade Stone Peak! Senior Sister Yaoguang will absolutely make you pay!"

Yin Xianyu merely flicked her sleeve and looked down at the powerless Zhao Ruitian. Zhao Ruitian immediately felt excruciating pain. It was as if an invisible hand had seized her throat; she could no longer utter a single word. She could only look at Yin Xianyu in terror, fear surging through her, and involuntarily prostrate herself on the ground.

The others were the same as Zhao Ruitian; none of them dared to be presumptuous again.

Seeing this, Yin Xianyu no longer bothered with what was behind her. People who said the wrong thing had to pay the price they deserved. She was already like this; what was there to be afraid of?

She flew her sword all the way back to the front of her master’s alchemy room. Various manuals were scattered messily in the corner; everything was just as it had been when she left.

The sect was cold and quiet, so quiet that even spirit birds refused to visit. The entire mountain peak was overflowing with spiritual energy, yet only this place was dim and lifeless; even the underground spiritual veins were extremely thin.

Yin Xianyu’s gaze fell on the Chongyuan Pills in the pill compartment.

After the entrance trial, the immortal sect’s grand trial ceremony would begin. This grand event would bring together countless outstanding talents, and Yin Xianyu had forced her way toward Nascent Soul precisely for that ceremony.

After all, the minimum cultivation required to enter the Xuanxu Realm was golden core. Golden core cultivators were as common as hairs on an ox; their ability to protect themselves was very weak, and they could only rely on the main group. Only cultivators above golden core could explore the secret realm freely as they wished.

This immortal sect secret realm trial was the best opportunity. Not only could one obtain great chances within it, but cultivators who performed exceptionally could also be rewarded with a Searching Mirror. She had to obtain that treasure in order to find the whereabouts of her senior sisters and master.

Yin Xianyu really could not wait any longer. She had to break through to Nascent Soul and show results in the trial.

She poured out the remaining Chongyuan Pills and spread them in her palm. The pills, which had originally been a lustrous jade color, were now dull; a thin layer of gray covered their surface, and they gave off a faint, stale odor.

As the name suggested, Chongyuan Pills were meant for breaking through to higher realms. The process washed the marrow and cut the bones; the agony was no less than being refined alive and flayed. If she swallowed this much, Yin Xianyu would certainly die. But the pills had already lost more than half their potency, and both the pain and effectiveness had been greatly reduced.

Yin Xianyu stared at those few pills for a long time. Thinking of what those people had just said, she hardened her heart, raised her hand, and swallowed the Chongyuan Pills.

The pills dissolved like water. Yin Xianyu immediately felt that something was wrong. Her five organs and six viscera seemed to be being refined alive by a demonic cultivator. The pain instantly spread to every limb and bone in her body, and she was brutally knocked unconscious by it.