Chapter 1

Azure Cloud Realm!

Southern Region!

At the Divine Firmament Holy Land's Floating Training Grounds, nine stone pillars used to test aptitude shone with dazzling light. Five of them suddenly turned golden.

"Zhang Tao, fifth-grade physique. Eligible to enter the Holy Land's outer sect."

The Outer Sect Elder sat to one side, sipping fragrant tea as he spoke indifferently.

"Fifth grade! Hahahaha! My aptitude actually reached fifth grade! I don't need to undergo tempering in the Servant District—I can enter the Divine Firmament Holy Land's outer sect directly. One step to the heavens!"

Zhang Tao's face was full of excitement.

"You're amazing, Young Master Zhang!"

"Young Master Zhang, don't forget to look after us in the future!"

"Young Master Zhang, we're all from Clearwater Town. You can't forget us!"

Flattering voices rose all around, while the others cast envious looks toward the youths from Clearwater Town.

Zhang Tao turned to look at them, his face brimming with smugness.

But when his gaze fell upon a young man and a young woman, his eyes immediately darkened with malice.

"Lin Xuan, sooner or later, I'll kill you."

"Yu Bing, you'd better not die. You'll eventually become a plaything beneath me, Zhang Tao."

The young man, Lin Xuan, had sword-like brows and starry eyes, handsome and refined. Though dressed in rough cloth, he could not conceal the sharp aura around him.

The young woman, Yu Bing, had eyes like stars. Though only fifteen, she had already grown graceful and slender, her black hair cascading like a waterfall, her pretty face as ethereal as an immortal's—hardly someone who belonged to the mortal world.

"Brother Lin Xuan, Zhang Tao actually has a fifth-grade aptitude and can enter the outer sect directly. I... we..."

Yu Bing watched Zhang Tao walk toward the group of outer sect disciples, her heart uneasy.

"Don't worry. Our aptitudes may not be inferior to his. Perhaps entering the inner sect directly won't be beyond us either."

Lin Xuan comforted Yu Bing, though inwardly, he was quietly astonished.

In the Azure Cloud Realm, physique talents were divided into nine grades. First grade was the lowest, and ninth grade the highest.

When the Divine Firmament Holy Land recruited disciples, those with fourth-grade aptitude or above could directly enter the outer sect, while those with sixth-grade aptitude or above could directly enter the inner sect.

Those below fourth grade were only barely capable of cultivation. They could enter the Servant District and become servants.

If they achieved success in cultivation later on, they could also enter the outer or inner sect. But if they failed to reach the required realm within a year, they would be expelled from the Holy Land, with no chance of entering it again for the rest of their lives.

A fifth-grade aptitude might not count as genius-level, but once one entered the outer sect and received a Body Forging Pill, one could immediately shed their mortal body and step onto the immortal path.

At that point, their status would be worlds apart from ordinary mortals.

"Heh... Lin Xuan, what the hell are you? A mere butcher, and you dare dream of standing shoulder to shoulder with Young Master Zhang?"

"That's right. You killed Young Master Zhang's guard on the road. You and Young Master Zhang are already mortal enemies. You're a dead man walking."

"Hmph... You've spent a few years slaughtering pigs and learned some mortal martial arts. In front of ordinary people, you may indeed have cause to act arrogant, but before Young Master Zhang, who is about to step onto the immortal path, you don't even count as an ant. Understand?"

"If you know what's good for you, hand Yu Bing over to Young Master Zhang right now, then kneel and apologize. Young Master Zhang might even leave you an intact corpse."

The youths from Clearwater Town around them all began mocking him.

Lin Xuan frowned and looked at them calmly. "Do you want to die?"

His low voice spread out, and the youths immediately retreated several steps. Their faces turned ashen, yet none of them dared utter another word.

To be honest, they were still somewhat afraid of Lin Xuan.

After all, right before their eyes, Lin Xuan had directly killed Zhang Tao's guard without the slightest hesitation.

"Tch!"

"A bunch of cowards!"

Lin Xuan spat disdainfully, then pulled Yu Bing aside, too lazy to keep company with such people.

In fact, Lin Xuan had never even regarded them seriously.

To him, they were nothing more than a bunch of brats.

Ten years ago, the Soul Suppressing Pagoda had carried him across worlds to this Azure Cloud Realm. His body had reverted to that of a six-year-old child, and he had fallen into Clearwater Lake.

Just as he was about to drown, Yu Bing, who had been five years old at the time, saved him.

Although Yu Bing had only been five then, Lin Xuan had still been stunned by her beauty.

That beauty—such that anyone who resembled her by three parts would already be a peerless beauty of the mortal world—immediately gave rise to Lin Xuan's wicked thought of marrying her as his wife one day.

Over the past ten years, the two had been inseparable and had long since formed deep feelings for one another. Lin Xuan had even talked Yu Bing around, until she seemed determined to marry no one but him.

Unfortunately, Yu Bing had suffered from a strange illness since childhood. Every full-moon night, cold would spread throughout her body. By now, it had become utterly uncontrollable; during her last episode, her life had been in danger.

The old physician in town had said that perhaps only an immortal sect possessed a cure.

As fate would have it, the Divine Firmament Holy Land was widely recruiting disciples, so Lin Xuan brought Yu Bing here.

On the way, Zhang Tao, the second young master of Squire Zhang's household in town, had tried to violate Yu Bing. Lin Xuan stopped him and even killed his guard, thus forging this enmity.

"To be honest, Zhang Tao awakening a fifth-grade physique is rather enviable. But it doesn't matter. With the Soul Suppressing Pagoda, as long as I'm given a chance to cultivate, I'll surely one day tread beneath my feet a whole region."

After moving away from the people of Clearwater Town with Yu Bing, Lin Xuan thought to himself.

The Soul Suppressing Pagoda had always dwelled deep within his mind. Its first level, Myriad Ages in an Instant, had already opened.

The reason he had gone into pig slaughtering was precisely because of Myriad Ages in an Instant's special property.

Myriad Ages in an Instant could deprive living beings of their time after killing them.

Lin Xuan could make full use of that time, and no matter how long it was, within Myriad Ages in an Instant, it would end in but an instant.

Over the years, by slaughtering pigs and forcibly seizing decades of time, Lin Xuan had tempered his physique and the Pig Slaughtering Blade technique he had devised to their limits.

That was why he had been able to kill a trained fighter like Zhang Tao's guard.

He firmly believed that as long as he was given a cultivation method, even if his aptitude was a little lacking, it would not matter. He would ultimately reach the so-called ultimate end of the immortal path.

Besides, the Soul Suppressing Pagoda had a full nine levels. The first level alone possessed such an absurdly heaven-defying property—just how terrifyingly defiant of heaven would the remaining eight levels be?

"Still, I'm not native to this world. I don't know whether my cultivation aptitude can even be tested."

Lin Xuan was not without concern. His body was not native to this world—it carried the genuine Yan Huang Bloodline of Earth's Huaxia.

"Next!"

At that moment, the Outer Sect Elder's voice rang out, his gaze falling upon Yu Bing and Lin Xuan.

"Xiao Yu'er, you go first. Enter the immortal sect, cure that stubborn illness in your body, then when you come of age, become your brother's woman."

Lin Xuan spoke to Yu Bing.

Yu Bing's pretty face reddened. "Brother Lin Xuan is a bad man."

After giving a soft spit, Yu Bing nervously walked to the center of the nine stone pillars.

"Close your eyes and feel!"

The Outer Sect Elder's voice spread out. Yu Bing obeyed and gently closed her eyes.

The next second, dazzling radiance rose beneath her feet, and the nine stone pillars abruptly flashed with blinding golden light.

Rumble!

The sky suddenly darkened, and a Mysterious Phenomenon of ice and snow pierced through illusion, reflected into the real world.

Clang!

The jade teacup in the Outer Sect Elder's hand fell to the ground. He shot to his feet, crying out in excitement.

"A heavenly phenomenon... unparalleled aptitude..."

Yu Bing