True Disciple! Ye Feng!

The Feiyun Sect's flying boat tore through the sky and soon arrived at the sect's mountain gate.

Elder Yin Dang didn't give the disciples any time to rest. As soon as they landed, he hurried off to the Sect Leader Hall.

Ye Feng's performance in the secret realm was too shocking; it had to be reported to the Sect Leader immediately.

Inside the Sect Leader Hall, the Feiyun Sect Leader sat at his desk flipping through ancient texts. Hearing that Yin Dang sought an audience, he raised a hand to let him in. "Elder Yin, did the secret realm trip yield anything?" the Sect Leader asked without looking up, his tone flat.

"Sect Leader, the gains were enormous! However... Inner Court disciple Li Yue tried to kill Ye Feng over a fortune in the secret realm, and Ye Feng killed him instead." Yin Dang bowed as he reported, deliberately emphasizing the follow-up.

"But more importantly, Ye Feng—"

"When he entered the secret realm, he was only at the Qi Gathering Realm Third Layer. When he came out, he was at the Tenth Layer peak, one step away from breaking through to the True Condensation realm! He also comprehended both Twenty Percent Fist Intent and Thirty Percent Sword Intent, and he's only seventeen this year!"

The Sect Leader's hand flipping through the book jerked to a halt. He finally looked up, surprise clear in his eyes: "Oh? Such a prodigy exists?" He showed no concern at all for Li Yue's death, instead pressing on: "Tell me in detail—how exactly did Ye Feng perform in the secret realm?"

Yin Dang quickly recounted the Spirit Spring Contest, how Ye Feng defeated Zhao Yu and drove off the Baiyang Sect disciples, laying it all out step by step.

The more the Sect Leader heard, the brighter his eyes grew. When Yin Dang finished, he slammed the table and stood up, a rare excitement spreading across his face: "Good! What a Ye Feng! Not just in our Feiyun Sect, but in the entire Yan Nan State, it'd be hard to find a second seventeen-year-old genius who's comprehended two types of intent and reached Thirty Percent Sword Intent! This is our Feiyun Sect's Hidden Dragon!"

The Sect Leader thought for a moment, then immediately gave the order: "Pass my command—promote Ye Feng to True Disciple of the Feiyun Sect, bypassing the usual requirements! No need to wait for him to break through to the True Condensation realm; it takes effect immediately!"

Yin Dang's heart jolted.

He had known Ye Feng would receive a heavy reward, but he never expected it to be the position of True Disciple!

After all, since the Feiyun Sect was founded, the threshold for True Disciple had never been lower than the True Condensation realm.

Ye Feng was the first exception.

"The Sect Leader is wise!" He quickly bowed in acceptance, already foreseeing the waves this order would stir within the sect.

Sure enough, when Yin Dang relayed the Sect Leader's command to the Inner Court, the entire Feiyun Sect was instantly thrown into turmoil.

Inner Court disciples gathered together, their faces full of disbelief as they argued.

"Did I hear that right? Ye Feng became a True Disciple? He hasn't even reached the True Condensation realm yet!"

"This is a first for the Feiyun Sect! When has anyone ever become a True Disciple without breaking through to True Condensation?"

"Don't be sour. Senior Brother Ye beat Zhao Yu, killed Li Yue in the secret realm, and drove off the Baiyang Sect people. His talent and strength speak for themselves—he deserves the True Disciple status!"

"Speaking of which, True Disciples can pick any cultivation technique or martial skill in the Martial Pavilion without restrictions. Senior Brother Ye is about to trade his old gear for a cannon!"

Amid the chatter, the disciples' address for Ye Feng quietly shifted from "Ye Feng" to "Senior Brother Ye," and no one questioned his qualifications anymore.

With enough strength, all privileges were deserved.

When Ye Feng learned of his promotion, he was in his small courtyard sorting through his gains from the secret realm. Surprise flickered across his face first, then he nodded in satisfaction: "This Feiyun Sect Leader knows talent when he sees it."

He had been worrying about lacking high-level techniques and martial skills to cover his weaknesses, and the True Disciple status came at just the right time.

Without further delay, he turned and headed straight for the Inner Court Martial Pavilion.

At the entrance of the Martial Pavilion, the Pavilion Guard Elder was dozing on the stone steps.

Seeing Ye Feng approach, he opened his eyes, a gratified smile spreading across his aged face: "Ye Feng, well done. Your trip to the Earth Sun Secret Realm didn't disgrace our Feiyun Sect."

"I owe it to you, Elder, for tipping me off about the Earth Sun Secret Realm back then. Otherwise, I'd have missed the opportunity." Ye Feng cupped his hands and thanked him sincerely.

The Pavilion Guard Elder waved a hand with a laugh: "That was your own skill, nothing to do with me. Coming to the Martial Pavilion now—you're here to pick techniques and martial skills, right?"

When Ye Feng nodded, he pointed to the second floor of the Martial Pavilion.

"Go to the second floor. The stuff on the first floor isn't for you anymore."

Ye Feng understood.

The first floor was the Inner Court disciples' area, with at most Mystic-grade High-rank techniques and martial skills—indeed not enough for him.

The second floor was the exclusive zone for True Disciples, sure to have higher-grade resources.

He cupped his hands to thank the Elder again, then stepped into the Martial Pavilion and climbed straight to the second floor.

Unlike the bustle of the first floor, the second floor was eerily quiet. There were only three bookshelves, neatly lined with about twenty technique manuals and over thirty martial skill scrolls.

Ye Feng picked up a technique manual and flipped through it. The cover boldly read "Mystic-grade Top-rank" in four large characters.

He opened another—it was an Earth-grade Low-rank martial skill!

"Definitely worth the trip." Ye Feng's lips curled into a slight smile, a plan already forming in his mind.

He didn't agonize over which one to choose. Instead, he walked to the first bookshelf, picked up a technique manual, and began skimming through it quickly.

All he needed was to roughly memorize the content in his head, then use the system to modify it, and he could master it directly—no need to spend time cultivating like ordinary disciples.

For the next three days, Ye Feng practically lived on the second floor of the Martial Pavilion.

He only left to eat and sleep; the rest of the time, he was flipping through techniques and martial skills, finishing one, tossing it back on the shelf, and grabbing the next.

The Inner Court disciples on the first floor saw Ye Feng's diligence and couldn't help but remark.

"No wonder he's Senior Brother Ye—just made True Disciple and he's already this hardworking. No wonder he's so strong!"

"Look at Senior Brother Ye—he reads each book for a bit and puts it down, like he can remember it all. Geniuses really do learn differently!"

"If only I had that kind of comprehension, I could have broken through sooner..."

No one knew that Ye Feng wasn't studying at all—he was recording.

In just three days, Ye Feng had already committed most of the second floor's Profound-grade top-tier cultivation techniques and martial skills to memory, modifying and mastering them through the system. Only one technique remained.

Earth-grade Low-rank Body Refining Art: Earth Fiend Technique.

Ye Feng picked up the Earth Fiend Technique and began to pore over it carefully.

This was exactly the Body Refining Art he had been searching for—one that could make up for his regret of not cultivating a high-level Body Refining Art during the Body Refining Realm.

After half an hour, Ye Feng had every detail of the technique etched into his memory, ensuring nothing was missed.

"System, modify the Earth Fiend Technique. Set the time to a hundred years later."

Ye Feng silently recited the command in his mind, and a familiar white light flickered faintly across his body.

He could clearly feel his understanding of the Earth Fiend Technique deepening at an astonishing speed, as if his muscles and bones were resonating in unison.

Mastering this Earth-grade Body Refining Art would undoubtedly elevate his martial foundation to a whole new level.