"Brother Xiaoyu, do you remember?"
Tian Ling'er's voice was soft, yet filled with resolve.
"Six years ago, when you first joined Morning Sun Peak, you broke through the first layer of the Jade Purity Realm in just half a year, and reached the second layer within a year. Everyone said you were the Green Cloud Sect's future hope."
"But it's been six years—six whole years—and you've remained stuck at the second layer of the Jade Purity Realm, without making the slightest progress."
A scarlet ribbon flew from Tian Ling'er's waist and circled around her.
It was Big Bamboo Peak's magical treasure, the Amber Vermilion Ribbon.
"But I've already broken through to the fourth layer of the Jade Purity Realm."
The girl's voice carried a note of pride.
A magical treasure leaving its owner's body and flying through the air—that was the hallmark of the fourth layer of the Jade Purity Realm, the Object-Driving Realm.
Li Xiaoyu watched the flying red ribbon in silence, his expression still calm.
He knew Tian Ling'er was telling him that the gap between them had grown too wide to bridge.
Tian Ling'er recalled the Amber Vermilion Ribbon. "My father says the path of cultivation is like rowing upstream: if you don't advance, you fall behind."
"My future Dao companion must be an exceptional hero, someone who can stand beside me above the clouds and look down upon all living beings."
"Not a mediocrity who's stopped making progress."
"Brother Xiaoyu, we're no longer on the same path."
Her words cut deep, trampling Li Xiaoyu's dignity beneath her feet.
But Li Xiaoyu remained silent, only tightening his grip on the gourd.
Seeing that he still wouldn't say a word, Tian Ling'er hardened her heart and took a gleaming bead from her robes.
The bead gave off a gentle glow.
"Brother Xiaoyu, do you know what this is?"
"It's called a Cooling Bead. Senior Brother Qi Hao of Dragon Head Peak gave it to me."
"The weather's so hot, and it's just right to keep in my clothes against my chest. It may not be some divine weapon, but Senior Brother Qi Hao went out of his way to ask his master for it for me."
"I heard his master found it by chance while wiping out a band of Demon Sect fiends. It had been kept in their treasury for a long time."
"Senior Brother Qi Hao went to all that trouble for me. What have you ever done for me in all these years?"
"All you ever do is hold out that busted gourd and ask if I want a drink."
Li Xiaoyu's face flushed at her words, but he still said nothing. His hand tightened around the gourd once more.
Seeing this, Tian Ling'er slapped the gourd out of his hand and decided to lay everything on the line.
"Li Xiaoyu, can you give me a straight answer or not?"
"We're no longer on the same path!"
"What's the point of clinging to me like this?"
"Yes, you used to be an unrivaled genius, but you're useless now. Even Xiao Fan has surpassed your Cultivation. Do you really think you're still worthy of me?"
"Just agree to it, and we can at least part with some dignity."
Li Xiaoyu finally broke his silence and gave a self-mocking laugh.
"You're right."
He nodded slightly. "I'm not worthy of you."
"From now on, we go our separate ways."
Li Xiaoyu said no more. He picked up his busted gourd and turned toward the foot of the mountain.
The setting sun stretched his shadow long, leaving him looking utterly desolate.
Tian Ling'er stood where she was, watching him walk away. For a long time, she didn't move.
She knew that from this day on, they would belong to two different worlds, with no further ties between them.
Deep in the maple grove not far away, a figure stood motionless, having witnessed the whole scene.
Shang Zhengliang watched Li Xiaoyu's retreating figure, his eyes full of heartache and sadness.
He remembered the day, six years ago, when he had first discovered Li Xiaoyu.
Back then, the boy had been extraordinarily clever, grasping everything at a glance. His understanding of the Taiji Profound Clarity Path had surpassed that of many disciples who had cultivated for decades.
For a time, he had thought he'd found a peerless genius who could finally bring glory to Morning Sun Peak.
But who could have imagined that after shining brilliantly for an instant, this shooting star would quickly fade?
"Alas, poor boy. What a shame. In the end, the path of cultivation depends on oneself."
Shang Zhengliang let out a long sigh.
"But..."
A cold glint flashed in Shang Zhengliang's eyes.
"Well, well, Tian Buyi!"
"That deadbeat fatty hasn't had a beating in ages!"
"Hmph!"
He turned and left.
Li Xiaoyu didn't return to his lodgings.
He went to a cliff on the back mountain of Morning Sun Peak.
The place was rarely visited, with only the howling mountain wind and the endless Sea of Clouds for company.
He untied an ordinary wine gourd from his waist, pulled out the stopper, and tipped it back for a long swig.
The fiery liquor slid down his throat and into his belly, burning all the way.
"Six years."
Li Xiaoyu murmured to himself, sorrow flickering in his eyes.
Six years ago, he had been an orphan when Shang Zhengliang brought him to Green Cloud Mountain.
In the early stages of his Cultivation, he had displayed astonishing talent.
But after breaking through to the second layer of the Jade Purity Realm, no matter how hard he tried, his Cultivation never advanced again.
It was as if a shackle had locked him firmly in place.
He took another long swig, letting the night wind toss his long hair.
Tian Ling'er's words echoed again and again in his mind.
"We're no longer on the same path."
"A mediocrity who's stopped making progress."
It would have been a lie to say he wasn't angry.
But he wasn't angry over Tian Ling'er's betrayal or her humiliation.
What truly filled him with resentment was himself!
His own stagnation over the past six years!
The frustration and fury of possessing a mountain of treasure yet being unable to dig into it!
Why?
Why was this happening?
"Ahhh!"
Li Xiaoyu threw back his head and roared, releasing the pent-up anguish in his heart.
He drank the fiery liquor one swig after another, as if trying to get himself drunk.
But strangely, the more he drank, the clearer his mind became.
The heat inside him gradually faded, and an unprecedented sense of serenity and tranquility followed.
He seemed to enter a wondrous state in which self and world became one.
The wind around him, the churning Sea of Clouds, the insects chirping in the woods—all came into sharp focus.
He could even feel the spiritual energy of heaven and earth flowing into his limbs and bones with every breath.
The wine gourd in his hand seemed to have changed somehow, too.
He had been drinking for a long time, yet the wine inside seemed never to run dry.
And as he kept drinking, streams of pure warmth began to rise from deep within his dantian.
This warm current was a hundred times purer and a thousand times more powerful than the spiritual energy he had cultivated through the Taiji Profound Clarity Path!
It flowed into his parched meridians like rain after a long drought.
Boom!
An invisible roar exploded in his mind.
The bottleneck that had tormented him for six years—the barrier at the second layer of the Jade Purity Realm—shattered!
The third layer of the Jade Purity Realm!
But that was only the beginning!
The pure warm current continued surging from his dantian, driving his Cultivation forward in a triumphant rush.
Midway through the third layer!
Late in the third layer!
The peak of the third layer!
Boom!
Another tremendous crash!
The fourth layer of the Jade Purity Realm!
Li Xiaoyu snapped out of the wondrous state, his face filled with shock.
He could clearly feel the spiritual energy surging through his body. It was more than ten times stronger than before!
At a thought, a loose stone at his feet rose into the air and hovered before him.
Object-driving!
That was the hallmark of the fourth layer of the Jade Purity Realm!
"What in the world is going on?"
Before you continue