Claiming First Place

Moonlight shone like silver, and the bamboo grove swayed in dancing shadows.

Ye Xingchen sat cross-legged on the bed, his aura drawn tightly inward.

His thoughts sank, his consciousness reaching straight into his dantian.

That wisp of Primordial Purple Qi coiled at the center, surrounded by dense, heavy chaotic spiritual power.

With a flicker of divine sense, Ye Xingchen merged the Tai Chi Domain he had comprehended earlier with the Origin Heaven Yin-Yang Formation.

One focused on defense, the other on killing.

Bzzz—

A deep hum passed through the air, as though some immense weight had bent the strings of a zither.

Within his dantian, the black and white energies fused into that dusky grayness.

A fine layer of cold sweat seeped from Ye Xingchen's temples.

"Merge for me!"

His will became a blade and slashed down from the air.

A muffled boom like thunder erupted within his body, yet his flesh locked it down tightly, allowing not even a trace to leak out.

All rejection vanished into thin air at that instant.

An illusory scroll slowly unfurled behind him.

It was not an ordinary Tai Chi diagram with sharply distinct black and white halves, but a gray, eerie formation diagram that seemed capable of swallowing even light in one gulp.

The Yin-Yang fish drifted slowly within it. Every flick of their tails produced faint ripples in the surrounding space.

The Chaos Tai Chi Divine Diagram had formed.

Ye Xingchen suddenly opened his eyes. Deep within his pupils, that rotating diagram flashed and vanished.

He raised a hand and lightly drew through the air toward the rosewood table before him.

An exceedingly thin Yin-Yang Severing Line spiraled forth.

There was no wind, no sound of air being torn apart.

The wooden table remained standing there, utterly motionless.

Ye Xingchen extended one finger and gave it a gentle push.

Crash.

The rosewood table collapsed in an instant as if built from blocks, its cut surface smooth as a mirror.

"Yin-Yang Severing Line..."

By exploiting the displacement between Yin and Yang energies, it directly performed a physical division upon the "space" occupied by an object.

So long as the opponent's body could not withstand spatial displacement, they were simply a block of tofu waiting to be sliced.

And even better...

With a thought, the Tai Chi Divine Diagram behind him suddenly contracted, covering his body like an invisible garment.

The dense, heavy chaotic spiritual power, brimming with oppressive force, swiftly went dormant beneath the diagram's concealment. In the blink of an eye, it became an utterly ordinary fluctuation of spiritual power.

Ninth Layer of Qi Refining.

No more and no less, precisely matching the cultivation he had previously displayed to the outside world.

Unless some old monster several major realms above him forcibly searched his soul, anyone who looked at him would see only a slightly talented little rookie.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the courtyard.

Ye Xingchen's gaze shifted slightly, and the sharpness at his fingertips instantly dispersed.

"Elder Huang, please come in."

Creak.

The door was pushed open, and the night wind poured inside.

The visitor was none other than North Hall Elder Huang Zhen.

The moment Huang Zhen stepped one foot over the threshold, his whole body suddenly stiffened.

He looked at the youth seated on the bed, and his brow twitched uncontrollably.

Was this still the youth he had personally brought into the sect?

The instant his divine sense made contact, a chill actually ran up his back.

This was... the Qi Refining Stage!?

"Elder Huang, what brings you here so late at night?" Ye Xingchen asked curiously.

Huang Zhen came back to himself, forcibly suppressing the strange feeling in his heart as he laughed at himself.

He truly was becoming more useless with age, to be frightened by a child who had only recently entered the sect.

He closed the door behind him, then casually pulled over a chair and sat down.

He did not notice the pile of rosewood fragments shattered into dust on the floor.

"The Four-Hall Joint Selection begins in two months."

"I assume you already know."

"I do. It's to compete for the inner sect's 'core seed,' isn't it?" Ye Xingchen looked at Huang Zhen with a faint, knowing smile. "Elder, you came all this way in the middle of the night just to be a messenger?"

"For such a small matter, you could have sent any disciple to pass along the word. Why trouble yourself with making the trip personally?"

"A messenger?" Huang Zhen sneered. A rare trace of gravity appeared on his round, amiable face. "Can passing along a message make you understand how important this selection is?"

He leaned forward and lowered his voice. "I don't want you merely to pass the selection. I want you to represent North Hall and take first place."

Ye Xingchen raised a brow, leaned back comfortably against the bedpost, and said, "First place? It's only an empty title. Once we enter the inner sect, who cares what rank we held in the outer sect? Your vision is too narrow, Elder."

"I care!"

Huang Zhen's voice abruptly rose.

"This concerns whether I can enter the inner sect and become an elder with real authority!"

Ye Xingchen fell silent for a moment. His fingers lightly tapped against his knee, making a rhythmic tapping sound. "Go on."

Huang Zhen took a deep breath and calmed himself.

"This Four-Hall Selection is not just about choosing seeds. There's another key matter—an elder position with real authority has opened up in the inner sect, and all the hall elders have their eyes on it."

"The one competing with me from North Hall is that old bastard Shen Kuo."

"Shen Kuo?"

"Shen Yuan's biological uncle." A fierce glint flashed through Huang Zhen's eyes. "That old thing has long greased every wheel to push his nephew upward. Shen Yuan is determined to win this selection. As long as Shen Yuan takes first place, Shen Kuo can use that achievement to sit in that position as naturally as water flows downhill."

"If he gets that position..." Huang Zhen snorted coldly. "My days in North Hall will be over. And as for you—hmph, do you think the Shen Clan will let you have an easy time in the sect?"

Ye Xingchen understood.

What selection was this? It was a classic proxy war in the workplace.

Huang Zhen had treated him as his most important trump card in the outer sect, perhaps even his only chance to turn the tables.

"Shen Yuan is at the great completion of Qi Refining and is said to be breaking through to Foundation Establishment. Behind him stands a behemoth like the Shen Clan, pouring resources into him." Ye Xingchen looked at Huang Zhen, amusement curling at the corner of his mouth. "Elder, you have that much confidence in me? I'm only at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining—a weakling."

"Quit playing dumb with me."

Huang Zhen shot him an annoyed glare.

"Where did that wild arrogance of yours go at the Technique Hall that day?

I don't know what methods you're hiding, brat, but Huang Zhen's eye for people hasn't gone blind yet.

Shen Yuan is decent, and his talent is exceptional, but I've always felt... there's something more sinister about you, brat."

At this point, Huang Zhen paused. His tone became serious, even carrying a hint of the jianghu. "Besides, this is a deal. I give you protection, and you win me face. It's fair."

Ye Xingchen smiled.

He truly did not care whether he came first or second. Such empty prestige was no more than drifting clouds to him.

But Shen Yuan... if that fellow truly came looking for trouble over first place, Ye Xingchen would not mind teaching this young master of the Shen Clan what a beating from society felt like.

Besides, in this sect where the strong devoured the weak, having an inner sect elder with real authority as backing would indeed save him from the nuisance of many flies.

"Since Elder has put it that way, then I'll take first place."

Ye Xingchen rose to his feet. His tone was calm, but his eyes brimmed with confidence.

Huang Zhen stared at Ye Xingchen for several seconds.

"Good! No backing down!"

Huang Zhen stood and pulled three small white jade bottles from his robes.

"Inside are three Foundation Establishment Pills, along with one Blood-Burning Pill.

The Blood-Burning Pill is a one-use forbidden medicine with enormous side effects. Keep it for saving your life, and don't swallow it unless you have no other choice."

He looked deeply at Ye Xingchen, his expression complicated.

"Don't disappoint me. If you lose, the two of us will have to keep our tails tucked between our legs in the First Saint Sect from now on."

Having said that, Huang Zhen did not linger. He turned and pushed the door open to leave, his back carrying a trace of bleakness and resolve.

Ye Xingchen picked up the three jade bottles, removed their stoppers, and sniffed them.

The medicinal fragrance was rich, and their grade was not low.

"Old Huang really went all out this time."

He casually tossed the pills into his storage pouch. As for the Blood-Burning Pill meant for desperate situations, he did not even spare it another glance.

That kind of thing that injured the enemy by a thousand while damaging oneself by eight hundred—whoever used it was a fool.

He walked to the window and pushed open the lattice.

The night wind rushed in, blowing away the stifling air in the room.

The distant mountain peaks lay beneath the moonlight like slumbering beasts. A few scattered lights flickered in and out, like countless prying eyes.

"First place... not bad."

The corner of Ye Xingchen's mouth lifted slightly.