Defeat After Defeat

He turned and walked outside. "Where is he now?"

"Secluded in cultivation on Blazing Peak," Han Bing said. "There's been no movement for several days."

"Secluded cultivation?" Chu Wuyue paused. "Boring."

After thinking for a moment, he asked again, "Other than Qin Yuan, have any new faces appeared recently?"

"Ye Qingshuang, ranked sixth, and Su Lie, ranked eighth," Tie Zhan said. "Both advanced within the past six months. They're quite strong."

"Ye Qingshuang... Su Lie..." Chu Wuyue repeated the two names, battle intent gradually rising in his white pupils. "Where are they?"

"Ye Qingshuang is on Frost Blossom Peak, and Su Lie is on Blazing Sun Peak."

"Very good." Chu Wuyue grinned. "The one in seclusion can't be fought for now. I'll find these two and warm up first."

As his words fell, his figure flickered, and he had already vanished from the hall.

Han Bing and Tie Zhan exchanged a glance, each seeing the relief in the other's eyes.

"Senior Brother Chu, that battle maniac... has finally returned." Tie Zhan gave a bitter smile.

"Yeah." Han Bing wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "But that's good too. With him here, let him worry about Qin Yuan."

Frost Blossom Peak, snow drifted across the mountaintop.

This was the mountain of Ye Qingshuang, ranked sixth among the true disciples. Affected by the Ice Heart Art she cultivated, the entire peak was blanketed in ice and snow year-round, its temperature bitterly cold.

At this moment, Ye Qingshuang was cultivating within an ice palace.

She was a woman in white with a frosty, detached face. Pale blue ice crystals circled her body, and with every breath she took, cold air condensed into frost.

Suddenly, she opened her eyes.

The ice palace doors opened soundlessly. Chu Wuyue leaned lazily against the entrance, his white pupils studying her with interest.

"You're Ye Qingshuang?" Chu Wuyue asked.

Ye Qingshuang slowly rose, her expression solemn. "Senior Brother Chu."

"I heard you came from First Peak and are skilled in ice-based arts." Chu Wuyue walked into the ice palace. His bare feet stepped upon the ice without leaving a single mark. "Come. Fight me."

Ye Qingshuang frowned. "Senior Brother Chu, I..."

"Don't worry. I won't beat you to death." Chu Wuyue grinned, and his figure abruptly vanished!

Ye Qingshuang's pupils contracted. Her hands instantly formed seals, and the ice crystals around her shot forth, gathering before her into an ice wall three feet thick!

Yet the instant the ice wall took shape, a pale hand pierced through it and lightly pressed against her forehead.

The movement was as gentle as a caress.

But Ye Qingshuang's entire body stiffened. All her spiritual power instantly froze, and she could not even move a finger.

"Too slow." Chu Wuyue withdrew his hand, a trace of disappointment flashing through his white pupils. "Your ice can't freeze me."

He turned and walked outside. "Come find me when you can freeze my feet."

As his words fell, he had already disappeared.

Within the ice palace, Ye Qingshuang stood blankly in place. The palm print on her forehead slowly faded, but the shock in her heart remained impossible to calm for a long while.

Was this the strength of the number one true disciple?

Even her strongest defensive art could not block a casual strike?

Half an hour later, Blazing Sun Peak.

Su Lie, ranked eighth, was a red-haired young man with a fiery temper. He cultivated the Blazing Flame Sword Art. His mountain was the complete opposite of Frost Blossom Peak, hot as summer all year round, its rocks baked crimson.

When Chu Wuyue arrived, Su Lie was practicing his swordsmanship.

"You're Su Lie?" Chu Wuyue asked.

Su Lie sheathed his sword, his gaze blazing. "Senior Brother Chu! I've long wanted to learn from your superior techniques!"

"You have courage." Chu Wuyue nodded. "Come."

Su Lie let out a furious roar. His longsword left its sheath, crimson sword light surging three zhang as it slashed toward Chu Wuyue with heaven-burning flames! This strike contained all his strength; its sword intent was like fire, enough to melt gold and turn stone to liquid!

Chu Wuyue did not move.

He did not even look at the sword light.

He merely raised his right hand, extended one finger, and lightly flicked it at the oncoming sword light.

Ding—

A crisp ring sounded.

The crimson sword light shattered at once! Su Lie was struck as though by a heavy blow. His longsword flew from his hand, and he was sent hurtling backward, crashing through half a palace before coughing blood and collapsing to the ground.

"Your sword intent is too scattered, and your control over the fire is lacking." Chu Wuyue shook his head and turned to leave. "Come find me when you can condense the flames onto a single point at your sword tip."

Within a single day, the sixth and eighth ranks suffered consecutive defeats.

Once the news spread, the true disciple ranks were shaken once more.

"Senior Brother Chu has returned!"

"He's as strong as ever... Ye Qingshuang and Su Lie couldn't even take one move!"

"Now this will be interesting! Between Senior Brother Chu and Qin Yuan, who's stronger?"

"Definitely Senior Brother Chu! He's already touched the threshold of the Nascent Soul realm!"

"Not necessarily. That monster Qin Yuan can't be judged by ordinary standards..."

Amid the endless discussions, Chu Wuyue returned to his own Moonless Peak.

This mountain was peculiar. There was no distinction between day and night; it was forever shrouded in hazy moonlight. There was no palace at its summit, only a crude thatched hut. Before it lay a pool of clear water, upon whose surface a false moon was reflected.

Chu Wuyue sat beside the pool, his white pupils gazing at the water. Rarely, an expression of boredom appeared on his face.

"Ye Qingshuang is too slow, Su Lie is too scattered... neither is interesting." He murmured, "That Qin Yuan... when will he leave seclusion?"

Blazing Peak, within the main hall.

Qin Yuan was completely unaware of everything happening outside.

He had remained in seclusion for six consecutive days.

During those six days, he had not extracted even a single day of cultivation, storing it all away instead.

The system panel's storage bar was already full:

[Cultivation Storage: 200/200 years]

Two hundred years of cultivation!

That was equivalent to the accumulated bitter cultivation of an ordinary Golden Core cultivator for two thousand years!

"Almost there." Qin Yuan opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing through them.

Advancing from the advanced Golden Core stage to its peak required not only an accumulation of spiritual power, but also insight into the laws of the Great Dao. Fortunately, the Nine Revolutions Profound Origin Art was itself a cultivation method that pointed directly toward the Great Dao, while the Nine Revolutions Golden Core had laid a perfect foundation for him.

"Let's begin."

With a thought, Qin Yuan extracted all the stored cultivation.

Boom—!!!

Two hundred years of cultivation erupted with a roar, like a galaxy pouring backward, like heaven collapsing and earth splitting apart! Had the main hall's formations not been reinforced by Elder Xu, these spiritual power fluctuations alone would have been enough to shake the entire mountain to ruins!

Within his dantian, the Nine Revolutions Golden Core spun madly.

The originally dark-golden core began to undergo a qualitative transformation beneath the infusion of boundless spiritual power. The nine patterns on its surface gradually merged into an abstruse circular design, as though it contained the ultimate truths of heaven and earth. The Golden Core itself shifted from dark gold to pure gold, then from pure gold to transparency, before finally becoming an indescribable chaotic hue.

The ultimate Golden Core!

This was not an ordinary peak Golden Core realm, but a state in which the Golden Core had been cultivated to its theoretical limit! The quality of his Golden Core, the total amount of his spiritual power, and the strength of his Spiritual Sense had all reached the pinnacle attainable by Golden Core cultivators!

He had even... touched the threshold of the Nascent Soul realm!

Qin Yuan could sense that if he wished, he could attempt to form a Nascent Soul right now. Yet some instinct in the unseen told him—he was still missing something, the final opportunity.

"No rush." He suppressed the impulse and slowly withdrew his cultivation.

When all his spiritual power had settled, Qin Yuan's aura had become deep as an abyss. Sitting there, he seemed to have merged with the entire mountain and the whole world. He was clearly right before one's eyes, yet he gave off a vague, illusory feeling.

At the ultimate Golden Core realm, one returned to simplicity.

He opened his eyes. The chaotic color within them flashed and vanished, and they soon returned to clarity.

"It's time to leave seclusion."