The Trueborn Son

As he picked up the longsword, a familiar thrum spread from within it.

"Most people in the Outer Mansion have pockets cleaner than their faces. Precious few can afford Law Artifacts.

Don't tell me this is another second-generation heir."

After inspecting the Law Artifact longsword in his hand, Qi Yun shrugged, gripped it, and refined it in an instant.

Whatever. Who cares if you're a second-generation heir?

Offending one is still offending someone; offending two is no different. When you're buried in debt, another debt doesn't weigh you down.

After feeding the magic sword to the Law Technique Panel, Qi Yun glanced up at the numbers on it.

One magic sword had increased [Basic Sword Qi]'s progress by less than 20%.

Like [Clear Breeze Technique], the higher its version level became, the more sharply the boost that spiritual objects and Law Artifacts provided to its update progress diminished.

Presumably, updating would only become harder further down the line.

Pursing his lips in thought for a moment, Qi Yun formed a Method Formula with his fingers. His body burst into air currents and vanished without a trace. His thoughts were actually clearer while concealed.

A problem remained a problem. Dwelling on it would not change that.

Rather than do that, he might as well take care of the present first.

There were priorities and degrees of urgency to everything.

Over the next few days, the entire [Mirage Thousand-Faced Realm] became a seething slaughterhouse.

Once all nine crystal keys had appeared and everyone had established that "death" merely meant being teleported out without suffering any harm, all the remaining Outer Mansion disciples cast aside their last shred of restraint.

They would not die anyway, so they might as well treat it as a battle of techniques with no holds barred.

The bloody struggle over the nine crystal keys that represented qualification to pass instantly reached fever pitch.

The crystal keys changed hands frantically among countless contenders, every brief claim to ownership accompanied by even fiercer ambushes.

Seizure, counterkill, seizure again... a cold, efficient cycle of death took shape.

The sounds of fighting, the explosive roar of Law Techniques, and defiant bellows before "death" echoed day and night through the labyrinth's countless twists and turns.

Like wheat being harvested, the figures dwindled, crop after crop.

Until the ninth day of the assessment.

Within the labyrinth, the nodes that had once ceaselessly pointed the way with pillars of light reaching into the heavens had now all gone dark.

The nine crystal keys, once hotly coveted and fought over by countless people, lay quietly on the ground, yet now no one showed any interest.

By this point, only the clever ones remained.

Whoever took a crystal key now would become the target of every arrow and inevitably be attacked by everyone.

They might as well save their strength instead.

Otherwise, all their hard work might merely sew someone else's wedding gown.

Tsk. Looks like there won't be a fight...

Over a hundred meters from the crystal keys, Qi Yun stood with both hands tucked into his broad sleeves, his body resting loosely against a crystal wall. A playful smile touched his lips as he watched with interest the dozen or so figures whose powerful presences held one another in check.

Good thing I grinded [Clear Breeze Technique] to version 6.0 before coming.

Otherwise, watching safely from the ramparts really wouldn't have been easy.

[Clear Breeze Technique 6.0: improves concealment while in clear breeze form; passively reduces the user's presence]

Every Holy Sect cultivator had eight tricks up their sleeve.

At this critical juncture, they were guarding not only against opponents they could see, but also against crafty old schemers proficient in illusory bodies and concealment.

Before this, several groups had already used various methods to inspect the surroundings, precisely because they feared someone might be watching from the ramparts.

Then, while the mantis stalked the cicada, the oriole would strike from behind and reap the fisherman's spoils.

Judging by the strength of those tracking methods, someone would probably need to be at least at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer, on Zheng Yi's or Zhou Hao's level, to have any chance of detecting my whereabouts-or use a Law Artifact specialized in this.

Otherwise, ordinary methods simply can't see through me in clear breeze form.

Quietly watching his Outer Mansion colleagues, all poised with swords drawn and bows bent, ready to fight for the crystal keys at any moment, Qi Yun remained perfectly relaxed.

"Nine keys, nine doors. It looks as though there are nine answers, but in truth..."

"There is only one answer."

Flicking her sleeve, Shen Fan spread out a divination board. Her fingertips moved over the Li, Kan, and Zhen palaces before suddenly hovering over the Xun position. She lightly smoothed the hair at her temple, then raised her cuff to dab the sweat from her forehead.

"In the Qian palace, bloody light surges toward the Dipper; in the Dui position, black clouds devour the moon.

Among the eight gates, Fright, Injury, Obstruction, and View are all steeped in death Qi, like frigid pools in the Nine Netherworlds. Whoever enters will have their soul frozen solid.

An interlocking formation of nine deaths, with only a single thread of survival.

There is nothing wrong with the nine keys or the nine doors.

The problem is that only by gathering all nine keys and using them together to open a single door can we find the true path to survival!"

"Gather all nine keys?" Du Yunian, who had been guarding her side all along, abruptly narrowed his pupils at her words. Instinctively turning his head, he looked toward the figure seated like a boulder off to one side.

There, a man with hair and beard tangled like a lion's mane, thick brows, broad eyes, and a mighty physique like a small mountain sat with his eyes closed, regulating his breathing.

Merely sitting there, he exuded a wild, fierce presence that struck one full in the face and made the heart tremble.

As though sensing Du Yunian's gaze, Yue Rong slowly opened his eyes. His pupils were an unusual bronze, carrying an indescribably untamed air.

"Finished calculating?"

Bracing his hands on his knees, Yue Rong rose. He stood nearly nine feet tall, and with his burly, filthy body, his sudden rise resembled a towering peak thrusting up from the earth.

"Yes. Once we gather all nine keys, we can open any one of the doors." Raising her glistening eyes, Shen Fan nodded lightly.

"Heh heh heh. Good. What are we waiting for, then? Let's go." At this news, Yue Rong showed no surprise. Instead, a look of delighted surprise appeared on his face.

It seemed this answer suited him perfectly.

Watching Yue Rong stride ahead, Du Yunian shrugged slightly and spoke quietly to Shen Fan beside him, his tone tinged with feeling:

"I thought that with you and me working together, the top place in this assessment would come down to a contest between us.

Who would have thought... we'd run into this one.

Tsk. Such are timing and fate."

Shen Fan's gaze followed Yue Rong's retreating back, her voice calm:

"Forget it. So long as we enter the inner court smoothly, the result is the same.

Besides, climbing onto the high branch of a True Person's own son will greatly benefit our future cultivation.

Especially when he's Black Mountain True Person's own son."

Shen Fan's words revealed a great secret.

This lionlike man was actually the biological son of a Foundation Establishment True Person of the inner court!

"True enough. Still, a True Person's own son really is extraordinary.

Twenty-two years old, at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer, and just one step away from advancing to the Qi Refining Sixth Layer.

The Outer Mansion hasn't produced a triple champion for several assessments now.

Looks like this time, it can only be him."

Though they were second-generation heirs as well, Du Yunian and Shen Fan suddenly felt much smaller beside Yue Rong.

After all, they were merely collateral blood descendants of True Persons, members of side branches touched by a little of their bloodline's glory. They could not inherit a True Person's power of bloodline origin, which was potent enough to transform one's aptitude.

Only someone like Yue Rong, a True Person's trueborn son, could inherit that precious bloodline origin.

On the long road to immortality, he possessed a starting point and potential far beyond his peers, destined to ride so far ahead that none could catch his dust.