At noon that day, the weather was bright and clear. Disciples from every peak of Yuntian Sect went about their duties in an orderly manner as usual. From time to time, streaks of light flashed across the sky as people flew past, exchanging greetings and nodding to one another.
On Qingyun Peak, Meng Fan leaned against a massive die, looking impatiently at Zhao Feng. “Are you going or not?”
Zhao Feng slowly packed up the little trinkets in his hands, trying to soothe the irritable Meng Fan. “Wait a bit longer. I need to take these things over to our junior brother.”
Meng Fan glanced sideways at the so-called “little trinkets” in Zhao Feng’s hands and was utterly speechless—fan pendants, sachets, jade ornaments… how could their junior brother possibly like any of that?
Noticing the disdain in Meng Fan’s eyes, Zhao Feng grew displeased. “I carefully selected all of these so our junior brother can use them as gifts for the female cultivators in the sect.”
Seeing Meng Fan freeze in place after hearing this, Zhao Feng kept packing while grumbling, “You guys really don’t care enough about him. He’s already sixteen—this is exactly the age when a young man starts to admire girls. But look at him: either cultivating alone or hanging around with us, never interacting with any female cultivators. If this keeps up, what will he do in the future? He’s going to need a Dao companion someday. Wenhua’s already lost his mind over Senior Brother Leng, so I won’t say anything about him—but our junior brother must have the right outlook. The harmony of yin and yang is the proper path of heaven.”
Meng Fan listened blankly to Zhao Feng’s endless chatter. In short, Zhao Feng wanted to encourage their junior brother to interact more with female cultivators in preparation for finding a Dao companion in the future. Seeing Zhao Feng still rambling on, Meng Fan cast him a sympathetic glance and silently turned to look toward Haotian Peak.
Senior Brother… someone’s about to poach your junior brother. You’d better come out of seclusion soon.
After a long while, Zhao Feng finally finished sorting and packing all the trinkets he had collected during his travels, intending to give them all to their junior brother. Meng Fan had originally planned to sit back and watch the show, but when he thought about how Senior Brother would react after coming out of seclusion, his conscience finally kicked in and he stopped Zhao Feng.
“Our junior brother won’t need these anymore. You’d better keep them for Wenhua.”
Zhao Feng looked at him in confusion. “Didn’t I say? These are for our junior brother to give to female cultivators. Why wouldn’t he need them? As for Wenhua, I’ve already bought him plenty along the way. It’s just that he’s completely obsessed with Senior Brother Leng—that’s why they’re useless.”
Seeing Zhao Feng’s firm belief that their junior brother needed to find a female cultivator, Meng Fan hesitated, then finally said, “Senior Brother and our junior brother are already in love with each other.”
“Oh,” Zhao Feng responded casually at first, then suddenly turned around in shock. “What did you say?”
Meng Fan repeated calmly, “Senior Brother and our junior brother are already in love with each other.”
Zhao Feng blinked, stunned on the spot.
That day, Zhao Feng was so overwhelmed that he did not accompany Meng Fan to Yilan Peak. After quietly putting everything away, he stepped out of the courtyard and once again saw his junior brother pestering their master, insisting on forming a Dao partnership with Leng Hanyuan. Thinking of how Meng Fan, Bai Qian, and Luo Shaohan were always together, Zhao Feng suddenly felt as if he had attained enlightenment.
Horrified, he replayed their past interactions over and over in his mind. On the spot, Zhao Feng decided that he must find a Dao companion as soon as possible—compared to male cultivators, he definitely preferred soft, gentle girls.
Unaware of Zhao Feng’s chaotic thoughts, Meng Fan had already arrived at Yilan Peak as part of his routine visit to their junior brother. Ever since Xiao Lingyu came out of seclusion, Meng Fan and the others had been taking turns visiting him. However, since Luo Shaohan and Xiao Lingyu did not get along, and Bai Qian had somehow offended Chu Mingwei and was being overworked with sect duties, the most free person—Meng Fan—ended up visiting the most often.
Meng Fan was extremely curious about how Bai Qian had offended their senior brother, but Bai Qian refused to say anything, and Meng Fan did not dare ask Chu Mingwei. He could only stew in curiosity.
Now, seeing their junior brother lively and well, Meng Fan gave his usual instructions: stay obediently on Yilan Peak, and if he needed to go out, he must inform them so they could accompany him.
Xiao Lingyu wore a docile smile, but inwardly he could only sigh bitterly. In truth, counting both lifetimes, he was older than Meng Fan. Being lectured daily by someone obviously younger than himself—even after years of pretending to be used to it—was still hard to endure. But knowing it was all out of goodwill, he could only repeatedly promise that he would not leave Yilan Peak.
Only after seeing Meng Fan off did Xiao Lingyu finally feel relieved.
The Old Ghost snickered gleefully. “Who told you not to reveal your true cultivation? If they knew you’ve already reached the Great Perfection of the Void stage, they’d be much more at ease.”
“Out of the ordinary invites suspicion—you understand that, don’t you?” Xiao Lingyu replied. “Senior Brother was hailed as the most outstanding disciple of Yuntian Sect and only entered the Core stage at twenty-five. I’ve cultivated for barely ten years and am already comparable to Meng Fan and the others. The Void and Core stages are a dividing line—once you reach the Core stage, you’ve truly stepped onto the path of longevity. If the Sect Master knew I’d already reached the Great Perfection of the Void stage, and with the demon clan incident happening… do you think he wouldn’t have other ideas?”
“You don’t trust Ling Xiaozi?” the Old Ghost asked curiously.
Xiao Lingyu gave a wry smile. “I trust my master and Senior Brother completely, yet I still keep things from them. Sometimes it has nothing to do with trust—just choosing the best option after weighing the pros and cons.”
After saying that, Xiao Lingyu fell silent, his mood sinking.
The Old Ghost looked at him quietly. From the ruthless, cold-hearted boy at the time of his rebirth to the softer, more compassionate person he had become now, the Old Ghost had witnessed it all. If it came to trust, he truly trusted Xiao Lingyu. But just as Xiao Lingyu said, some things were not about trust—only about the best choice.
With a sigh, the Old Ghost also fell silent.
Just as the man and ghost sat in wordless quiet, a thunderclap suddenly exploded across the sky above Yuntian Sect.
Wu Yunzi, who had been meditating inside Yilan Hall, immediately sensed something and appeared outside in a flash. Above Haotian Peak, what had been a clear sky moments ago was now filled with dark clouds, roaring winds, and flashes of lightning. Within the storm, there were faint signs of Nascent Soul formation.
Wu Yunzi instantly thought of Chu Mingwei, who was in seclusion, and was overjoyed. A Nascent Soul cultivator under forty had never appeared in the cultivation world before. Even if Chu Mingwei failed, he would still be the foremost among the younger generation.
At the moment the thunder struck, Xiao Lingyu had already rushed outside. Seeing the changes in the sky above Haotian Peak, his expression grew grave.
Senior Brother had only been in seclusion for two months. Even with the assistance of the Source of Thunder, attempting to break through to the Nascent Soul stage now was still too hasty. If he had waited a year, the breakthrough would have come naturally. Why would he rush like this?
Before Xiao Lingyu could think further, the Old Ghost spoke up, “Do you even need to ask? Your dear Senior Brother can’t bear to be apart from you, so he’s rushing to advance.” Seeing Xiao Lingyu’s worried expression, the Old Ghost added, “Don’t worry. The Source of Thunder is an ancient treasure, and your Senior Brother has a rare lightning spiritual root. With both combined, his breakthrough should be fine—he’ll just suffer a bit.”
Hearing this, Xiao Lingyu finally relaxed slightly.
Meanwhile, Wu Yunzi noticed his disciple’s worried expression and immediately thought of Chu Mingwei’s other identity—not just a brilliant disciple of Yuntian Sect, but also a scoundrel plotting against his precious disciple. Thinking that if Chu Mingwei succeeded, Ling Xiaozi would come to demand fulfillment of their previous agreement, Wu Yunzi’s expression became conflicted.
Xiao Lingyu misunderstood his master’s expression as envy toward the Sect Master for having such a talented disciple. He quickly composed himself and stepped forward obediently. “Master, I will cultivate diligently and strive to reach the Nascent Soul stage as soon as possible.”
Wu Yunzi, experienced as he was, easily saw through what Xiao Lingyu had left unsaid. His heart warmed, and he became even more reluctant to hand over such a good disciple to Ling Xiaozi. He resolved that if Chu Mingwei brought up the Dao partnership again, he would simply deny having promised anything.
As Wu Yunzi’s mood improved, Xiao Lingyu felt a trace of bitterness. In his previous life, he had brought no honor to his master and even caused his early death. This time, he would fulfill all of his master’s wishes.
At that moment, across the entire Yuntian Sect, all disciples had stopped what they were doing and were watching Haotian Peak.
A Nascent Soul cultivator under forty—everyone felt a sense of shared pride.
Ling Xiaozi stood before Haotian Hall and sighed softly. “Mingwei is still too impatient… Ah, love.”
Meanwhile, Leng Hanyuan, unlike most disciples, sincerely wished for Chu Mingwei to fail—or better yet, suffer qi deviation and die.
Yao Wu stood silently behind him, speaking gently, “Chu Mingwei is about to reach the Nascent Soul stage, while you haven’t even entered the Core stage. Do you really think you can still compete for the position of Sect Master?”
Cold fury twisted Leng Hanyuan’s face. “Don’t forget—we’re in this together. If we fail, none of us will survive.”
Yao Wu smiled faintly. “I wonder… if Wen Shaohua and Xu Xuan saw you like this, would they still admire you as before?”
At that moment, someone approached. In an instant, Yao Wu returned to his usual composed demeanor, while Leng Hanyuan’s expression shifted back to gentle elegance.
Inside the secret chamber, Chu Mingwei was drenched in sweat, biting his lip as he endured the chaotic, excruciating pain within his body.
All cultivators knew the five stages: Qi, Refinement, Void, Core, and Nascent Soul. The first three were foundational; Core marked the beginning of longevity, while Nascent Soul was the true step into it. At that stage, spiritual energy no longer merely circulated through meridians—it permeated the bones themselves, allowing the body to regenerate.
Others would prepare for years before attempting such a breakthrough. But Chu Mingwei, thinking of Xiao Lingyu, had forcefully shortened the process with the power of the Source of Thunder.
The pain was unimaginable.
Suddenly, the Source of Thunder in his hand flared brightly and rose into the air. A bolt of lightning struck—it shattered into countless points of light that enveloped his body.
As time passed, the light merged into him, and his pale face gradually regained color.
Another thunderbolt fell. A massive phantom appeared above Haotian Peak.
“He’s succeeded!” voices cried out.
The storm dissipated, sunlight returned, and joy spread across the sect.
Inside the chamber, Chu Mingwei slowly opened his eyes—faint lightning flickering within them.