Chapter 63

At this moment, many elders seemed to realize something; over the past two days there had indeed been rumors that the record on the Thunder Dao Stele had been broken, but they never imagined that it was actually Lin Wu Ren's record that had been shattered. Back then, Lin Wu Ren, while in the Body Tempering realm, continually pushed his limits, tempering his body with the essence blood of ferocious beasts, and also gained an opportunity, reaching this level. He only made it to the third stage before retreating with difficulty, because he had not yet reached Foundation Establishment and could not mobilize heavenly and earthly spiritual energy or employ martial techniques, etc. The elders had also once ventured into Leize and earned rewards; now their gazes all shifted toward Qin Yu, burning with enthusiasm, wanting to take him as a disciple. Qin Yu was still an inner‑door disciple, meaning he had not yet been taken as a personal disciple by a core elder and had not become a true successor, so they still had a chance.

The Grand Elder silently cursed, wishing he could slap to death the two true successors and the blue‑robed elder before him; they were so foolish, acting without checking first. Qin Yu will at least reach Lin Wu Ren's level in the future, and if he becomes a half‑step Venerable, he will be invincible. They actually provoked such an enemy, and moreover Qin Yu has just entered the Foundation Establishment realm; previously he had no exposure to alchemy, yet he is a heaven‑defying genius with top‑tier alchemical talent. Even without dual cultivation of pills and martial arts, he will easily reach the Earth rank later— the entire Profound Yang Sect has only one Earth‑rank pill master elder! The Grand Elder's qi and blood surged, nearly causing him to faint.

"Breaking the Thunder Dao Stele…… Body Tempering overcoming Foundation Establishment threefold……" Dongfang Yuan muttered, anger welling up in his eyes. It was unbearable; such a heaven‑chosen genius had inexplicably taken a stand against him— what is Qi Yu doing? This is nothing but needlessly making an enemy! Yet they still have to rescue these few people; otherwise, who would dare follow him in the future and oppose his senior sister? He can't even protect his own people— how can they trust him?

"Looks like we won't need to intervene anymore." Elder Hai shook his head. Li Xuan's expression went blank, he blinked slightly, and a bitter smile appeared on his face. A heaven‑chosen genius of this caliber will, in the future, be even more important to the Profound Yang Sect than I am. Even if I possess the innate fire‑spirit body, in the Body Tempering realm I can only break limits, reaching a strength of ten to thirty thousand catties, which already makes me a top talent in the current Profound Yang Sect, but compared to Qin Yu it's like the bright moon versus the stars— incomparable.

"How… how is this possible?" "The Law Enforcement Hall had already investigated; he is merely the top disciple of the outer sect, and even regarding Leize, no news had ever leaked." The blue‑robed elder, now half‑kneeling on the ground, turned deathly pale. Originally he had been confident, with the Grand Elder on his side and also Qi Yu's clan uncle; he didn't say victory was certain, but even when facing the Hall Master of Law Enforcement, Li Haoran, he believed he could retreat unscathed. But this… this is just too absurd! First Qi Tai, angrily deposing Qi Yu, and now even the Sect Master and Martial Elder are standing on Qin Yu's side— what kind of enemy have I provoked? And what sort of inner‑door disciple is this?! At this moment he wanted to cry.

"Buzz—!" Martial Elder moved, turning into a blurred afterimage; he swung his spirit sword, a cold light flashing, intending to behead these people on the spot to enforce sect rules. Of course… they could target anyone, but once the focus landed on Qin Yu, not only would he disagree, even the Sect Master and the Patriarch would object. Moreover, if this matter is mishandled, when the Patriarch recovers from his injuries in a few days and comes to see his disciple Qin Yu, he will surely have them strung up and beaten three hundred times!

"Show mercy…" the Grand Elder wanted to intercept, but at that moment the Sect Master's body exuded a terrifying aura that locked onto him. The Grand Elder's figure froze instantly, his hands clenched beneath his sleeves… Now his disciple would likely lose face completely, and in the future he could no longer vie for the position of Junior Sect Master; he could not intervene, because besides the Sect Master, Qi Tai and Li Haoran also wished to act, and if he dared to move he would be seized on the spot. The Grand Elder let out a faint sigh.

"Pfft!" Several streams of blood sprayed across the hall, and a head flew up. The blue‑robed elder's pupils constricted as his vitality rapidly faded, turning dim, but he could not comprehend why he had provoked an inner‑door disciple, drawing in so many sect powerhouses; he felt unwilling, and his hatred for his own disciple Qi Yu grew even stronger— if not for him, he would not have ended up like this today… alas, life gives no second chances.

All the elders present fell into a stupor, for they had not expected Martial Elder to actually strike with force, beheading two true successors and one elder— merely giving Qin Yu this youth an explanation. Inside the hall, a quiet stillness settled; only Lin An and the others trembled continuously. At this moment… we had guessed right! Qin Yu now has a firm foothold in the Profound Yang Sect; even Dongfang Yuan, the Grand Elder, and others pose no threat to him. Most crucially, the goodwill they have accrued is beyond measure.

Just then, an elder stepped forward lightly and coughed: "Cough, I had actually intended to take you as a disciple all along; I've merely been testing you." "Lin An, your bottleneck in entering the Spirit Realm has now completely loosened— you can break through at any time." "Would you be interested in becoming my closed‑door disciple?" He was an inner‑door elder, his status and rank hardly different from that of the slain blue‑robed elder; originally he had also been wavering, because Lin Xue had no intention of contending for the Junior Sect Master position, which could be disregarded, leaving only Li Xuan, Dongfang Yuan, and another true‑disciple as a tripartite balance. But now… never mind the others— Qin Yu currently has the most terrifying background behind him: the Sect Master, several core elders, plus his own talent; in a while, ascending to the peak is certain. If we take Lin An as a disciple, we would also have a connection there, and it would naturally follow, making us half‑aligned with the Sect Master and company, and we would gain the merit of following a dragon.

"Ah, having seen Elder Mu, I naturally agree!" Lin An overjoyed, he hurriedly performed the great ritual— three kneelings and nine kowtows— and accepted him as his master on the spot. One must know, this Elder Mu had been deliberating, for among the inner‑door disciples there were several whose strength matched his, and they also had cultivation‑family backgrounds; but because of Qin Yu's outstanding performance, this elder had made his decision, and he was deeply grateful.

Many elders reacted instantly— this old immortal actually thought of this so well; Lin An and Qin Yu have gone through life and death together, so their future relationship will certainly be extraordinary. The situation in the Profound Yang Sect for years has changed because of a newly promoted inner‑door disciple; the supporters of Dongfang Yuan's faction now all showed bitter smiles, sighing inwardly— the heavens of the Profound Yang Sect have changed.

At this moment, many neutral inner‑door elders turned their gazes toward the remaining ten or so inner‑door disciples. Naturally they also had their own criteria: only reaching the middle tier of the Mystic Rank qualified one to become their disciple. Lin Sheng had reached that level, and was a hot commodity— two or three elders messaged him, expressing their wish to take him as a disciple, leaving Lin Sheng dazzled. As for those whose qualifications were insufficient, they also prepared to recommend them to their own junior fellows to act as disciples on their behalf, which also counted as a connection.

Lin An and his group never imagined that their earlier pause and observation at Leize would become the event that changed their fate; they had never been sought after like this before.

Qin Yu, seeing this, also felt satisfied; the matter could be considered concluded. "It seems you already knew the outcome, so there was no need for me to intervene… and even if I mobilized connections, I might not be able to rescue you from the Law Enforcement Hall— that was just my boastful talk." "Who knows, perhaps I will still follow you in the future, hahaha." At this moment, Li Xuan stepped forward slightly, clasped his hands in a modest salute, and performed a bow. He had not expected Qin Yu's strength to be this astonishing; now he only felt his heart race, feeling quite embarrassed, as if he were a clown. "Still, thank you for the goodwill." Qin Yu then waved his hand; he wasn't too interested in the position of Junior Sect Master, and even the Sect Master was his own grandnephew, but he did have a slight fondness for Li Xuan— at the very least, from the very beginning he had intended to rescue him, even dispatching troops outside the Law Enforcement Hall, with elders present; whether it was cherishing talent or harboring other motives, the starting point was good.

Dongfang Yuan gazed at Qin Yu with a complex expression, wanting to say something—but… this matter had always been our side's fault, so he could only sigh. At that very moment… outside the hall, a cultivator drenched in blood, clad in black armor, stumbled through the doors, his aura feeble, his vitality ebbing. He weakly called out: "Sect… Sect Master, outside our garrison at Qingshi Jun, half a day ago an ancient ruin appeared, its aura rich, seemingly a heavenly‑tier treasure." "Because the phenomenon was astonishing, but a senior elder from the Wan Hai Sect happened to pass by, directly concealing the phenomenon and slaughtering our sect's cultivators!" "Three hundred and seventy… only I escaped!" "Please, Sect Master, send aid!" The elders' faces changed dramatically.