Chapter 97

The entire Canglan Yu was shrouded in an invisible haze, with undercurrents surging beneath the calm surface. One powerhouse after another quietly emerged from the major Dao lineages, converging on Qingshi Jun without anyone's knowledge. At the same time, exquisite formations were meticulously set up, hidden between heaven and earth, like an invisible great net, waiting for all of the Xuanyang Sect members to step into the ancient ruins before triggering a bloody storm.

At this moment, Dongfang Yuan and his companions, on their way to Qingshi Jun, had already suffered several attacks, but they were also about to reach their destination.

Meanwhile, the Xuanyang Sect was in utter chaos. Many elders learned that the Grand Elder's party kept being ambushed, and even the commander of the Xuanyang Guard had unfortunately fallen, leaving them anxious and frantically searching for the sect leader Yang Hao and others. Yet they combed the entire sect to no avail. Even sending a message to the patriarch yielded no reply, like a stone sinking into the sea. At this moment, the Xuanyang Sect was leaderless, not even having someone who could make decisions.

Within Xuanyang Peak, the courtyard was completely sealed off, cutting off all information from the outside world. It turned out that Elder Wu and Yang Hao had spent the past two days immersed in the novel experience of tempering their bodies with the Lightning Dao formation, constantly trying things out, but they went too far, causing their cultivation to break through the bottleneck directly and now they are in a suppressed state. Meanwhile, the Great Sun Niepan Jie Ling is currently guarding Qin Yu's closed-door cultivation, knowing nothing about outside affairs.

Elder Wu and Yang Hao felt like crying but had no tears; they had never seen such a peculiar Lightning Dao formation body-tempering, and on a whim they kept experimenting, never expecting it to backfire. If it weren't for the Xuanyang Patriarch timely shielding the entire Xuanyang Peak, once the heavenly tribulation fell they would both have died on the spot. They clearly remembered how difficult it had been for Lin Wu Ren to pass the first three stages of the Venerable Tribulation—something ordinary people could hardly endure. Given their current state, if they rashly broke through without sufficient preparation, they would likely have their souls scattered by the third tribulation. After all, their strength still lags considerably behind that of Lin Wu Ren at the same realm. When Lin Wu Ren was at the body-tempering stage, he had already comprehended the mysteries of the human body, directly breaking through to a physical strength of thirty thousand catties, a feat hard for peers to match.

Now they can only anxiously await Junior Martial Uncle Qin Yu's emergence from seclusion; only then will the Great Sun Niepan Jie Ling awaken.

In an antiquated room of the courtyard, Qin Yu sat cross-legged on a yellow futon, his whole body seeming to merge with heaven and earth. Silvery-white lightning drifted slowly beside him, occasionally emitting low rumbles; to the left, blazing flames rose up, causing the room's temperature to spike dramatically, becoming scorching hot.

"Ha!" After a moment, Qin Yu slowly opened his eyes, a previously unseen powerful force surging within him, so intense he felt his body could barely contain it. At this moment, the spiritual energy in his dantian underwent a qualitative leap, completely transforming into fire-attribute spiritual energy and merging with the earth's core fire. Even casually stirring a thread of this energy made him sense its heaven‑shattering, earth‑crushing terrifying power.

【Following the advice of the Yang Heavenly Venerable, you studied the Heaven‑Burning Technique, replaced your spiritual energy, and reached the seventh layer of Foundation Establishment.】

【And thereby you grasped a minor accomplishment of the Fire Dao Intent.】

【Your physical strength reached ninety thousand catties, far surpassing that of peers.】

【The buff of unparalleled heavenly talent is about to fade.】

【Your Heaven‑Burning Technique will far surpass heavenly‑tier techniques; the technique will self‑perfect, repairing thirty‑six deficient spots, breaking through to the Dao tier, and will actively merge into your divine sense.】

System prompts rang out one after another in his mind; Qin Yu blinked slightly, his heart filled with shock. "Holy shit… this technique can actually auto‑evolve? And it directly reached the Dao tier? This is too heaven‑defying!" The corner of Qin Yu's mouth twitched; he never imagined his master's offhand suggestion would upgrade his cultivation technique by an entire level. Still, he knew this must not be exposed for now. With his current strength—only at Foundation Establishment—if word got out, the whole Cangyuan Jie would probably go mad. In just a few days of cultivation, not only did his realm break through, but his technique's grade also rose; it's truly astonishing.

Qin Yu secretly decided that once he became strong enough, he would hand this breakthrough technique over to his master to help the master increase his strength. After all, he currently lacks sufficient self‑defense ability.

"I never expected this improvement to be so huge; I directly broke through to the seventh layer of Foundation Establishment…" Qin Yu murmured softly, "And my spiritual energy has completely transformed; even against Dongfang Yuan I'd have a fighting chance. I hope the upcoming ancient‑ruins expedition will yield plenty of spiritual herbs and inheritance opportunities…"

Qin Yu exhaled a mouthful of turbid air, slowly rose to his feet, and crisp crackling sounds rang out from his whole body. Faint flames spurted from within him, drifting around his body and shedding a red divine radiance. His black hair hung loose; at this moment Qin Yu resembled a deity descended into the world, exuding a powerful and mysterious aura.

Immediately, Qin Yu pushed open the room's door and walked into the courtyard. The Niepan Jie Ling in the side room sensed the movement at once and instantly appeared in the courtyard: "Young master… is this the entry point of mastering the technique?" It could clearly feel the astonishing changes happening to Qin Yu; at this moment his whole body seemed to contain the immense energy of a great sun, ready to erupt at any time, terrifying to the extreme. The Niepan Jie Ling couldn't help but feel a jolt of heart‑pounding awe—this change could not come from a heavenly‑tier technique; it must be a Dao‑tier one, and of exceptionally high grade. It secretly wondered, "Does the Xuanyang Sect really only have Venerable‑level cultivators?" At that moment, the Niepan Jie Ling narrowed its eyes, countless thoughts flashing through its mind; the secrets of the Xuanyang Sect seemed far greater than it had imagined. Perhaps the young master's master truly possesses the strength to rival it.

"Junior Martial Uncle, you've finally come out of seclusion," Lin Wu Ren's figure gradually condensed, his expression anxious as he said, "Yang Hao and Martial Brother Wu are about to burst with rage right now." He added, "The lightning tribulation is about to be triggered." Lin Wu Ren knew well that the energy accumulated in those two was no less than what he himself had endured initially. If the lightning tribulation truly erupted, even the patriarch could not intervene, for the Venerable Tribulation already involves the laws of heaven and earth; once implicated, the entire Xuanyang Sect might be destroyed.

Qin Yu blinked slightly; without much thought he knew it must be the body‑tempering effect of the Lightning Dao formation that had boosted their cultivation, and he had inadvertently trapped himself. He gave a light cough and said to the Niepan Jie Ling Senior, "Senior Jie Ling, from now on… I can only rely on you."

The Niepan Jie Ling was overjoyed, feeling that these few members of the Xuanyang Sect were nothing but "great good people" helping it boost its favor. Having the young master ask for its aid gave it tremendous face, even sparking a desire to permanently reside in the Xuanyang Sect. Thinking of its future status in the Lightning Dao of the Cangyuan Jie, it believed it would only keep rising, and that all lightning Dao in the realm would eventually submit to it. Thus it declared boldly, "Since the young master has spoken, there's naturally no problem. However… I cannot overdo it; I can only block the Xuanyang Sect's curse! I hope the young master will understand." After all, this is a Venerable Tribulation, which certainly involves many connections; if it assisted as casually as before with Lin Wu Ren—adding various life‑lightning Dao buffs—it would surely be noticed.

"This is enough! Thank you, senior!" Qin Yu said gratefully.

At that moment, two excited voices came from outside the courtyard—Elder Wu and Yang Hao. They were on the verge of collapse, their spiritual energy surging uncontrollably upward; after their bottleneck was broken, they forcibly suppressed it, and their fleshly bodies were about to be shattered and completely destroyed by that force. At this instant, their hearts filled with emotion—indeed, at the critical moment they had to rely on the Junior Martial Uncle! Even the patriarch couldn't help in this situation; only the Junior Martial Uncle was dependable!