Hua Yuntian's body stiffened. As the terrifying, abyss-like pressure washed over him, an overwhelming wave of humiliation and powerlessness surged in his chest.
"Fine. When a man is under another's roof, he must bide his time and feign compliance. Once I master my divine art..."
He gritted his teeth, and with a bitter sense of shame, he dripped his blood onto the token to acknowledge its master.
The moment his blood merged with the token, he clearly felt an invisible shackle fasten around him—and his resentment toward Jiang Ling burned even hotter.
Reborn once, and he'd lost his freedom just like this!
Unable to stand against Jiang Ling, Hua Yuntian could only curse his own blind foolishness for joining this sect in the first place.
...
Having finally fixed the last of the sect's flaws, Jiang Ling was in an exceptionally good mood. He waved a hand and exchanged twenty Sect Welfare Packs from the system mall, distributing them to his disciples.
"This is the standard sect welfare for every disciple," he said. "Each pack contains a set of magical robes, a hundred Peiyuan Pills, a hundred Bigu Pills, and a hundred low-grade spirit stones."
Watching the sudden blaze of eagerness in his disciples' eyes, Jiang Ling smiled and encouraged them further. "From now on, every time you advance a realm, your welfare will rise with it. As long as you are loyal to the sect and diligent in your cultivation, the benefits will never stop coming!"
"Thank you, Sect Master!"
The disciples cheered, their voices loud enough to nearly blow the roof off.
A hundred Peiyuan Pills, a hundred Bigu Pills, and a hundred low-grade spirit stones just for joining the sect!
Even inner disciples in other sects would be lucky to get such treatment, let alone outer ones!
Joining the Primordial Beginning Sect was the best decision they'd ever made!
With everything back on track, the disciples devoted themselves to cultivation every day. Before long, some had drawn in spiritual energy and officially stepped onto the path of the Dao.
And with the hundredfold amplification effect, Jiang Ling's cultivation had also risen a little, reaching the peak of the first layer of Nascent Soul.
There was no helping it, though. The strongest disciple he had was Jincancan, who was only at the second layer of Foundation Establishment—hardly enough to give a meaningful boost to a Nascent Soul cultivator.
As for Hua Yuntian, once his most promising disciple, he was still lingering at the third layer of Qi Refining, though his aura had grown steadily thicker.
Clearly, the man intended to stick to his path to the bitter end, unshaken by any external temptations.
Jiang Ling was genuinely impressed—and completely gave up on nurturing him. He turned his attention to Jincancan and Ye Qingshuang, leaving Hua Yuntian to his own devices.
But all that was yet to come.
...
Jiang Ling had thought that killing a single provoking cultivator in a small city like Blackstone would be a trivial matter.
But he had underestimated the background of that Cloud Mist Sect cultivator.
The Foundation Establishment cultivator from Cloud Mist Sect whose head the Scarlet Sun Demon Sage had crushed was named Yun Chen.
He was no ordinary disciple—he was the beloved grandson of Cloud Ji Zhenren, the Golden Core ancestor of the Eighth-Rank Cloud Mist Sect!
He was also the only son of Yun Tianxiong, the current sect master of Cloud Mist Sect!
Cloud Mist Sect was located in the Cloud Mist Mountains, three hundred li north of Blackstone City. Guarded by a Golden Core ancestor and boasting more than a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators, it was a dominant force within a thousand li radius.
When news of Yun Chen's soul token shattering reached the sect, the entire Cloud Mist Sect erupted in fury!
"Chen'er! My Chen'er!!!"
Sect Master Yun Tianxiong clutched the broken soul token, letting out a heart-wrenching roar, his eyes blood-red with rage. "Who? Who killed my son?!"
Soon, the disciples who had accompanied Yun Chen to Blackstone City came forward and confessed: the killer was from the Primordial Beginning Sect.
A bald brute had crushed Senior Brother Yun's head in the middle of Blackstone City, in full view of everyone!
"Primordial Beginning Sect? That dying ragtag bunch?"
Yun Tianxiong could barely believe his ears. "How dare they!?"
"Sect Master, calm your anger!" an elder urged. "According to the disciples who fled back, that bald man's strength is terrifying—he seems to be a body cultivation expert, able to kill a Foundation Establishment disciple in an instant! This matter is likely..."
"Likely what? Am I supposed to let my son's death go unavenged?!" Yun Tianxiong raged, driven half-mad. "Whoever he is, he dared to kill my son! I want the Primordial Beginning Sect wiped out to the last man! Father, you must avenge Chen'er for me!"
From the forbidden grounds at the back of the mountain, a powerful Golden Core pressure erupted with a thunderous boom.
Cloud Ji Zhenren, who had been in seclusion, broke through his meditative state and stepped out, his old face dark enough to drip water.
His most beloved grandson, killed by someone from a lowly, unranked sect that was barely clinging to existence?
"Good! Very good, Primordial Beginning Sect!"
Murderous intent blazed in Cloud Ji Zhenren's eyes. "Dare to touch my grandson—this old man will let you taste the wrath of a Golden Core cultivator, where a hundred li lay strewn with corpses! Tianxiong, gather all our men! We march on the Primordial Beginning Sect with me, and we leave no chicken or dog alive!"
In the eyes of Yun Tianxiong and his father, an Eighth-Rank sect against an unranked one was an absolute slaughter.
The advantage was entirely theirs—they needed no strategy at all.
The next day, sword light whistled across the sky above Cloud Mist Sect.
Led by Cloud Ji Zhenren, Yun Tianxiong, three Foundation Establishment elders, and dozens of elite Qi Refining disciples flew forth, their auras thick with killing intent, heading straight for the Primordial Beginning Sect!
Their murderous aura blazed as they passed, alarming countless onlookers.
"It's the Cloud Mist Sect! What's happened?"
"Look! That's Ancestor Cloud Ji, and Sect Master Yun too! This is big—something terrible must have happened!"
"I heard Young Master Yun was killed by some fool who didn't know his place! They're off to take revenge!"
"Really? That's... awesome! Oops, I mean—let's hurry and follow to watch the show!"
Word spread like wildfire, and a huge crowd swarmed after them, eager for the spectacle.
...
At the Primordial Beginning Sect.
After their initial shock and excitement, the eight new outer disciples had been put to work by Zhang Tieniu, the outer sect steward.
Every day, they toiled to cultivate the spiritual fields and clean the courtyards, and spent the rest of their time in cultivation.
Clutching their newly acquired Welfare Packs, they worked with renewed vigor and cultivated tirelessly. In just two days, two of them had successfully drawn in spiritual energy.
Ye Qingshuang, however, was like a silent block of ice.
She held her cloth doll close every day, secluding herself in the Ten Thousand Immortals Abode to cultivate.
When she occasionally emerged, a faint strand of spiritual energy, tinged with the aura of devouring, swirled quietly around her.
Ever since he had dripped his blood to acknowledge the sect token's master, the feeling of invisible bondage had coiled around Hua Yuntian's heart like a poisonous snake, making him unable to eat or sleep in peace.
When he did appear, his gaze toward Jiang Ling was filled with bitter resentment.
In his mind, Jiang Ling's decision to bestow immortal-tier techniques on Jincancan and Ye Qingshuang, yet deliberately pass him over, was blatant favoritism. Every time he thought about it, his resentment grew deeper.
As for the words of the Scripture Pavilion's spirit—about abandoning his past and seeing himself clearly—he had thrown them all to the wind.
Chirp!
Jincancan held its golden head high, strutting around the sect grounds like it owned the place with an arrogant swagger. As it passed Hua Yuntian, it shot its beak forward and gave his taut rear a vicious peck!
"Agh! You beast!"
Hua Yuntian jumped in pain, his handsome face contorting. Even his Tribulation Transcending state of mind couldn't suppress the physical and mental humiliation. He instinctively gathered spiritual energy to strike back—
Completely forgetting that he was only at the third layer of Qi Refining, a full great realm lower than Jincancan.
Hm?
From a distance, Jiang Ling's eyes swept over them, cold and unblinking.
Hua Yuntian forcibly choked back the spiritual energy that had surged to his fingertips, his face turning purple with the effort. He could only glare fiercely at Jincancan and storm off with a flick of his sleeves.
Unbearable humiliation! But he had to endure it!
In this godforsaken place, even a chicken could ride him and walk all over him!
He channeled all his unspent resentment into his slow, painstaking cultivation, and his aura at the third layer of Qi Refining grew ever thicker and more solid.