Myriad Dragon Divine Sovereign

Chuu Qi’s eyes fixed on Wen Qingye as he said slowly, ”This is what Meng Yiyu told me. It’s almost certainly true.”

The moment Chuu Qi finished speaking, all eyes turned to Wen Qingye.

Wen Qingye met their gazes without flinching, then nodded with a smile. ”He’s not wrong. My meridians are indeed fractured, they just haven’t completely burst.”

With that, Wen Qingye held out his arm for all to see. In an instant, they could make out the meridians beneath his skin.

The meridians were covered in a dense web of fissures, looking as if they might shatter at any moment.

Silence.

The crowd fell utterly silent. You could hear a pin drop.

Qin Wuya’s expression turned grim, and he let out a heavy sigh.

”This... this...” Qii Yue said in disbelief. ”So many of his meridians are fractured, and the damage is so severe. How much Origin Water would it take to repair them? Even if all the Sects in the Eastern Profound Domain pooled their resources, it wouldn’t be enough to heal Wen Qingye.”

Since ancient times, damaged meridians had always been a lifelong affliction. With the main meridians in Wen Qingye’s arm suffering such severe trauma, the rest of his body couldn’t be in much better shape.

The peerless genius who once had a limitless future, ranked eleventh on the Cyan Cloud List, had now fallen.

Situ Yun shook his head and sighed, ”He’s crippled. What a pity.”

Chuu Qi looked at the meridians on Wen Qingye’s arm, frowned, and said, ”In less than three years, his meridians will be unable to withstand his rapidly advancing cultivation and will inevitably burst, killing him. The faster his cultivation improves now, the faster he will die. If he stops cultivating, he might live a little longer.”

Hua Lie shook his head and smirked. ”I wonder if you two are still interested in taking him as a disciple now.”

Qii Yue and Situ Yun immediately fell silent. They had planned to take Wen Qingye as their disciple, naturally because they valued his potential. But now, it seemed Wen Qingye had no potential at all.

Such is the fickle nature of the world, and the shallowness of the human heart.

Wen Qingye gave a slight smile and said, ”I thank you both, Peak Masters, for your kind intentions, but I intended to join Life Peak all along.”

When the crowd heard this, many shook their heads, feeling it was a great pity. Of course, many others rejoiced in his misfortune, secretly delighted.

What kind of place was Life Peak? Everyone knew perfectly well.

Zhou Ming let out a heavy sigh. ”I never imagined Brother Wen’s injuries were so many times worse than my own. Fate is a cruel mistress. If I ever get the chance, I’ll be sure to help him.”

Hearing Zhou Ming’s words, Yann Xiangyang watched Wen Qingye standing tall and unwavering. He showed no sign of loneliness or grief, yet for some reason, a pang of sadness struck Yann Xiangyang’s heart.

The Steward from Life Peak was taken aback for a moment before slowly stepping forward. He looked at Wen Qingye and said, ”Since you wish to join Life Peak, we certainly won’t turn you away. Come with me.”

Wen Qingye nodded and moved to the Life Peak Steward’s side.

No one else spoke. They simply watched in silence as the pair vanished from view.

「Meanwhile, atop Cyan Cloud Peak in the Taiyi Cloud Sea.」

The name ranked eleventh on the Cyan Cloud List abruptly vanished, fading away as if it had been completely wiped out.

”Could it be... that Wen Qingye is dead?” the Elder guarding the Cyan Cloud List exclaimed joyfully as he stared at the list.

Historically, when a name suddenly disappeared from the Cyan Cloud List, there were only two possibilities. The first was that the person had died. The second was that their Bone Age had reached fifty, automatically removing them from the ranking.

’I know Wen Qingye’s age. He’s not even thirty. For his name to suddenly disappear, there’s only one possibility... he’s dead.’

.......

「On Life Peak, one of the Seven Peaks in the Celestial Profound Mountain Domain.」

The mountain face was lush and green, overgrown with flourishing plants. Numerous Cave Mansions could be spotted tucked away in concealed locations. The mountain’s forests were incredibly dense, containing many rare Spirit Grasses and Spirit Woods.

The entrances to these Cave Mansions were protected by simple Arrays—some were Illusion Arrays, while others were used for Gathering Spirit.

”My name is Zhang Dong,” the Life Peak Steward said slowly. ”Life Peak has many restricted areas, which I’ll explain to you in detail shortly. We don’t have many disciples, so you’re free to choose any Cave Mansion you wish. However, it would be best to select a relatively safe spot.”

”As you can imagine, some of the older generation are eccentric and unpredictable. You should be fine as long as you’re careful, though. They rarely leave their seclusion. I hardly ever see them myself. To be honest, I don’t even know for sure how many people we have on Life Peak.”

Wen Qingye nodded. ”I understand. Thank you, Senior Brother Zhang.”

Zhang Dong smiled. ”Don’t stand on ceremony. We have so few disciples on Life Peak, it’s all the more reason we should help one another. I’ll take you to choose your Cave Mansion now.”

With that, Zhang Dong led Wen Qingye deeper into Life Peak. After the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, Wen Qingye finally chose a Cave Mansion and settled in.

According to Zhang Dong, this Cave Mansion had been used seventeen years ago by an expert from Chaotian Peak. Later, that person grew too old, his cultivation stagnated, and he eventually passed away in meditation.

Zhang Dong also told Wen Qingye to get ready, as in ten days he would need to go to the Life Hall to be accepted by a master.

This ”acceptance by a master” was a rite of passage for every Core Disciple. Essentially, it was the process by which Core Disciples formally took an Elder from one of the Main Peaks as their master.

The most critical elements for cultivation are Magic, Companions, Wealth, and Land. Once you have a good Cultivation Method, you naturally need a guide. Moreover, the level of attention a Core Disciple received varied greatly depending on which Elder or Peak Master they studied under.

These ten days were for Wen Qingye to prepare.

Wen Qingye entered the Cave Mansion and found it to be quite impressive. It had separate rooms for Alchemy, for refining Magical Artifacts, and for resting.

’The Coffin Fungus is filled with a dense, sinister yin aura. I need to purge that, then I can slowly absorb its essence. It’s sure to push my cultivation to the next level. I’ll just have to be careful to protect my meridians when I break through.’ Wen Qingye took out the Soul-Sealing Bottle. A biting cold emanated from it, and droplets of condensation formed on the bottle’s surface.

The Ice Python sounded worried. ”I can sense an incredibly rich Essence within this Coffin Fungus. With a foundation as solid as yours, you might break through several realms at once. But your meridians... are you certain they can handle that?”

Wen Qingye just smiled. ”Don’t worry. I might not know how I’ll stop my meridians from bursting in three years, but I have a way to manage for now. Besides, that isn’t the most pressing issue. What’s most urgent is that I need to gather a large amount of materials to forge a sword.”

As he spoke, Wen Qingye slowly walked toward the room used for refining Magical Artifacts.