Shenxiao Palace
The next day
Early that morning, just as Yun Che finished a round of circulation, light, familiar footsteps sounded outside the courtyard, followed by a crisp knock and a call as clear as an oriole singing from the valley:
“Brother Yun, are you there? Ruoyi is here~”
Hearing that voice, a gentle smile appeared on Yun Che’s face.
Shenxiao Palace had seven peaks: Jade Pivot Peak, Xuanji Peak, Thunderclap Peak, Lightning-Snatching Peak, Great Bamboo Peak, Verdant Jade Peak, and Purple Firmament Peak.
Purple Firmament Peak, where the palace lord of Shenxiao Palace resided, stood above all the others. It was the place where the palace lord cultivated in seclusion and made sect decisions, symbolizing Shenxiao Palace’s supreme authority.
Ye Ruoyi was his childhood sweetheart in this world. They came from the same place and entered Shenxiao Palace in the same year.
The difference was that Yun Che blended into the crowd and struggled at the bottom of Great Bamboo Peak.
By contrast, Ye Ruoyi possessed rare ice-type heavenly spiritual roots and extraordinary aptitude. Not long after joining, she caught the eye of Master Xuanji, the peak lord of Xuanji Peak, one of the seven main peaks. He directly accepted her as a true disciple, instantly making her one of the sect’s most dazzling favored daughters of heaven.
Even so, Ye Ruoyi had never looked down on him. Instead, she often made time to visit him and brought pills or cultivation insights.
That friendship was a rare warmth in this cold world for Yun Che.
“The door isn’t locked, Ruoyi. Come in.” Yun Che stood up, brushed the dust off his clothes, and walked toward the courtyard gate.
With a creak, the wooden door opened. A girl dressed in the water-blue true disciple robes of Xuanji Peak stood prettily at the doorway.
She looked about sixteen or seventeen, with skin fair as snow, brows and features like a painting, and a pair of autumn-water bright eyes that shimmered with life. Her bearing was clear and refined, like an orchid in a secluded valley.
“Brother Yun!” Seeing Yun Che, Ye Ruoyi’s eyes lit up, and she quickly walked in.
However, just as she stepped into the courtyard, several sour, sarcastic voices came from the road outside.
“Oh? Who do I see? Isn’t that Junior Sister Ye from our Xuanji Peak?
“Come to see your Brother Yun Che again?” A male inner-sect disciple with a somewhat mean face laughed loudly, and two or three fellow disciples with equally mocking expressions stood beside him.
“Tsk, tsk. Junior Sister Ye really is loyal and righteous.
“What a pity that some people are hopeless mud that won’t hold a wall, wasting Junior Sister Ye’s kind intentions for nothing.”
“He hasn’t even reached the peak of the Qi Refining stage after all these years; I’m afraid he’ll never reach Foundation Establishment in this lifetime!” another disciple cut in, deliberately sweeping his gaze over the shabby courtyard and Yun Che standing inside it, his face full of disdain.
When Ye Ruoyi heard that, her pretty face instantly flushed red. She spun around sharply and glared at those few people. “Zhao Zhi, Wang Meng! You are not allowed to speak about Brother Yun Che like that!
“Brother Yun Che is just… just a late bloomer! I have seen all his hard work with my own eyes!”
“Hard work? Ha!” The mean-looking male disciple named Zhao Zhi seemed to have heard the world’s greatest joke. “In cultivation, aptitude is everything!
“If hard work really worked, the old yellow oxen at the foot of the mountain would have become immortals long ago!”
“Junior Sister Ye, I advise you to wake up and stay away from this trash, lest he ruin your future and stain your reputation.”
“Exactly. A coward who only hides behind women is still worthy of being called a cultivator?” Wang Meng folded his arms and sneered. He even deliberately raised his voice, causing several passing disciples to stop and look over, pointing at Yun Che’s courtyard.
Yun Che watched quietly, his face expressionless.
If this had been a few days earlier, he might have felt humiliated and angry, but at this moment, after experiencing possession by a Nascent Soul big shot and breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage himself, his state of mind was already different.
To him, the mockery of these peak Qi Refining disciples sounded like dogs barking and could hardly stir a ripple.
He noticed that Ye Ruoyi was trembling slightly with anger, her small hands tightly clutching the hem of her clothes, her eyes already a little red. It was obvious she felt immense grievance and anger on his behalf.
“Ruoyi, there is no need to be angry.” Yun Che stepped forward, gently patted Ye Ruoyi on the shoulder, and spoke in a calm voice.
Ye Ruoyi turned her head, her eyes glistening with tears and even more worry, afraid that Yun Che would not be able to bear such humiliation.
Yun Che gave her a faint smile, signaling for her to relax. Then he stepped forward and calmly swept his gaze over the people outside the courtyard led by Zhao Zhi and Wang Meng.
“Finished?” Yun Che’s voice was not loud, but it carried a strange penetrating force that inexplicably quieted the disciples who were still laughing.
Zhao Zhi felt somewhat uncomfortable under that calm gaze and said with a stiff neck, “And what if I am finished?
“Yun Che, if you know what’s good for you, stay away from Junior Sister Ye. Don’t be a toad lusting after swan meat and delay Junior Sister Ye…”
He broke off abruptly.
Because from Yun Che’s body, an entirely different aura suddenly surged up without warning!
It was no longer the weak spiritual power fluctuation of an ordinary Qi Refining disciple, but a calm, heavy presence as steady as a mountain!
The pressure of the Foundation Establishment stage instantly enveloped the small courtyard!
“This… this…” Zhao Zhi’s pupils shrank violently, and the sneer on his face froze into disbelief and terror.
Wang Meng and the other disciples were like ducks with their throats pinched. Their smiles froze on their faces, and their eyes widened.
“Foundation Establishment stage?! You… you reached Foundation Establishment?!” Zhao Zhi cried out, his voice sharp with shock. How was that possible?!
A few days ago, when he passed by, he had clearly sensed that Yun Che was still at Qi Refining level 3, nowhere near the peak of Qi Refining! That was simply absurd!
“Impossible! Absolutely impossible!” Wang Meng also lost control and shouted, “You must have used some evil art, or hidden your cultivation level!”
But even he knew that explanation did not hold up. If Yun Che had the ability to hide his cultivation level or use evil art, why would he have endured their mockery for so long before?
The disciples gathered around to watch the excitement also erupted into an uproar and began discussing it all at once.
“Foundation Establishment stage? Yun Che broke through?”
“This aura… it’s definitely Foundation Establishment! It feels a little strange, but it’s absolutely Foundation Establishment pressure!”
Ye Ruoyi was stunned as well. She whirled around to look at Yun Che, her beautiful eyes full of shock and delight, her cherry lips parting slightly. “Yun… Brother Yun?
“You… you really reached Foundation Establishment?”
As a true disciple, her senses were even sharper. She could feel that Yun Che’s Foundation Establishment aura was incomparably steady, even more calm and deep than that of some disciples who had just broken through, and that warm aura… it did not seem like a Daoist sect cultivation technique?
Yun Che did not answer Zhao Zhi, Wang Meng, and the others’ doubts. He merely glanced at them indifferently, and that calm, rippleless look made Zhao Zhi and the others feel as if they had fallen into an icy abyss. They instinctively stepped back, and cold sweat instantly soaked their backs.
Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining were worlds apart! Once one broke through to Foundation Establishment, one became a core disciple of the sect.
According to sect rules, provoking an advanced disciple without cause would be punished!
“Who was it just now that said I only knew how to hide behind women?” Yun Che’s gaze fell on Wang Meng.
Wang Meng’s face went pale, and his legs felt weak as he stammered without being able to speak.
“Scram.” Yun Che said one word. It was not loud, but it carried an undeniable weight.
Zhao Zhi, Wang Meng, and the others felt as if they had been granted amnesty. They did not dare linger even for half a moment, much less say a single harsh word. They fled the path in front of the courtyard in utter disgrace, drawing low snickers and even more heated discussion from the surrounding disciples.
Yun Che restrained his aura, and the courtyard returned to peace, with only faint exclamations and discussion drifting over from afar.
He turned around, looked at Ye Ruoyi, who was still in a state of shock, and once again showed a warm smile. “Ruoyi, it’s fine now. Come in and sit.”
Only then did Ye Ruoyi come back to her senses. Looking at Brother Yun Che, whose temperament seemed to have suddenly become much deeper and steadier, her heart was filled with immense joy and confusion.
She hurried after him, closed the courtyard gate, and asked impatiently, “Brother Yun, what exactly is going on?
“How did you suddenly… and what was that warm aura on you just now? It doesn’t seem like the power of our Daoist sect at all…”
She knew that her Brother Yun seemed to have become different.