“That kid has been using his four bonded flying swords to grind the rising talents of the Eastern Wasteland into the dirt. He’s so arrogant it’s beyond belief. He’s already reached the late Nascent Soul stage, and supposedly he even went head-to-head with an early Deity Transformation expert without losing! Looking across the younger generation of the entire Eastern Wasteland, no one can hold a candle to him.”
As the Third Elder spoke, he thought of the miserable state the Saint Hall was now in. His tone inevitably carried a touch of helplessness, as though he were talking about someone else’s exceptional child.
“And that bastard is tyrannical to the extreme. Over the years, whenever he’s run into disciples of our Heavenly Ruins Saint Hall, the lucky ones have had their cultivation crippled; the unlucky ones were killed on the spot. Whenever our disciples go out to gain experience, nine out of ten end up falling to him. They’ve practically become his personal XP farm.”
Yin Tianjue narrowed his eyes but said nothing.
A Chaos Body, four bonded flying swords, and a late Nascent Soul cultivator who could fight an early Deity Transformation expert to a draw.
Why did that setup sound so damned familiar?
Damn it, wasn’t this the most stereotypical webnovel protagonist template imaginable?
Possessing an unmatched constitution, wielding heaven-defying treasures, sweeping aside all peers without equal—finding treasures wherever he went, and stumbling into a fortuitous encounter every time he fell off a cliff!
If I hadn’t transmigrated here, Qin Futian would probably have been the chosen protagonist of this novel!
And me? A villainous old demon, destined to become the stepping stone beneath the protagonist’s feet! Fine, fine. So this is how the script was written, huh?
If the plot followed its normal course, Qin Futian would go on to break through to Deity Transformation, Void Refinement, Body Integration...
Then he’d storm the Heavenly Ruins Saint Hall, kill this old demon—me—with a single sword strike, ascend to the pinnacle of the Eastern Wasteland atop the Saint Hall’s ruins, and wrap it all up with a grand, crowd-pleasing display of swagger.
At that thought, Yin Tianjue nearly burst out laughing.
What a pity, what a pity. Now that this script had run into me, it was completely ruined.
You’ve got the protagonist template? Sorry, but I’ve got the Myriad Worlds Invincibility System!
What did ten thousand years of cultivation per second even mean?
You, Qin Futian, cultivated bitterly for a hundred years to reach the late Nascent Soul stage, and you already think you’re hot stuff?
My cultivation increases by ten thousand years in a single second—more than you could achieve through ten thousand years of hard cultivation!
Ten thousand years a second! Six hundred thousand years a minute! Three million, six hundred thousand years an hour!
A day... forget it. I’m bad at math, so I’m not calculating that.
In any case, even if you are a Chaos Body, you still won’t be able to withstand a single puff of my breath!
“Hall Master?”
Seeing Yin Tianjue’s expression gradually slip out of control, his face taking on an increasingly strange look, the Third Elder cautiously called out to him.
“It’s nothing. Go on.”
In an instant, Yin Tianjue suppressed his wild inner rant and resumed his cold, aloof, effortlessly overbearing expression.
The Fourth Elder rose to his feet and cupped his hands. “As for the Grand Void Saint Lord... ever since that fight with you three hundred years ago, Hall Master, it’s said that he was seriously injured as well. After returning to the Grand Void Sacred Land, he announced that he was entering seclusion, and he hasn’t emerged since. For the past three hundred years, the Grand Void Sacred Land has claimed that their Saint Lord is comprehending the supreme Dao. But according to reports from our spies, his injuries were far worse than he had anticipated. Whether he can even return to his peak condition remains uncertain.”
Yin Tianjue nodded slightly. That did make sense.
Back then, the original owner of this body had been a peerless ruthless figure at the peak of Deity Transformation, only one step away from Void Refinement.
Although both sides had been badly wounded in that battle, the Grand Void Saint Lord certainly had not gotten off lightly either.
A desperate strike from a peak Divine Transformation cultivator was not something even an opponent of the same realm could emerge from unscathed.
“That old bastard has been in seclusion for three hundred years without showing his face, yet he sends a Saint Son out to strut around. Looks like he’s pinned all his hopes on the next generation.”
Yin Tianjue sneered, lightly tapping the armrest of his throne with his fingertips. “Taking advantage of my being at the end of my rope, taking advantage of the Heavenfall Sacred Hall growing weaker by the day—he wants his precious Saint Son to rise to fame by stepping on our Sacred Hall. He gets to build the boy’s reputation while suppressing the fortunes of the demonic path. Killing two birds with one stone. His calculations are clacking away just fine.”
The Fifth Elder gave a wry smile. “The Hall Master sees through everything. Over the years, Qin Futian has repeatedly targeted our Sacred Hall’s disciples. If not for—”
His tone shifted, turning somewhat enigmatic. “If not for a mysterious force that appeared in the Burial Heaven Abyss, I fear that righteous alliance led by the Grand Void Sacred Land would have long since flattened our Heavenfall Sacred Hall.”
“Oh? A mysterious force?” Yin Tianjue’s interest was immediately piqued.
The Fifth Elder nodded and looked toward the First Elder, Luo Tianhong, signaling that this weighty piece of news was better told by him.
Luo Tianhong’s expression grew solemn as he cupped his hands. “Reporting to the Hall Master: roughly two hundred years ago, a mysterious force suddenly descended upon the depths of the Burial Heaven Abyss. No one knows where they came from, nor has anyone seen their true faces. Their leader is an existence whose cultivation is unfathomably profound. From a thousand miles away, he merely released a strand of divine sense—and grievously wounded Protectors Liu Qing and Shen Hao on the spot.”
“One strand of divine sense, and two peak Nascent Soul cultivators were severely injured?” Yin Tianjue narrowed his eyes.
Anyone capable of such a feat had to be at least in the Divine Transformation realm—perhaps even higher!
Luo Tianhong continued, “What is strange is that they did not deal a killing blow, nor did they take any retaliatory action against our Heavenfall Sacred Hall afterward. They simply occupied a stretch of land deep within the Burial Heaven Abyss without a word and laid down some outrageously powerful restriction that outsiders cannot even approach. Since then, the Heavenfall Sacred Hall has been unable to recruit a single new disciple, and the cultivation resources within the Burial Heaven Abyss have been reduced to this tiny patch of land at our doorstep. Naturally, we are displeased, but their strength is unfathomable. Even the two Protectors were no match for them, so we have not dared to act rashly. However…”
Luo Tianhong’s tone changed, and a complicated look flashed through his eyes. “It was precisely because this mysterious force was stationed there that the righteous factions led by the Grand Void Sacred Land did not dare enter the Burial Heaven Abyss at will. They seem unable to ascertain that force’s true background either, fearing that they might provoke some supreme existence they cannot afford to offend. One could say that, over these past two hundred years, this mysterious force has, by sheer coincidence, shielded our Heavenfall Sacred Hall from a catastrophe that would otherwise have annihilated us.”
After hearing this, Yin Tianjue’s eyes took on a thoughtful look.
A mysterious force of unknown origin. With a single strand of divine sense, they could incapacitate two peak Nascent Soul cultivators. They had occupied the depths of the Burial Heaven Abyss, yet had not tried to wipe out the Heavenfall Sacred Hall—rather, by accident, they had become its protective umbrella?
Now that was interesting.
“What specific characteristics does this mysterious faction have?” Yin Tianjue asked.
Luo Tianhong shook his head. “None that we know of. They have never had any contact with the outside world, and we have not dared to investigate too deeply. All we know is that the territory they occupy is shrouded year-round by a dark golden curtain of light. On the rare occasions cultivators have approached, they have felt an oppressive aura that made it hard to breathe—as though they were facing not a mere barrier formation, but an ancient god or demon slumbering within.”
“A dark golden curtain of light...” Yin Tianjue silently committed this detail to memory.
With his current cultivation, if he truly wanted to uncover the origins of that faction, he could simply go over and take a look himself.
But this was not the time. He needed to settle the mess within his own sect first.
“Go on. What else?”
At that moment, the Sixth Elder rose to his feet. His voice carried a trace of sorrow and bitter indignation. “Hall Master, during the three hundred years you were in seclusion, the two Protectors secretly seized control. The Sacred Hall’s prestige has declined with every passing day. Seeing that the Sacred Hall’s fortunes were fading and that it was becoming more and more of a mess, disciples began leaving in droves. Fewer than one-tenth of the disciples from our peak now remain! Even among the former Ten Core Disciples, only... only three are left!”
His voice caught as he spoke, and he could not continue.
The great hall fell into silence.
Less than one-tenth. The number was like a blade, plunging viciously into the heart of every Sacred Hall elder.