Chapter 21: The Baby Is Really Shattered Into a Pill

Xuantian Mountain Range.

The night was as dark as ink.

Chu Yuan, who sat cross-legged on the ground, suddenly opened his eyes and glanced at the motionless crowd surrounding him.

Only then did he carefully listen to the voice in his mind.

[Detecting Sect Attack]

[Detection Complete, the attackers are Sect Disciples]

[Detecting incorrect development momentum of the Sect, prematurely initiating the evaluation of Sect Disciples' strengths to determine whether they are successfully turned into worthless disciples]

Why the sudden detection?

An attack on the Sect? By our own disciples? What on earth is Ye Luo doing attacking the Sect?

Chu Yuan was confused, but he had a bad feeling in his gut, even though he didn't know what had happened; he could only continue reading.

[Initiating current Sect Disciples standard check]

[Current official Sect Disciple: 1]

[Checking Disciple: Ye Luo]

[Cultivation: Mortal/Divinity Transformation Realm]

[Combat Level: ???]

[Comprehensive Evaluation: This disciple possesses a Physique Close to the Path and has monstrous talents. Although the Host has not directly contributed to this disciple's success, as he was taken in under the Host's wing, the Host shall bear this burden]

[Evaluation complete, the disciple is determined to have succeeded, deducting one First Order Grand Realm from the Host's Cultivation Levels]

Damn it...

Chu Yuan's eyes widened.

He had no time to react.

The little man-shaped Nascent Soul inside his Dantian suddenly exploded...

Just like that... abruptly.

Upon explosion, the Nascent Soul turned into specks of light and, before his eyes, gathered together to form some sort of Golden Core.

The Mana drastically reduced...

Not even one-tenth of the original was left.

By the time Chu Yuan came to, he had already become a Golden Core Realm cultivator.

Nascent shattered into Core...

Did it really just shatter into a Core??

He had only heard of Golden Core turning into Nascent Soul, but Nascent Soul shattering into Golden Core was a first for him, and it was happening to him no less.

Chu Yuan's face darkened completely.

What in the world?

His disciple Ye Luo had succeeded???

How did he succeed??

He hadn't even properly taught Ye Luo, just casually bamboozled him with a few words before letting him fend for himself, and he succeeded?

That led to the system's premature assessment, and he was forcibly demoted from Nascent Soul Realm down to Golden Core Realm...

What kind of mess is this?

Was it possible that, after a few casual phrases from him, Ye Luo had managed to grasp some Cultivation Technique?

Ha, haha, hahaha.

If that were true, he'd swallow the century-old sock under his boot right there!

But how exactly did Ye Luo succeed?

Chu Yuan, now in the Golden Core Realm, was utterly baffled.

He finally saw the comprehensive evaluation.

Ye Luo was a Physique Close to the Path, with the qualifications of a monster.

Could it be because of this?

Physique Close to the Path, Physique Close to the Path...

Could it really be because of his spiel, Ye Luo realized something?!

Could you actually realize something from that?

How come he never realized anything?

Could it be because he's stupid?

Chu Yuan naturally glossed over the business about eating his sock.

At this moment, he was overwhelmed with sorrow.

Especially as he looked at the pitch-black night, his sorrow deepened.

To be born human, I regret...

This is really difficult.

He just wanted to take in a disciple with no Spirit Root, an absolute waste; how did he end up with a Physique Close to the Path?

He was no longer a Nascent Soul Expert...

He had become a lowly Golden Core...

Life is hard.

Chu Yuan lifted his head to the sky, filled with melancholy...

On the other side.

The Great Elder, who had not rested at all, squinted his eyes and watched Chu Yuan with caution.

When he saw Chu Yuan looking up at the sky with a dejected expression, his own mood involuntarily sank.

He did not know why...

It was as if he had been infected.

His mood turned extremely sour, and a wave of melancholy began to grow within him.

In theory, as someone in the Divinity Transformation Realm, he should have been able to control his emotions at will, and they had no reason to surface.

But he was truly assimilated, becoming melancholic.

Sigh...

The Great Elder sighed inwardly as countless thoughts of his own youthful days surfaced.

No, that's not right!

The Great Elder suddenly shivered with realization.

What was he thinking about such things for?

He shook his head, casting aside those numerous thoughts.

And continued to gaze at this hidden figure.

He looked closely.

His eyes suddenly widened.

He had just realized that the cultivation level of this hidden figure had decreased.

He was clearly at the Nascent Soul Realm before, but now he had somehow become Golden Core Realm...

He rubbed his eyes and looked again.

Still Golden Core Realm!

He rubbed his eyes and looked yet again.

Still Golden Core Realm!

This kind of Golden Core Realm gave the Great Elder the feeling that it wasn't a disguise but real, as if it truly was Golden Core Realm.

Had the Sect Master of the Hidden Sect already reached such a stage?

Beginning to reflect on the path of cultivation he had traversed.

Could this be the necessary road before Ascension? To walk the path of cultivation all over again...

Is this his realm?

Hiss!

How terrifying!

The Great Elder drew a sharp breath and hurriedly squinted his eyes again, not daring to be discovered by this being.

The Great Elder continued to squint, and unwittingly, melancholy arose in his heart once again.

Such a sense of melancholy seemed almost impossible to suppress.

The long night passed amidst the melancholy of the two men.

...

The next day.

Dawn had just arrived.

Chu Yuan was ready to leave with Zhang Han.

Under the reluctant watch of the Great Elder and others, Chu Yuan still departed.

Not long after Chu Yuan left,

many disciples breathed a sigh of relief and began to discuss.

"That being has finally left, but our mission should also be considered complete, right? We've made good relations with that being, so it should count as a success."

"It's a pity, we didn't get any guidance from that being..."

"To tell the truth, I wanted to ask for the being's guidance last night, but I didn't have the guts..."

Quite a few disciples expressed their disappointment.

Many of them harbored the thought of seeking guidance from that being, but none had the courage to speak up.

The Great Elder remained unflappable, returning to his solemn countenance.

"Alright, alright, now that the hidden being has left, we should also return to the sect."

The Great Elder's tone was serious, but there was a hint of satisfaction in it.

This time, he had played a role in bridging a connection between the Qiandi Dao Sect and the Wayless Sect, building a friendship.

The most important thing was that he had successfully presented a gift to that being, which was tantamount to making an impression before that being!

And, he had subtly ascertained a matter.

Perhaps for a being at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage who wished to ascend, the method involved was to walk the path of cultivation all over again, refining from a higher to a lower level, experiencing it over and over.

Just like the Hidden Sect Master.

Refining downwards.

Descending from the Nascent Soul Realm to the Golden Core.

Perhaps when the Hidden Sect Master refined down to the Qi Refinement Stage, or even to a mortal, it would be the time of this being's Ascension.

The Great Elder felt that this news could be traded for favors.

He believed the Sect Master and those of his caliber would definitely be immensely interested in this piece of information, and he could exchange it for favors or cultivation resources.

A glint flashed in the eyes of the Great Elder...