"Senior Brother Qingyu, why... why must you treat me this way?"
Yun Qingyu suddenly opened his eyes, his chest heaving violently as if he could still feel the excruciating pain of a sword piercing his heart. Involuntarily, he reached out to touch his chest, yet his hand met only undamaged, intact skin.
"What... is happening?"
Looking around, he saw the crude wooden cottage, the Outer Disciple robes hanging on the wall, and the copy of the *Xuantian Sect Introductory Manual* resting on the table... Everything was painfully familiar, yet felt as distant as a lifetime ago.
"Have I... returned to a century ago?"
Trembling, Yun Qingyu raised his hand and circulated his inner spiritual energy—it possessed only the meager foundation of the Qi Condensation 3rd Layer. He rolled off the bed, rushed to the bronze mirror, and stared at a face a hundred years younger. There was no scar left from saving a dearest friend, nor any wrinkles carved by the passage of time.
"I really have been reborn..."
He pinched himself hard, the pain proving agonizingly real. Outside the window, the morning bell of the Xuantian Sect chimed precisely, its melodious resonance echoing through the mountains, matching his memories down to the slightest detail.
"Today... is the day before the Inner Sect Selection Trials."
A sharp light flickered in Yun Qingyu's eyes as the events of his past life flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern. He had once been a once-in-a-millennial genius of the cultivation world, achieving the Golden Core Formation at twenty and the Nascent Soul Stage at fifty. Yet, just as he was breaking through to the Deity Transformation Stage, he had been ambushed and killed by his most trusted friend, Lu Mingxuan, and his fiancée, Su Wanrou, working in tandem.
"Lu Mingxuan, Su Wanrou..." Yun Qingyu ground his teeth, his fingernails digging deep into his palms. "In this lifetime, I will make you pay with your blood!"
Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to calm down. In his past life, despite his supreme talent, his innocent nature had led him to be repeatedly exploited. In this life, not only would he exact vengeance, but he would also rectify every single regret.
"First, I must pass tomorrow's Inner Sect selection."
According to the trajectory of his past life, during tomorrow's trials he should have barely scraped through with his mediocre Qi Condensation 3rd Layer cultivation, becoming an ordinary inner disciple. But now...
Yun Qingyu sat cross-legged and began circulating the *Nine Revolutions Xuantian Art* from his past memories. It was a cultivation technique he had created himself during the Nascent Soul Stage, a hundred times more profound than the rudimentary manual he practiced now.
"Though my cultivation is low, with my past-life experience, I will undoubtedly break through to the Qi Condensation 6th Layer within three days."
As the technique circulated, the surrounding spiritual qi poured into his body like a tidal wave. Yun Qingyu was astonished to find that his meridians were several times wider than they had been at the same stage in his previous life, and his spiritual energy flowed without the slightest obstruction.
"Could rebirth have altered my physical constitution?"
Time passes unnoticed in cultivation, and in the blink of an eye, it was the following morning. Yun Qingyu opened his eyes, a brilliant light flashing within his pupils. The fluctuation of spiritual energy around him had clearly reached the peak of the Qi Condensation 6th Layer!
"Breaking through three consecutive layers in a single night—such speed..." He clicked his tongue in wonder. "It seems the benefits brought by rebirth go far beyond mere memories."
Changing into his Outer Disciple robes, Yun Qingyu pushed open the door. Morning mist shrouded the mountains, and in the distance, hundreds of outer disciples had already gathered on the martial arts arena, each rubbing their palms and flexing their fists, eager to display their prowess in the selection trials.
"Junior Brother Yun! Over here!"
A familiar voice called out. Yun Qingyu's body stiffened slightly before he slowly turned his head. Lu Mingxuan, his "dearest friend" from his past life, was currently waving at him with a beaming smile.
That handsome face and gentle smile overlapped completely with the ferocious expression from his memories during the betrayal, nearly causing Yun Qingyu to lose control of his killing intent.
"Calm down... Killing him now would be as easy as turning over a hand, but it would let him off far too easily." Yun Qingyu silently pacified his emotions, squeezed out a smile, and walked over.
"Senior Brother Mingxuan."
"I heard you had a cultivation mishap yesterday? I intended to come check on you, but the Master summoned me unexpectedly..." Lu Mingxuan patted his shoulder with apparent concern, though a flicker of imperceptible contempt flashed in his eyes.
Yun Qingyu sneered inwardly. In his past life, he had been deceived by this hypocritical facade for a hundred years. Seen now, Lu Mingxuan's calculations were glaringly obvious.
"Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother. I am already recovered."
"That's good." Lu Mingxuan lowered his voice. "I heard the rules for the trials have changed this time. Aside from the spiritual energy test, there will also be actual combat duels. Do you... have any certainty?"
Yun Qingyu feigned worry and shook his head: "My aptitude is dull, I'm afraid..."
"Don't worry," a calculating glint flashed in Lu Mingxuan's eyes. "I happen to know an executive elder. If you are willing to pay a certain price..."
It was precisely the same scheme as in his past life! The killing intent in Yun Qingyu's heart grew even fiercer. Back then, Lu Mingxuan had used this very "kind" introduction to secretly engineer a situation where he fell into heavy debt, leaving him at the mercy of others ever since.
"No need, Senior Brother. I wish to try relying on my own strength." Yun Qingyu politely declined.
Lu Mingxuan's expression shifted slightly, clearly not expecting a refusal. Just as he was about to press further, a bell rang out, officially signaling the start of the selection trials.
"All outer disciples, line up by serial number!" A purple-robed elder stood upon the high platform, his voice resounding like a bronze bell. "First item: Spiritual Energy Testing!"
In the center of the martial arts arena stood a towering spiritual testing stele, roughly a zhang high. The disciples stepped forward one by one to channel their spiritual energy into the stele, their cultivation levels judged by the number of illuminated halos.
"Zhang Hao, Qi Condensation 4th Layer, four halos!"
"Li Yun, Qi Condensation 5th Layer, five halos!"
"Lu Mingxuan, Qi Condensation 7th Layer, seven halos!"
Gasps of admiration rose from the sidelines. Lu Mingxuan walked back with an air of proud arrogance, lowering his voice as he passed Yun Qingyu: "See that? This is true strength."
Yun Qingyu smiled without a word and slowly stepped forward. The moment his palm pressed against the testing stele, the spiritual energy within his body surged like a rushing river.
"Hum—"
The testing stele trembled violently, successively lighting up six halos, and each one was far more dazzling and brilliant than any of the previous disciples' displays!
"Yun Qingyu, Qi Condensation 6th Layer... No, this purity of spiritual energy..." The purple-robed elder's face revealed shock. "It rivals an ordinary Qi Condensation 8th Layer!"
An uproar swept through the crowd. Lu Mingxuan's face instantly darkened as he stared in disbelief at Yun Qingyu.
"How is this possible? Just yesterday he was only at the 3rd Layer!"
Yun Qingyu calmly withdrew his hand, sneering inwardly. With his control from his past Nascent Soul realm, how could the purity of his spiritual energy be matched by these ordinary Qi Condensation disciples?
"Second item: Actual combat duels!" The purple-robed elder cast a deep, searching look at Yun Qingyu. "Draw lots to determine your opponents."
Yun Qingyu drew the number three token, and his opponent turned out to be a notorious heavy hitter among the outer disciples—Zhao Hu, a practitioner of the Qi Condensation 5th Layer renowned for his ruthlessness.
"Kid, it's still not too late to concede," Zhao Hu grinned menacingly, cracking his knuckles. "I'd rather not cripple or kill someone by accident."
Yun Qingyu smiled indifferently: "Please enlighten me."
"Court death!"
With a fierce roar, Zhao Hu lunged forward like a fierce tiger pouncing on its prey, his fist whistling through the air straight for Yun Qingyu's face. This single punch contained his full spiritual energy, making it difficult even for a typical practitioner of the Qi Condensation 6th Layer to fend off.
Yet Yun Qingyu remained utterly motionless until the wind of the fist was right upon him. Then, he swayed slightly to the side, his right hand brushing lightly across Zhao Hu's wrist like a butterfly fluttering through flowers.
"Crack!"
A crisp sound of breaking bones rang out, and Zhao Hu collapsed to his knees with a miserable scream, his right wrist bent at a bizarre angle.
"Yun Qingyu wins!" the refereeing elder announced loudly, his eyes filled with astonishment.
The sidelines fell dead silent. Not a single person had seen clearly how Yun Qingyu had struck; with a single move, he had disabled Zhao Hu's dominant hand!
In the subsequent matches, Yun Qingyu defeated every opponent with a single move, regardless of their cultivation level. His techniques appeared deceptively simple, yet they contained the profound laws of the Dao, consistently arriving after the opponent's move to strike directly at their vulnerabilities.
"This... This is practically like being able to predict the opponent's moves!" a disciple exclaimed in awe.
And indeed it was. Though Yun Qingyu's cultivation was not high, his century of combat experience from his past life remained entirely intact, rendering the movements of these outer disciples riddled with openings in his eyes.
For the final showdown, Yun Qingyu found himself matched against Lu Mingxuan.
"I never imagined Junior Brother Yun had hidden his strength so deeply." Lu Mingxuan forced a strained smile, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. "However, the gap between the Qi Condensation 7th Layer and the 6th Layer cannot be bridged by mere technique."
Yun Qingyu stood with his hands behind his back: "Please, Senior Brother."
Lu Mingxuan said no more. Formulating hand seals with both hands, his surrounding spiritual energy churned violently as three wind blades condensed in front of him!
"It's the Profound Wind Technique! Senior Brother Lu has actually mastered an intermediate spell!" a disciple cried out in alarm.
The three wind blades whistled outward, sealing off all avenues of retreat for Yun Qingyu. Lu Mingxuan had practiced this secret technique diligently for a long time, originally intending to make a dazzling impression during the inner sect evaluations, but now he was forced to deploy it prematurely.
Faced with the incoming wind blades, Yun Qingyu neither dodged nor evaded. He merely raised his right hand slightly, his index finger tracing an arcane trajectory through the air.
"Break."
With that single uttered word, the three wind blades simultaneously disintegrated into nothingness! Meanwhile, Lu Mingxuan staggered back seven steps as if struck by lightning, a trace of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
"What?!" The entire audience was stunned.
The purple-robed elder stood up abruptly: "This is... breaking a spell with sound? Impossible! That requires at least the divine sense of the Foundation Establishment Stage to accomplish!"
Yun Qingyu walked slowly toward Lu Mingxuan, each step seemingly falling heavily upon the latter's heart. Memories of his past life surfaced—this was the exact man who, at the most critical moment of his breakthrough to Deity Transformation, had driven a sword through his heart!
"Yun... Junior Brother Yun, I surren—" Lu Mingxuan retreated in sheer terror.
"Bang!"
Yun Qingyu struck Lu Mingxuan's chest with a single palm strike, the force calculated to absolute perfection—not fatal, yet excruciatingly painful.
Lu Mingxuan flew out of the arena like a kite with a snapped string, crashing heavily onto the ground and passing out cold.
"Yun Qingyu wins!" the refereeing elder proclaimed loudly. "The champion of this selection trial is Yun Qingyu!"
Enthusiastic cheers erupted from the sidelines. Yun Qingyu, however, maintained a calm expression, merely gazing off toward the distant main peak—where the Master of the Xuantian Sect and a gathering of elders were observing him.
"This child is extraordinary," Sect Master Xuanxiaozis strode his beard and remarked. "Bring him to see me tomorrow."
As night fell, Yun Qingyu regulated his breathing within his newly assigned inner sect dwelling. Today, he had deliberately displayed his strength precisely to draw the attention of the sect's higher-ups and secure greater resources.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, through inner vision, he discovered a wisp of bizarre black Qi lingering at his dantian, attempting to erode his spiritual energy. This black Qi was exceptionally covert; had it not been for his past-life experience, he would never have detected it.
"Could this be... a backlash from the Heavenly Dao?" Yun Qingyu's expression turned grave. "Is it because I altered the original trajectory of fate?"
He attempted to use his spiritual energy to dispel the black Qi, only to find that the dark mist could actually devour his spiritual energy to grow stronger!
"This is troublesome..."
Just as Yun Qingyu found himself at an impasse, a soft female voice echoed from outside the door: "Is Senior Brother Yun in? Chu Yao, under my father's orders, has come specifically to invite Senior Brother to visit the Sword Pavilion tomorrow for a chat."
Chu Yao? Yun Qingyu paused in surprise. There had been no such figure in the Xuantian Sect during his past life... Yet another variable spawned by his rebirth?
Pushing open the door, he saw a young maiden standing beneath the moonlight. Around seventeen or eighteen years of age, with picturesque brows and eyes, she wore a simple plain dress and carried an archaic, unadorned long sword at her waist.
What shocked Yun Qingyu most was that the moment his gaze fell upon Chu Yao, the wisp of black Qi within his dantian trembled slightly, as if gripped by both terror and a fierce yearning...