Chapter 15
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Chapter 15: Stealing Spirit
“What’s happening?” Ye Yun and Shen Mo gasped in shock.
“Hmm?”
The four elders hovering in the void immediately noticed the disturbance.
Elder Lan’s eyes narrowed. With a flick of his finger, another testing crystal materialized before Shen Mo.
“Try again.”
Shen Mo glanced at Ye Yun, uncertainty tightening his chest. He inhaled deeply before carefully channeling his spiritual power into the crystal.
_Crack!_
The sharp sound pierced the stillness of the square.
Once again, the testing crystal disintegrated into glittering dust.
“Your name?” Elder Lan’s eyes burned with an odd intensity.
“Shen Mo,” the frail boy whispered.
“Come.” Elder Lan materialized beside Shen Mo in a blink, enveloping him in a cocoon of potent yet gentle spiritual energy.
“Where?” Shen Mo blurted, startled.
“Your cultivation level barely touches the body refinement stage, yet your spiritual power shattered the crystal. Since I can’t discern why, you’ll meet senior elders of the Heavenly Sword Sect.” Elder Lan’s gaze swept over the boy.
“Go with him,” Ye Yun urged when Shen Mo looked to him for guidance.
Normally, Shen Mo’s freakish talent in refining spirit stones might’ve drawn deadly envy from outer disciples. But now, with even elders baffled, only the sect’s highest authorities could shield him.
“Fear not. We’ll simply identify your spiritual vein type.”
Before the words faded, Elder Lan and Shen Mo shot skyward, vanishing like arrows.
“Brother Ye…”
The faint cry drifted from the clouds.
Ye Yun stared at the empty sky, jaw clenched. If Shen Mo possessed one of those mythical spiritual veins, he’d become a true inheritor—their worlds would diverge like heaven and earth.
“Successful candidates!” boomed another elder. “Proceed to Tian Zhu Peak’s next trial. Even red-tier spiritual vein holders must participate—the sect demands full assessment!”
“Yes!”
The square erupted in mixed reactions: triumphant shouts, nervous silence, envious glares. Failed candidates trudged away, shoulders slumped in defeat.
Thus concluded Tian Zhu Peak’s initial selection. Over two hundred survivors followed senior disciples toward a towering palace crowning the square.
The Hall of Refining the Heart loomed like a golden mountain peak—ten zhang tall, its ancient walls glowing faintly through swirling mists. Many aspirants paled under its primordial aura; even Ye Yun felt breathless.
“Hear this!” An elder’s voice cracked like thunder. “Disrespect in the Hall brings harsh judgment. The envious and ambitious”—his eyes lingered on Jun Ruolan—“will earn worthless evaluations.”
Jun Ruolan possessed a millennium-rare purple bloodline talent. If she failed the Hall of Refining the Heart’s trial, it would be a true pity.
“Yes!” The crowd held their breaths, faces tense.
Since joining the Heavenly Sword Sect, their journey had been unimaginably harsh. The life of a servant disciple was nearly unbearable. After enduring so much to pass the first assessment and finally stand here, they naturally aimed to climb higher, dreaming of soaring to greatness and becoming peerless experts.
“Ye Yun, you’re from some backwater. Don’t panic later—if the Hall rejects you, it’ll be pathetic,” Duan Chenfeng sneered quietly.
Ye Yun’s brow twitched, but he acted deaf.
He’d noticed Duan Chenfeng speaking with Elder Lan earlier, suggesting insider ties. Unless directly provoked, it was wiser not to engage.
“Silence!”
An elder ahead turned, glaring at Duan Chenfeng. “Another word, and you’re expelled!”
Duan Chenfeng clamped his mouth shut, not daring to breathe loudly.
The elder barked a command, hurling beams of spiritual light at the hall doors. They creaked open.
A cool breeze swept in.
Ye Yun inhaled deeply. Thick spiritual energy flooded his five internal organs, invigorating him. Tian Zhu Peak’s energy dwarfed the servant disciple outer court’s. If the air here was this rich, how potent must the cultivation chambers be?
Focusing, Ye Yun drew another breath. The spiritual energy surged to his brow, flowed through his meridians—then black and white lights flickered. Instantly, a far finer but purer strand of energy emerged.
Ye Yun’s eyes widened. Though diminished in volume, this energy’s purity had multiplied. The black and white lights were refining it!
“So they purify spiritual energy…”
His heart pounded.
Cultivation defied the heavens. Impure energy hindered progress—that’s why ancient sects hoarded pristine spiritual realms.
At the body refinement stage, lacking true qi, absorbing raw spiritual energy was grueling. Most could refine barely a tenth.
Yet this energy flowed straight into his meridians, refining as smoothly as crystal. Unthinkable!
If he could always refine energy this efficiently, even without Jun Ruolan’s resources, his cultivation speed might match—or surpass—hers.
He’d sensed this purifying effect when refining spirit stones. Now, with richer energy here, it was confirmed.
“Ye Yun! What are you doing?”
A sharp, aged voice cut through, laced with anger.
