Chapter 437
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Chapter 437: Absolute Heart Peak
Ye Yun wasted no time in performing a deep bow to formally become a disciple.
Tian Yunzi and the others exchanged surprised glances. They hadn’t expected this disciple bearing two strands of exotic spiritual energy from a hidden ancestral family to accept so readily, when such decisions normally required careful deliberation.
But Tian Yunzi, never one for strict formalities, found the youth’s directness refreshing. He boomed with laughter.
“Good! From this moment, you’re my Registered Disciple.”
“Registered Disciple?” Ye Yun’s eyebrows shot up. “With dual exotic energies and my talents, I only qualify for provisional status?”
“Ye Yun!” Zhuge Chong hissed, all traces of his earlier humor vanishing.
“Let him speak.” Tian Yunzi waved dismissively. “He’s not wrong. Your foundations do meet the requirements for full discipleship. Yet of my three formal disciples, only Zhuge Chong here is under thirty. The others passed fifty winters before earning their titles. To become my fourth, you’ll need further trials.”
Ye Yun smirked. “Trials? With my gifts, they’ll be mere formalities.”
Tian Yunzi’s laughter echoed across the plaza. “Confidence suits you! Zhuge Chong – show him around.”
“By your will, Master!” The younger man bowed deeply as Tian Yunzi vanished in a streak of light.
Zhuge Chong exhaled heavily, mopping his brow.
“Why the nerves?” Ye Yun nudged him. “You jump like a startled cat around him.”
“Fool!” Zhuge Chong grabbed his arm. “Master oversees the Discipline Hall. From Palace Master to lowliest errand boy – all answer to his judgments. He’s taken only three formal disciples in sixty years. Dozens of Registered Disciples have tried and failed. That mouth of yours just signed your death warrant!”
Ye Yun shrugged. “What’s said is said. Spilled water can’t be taken back. With my talents, what trial could stop me?”
“Survival. That’s what matters.” Zhuge Chong’s voice dropped. “Two years back, eight peak Foundation Establishment cultivators entered Xuan Ice Lake for assessment. Seven froze solid or fell to ice beasts. Only I emerged – and only because I broke through to Golden Core mid-trial.”
Ye Yun’s smirk faded. “He sends disciples to certain death?”
“We train through life-and-death combat from day one,” Zhuge Chong countered. “Of nineteen Registered Disciples in my cohort, eleven perished during routine exercises. The sect doesn’t interfere – Master’s authority is second only to the Palace Master and Supreme Elder.”
“What’s the reward for surviving his madness?”
Zhuge Chong’s eyes gleamed. “Authority. Respect. Monthly stipends of a thousand top-grade spirit stones. Two artifacts of your choosing. First pick of cultivation techniques. And…” he leaned closer, “…license to roam the sect unchallenged, provided you don’t breach major rules.”
Ye Yun’s grin returned. “Now that’s worth some risk.”
“First, survive.” Zhuge Chong gestured northward. “Let’s see if you can keep pace to Absolute Heart Peak.”
He exploded forward like a loosed arrow, Golden Core power warping space around him. Yet when he glanced back after three hundred zhang, Ye Yun hovered half a pace behind – a Foundation Establishment cultivator matching a Core disciple’s flight through sheer will.
“Not bad,” Zhuge Chong admitted between gritted teeth as they approached the monolithic peak.
Before them rose a mountain forged from black iron, its summit piercing the clouds like a blade hilt. The Discipline Hall’s banners snapped in the thin air above Absolute Heart Peak – and Ye Yun’s new proving ground.
