Chapter 507: Chapter 289: Influence

"Introducing Heavenly and Earthly Power into the Body, condensing Gang Yuan... he really broke through to Celestial Essence..."

Lu Ren was utterly crestfallen, finding it hard to believe.

’Isn’t Xu Yang’s talent supposed to be comparable to mine? Why is the gap between us growing wider and wider?’

Xiong Kun stood beside him, feeling the immense aura, and a chill ran down his limbs.

The surroundings were deathly silent. No one spoke.

Sun Tao’s sharp gaze swept over them, and everyone could only watch, not daring to make a sound.

"Thank you, Junior Brother Sun, for acting as Junior Brother Xu’s Guardian. I was just going to get some food. I never expected him to break through at this very moment."

Zhu Yuan stepped forward and cupped his hands, his back soaked with cold sweat. If something had gone wrong with Xu Yang’s breakthrough because he wasn’t there, Elder Huoyun would have probably flayed him alive.

"Xu Yang is my junior brother too. It’s only natural that I act as his Guardian."

Sun Tao said with a smile, showing no intention of blaming him.

Zhu Yuan had been Xu Yang’s Guardian for three months without any negligence. He had eaten and slept here for all that time. This was just an accident.

"Junior Brother Zhu, Junior Brother Sun and I will be Junior Brother Xu’s Guardians. Hurry and report this news to Master!" Gao Lin said, his face flush with excitement.

He had been sweating bullets for Xu Yang, thinking he was about to fail. He never imagined Xu Yang would actually succeed.

To break through the bottleneck in a single attempt without a Celestial Spirit Pill, transcending the mundane and becoming a Celestial Essence Strong Person.

"Alright!" Zhu Yuan quickly turned and left.

In Fire Cloud Elder Hall, Elder Huoyun was somewhat distracted.

His disciple, Xu Yang, had been in seclusion for three months trying to break through to the Celestial Essence Realm and had yet to emerge. From his years of experience, if there were no results after two months of seclusion, it was most likely a dangerous situation.

"Master, Junior Brother Xu has broken through! He’s begun Introducing Heavenly and Earthly Power into the Body!"

Suddenly, the excited voice of his disciple, Zhu Yuan, rang out from outside the hall, and a figure rushed in right after.

Elder Huoyun shot to his feet. "What did you say?" he exclaimed, his voice cracking.

"Master, I said Junior Brother Xu has broken through! He successfully broke through to Celestial Essence!" Zhu Yuan’s face was flushed red.

In an instant, the worry on Elder Huoyun’s face vanished, replaced by excitement. He roared, "Excellent! Excellent! Excellent! As expected of my disciple, to succeed in a single attempt!"

He roared three times in a row, his face filled with indescribable joy.

The next moment, he transformed into a stream of light, shot out of the hall, and vanished from Zhu Yuan’s sight.

A few breaths later, Elder Huoyun arrived in the sky above the Inner Sect disciples’ residences. Sensing the surging Power of Heaven and Earth, he worried he might affect Xu Yang’s breakthrough and hastily concealed his aura, descending from the sky.

"Good lad. After three months, I was starting to think you had failed."

Elder Huoyun wore a look of surprise.

The nearby Li Fire Peak disciples who wanted to come forward and greet him were all stopped with a wave of his hand. At a time like this, he didn’t want the slightest sound to affect his disciple’s breakthrough.

"Huoyun, you’ve taken on a good disciple."

An abrupt voice sounded out, and a figure slowly materialized beside Elder Huoyun. It was none other than the Peak Master of Li Fire Peak, Yue Zhong.

"It was all thanks to Tie Fu yielding. Otherwise, how would I have been lucky enough to get such a disciple?" Elder Huoyun was grinning from ear to ear.

If the Peak Master and Elder Tie Fu hadn’t looked down on Xu Yang back then, he never would have had the chance to become Xu Yang’s master.

Elder Tie Fu, who had just arrived, couldn’t help his mouth twitching when he heard this. A tide of regret surged in his heart.

Back when Xu Yang failed to find a master on Medicine King Peak, he had come to Li Fire Peak specifically asking for him by name. But he had been angry that Xu Yang had gone to Medicine King Peak first, so he pushed Xu Yang off onto Elder Huoyun.

Who would have thought that Xu Yang was actually an uncarved jade, rising against all odds to become the greatest genius of the Purple Sun Sect? And now, he had even broken through to the Celestial Essence Realm in one go without a Celestial Spirit Pill. It made him mad with envy.

Although he had a genius Weapon Forger disciple in Lu Ren, who would ever complain about having too many geniuses? Especially one he had personally pushed away.

"Huoyun, don’t you gloat after getting such a bargain!" Elder Tie Fu raged.

’He’s deliberately rubbing salt in my wound.’

’Yielded? If I’d known the kid was this much of a genius, like hell I would’ve yielded!’

"I never expected our Li Fire Peak to be so prosperous, with three disciples breaking through to Celestial Essence in such a short time." Elder Gong Shu also appeared here soon after.

Jiang Fan, Xu Yang, and Sun Tao were the three disciples from Li Fire Peak who had broken through to the Celestial Essence Realm. All of them had a great chance at a Secondary Dragon Ascension.

Before long, the news of Xu Yang breaking through to the Celestial Essence Realm swept through the Purple Sun Sect like a hurricane, even reaching Cyan Yang City.

On Medicine King Peak, Li Chuyang was stunned when he heard the news. ’No Celestial Spirit Pill, and after struggling for three months, Xu Yang actually succeeded.’

"I really underestimated him!" he said, then broke into a carefree smile.

’He was the man who defeated me, after all. If he were stopped by the mere Celestial Essence Realm, wouldn’t that make me, Li Chuyang, look incompetent?’

"In that case, things will get a little interesting after we enter the Celestial Strategy Academy."

On Beast King Peak, Zhang Yong was silent.

’Back in Qingyuan County, he, Xu Yang, and Lu Ren had all competed together. His own Root Bone was even better than Xu Yang’s.’

’But now, Xu Yang had broken through to the Celestial Essence Realm, Lu Ren had become a genius Weapon Forger and reached Marrow Cleansing Great Success, while he himself had only just broken through to the Minor Success Realm of Marrow Cleansing.’

「...」

Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion!

Tao Hujin was leisurely sipping fragrant tea, completely at ease.

Suddenly, Zhou Yong ran in from outside, a look of shock on his face. "He broke through! He broke through!"

Tao Hujin frowned. "Who broke through?"

"Haha... Xu Yang broke through to the Celestial Essence Realm!" Zhou Yong laughed heartily.

’What? Xu Yang broke through to the Celestial Essence Realm? Without a Celestial Spirit Pill, he succeeded in Introducing Heavenly and Earthly Power into the Body and condensing Gang Yuan in one go?’

Tao Hujin shot to his feet in shock. "How is that possible? Could he have a Perfect Root Bone?"

Besides those geniuses with a Perfect Root Bone, almost no one could succeed in Introducing Heavenly and Earthly Power into the Body on the first try.

Zhou Yong was very pleased with Tao Hujin’s reaction. He smiled and said, "It’s also possible his Comprehension is excellent, and he grasped Martial Dao Imagery while in the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm."

If one grasped Martial Dao Imagery in the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm, they wouldn’t fear the pressure of the heavens and earth when Introducing Heavenly and Earthly Power into the Body. That’s because such a genius would have already reached the state of Unity of Heaven and Man, with a tough and formidable Heart Spirit.

The step that is hardest for others is actually quite easy for them.

"Impossible. Grasping Martial Dao Imagery in the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm... How could the Purple Sun Sect produce such a genius? If he had that kind of talent, it would have been publicized long ago," Tao Hujin said, shaking his head.

He felt a pang of regret for not standing firmly by Xu Yang’s side before. He never expected that after their falling out, Xu Yang would display such astonishing talent.

"Nothing is impossible. Haven’t you been proven wrong enough? You yourself said his talent seemed to grow, yet you didn’t support him firmly.

"It was clearly he who was being oppressed by Li Chuyang, yet you wanted him to bow his head and apologize to Li Chuyang. Now, the facts prove that he’s more of a genius than Li Chuyang. In the future, he might even become someone like Li Lingdu.

"Your Tao Family isn’t some minor clan in the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion. I refuse to believe that if you had insisted back then, the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion would have truly forced him to bow to Li Chuyang just to become an Honored Guest Elder," Zhou Yong sneered.

Tao Hujin had just fallen out with Xu Yang and was unwilling to face the reality of it all.

’To break through to Celestial Essence at his age and with his background... he’s not that far off from a genius with a Perfect Root Bone. And Elder Huoyun didn’t even provide Xu Yang with much support.’

’If Xu Yang had the same resources as Li Chuyang, his cultivation would be leagues ahead of him.’

If Tao Hujin had truly been powerless, he wouldn’t be mocking him now. But as far as he knew, the Tao Family’s influence in the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion was not insignificant. If Tao Hujin had been willing to stand up for Xu Yang back then, that whole farce wouldn’t have happened.

He was someone you clearly valued, but when real trouble came, you chose to just play it safe and protect yourself.

「...」

"Li Songhe, that old bastard! He’s ruined my Ding Family!"

Ding Yuan was sick with regret.

A Celestial Essence expert in his twenties... The Ding Family had almost recruited him for the price of one Profound Yuan Qi Transformation Pill and a few hundred silver per month. But just because he was unwilling to marry a woman from the Ding Family, he had been rejected.

One Profound Yuan Qi Transformation Pill and a few hundred silver a month—that was practically a bargain-basement price.

It was all Li Songhe’s fault. If it weren’t for Li Songhe’s poor judgment of character, how could he have made such a blunder?

One had to remember that to recruit Han Yingjie, the Song Family had paid hundreds of thousands of silver and an unknown amount of Spirit Medicine just to make him one of their own.

And because of that move, even after all the Song Family experts had died, a single letter from Han Yingjie ensured that no family in Cyan Yang City dared to touch them.

They even helped maintain the Song Family, worried that they would be blamed by Han Yingjie if anything happened to them.

Just then, the Ding Family’s Grand Elder arrived with several people. "By order of the Patriarch and the Ancestor, we are hereby stripping Ding Yuan of his position as the Ding Family’s Second Elder. He is to be dispatched to guard Medicine Mountain for three years."

Ding Yuan’s face paled in shock. "Ding Qiang, what are you doing?! This is a personal vendetta! You also had a hand in rejecting Xu Yang back then!"

He never imagined that Xu Yang’s breakthrough to the Celestial Essence Realm would cost him his position as the Ding Family’s Second Elder.

Ding Qiang’s expression was grim. "You think I’m the one behind this? You’re wrong. I just received the notice myself. Xu Yang has broken through to Celestial Essence. Do you think he’s still some ordinary disciple of the Purple Sun Sect?

"You slighted him in the past. If the family doesn’t punish you for it, and we earn Xu Yang’s hatred as a result, have you considered the consequences?"

A violent shudder ran through Ding Yuan. ’Hated by Xu Yang?’

He had given Xu Yang the cold shoulder for a year, causing him to miss the opportunity to receive resources from other major families.

When Xu Yang was just a Bone Marrow Cleansing Martial Artist, these were all minor matters. Xu Yang wouldn’t have dared to cause trouble for the Ding Family over it. But with Xu Yang breaking through to Celestial Essence, everything had changed.

Strictly speaking, this was a grudge born from having his path obstructed. If he hadn’t delayed Xu Yang and prevented him from gaining the investment and support of a major family, Xu Yang might have broken through to Celestial Essence long ago.

A grudge for obstructing one’s path is usually a feud to the death.

With the talent Xu Yang was now displaying, even if he couldn’t achieve a Secondary Dragon Ascension, breaking through to the Celestial Essence Second Layer in the future wouldn’t be a problem. The Ding Family could not withstand the wrath of a Celestial Essence Second Layer expert.

Moreover, with Xu Yang’s talent, the possibility of him failing to achieve a Secondary Dragon Ascension was slim.

"The family is doing this to protect you. Do you understand?" Ding Wu shouted coldly.

"I understand!" Ding Yuan said with bitterness.

He wasn’t a fool. He understood the gravity of the situation. A casual sentence he had uttered back then had now become the fuse that could lead to the Ding Family’s destruction.

The Outer Disciple of the Purple Sun Sect whom he had looked down upon with contempt had now grown into a strong person capable of annihilating the Ding Family.

"As long as you understand. The Ancestor wants you to personally prepare a generous gift and go to the Purple Sun Sect to apologize in person after Xu Yang emerges from his seclusion."

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