Chapter 850: Desperate Lei Xuankong!

After two full months of grueling cultivation across these three secret realms, Li Yun’s cultivation had improved considerably, and he now stood at the absolute peak of the 5th level of Heavenly Core Realm.

He soon discovered a problem, however.

The secret realms could keep strengthening his foundation, his body, his techniques, and his combat experience, but they were no longer enough to push him directly into the 6th level of Heavenly Core Realm. If he wanted that breakthrough, he would need better cultivation resources.

While Li Yun lost himself in relentless training, the Genius Training Camp went through enormous changes, because he was far from the only one getting stronger. Huang Tianlin, Drunken Monk, Luo Zhenting, and many of the other geniuses from the Heaven’s Chosen Assembly had also advanced quickly.

A month earlier, Huang Tianlin had broken through to the 2nd level of Spirit Manifestation Realm. Over the following half month he defeated several cultivators at the 3rd level one after another, and then, during another round of trial pagoda challenges, his ranking shot all the way up to two hundred and seventy-third.

Drunken Monk broke through to the 2nd level of Spirit Manifestation Realm at almost the same time, and after defeating several powerful opponents, he too entered the top three hundred.

Not long afterward, Luo Zhenting, Xie Wushang, and Man Tao achieved breakthroughs of their own, while even geniuses like Monk Yiming, who had yet to reach the top three hundred, pushed their rankings into the top five hundred.

The cultivators from the Heaven’s Chosen Assembly had kept relatively quiet during their first few months, but now their accumulated potential was finally bursting out. One by one, they climbed the rankings and steadily carved out a place for themselves in the Genius Training Camp.

Strangely enough, the one who had originally drawn the most attention among them seemed to have vanished completely.

Li Yun had been the champion of the Heaven’s Chosen Assembly and the first of their group to cause a major stir after arriving at the camp, yet for two whole months he did not challenge either the Extreme Dao Pagoda or the Endless Pagoda even once, and his ranking stayed exactly where it had been.

At first, almost nobody cared, since everyone assumed he was cultivating somewhere. As Huang Tianlin, Drunken Monk, and the others rose rapidly while Li Yun stayed silent, though, doubts slowly began to creep in.

"Why has Li Yun stopped challenging the rankings?"

"Could it be that his momentum has already run out?"

"Maybe he knows the others are catching up, and he’s afraid another challenge will expose the limits of his strength."

"Perhaps that earlier brilliance was only temporary."

"Even a meteor shines brightly for a moment before it disappears."

Only a few people said such things at first, but as time went on, more and more cultivators came to think the same way, until the doubts had nearly become the accepted explanation. Some even began to take pleasure in Li Yun’s apparent decline. He never showed up to defend himself, however, and remained completely silent, so eventually even those mocking him grew bored.

The Genius Training Camp existed for cultivation above all else. Conflicts, rivalries, and gossip were only distractions between training sessions, and what every genius truly cared about was their own strength. Little by little, the talk about Li Yun faded, and his name slipped out of everyday conversation.

Then, just as almost everyone had stopped paying attention to him, a piece of shocking news swept through the entire camp. After two months of silence, Li Yun had finally challenged the Extreme Dao Pagoda and the Endless Pagoda again, and the result left everyone stunned.

He had taken eighty-sixth place.

Among the more than eight hundred geniuses in the Genius Training Camp, most of whom had already reached the Spirit Manifestation Realm, Li Yun had suddenly climbed to eighty-sixth. When the news spread, countless people could hardly believe it, and those who had mocked him only days earlier felt as though invisible hands had slapped them across the face.

When Li Yun first entered the camp, his cultivation had only been at the 5th level of Heavenly Core Realm, yet in less than five months he had broken into the top hundred. More importantly, he had not barely squeezed in at ninety-ninth or ninety-eighth. He had leapt straight to eighty-sixth, and for someone still in the Heavenly Core Realm, that achievement seemed almost mythical.

"This guy really is a monster."

"How did we ever convince ourselves that Li Yun’s momentum was finished?"

"He comprehended a Sword Domain in the Heavenly Core Realm. Someone with talent like that can’t possibly fade away so easily."

"If he keeps improving at this speed, he might actually make the top ten before the camp ends."

"This generation from the Heaven’s Chosen Assembly really does live up to its reputation."

"Huang Tianlin and Drunken Monk are terrifying enough already, but next to Li Yun, even they look overshadowed."

Once again, Li Yun’s name became the center of conversation throughout the Genius Training Camp.

Inside his stone residence, Lei Xuankong heard the news and clenched his teeth so hard that they creaked.

"That bastard actually made the top hundred."

Hatred burned in his eyes. For the past two months he had been barred from the Six Great Secret Realms, and without access to those valuable training grounds, he had been stuck cultivating inside his own residence.

His progress had naturally fallen behind many of his competitors. Two months ago he had been an elite member sitting securely in the top fifty, but now he had dropped to sixty-third. With Li Yun already at eighty-sixth, only a little over twenty places separated them, and if things kept going this way, it would not be long before Li Yun passed him.

Lei Xuankong could not accept that.

"No." His expression grew darker and darker. "I need to make some trouble for Li Yun. I can’t let him keep cultivating this smoothly."

A sinister light flickered in his eyes as he began to think about what he could do.