Chapter 685: The Xuanzhen Sect's Attention

Celestial Derivation Peak Master Huang Zhen raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile, “So he’s number one, just like that? Better than Chu Yunhai, better than all the other Core Disciples?”

Ouyang Jingxuan nodded solemnly, without a shred of hesitation. “Absolutely number one. Before, I only suspected he might possess top-tier talent. Now, I am one hundred percent certain he has the kind of talent one sees only once in a century.”

“That alone is reason enough for the sect to provide its very best Cultivation Resources and pour everything into his development!” Ouyang Jingxuan’s voice rang with conviction.

While the Peak Masters were in a flurry of discussion, a light cough echoed from the head of the great hall, where Sect Leader Cao Zhen sat upon his throne.

The great hall, which had been filled with a low buzz of voices, instantly fell silent. You could have heard a pin drop as all eyes focused on Sect Leader Cao Zhen.

Cao Zhen’s profound gaze slowly swept over Yang Jing and Chu Yunhai below. He took a soft breath, forcibly suppressing the excitement churning within him. With a grave expression, he addressed them both. “In two days, the Three Prodigies of the Vajra Sect will come to the Xuanzhen Sect to pay us a visit.”

Upon hearing this, both Yang Jing and Chu Yunhai’s expressions grew solemn. They nodded slowly, clearly already aware of the impending visit from the Vajra Sect’s Three Prodigies.

Cao Zhen’s gaze grew heavier. He continued, his tone a grave warning, “We have just received confirmation. Li Yu, one of the Vajra Sect’s Three Prodigies, has successfully broken through to the Qi Absorption Realm. You two must be careful.”

The instant Cao Zhen finished speaking, the expressions on Yang Jing’s and Chu Yunhai’s faces changed. Both were visibly shocked.

Clearly, neither had expected that the Vajra Sect’s Li Yu would break through to the Qi Absorption Realm so quietly, without any prior fanfare.

The news came so suddenly that it caught both of them completely off guard.

A thought stirred in Yang Jing’s mind, and suddenly, it all made sense. He’d had his doubts before.

‘The Three Prodigies of the Vajra Sect, while certainly elites of the younger generation, were never arrogant enough to look down on everyone else.’

‘For them to suddenly take the initiative to visit the Xuanzhen Sect was far too abrupt. There had to be a reason behind it.’

He mused to himself. ‘The Three Prodigies of the Vajra Sect were strong, but not without rivals.’

‘At the very least, before my own breakthrough, Chu Yunhai and I together would have been enough to hold them off.’

‘Even in a direct confrontation, we would by no means be at a disadvantage, let alone allow them to come knocking on our door so brazenly for a provocation.’

But now, hearing that Li Yu had already broken through to the Qi Absorption Realm, all his previous doubts and confusion vanished in an instant. Everything had a logical explanation.

‘It was precisely because Li Yu had broken through, entering the Qi Absorption Realm and attaining a level of power far beyond the ordinary Qi Eating Realm, that the Three Prodigies had the confidence to pay the Xuanzhen Sect a visit.’

‘They must be planning to ride the momentum of his breakthrough to suppress the Xuanzhen Sect’s younger generation and enhance the Vajra Sect’s prestige.’

Yang Jing felt a secret surge of relief. ‘If I hadn’t just broken through to the Qi Absorption Realm myself and was still at the Peak of the Qi Eating Realm, then in the face of this newly advanced Li Yu, no one in the Xuanzhen Sect’s younger generation would have been able to stand against him.’

‘We would have suffered a crushing defeat, bringing utter humiliation to the sect.’

Meanwhile, Chu Yunhai stood quietly to the side. The high-spirited, razor-sharp aura he had possessed upon entering the hall had vanished without a trace. He now seemed silent and somber, a veil of unconcealable dejection hanging over his brow.

It was undeniable that this series of revelations had dealt him one heavy blow after another.

First, he had witnessed with his own eyes and heard with his own ears that Yang Jing—a disciple previously judged to have less potential than himself—had been the first to break through to the Qi Absorption Realm, leaving him far behind.

Then, he learned that Li Yu of the Vajra Sect—a rival who had always been considered his equal, or even slightly inferior—had also quietly broken through to the Qi Absorption Realm.

This one-two punch left his mind reeling.

In his original plan, he had intended to use the immense strength he had gained from the sect’s dedicated investment of resources to make a powerful display during the Vajra Sect’s visit, defeating the Three Prodigies in a single, decisive move.

He would have used that victory to make a name for himself among the younger generation of Jintai Prefecture, cementing his status as the number one disciple not only in the Xuanzhen Sect but in the entire region, and living up to his title as the sect’s top prospect.

But now, the cold, hard reality lay before him. Both the suddenly ascendant Yang Jing and the quietly advancing Li Yu of the Vajra Sect had far surpassed him, stepping into the Qi Absorption Realm—a realm he had long dreamed of but had been unable to touch.

An insurmountable chasm had opened up between their realms and his. He was simply no longer in their league.

At this thought, Chu Yunhai’s hands, hanging at his sides, unconsciously clenched into tight fists. A bitter wave of failure and defeat washed over him, heavy and unavoidable.

It was the despair of falling from the heavens into the mud, the helplessness of training so painstakingly only to be surpassed by two others.

‘To him, breaking through to the Qi Absorption Realm was an incredibly difficult feat. But now, he felt that in the eyes of people like Yang Jing and Chen Chu, it probably wasn’t so difficult at all.’