Eternal Life from the Golden Needle Technique

Chapter 285: Chapter 282: Advancing to Soul Emergence

During the entry assessment three years ago,

Wu Tianhao had brought Shen Changchuan directly into the third round of the assessment, stirring resentment among all those present at the time.

At that time,

Someone even stood up and bluntly challenged Wu Tianhao, the chief examiner.

That person was none other than this Li Qing!

The result was Shen Changchuan making his move. With a casual flick of his wrist, his sword strike nearly split the entire plaza in two.

It was so fast that Li Qing was left frozen on the spot, completely unable to move a muscle!

If that strike had been off by even the slightest margin,

he would have undoubtedly died on the spot!

That scene

undoubtedly stunned everyone present.

It made them all realize one thing: the vast, chasm-like gap between them and Shen Changchuan, who stood upon the high platform!

At the same time, it turned Li Qing, who had dared to step forward, into a laughingstock.

This humiliation,

however, also became the driving force behind Li Qing’s diligent Cultivation after entering the Sect.

For the past three years,

almost every time he closed his eyes, he could see that man from that day, high and mighty, looking down on him with a gaze of utter indifference.

”I will give you time to catch up, until I am far beyond your reach...”

”Being a genius is merely the threshold to meet me...”

Those words

rang in his ears at every moment.

Who among those able to enter the Dragon Cloud Sect wasn’t a genius in the eyes of others? Who didn’t possess a measure of a genius’s pride?

What he experienced that day

was, for Li Qing, an unprecedented humiliation!

Over these three years,

in order to avenge his shame,

Li Qing had been cultivating with several times the effort of others!

Three years to sharpen one sword,

none of the other Outer Disciples had fought him,

but the sharp glint in his eyes put pressure on anyone who met his gaze.

Without a doubt,

this Li Qing was by no means weak!

”Shen Changchuan... Haven’t seen a trace of him for two years, have we?”

”I heard he went into seclusion. Who knows what his strength is like now. If he’s defeated in the grand competition, those words he threw down back then will become a joke.”

”I doubt it. His strength is nothing to scoff at. Two years ago, he already had the power to contend with the Soul Emergence Realm. After two years, I’m afraid his strength has reached an even higher level.”

”Hmph! Shen Changchuan may have been strong back then, but he was only relying on his background from the Tian Nan Shen Clan and the powerful Magic legacies he possessed... In the past three years, we’ve been studying within the Sect and have already closed that gap. If we really face him, it’s anyone’s guess who will win!”

”That’s true. There are quite a few among us who want to teach that guy a lesson in the grand competition...”

The crowd below was abuzz with discussion.

Some of those with formidable auras had a sharp glint in their eyes, looking eager for a fight.

In two years,

Shen Changchuan had not shown his face.

His deterrent effect

had also gradually faded with time.

At the same time,

as their strength grew visibly day by day,

many of the Outer Disciples had their confidence rekindled!

The courage to contend with him was rising once more.

Especially those among them who ranked highest in strength,

all of them dreamed of pulling Shen Changchuan down from his high horse in the upcoming grand competition.

Looking at the eager crowd below,

Hong Yang, the Hall Master of the External Affairs Hall seated in the place of honor, said nothing.

’Having the courage to challenge others’

’is a good thing.

It’s just a pity...’

Hong Yang shook his head slightly in his mind.

’He knew perfectly well that the boy had already succeeded in cultivating his Divine Techniques to Perfection a year ago. Not to mention his rapid progress in other areas, just the Divine Techniques alone represented a chasm-like gap that none of these people present could ever cross!’

’Wanting to defeat that boy was ultimately just a fantasy...’

’These Disciples here are decent enough, but the gap between them and him is simply too great. A gap of that magnitude is not something that can be overcome with ordinary hard work.’

’What’s more, when has Shen Changchuan’s effort ever been inferior to theirs?’

’I heard before that the boy’s seclusion this time was to break through to the Soul Emergence Realm... I estimate he’ll probably advance in just a few more years...’

’Give you time to catch up, until I am far beyond your reach...’

’That boy... I’m afraid that wasn’t just big talk after all.’

Hong Yang mused to himself.

According to his estimates,

among this batch of over two hundred Disciples, even with the help of Soul Emergence Pills and other Spirit Medicines on their future Path of Immortal Cultivation, probably only thirty to forty percent would ultimately be able to advance to the Soul Emergence Realm in the next ten years!

And by the time they managed to advance,

who knows what level that boy, Changchuan, would have reached!

The threshold of the Soul Emergence Realm might not be much for a genius.

But for an ordinary Cultivator,

it remained an insurmountable chasm.

There are some things in reality

that simply cannot be altered by hard work; you can’t just defy the heavens and change your fate!

However,

even as the crowd below was abuzz with discussion, and many were making bold declarations about teaching Shen Changchuan a harsh lesson in the grand competition and securing a good ranking,

Hong Yang, on the seat of honor, did not speak up

to dampen their spirits.

’Some things’

’need to be seen with one’s own eyes to clearly recognize the gap.’

’Besides,’

’this kind of fearlessness in the face of the strong,’

’this mindset of possessing the will to challenge and fight,’

’is actually a good thing for a Cultivator.’

”Alright, all of you...”

Just as Hong Yang was about to say something to quiet the fervent discussions,

suddenly,

BOOM!!!

Accompanied by a faint tremor in the air,

a wave of power suddenly erupted from the Back Mountain.

”Hm?”

Hong Yang raised his eyes and looked over.

Over the Back Mountain,

dark clouds had gathered at some unknown time, blanketing the sky and faintly forming a vortex that spread outward.

The surrounding light grew dim.

At the same time,

as a considerable pressure swept out,

a light breeze stirred through the mountains, blowing between heaven and earth.

The clamor in the plaza died down in that instant.

”What’s happening?”

Many looked at each other, their faces filled with confusion.

”It looks like... someone is breaking through?”

someone said hesitantly.

”I once saw an Elder from my family break through to the Soul Emergence Realm, and the scene was somewhat similar to this... But back then, I only felt a faint pressure sweep over me, and it was gone in an instant. It didn’t have this kind of power that seems to be subtly changing the very heavens...”

”Could it be that one of the Sect’s Elders is advancing to the Divine Travel Realm?”

”I don’t think so... I’ve heard that a breakthrough to the Divine Travel Realm can cause dramatic changes in the heavens... This scene seems a bit too small for that.”

”Then who could it be?”

The disciples all began to speculate,

but there were no definite answers.

No one noticed

that on the face of Hong Yang, seated in the place of honor, a mixture of joy, surprise, and shock was beginning to show.

’Only that boy is on the Back Mountain, in seclusion for his breakthrough.

It has to be him.

But,

how could he be so fast?

And,

how could it generate such a powerful fluctuation?’