Yun Liu hugged the book, his eyes drowsy, ready to fall asleep at any moment.
He was just waiting for the hour to end so he could be automatically transported back to Sighing Peak, retiring with a merit score of zero, too lazy to even make an excuse.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, something was thrown from afar, moving at incredible speed.
Yun Liu reacted instantly, reaching out with one hand to catch the round object without even looking.
Looking closely, it turned out to be a black egg, with strange patterns like tiger stripes.
“A demon beast egg?”
Yun Liu hadn’t figured out what was happening yet when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a black dot in the sky hurtling toward him, growing larger.
A Huangsha Flying Eagle screeched, diving fiercely, smashing into the stone forest.
Its talons sliced through giant rocks like blades, sweeping past.
The stone forest collapsed with a roar. Fierce winds sent sand and stones flying, obscuring the view in the clouds.
Exclamations echoed atop Sighing Peak—this was a genuine demon beast, but why had it left its territory and come here?
Jing Tan’er and Xiao Xinran were tense, craning their necks to look.
Though it was only a first-stage minor demon, with a young man’s body like that, even if he survived, he’d lose a layer of skin.
Only Qin Cha and Ji Shiyu didn’t seem worried—the kid was so lively now, he could even talk back to Aunt Master.
Then a figure walked through the collapsed stone forest, waving a hand to scatter the yellow sand, coughing lightly.
Fang Ting rubbed his nose and smiled.
“Are you alright, Yun Shidi? Need help?”
Strangely, within the dust, there was only silence—no sound, no flapping of the giant bird.
He had planned to come in and stir up trouble, to “escort” Yun Shidi back to Sighing Peak and get him out of the Inner Sect so he wouldn’t be an eyesore.
He didn’t expect Yun Liu to be even more boring than imagined, sitting there waiting to be eliminated, already resigned to fate.
So Fang Ting decided to send him off, bringing a little surprise.
As the dust cleared, a man and a bird appeared.
A young man in golden cloud robes looked surprised.
Yun Liu stood atop the collapsed rubble.
For some reason, the furious yellow-feathered, white-headed giant eagle now lowered its head, letting the boy “stroke” it.
The white-robed youth glanced at the man, instantly realizing who had thrown the bird egg and lured this beast.
He looked down.
The rare potted plants painstakingly tended by Little Yellow Hair had all been smashed, unusable.
Yun Liu’s hand tightened, fingers sinking deep into the giant bird’s skull, making it tremble and crouch, not daring to move.
“Are you sick?”
The prankster shrugged, looking innocent.
“Why do you say that, Yun Shidi? You sat there doing nothing for so long. I was worried you’d be sent back to the Outer Sect to retake classes, so I sent you a gift. If you don’t appreciate it, fine—but why bite back?”
“You ruined my potted plants.”
Yun Liu’s face darkened.
The loss was worth eighteen hundred, even before being refined into spiritual medicine.
Measured in Hei Nu units, it could make Ji Shiyu work for over half a month.
Fang Ting pursed his lips.
“So?”
“Compensate.”
Yun Liu rolled up his sleeves and handed the bird egg back to the flying eagle.
The giant bird flapped its wings and fled, not daring to look back.
That bird wasn’t even as valuable as a single Spirit Sunflower!
Fang Ting shook his head in disbelief, surprised that the dark beast was such a coward.
He laughed softly.
“I thought you’d say something else. Is your Sea of Consciousness damaged? Or did it break your brain too?”
“Compensate.”
“This time, consider yourself lucky. Go back to the Outer Sect for remedial study, and stay away from Qin Sister. Don’t get any funny ideas.”
Fang Ting’s eyes flashed with sympathy.
An idiot—no need to pay him any mind. As he brushed past, he lowered his voice threateningly, ready to pick up the Sword Emblem and leave.
But this time, the soon-to-retire “slacker” senior brother of Celestial Phenomena Peak didn’t let it go.
Yun Liu sidestepped, lightly kicking the Sword Emblem on the ground so it bounced off a broken stone and landed precisely in his palm.
“If you won’t give it, I’ll take it myself.”
He said calmly.
“Ha, you want to stop me?”
Fang Ting’s expression was a mix of amusement and surprise. He hooked his finger.
It wouldn’t look good to bully a cripple, but if Yun Liu sought death himself, Fang Ting saw no reason to hold back.
As tension crackled between them, Qin Cha’s eyes blazed with anger.
She didn’t know what the two were muttering about, but could guess Fang Ting was up to no good. She gripped her sword, ready to charge in, but Ge Lan grabbed her arm.
Fang Shou’s eyelid twitched.
Remembering his dull son’s clumsy hands and feet made him break out in a cold sweat.
Why provoke a Sect outcast for no reason?
He didn’t like Yun Liu’s son either, but offending Celestial Phenomena’s top disciple for nothing—was his brain flooded with water?
Aunt Master, with her ever-changing moods, remained expressionless, as if indifferent to the fate of her disciple, seemingly preoccupied with other matters.
“Let’s end this.”
The Grand Elder shook the gourd in his hand, ready to close the Spirit Gourd Paradise and end this farcical drama.
But Yun Liu was faster.
He reached for Fang Ting, his five fingers like hooks, easily shredding the Protective Spiritual Energy around him and gripping his wrist tightly.
“Crack!”
Fang Ting’s pupils contracted.
He heard a strange noise. Before he could even see Yun Liu’s movement, searing pain shot through his wrist.
Yun Liu twisted Fang Ting’s wrist, breaking it, then slid an ancient ring from his index finger and invaded it with his Divine Soul.
A sharp pain stabbed through Fang Ting’s Sea of Consciousness, his Soul Imprint violently erased. Before he could react, his body was hurled over Yun Liu’s shoulder and crashed heavily onto the peak’s Dao Arena.
The Spirit Gourd Paradise fully closed, forcibly sending all who hadn’t exited in time back to Sighing Peak.
The two in the Shixiang Stone Forest were also teleported to the center of the Dao Arena.
Bang!
With a loud crash, the golden-robed youth slammed into the ground, shattering tiles.
Dao cultivators trained for tranquility, less resilient than external cultivators.
Without protective spiritual energy, even a Foundation Establishment Sword Cultivator’s body wasn’t much tougher than a Qi Refining Cultivator’s.
Fang Ting collapsed without a sound, unconscious, bleeding heavily from his nose and mouth, bones broken.
Yun Liu didn’t spare him a glance. He broke open the Fangcun Object, dumped all its contents on the ground, and confiscated a portion of the trial loot as compensation.
After settling the debt, Fang Ting’s remaining spoils likely weren’t enough to complete his trial points.
Calmly finishing, Yun Liu tossed the ring back to the unconscious Fang Ting and turned toward the Celestial Phenomena Peak.
Sighing Peak fell into dead silence. Everyone broke out in cold sweat, unable to believe their eyes.
You call this a cripple?
Fang Ting’s cultivation was mid-Foundation Establishment, sixth stage—a top disciple among the younger generation, one of the strongest Inner Disciples in this trial—yet the Celestial Phenomena Peak’s top disciple crushed him with ease.
The white-robed youth’s actions were plain and unremarkable.
He didn’t even use a sword, nor did he give the opponent a chance to draw.
Maybe Fang Ting’s carelessness played a role, but still, it was terrifying.
“Wasn’t he… crippled?”
The same question echoed in everyone’s hearts.
Xiao Xinran and Jing Tan’er were the most stunned—first angry, then shocked, then delighted, not knowing when their beloved had healed, his strength surpassing the past.