Countless eyes were silently fixed on the strange celestial phenomena above Sword‑Knowing Peak. This was the ninth time. Linghu, the first Senior Brother of the Huayan Sect, was once again attempting to forge a Nascent Soul. He had already failed eight times before. Would he succeed on this ninth attempt? Every member of the Huayan Sect burned with urgency for an answer. Yet for now, all they could do was watch and wait. Sword‑Knowing Peak lay roughly five hundred li from Dui Seven Peak—one of the Nine Palaces Peaks to the west—and was neighbored by Soul‑Stirring Peak, Heart‑Tying Peak, and Autumn Water Peak. At that moment, every peak adjacent to Sword‑Knowing Peak was packed with Huayan Sect disciples, all sensing the spiritual energy ripples of Nascent Soul condensation and the breathtaking visual spectacle of the changing heavens. Standing with the Six Smoked Clouds Swordsmen on a protruding stone terrace halfway up Heart‑Tying Peak, Li Tianming's eyes glinted with strange radiance as he stared at the shifting celestial signs. He had originally been escorted by the Six Smoked Clouds Swordsmen to the Inner Sect Registration Hall to record his identity. But on the way, they had run into Elder Wei Dongqing—the third-ranked peak elder—and Sun Daoming, the master of the Six Smoked Clouds Swordsmen. On their instructions, he had instead hurried to Heart‑Tying Peak to witness Senior Brother Linghu's Nascent Soul condensation. Li Yue curled his lip. "Senior Brother Linghu's Nascent Soul tribulation is indeed spectacular—even more visually striking than when Infinite Blue Sky Senior Brother condensed his Nascent Soul. But will he succeed? Heh, I'd say it's still hanging by a thread this time." "Senior Brother Li Yue, is the Senior Brother attempting to condense his Nascent Soul named Linghu?" Li Tianming asked curiously. Li Yue chuckled. "Correct. This is none other than Linghu, our Huayan Sect's very first Senior Brother—and this is his ninth attempt at Nascent Soul. Junior Brother Tianming, you couldn't have arrived at a better time. You've barely joined the sect and already get to witness such a rare sight." Li Tianming murmured in acknowledgment and fixed his gaze once more on the continuously shifting celestial phenomena. A vortex of spiritual light had gathered into a colorful radiance spanning roughly one li, spreading across the void like a sheet of brocade. The wind, rain, and thunder within the dark clouds seemed to have exhausted their strength and gradually weakened. The serpentine bolts of lightning grew listless, striking the colorful radiance but failing to leave even the slightest crack—only stirring layers of ripples. At last, a sudden beam of light shot from the spiritual vortex and scattered the dark clouds. The colorful, brocade‑like glow surged like a tidal wave before being swept into the vortex. A vigorous pillar of spiritual energy abruptly poured down from the vortex, plummeting straight toward the summit of Sword‑Knowing Peak. The colorful glow was rapidly absorbed by the spinning vortex, and the descending pillar of light grew increasingly bright and solid, until every detail was distinct. The vast expanse of multicolored radiance was finally completely drawn into the vortex. With no more spiritual energy to feed it, the vortex abruptly stopped rotating. It then dissolved into clusters of light that merged into the pillar. The pillar of light stood three hundred zhang tall and over two meters in diameter. It was shrinking foot by foot, clearly being devoured and absorbed by the one condensing the Nascent Soul. No one knew how much time passed. Everyone stared unblinkingly as the pillar shrank inch by inch until not a trace of light remained. After several breaths of dead silence, brilliant radiance exploded across the summit of Sword‑Knowing Peak once more. A hundred‑zhang giant phantom, formed entirely from condensed spiritual light, loomed abruptly above the peak. Its body blazed with dazzling, resplendent light, too brilliant to gaze upon directly. Spiritual energy between heaven and earth churned violently, being tugged toward the giant phantom. An invisible pressure weighed down on everyone below the Nascent Soul realm. The Six Smoked Clouds Swordsmen were already bent slightly, sweat beading on their foreheads. Li Tianming, who had not yet formally begun cultivating, was pressed flat to the ground, nearly suffocating. As the giant phantom above Sword‑Knowing Peak grew more solid, its facial features beginning to take shape, it suddenly trembled violently. The gradually clearing face blurred again. Slowly, the fluctuations of light intensified until even its human form was unrecognizable. With a sharp crack, the radiance shattered into countless fragments and vanished into the void in an instant. "He… he failed…" Everyone stared blankly at Sword‑Knowing Peak, now completely devoid of spiritual radiance. They felt the spiritual energy between heaven and earth slowly calming from its chaos. All of them understood the same truth: Linghu, the illustrious first disciple of the Huayan Sect, had failed his ninth attempt at condensing a Nascent Soul. Sighs, laments, and even some mocking laughter echoed throughout every corner of the Huayan Sect. "Nine times… and still he failed?" In Cloud‑Gazing Pavilion on Autumn Water Peak, Nalan Baiyi stood in fluttering white robes, silently gazing toward the neighboring Sword‑Knowing Peak. His clear, autumn‑like eyes held confusion and sorrow. "Senior Brother Linghu… can you… still keep going?" A dazzling sword light suddenly shot toward Sword‑Knowing Peak from afar. The slender, delicate figure standing on the flying sword was clearly visible. Staring at that figure, Nalan Baiyi let out a helpless sigh. "Junior Sister Yuruo… you've always cared the most for Senior Brother Linghu. Only you have the courage to love and hate so freely…" The Yuruo he spoke of was Feng Yuruo—the only daughter of the Sect Leader Feng Taichong, and the most cherished and protected junior sister among the first‑generation disciples. Feng Yuruo had worshipped Linghu, the genius first Senior Brother, since childhood. It was under his guidance that she had set aside her youthful sentiments and taken him as her goal, cultivating diligently. Blessed with truly exceptional talent and aided by her father, the Sect Leader, and other doting elders, her cultivation had soared like a rocket. In barely forty years, she had successfully condensed her Nascent Soul. On the Nine Provinces Continent, cultivation drastically separated immortals from mortals. For mortals, twenty marked adulthood, thirty prime, forty middle age, and fifty old age. For cultivators, it was different. Cultivators first underwent marrow cleansing and bone forging, rebirthing their bodies before stepping onto the path of cultivation. Time meant little to immortals; seclusion for a hundred years was commonplace. Every cultivator who had undergone marrow cleansing and bone forging possessed a lifespan of at least two hundred years. Upon reaching higher realms, their lifespan doubled. Successfully condensing a Nascent Soul was practically stepping through the door to longevity. Thus, for cultivators, fifty years of age was barely considered adulthood. Outside of meditation and absorbing spiritual energy, they gained little life experience—their days were often empty. True potential and fortune were measured by whether one could form a Golden Core before fifty. Success would extend their two‑hundred‑year lifespan by another hundred, to three hundred years, granting them greater hope to advance and strike at the Nascent Soul realm. Only by condensing a Nascent Soul would one undergo a second rebirth, with lifespan surging by an astonishing five hundred years, totaling eight hundred! Linghu—the genius Senior Brother of the Huayan Sect, the idol Feng Yuruo had admired and loved since childhood—earned his title because his cultivation talent was truly unmatched. Linghu entered the Huayan Sect at ten. By thirteen, he had reached the Great Perfection of the Qi Refining realm. At fifteen, he successfully founded his foundation. After that, he advanced at least one realm every single year. At eighteen, he reached the Great Perfection of the Foundation Establishment realm. On his nineteenth birthday, he formed his Golden Core. He did not disappoint: by twenty‑two, he stood at the Great Perfection of the Late Golden Core realm, ready to attempt Nascent Soul condensation at any moment. Linghu's terrifying cultivation speed left the entire cultivation world dumbstruck. His unparalleled talent led all to hail him as a supreme genius. Everyone believed Linghu would be the first in three thousand years to break the shackles that had prevented all from ascending. But that was where the tragedy began. After reaching Great Perfection Golden Core—when everyone expected him to quickly condense a Nascent Soul—he deliberately suppressed his cultivation and refused to advance. Only three years later, at just twenty‑five, did he finally make his first attempt. To everyone's shock, the fully prepared Linghu failed. That was his first failure. The aftermath was catastrophic: his cultivation plummeted all the way back to Foundation Establishment. A supreme genius failing Nascent Soul was shocking enough. But falling several realms in one go left the cultivation world utterly baffled. Normally, a failed Nascent Soul attempt would only drop one from Late Golden Core Great Perfection to Mid Golden Core. Yet Linghu had fallen straight from Golden Core Great Perfection to Early Foundation Establishment. No one could explain it. Veteran figures across the cultivation world, including the Huayan Sect's elders, studied the matter at length but reached no conclusion. As for Linghu himself—even after failing and falling to Early Foundation Establishment—he remained remarkably calm, composed, gentle, and unwavering. Though his realm had dropped, the sect did not strip him of his title as first Senior Brother, and not a single disciple objected. A supreme genius was still a supreme genius. Even after his first failure, with his terrifying talent, reclaiming his former glory would take only a few more years. And Linghu did not disappoint. Starting from Early Foundation Establishment, he advanced one realm per year as before. Eight years later, he once again stood at Golden Core Great Perfection—at just thirty‑three years old. This time, he did not suppress his realm for three years. After three months of adjustment, when his mind and body were at their peak, he began his second attempt at condensing a Nascent Soul.
