I became a god through frontier slaughter, and I crushed the academy's prodigies!

"Buzz—"

Just as Shen Tian's fingertips were about to touch the charred wall, the entire dilapidated bronze palace suddenly emitted a long, resonant hum.

Immediately afterwards, an indescribable terrifying aura slowly revived from the void deep within the hall.

The dying crystals on the dome were instantly extinguished by this aura.

The grand hall, which was originally filled with ancient malevolence and desolation, has been replaced by an indescribable sharpness.

Shen Tian's pupils suddenly contracted.

The eighteen martial arts essences within his body felt an unprecedented threat at this moment, and erupted like a ferocious beast in response to a stressful situation.

That sharp aura lacked the oppressive force of rage and the overwhelming momentum of a tidal wave.

"Holy crap! Old man!"

Xiao Ting shuddered, the lightning in his palm instantly extinguished, and he stood ramrod straight with his hands behind his back like a child caught doing something wrong.

In the darkness, there was the faint sound of cloth shoes scraping against the bronze floor.

An elderly man with white hair, dressed in a coarse cloth Taoist robe, slowly emerged from the shadows.

He walked very slowly, but with each step he took, the space beneath his feet seemed to fold up.

He covered the distance of a kilometer in just three steps and arrived in front of the two of them.

Ouyang Qianjue.

He simply stood there calmly, like an ancient sword sheathed.

However, under Shen Tian's perception of the Void Realm, the white-haired old man in front of him was not a person at all, but a vast and boundless sea of ​​swords.

"Your curiosity is even stronger than when I first came here."

Ouyang Qianjue's voice echoed in the empty hall, carrying a sense of vicissitude accumulated over the years.

As he spoke, the feeling of confinement that had enveloped Shen Tian melted away like ice and snow.

Shen Tian withdrew his hand and pressed the boiling eighteen true meanings back into his sea of ​​consciousness.

"Junior Shen Tian greets Senior."

Shen Tian bowed slightly, performing a junior's greeting.

He could sense that although the sword intent was sharp, it did not have any killing intent.

"good."

Ouyang Qianjue looked at Shen Tian, ​​a hint of sword intent flashing in his turbid eyes.

"Looks like this silly kid will only ever be able to follow in your footsteps and eat your dust for the rest of his life."

"Old man, you can praise someone if you want, but why are you putting me down?"

Xiao Ting protested in a low voice.

"I'm a naturally awakened being, can't you at least give me some face?"

Ouyang Qianjue didn't even glance at Xiao Ting.

He walked slowly to the charred wall, his withered hands gently stroking the uneven marks on it.

"You want to know the story that happened here?"

Ouyang Qianjue asked with his back to Shen Tian.

"Yes."

Shen Tian answered.

Ouyang Qianjue raised his hand, a withered leaf that seemed to have drifted from nowhere between his fingers. The leaf instantly transformed into a miniature cyan light sword at his fingertips.

"I'm here to tell you not to be impatient. The truth of this world is ultimately reserved for the strongest to uncover. You have that potential."

Ouyang Qianjue flipped his wrist, and the miniature lightsaber drew a mysterious trajectory in the air before turning into specks of blue light and scattering into the void.

"The answer will surely await you in the future. When you step into the ninth rank, or reach a level beyond the ninth rank, when you return here, this scorch mark will no longer obstruct your view."

Xiao Ting listened in stunned silence.

He grew up here, and the old man has never given anyone such high praise.

Surpassing the ninth rank? Isn't this old man's expectation of Shen Tian too high?

"I have learned a great deal."

Shen Tian exhaled a breath of stale air.

Ouyang Qianjue's words were like a heavy hammer, shattering the restlessness in his heart.

Ouyang Qianjue nodded slightly, becoming increasingly satisfied with Shen Tian's character.

"Let's go. The evil energy here is too strong; it's not suitable for you to stay for too long."

Ouyang Qianjue put his hands behind his back and walked towards the gate of the bronze palace.

"The Kunlun Baptism will take place in two days. That golden statue is what you should be focusing on now. The baptism will determine the limits of your future martial arts."

Shen Tian glanced at the wall covered in scorch marks and buried this obsession deep in his heart.

"Old man, wait for me!"

Xiao Ting quickly followed and pulled Shen Tian along with him.

The three of them transformed into three streaks of light and flew out of the dilapidated bronze palace.

The heavy bronze archway behind them emitted a dull thud.

The darkness from the depths of the nebula surged back up, once again burying the pool of blood that had dried up over countless epochs, and the mural that recorded unknown fears, into endless nothingness.

Leaving that empty, isolated space, the howling wind and snow once again filled my ears.

The main peak of Kunlun Mountain is over 8,000 meters above sea level, where the violent air currents in the stratosphere are cut into a sky full of silvery white.

The rich power of heaven and earth liquefied halfway up the mountain, forming layers of rolling blue mist that, under the refraction of sunlight piercing through the clouds, shimmered with a magnificent purple-gold halo.

Ouyang Qianjue soared through the air, leaving no trace of the snow beneath his feet.

He led Shen Tian and Xiao Ting to a secluded courtyard on the edge of a cliff.

"The Kunlun Baptism will not begin for another two days."

Ouyang Qianjue pointed to the simple courtyard in front of him, carved from ten-thousand-year-old ice rock.

"Rest here for the next two days, regulate your internal energy, and stabilize your cultivation level."

"Thank you for your thoughtful arrangements, senior."

Shen Tian clasped his hands together and performed a junior's greeting.

"Go."

Ouyang Qianjue waved his hand.

Shen Tian pushed open the heavy gate of the Ice Rock Academy and stepped inside.

The gate slowly closed amidst the wind and snow, shutting out the swirling snow.

Xiao Ting only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that Shen Tian's aura had completely disappeared into the courtyard.

His previously taut face instantly fell, and the restrained silver-white arcs of electricity on his body began to leap uneasily in the snow.

"Old man!"

Xiao Ting suddenly turned his head, his eyes wide open.

"Didn't you figure it out a long time ago?"

Ouyang Qianjue stood on the edge of the cliff, facing the fierce wind, his dry white hair dancing wildly in the wind.

He didn't turn around, but simply asked, "What did you figure out?"

"You're still pretending!"

Xiao Ting was so anxious he was jumping up and down. He pulled out his handheld game console from his pocket and frantically pressed a few buttons on the screen to hide his inner turmoil.

"When you used your sword against Tianyun Mansion last time, you must have already seen through his true strength! You were just waiting to see me make a fool of myself!"

The wind and snow lashed against Ouyang Qianjue's rough cloth clothes.

This man, widely recognized as the most ruthless killer in the Dragon Kingdom, turned his head slightly to look at his disciple, who was always fearless.

A mocking smile flashed in his eyes, carrying a hint of cunning.

Ouyang Qianjue did not answer, but simply stroked his gray beard and smiled without saying a word.

Seeing the old man's unfathomable expression, Xiao Ting immediately knew the answer.

That old bastard definitely did it on purpose!

He's digging his own grave!

The old man had long seen through Shen Tian's true nature, but he deliberately chose not to point it out.

He let himself spout nonsense, even dragging Li Changge to the Yingke Peak Square to make a scene and say some harsh words.

I was originally planning to show off my divine abilities in front of everyone.

The results of it?

Everything was made for Shen Tian's benefit!

At that very moment, Shen Tian arrived.

"There really are people like that."

Xiao Ting put away the game console and looked at Shen Tian's tightly closed courtyard gate with a complicated expression.

From childhood to adulthood, as a naturally gifted thunder awakener, Xiao Ting's cultivation path has progressed by leaps and bounds.

No matter how talented someone is, they are nothing more than a backdrop to highlight his brilliance.

He was used to looking down on everyone among his peers.

Although Li Changge could fight him to a draw, in his eyes, he was just a delusional teenager who needed some effort to deal with.

But Shen Tian's appearance shattered his pride.

There are people outside people, and there are days outside the sky.

This clichéd old saying materialized in Xiao Ting's mind as Shen Tian's calm face.

Ouyang Qianjue stood with his hands behind his back, listening quietly to his disciple's mutterings.

"Did you get a shock?"

Ouyang Qianjue's voice sounded exceptionally clear in the wind and snow.

Xiao Ting scratched his hair in frustration, making a mess of his once neatly combed hair bun.

The moon-white Taoist robe he wore fluttered in the cold wind.

He sighed deeply and rubbed his cheeks hard.

"Is it possible to avoid being stimulated?"

Xiao Ting rolled his eyes.

"You were this strong when you were young."

Ouyang Qianjue chuckled to himself.

That's a bit harsh...

So he simply turned around and continued to look at the rolling sea of ​​clouds, refusing to look at Xiao Ting.

"Now that you've been provoked, what are your plans?"

Xiao Ting took a deep breath of the cold air, and the chill rushed into his lungs through his trachea, making his mind clearer than ever before.

He glanced at the handheld game console in his hand that had been with him for several years.

This thing records the countless speedrun records he set.

Xiao Ting gritted his teeth and exerted force in his wrist.

With a "thud," the game console was thrown into the depths of the snow beside it.

"Old man, I've made up my mind."

Xiao Ting straightened his back, and the lightning arcs on his body gradually receded into his body, transforming into a powerful and restrained aura.

He turned to look at Shen Tian's courtyard, his eyes burning with an unprecedented fighting spirit.

"I need to spend less time online and more time cultivating. Otherwise, once he reaches the seventh level, I won't even have the right to look up to him."

After saying that, Xiao Ting turned around and strode towards the Thunder Pool behind the main peak.

The footprints left deep pits in the thick snow.

"I soaked in Leichi for two days before the baptism."

Xiao Ting waved his hand with his back to Ouyang Qianjue.

As Ouyang Qianjue watched his disciple's retreating figure, a hint of satisfaction appeared in his eyes.