Li Cheng's eyes locked onto the mountaintop, and upon hearing the notification, his heart filled with astonishment.
Yun Tianqiong hadn't even entered the Qi Refinement Realm, yet he had comprehended Sword Intent!
He thought he was exceptional enough; when he had grasped the concept of Sword Intent, he had already reached the level of the Qi Refinement Realm. He hadn't expected someone to be even more ruthless than himself!
At the summit, a Sword Intent surged forward with an unstoppable momentum, fearless and soaring into the sky.
The Sect Master's eyes showed surprise as he shifted his gaze to the mountaintop, "Is that Yun Tianqiong?"
He had asked the First Elder in detail and knew that the junior uncle had left Yun Tianqiong a Sword scar to comprehend for three days.
This was only the second day, yet Yun Tianqiong had already comprehended Sword Intent?
The Sect Master opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn't speak, though his heart had already turned bitter.
What happened to the good-for-nothing they had talked about?
To comprehend Sword Intent in the Body Refinement period, more fiercely than the junior uncle, how could this be called a good-for-nothing?
He felt sorrowful now; he wanted to find a no-hoper for the junior uncle to instruct, to get him to realize the difficulty and ascend quickly, but now...
It's over; the junior uncle surely cherished talent deeply and wouldn't want to ascend anymore.
"The Sect Master indeed has an extraordinary vision, to be able to find such a monster!" Li Cheng took a long breath and laughed.
The Sect Master turned to Li Cheng, and seeing the satisfied look on his face, his heart grew even more bitter!
Coughing discreetly, the Sect Master laughed, "Congratulations to the junior uncle, this person has an extraordinary talent in the Sword Dao. If he focuses on the Sword Dao, I'm afraid it will only take him thirty years to step into the Transcendance Tribulation Stage!"
With that, the Sect Master let out a long sigh, "Alas, I'm envious. Standing on the shoulders of giants makes all the difference in starting out!"
Li Cheng's mouth twitched, this flattery was unanticipated and stealthy!
In his mouth, he had become a giant.
"The Sword scar is still there, Sect Master, if you're interested you could go take a look," Li Cheng said, somewhat exasperatedly.
The Sect Master knew Li Cheng was joking and awkwardly changed the subject, "I heard that the junior uncle hasn't formally taken him on, are you planning to do so now?"
Clearly, the Sect Master still harbored a glimmer of hope.
Li Cheng shook his head, "Not yet decided, let's wait and see!"
The Sect Master was overjoyed inside, 'Don't take him, please don't take him. How would you ascend if you did?'
At that moment, Yun Tianqiong, having hurried down from the mountaintop, saw the two of them and quickly came forward to offer his respects.
"I greet Master and Sect Master!" Yun Tianqiong bowed deeply, his eyes filled with utmost reverence.
The Sect Master nodded slightly and turned his gaze to Li Cheng.
Li Cheng looked at Yun Tianqiong, "You still have two days. Aren't you continuing to gain insight?"
Yun Tianqiong bowed again, "Master, I wish to return to the Cloud Mysterious dynasty to settle a grudge from ten years ago."
Li Cheng laughed.
The Sect Master frowned, "Dynasty? Cultivators don't interfere with secular affairs. Young man, don't go too far."
The smile on Li Cheng's face grew wider, "Not having reached Foundation Establishment, one cannot be considered a cultivator!"
Upon hearing this, Yun Tianqiong was ecstatic; this was support for him to go!
Li Cheng flicked his finger and a burst of Sword Qi suddenly appeared before him, "Do what you want to do, follow your heart. As long as you bear no shame in your heart, that's enough. I bestow this Sword Qi upon you for protection."
Having said this, the Sword Qi flashed and entered Yun Tianqiong's arm.
The Sect Master watched in shock as the Sword Qi, which contained the power of the junior uncle, entered Yun Tianqiong; once unleashed, it was something no one below the complete stage of Tribulation Crossing could withstand!
It's done for!
Such a powerful Sword Qi was bestowed, it's a certainty he would take Yun Tianqiong as a disciple now!
Yun Tianqiong looked at his arm in shock; he could feel the terror of the Sword Qi and understood that his master was officially agreeing to take him on!
"Thank you for your generous gift, Master!"
Yun Tianqiong quickly knelt and kowtowed deeply three times, as a sign of gratitude and as an official acceptance of discipleship!
Li Cheng nodded, "You're now the senior brother of our sect's disciples. You'll have many junior brothers and sisters in the future, and your every action will be an example for them. Don't disappoint me."
The Sect Master by their side was stunned. There would be many disciples?
What's the point now, wasn't the junior uncle supposed to ascend?
Is the plan going to fall through?
As Yun Tianqiong already departed, the Sect Master was still unable to come back to his senses.
"Sect Master, what's with that expression? Haven't you always wanted me to recruit disciples widely?" Li Cheng asked, speechless.
The muscles on the Sect Master's face twitched, "Little Uncle-Master, times have changed. Can you stop recruiting disciples and ascend sooner?"
It was a showdown!
No more beating around the bush.
Li Cheng shook his head with a smile, "Narrow-minded!"
"My staying here and taking in disciples brings far more benefits than ascending. If you don't believe me, just wait and see!"
Li Cheng certainly understood the Sect Master's thoughts, but to ascend to the Immortal World and become a nobody?
That was impossible!
After all, that was the Immortal Realm, where strong practitioners were a dime a dozen, as common as dogs—it wasn't safe.
The Kunlun Realm was better by far, where—if he didn't run into a powerful Loose Immortal—he stood at the pinnacle of combat might.
The Sect Master's face was full of reluctance, which slowly turned into skepticism, "Really?"
Li Cheng nodded, "Won't we know in a few years? Alright, you can go. I will continue my enlightenment."
The Sect Master nodded helplessly and flew away.
Suddenly, the Sect Master paused, turning his head to look at Li Cheng. Enlightenment again?
That wasn't right; enlightenment was a great opportunity—could it just happen whenever one said so?
Perhaps the Little Uncle-Master misspoke?
With that thought, the Sect Master hastened his departure. The Inner Gate was opening tomorrow for disciple recruitment; he had to see how well prepared the elders were.
As for persuading the Little Uncle-Master to ascend, that could be put on hold. Perhaps he wouldn't find any satisfactory disciples?
The Sect Master, now far from the Eighteenth Peak, was oblivious to the fact that Li Cheng had indeed entered a state of enlightenment once again!
The next day at noon, Li Cheng woke from his enlightenment, amazed to discover that his Spiritual Sense had increased by more than double!
Before, releasing his Spiritual Sense could cover a hundred miles.
Now, it could envelop over two hundred miles!
Every blade of grass and tree within this range was within his Spiritual Sense perception.
After marveling for a moment, Li Cheng looked toward his Nascent Soul, only to see that there were already Three Temporal Laws within it.
"With two more enlightenments, I should be able to increase it to ten, right?"
Having already become much more adept at grasping the Laws through two enlightenments, the next enlightenment would surely allow for an understanding of even more Laws.
But for now, it was time to attend the grand ceremony of opening the mountain!
"System, keep your eyes peeled and notify me immediately when you see someone who can be taken as a disciple."
As he spoke, Li Cheng took off towards the central area of the sect.
[The sensing range is one percent of the Spiritual Sense coverage area. Any fated person appearing in this range will be notified.]
Hearing the prompt, Li Cheng felt somewhat speechless. Wasn't this sensing range a bit too small?
Such a weak system!
[Detected disciple meeting the criteria on the mountain ahead!]
The abrupt alert caused Li Cheng's eyes to light up, and he quickly halted.
"Where?"
Li Cheng extended his Spiritual Sense, enveloping the dozen or so peaks ahead.
The very next moment, a huge arrow appeared above a great hall!
Uh?
Seeing the giant green arrow within his Spiritual Sense, Li Cheng was stunned for a moment, knowing this was the system marking the location for him, but was this large green arrow seriously not a joke?
"Green arrow... alright, that's the Seventh Peak, the domain of the Seventh Elder. You want me to poach from his territory?"
"The Seventh Elder is notoriously stubborn—impenetrable like a block of salt. This will be tough to handle!"
"But I really have to poach!"
Li Cheng stroked his chin, his gaze shifting toward the nearby square where a sea of heads had already gathered—it was clearly about to begin!
"I'll go check out the square first, then head over to the Seventh Peak!"
Having made up his mind, Li Cheng's form flickered, and he appeared above the square.