Chapter 101: Rebirth

The Thousand-Sect Realm, the heart of the plane.

“Mu Yangtian, how dare you destroy my very source!”

The figure of the Dharma-seal behind Qin Yu gave a long cry to the sky, then his darkened face dissolved into the winds between heaven and earth.

Half a month passed.

The Thousand Emperor Realm, somewhere unnamed.

A small, delicate girl was helping a young man. The girl looked pitifully beautiful, her fine features so fragile they seemed made to break at a touch, her clear eyes and bright smile hiding a sorrow no one wished to voice.
“Jiuyao, about…”

“Qingyu, I already know. The Hundred-Sect Realm has surely fallen. My father, my mother, my fellow disciples…”

Ye Jiuyao could not finish. His frail body seemed ready to collapse at the slightest breath, his face gone ghostly pale.

He had woken days earlier and, seeing the unfamiliar surroundings and the girl beside him, had already guessed what had happened.

“Come. Let’s learn what this place is.”
“Mm.”

Luo Qingyu understood the weight in Ye Jiuyao’s heart. She too had lived through such ruin, and she led him toward the nearest city.

Though they had not entered a city in these past two weeks, they had still learned enough. This realm was a step above the Thousand-Sect Realm, a higher plane—the Thousand Emperor Realm of which people spoke in low, reverent tones.

When the two entered Qianye City, they found it alive with noise and motion. The crowds poured continuously toward one spot.

“Excuse me, what is happening ahead?”
“Newcomers?”
“Mm.”
Ye Jiuyao asked, tugging at the sleeve of a passerby.
“It’s the selection for One Sects and Three Kingdoms. No time to explain, I’m off to see the excitement too.”

A spark lit in Ye Jiuyao’s eyes. A selection meant cultivation trials. He and Luo Qingyu shared a brief smile, their meaning clear.

“Let’s try.”
“Mm.”

Guiding him through the throng, Luo Qingyu brought him to the place they’d mentioned, where people had already packed the area tightly.

In the center of a vast arena stood four prominent plaques: Qianye Sect, Xiongying Kingdom, Fanshi Kingdom, and Great Ryu Nation.
Beneath the banner of the One-Sects and Three-Kingdoms setup were four plain tables, each with two candidates—one man and one woman. The men were handsome, the women graceful, and many eyes followed them with obvious fondness. Beneath the eight sat a huge stone block carved with three characters.

“Caiyuan Stone?”
Ye Jiuyao softly read it aloud.

“Step up to the Test Stone: anyone whose yuanqi reaches fifth rank can choose a sect or kingdom for cultivation. I really envy those who get to do that.”

“Yes. And this is still only the lower-tier branches of the One-Sects and Three-Kingdoms divisions anyway…”

Listening to the murmurs around him, Ye Jiuyao began to understand the stone as well. He did not know his own rank, but he believed it was not low.

“We should test too. Strength matters.”
He said it seriously. If he had been stronger before, perhaps none of this would have happened.
“Fine,” Luo Qingyu replied, nodding.

They pushed forward into the crowd.

“Look—seventh tier, seventh!”
“Strong…”
“After so long, a seventh-grade has appeared…”
“Yeah. It used to be mostly fifth, and six ranks were rare. To see a seventh now…”

The crowd pointed and shouted. A handsome youth stood on stage, face full of pride, looking down as if showing off.

“Would you come to Great Ryu Nation?”
The youth of Great Ryu asked the boy at the stone.

“Respectful greetings, senior brother.”
“Mm.”
He tossed a token. The boy took it with deference, then hurried to stand behind the Great Ryu youth, looking rigid and shy, no trace of arrogance left.

The others were less impressed. A seventh rank had appeared before in earlier years, so no one was truly shaken.

One after another, others tested. After that seventh, no more came. Most were fifth rank; sixths appeared only sparingly.

Now only a few dozen youths and maidens stood behind the four powers—perhaps eight or nine each—but the spectators’ interest did not fade. It rose.

By custom, in past years, the truly exceptional talents usually arrived later and would seize this moment to emerge at once and claim the right to choose for themselves.

Unlike the earlier seventh-grade boy, who revealed himself too soon and lost control of the moment.

Here, one chose the sect; this time, not the sect choosing you.

Like bargaining in a market: the seller raises the price, you haggle lower and lower; when the offer nearly suits you, you try to press once more and even threaten to leave, and suddenly the seller sweetens the offer. That is when the upper hand is yours.

Hence, the stronger the talent, the more they wait for this later turn.

“Only ten left,” Ye Jiuyao murmured, eyes flicking to the line ahead of them, revealing a flicker of hope.

Then someone shouted below, “Eighth tier talent!”
“Eighth—that’s eighth!”

Yet before anyone fully caught the meaning, another came forward and placed his palm on the Test Stone.

“Nu… ninth!”
The cry froze everyone. Not only the crowd but all four powers rose, all eyes fixed on the youth.

“Would you come to Great Ryu Nation?”
“Would you come to Xiongying Kingdom?”
Silence, then smiles, each face arranged in welcome, each power trying to appear the gentlest and most benevolent.
“Let me consider,” the boy said.

“We can place you among the core disciples of Xiongying and focus your training.”
“Great Ryu can do the same, and we can petition for direct guidance from the sect master—to be his disciple.”

Quickly, Great Ryu and Xiongying both offered their overtures. Hearing them, the boy wavered, then chose Great Ryu, drawing unmistakable disappointment from Xiongying’s pair.

“Would you be willing to join Xiongying? The same promise.”
A Xiongying envoy asked the boy of eighth rank.
“Respectful salutations, senior brother and senior sister,” the girl said with a smile.

One by one, a few more came, all eighth rank. Of the last eight, each power claimed two.

As for the ninth, it left Qianye Sect and Fanshi Kingdom with a sour taste; neither had even made a bid.

“It’s our turn,” Luo Qingyu said.
“Mm.”

At last, only Ye Jiuyao and Luo Qingyu remained.

Everyone’s gaze shifted to them, though some stared with something ugly and strange.
A youth leaning on so frail a girl was already enough to rouse whispers; the boy looked weak, while the girl’s beauty was so extraordinary it provoked coarse thoughts. Especially that ninth-grade prodigy in the crowd: at the sight of Luo Qingyu, lust flashed in his eyes, and cold derision rose with it.