【No matter the circumstances, one must maintain a positive mindset; even amidst the fiercest storms, one must persevere!】
【This was the motto Xiao Yinzhang and Ma Jintian set for themselves.】
【The two brothers-in-arms were not defeated by their setbacks. They remained determined to establish their sect.】
【And since they were already famous, they decided to stay true to their original intentions. The name of Yellow Springs Temple would not change.】
【If you call us a demon sect, so be it. It doesn’t matter—we’ve already gone too far down this road.】
【Even infamy is still fame.】
【As for the location of the sect?】
【Let’s first move away from the main battlefield!】
【Ma Jintian and Xiao Yinzhang’s strength wasn’t enough to contend with the big players. So, they moved to the edge of the Northern Desolate Continent to establish their sect.】
【Hoping that one day, they could soar into the heavens!】
【But there were both advantages and disadvantages here.】
【The advantage was that, due to the sheer remoteness of the area, for thousands of kilometers around, there wasn’t a single righteous sect.】
【No, to be precise, not even birds bothered to poop here, let alone people.】
【So there was no need to worry about being hunted down by righteous cultivators.】
【As for the downside, it was also due to the location.】
【The population was truly sparse, which made it hard for Yellow Springs Temple to recruit disciples.】
【As for cultivation resources, they were also pitifully scarce.】
【However, it’s worth noting that occasionally, a demon cultivator would join Yellow Springs Temple.】
【This only pushed them further along the path of being a demon sect!】
【But none of that mattered.】
【Any demon who came to such a remote place was someone with no other options. This made it easy for Xiao Yinzhang and Ma Jintian to manage them.】
【As the saying goes, “a cowardly soldier and a cowardly leader make a cowardly army.”】
【Under the leadership of Xiao Yinzhang and Ma Jintian, although Yellow Springs Temple was a demon sect, they never committed any insane or depraved acts.】
【They focused on peaceful cultivation, avoiding worldly conflicts.】
【This is why Ye Yu’s parents, Ye Jing and Mo Haitang, treated their cultivation here like going to a job.】
【Food and lodging were provided, they received cultivation methods and subsidies, and there were no performance targets—absolutely a heavenly sect!】
【Who wouldn’t love it?】
【Originally, everything was going well.】
【But Xiao Yinzhang never expected that his closest brother, Ma Jintian, had already left him, separated by life and death.】
【The oath they once swore remained, but the man was gone.】
【At this point, Xiao Yinzhang cried like a child.】
【The pain of losing a dear friend exploded from within him in an instant!】
【Ye Yu’s eyes lowered slightly.】
【He understood that as the head of the sect, Xiao Yinzhang had to maintain his composure in the main hall. But now, this was his real self.】
【To show this vulnerable side to Ye Yu meant that Xiao Yinzhang truly saw him as one of his own.】
【Because of this, Ye Yu could only step forward, patting Xiao Yinzhang’s back to offer comfort.】
【After all, the death of a brother is a heart-wrenching tragedy!】
【At 18, Ye Yu successfully reached the Golden Core realm.】
【In these years, while he appeared obedient on the surface, he was secretly visiting Qian Xingwan, the head of the Alchemy Hall, under the guise of learning alchemy.】
【He was refining the Xuantian Creation Pill.】
【If you won’t give it to me, I’ll make it myself—no problem with that!】
【It was thanks to this that Ye Yu managed to barely reach the Golden Core realm over the years.】
【But even this speed was too slow.】
【Ye Yu remained unsatisfied.】
【However, he didn’t want to make Xiao Yinzhang and his parents too sad. So he endured until the age of 18 before leaving.】
【After leaving the Yellow Springs Temple, Ye Yu flipped his hand, and in his palm appeared a yellowed manual.】
【Yes, this was the forbidden technique that Ma Jintian had risked his life to retrieve.】
【And Ye Yu had quietly taken it!】
【That’s right—taken!】
【It was only natural for a disciple to take his master’s belongings.】
【Even if the master didn’t know, it’s still reasonable!】
【Two nights later.】
【In the central region of the Northern Desolate Continent, Ye Yu sat on the trunk of a tree, his expression rather strange.】
【Now, he finally understood why Xiao Yinzhang had been so adamant about not letting him touch this manual.】
【It turns out, the side effects of this technique were simply too severe!】
【It allowed low-level cultivators to reach the peak of the Nascent Soul realm in a very short time.】
【But as the price, first, this would be their absolute limit. No matter what fortuitous encounters they had, they would never advance further in their lifetime.】
【Honestly, this wasn’t too bad. A peak Nascent Soul cultivator was already quite impressive. Even in a large sect, they could secure a position as an elder.】
【But the truly horrifying price was the second point.】
【It involved a gender swap!】
【As one’s cultivation progressed, male cultivators would lose certain parts and gain others, transforming into female cultivators.】
【And female cultivators would similarly become male.】
【Upon reaching the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, the lost parts would return, resulting in both genders coexisting, with their lifespan greatly reduced to just 200 years!】
【This was a technique that not only drained one’s body but also altered one’s very identity.】
【No wonder this forbidden technique had been sitting in Yellow Springs Temple for six years, and Xiao Yinzhang had never revealed it.】
【It was too disgusting!】
【It was a matter of male dignity!】
【Ye Yu glanced down at himself and couldn’t help but shudder.】
【Such a vile practice—it was utterly reprehensible!】
【However, as a form of punishment, it wasn’t a bad option. Now, who would be the unlucky person to take this burden?】
【Ye Yu pinched his chin in thought.】
【The price of this technique was something he had no desire to experience for even a second. So, his plan was to find an unfortunate victim first.】
【And then begin his cultivation!】
【Thinking this, Ye Yu immediately stood up, ready to go outside and scout for a suitable candidate!】
【But unexpectedly, just as he was about to doze off, someone offered him a pillow.】
【A man and a woman appeared, embracing each other.】
【The man was rather plain-looking, while the woman was charming, though her allure was somewhat diminished by a certain air of worldliness, making her less appealing.】
【These two were disciples from the nearby Jade Void Palace.】
【The man’s name was Jiao Feikuang, and the woman was Xia Mengcai.】
【The two of them, taking advantage of the late-night silence, intended to engage in a friendly competition in this wooded area.】
【They referred to it, quite grandly, as ‘bathing in the moonlight under the heavens.’】
【But to their surprise, they suddenly noticed Ye Yu was also there.】
【This made Jiao Feikuang quite displeased. How could a friendly competition have an audience?】
【So, he immediately shouted, Get lost quickly and don’t interrupt this young master’s fun!】
【Hearing this, Ye Yu couldn’t help but smile.】
【Fun?】
【You might want to skip tonight’s “fun.”】
【Xia Mengcai glanced at Ye Yu’s handsome face, and a wave of heat surged in her heart.】
【If only tonight’s partner for the friendly match were this young man, how perfect it would be.】
【But some things were destined to be out of reach.】
【The handsome ones had no money, the wealthy ones weren’t handsome, and those who were both rich and good-looking were way out of her league!】
【Xia Mengcai couldn’t help but sigh softly.】
【Then she said, Jiao Lang, let’s go somewhere else. It’s uncomfortable here.】
【Although Jiao Feikuang was in a hurry, he still needed to appease his opponent for the friendly competition; otherwise, it would affect their sparring experience.】
【So, he snorted coldly.】
【You’re lucky this time, kid. Don’t let me catch you again!】
【After saying that, Jiao Feikuang turned to leave.】
【But Ye Yu remained calm as he took out that forbidden technique!】