**Chapter 16 : Five Years Later – The Might of the Divine Body**
Five years had passed since Ye Ling's mysterious visit to the Chan Clan Patriarch.
In these years, the man who once concealed his light beneath shadows had undergone a transformation so profound that even the heavens would pause to witness.
Today, the aura surrounding Ye Ling was vastly different. It was no longer a dormant mountain hidden in mist—it had become a celestial storm cloaked in calm, silently threatening to erupt with terrifying power.
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**Ascension to Divine Formation Realm**
Through relentless effort, unwavering focus, and an inexhaustible supply of enhanced treasures, divine pills, and techniques, Ye Ling had broken through from Nascent Soul to **Divine Formation Realm – First Stage**. This realm marked a critical turning point in a cultivator's life.
The Divine Formation Realm was the sacred art of fusing soul, body, and the Dao itself. The practitioner must compress their spiritual energy and soul into a Divine Core, creating a foundation for future ascension to the heavens. The process involved not only immense pain and danger but also complete reconstruction of one's meridians and spiritual channels.
Ye Ling's body now radiated a subtle divine glow. His meridians were like rivers of starlight, pulsing with celestial force. His bones were stronger than refined jade, his muscles like cords of divine steel.
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**Peak Body Cultivation – A Walking Calamity**
Alongside his spiritual cultivation, Ye Ling continued to cultivate the Heaven Peak Tier body cultivation technique he had obtained from the Chan Clan Patriarch's chamber. After years of consumption of enhanced pills, ancient herbs, and rigorous training, he reached the **early peak** of body cultivation—just one step away from the **middle stage**.
His physique had changed dramatically.
Even without activating a single thread of spiritual energy, he could now fight a **Nascent Soul Stage 1 cultivator**.
To understand the gravity of this, one must comprehend the difference:
A Nascent Soul cultivator without spiritual energy is reduced to the strength of a slightly stronger Qi Tempering cultivator. But a true body cultivator? Their strength was not reliant on mana or Qi. They could split mountains with a punch, crush boulders into dust, and even tear through spiritual artifacts with their bare hands.
Ye Ling's bare palm could now create shockwaves that cracked the very air, and his footsteps could shatter stone beneath them. This was no longer a mortal body—it was a **divine vessel** of pure might.
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**The Ruthless Purge of the Ye Clan**
Meanwhile, the city had not been silent. Over these five years, it had witnessed the reawakening of a once-doomed power—the Ye Clan.
After recovering from near death and breaking into Core Formation, the Ye Clan's Patriarch, Ye Tian, took decisive action. With a firm heart and bitter rage, he began cleansing the clan from within.
Many members and elders who had betrayed the clan—those who had sold secrets to the enemy, profited from the clan's decline, and watched coldly as their kin suffered—were dragged out into the **center of the city**.
They were forced to kneel on the Stone of Judgment, a public square where criminals were executed under the eyes of heaven.
The traitors pleaded desperately.
> "Please! I only told them minor details!"
> "I did it for the survival of my family!"
> "Spare me! I was forced into it!"
But no mercy came.
The crowd watched, eyes wide with a mix of fear and satisfaction. Whispers filled the air.
> "That's Elder Mu… he used to be in charge of the clan treasury."
> "They say he handed over maps of the legacy grounds to the Chan Clan."
> "Now he kneels like a dog… how fitting."
The executions were swift and merciless.
Heads fell to the executioner's saber—enchanted and enhanced to slice through protection talismans with ease. Blood pooled beneath the platform, soaking the stone red.
The sky seemed to dim as if mourning or acknowledging the darkness of the moment. It was not a celebration. It was a declaration:
> **"The Ye Clan will never tolerate betrayal again."**
From that day on, the loyalty within the Ye Clan became unshakable.
And Ye Ling, silently watching it all from the shadows, felt no pity.
> "Mercy is a luxury," he thought. "One I cannot afford on the path to immortality."
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