"Jiang Chen!"
"Cousin!"
Jiang Jue stood in a corner at the back of the hall, staring at the young man who had entered with such calm authority. The jealousy in his eyes surged to the extreme.
He was also a genius of the Jiang family.
Yet he could only lurk in a corner, unnoticed. Meanwhile, Jiang Chen didn't even need to announce himself—he walked straight into the main hall openly, and no one thought there was anything wrong with it.
"Humph!"
The expressions of the elders from the Three Clans turned slightly cold. The momentum they had painstakingly built up was instantly shattered by a single sentence from this junior. The clan elders who had momentarily lost themselves also came back to their senses.
"Huh!"
"That does seem to be the case!"
"Jiang Chen did defeat a genius outside the Yin Ruins. He even provoked Lao Liu to the point of almost clashing with the Immortal Dao Sect. We didn't think much of it back then, but now that we look at it… Ye Chen really is nothing special!"
"Maybe Jiang Chen has defeated so many so-called geniuses that he didn't even bother remembering him. If that's the case, then Ye Chen truly amounts to nothing!"
"I thought he was some peerless genius, but it turns out it was just him."
The silver-haired elder stroked his beard as if deep in thought. His words were neither loud nor aggressive—but they were devastatingly insulting.
In the corner of the hall, Ye Chen's face turned as black as coal.
"Humph!"
At this critical moment, the head of the Three Clans could no longer endure it. He said coldly,
"Don't you think you're going too far? Can the Jiang family resolve this crisis without relying on this young friend? Are we supposed to trample him into nothing and still watch the Immortal Dao Sect fall out with the Jiang family, pushing us into a desperate situation?"
"This is no desperate situation."
Jiang Chen stood quietly in the hall, dressed in spotless white robes. He didn't give anyone the chance to interrupt and continued calmly:
"As long as I invite my master, all these troubles will cease to be a problem. If you don't believe me, go and inquire about the major events that happened in the Eastern Region today."
"Hmm?"
"Hmm?"
"Hmm?"
The elders all looked puzzled.
Major events?
What major events could have happened recently in the Eastern Region?
Wasn't it just the Snow Mountain Palace being wiped out?
At that moment, an elder in charge of intelligence hurried into the hall, his face glowing with excitement. He laughed loudly and said:
"Good news! Great news! Guess what happened today?"
The elders of the Three Clans felt their hearts sink slightly, a vague sense of unease rising within them.
They heard the elder continue excitedly,
"Elder Chu of the Donglin Sect is incredible! Who would have thought that in just a few short months, his cultivation has already reached… half-step Saint!"
"What?"
The pupils of many elders shrank violently, then slowly widened. Shock and disbelief flooded their hearts.
Even the silver-haired elder of the Six Clans exclaimed in astonishment,
"What did you say?"
"Half-Saint?"
"Half-Saint cultivation?!"
"It's absolutely true!" the intelligence elder swore firmly. "Conservatively speaking, he is at the half-Saint level—he may even already be in the Saint Realm!"
As he spoke in detail, the entire hall fell into dead silence.
No one could have imagined that on a day when they hadn't even paid attention to the Snow Mountain Palace, such a heaven-shaking event would occur.
"Hahaha!"
"Good!"
"As expected of Elder Chu!"
"My son truly has an excellent master!"
The gloom on Jiang Zhenshan's face was swept away. He laughed heartily, his bold voice echoing through the hall.
Those elders who had previously remained neutral were shaken.
If Jiang Chen's master was truly this powerful, then the matter of the eldest son could no longer be treated lightly. A senior who had the potential to step into the Saint Realm—or who might already be there—carried unimaginable weight.
"My son!"
"Contact Elder Chu at once!"
"Invite him to the clan!"
Jiang Zhenshan laughed with unrestrained joy.
…
…
"System!"
"Present!"
"Accept the reward."
Inside the Sutra Pavilion, Chu Xun spoke calmly.
Earlier, he had rejected the disciple's offering and chosen the second option. Now, the time had come to claim the reward.
"Ding!"
"Congratulations to the host for obtaining the reward: three years of cultivation!"
"Congratulations to the host for obtaining the inheritance: One Qi Transforms the Three Pure Ones!"
"Congratulations to the host for obtaining the reward: an investment opportunity!"
"Huh!"
Chu Xun had already expected the system's tenfold rewards, but when these three items appeared together, his eyes still filled with surprise and delight.
[The first reward: three years of cultivation.]
This was nothing new.
He had used it before.
Quite familiar.
[The last reward: an investment opportunity.]
Also nothing unfamiliar.
He was already skilled at that.
Only the second one—
[Inheritance reward: One Qi Transforms the Three Pure Ones.]
This made Chu Xun's eyes burn with excitement. He murmured softly,
"Could it be… that technique?"
In his previous life, he had read countless classic novels. Almost all of them mentioned such an inheritance. Even mythological traditions spoke of it.
Created by the Supreme Dao Ancestor.
One Qi Transforms the Three Pure Ones.
One person becomes three, each with matching combat power. When united, their strength could explode to terrifying heights.
"Buzz!"
A vast amount of inheritance flooded into his mind. Chu Xun put down the scripture in his hands and slowly closed his eyes to comprehend.
After a long time—
He opened his eyes.
Strange light flickered within them.
"So it's true!"
It was indeed the legendary supreme technique, One Qi Transforms the Three Pure Ones.
It was divided into several stages.
At the First Heaven, one could split off a Dao Body equal in strength to oneself.
At the Second Heaven, another Dao Body could be formed.
At the Third Heaven, the three could merge—each fusion causing the power to double and skyrocket.
"Incredible!"
Chu Xun was filled with astonishment.
He had never heard of any secret technique in Shenzhou that could multiply a person's strength dozens of times. Yet if this method were cultivated to the extreme, it could truly achieve that.
Moreover, once mastered, the original body would be incredibly safe. No one would know that he possessed two incarnations. Even if the main body or an incarnation fell, as long as one remained, it could be re-condensed and return to peak strength.
"Huh…"
Chu Xun exhaled a breath of turbid air.
His expression turned calm once more as he suppressed the joy in his heart.
He closed his eyes again—
And began to fully accept the inheritance.
This cultivation session—
Lasted more than a month.
Time had no meaning in the mountains.
A thousand years could pass in the blink of an eye.
While seated in the Sutra Pavilion, fully immersed in this supreme inheritance, the entire space was sealed. Even if he wanted to read Human Emperor–level scriptures, it was impossible.
After more than a month—
The white-robed, white-bearded old man who had sat motionless in the Sutra Pavilion suddenly trembled.
His hands formed seals.
"Om—!"
As the seals were completed, a mysterious and majestic force spread between heaven and earth.
Above the sky appeared an invisible blade of the Great Dao—brilliant beyond measure. Its radiance even overwhelmed the sun itself. It seemed that only Chu Xun could perceive this blade.
"One Qi Transforms the Three Pure Ones!"
"The blade that cuts the self!"
Chu Xun whispered.
The Dao Blade descended.
Ignoring space.
Ignoring distance.
Ignoring all obstacles.
It slashed straight into his forehead.
"Pop—!"
A hazy, indistinct figure was cleaved out from Chu Xun's body and appeared at his right side.
As the Great Dao Blade fell once more, the figure solidified completely.
Two figures now stood—
Inside the Sutra Pavilion.