The next death occurred three days later.
His name was Li Wen.
He was not a genius.
Nor was he a troublemaker.
He was simply known as someone diligent—too diligent.
Xuanye recognized him faintly. They had once sat in the same row during basic lessons. Li Wen always arrived early and left late. His techniques were clean. His breathing steady. He never broke the rules.
He had also just achieved a minor breakthrough.
That day, the cultivation grounds were crowded.
Several disciples gathered around a simple formation. Li Wen sat at its center, his face pale but his eyes bright. Qi spun rapidly around him—too fast for his level, yet still within safe limits.
"He's going to advance," someone whispered.
"Isn't that a good thing?"
Xuanye stood some distance away.
He noticed the details others ignored.
The formation was intact.
The qi was not violent.
Li Wen's body showed no signs of collapse.
Everything was… correct.
When the breakthrough happened, there was no explosion of energy. No blinding light. Only a brief surge of denser qi—followed by silence.
Li Wen smiled.
Then the smile froze.
He fell forward, his body still intact, his breathing stopping all at once. Like someone who had forgotten to take the final step.
Some disciples screamed. Someone called for an elder. Others backed away, as if the breakthrough itself were contagious.
Xuanye did not move.
He watched as Li Wen's qi did not riot. Did not disperse. Did not damage anything. It simply… stopped moving.
Not long after, three ash-gray robes appeared.
This time, there was no shock.
"A violation?" a sect supervisor asked stiffly.
The answer was the same as before.
"Unnecessary persistence."
A disciple nearly shouted, "He only advanced one stage!"
The robed man turned his head.
"And the world did not require it."
Silence fell heavier than before.
Li Wen's body was taken away. The formation dismantled. The grounds cleaned. Within an hour, the area was back in use.
As if nothing had happened.
Xuanye stared at his own hands.
He remembered the poor cultivation he had done the night before. Leaking qi. Unstable breathing. No progress at all.
And he was still alive.
For the first time, the conclusion was too clear to ignore.
In this world, advancement was not a sin.
But continuing to advance,
when the world did not desire it—
that was the fatal mistake.