Outside the pavilion, three Grand Elders already stood upon the white jade stage. Each of them radiated profound serenity.

  In the center was a majestic, sky-blue robed female Elder, whose aura was as gentle as mist but carried the weight of an ancient iceberg—a cultivator at the Soul Transformation Realm or higher. Beside her, Yan Shen stood calmly, his gray robe the only color that subdued the stage’s opulence.

  The female Grand Elder stepped forward and flicked her hand. A light blue scroll appeared in the air.

  The gaze of the geniuses, who now stood tall on the deck of Pure Cloud Peak, was fixed on the light blue scroll floating in the air. The scroll radiated a gentle jade light, engraved with Ancient Rune Law that would project their names and acquisitions. All exhaustion, embarrassment, and jealousy vanished, replaced by piercing nervousness.

  The female Elder nodded toward Yan Shen. Her voice, as clear as a celestial crystal bell, spread throughout the peak.

  "Dear disciples, Senior Disciple Ling has finished verifying all spiritual core acquisitions from the Falling Star Secret Realm. This test not only measures your strength, but also your Dao Will, your perseverance, and your cooperation in life-and-death situations," the Elder said, the pause in her words filled with silent authority.

  Yan Shen stepped forward, his autumn mist aura tightening slightly. He ignored all eyes and only stared toward Zhi Xuan, who stood tall with the peaceful Mei Hua by his side.

  "The ranking to be announced is the Star King's Stairs," Yan Shen continued. "The top ten names will be recognized as the highest geniuses of the Southern Continent and will receive the promised rewards from the Thousand Heavens Sect. Ranks eleven to one hundred will be allowed entry as outer disciples."

  The sky-blue robed female Elder nodded, her gesture perfect and graceful. The light blue scroll in the air whirred softly, and the Ancient Rune Law within it exploded into bright jade light, projecting rows of names in the air. The ranking, measured by the total value of Consciousness Transformation and Organ Transformation Beast Cores, appeared in order from bottom to top, creating suffocating tension.

  The Transformation geniuses held their breath. Those who were confident in their position in the top hundred sighed in relief as their names appeared in the lower ranks. One by one, names were announced quickly through the identity jade of each cultivator participating in the selection. It passed calmly amidst the whispers of the cultivators.

  Zhi Xuan stared ahead, anxiously waiting for his name to be listed, even though it was definitely listed on the Star King's Stairs. Just as the announcement entered the Top Thirty positions, a strange spiritual silence struck Zhi Xuan. He felt his emotional anchor detach. His Black Jade essence, which he had painstakingly stabilized, suddenly trembled without reason.

  He turned to the side to look at the girl, Mei Hua. Gone. His physical body showed no fluctuations, but he felt the subtle connection he shared with the girl—through the small monkey statue he had dripped his spiritual blood onto—had been severed. Not just severed, but the connection felt sucked away, pulled away at a speed that surpassed the Law of Space.

  The cold composure on Zhi Xuan's face instantly cracked. All his sharp calculations and cold demeanor crumbled in a fraction of a second. He stood tall, his sapphire eyes radiating pure chaos. In his arms, he found neither the Lulu cloth doll nor the vital small monkey statue.

  WHUSSHHH!

  The Ancient Devil Monument in his sea of consciousness trembled violently. It was not a satisfied tremor, but a shocked resonance. The runes on the remaining chains flickered madly, as if the Ancient Devil itself had realized the cosmic anomaly.

  "Mei Hua!" Zhi Xuan roared, his voice no longer a cold tone, but containing uncontrolled panic and madness.

  He lunged forward, ignoring the ranking scroll that was projecting honored names, ignoring the gaze of hundreds of divine senses from the Consciousness Transformation and Soul Transformation cultivators on the stage. His action was an absolute insult to the Thousand Heavens Sect ceremony.

  Beside him, Fei Sheng and Feng Yi gasped. They saw Zhi Xuan, who had been as hard as ice, now spinning in panic, his gaze sweeping every corner of the pavilion, every layer of mist on the peak.

  "Brother Zhi Xuan! What happened?!" Fei Sheng hissed, his Wind aura spreading, trying to sense a fluctuation so strong that it could make a peak Blood Transformation cultivator react like that. However, he felt nothing.

  "The girl! Mei Hua! She is gone!" Zhi Xuan roared, no longer caring about formalities. He grabbed the collar of Fei Sheng's robe, his sapphire eyes filled with burning rage. "She... was pulled away! In the blink of an eye!"

  Feng Yi, who had just seen her name appear on the scroll, froze. She stared at where Mei Hua had stood—a spot that was now empty—and she felt a shiver down her spine. The girl was indeed there a minute ago. On the white jade stage, a deadly silence fell. The gaze of the sky-blue robed female Elder sharpened, her aura as heavy as an ancient iceberg instantly pressed down on Zhi Xuan.

  "Young man! Control yourself! You are in the presence of the Grand Elders of the Thousand Heavens Sect!" the Elder hissed, her voice like a sharp sword cutting through the air. "What kind of insult is this?!"

  However, Yan Shen did not move. His autumn mist eyes remained calm, but a faint shadow crossed their depths. He stared at Zhi Xuan, then at the spot Mei Hua had just occupied. Zhi Xuan released Fei Sheng. Without paying attention to the ongoing disciple announcement.

  Zhi Xuan shot forward with the Three Trace Shadow Steps, ignoring gravity, ignoring the Law of Space, ignoring the Soul Transformation Realm authority pressing down on him. His speed surpassed the capability of a Blood Transformation cultivator, utilizing every ounce of his newly solidified essence. In his mind, there were no more Azure King Cores, no Star King's Stairs, no Thousand Heavens Sect. There was only the emptiness where Mei Hua should have been and the cold, stabbing terror.

  Zhi Xuan channeled his divine sense to the maximum limit, spreading out like a spider web, scanning every jade stone, every strand of mist along the slopes of Pure Cloud Peak. But he found nothing. No trace of the Law of Space, no residual Formation fluctuation, not even a speck of spiritual essence. Mei Hua and the small monkey statue had vanished with absolute silence.

  BOOM!

  A formless pressure struck Zhi Xuan, forcing him to his knees. It was the response of the sky-blue robed female Elder, whose cultivation was in a realm of Transcendence far above the Soul Transformation realm. The aura pressure was as heavy as the collapsing Sky, pressing on Zhi Xuan's every meridian.

  "How dare you, impudent brat!" the Elder roared, her pure anger shaking Pure Cloud Peak. "You insult the Heavenly Selection Ceremony! You, a Blood Transformation, challenge the weight of the Thousand Heavens Sect's majesty!"

  Zhi Xuan, though oppressed, did not yield. He looked up, his Black Jade essence churning wildly. The runes on the Ancient Devil Monument emitted a frantic vibration, as if the Ancient Devil Ruo Xianxue felt the air pressure. The geniuses in the pavilion retreated in fear. They had never seen such absolute arrogance—a Blood Transformation cultivator disrupting the grand Elder's heavenly selection ceremony. Fei Sheng and Feng Yi, shocked to the core, could only watch.

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  "Monkey," Ruo Xianxue said from his sea of consciousness, his voice dripping with piercing cold authority. "That girl went to where she belongs; she is not part of this world. You, behave yourself and do not mess around."

  Ruo Xianxue's warning, though cold and without empathy, struck Zhi Xuan with the undeniable weight of Law. The Ancient Devil's will, as cold as millions of eras passed in a seal, forced a momentary control over his emotional chaos.

  The pain from the Grand Elder's pressure vanished, replaced by a piercing realization; Mei Hua was gone. Not lost, but gone. Pulled by a Law that surpassed even the Law of the lower realm. Something, which even shocked the Ancient Devil, had taken the girl, and Zhi Xuan—a Blood Transformation cultivator who had just reached the peak of his foundation—was powerless.

  Zhi Xuan closed his eyes for a moment, swallowing the anger, panic, and humiliation he had just displayed. His impulsive nature, which had just exploded, was immediately replaced by sharp, cold calculation, backed by Ruo Xianxue's control. His face, which had been filled with terror, returned to a serene mask of ice.

  He took a deep breath, ignoring the metallic fluid dripping from the corner of his mouth due to the aura collision. He collected every drop of his churning essence, stabilizing his Heavenly Samsara Wheel in cold silence. Zhi Xuan looked up. He raised both hands, trembling not from fear, but from the residual emotional overflow, and bowed deeply toward the sky-blue robed female Elder. His action was formal, perfect, and cold.

  "Forgive me, Grand Elder," Zhi Xuan said, his voice returning to a flat, controlled tone. He did not use a false excuse, but chose veiled silence. "I... just felt an unstable spiritual fluctuation from the technique I cultivate. I misjudged the stabilization time. It was my carelessness. I accept punishment from the Thousand Heavens Sect."

  The apology, which was cold and calm, but delivered with perfect formality, immediately quelled the sky-blue robed female Elder's anger. The authority of a high-level cultivator did not allow her to accept a poor excuse, but Zhi Xuan's sudden seriousness and composure, which calmed her spiritual storm, convinced her that this was a matter of cultivation foundation, not intentional insult.

  The Elder, whose Soul Transformation aura still suppressed Pure Cloud Peak, glanced at Yan Shen beside her. Yan Shen merely nodded slowly, his autumn mist eyes radiating unexpected insight.

  "Unstable spiritual fluctuation? To such an extent?" the female Elder replied, her tone now shifting to cold disbelief. "You disrupt the Heavenly Selection Ceremony for a fluctuation you deem important, even though your name will soon appear on the Star King's Stairs. What an arrogant brat!"

  She flicked her hand, and the spiritual pressure vanished as quickly as it came. However, the residual pain in Zhi Xuan's meridians was an absolute warning of the realm beyond Soul Transformation.

  "However, the Thousand Heavens Sect values honesty, even that hidden in arrogance," the Elder continued, her voice sharp. "If your foundation is indeed problematic, that is your own concern. Now, return to the ranks!"

  Zhi Xuan bowed once more, accepting the decision with cold silence. He stepped back onto Pure Cloud Peak, to stand again beside Fei Sheng, his sapphire eyes now as cold as the surface of a lake in winter—no more panic, only sharp calculation wrapped in absolute composure.

  "I accept the Grand Elder's guidance," Zhi Xuan replied, his tone flat and unaffected, as if seconds earlier he had not just challenged a cultivator from the Soul Transformation realm or higher.

  He took his place beside Fei Sheng. The sudden loss of Mei Hua was now tightly wrapped under a thick layer of Black Jade essence, a loss he would nurture in deadly silence. The Ancient Devil Monument warned him, meaning this was not a mundane intervention; this was an Ancient Law acting, and he had no power to fight it. He would search for her. He would search for her after he had sufficient power.

  Fei Sheng, whose face was still pale from the Grand Elder's pressure, turned to Zhi Xuan with eyes filled with shock. "Brother Zhi Xuan, what just... happened? Who would dare to take that girl in front of Grand Elder Yan Shen?"

  "The Law of Nature," Zhi Xuan replied coldly, without turning his head. He closed his eyes briefly, gathering every strand of his divine sense. "Not our business, Brother Fei Sheng. Focus on the announcement. We have taken too many risks to fail now."

  Feng Yi stared at Zhi Xuan, a deep frown between her eyebrows. She sensed a profound discrepancy—the pure panic that erupted from Zhi Xuan and the cold shutdown that followed. She did not believe the spiritual fluctuation excuse. She had seen the fire in Zhi Xuan's eyes, and it was the terror of a young man who knew too much, not a cultivation failure. However, she chose silence, her warrior instinct telling her not to pry into such a deep secret.

  On the white jade stage, the sky-blue robed female Elder snorted, but continued the ceremony as if the interruption was merely a bothersome gust of wind. The light blue scroll whirred again, and the name projection resumed, entering the Star King's Stairs realm. The atmosphere on Pure Cloud Peak became suffocating again, but now, the geniuses also felt a hidden terror; they had just witnessed a Blood Transformation cultivator, though suppressed, refuse to yield in the face of Grand authority.

  "Forget about your foolish sense of loss," Ruo Xianxue hissed inside his sea of consciousness. "I warned you from the start; that girl might be the remnants of celestial karma or the lingering consciousness of a powerful being in the past."

  The Ancient Devil's warning, piercing and uncompromising, served as a hard block of ice, cooling the remnants of Zhi Xuan's emotional storm. He knew Ruo Xianxue was right. The small monkey statue, onto which he had dripped his spiritual blood, should have been an unbreakable anchor. However, the Law that pulled Mei Hua surpassed his Spiritual Blood and even surpassed the Ancient Devil's consciousness. This was a very ancient Law.

  "I know," Zhi Xuan said calmly in his mind, his originally churning emotional will now slowly changing into cold determination. "If she is truly as you say, then I will see when that celestial karma will come again."

  Zhi Xuan stood rigid, cold silence engulfing him. The terror that had erupted in his eyes moments before was now replaced by an impenetrable layer of ice. The Ancient Devil Monument had controlled him, reminding him that in the face of ancient Law, emotion was merely a burden.

  He felt no regret, but rather a cold drive for power—absolute power to face this unpredictable Law of Heaven. If Mei Hua was pulled by such great karma, then he must become greater than the karma itself.

  He ignored Fei Sheng's bewildered gaze and Feng Yi's sharp stare. All his focus was now on the light blue scroll in the air. The Star King's Stairs, which he had taken lightly minutes ago, was now an absolute target—a tool to gain the power he needed.

  On the white jade stage, Yan Shen looked at him. A faint, silent smile appeared on the Daoist's face, as if he had just witnessed a piece of jade being tempered under extreme fire pressure. He no longer cared about the crowd. He did not care about Yan Shen or the Grand Elders on the stage. He only cared about the jade scroll floating in the air. He had to get his reward. He had to gain access to the Three Heavens Jade Refinement Pond.

  Time passed calmly and was again adorned with the joy of the cultivators who passed the Heavenly Selection. The jade light on the light blue scroll in the air whirred, and the projection of names continued to advance, now entering the most anticipated realm, the Star King's Stairs. However, for the cultivators whose names appeared in positions one hundred to eleven—those recognized as outer disciples of the Thousand Heavens Sect—the suffocating tension turned into an explosive wave of relief and excitement.

  "I passed! I am an Outer Disciple!"

  "Heaven blesses me! I will see the Central Continent! I will see a greater Dao!"

  The joyous roars of the outer disciples flooded Pure Cloud Peak. They jumped, some even crying with emotion. For most geniuses of the Southern Continent, being accepted as an outer disciple in a transcendent sect was already the highest dream and an absolute recognition of their Dao.

  Just as the names in the top positions of the Star King's Stairs were about to be announced, a gigantic shadow hovered over Cloud Sky Mountain. The flying Artifact was a celestial ship made of ancient ironwood adorned with flickering Star Runes, large enough to house an entire city. It was the Continent Crossing Vessel, the undeniable symbol that they had now stepped onto a greater stage.

  Yan Shen nodded slowly toward the celestial ship. "Those whose names have been announced and recorded, prepare yourselves. The stage of the Central Continent awaits you. You are now under the Law of the Thousand Heavens Sect."

  The outer disciples, consumed by joy, immediately lined up. They moved toward the deck of the large ship, which had been lowered and was now connected to the white jade stage.

  "We are going up the Continent Crossing Vessel!" an outer disciple exclaimed with a beaming face, waving to his failed friends. "There, we can find better Pill Formations and deeper Techniques! We will advance!"

  "Farewell, Southern Continent! I will return as a Grand Elder!" shouted another, jumping onto the deck of the Continent Crossing Vessel with irresistible enthusiasm.

  Among the moving crowd, Su Baolian, the brutal Blood Transformation cultivator, grinned widely. His name had appeared in tenth place, the last position recognized as a disciple of the Star King's Stairs, thanks to his pile of one hundred Organ Transformation Cores.

  "Damn it!" Su Baolian roared proudly, catching up with the crowd. "I almost cannot believe it! These hundred Organ Cores actually worked! Brother Zhi, I am boarding the Continent Crossing Vessel first! You will definitely follow, I know it, do not be too sad about losing your adopted sister!"