Chapter 907: Those of Resolve Reach Heaven

Anyone who heard the forbidden grounds' bell toll ten times knew that someone who had spent ten years in closed-door seclusion had emerged.

How many decades did a life contain? Ten years of empty, barren solitude was not something just anyone could endure. Aside from Tianhuo Sect's founding patriarch, only one person had ever shut himself away for ten years: the outstanding young talent of his generation who had gone into seclusion after being humiliated at Niu Youdao's hands.

Curiosity and surprise swept through the sect. At the sound of the bell, every Tianhuo Sect disciple with time to spare hurried over. To say they had come to watch the excitement would not have been wrong.

Nor were ordinary disciples the only ones disturbed. Tianhuo Sect's senior leadership arrived one after another as well.

Among the fiery streaks descending through the air, Yuwen Yan landed and revealed himself. The Sect Leader had come in person.

Kunlin Shu's master, Pang Zhuo, had also arrived. He was joyfully questioning his disciple when he suddenly saw the sect's senior figures appear, especially Yuwen Yan. He hurriedly urged Kunlin Shu, "Why aren't you paying your respects to the Sect Leader and the Elders?"

Pang Zhuo himself counted as someone of standing in Tianhuo Sect, but hardly as an important figure. He was merely a disciple serving in an administrative post.

His own master had once been a Tianhuo Sect Elder but had died prematurely. That Pang Zhuo had managed to retain even his present position had not been easy; some people had done so partly out of consideration for his late master's old ties.

Kunlin Shu immediately stepped forward, cupped his hands, and bowed. "Disciple Kunlin Shu pays his respects to the Sect Leader and the Elders."

The senior figures nodded, all of them looking him up and down. None of them had ever before seen someone ruthless enough with himself to shut himself away for ten years.

Hearing the constant whispers around them, Yuwen Yan swept his gaze across the surroundings and asked sternly, "Who is making such a racket here?"

The moment he spoke, Tianhuo Sect disciples high and low immediately fell silent.

One Elder understood Yuwen Yan's intent and shouted, "What are you all crowding around here for? Have you nothing better to do? Anyone with no business here, leave at once!"

And so the crowd came quickly and departed just as quickly. Everyone uninvolved withdrew.

Quiet returned. Yuwen Yan rolled up one sleeve and stirred his hand toward Kunlin Shu. At once, Kunlin Shu's ragged clothes, long beard, and long hair billowed outward.

Kunlin Shu seemed to be standing in a howling wind. He glanced left and right in confusion, not knowing what the Sect Leader intended. Instinctively he wanted to resist, but in the end he did not dare move rashly.

"Go!"

With Yuwen Yan's shout, the circling hand became an open palm that struck toward Kunlin Shu's face.

In an instant, a gentle wind brushed past him. Kunlin Shu's beard was severed at the roots, while his billowing hair was sliced through by blade-like currents of air. Strand after strand drifted past his shoulders and away on the wind.

In the blink of an eye, Kunlin Shu looked different. His hair, which had dragged on the ground, now fell only past his shoulders. He raised a hand and rubbed his chin. His beard was gone cleanly.

"Now you look human again," Yuwen Yan said as he lowered his hand.

The Elders all smiled, though the meanings behind their smiles varied.

With Kunlin Shu cleaned up somewhat, the burn scars that had once been left on his face were still visible.

They had come from the backlash of his own fire-aspected cultivation art during his fight with Niu Youdao years ago.

Tianhuo Sect was skilled at treating burns and had healed his injuries, but he had been gravely wounded then and had nearly lost his life. Even now, the skin where he had been burned remained visibly different in color from the rest, giving his face a two-toned, almost yin-yang appearance.

Pang Zhuo hurriedly told his disciple, "The Sect Leader has taken the trouble to tidy you up. Why haven't you thanked him?"

Kunlin Shu immediately cupped his hands. "This disciple was discourteous. Thank you, Sect Leader."

Yuwen Yan waved a hand. "Ten years. Gone in the snap of a finger. It was not easy for you to endure them. But as a Tianhuo Sect disciple, you understand certain rules. Everyone must bear responsibility for what they choose to do."

Pang Zhuo and Fire Phoenix exchanged a glance. Master and disciple both heard something unusual in those words.

When they looked at Kunlin Shu again, they found his expression calm.

Yuwen Yan continued, "There are things within the sect that you are not yet qualified to consult, but you invoked the privilege granted to those who spend ten years in seclusion and borrowed our sect's supreme secret art, the Heavenly Fire Limitless Art. The Founding Patriarch established this rule as a special dispensation for those of great aspiration, but he also established punishment for those who might exploit it for selfish schemes. The sect's supreme secret art cannot be allowed to leak out casually. You know the rule, do you not?"

Pang Zhuo and Fire Phoenix both turned pale with shock.

Naturally, they knew the rule. The Heavenly Fire Limitless Art was Tianhuo Sect's supreme secret art, and ordinarily only those who had reached the rank of Elder within the sect were permitted to study and cultivate it. Anyone who had endured long enough within the sect to reach such a position first had a sufficiently solid cultivation foundation; second, the passage of time proved certain things and, to the greatest extent possible, ruled out the possibility that the person was a spy.

Yet the Founding Patriarch had still left another road open for ordinary disciples, a way to select talent without being bound by convention. After all, not everyone could attain an Elder's seat, and he had feared future generations might stifle true talent. As the Sect Leader had said, the Founding Patriarch granted an exception to those of great aspiration: any disciple of the sect who could devote himself to secluded cultivation in the forbidden grounds for ten years or more would be deemed a person of great ambition and great perseverance. Those of resolve reached Heaven, and such disciples were permitted to study the Heavenly Fire Limitless Art.

Yet from Tianhuo Sect's third generation onward, no one had ever again succeeded in cultivating this supreme secret art, including the present Sect Leader and Elders.

Talent was an important requirement for cultivating it. Those born with an innate affinity for fire had the greatest chance of success.

But no one had the words "I possess an innate affinity for fire" written on his face. Finding such a person among the countless masses was difficult, and even possessing that gift did not guarantee success. Talent concerned more than the body; it also included one's mind and capacity to comprehend cultivation. Bring in a fool, and even the most complete set of natural attributes would be useless. A miss by a hair can lead you a thousand li astray!

Yun Ji, for example, knew the Earth-Escape Art, while her son Yun Huan fell far short of her.

Kunlin Shu possessed exceptional cultivation talent, but not that sort of innate fire affinity. Of course, it was precisely because his cultivation talent was so exceptional that he had become one of the finest of his generation.

Pang Zhuo almost immediately looked toward Tian Ren'an, the administrator guarding this place, grief and anger on his face.

Although Pang Zhuo held an administrative post, he had no real backing within the sect and only limited resources at his disposal. He could not support many disciples and therefore accepted few. With great difficulty, he had concentrated what resources he had on nurturing one good disciple, only for that disciple to be on the verge of losing his life here. How could Pang Zhuo not be aggrieved?

He was certain Tian Ren'an had known about this. The place was under Tian Ren'an's supervision, and the two of them had always had dealings with one another, yet Tian Ren'an had never told him. He had plainly concealed the matter all along. Pang Zhuo had only learned the truth from the Sect Leader at this very moment.

Tian Ren'an met his gaze with an expression of considerable helplessness.

Fire Phoenix twisted both hands together before her chest, her heart in her throat. She looked helplessly at her Senior Brother, desperately wanting to ask why he had done this and whether he had ever considered how she would feel.

Kunlin Shu remained calm. He gave a slight nod. "Yes. This disciple knows the rule established by the Founding Patriarch. The Founding Patriarch said: He who would wear the crown must bear its weight!"

That was the price. The Founding Patriarch had indeed left another path open for ordinary disciples, but he could hardly allow everyone to exploit the loophole at will. If everyone did the same, would the sect not fall into chaos? Naturally, a prerequisite had been established from the start to deter those with improper designs.

The road was one you chose yourself. Once you stepped onto it, there was no turning back. Either you made it through, or the road ended in death.

The sect's supreme secret art could not be allowed to leak out lightly. If a junior disciple memorized secrets of such importance, then later found life in the sect unsatisfactory or suffered some grievance, who knew what he might do? Junior disciples suffering grievances was only too common, and those prone to feeling wronged were also more likely to view matters through a darker lens. Whoever established the rule had naturally wanted to eliminate that future danger.

That was also why disciples ordinarily had to reach the rank of Elder before they could study the secret art.

Many sects had similar rules.

Yuwen Yan gave a quiet "Mm." "Good that you know. Cultivating a secret art of this level requires a sufficient foundation. It is difficult without reaching the Golden Core Realm. Given the foundation you had before and your cultivation talent, breaking through to the Golden Core Realm within ten years should not have been a problem. You borrowed the art five years ago. Does that mean you had already broken through to the Golden Core Realm by then?"

Kunlin Shu replied, "It should have been six years ago. After this disciple had been in seclusion for three years, I broke through to the Golden Core Realm."

Three years? Quite a few people looked at one another, privately marveling that he truly deserved to be called one of the outstanding young talents of the sect.

Yuwen Yan stroked his beard and nodded, open approval in his eyes.

As Kunlin Shu's master, Pang Zhuo felt both gratified and deeply anxious.

Yuwen Yan asked again, "Since you know the sect's rules, have you emerged now because you succeeded in cultivating our supreme secret art?"

Kunlin Shu answered neither humbly nor arrogantly, "The Heavenly Fire Limitless Art is our sect's supreme secret art, vast and profound. This disciple would not dare claim to have mastered it completely. I can only say that I have gained an initial understanding. I have glimpsed the threshold of the Heavenly Fire Limitless Art, but conditions inside the Lightless Cave are limited and make deeper cultivation difficult. That is why I emerged."

An initial understanding? In other words, had he not still succeeded in cultivating it?

Shock swept through the Elders. Each looked from one face to another in astonishment.

Yuwen Yan stroked his beard without speaking, his eyes flickering repeatedly.

Pang Zhuo stared in stunned uncertainty.

Tears still glimmered in Fire Phoenix's eyes. She hurriedly wiped them away and stared at her Senior Brother in disbelief. No one since Tianhuo Sect's third generation had succeeded in cultivating this supreme secret art, yet her Senior Brother had done it. How was that possible?

But she knew what kind of man Kunlin Shu was. Since he had said so, it could not be false. Her disbelief slowly gave way to delighted surprise.

Elder Qian Fucheng spoke sharply. "Kunlin Shu, this is no child's game and no place for wild boasting. You are responsible for what you say. Nor can the matter be whatever you claim it is. The sect will test you!"

Kunlin Shu inclined himself slightly. "Since this disciple has emerged from seclusion, I am naturally willing to accept the sect's examination. If I have treated this as a game, the sect has experts aplenty. I could hardly escape punishment."

The others exchanged uncertain, astonished looks.

Yuwen Yan's expression turned solemn. "Good! No one since Tianhuo Sect's third generation has witnessed this secret art. Use it freely and let us broaden our horizons!"

"This disciple obeys the Sect Leader's command!"

Facing him, Kunlin Shu cupped his hands and bowed with complete respect.

Yuwen Yan raised a hand, signaling him to dispense with the courtesy and straighten.

Under everyone's gaze, Kunlin Shu rose. His long hair began to move without wind, gradually streaming behind him.

Everyone immediately opened their Dharma Eyes. At once they saw the spiritual power within his body spread outward and disappear into the unseen.

Kunlin Shu's expression remained calm. Suddenly he snapped both sleeves outward and clasped his hands proudly behind his back.

Boom!

A mass of fierce flame exploded from his body out of nowhere.

The blaze was extraordinarily dense, so thick that even with their Dharma Eyes, the onlookers could no longer make out the figure within the fire. The aura inside the flames swelled.

[End of Chapter 907]