I risked my life, using the butterfly effect to shatter the immortal realm.

Qingxuan Sect, Taiqing Hall.

Deathly silence.

The oil lamps inside the hall were all extinguished, leaving only the central water mirror emitting a faint glow.

The scene reflected in the water mirror is frozen in a breathtaking moment.

A ragged young man, covered in lard, was holding a soft, boneless hand.

That was the hand of Bai Lian'er, the chief disciple of Baihua Peak.

At that moment, the hand was roughly pressed onto a crumpled piece of mulberry paper.

Fingertips fall.

The bright red ink was so glaring it looked like a scar.

"A payment of ten thousand spirit stones is due; no credit will be provided."

In the video, Yu Liang's face is full of wrinkles from smiling.

Inside the main hall, the air seemed to freeze.

"Click."

The jade cup in the hand of Dugu Ao, the master of Cangjian Peak, turned into dust.

Dugu Ao's face, which was usually as cold and stern as ice and said to remain unmoved even if Mount Tai collapsed in front of him, was now twitching wildly at an eerie frequency.

A corner of the water mirror.

His prized disciple, Ye Aotian, who was usually very particular about his appearance, was banging his head against a broken stone pillar until it bled profusely.

He was still mumbling incoherently:

"Your Majesty... I am willing to carry your shoes..."

"Senior Brother Dugu."

From the shadows in the corner came a sneer that was extremely inappropriate.

The Beastmaster of Ten Thousand Beasts Peak, Man Gu, pointed at the screen:

"Your disciple's knees are so flexible and rhythmic."

"Not only did they make a loud thud, but they also struck with rhythm and flair!"

He slapped his thigh suddenly, pointed at Tuoba Ye in the picture who was frantically gnawing on a stone pillar, and looked very proud:

"My son really has guts!"

"Look at those teeth! They dare to bite into even millennia-old basalt! That's what you call wild!"

"Shut up!"

Dugu Ao's forehead veins bulged.

The sword case behind him hummed, and the chilling sword intent almost solidified, tearing the surrounding air with a hissing sound.

"That's enough!"

A sharp roar ripped through the tense atmosphere.

Liu Ruyan, the master of Baihua Peak, slammed her hand on the table and stood up, her fingernails digging into the armrest.

"This brat...how dare he humiliate Lian'er like this!"

"He actually used that pig's ass to sit on Lian'er's face?!"

"They even stuck an IOU on her forehead?!"

Liu Ruyan trembled all over, and her finger pointing at the water mirror was convulsing:

"This isn't a trial; it's blatant bullying and thuggery!"

"Junior Sister Liu, your vision is too narrow."

A lazy voice drifted from the last seat.

Gu Santong slumped in the armchair and shook his wine gourd.

"belch--"

The strong smell of alcohol filled the air, causing Liu Ruyan to frown and cover her mouth and nose in disgust.

"This is called physical barrier breaking. Don't talk nonsense if you don't understand."

Gu Santong, his eyes blurry with drunkenness, shook his finger:

"If it weren't for my disciple's skills, your precious disciple would have been drained dry by his inner demons long ago."

"Not only do you not thank me, but you also repay kindness with enmity?"

"Thank you?!"

Liu Ruyan laughed in extreme anger, her voice sharp and piercing:

"Is that saving lives? He's clearly taking advantage of the situation! He's extorting money! He's trampling on the dignity of his fellow disciples!"

"dignity?"

Gu Santong chuckled, his eyes suddenly becoming incredibly clear and chillingly cold:

"You're about to die, what's the point of having any shame?"

"My apprentice did the work and put in a lot of effort, bearing enormous karmic consequences. What's wrong with accepting a small fee for his hard work?"

"That makes sense."

"you--!"

"Alright."

On the throne, Xuanweizi finally spoke.

The sound wasn't loud, but it drowned out all the noise.

The old man, who had been in charge of the Qingxuan Sect for nearly five hundred years, rubbed his temples wearily.

"I summoned you not to watch the juniors make fools of themselves."

"The seal on the Tomb of Ten Thousand Swords is loosening. If the 'Sword Inheritance' fails this time, that thing beneath the main peak... will awaken."

That thing.

Those three simple words caused the temperature inside the hall to plummet to freezing.

Even the most unruly barbarian, Man Gu, suppressed his smile, a deep sense of apprehension flashing in his eyes.

Tianjizi, the master of Tianjian Peak who had been silent all along, suddenly raised his hand.

A few copper coins fluttered between his fingers and then landed in his palm.

"Brother Tianji, how is it?"

Ouyang Ye, the master of Shenji Peak, fiddled with the mechanical bird in his hand and asked without looking up.

Tianjizi remained silent.

His eyes, which seemed to see through everything in the world, were now fixed intently on Yu Liang in the picture.

Tianjizi stared at Yu Liang in the mirror, his brows furrowed: "I can't see through him. Everyone else's fortune is clear, but his head is a tangled mess. The divination indicates great fortune amidst great misfortune."

Everyone present was astonished.

Even Xuanweizi turned his head in surprise: "Even you can't see through it?"

"Cause and effect have been obscured."

Tianjizi put away the copper coins and looked coldly at Gu Santong.

"Junior Brother Gu, you've taken on a good disciple."

"He's not a player, he's a spoiler."

Gu Santong chuckled and raised his wine gourd in a distant toast:

"You flatter me. This kid has no other skills, but he's incredibly tough, like a cockroach."

"Tough luck?"

Tianjizi sneered, pointing at Xiao Wufeng's reflection in the water mirror as he calmly observed the stone pillar.

"Wu Feng has already seen through this situation. The eight swords correspond to eight kinds of Daoist thoughts."

"Yu Liang appears clear-headed because he has no moral conscience, only the greed of a street ruffian."

"Such a person doesn't even deserve to be a sacrifice before the laws of nature."

"Yeah?"

Gu Santong put down the wine gourd.

His gaze suddenly sharpened.

"Senior brother, you've been playing with that 'Heavenly Dao Calculation Manual' for hundreds of years, aren't you tired of it yet?"

There are always some things in this world that you can't calculate.

"for example?"

Gu Santong pointed to his chest, "Like the human heart, like conscience."

A mocking smile curled at the corner of Tianjizi's lips:

"Conscience? In the world of cultivation, that's the thing that dies the fastest."

Xuanweizi coughed lightly, interrupting the two's heated exchange.

"Regardless, the ceremony has begun."

The sect leader's voice was cruelly cold.

"The remnant souls within those eight ancient swords have been thirsting for too long."

"What they need is not only successors, but also fresh, exceptionally talented physical nurturing."

The so-called "Trial of the Prodigies" is essentially a high-stakes gamble.

Victory! Man and sword become one! A meteoric rise!

He lost, his soul was devoured by the ancient sword, and he became a sword slave.

"This is the price that Qingxuan Sect has paid for standing for a thousand years."

"That's fate."

Tianjizi spoke indifferently.

"If you enjoy the sect's resources, you must be prepared to make sacrifices. Xiao Wufeng understood this principle, which is why he was able to win."

"What about Yu Liang?"

Ouyang Ye suddenly interrupted.

He pointed at the ink-black kite in the picture, sawing a stone pillar, his eyes gleaming with fanaticism:

"This kid has even led me astray from the principles of Mo Yuan, which I also don't understand..."

"This girl actually wants to saw through the ancient seal and take it home?"

"Brilliant!"

"This kind of dismantling approach is quite reminiscent of the style of our Divine Machine Peak!"

Gu Santong grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"Because my apprentice is sober."

"Everyone else is seeking the Way, but he is only seeking survival."

"Those who seek the Way are prone to madness, those who seek survival... are invincible."

boom!

The scene in the water mirror suddenly changed.

The outer skin of the eight stone pillars peeled away, revealing the true appearance of the Taoist soldiers.

Golden imperial power, pink allure, black domineering...

"here we go."

Xuanweizi suddenly stood up.

"With all eight swords unleashed... if at least four cannot be suppressed, the restriction will surely break!"

Tianjizi's forehead was covered in a fine layer of cold sweat as he spoke at an extremely fast pace:

"Xiao Wufeng chose... the path of slaughter."

"Ye Aotian is locked onto by the Imperial Sword... the Way of the King."

"Tuoba Ye... domineering."

"Bai Lian'er... Yin Yang Dao."

"Money is plentiful... Five Elements Dao".

"Ink Kite... Array Dao".

Until their gaze fell on Yu Liang.

Yu Liang stood there, holding a pig in his arms and clutching an IOU in his hand.

No sword chose him.

No sword rejected him.

He was like a ghost that dodges the laws of nature.

Or rather, it is a piece of trash that is despised by all "Tao" principles.

"How is that possible?"

Liu Ruyan exclaimed, "Even mortals have desires, why...?"

"Because he has a 'waste' constitution!"

Gu Santong suddenly burst into laughter, the sound particularly jarring in the dark hall.

"Even the Great Dao despises him, thinking he's unworthy! Hahahaha!"

Everyone stared at Gu Santong as if he were a madman.

The disciple was rejected by the Great Dao, yet this old madman could still laugh.

"However..."

Gu Santong's laughter stopped abruptly.

He pulled a tattered storage bag from his pocket and slammed it onto the table with a "thud".

"Since everyone's watching the show, why not take a gamble?"

The peak masters frowned.

"What are we betting on?" Barbarian Bone asked, intrigued.

"Let's bet on who will inherit this 'sword way' in the end."

Gu Santong pointed to the center of the water mirror, at the rusty, seemingly inconspicuous broken sword.

The leader of the Eight Swords.

The legendary "Sword Against Heaven" that once severed the Milky Way.

"I bet on Xiao Wufeng."

Tianjizi said calmly, "This sword is for killing; only the ruthless can wield it."

"I'm also betting on Xiao Wufeng."

Dugu Ao sneered, "No one but him is worthy of this sword."

"I'm betting on my own Tuoba Ye!"

"I'm betting on Lian'er..."

After going around the round, everyone bet on Xiao Wufeng or their own disciple.

All eyes finally focused on Gu Santong.

"Junior Brother Gu, you wouldn't be thinking of betting your good-for-nothing disciple on him, would you?"

Qin Mian scoffed, "He doesn't even have a spiritual root, what can he use to bear the sword intent? His life?"

"No, no, no."

Gu Santong shook his finger, a sly smile spreading across his face.

He pushed the shrunken storage bag forward—it contained all the remaining possessions of Zizhu Peak.

"I bet—no one can take it away."

Gu Santong stared intently at the figure in the water mirror who was reaching into Bai Lian'er's arms to pull out an IOU, his gaze frighteningly deep.

"This sword is too arrogant."

"So arrogant that they don't even respect the heavens."

"These kids are too green."

"As for my apprentice..."

Gu Santong's smile deepened.

"He's only interested in scrap metal that can be sold for money."

"With this sword rusted like this, he definitely won't be able to sell it for a good price."

He picked up his glass and drank it all in one gulp.

"So, this round..."

"The bookmaker wins all."