Sensation in Cangwu

That night, the rooms of the nominal disciples at the foot of Mount Qingyun were brightly lit.

The twenty-odd nominal disciples had returned to their respective rooms. No one slept, and no one chatted. Everyone was doing the exact same thing: switching their cultivation methods and re-cultivating!

Having cultivated for ten or twenty years, the spiritual energy within their bodies had long grown accustomed to the slow pace of Yellow-grade techniques, flowing like a sluggish stream.

But the Heavenly Evolution Primordial Art was like a shovel, widening that little stream into a massive river.

Their spiritual energy began to circulate at an accelerated pace—one cycle, two cycles, three cycles.

The spiritual energy in their dantians seemed to be injected with new vitality, churning, boiling, and expanding.

Suddenly, just past the Hour of the Rat.

In the third courtyard to the west, an aura at the second level of Qi Condensation sharply spiked, breaking through the bottleneck and firmly settling at the third level of Qi Condensation.

Someone had broken through!

The residual waves of the breakthrough seeped out through the cracks of the room, sweeping across the courtyard like a gentle breeze.

"Ahhh! I broke through!"

"Eighteen years! I've finally broken through!"

Immediately after,

In the second courtyard to the east, an even stronger aura erupted.

"I broke through too!"

"I broke through to the fourth level of Qi Condensation!"

Then came a third, a fourth, a fifth...

From the second level of Qi Condensation to the third, the third to the fourth, the fourth to the fifth...

Auras climbed higher one after another.

...

At the foot of the mountain, the rogue cultivators lining up in front of the Heart-Questioning Pavilion had not yet dispersed.

Some were prepared to queue through the night, some had just finished offering incense and were heading home, while others sat by the roadside drinking tea and chatting.

Suddenly, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up at the cluster of stone houses halfway up the mountain.

An aura flared up.

From the second level of Qi Condensation to the third.

"Did someone break through?"

Just as the words fell, another aura flared up.

From the third level of Qi Condensation to the fourth.

"Another one?"

Immediately following, a third aura, a fourth, a fifth...

In less than two hours, over a dozen breakthrough auras rippled outward.

The rogue cultivators before the Heart-Questioning Pavilion were dumbfounded.

"What's going on? How are so many people breaking through at the same time?"

"Are all the disciples of the Tianyan Sect breaking through?"

"Isn't this way too coincidental?"

"It's not a coincidence."

A knowledgeable old rogue cultivator stroked his beard, his eyes narrowing.

"It's switching techniques! The Tianyan Sect must have bestowed a new cultivation method. These people are switching techniques and re-cultivating. Their foundations are being cleansed and refined by the new method, causing these consecutive breakthroughs!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd exploded into an uproar.

"A top-tier technique? How top-tier? Could it be a high-tier Yellow-grade technique?"

"High-tier Yellow-grade? You're underestimating the Tianyan Sect too much! Even the Han family lost, and the imperial court personally granted them a title. Would they only bring out a high-tier Yellow-grade? I bet it's at least a low-tier Profound-grade!"

"Bullshit! Low-tier Profound-grade? Do you know how precious a Profound-grade technique is?"

An outer-sect disciple from a minor sect nearby immediately retorted.

"My Black Wind Sect has a legacy of two hundred years, and our core sect-guarding technique is only a low-tier Profound-grade, restricted solely to core personal disciples! How could the Tianyan Sect possibly bestow a Profound-grade technique upon newly inducted nominal disciples?"

"Exactly! Taking out a high-tier Yellow-grade technique would already mean the Tianyan Sect is boundlessly generous! Any other sect would hide away even a mid-tier Yellow-grade technique!"

"A high-tier Yellow-grade is already incredible. Relying on half a salvaged low-tier Yellow-grade manual, I've wasted half my life just to barely reach the third level of Qi Condensation!"

"The Tianyan Sect is truly generous, actually letting nominal disciples cultivate a high-tier Yellow-grade technique!"

Everyone talked over one another, arguing endlessly.

They argued back and forth between high-tier Yellow-grade and low-tier Profound-grade, with no one able to convince the other.

But everyone's eyes were filled with envy and longing.

...

Soon, day broke.

The first batch of nominal disciples who had broken through walked out of their rooms, their faces bearing uncontainable excitement.

They had changed into clean clothes, their backs straight and their steps brisk, looking like entirely new people.

A few of them partnered up to head down the mountain, preparing to do some sect tasks.

Just as they reached the foot of the mountain, they were surrounded by a group of rogue cultivators.

"Fellow Daoists, please wait! Congratulations on your breakthroughs!"

"May we ask what cultivation method the Tianyan Sect bestowed upon you this time?"

"Can you tell us? Is it a high-tier Yellow-grade?"

The nominal disciples exchanged glances, the corners of their mouths curling up slightly.

One of the young men stepped forward and puffed out his chest. His voice wasn't loud, but everyone heard him crystal clear.

"The Heavenly Evolution Primordial Art, a low-tier Earth-grade technique. It can be cultivated all the way to the Nascent Soul stage. It doesn't require any specific aptitude; even those with crippled spirit roots can cultivate it."

As his words fell.

The entire area in front of the Heart-Questioning Pavilion instantly plunged into dead silence.

Everyone froze in place, their mouths hanging open wide enough to stuff a fist inside, their minds completely blank.

The crowd that had just been arguing until they were red in the face now completely shut their mouths, their expressions freezing into absolute disbelief.

It took a full ten breaths of time before someone sharply sucked in a breath of cold air, the sound so loud it seemed like their lungs would burst.

"Hiss!!!"

"E-Earth-grade!!"

"A Nascent Soul technique!!"

"Did I hear that right? He said a low-tier Earth-grade Nascent Soul technique?"

"Doesn't require specific aptitude? Even crippled spirit roots can cultivate it?"

"How is that possible?"

These rogue cultivators knew all too well what a low-tier Earth-grade technique that ignored aptitude and led to the Nascent Soul stage meant!

It meant that anyone had the hope of catching a glimpse of the Nascent Soul realm!

"He's bragging, right?"

"Are you kidding me?! The Tianyan Sect is giving nominal disciples an Earth-grade technique?"

"Even the core ancestral techniques of the Four Great Clans are only at this level!"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

The crowd completely lost control.

Some felt it was a fantasy, some thought the youth was just boasting, and others trembled with excitement.

The young nominal disciple who had just spoken was not overwhelmed by the voices of doubt. He looked around, smiled, and spoke neither haughtily nor humbly.

"Believe it or not, once you all climb to the fortieth floor of the Heart-Questioning Pavilion and become nominal disciples of the Tianyan Sect, won't you know for yourselves?"

The voices of doubt abruptly ceased.

That's right.

The Heart-Questioning Pavilion was right there, and the threshold of the fortieth floor was right there.

If the Tianyan Sect was bragging, once people climbed to the fortieth floor and discovered the technique wasn't Earth-grade, wouldn't the sect lose face completely?

Why would the Tianyan Sect tell a lie that could be exposed with a single poke?

There was silence for a few breaths, and then the crowd exploded.

"Holy crap! Is it really an Earth-grade technique?"

"I previously thought the claim that nominal disciples could cultivate a Nascent Soul technique was just a gimmick to fool people. So the Tianyan Sect is playing for real?"

"Crazy! The Tianyan Sect has gone crazy!"

"The sky is changing! The sky in Cangwu Prefecture is going to change!"

"More than just Cangwu Prefecture, I think the sky of the entire Great Qian Dynasty is going to change!"

"Line up! Line up!"

"Don't push! I was here first!"

"Didn't you say yesterday that you were never going to line up again?"

"I didn't, I haven't, don't talk nonsense!"

The already long queue instantly lengthened by several times. Countless people pushed forward like madmen, wishing they could immediately charge into the Heart-Questioning Pavilion and climb to the fortieth floor.

Those rogue cultivators who had previously been hesitating and watching from the sidelines no longer had a shred of doubt.

That was an Earth-grade Nascent Soul technique!

Let alone being a nominal disciple, even if they had to be a menial servant disciple, learning just a single move or half a stance would be entirely worth it!

The news sprouted wings and spread at flying speed.

Within one day, it spread throughout Qingyun City.

Within three days, it swept across the entire Cangwu Prefecture.

In teahouses, taverns, and the corners of rogue cultivator markets, everyone was discussing the exact same topic: the Tianyan Sect, an Earth-grade Nascent Soul cultivation method, and absolutely no requirements for innate talent!