Desolate Ancient Martial God

Heavenly Net Sect, the cloud boat docked at the port.

A group of outer sect disciples with missing arms and legs walked onto the cloud boat with dejected faces. As they moved, they glanced back every few steps, reluctant to part with the Heavenly Net Sect.

The path of martial arts cultivation is extremely cruel, and competition among sect disciples is especially fierce. A single misstep can lead to elimination.

At the end of every month, the eliminated disciples would be sent back to their hometowns.

“Stop dawdling and hurry up!”

“Although you’ve been eliminated, at least you’re still alive. Many disciples lost their lives, so consider yourselves lucky…” The fat deacon’s words trailed off suddenly as his gaze landed on a gray-clothed boy staggering toward the group.

The gray-clothed boy was pale, his face devoid of blood. His steps were unsteady, and he took a deep breath with each movement, as though he might collapse at any moment.

The repatriated outer sect disciples noticed him and broke into murmurs.

“Isn’t that Xiao Yun from Heavenly Secrets Hall?”

“It’s him, no doubt.”

“But Xiao Yun was just selected into the inner sect three days ago. How could he be sent back?”

Among the eight halls of the outer sect, Heavenly Secrets Hall ranked fourth, with roughly 30,000 disciples. Xiao Yun was one of the top five outstanding disciples in Heavenly Secrets Hall.

Just three days ago, at the inner sect selection meeting, Xiao Yun had won first place and earned his spot as an inner sect disciple.

At the time, countless outer sect disciples had looked on with envy, wishing they were in his place.

It was expected that Xiao Yun would rise to prominence in the inner sect, yet now, he was being sent back like the rest of them. The sight was shocking.

After all, those who could stand out among 30,000 disciples to become inner sect members were not ordinary people.

“Did something happen to him?”

“No matter what happened, he’s clearly done for.”

“His limbs seem intact, but look at his pale face and weak steps. His foundation must be destroyed.”

“That’s right. If his foundation weren’t destroyed, he could have continued in the outer sect, even if he failed in the inner sect. There’s no way they’d send him back.”

“The genius of Heavenly Secrets Hall… How pitiful.”

Seeing Xiao Yun in such a state, many of the repatriated disciples felt a strange sense of relief, some even showing ridicule.

Under their odd gazes, Xiao Yun struggled onto the cloud boat, gripping the rail tightly as he found a seat and slumped down.

Their attention on him didn’t last long. No matter how brilliant he had once been, Xiao Yun was now a cripple.

The rest of the eliminated outer sect disciples boarded one after another. Some glanced briefly at Xiao Yun before choosing seats far from him, as though alienating him completely.

The cloud boat was scheduled to leave in half an hour. Gradually, the disciples resigned themselves to their fate and began chatting to distract themselves.

“Have you heard about Ling Yuji, the core disciple of our Heavenly Net Sect?” a man in yellow asked.

“Nonsense. Who doesn’t know Ling Yuji?”

“Why? What’s the news about her?”

The male disciples perked up instantly. After all, Ling Yuji wasn’t just the most beautiful woman in the Heavenly Net Sect—she was also a prodigious talent. While most disciples had to undergo rigorous selection processes to enter the inner sect, Ling Yuji had been accepted directly. In less than a year, she had even been promoted to a core disciple.

A combination of beauty and exceptional talent naturally made her the center of attention. Any rumors involving Ling Yuji would spark excitement, not just among male disciples but even among some female ones.

“There’s news that Ling Yuji awakened a seventh-grade Thunder Beast Martial Spirit two days ago. The sect master even came out of seclusion because of it. He might recruit Ling Yuji as his personal disciple,” the man in yellow said.

“Is that true?”

“A seventh-grade Thunder Beast Martial Spirit? Are you sure?”

“I’m certain! A deacon spread the news, and I heard it with my own ears. It’s absolutely true.”

“A seventh-grade Thunder Beast Martial Spirit… I can’t even imagine how powerful that is. I don’t need something so rare—just give me a third-grade martial spirit. No, even a second-grade one would do,” someone said enviously.

“Keep dreaming. Martial spirits don’t awaken that easily.”

“If it were that easy, we’d all have martial spirits,” others chimed in, shaking their heads. Awakening a martial spirit was an exceedingly rare feat, with only one in a thousand martial artists succeeding.

It was said that the legendary gods had planted the seeds of martial spirits in humans. Only by walking the path of martial arts could one hope to awaken their martial spirit. Yet, the odds were far too slim. For every thousand martial practitioners, only one would succeed.

Martial spirits can assist martial arts practitioners by accelerating their cultivation speed and enhancing their strength. Martial artists can even learn martial spirit skills that are exclusive to their martial spirits.

Martial artists with martial spirits are far superior to ordinary practitioners.

Typically, outer sect disciples only encounter martial spirits of the first or second grade. Third- or fourth-grade martial spirits are extremely rare, while fifth- and sixth-grade ones are even harder to come across.

As for the seventh grade… for outer sect disciples, such things exist only in rumors.

The outer sect disciples chatted freely, none of them paying any attention to Xiao Yun, who sat in the corner. At this moment, Xiao Yun’s face was contorted, his body trembling violently as veins bulged along his arms. His fingers clawed into the deck with such force that they nearly splintered the wood beneath him.

Ling Yuji!

Xiao Yun gritted his teeth, his expression full of pain and rage. His organs were swollen, his limbs aching, his qi sea shattered, and his martial spirit seed destroyed. All of it—all of it—was because of Ling Yuji.

“Ling Yuji! You bitch!” Xiao Yun spat bitterly. “I saved you out of kindness, and you framed me! You used me as a cauldron, stole my martial spirit seed to enhance your own martial spirit, and destroyed my foundation and my qi sea…”

His nails dug deeper into the deck, breaking and bleeding under the pressure.

But the pain in his fingertips was nothing compared to the agony of his broken body and spirit.

Two days ago, Xiao Yun had just entered the inner sect. In pursuit of improving himself, he went out on a journey, where he encountered Ling Yuji being ambushed and nearly killed. At the time, Xiao Yun didn’t know who she was. Assuming she was an ordinary inner sect disciple—and because they were both members of the Heavenly Net Sect—he had stepped in to save her.

The result?

The Ling Yuji he had rescued turned on him without warning, launching a sudden attack that left him severely injured. She captured him effortlessly.

It was only after being captured that Xiao Yun learned the truth. Ling Yuji had been watching him for a long time. She knew he possessed the seed of a seventh-grade martial spirit, which was on the brink of awakening.

To enhance her own martial spirit, Ling Yuji had meticulously planned his capture.

In the end, Xiao Yun had been used as a cauldron, his seventh-grade martial spirit seed forcibly taken. His qi sea had been shattered, and his cultivation path utterly severed. To top it off, Ling Yuji tossed him into a cliff as though he were nothing.

Somehow, Xiao Yun had survived.

But his qi sea was destroyed, his martial spirit stolen, and his future ruined. According to Heavenly Net Sect’s rules, Xiao Yun could only be sent back to his hometown, discarded like a piece of trash.

He had thought about seeking justice, but it was futile.

Fighting outside the sect wasn’t bound by sect rules. If you died, it simply meant your skills were inferior.

Such was the cruel reality of martial cultivation.

“Ling Yuji! If I could start over, I swear I would make you regret everything you’ve done…” Xiao Yun’s words were laced with endless hatred, spoken through gritted teeth.

Boom!

Suddenly, Xiao Yun heard something explode near his ear. A deep, pitch-black hole appeared before him, emitting an ancient and mysterious aura.

Xiao Yun stared at the black hole, and in an instant, an intense, splitting pain erupted in his head.

A suffocating sensation of death overwhelmed him. Something was invading his consciousness—a foreign force, sharp and consuming, trying to seize control of his body.

A soul!

Xiao Yun could feel it. A powerful soul had appeared out of nowhere, attempting to replace him.

His consciousness began to fade.

Xiao Yun realized with horror that he was losing control of his body. First Ling Yuji, and now this!

“I don’t care who you are. If you want my body, I’ll die before I let you take it!”

Summoning every last ounce of his strength, Xiao Yun drew a dagger and plunged it toward his heart.

The blade pierced halfway in before his strength failed. But the pain was enough to clear his mind, if only briefly.

At that moment, the invading soul vanished.

Fragments of strange memories flashed in the depths of Xiao Yun’s mind before fading away. Though the memories disappeared quickly, the glimpses he caught were enough to shake him to his core.

The origin of the invading soul was extraordinary.

It was Heavenly Venerable Yun—one of the six Heavenly Venerable of the Nine Heavens Divine Realm.