“It has nothing to do with luck, or maybe...” The bodhi king’s eyes became profound but didn’t finish his line.

The disciple stared at him with respect. Everyone in Divine Black knew that their sect master was the strongest but some believed that the bodhi king was hiding his true abilities.

“The humans’ prosperity in this generation is the sect’s fortune.” He eventually added.

“What should we do?” The disciple asked.

The competition between humans and demons wasn’t a secret in Divine Black. All disciples and their seniors knew about it. No one was lucky enough to stay neutral either.

“Just keep watching, a tall tree will always face the strongest wind.” The king eventually concluded.

He was quite inscrutable so his followers always had a hard time grasping his intentions.

***

Furious Tiger was the most majestic among the five. Its main peak pierced through the azure like a tiger fang.

One could hear the howls of beasts; wild auras permeated across their territory. The majority of disciples from Furious Tiger were demons, mainly originating from regular beasts and birds.

Their peak lord had the title Iron Rod Demon King. His eyes turned frighteningly cold after hearing the news, causing the messenger to tremble in fear.

“How can a new recruit activate thirteen sections?” The demon king would have considered this rubbish if it wasn’t for multiple confirmations.

“Yes, it’s too bizarre. Could it be that the examiners are conspiring together to make this up?” The messenger immediately supported.

“How? The thirteen sections can be faked but what about the scroll?” The demon king glared at him.

“Well...” The disciple had no response.

This was indeed the case. Faking the light on the statue might be possible but not the actual scroll. Taking out those merit laws was a serious matter requiring the agreement of the five peak lords.

“Idiot.” The demon king concluded.

The disciple hurriedly stood to the side with his hands straight down, no longer daring to state his opinion.

“A Mortal Shell cultivator capable of this, devilish indeed, far more devilish than that girl Qianyue.” He rubbed his chin in rumination.

Qianyue’s activation of five sections back then caused quite a stir due to her age and inborn true fate. Some believed that she was comparable to Su Xu.

Now, this Li Qiye activated all thirteen at the Mortal Shell realm. Worst of all, his three constitutions were at the mortal level.

“If his innate talents were better, then this would be understandable, but just at the mortal level? There’s something strange about him.” He went on.

“Yes, a sinister plan, perhaps.” The disciple couldn’t help adding.

“Gong Qianyue first now Li Qiye, hmm, what is the goal here?” The demon king wondered.

In case of foul play, the first person he thought of was their sect master. He was the only one capable of activating all thirteen sections.

His expression became serious. The situation in Divine Black has changed and became complicated after the appearance of the talented Qianyue.

Everyone knew that Ping Suoweng would retire from his post one day. The next sect master could change the situation entirely.

Right now, humans enjoyed a great status in Divine Black because Suoweng was a human.

After Qianyue became an Enlightened Being, whispers in the sect spoke of how she could be a potential candidate.

Of course, just this realm alone was far from enough. However, she was young and had plenty of potentials. Surpassing Suoweng might be possible.

The demon king naturally didn’t want to see this. He wanted the demons to rule Divine Black, especially his tiger clan.

They had ruled Divine Black in the past for a long period. It was time for another repeat.

“This person is problematic.” The king said sternly.

“Do you mean... Peak Lord.” The messenger performed a throat-slitting gesture.

“Fool!” The king glared at him again: “Don’t come up with ideas on your own. Killing a fellow sect member is punishable by death so don’t drag our peak down with you. Make a mistake and I’ll wring your dog neck.”

“Yes, I understand.” The disciple got cold sweats and nodded repeatedly.

***

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Jade Bird Peak.

The place was lively with the influx of new recruits. This was the weakest peak among the five. Its lord, Flame Wolf King Zhang Yue, was one generation younger than the other four. This made him the weakest.

He was meditating on a stone bed in an alchemy chamber while listening to a report.

In fact, he had heard about the rumors prior. He fell into silence afterward.

“What should we do, Peak Lord?” The messenger asked.

“Investigate and get to the bottom of this. I want to know everything about this Li Qiye, don’t miss a single detail.” Zhang Yue ordered.

“Really? He, he was brought here by Junior Uncle Liu, moreover...” The messenger hesitated and stared at the wolf king: “We should think about this carefully since Junior Uncle Liu has Mountain King as his backer.”

“Hmph, Thunder Dragon Liu.” The wolf king scowled: “No, it is our responsibility to find out who is joining our sect. Letting someone with a shady background roam freely can have negative consequences. Our peak is responsible for taking care of the new recruits, we cannot take this lightly. I will talk to Mountain King myself.” His eyes turned cold.

“I understand. I will investigate this Li Qiye.” The messenger said and left.

“Remember, don’t be blatant. Keep it low key.” The wolf king reminded as the disciple was leaving.

“Yes.” The disciple said.

“Tell Zhan Hu to come see me too.” The wolf king waved his sleeve.

“Liu, you think you can still rise again?” Zhang Yue’s eyes became even colder after the messenger left.

Zhang Yue was from the same generation as Liu Fuyou. He, Fuyou, and Su Xu were the most talented disciples back then, known as the Three Prodigies.

He was the oldest of the trio but since Su Xu was Suoweng’s direct disciple, Su Xu became the First Brother.

Su Xu was also the most talented with an inborn true fate. Zhang Yue was second and Fuyou was last.

Later on, Su Xu died in battle while Fuyou’s cultivation stagnated. Only Zhang Yue improved swiftly enough to become the peak lord of Jade Bird.

The top candidate for this position was actually Su Xu. He competed with the elders for this position since Zhang Yue was still weak and Fuyou was on his side. Alas, Zhang Yue eventually won due to the circumstances.

Now, Fuyou returned and caused such a big commotion after being gone for so long? This made Zhang Yue suspicious.

Of course, he wasn’t worried about Fuyou alone. The difference in power was too great now. Fuyou wasn’t as strong as before while he became far mightier.

He only cared about the ones backing Fuyou in the background.