Ye Wushuang looked at the data on the panel with satisfaction.
At the early stage of the Innate Realm, she was already considered one of the strongest among the new disciples of the Profound Heaven Sect.
But she had no intention of settling for that.
There was still a Ten-Thousandfold Critical Return Guarantee Talisman in her system inventory. There was no hurry to use it—she would save it for the right opportunity.
Meanwhile.
On Shattered Star Cliff, Gu Changfeng stood before the cliff face, sword in hand, repeatedly practicing a fierce sword technique.
Half an hour later, he stopped and, as if possessed by some strange impulse, walked over to a crack in the cliff.
He reached his hand into the crack, only to find nothing inside.
Gu Changfeng found it rather odd, but did not give it much thought. He simply assumed it had been his imagination.
Heavenly Balance Peak.
Ye Wushuang was cultivating in the courtyard when an uninvited guest arrived.
The visitor was a young man of about twenty-five or twenty-six. He wore the Ye family's distinctive dark-green robes, a sword hung at his waist, and his features were cold and stern.
His aura was as deep as an abyss, and he made no effort to conceal his cultivation at the peak of the Innate Realm.
Ye Wushuang checked the system panel.
【Name: Ye Wujiang】
【Realm: Innate Realm—Peak】
【Destiny: Man Above Men】
【Life Script: The Ye family's former prodigy and Ancestor Ye Tianwen's direct disciple. He joined the Profound Heaven Sect five years ago and is now an elite inner disciple. Arrogant by nature, he places great importance on the family's honor. In the original story, he looked down on Ye Wushuang's useless aptitude and repeatedly suppressed her within the family. Later, he was defeated by Lin Langtian during the sect tournament, causing his mentality to collapse and reducing him to a mere minor character.】
Ye Wujiang stood at the entrance to the courtyard, looking down arrogantly at Ye Wushuang.
“So you're Ye Wushuang?”
“And who are you?” Ye Wushuang replied casually.
“My name is Ye Wujiang. You could say I'm your clansman.”
Ye Wujiang folded his arms. “Five years ago, I represented the Ye family when I joined the Profound Heaven Sect as an inner disciple.”
Ye Wushuang responded with an indifferent “Oh,” clearly having no interest in him.
Ye Wujiang frowned at her reaction.
“Ye Wushuang, I've heard all about what you did during the Ye family's Sword Ceremony.”
His voice was cold.
“You destroyed the Dragon Emperor Sword without permission and betrayed the family. Do you have any idea how long people in the sect laughed at me because of what you did?”
Ye Wushuang finally raised her head and glanced at him.
“How is people laughing at you my problem? Go find the people laughing at you and take it up with them.”
“You!”
Anger surged in Ye Wujiang's eyes.
“No matter how the Ye family treated you, it is still your root and your bloodline! You humiliated the Ye family's reputation in public. You truly have no respect for your elders!”
Ye Wushuang stood up and brushed the dust from her clothes.
“Ye Wujiang, is it? First, I've already severed all ties with the Ye family. Second, you know perfectly well how the Ye family treated me. And third—”
She lifted her eyes and met Ye Wujiang's gaze head-on.
“I am the Sect Master's final disciple. Who do you think you are to come here and lecture me?”
Ye Wujiang's face flushed with anger after her retort.
He took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed his rage.
“Fine. Since you refuse to acknowledge the Ye family, then I won't appeal to any familial affection either.”
He pointed toward a massive stone platform in the distance.
It was one of the Profound Heaven Sect's challenge arenas, specially built for disciples to spar and compete.
“You and I will have a match. The loser will kneel in public and apologize to the winner. How does that sound?”
Ye Wujiang's voice was icy cold.
“You’re a peak Innate Realm cultivator bullying someone from the younger generation. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”
Ye Wushuang drawled lazily.
“If you don’t dare, then just admit defeat. You, Ye Wushuang, are nothing more than a traitor to the Ye family who knows neither respect nor propriety.”
Ye Wujiang sneered, his tone dripping with disdain.
Ye Wushuang laughed at that.
She truly could not understand it.
Was everyone in the Ye family mentally deficient?
“By the rules, you aren’t qualified to challenge me.”
“But since you insist on courting death, I’ll grant your wish.”
“You choose the time.”
She flicked her hand casually, her tone calm and indifferent.
“Good! Then it’s settled! Don’t you dare regret it when the time comes!”
Ye Wujiang snorted coldly and turned to leave.
Ye Wushuang was rather speechless. Had she owed the Ye family something in her past life?
Just to force her into a match, they had even resorted to such a pathetic provocation.
But since he had provoked her, Ye Wushuang decided to give Ye Wujiang a memory he would never forget for the rest of his life.
Before that, however, she had more important matters to attend to.
Ye Wushuang opened the system panel and checked Liu Ruyan’s latest developments.
【Name: Liu Ruyan】
【Cultivation: Early True Essence Realm】
【Fate: Ridiculously Fortunate】
【Recent Opportunity One: Seven days from now, while mining in the spirit stone veins on the outskirts of the Xuantian Sect, Liu Ruyan will accidentally discover a hidden mine tunnel. Inside are one hundred top-grade spirit stones.】
【Recent Opportunity Two: Half a month from now, the Xuantian Sect will hold an internal auction. Liu Ruyan will purchase a top-grade Earth-rank Nine Revolutions Spirit-Gathering Pill. After taking it, her cultivation will break through to the peak of the Profound Passage Realm.】
【Recent Opportunity Three: One month from now, guided by the resonance of her Empress bloodline, Liu Ruyan will discover a sealed ancient underground palace in the Xuantian Sect’s back mountain. Within, she will obtain a section of purple bamboo containing dense wood-element spiritual energy. Refining it will greatly increase her strength.】
……
“Damn heavens, hold on. Let me take some notes first.”
Six days later.
Ye Wushuang set out early for the spirit stone veins on the outskirts of the Xuantian Sect.
These veins were a public resource area of the Xuantian Sect. All disciples were permitted to mine here, though each person was restricted to collecting only thirty low-grade spirit stones per month.
With her system storage space, even if Ye Wushuang mined spirit stones herself, no one would notice.
Naturally, Ye Wushuang had not come here to play miner.
She circulated the Divine Concealment Art and the Heavenly Gang Divine Evasion Art, slipping through the depths of the mine veins like a ghost.
Her early Innate Realm spiritual sense, combined with the Divine Concealment Art at perfection, allowed her to move freely through the mines.
Two hours later, Ye Wushuang found an extremely well-hidden crack at the deepest point of the veins.
Beyond the crack was a naturally formed mine tunnel, its walls embedded with densely packed spirit stones.
Most of them were low-grade spirit stones.
But in a crevice along the rock wall at the very end of the tunnel, Ye Wushuang spotted a cluster of top-grade spirit stones radiating a dazzling glow.
A rough count put the number at around one hundred.
“This is the place.”
Without another word, Ye Wushuang circulated her spiritual energy and began harvesting them frantically.
One stone, two stones, ten stones... one hundred stones.
Every last one was hers.
【Ding! Detected that the host has intercepted Liu Ruyan’s key opportunity.】
“Use the guaranteed-reward talisman.”
【Congratulations, Host! You have obtained one million top-grade spirit stones!】
【Opportunity Points +10!】
Ye Wushuang’s breathing nearly stopped. She lowered her head and glanced into her system space, where a full million supreme-grade spirit stones were stacked in neat rows.
What did a million supreme-grade spirit stones represent?
The Xuantian Sect’s annual income in spirit stones amounted to only a few hundred thousand supreme-grade spirit stones—equivalent to roughly one hundred million high-grade spirit stones.
The storage ring on her finger alone held wealth equal to two or three years of the Xuantian Sect’s total income.
In the cultivation world, progress depended on wealth, companions, techniques, and laws. Of these, wealth came first—and was undoubtedly the most important.
“Damn… I’m rich.”
Ye Wushuang stared blankly for three seconds before smacking her thigh and nearly jumping for joy inside the mine.
Since transmigrating to this world, this was the first time she had experienced what it meant to be financially free.
She had once been fretting over ten thousand low-grade spirit stones. Now she had a million supreme-grade spirit stones. Converted into low-grade spirit stones, that was a staggering ten trillion.
Ten trillion!
She couldn’t spend it all in this lifetime—or even the next!
Ye Wushuang forced herself to calm down.
Having money was a good thing, but she couldn’t flaunt her wealth.
Given her current identity, suddenly producing so many spirit stones would inevitably attract unnecessary trouble.
“Keep a low profile. I absolutely have to keep a low profile.”
Ye Wushuang transferred the spirit stones into her system space, leaving only a thousand in her storage ring for emergencies.
After tidying everything up, she circulated the Divine Concealment Art and left the mine.
The next day, Liu Ruyan also arrived deep within the mining vein.
Relying on the connection with her master in the ring, she pinpointed the location of that concealed crack.
But when she crawled into the mine with anticipation—
“Empty?!”
Liu Ruyan stood in the vacant tunnel, her face deathly pale.
Traces of spirit stones being extracted remained on the rock walls, along with the faint aura of supreme-grade spirit stones. Clearly, someone had gotten there first.
“Who’s been here?!”
Liu Ruyan clenched her fists until her knuckles cracked, her body trembling slightly.
The voice of Canglan Spirit Venerable came from within the ring, carrying a hint of doubt.
“Yan’er, the aura left behind here is extremely faint, and the other party’s concealment techniques are superb. But one thing is strange. The spirit stones in this mine were extracted with extraordinary thoroughness. Not a single one remains—not even the ore fragments were left behind.”
“Once or twice might be a coincidence, but every time it happens like this… it doesn’t look like coincidence anymore. It’s more as if someone is targeting you specifically.”
Liu Ruyan’s entire body shuddered.
This meant that someone could predict where her opportunities lay.
Who in the world was it?
