382: Oh, so now you know to call me senior brother?

Almost at the exact moment Yun Chenzi overcame the Bi Wind Calamity,

Deep within the Ten Thousand Sword Tomb of the Concealed Sword Peak,

a man in a cyan robe sat cross-legged with his eyes closed.

Though there were no swords around him, it seemed as if swords were everywhere. With every breath, Sword Qi ran rampant, even the swirling mist beside him was sliced into neat squares by an invisible force.

This person was none other than the master of Concealed Sword Peak, Pei Lingxu.

He had entered the Dao through the sword, having been at the Golden Core Perfection Realm for over two hundred years, and was revered as the 'Qingming Sword Lord'.

And at the very moment Yun Chenzi's five calamities were perfected, Pei Lingxu's eyes snapped open, a flash of countless sword lights flickering within his pupils.

He abruptly turned his head, gazing towards the direction of the Five Elements Dao Palace.

In that part of the heavens, though no thunderclouds gathered, faintly visible five-colored rays of light pierced through the cloud layer, and a pair of indistinct black and white auras, like soaring dragons, rose into the sky.

Though fleeting, it was enough for a Cultivator of his Realm to sense something.

"The Five Elements transforming into Yin and Yang... the rumors from outside are indeed true. And..." A rare trace of gravity appeared on Pei Lingxu's normally impassive face.

"This is stepping into the 'Dao Realm'. He has actually reached this step!"

The so-called 'Dao Realm' is a general term for the state after overcoming the five calamities.

This is because Nascent Soul True Monarchs comprehend the heavens and perceive the Dao, while Golden Core True Persons who have overcome the five calamities have almost one foot already in the path of the Nascent Soul, hence it is called 'entering the Dao'!

Although Yun Chenzi was powerful before, he ultimately lacked one calamity, his cultivation was incomplete.

But now... This scene was not only witnessed by Pei Lingxu.

Beneath an ancient pine tree on Evergreen Peak,

an old Daoist with a youthful face and white hair, holding a jade-green horsetail whisk, was playing a game of Go against himself.

He placed his pieces extremely slowly, as if each move required an interval of vast ages.

This was the master of Evergreen Peak, Evergreen Elder. Having cultivated for over eight hundred years, he specialized in the Evergreen Dao techniques, possessing a prolonged Lifespan, and was among the most senior in terms of seniority within the Sect.

At the moment Yun Chenzi broke through into the 'Dao Realm', Evergreen Elder's finger trembled slightly, a white piece suspended in mid-air, never placed.

He suddenly raised his head, emerald light swirling in his eyes, as if piercing through layers of halls and pavilions to directly see the Yin and Yang dao rhyme slowly taking shape above the Five Elements Dao Palace.

After a long while, he sighed lightly and placed that white piece back into the Go pot.

"Seeking change within calamity, breaking before establishing anew... Yun Chenzi, this old Daoist has indeed underestimated you!"

Within the Body Tempering Blood Pool of Mountain-Suppressing Peak,

in a boiling, magma-like blood pool, a bare-chested old man with bulging muscles was tempering his physique with his eyes closed.

From time to time, phantom images of Vicious Beasts appeared in the pool, biting at him, yet they couldn't even break his skin.

This person was the master of Mountain-Suppressing Peak, Yue Hanshan, who walked the path of a Body Cultivator, his brute strength capable of shaking mountains.

"Hmm?"

At that moment, Yue Hanshan suddenly stood up from the blood pool, sending waves of blood splashing everywhere.

His bell-like eyes glared towards the Five Elements Dao Palace, his nostrils flaring as if sniffing something.

"This aura... it's Yun Chenzi breaking through!"

"Damn it all! Didn't I hear just a while ago that his Dao Heart was damaged? How could he succeed like this?"

Within the Illusory Sea Mirror Heaven of Misty Peak,

amidst a sea of mist that blurred reality and illusion, a woman clad in a moon-white, flowing immortal dress stood barefoot on the water's surface.

Her beauty was peerless yet carried an aloof chill. Countless streams of light and shadow swirled around her, each stream a phantom Realm in the process of creation and destruction.

This woman was the master of Misty Peak, Su Ruoli, who specialized in the art of illusion, capable of shifting between reality and illusion with a single thought, conjuring thunder from silence.

At that moment, her long, delicate eyelashes trembled slightly. The phantoms surrounding her all froze simultaneously before shattering like bubbles.

"Yin and Yang separate for the first time, dao rhyme arises spontaneously."

Su Ruoli's vermilion lips parted slightly, her voice ethereal like an echo in a valley.

"I originally thought that with this blow, even if it didn't crush his spirit, it would require decades of silence. Who would have thought he would use this pressure as an opportunity to break through his Realm?"

The four Peak Masters at the Golden Core Perfection Realm sensed the disturbance at the Five Elements Dao Palace almost simultaneously.

Especially sensing that newly born Yin and Yang dao rhyme, it was like a massive rock thrown into a calm lake, stirring waves of turmoil within their hearts.

After a brief silence, four vast, sea-like Divine Thoughts quietly rose from the other four main peaks of the Qingming Immortal Sect.

They converged soundlessly in the depths of the firmament above the Qingming Immortal Sect, forming a 'Sea of Divine Thoughts' that only they could clearly perceive.

"Everyone, did you all sense it?"

The first to speak was Pei Lingxu, his voice cold and sharp, like the clang of a sword.

"Such a distinct transformation of dao rhyme, unless one is in seclusion with deathly stillness, how could one remain unaware?"

Evergreen Elder's Divine Thought was calm and gentle, yet carried a trace of complex emotion.

"The Five Elements transforming into Yin and Yang... this is a true superior Great Dao. Indeed, it had to be Yun Chenzi!"

"This old man just can't figure it out! A while ago, the rumors were rampant, even the trump cards he prepared for his Nascent Soul were all exposed. How on earth did he manage to enter the Dao like this!"

Yue Hanshan's Divine Thought rumbled like muffled thunder, his words direct and crude.

Logically speaking, encountering such a thing, even if one's Dao Heart wasn't damaged, their will should at least be subdued for a period!

Yet Yun Chenzi did the opposite, breaking through against the odds!

"Senior Brother's Heart-Nature is far more resilient than any of us imagined. Perhaps it was precisely this pressure of a desperate situation that ignited his resolve to fight for survival after being cornered..."

Su Ruoli's Divine Thought spoke like a wisp of ethereal smoke, yet before she could finish, she was rudely interrupted by Yue Hanshan.

"Oh, so now you know to call him Senior Brother? Weren't you saying 'no relation' just a while ago?"

These words directly plunged the Sea of Divine Thoughts into a moment of awkward silence.

When Yun Chenzi was in trouble recently, although they didn't do anything, they certainly didn't hold back from gossiping behind his back.

Especially Su Ruoli, when asked if she would lend a hand, she simply said, 'No relation!'

After a long while, Evergreen Elder sighed lightly.

"Regardless, this time when he was in dire straits, we, as fellow disciples, though we did not add to his misfortunes, neither did we extend a helping hand.

Now that he has overcome the difficulty on his own and advanced his cultivation, this..."

Pei Lingxu coldly interjected, "Hmph, that's just how the Cultivation World is. Adding flowers to the brocade is easy; sending charcoal in snowy weather is hard."

"If his path had been hindered by this matter, we would have sighed a few words and that would be that. But now that he has broken through and his strength has greatly increased, all past matters must be set aside!"

At least, on the surface, it must be so!

"Senior Brother Pei makes a valid point," Su Ruoli said, ignoring Yue Hanshan's earlier sarcasm.

"Senior Brother Yun has achieved profound cultivation, stepping into the 'Dao Realm'. We should go offer our congratulations!"

"Excellent. This serves two purposes: to fulfill the courtesy of fellow disciples and ease relations, and also to probe the actual situation, to see exactly how far he has progressed.

After all, the Xuanling Secret Realm is about to open. Yun Chenzi's Breakthrough at this time adds another variable!"

Yue Hanshan, with his straightforward and hot-tempered nature, seeing the others acting this way again, snorted with his Divine Thought.

"Aren't you just seeing that he's formidable again and rushing to curry favor? Why dress it up in such high-sounding words!"