"In ancient times, there were humans, demons, and demon beasts on the primordial continent, as well as immortals from the upper realm. Later, wars broke out, severely weakening the demon beast clans, leading to their demise.

"According to legends, the Nüyue was one of those ancient demon beasts. Although not considered a high-level demon beast, it was the most adept at bewitching the human heart, possessing at least early-stage Core Formation cultivation. You all..." Zou Jingyuan, obviously thinking of the tragically deceased Song Shushan, paused for a moment before saying, "are quite lucky."

However, what worried Zou Jingyuan was not that his disciple was killed, but that the Nüyue, as an ancient demon beast, should have long been extinct or sealed in the depths of the underworld. How could it appear in the Mirror Sea Mountains?

Lu Yanping and the others were stunned by his words, taking a long time to react. "Master, since the Nüyue has appeared, what about the other disciples out on the trial...?"

Zou Jingyuan nodded, "I have already sent orders for all the disciples out on this trial to return."

Lu Yanping breathed a sigh of relief, secretly feeling a bit pleased. He was originally set to win the reward for this trial, but unexpectedly encountered an accident midway and thought he would miss out. Now it seemed that others would also not obtain it, so he still had a chance.

"You may go. If there's nothing else, don't wander around."

"Yes."

After everyone had left, a person walked out from the side hall.

"Is it really the Nüyue?" that person asked.

Zou Jingyuan nodded, smiling bitterly, "It should be, without a doubt."

Weng Hua said, "If even the Nüyue has appeared, who knows what else might show up?"

He was one of the three elders of the Mirror Sea Sect.

Zou Jingyuan said, "That's exactly what I'm worried about, which is why I had them all withdraw."

Weng Hua said, "This matter is of great importance. We must discuss it with the other two elders. The three of us should go investigate the place Lu Yanping and the others mentioned."

Zou Jingyuan joked, "You think everyone is as selfless as you, wholeheartedly devoted to the sect? The Nüyue is an ancient demon beast. If it can appear there, there may be even higher-level demon beasts. The Mirror Sea Sect, including myself, has only a handful of Foundation Establishment cultivators. They wouldn't dare take that risk."

Weng Hua sighed, "The Mirror Sea Sword Sect is already small. With them harboring such thoughts, what good does it do for revitalizing the sect?"

Zou Jingyuan said indifferently, "If only everyone thought like you. When I took the position of sect leader back then, they were very dissatisfied. If I hadn't been suppressing them all these years, the sect would have fallen into internal strife long ago, let alone revitalization."

Weng Hua was silent for a while before asking, "Then what countermeasures do you have now?"

"In the next few days, I'll first use the Observing World Mirror to search, but its range is ultimately limited. This matter isn't just about the Mirror Sea Sect alone. I will send messages to the major sects. Regardless of whether they take it seriously or not, the Mirror Sea Sect will have fulfilled its responsibility."

Weng Hua thought for a bit and said, "Notify the other two elders. I'll go take a look at the place where Song Shushan had his accident first."

Zou Jingyuan said, "I'll go with you."

Weng Hua laughed, "I'm 480 years old this year, still in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. Advancing to the Nascent Soul stage is already hopeless for me. You're different. You're the sect leader. The sect can't do without you. Besides, I'm just going to take a look. If I can't win, I can still run. There won't be any danger."

Zou Jingyuan looked at this fellow disciple and close friend, feeling a bit melancholic in his heart. After a long while, he squeezed out a smile, "Alright then, be careful."

Zhou Yin had just returned to the outer peak not long ago. Huang Wenjun, He Yun and the others also returned one after another. They were assigned to different groups, so naturally they couldn't go on the trial together.

But the reason for being asked to return early was already shared by Lu Yanping, who was in charge of relaying the orders, after they were teleported back.

Out of concern that someone might privately and mistakenly enter the place where the incident occurred, Zou Jingyuan had Lu Yanping also inform everyone about Song Shushan's death. For a time, there was an atmosphere of unease throughout the Mirror Sea Sect.

He Yun and Huang Wenjun knew that Zhou Yin and the others were in the same group as Lu Yanping, so they couldn't wait to come back and inquire about the situation.

Liu Xiaowan described the events to Huang Wenjun and the others with a face still full of lingering fear, while Zhou Yin still had that expression that seemed to be unchanged for a thousand years. He set up a chess game on the stone table in the courtyard, fiddling with a handful of black pieces in his hand, as if nothing had happened.

After hearing this, He Yun slightly furrowed her beautiful brows, "In that case, isn't our trial invalidated?"

Huang Wenjun glanced at her, "You still have the mind to think about the trial. I'm afraid the outer peak's barrier isn't as safe as the inner peak's. Demon beasts can easily come up here."

The two women had not considered this possibility. Upon hearing this, their faces changed. "It can't be that serious. No matter how bold the demon beasts are, they wouldn't dare to rashly charge into the outer peak..."

Huang Wenjun said, "Why is it impossible? The highest cultivator in the outer peak is only Ye-shishu. People like us, even if we all go up together, can only become snacks for the demon beasts." After saying that, he turned his head to ask Zhou Yin, "Ah Yin, what do you think?"

Zhou Yin let out an "en" sound without taking his eyes off the chessboard.

Huang Wenjun: "...What 'en'? Do you know what we're talking about?"

"The outer peak is indeed dangerous, but the inner peak is even more dangerous."

"Why?" Huang Wenjun didn't believe it.

Zhou Yin said, "The higher-level the demon beast, the less likely it is to eat humans. What they like is the inner core on cultivators' bodies. These can all be transformed into their own cultivation. The reason why the Nüyue likes to eat people is just due to its nature. At the same time, it's also good at capturing the spiritual energy of cultivators and devouring their inner cores."

He Yun's face turned pale, "Inner cores... In the Mirror Sea Sect, only the sect leader and a few elders are Core Formation cultivators."

"So we'd better pray that the appearance of the Nüyue is accidental and that there's only that one demon beast."

The other three all fell silent.

They suddenly discovered how insignificant they were. In the face of this major event concerning the sect and even more so their own lives, they couldn't do anything at all and could only passively wait for the fate that was about to befall them.

In fact, it wasn't just them. Even the sect leader or elders, when facing those ancient demon beasts, would find it very difficult to be confident unless they were Nascent Soul cultivators.

He Yun secretly sighed. The need to diligently cultivate and quickly advance to the Qi Refining stage became even more urgent.

Looking at Huang Wenjun and Liu Xiaowan, their expressions were also shifting.

Zhou Yin put down the chess pieces and walked towards the room.

Huang Wenjun asked, "What are you going to do?"

"Cultivate."

The others looked at each other, all feeling it was unbelievable.

Generally speaking, when a cultivator has an epiphany, they will enter closed-door cultivation to attempt a breakthrough. However, at this time, everyone in the Mirror Sea Sect was at a loss, yet Zhou Yin, contrary to expectations, continued his cultivation as if nothing had happened.

As Huang Wenjun stood there in a daze, he heard He Yun say softly beside him, "He has always been a person with a firm heart, rarely affected by the outside world."

So even though they were only at the 5th level of Qi Refining, Zhou Yin had already surpassed them, reaching the 8th level.

In terms of talent, he was not the best in the Mirror Sea Sect, but He Yun dared to guarantee that even the inner sect disciples might not have Zhou Yin's diligence and single-mindedness.

Out of the twelve hours in a day, even when sleeping he was meditating. This level of focus was rare and precious.

Huang Wenjun felt a sense of resonance. "You're right, at the very least, the four of us are not as good as him."

As he spoke, he walked over to the stone table where Zhou Yin had been playing chess earlier, and was surprised to find that the pieces Zhou Yin had placed did not form a chess game at all.

It seemed chaotic, but there was a hidden pattern.

"Look, what is this?"

He Yun also came over and exclaimed after a moment, "It looks like a star constellation?"

Huang Wenjun scratched his head. "Why does he always like to do such strange things?"

He Yun disagreed, "Everything Ah Yin does has a reason, it's just that we can't figure it out for now."

Huang Wenjun sneered, "Your thoughts are too obvious. If he had the intention, do you think he wouldn't be able to see it?"

He Yun's face instantly turned red as she angrily said, "What nonsense are you talking about!"

"I'm afraid I hit the nail on the head about your feelings. Actually, as fellow disciples, don't blame me for not warning you. Someone like Ah Yin clearly devotes himself wholeheartedly to cultivation, with no time for anything else. I'm just afraid you'll end up heartbroken."

He Yun became even more furious and left in a huff without saying a word.

Seeing that she was truly angry, Huang Wenjun couldn't help but feel a little regretful. But thinking of himself and Liu Xiaowan, he sighed.

In fact, how much better was he? Liu Xiaowan had a sweet appearance, and many inner sect disciples had already shown interest in her. Yet he himself was still someone who couldn't even enter the inner sect. In comparison, he also had to feel ashamed.

They never imagined that Song Shushan's death was just the beginning.

A month later, Huang Wenjun and the others learned that Elder Weng, who had gone out to investigate the traces of the demon beasts, had unexpectedly died tragically at the place where Zhou Yin and the others had encountered the demon beast.

Before his death, he had sent out a distress signal, but when Zou Jingyuan led the other two elders and elite disciples to rush there, they only saw Elder Weng's corpse and could not find any traces of the demon beasts.

Having lost an elder and a Foundation Establishment disciple in succession, everyone in the Mirror Sea Sect felt in danger and turned pale at the mention of demon beasts.

In the next few years, news also came from other major sects that traces of ancient demon beasts had been discovered. However, major sects like the Shangxuan Sect, Tianyan Sect, and Qinggu Sect, thanks to the Mirror Sea Sect's early warning, and the fact that although those demon beasts had an ancient origin, they only had mid-tier cultivation, with no high-level demon beasts appearing, did not suffer any disciple casualties.

However, after these suddenly appearing ancient demon beasts were wiped out, they disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared and never showed up again.

Correspondingly, the struggle for hegemony in the mortal world became more and more intense.

In a cultivation world, it was inevitable for the shadows of cultivators to be involved in the conflicts between countries. For example, the reason why the Dongyue could easily invade Anyang was not only because Anyang was a tiny country to begin with, but also because there was no powerful cultivation sect behind Anyang that could have a say.

On the other hand, the reason why dynasties in major countries like Xiling and Canghe could stand for hundreds of years without falling was inseparable from the support of the Tianyan Sect and Shangxuan Sect in their countries.

Even if cultivators did not play a decisive role, they could fan the flames and add fuel to the fire from the sidelines. Moreover, in a chaotic world of heroes vying for supremacy, any monarch with grand ambitions wanted to unify the world. Therefore, although no large-scale wars had broken out yet, it was only because the time had not yet come.

By the time Zhou Yin emerged from seclusion again, it was already eight years later.

As soon as he walked out the door, he saw He Yun waiting outside with a smile. Judging from her appearance, she had already advanced two levels and reached the 7th level of Qi Refining.

"It's been eight years. I hope you've been well."

She knew that having entered seclusion for eight years, Zhou Yin must have made great progress in his cultivation. However, she didn't expect that he had actually broken through the Qi Refining stage and reached the Foundation Establishment realm.

She was both surprised and overjoyed, "Ah Yin, you've reached Foundation Establishment?!"

Zhou Yin said, "You've also advanced two levels."

He Yun shook her head with a smile, "But we're still not as good as you. Over these years, Huang Wenjun has also worked very hard, but he has only reached the 9th level of Qi Refining and has been stuck at that bottleneck for a long time."

Zhou Yin asked, "Why have you come to find me?"

Compared to before he entered seclusion, the other party's attitude had not changed much. The only difference was that his face had completely shed its youthful immaturity, and he had grown much taller and more slender. With his black hair tied up and wearing a dark robe, he looked graceful and aloof like a mountain cloud.

He Yun suppressed the subtle melancholy in her heart and said with a smile, "Let me tell you, we have now been accepted into the inner peak and become inner sect disciples of the sect, and our status is not low. The Sect Leader instructed me to come and check every few days. If you came out of seclusion, I was to bring you to see him."

Author's Note:

Reminders on the setting:

1. Regarding the ancient times, there will be a detailed explanation later on, so there's no need to rush to memorize it now.

2. Up until now, the time progression has been very fast, including the 8 years that passed in a blink of an eye in this text. That's because there's no need for detailed writing in the beginning. Later on, as the plot develops, the pace of cultivation will also be adjusted accordingly, so there's no need to worry about the current fast pace.