The Heavenly Net Sect, the Golden Summit Great Hall.
An old man with white hair but a spirited demeanor stood at the center, surrounded by people.
The old man was naturally Qin Zhengqiu, and the others, except for the two middle-aged men in black and purple robes, were all elders and protectors of the sect.
It could be said that all high-ranking officials of the Heavenly Net Sect who were not out on business were gathered here.
The gazes of the crowd were also unified, fixed intently on Wei Changtian, who seemed unperturbed, wondering what was going through their minds.
The Heavenly Path.
This was the Heavenly Net Sect’s treasure for testing the innate abilities of its disciples, with countless people having walked this path over the centuries.
Ordinary warriors could barely reach fifty steps, and exceeding fifty steps meant surpassing the average level.
However, the minimum standard for entering the Heavenly Net Sect was eighty steps, a threshold that only one in ten cultivators could reach.
Therefore, the disciples of the Heavenly Net Sect were all exceptionally talented, with some remarkable individuals emerging every year.
In the 89th year of Yuanping, inner disciple Gong Datou reached 142 steps, achieving the third rank and becoming the Town South General……
In the 12th year of Yuankang, wandering cultivator Zhang Pu reached 127 steps, achieving the third rank and establishing the “Penglai Sect”……
In the 50th year of Yuankang, inner disciple Xu Shuo reached 196 steps, achieving the second rank and serving as the Left Elder of the sect for ten years before leaving the Ninth Summit Mountain to travel the world……
In the 105th year of Tianxing, Saint Qin Yingjiang reached 170 steps, currently at the third rank……
In the 113th year of Tianxing, Saint Qin Caijing reached 164 steps, currently at the third rank……
From these “excellent examples,” it was clear that surpassing 120 steps had a high probability of reaching the third rank.
Surpassing 190 steps would provide an opportunity to challenge the second rank.
With such talent, one could shine alongside the sun and moon, and further……
According to the Heavenly Net Sect’s internal records, three people in history had surpassed 200 steps.
From noble mtl dot come
The sect’s founder;
The 14th emperor of the Danning Dynasty;
And a wandering cultivator who had touched the threshold of the first rank.
Of course, if Xiao Feng were to take a walk, he would likely surpass 200 steps as well.
However, all of this was no longer important.
Because a record that would likely never be surpassed had been set today.
In the 15th year of Tianji, Sect Master Qin Zhengqiu’s grandson Wei Changtian walked the Heavenly Path, reaching 300 steps……
……
“Grandson Wei Changtian, come meet your grandfather.”
Having made up his mind to “pretend to be a tiger,” Wei Changtian intentionally didn’t bow too low, only slightly inclining his head towards Qin Zhengqiu.
“Changtian……”
Qin Zhengqiu took a deep breath, gazing deeply at his grandson, whom he had not seen often, his voice trembling as he asked:
“Do you know what it means to have walked 300 steps on the Heavenly Path?”
“I don’t know, grandfather.”
Wei Changtian was not intimidated at all, smiling as he said, “Please, Grandmaster, enlighten me.”
“Meaning……”
Qin Zhengqiu’s words trailed off mid-sentence.
Because even he, the Grandmaster, didn’t know what it meant.
“Never mind… Let’s sit down and talk about it later.”
With a deep sigh, he turned around and sat down in his main seat, while Wei Changtian didn’t hesitate at all, directly taking the first seat to Qin Zhengqiu’s left.
Although he was a guest, this seat shouldn’t be one that a junior could occupy……
The people present exchanged glances, but didn’t say anything, though their gazes towards Wei Changtian began to fill with doubt.
The Tian Luo Sect was far away in Shu Province, and Qin Zhengqiu and the others didn’t know what kind of person Wei Changtian was before, nor had they intentionally gathered information about it.
Their impression of Wei Changtian, apart from the occasional letters from Qin Caizhen, was limited to the “Killing Aura” incident.
Daring to lead thousands of people to surround the Prime Minister’s residence, ultimately beheading the Prime Minister…… This incident had indeed shocked Qin Zhengqiu at the time.
But that was all.
In his opinion, even if Wei Changtian had killed the Emperor, the shock wouldn’t be half as great as today’s.
So, after everyone had just sat down, Qin Zhengqiu asked again in a deep voice:
“Changtian…… Do you know about the Heavenly Road, which even the founder of the Tian Luo Sect can only walk two hundred steps on?”
“I didn’t know before.”
Wei Changtian nodded calmly: “I know now.”
“You……”
Qin Zhengqiu’s pupils slightly contracted: “Why aren’t you surprised?”
“Why should I be surprised?”
Wei Changtian smiled lightly: “Grandmaster, how many steps others can take has nothing to do with me.”
“……”
Wei Changtian’s response directly left Qin Zhengqiu speechless.
He had lived for nearly a hundred years, but had never seen someone with Wei Changtian’s thought process.
Yet, this sentence couldn’t be picked apart for any flaws.
After a long silence, Qin Zhengqiu finally spoke again: “Changtian, what’s your current cultivation level?”
“Sixth rank, that’s all,” Wei Changtian replied truthfully.
Sixth rank, which wasn’t too shocking, as there were many disciples in the Tian Luo Sect around Wei Changtian’s age who had also reached the sixth rank.
The people present all let out a slight sigh of relief, while also harboring a thread of doubt in their hearts.
If Wei Changtian could complete the Heavenly Road, his natural talent should be unparalleled, so thinking this way, sixth rank…… was it too slow?
As if guessing what the others were thinking, Wei Changtian immediately added another sentence.
“However, if I wanted to, I could enter the fourth rank within half a year.”
“……”
The grand hall fell silent, both inside and out.
Half a year, entering the fourth rank……
Although this statement was explosive, it was also as arrogant as “a snake trying to swallow an elephant”.
No one believed Wei Changtian’s boast, which clearly defied the “laws of nature”, but since Qin Zhengqiu didn’t speak up, they couldn’t question it either.
The atmosphere became somewhat awkward, with everyone thinking that Wei Changtian, who had blown his own horn, should know when to stop, but the latter didn’t, even taking the initiative to smile and ask:
“Don’t you all believe me?”
“……”
In an instant, the awkwardness intensified.
Everyone looked at each other, shaking their heads in silence.
Qin Zhengqiu finally couldn’t take it anymore and thought of giving his grandson a way out.
“Changtian, it’s good that young people have some pride, but…”
“Grandfather, I never speak nonsense.”
Wei Changtian shook his head, glanced around the hall, and suddenly slammed his hand on the table without warning.
“Bang!”
The teacups on the table immediately responded, flying high into the air, with a faint green tea water splashing down.
The sudden situation shocked everyone, but Wei Changtian didn’t care about others’ reactions. He swiftly drew his sword, and with a dragon’s roar, he slashed at the water column in mid-air with his Returning Dust sword.
“Whoosh!”
Under the influence of hundreds of millions of practice sessions, this one slash was extremely fast.
Fast to the point that only Qin Zhengqiu clearly saw the sword’s trajectory, while others only saw a flash, and some didn’t even catch the afterimage.
“Clang!”
Wei Changtian sheathed his sword, the scabbard steadily receiving the now-empty teacup. The tea water then poured into the cup, exactly half full.
As for the other half…
Everyone’s eyes widened in unison, looking up to see the faint green liquid suspended in mid-air as if trapped by some unknown force, taking five breaths to finally fall.
“Gurgle~”
The teacup was refilled, not a single drop of tea spilled throughout.
Wei Changtian shook his sword scabbard, returned the teacup to the table, and slowly took a sip.
“Gulp…”
Someone swallowed hard, and the grand hall fell into complete silence.
Locking the tea water with internal energy wasn’t difficult.
However, everyone was crystal clear about one thing—
Wei Changtian’s previous slash didn’t use a single bit of internal energy.