Rank twenty-one on the Nascent Soul Leaderboard.
Yun Heng’s name had just lit up on the board, and many people in the Martial Inquiry Arena were still looking up at the stone wall, staring intently at the name “Yun Heng” as if trying to decipher a secret hidden within the characters.
Those who had originally gathered just to watch the commotion had completely quieted down.
Clutching her Martial Inquiry Token, Yun Heng maintained an unreadable expression, but she knew in truth that she had reached her limit.
Fighting two consecutive matches against opponents above her realm might have looked like clean, decisive victories to the onlookers, but the sheer drain on her spiritual power was undeniable. A subtle throb of pain lingered in her meridians, and her shoulders and back felt intensely heavy. Had the Tianheng Guiyuan Art not been constantly stabilizing her spiritual breath, her footsteps might have faltered the moment she stepped off the stage.
Yun Heng stowed away her Martial Inquiry Token and prepared to leave the Martial Inquiry Arena.
She had only taken a few steps when Bai Yi pushed through the crowd toward her.
This time, his expression was even more complex than before.
“Fellow Cultivator Yun, are you leaving right now?”
“Why?”
Bai Yi glanced around at their surroundings.
“You’ve just taken rank twenty-one on the Nascent Soul Leaderboard, and word has likely already spread outside. If you walk out now, you won't get a moment of peace.”
Yun Heng followed his gaze. Indeed, a crowd had gathered near the entrance of the Martial Inquiry Arena, with more cultivators streaming in while looking up at the leaderboard. Clearly, they had rushed over the moment they heard the news.
Yun Heng: “...”
Help. She had only focused on leaving right after the fights, completely forgetting about this part.
Being stared at on the Martial Inquiry Platform was something she could treat as part of the fight. But being forced to walk out of the Martial Inquiry Arena and all the way back to Wanbao Tower under countless gazes... Just imagining the scene made her cringe inside.
Moreover, her spiritual power was exhausted, and her body had yet to recover.
If she were to head back in such a weakened state and get followed along the way... Yun Heng shook her head. She dared not even think about it.
Seeing her silence, Bai Yi quickly added, “There are private rooms in the Martial Inquiry Arena for rest and healing. Anyone on the leaderboard is entitled to use them temporarily. You’ve just fought two consecutive matches; it would be much safer to go inside and meditate for a bit before leaving.”
Just as he finished speaking, an attendant from the Martial Inquiry Arena hurried over and bowed respectfully to Yun Heng.
“Miss Yun, Fellow Cultivator Bai speaks the truth. The Martial Inquiry Arena provides complimentary resting rooms for the top one hundred on the Nascent Soul Leaderboard. Now that you are on the leaderboard, you are naturally eligible to use them.”
His manner was extremely respectful.
“If you require one, Miss, please follow me.”
Yun Heng inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. The Martial Inquiry Arena was surprisingly considerate.
She genuinely needed a place to recover her spiritual power. No matter how safe Wanbao Tower was, she still had to walk back to it. In her current condition, the less unnecessary hassle, the better.
Yun Heng nodded. “Very well, thank you for your trouble.”
The attendant immediately stepped aside. “This way, Miss Yun.”
The moment she moved, the gazes fixed upon her shifted along with her.
Yun Heng kept a composed expression, though she quietly quickened her pace inside.
Walk faster. Hurry up and get out of their line of sight. If she were stared at any longer, she feared the unfathomable facade she was desperately maintaining would crumble.
Bai Yi remained standing in place without following her.
He watched Yun Heng’s figure disappear around the corner of the side corridor, and only after a long moment did he murmur softly to himself:
“What an extraordinary woman she is.”
The attendant led Yun Heng through a long corridor.
While the outside of the Martial Inquiry Arena was bustling, the interior was much quieter. Stone doors lined both sides of the corridor at set intervals.
The attendant stopped before one of the quiet rooms.
“Miss Yun, this room is currently unoccupied. You can open it using your Martial Inquiry Token. Inside, there is a Spirit-Gathering Array as well as a Sound-Isolating Array. Should you need anything, you may ring the brass bell by the door to summon an attendant.”
Yun Heng pulled out her Martial Inquiry Token and pressed it against the stone door. Array lines glowed briefly, and the stone door slowly swung open.
Inside was a modest quiet room with simple furnishings, clean and tranquil.
“Thank you.”
The attendant quickly withdrew.
As the stone door closed once again, Yun Heng stood in place and finally let out a slow breath. Now that silence had settled around her, the exhaustion felt far more pronounced.
She walked over to a meditation cushion and sat down, first taking out her Breath-Concealing Array Plate. Although the Martial Inquiry Arena appeared strictly regulated, she harbored far too many secrets—one could never be too cautious.
Once the array was activated and stabilized, Yun Heng retrieved two pills from her Qiankun Spirit-Storing Bag: one Rejuvenation Pill and one Spirit-Replenishing Pill.
As the Rejuvenation Pill dissolved in her mouth, its gentle medicinal efficacy swiftly flowed into her meridians. The minor injuries left behind from the combat were gradually soothed, and the dull ache in her shoulders eased slightly. Once the Spirit-Replenishing Pill dissolved, the depleted spiritual power in her dantian finally began to recover.
Yun Heng closed her eyes and circulated the Tianheng Guiyuan Art.
Spiritual energy flowed along the cultivation pathways, gradually smoothing away the agitation in her meridians. She could feel that the pills produced by the System were indeed different from the ordinary pills of this cultivation world.
Their medicinal properties were far purer, lacking the sluggish feeling caused by settling impurities when merging into her spiritual power. The restorative power of the Rejuvenation Pill and the replenishment of the Spirit-Replenishing Pill followed their own paths without clashing in the slightest.
The same was true for the Tianheng Guiyuan Art.
It felt as though it was meant to circulate within her body all along.
Every strand of spiritual power returning to her dantian settled securely into place. Beyond her Immaculate Spiritual Root and her various fortunate encounters, this cultivation technique was the true foundation enabling her rapid progress.
Thinking up to this point, Yun Heng felt a surge of complex emotions.
Tianheng Guiyuan Art, Tianheng Broken Sword, Tianheng Sword Art...
When put together, these names blatantly hinted at an underlying secret, yet the System feigned complete ignorance whenever questioned.
Yun Heng clicked her tongue inwardly.
Clearing her mind of stray thoughts, she resumed her meditation as spiritual light gently flickered through the quiet room.
After an unknown length of time, the throb of pain in her meridians had largely subsided. The spiritual power in her dantian had swelled once more; though not fully restored to her peak, it was more than enough to support her journey back to Wanbao Tower.
Yun Heng slowly opened her eyes.
Ever since she defeated Shi Chongyue, the notifications in her sea of consciousness had been popping up endlessly. After the second match concluded, they had surged forth in a dense cluster.
While regulating her breath earlier, she had ignored them. Now that she had settled down, she noticed new notifications still floating up occasionally.
【Awe Points +10.】
Yun Heng’s eyelid twitched slightly, and a subtle wave of nervousness washed over her.
Back when she caused such a massive scene at the Heart-Interrogation Platform of the Xuanxiao Sect, she had only gathered enough for her first batch of card draws. After leaving the Xuanxiao Sect, the growth of her Awe Points had slowed down significantly.
Yun Heng pressed a hand against her chest, took a deep breath, and called out in her sea of consciousness, “System.”
【I am here.】
“Open the System panel.”
A pale screen of light materialized in her sea of consciousness.
Yun Heng’s eyes landed straight on the top-right corner, where her current Awe Points were displayed.
【5,200.】
Yun Heng froze, staring at that number for a long time.
5,200. A whole 5,200 points. It was far more than she had anticipated.
Even as she watched, the number ticked up slightly, increasing by one point.
Only a single thought remained in Yun Heng’s mind:
I’m rich.
Rate on N.U.
