Chapter 2 is just for standing up.

  Li Qingyun entered the Tibetan Scripture Pavilion.

  Throughout the Qingyang Palace, there were over three thousand disciples. Perhaps not many had seen Li Qingyun before, but they must have all heard of his great name.

  He reached the peak of Qi Refining in less than a month, then completed his Foundation Building in one year, entered the Nascent Soul stage in three years, and broke into the Golden Core stage ten years later. After forming his Golden Core, Li Qingyun took on the Daoist name Qingyun True Person, left the mountain to gain experience for five years, beheading 187 evil demons and devils, killing the ancient demon of the North Sea Ice Cave who was in the Embryonic Breath period, and single-handedly hunting down a thousand-year-old red python at Red Flame Mountain. After five years of gaining experience, Li Qingyun returned to the mountain and closed himself up on Qingyun Peak for three years, then entered the peak of the Golden Core stage, beginning his preparations to break into the Embryonic Breath period.

  But no one had expected that Li Qingyun, who was exceptionally gifted and perceptive, would actually fall during the Yuan Ying stage.

  If it weren't for his master risking punishment to steal the treasure of their sect, he would have probably lost his soul long ago!

  Since Li Qingyun entered the Cangjing Pavilion, the entire Qingyang Palace has been secretly guessing how long it will take for this former Golden Elixir True Person to recover his cultivation.

  Many people have even started a private betting pool on how long it will take him to come out!

  But

  Time flies by quickly.

  One year, two years, three years, a whole decade passed, and no one saw Li Qingyun's figure again.

  The chief disciple who had created countless miracles seemed to have thoroughly disappeared. Under the erosion of time, many people had gradually forgotten that there was such a person, and even secretly suspected that he had abandoned his cultivation and gone down the mountain. Only a few people who knew of his existence were still quietly waiting, because they did not believe that Li Qingyun would disappear so silently. The Qingyang Palace had been passed down for over 6,000 years, and those who broke through to the Golden Elixir peak within 20 years of entering the sect were extremely rare; every single one of them was an absolute strong expert in the cultivation world who could shake the heavens with a stomp of their foot.

  How could such a person disappear without a sound?

  ………

  Qingyang Palace

  In the main hall, on the first seat, a Taoist in green robes slowly opened his eyes and said, "Has Li Qingyun not come out yet?"

  "Yes."

  An elder stood up from his seat, bowed and said: "Master, he is still in the Scripture Pavilion."

  "How long has he been in?"

  "It's been ten years."

  "There are no more than 160,000 volumes of scriptures in the Scripture Pavilion. If he reads them all, it's about time for him to come out."

  "Have you ever gone in and seen him?"

  "Hasn't his cultivation recovered yet?"

  "This..."

  One of the elders' faces showed a hint of hesitation, and he slowly said: "Master, Li Qingyun's cultivation is still completely crippled, I'm afraid she hasn't even completed her foundation building."

  "It's been ten years."

  A hint of disappointment flashed across his face as he muttered, "Hasn't your cultivation recovered yet?"

  "Senior Brother of the Sect."

  The grey-robed old Daoist who had once asked Li Qingyun for the Kunshan Sword stood up, placed his hand on the dustpan, and said in a deep voice: "Li Qingyun's cultivation is completely ruined, and his meridians are severely damaged. It won't be easy to recover his cultivation. Moreover, the problem with his soul cannot be solved, even if he recovers his cultivation, it will only reach the level of Golden Dan completion, barely enough to become an outer sect elder."

  "It's not necessary to waste precious resources on him anymore!"

  "I have many talented disciples under the Qingyang Palace, if I cultivate them with all my heart, which one of them won't surpass that Li Qingyun who can't break through the Golden Dan period?"

  Many people in the great hall nodded slightly at the old man's words in grey clothes.

  Since Li Qingyun handed over the sect's treasure, Kunshan Sword, the position of First Disciple has been vacant.

  This is undoubtedly the sect leader still having expectations for him, after all, such a talented disciple may not appear in thousands of years. However, ten whole years have passed and Li Qingyun is still holed up in the Cangjing Pavilion reading books, with nearly 106,000 volumes of ancient texts almost being read through by him, but his cultivation has shown no signs of recovery. Before long, it will be the once-in-a-century Immortal Sect Conference, and the chief disciple of Qingyang Palace must also attend; can't have Li Qingyun, whose cultivation is completely ruined, go instead?

  "Alas!"

  The sect leader sighed softly and said slowly: "Forget it."

  "Get ready to choose a new chief disciple!"

  The old Taoist in grey robes revealed a hint of joy on his face and slightly bowed his head respectfully, saying: "Yes, sir."

  This old man in gray is the chief elder of Qingyang Palace, and his disciple was originally the recognized top candidate, but unexpectedly, a Li Qingyun appeared out of nowhere and made his talented disciple look like an ordinary person. Li Qingyun is arrogant and didn't even kneel down to pay respects when he joined the sect, let alone to these elders in the palace. Therefore, there are not many people in Qingyang Palace who have a good impression of him, and the chief elder, who is strict and respectful of the law, thinks that Li Qingyun has no respect for the rules and doesn't distinguish between superior and inferior.

  So Li Qingyun had just abolished his cultivation, and he immediately persuaded others to take back the Kunshan Sword, with the goal of taking away his status as the top disciple.

  Cultivation is extremely difficult!

  Even a sect like Qingyang Palace that has been passed down for thousands of years can only focus its energy on cultivating a small number of elite disciples.

  As for the other disciples under the gate, they can only pass on the Taoist methods, and the rest will depend on their own efforts. Li Qingyun was able to reach the peak of golden elixir within twenty years, which is indeed due to his exceptional talent and enlightenment, but without sufficient elixirs and spiritual stones to nourish him, relying solely on his own cultivation would not be enough to accumulate the spiritual energy needed to form a golden elixir, even after a hundred years. Cultivating the Tao is about seizing the creative powers of heaven and earth, and not relying on external objects is something from ancient times; now it's likely that one will cultivate until old age and death without achieving anything.

  ………

  Ten years.

  A pale figure slowly walked out of the Scripture Pavilion.

  Li Qingyun's appearance hadn't changed much, although he had already become a waste of cultivation. After all, the physical body of a Golden Dan True Person was still there. Even if he didn't do anything, he would still have three to five hundred years of mortal life left. In these ten years, he had flipped through all the books in the Qingyang Palace, except for the few highest-level secret manuals within the sect that he couldn't read, almost everything else had been browsed through. However, his cultivation hadn't recovered at all, looking just like a beginner disciple who had just started cultivating.

  Li Qingyun has come out!

  The news spread throughout Qingyang Palace in an instant.

  It's not just many indoor disciples who came rushing in, even some closed-door elders were shocked.

  After all!

  He was once the most promising person in the sect to pass the tribulation and ascend.

  However, when people saw Li Qingyun in front of them with a weak breath and no cultivation at all, many people's faces still showed a hint of disappointment. But there were also many people who showed a hint of schadenfreude on their faces, Li Qingyun's past glory was really too dazzling. As fellow disciples, they spent decades to reach the virtual elixir stage, but he had already formed a golden elixir just ten years after entering the sect, and twenty years later, he even reached the peak of the golden elixir stage.

  This is a terrifying speed that's almost unimaginable for them!

  So.

  When they saw Li Qingyun in front of them, who didn't have a bit of cultivation, their hearts finally balanced out a lot.

  "Who would have thought that you, Li Qingyun, would end up like this!"

  A sudden loud voice suddenly remembered, saying out many people's thoughts in their hearts.

  Li Qingyun's personality is aloof and cold, which is almost everyone's view in the Qingyang Palace, so very few people can get close to him. His master is called 'Dragon Girl', who is actually a small white dragon, with a personality even more aloof than his, except for the leader, hardly any other elder can have a conversation with her.

  Naturally, this pair of master and apprentice came together!

  In the entire Qingyang Palace, there were almost no one who could get close to them.

  When that obviously hostile voice rang out, the eyes of others around him shifted slightly. The speaker was Ye Lingfeng, the third disciple of the Head of Punishment, a cultivator at the peak of the Void Dan stage. He had entered the sect with Li Qingyun at the same time, but his realm was unknown how far behind. The two had once competed for the position of Sect Leader, but the other party had not been taken seriously by Li Qingyun and was directly crushed by a single sword. After Li Qingyun regained his status as the First Disciple, he became one of the top candidates in the Qingyang Palace.

  A brief silence.

  Everyone else was quietly watching ahead, wanting to see how Li Qingyun would face such a blatant provocation after walking out of the Scripture Pavilion.

  Even the elders hiding in the dark did not take action to stop it.

  The Qingyang Palace is strict in its rules, and normally it is absolutely forbidden for disciples to provoke trouble, but at this time they really want to know if Li Qingyun has recovered his cultivation or not.

  Li Qingyun looked up and took a glance at the person flying in front of him with his sword.

  He didn't say a word, he just turned around and walked down the mountain, because he had no impression of this person at all.

  Ten years in the Scripture Pavilion.

  He understood a lot and let go of a lot.

  If it were in the past, he would undoubtedly counterattack mercilessly when faced with such provocation, but now he just wants to go and see the woman on Tongtian Peak.

  Nor did I know how she had been doing on Tongtian Peak all these years?

  In the first year after entering the Scripture Pavilion, although he was taken back as the number one disciple, he still received the treatment of an inner disciple. Every now and then, someone would send him clothes, food, and elixirs. However, from the second year onwards, the elixirs prepared for inner disciples were gone, and the clothes and food sent over had also been downgraded to that of ordinary disciples. By the third year, even the clothes and food of ordinary disciples had become those of miscellaneous laborers on the mountain, and sometimes the meals sent over weren't even as good as what the laborers ate!

  In the end, they didn't even bother sending it at all.

  It's as if he has been completely forgotten, people are always so easily forgotten.

  Clang!

  Facing Li Qingyun who was turning around and leaving, a hint of shyness appeared on Ye Lingfeng's face.

  He raised his hand and pointed, a sword light descended from the sky, precisely splitting in front of Li Qingyun, cutting out a ditch.

  "All my cultivation has been undone!"

  Ye Lingfeng's expression seemed to have a hint of ferocity, and he directly blocked Li Qingyun in front of him, saying: "I didn't expect you to still be so arrogant!"

  Li Qingyun stopped in her tracks and slightly raised her eyes. "Who are you?"

  Deathly silence.

  The disciples of Qingyang Palace around him all had a strange expression on their faces.

  Ye Lingfeng's face turned iron-gray, and the hand holding the sword also trembled slightly, because the anger in his heart had almost lost control.

  The person he had always considered his greatest rival didn't even remember him!

  ………