The Greywood Village incident still haunted Han Yuexin, even though she had seen many inhuman things. Most of all, that strange entity terrified her to the core.

During her battle with the Paragons, the Lord constantly tried to mess with her mind just like He did with the rest of the villagers. Fortunately, her Cultivation Base was high and He wasn’t present there Himself, so she could resist His influence.

Even then, it affected her enough that she almost lost that battle. Whoever the Lord was, she knew He was way too powerful for her Sect.

That Entity could affect one’s Soul from far away, which meant He had great control over the Spiritual Realm. Without that, it was impossible to achieve what He did.

But the thing that terrified her the most was the fact that the Lord could ignore the Heavenly Tribulations. It was unprecedented, unheard of and considered impossible to do.

The Heavenly Dao governed all of existence and there was nothing greater than it. Perhaps, there were some Ancient Cultivators who attained an existence close to it, but she had never heard of anyone surpassing it.

’He didn’t surpass the Dao.’

She was sure of it.

If He had, then there would be no need for the rituals and build-up. He could simply wipe them all out without any problems. But He didn’t, which suggested He was either weak or restricted.

Still, it was enough to alert everyone. Han Zixuan guessed that the being was trying to make a comeback through these rituals. He needed them, which was why the whole Sect was busy stopping any and all rituals, even if it meant clashing against the Unorthodox Sects.

They didn’t care about their retaliation this time because they got support from the Heavenly Frost Palace. Even they wanted to stop the Lord before He became a big problem.

Yet, to her surprise, this entity which alerted even the top powerhouses actually didn’t attack Ye Jun, or rather He didn’t use His strange powers on him.

Considering Ye Jun didn’t have a Soul, he couldn’t resist the Lord’s influence, not even for a second. Heck, he wouldn’t even know what happened before succumbing to His powers, just like the rest of the villagers.

But the Lord didn’t do anything for some reason, or maybe Ye Jun had something which made the Lord wary enough to not touch him. Whatever the reason was, Ye Jun proved to be an anomaly.

After coming back, Han Zixuan told her to keep it a secret that the Lord used His powers on her too. Only the higher-ups were aware of it, all to keep Ye Jun’s matter a secret.

Then, she was tasked to investigate him. It was then she found everything about him. His past made her feel bad for him, but it also told her that Ye Jun had no talent.

Yet, this weak young master with broken meridians transformed from an ant to a rising dragon in just a few months.

Even now, she couldn’t believe that in only around five months, Ye Jun went from a lowly Third-Stage Body Strengthening Realm to Peak-Stage Qi Condensation Realm and was now trying to break through to the Soul Tempering Realm.

If he succeeded, he would definitely be qualified as a once-in-a-century prodigy that the North rarely witnessed. Even Song Liangxue, the greatest genius of the North, was slower than him.

All of it told them that there was something special about him. Or something inside him. That became the reason they kept his specialness a secret and decided to invest in him. They wanted to make sure he ascended and progressed far.

After all, if the Lord really became a big threat, then Ye Jun would be someone who could stand against Him.

Of course, that alone wasn’t the reason for their generosity.

She glanced to her right, "I didn’t expect you to leave your Young Miss."

As if carried by the winds, a woman clad in tight black robes stepped forward out of nowhere and came to stand beside her. She crossed her arms and replied calmly, "She is safe."

Han Yuexin chuckled softly, "I still didn’t expect them to send a Sky Realm powerhouse to protect her though."

Song Ying lowered her mask and said softly, "It is important. Mistress knows Young Miss the most, so how can she not know about her mad tendencies?"

Because of her Innate Physique and her Cultivation Manual, Song Liangxue often had difficulties keeping her emotions in check. That often led to mad thoughts sprouting in her mind, which were mostly related to her obsessions.

"Like now?" Han Yuexin asked.

"Yes. I still don’t know what she’s doing, but she is safe...for now at least," Song Ying sighed. "She found a new obsession and wouldn’t give up unless she achieved her goal. I can only make sure she doesn’t harm herself in the process."

"Well, she did find a lover like him," Han Yuexin said, looking at Ye Jun. "I’m sure it’s related to him."

She paused, then asked, "You think he’ll succeed?"

"It’s hard to say," Song Ying shrugged. "But I believe he will. Also, we are grateful for everything you did. Mistress said she will compensate you well."

Indeed, the other reason the White Gale Pavilion was investing so heavily in Ye Jun was because of the Song Clan. The Matriarch herself told them to make sure he had everything prepared.

They were also the ones who kept the matter about his involvement with the Lord suppressed. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"It’s fine." Han Yuexin shook her head. "He will go on to represent our Sect, after all. It is a good investment."

Just then, Song Ying frowned and said, "He’s losing himself in the Spiritual Realm."

"What?" Han Yuexin was surprised and quickly focused back on Ye Jun.

Although there were major changes in his body, they could sense the changes within his Essence.

"How?" Han Yuexin muttered in disbelief. "His Will is so strong, so how can he lose himself so easily?"

"Perhaps, it is related to his secret," Song Ying said. "We know for sure it is related to his Soul, so perhaps it is affecting his Ascension too. The question is, is it a good thing or bad thing?"

Han Yuexin stayed silent.

There was nothing they could do to help him, as Ascension was something one had to go through themselves. Others could only help beforehand, not during the process.

"Let’s trust him," Song Ying said, her voice somber. "I have seen him myself and I refuse to believe he will go down this easily."

They waited and continued to wait, never losing sight of Ye Jun. Almost half an hour passed, making them concerned. Nobody survived this long in the Spiritual Realm.

But they didn’t arrive at conclusions yet because they knew he had not lost. His Qi was still circulating properly, which was a sign of passive Cultivation that one achieved upon attaining the Peak-Stage Qi Condensation Realm.

Once he lost, the Qi circulation would fall into a mess.

Han Yuexin clenched her fists and heard Song Ying whisper beside her.

"Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

Her eyes widened as she saw changes in Ye Jun’s body. It moved and the breathing also shifted. She checked just for confirmation and then exclaimed, "He survived!"

A languid smile played on Song Ying’s face, "I knew this brat wouldn’t go down so easily."

"This means he is stable enough to start the Soul Formation," Han Yuexin said, excitement clear in her eyes. "Haha! He already started it and did it so easily. The Nexus is already past the physical dimensions."

They both continued to observe the changes silently. After around five minutes, the skies began to turn cloudy even this high up in the mountains.

"It’s starting," Song Ying muttered. "The Heavenly Dao is going to test you. Face it bravely and win!"

Before the clouds even darkened, the sky turned brighter as a thick, blinding lightning bolt descended from the Heavens, crashing down straight onto Ye Jun, making the entire Central Pillar pulsate with lightning.

Then, the sound of crackling lightning echoed in every direction, alerting everyone that someone was facing the Heavenly Tribulations here.

"That was the first one," Han Yuexin said, taking a deep breath. "But it won’t be the last."

An average Soul Tempering Realm Cultivator only faced Two Tribulations, as their collection of Mysterious Techniques was small and they only had a single Affinity. One for the Memory Trial and the other for Mysterious Techniques and Affinity. Sometimes, there was only one, signifying that the Soul was very weak.

But if the collection was big, then there would be Three Tribulations at the very least. That was what Han Yuexin expected from Ye Jun considering he went around collecting techniques.

"Let’s see how many you can face."