A pinch of pale pink Six Desires Enchanting Powder, mixed into the swirling Clear Wind, was inhaled by the disciple Feng Yang, who stood before the candle flame.

His nose tickled, and Feng Yang subconsciously lowered his head to rub it.

But when he looked up again, the curiosity and hesitation in his eyes had been replaced by a ravenous greed that burned like a Fierce Fire.

"A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity... The Holy Sect wouldn’t harm me!"

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he mumbled, as if trying to convince himself, yet also as if driven by desire.

Finally, he shot out his hand, grabbing for the quietly burning, ink-green candle flame!

Hidden in the shadows, Qi Yun held his breath, his gaze locked on the scene.

BOOM—

The moment Feng Yang’s fingertip touched the flame, the ink-green fire shot up his arm like a living creature and burrowed violently into his seven orifices!

In an instant.

Feng Yang’s body trembled violently, and faint flames erupted from all seven of his orifices.

Yet his face showed no pain. Instead, a bizarre expression of utter obsession and immense pleasure appeared.

The process lasted for about three to five minutes.

Only then did the ink-green flame withdraw from his body and return to the candlestick, burning quietly as if nothing had ever happened.

"So... so... so profound..." Feng Yang was drenched in sweat, his voice hoarse as if all his strength had been drained, but his eyes shone with a terrifying light:

"The Blood Corpse Curse I struggled to master for eight months... I... I’ve perfected it in an instant!

The Hall of All Laws, it truly lives up to its name!"

He clenched his fists in excitement, feeling the crystal-clear insights in his mind, so thrilled he could have screamed. This brief moment had saved him months of hard work.

With this improvement, he felt much more confident about the next assessment.

’Is there really no problem?’

To the side, Qi Yun silently observed Feng Yang, who had just absorbed the candle flame. The man now seemed overly excited.

But aside from that, there was nothing else out of the ordinary.

’Could it be that the Holy Sect has actually grown a conscience?’

Even though Feng Yang showed no ill effects after taking the flame and gaining its insights, Qi Yun remained highly vigilant.

He couldn’t help it. The Holy Sect was notorious for screwing people over—first-class when it came to outsiders, and even better when it came to their own.

’The Hall of All Laws is open for a full month. This is only the first day. There’s still plenty of time. I’ll just keep watching for now...’

Suppressing his impatience, Qi Yun began to explore the mysterious hall. With his current Cultivation and his mastery of the Clear Wind Technique, none of the other Outer Mansion Disciples in the hall could possibly detect him.

「Day after day passed.」

More and more Outer Mansion Disciples found themselves unable to suppress their desires. They reached out, took the flames from the candlesticks, and absorbed the insights and experiences of their predecessors.

And Qi Yun watched them all, taking note of their reactions and memorizing every detail.

「In the blink of an eye, more than twenty days went by.」

By now, most of the Outer Mansion Disciples who had entered the Hall of All Laws had taken a flame and obtained the insights within.

’From what I’ve seen so far, maybe I really have misunderstood the Holy Sect...’

Looking at the dense notes he had recorded in his notebook about the details of these fellow Outer Mansion Disciples after they absorbed the flames, Qi Yun lifted his pen and gently rubbed the bridge of his nose.

For over twenty days, he had been Night Traveling through the Hall of All Laws, carefully observing the behavior of every Outer Mansion Disciple who had taken a flame.

But he hadn’t found anything amiss.

’I haven’t found any abnormalities, but I have figured out some of the rules. Although there are thousands upon thousands of insights in this Hall of All Laws...

...they can’t just be taken at will.

Everyone only gets one chance. If you try to take a second flame, you get teleported out of the Hall of All Laws immediately.

After all, these insights carry a strong personal imprint. Even if they’ve been cleaned up by the Holy Sect’s experts, they’re bound to affect the user.

Once or twice might be fine, but any more than that would surely lead to irreversible side effects.

Looking at it this way, the Hall of All Laws seems a little less suspicious.’

He snapped the notebook shut.

Qi Yun turned his head to look at a bright yellow candle flame beside him.

"Insights on Breaking Through to the Qi Refining Fifth Layer—by Wei Zhen!"

Throughout the entire Hall of All Laws, there were many insights on breaking through Cultivation Realms. For the Qi Refining Fifth Layer alone, no fewer than a dozen people had left their mark.

The reason Qi Yun chose this predecessor, the Cultivator named Wei Zhen, was purely because of his handwriting.

’The strokes are sharp and structured, yet poised and graceful. This person must have also walked the path of a Sword Cultivator!’ Having cultivated the methods of the Nanming Sword Demon, Qi Yun was now half a proper Sword Cultivator himself, and he could see the intent Wei Zhen had left in his characters with a single glance.

Seeing that the Hall of All Laws was about to close, Qi Yun hesitated no longer and reached for the flame on the candlestick.

The instant his fingertip touched the candle flame.

The bright yellow flame, just like the others, shot swiftly up his arm and surged into Qi Yun’s seven orifices.

The next moment.

His body trembled slightly, and his eyes instantly lost focus.

Vast and profound insights, like a river of stars pouring from the heavens, crashed into his Sea of Consciousness.

The bottlenecks he could never figure out, the tangled mysteries of the five elements’ evolution—under the illumination of this brilliant golden light, they were like spring ice meeting the sun, melting away layer by layer. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

This revealed the crystal-clear ultimate truths beneath.

The shackle of the Qi Refining Fifth Layer that had held him back, that indestructible final barrier, now emitted a crisp cracking sound that only he could hear.

BOOM—!

The True Qi in his body began to circulate manically on its own, following the profound and mysterious insights without any need for conscious guidance.

Within his five viscera, the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys all hummed in unison.

Corresponding mists of red, green, yellow, white, and black qi rose up, generating their own Creation.

No longer were they stagnant and conflicting as before. Now, they were like five newborn flood dragons, chasing each other playfully, merging in perfect harmony.

Finally, following the essence of the newly cleared acupoints, they broke through with a roar!

The five elements began their evolution, and the internal circulation was formed!

A Minor Circulation constructed itself, and his True Qi flowed like a joyous stream, completely unimpeded.

The entire process was smooth and effortless, everything falling perfectly into place.

The moment he broke through, the aura around him changed dramatically.

A vast Life Force erupted from the depths of his five viscera.

It was no longer a vague and illusory Qi Sensitivity, but something tangible, acting upon his physical body.

His once slightly rough skin now had a warm, gentle luster, as if it had been meticulously nourished by the surging qi and blood within. As sweat expelled some grayish-black impurities, it only served to highlight the healthy, rosy glow beneath his skin.

A series of faint CRACKLES echoed from his limbs and bones, as if his muscles and skeleton were stretching and strengthening, filling him with a sense of renewed power.

With the initial evolution of the five viscera and five qi reaching Perfection, the newly formed Minor Circulation began to operate on its own, and the sound of Qi Yun’s surging qi and blood was now faintly audible.

A vigorous life aura radiated from his body. With every inhalation and exhalation, the rise and fall of his chest and abdomen held a certain vibrant, living rhythm.

Qi Yun slowly opened his eyes, a clear light shining within them.

There was no frightening glint, but they were bright as morning stars after a rain, exuding a clarity and vigorous energy that came from within.

Qi Refining Fifth Layer!

Success!

...