Martial Peak
chapter-5237

1,000 years ago, the Void Dao Temple appeared out of nowhere and sent a shockwave across all cultivators on the continent.

Before the appearance of the Void Dao Temple, the cultivators on the continent believed that the Emperor Realm was the peak of the Martial Dao. Any Sect with an Emperor Realm Master assuming command could be considered First Class. If there were two Emperor Realm Masters in charge, it could be considered a top Sect.

However, there were not a lot of Emperor Realm Masters at the time, perhaps 20 or so public figures, while those known as Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters were even rarer.

Therefore, in the past, cultivators believed that the Emperor Realm was the end of the Martial Dao, and it became every cultivator’s dream to reach this highest Realm.

Nevertheless, only those Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters had a feeling that there was an even higher Realm above the Emperor Realm. Unfortunately, regardless of how hard they tried, they were unable to spy upon the secrets above the Emperor Realm.

Suddenly, there came a day when the World Energy on the Void Continent changed drastically. No one knew why such a change took place, but all the cultivators benefited from it.

More and more people gained the aptitude to cultivate, and many more talents and geniuses were born. At the same time, there was a dramatic increase in the number of Emperor Realm Masters.

Even the cultivators who had low aptitude before seemed able to reach higher heights now.

It was a few hundred years later that the Void Dao Temple appeared out of nowhere. It wasn’t until then that the cultivators on the Void Continent realised that the Emperor Realm wasn’t the end of the Martial Dao. After reaching the peak of an Emperor Realm, one could condense a Dao Seal from their own Grand Dao, then refine the powers of Yin-Yang and Five Elements and split Heaven and Earth apart within their body to create their own Small Universe.

Doing so allowed one to reach the Open Heaven Realm!

Upon that revelation, the people who had been stuck in the Emperor Realm for a long time became excited as they yearned to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm one day.

The secret to splitting Heaven and Earth apart and creating a Small Universe in a cultivator’s body was inside the Void Dao Temple, so as long as they could step into it, they would have a chance to reach a greater height in the Martial Dao.

However, not everyone had the right to enter the Void Dao Temple. To all the cultivators on the continent, the Dao Temple was like a Holy Land, and it was very selective when it came to a cultivator’s aptitude, caring nothing for one’s Realm.

Perhaps a little girl in the Initial Element Stage, who was considered a mere newborn in cultivation, would be accepted into the Dao Temple to continue cultivating.

On the other hand, a grey-haired Third-Order Emperor Realm Master, who had been stuck in the same Realm for countless years, might not have a chance to get close to the Dao Temple regardless of how hard he tried.

Time and location didn’t matter when the Dao Temple selected cultivators. This Holy Land seemed like a self-contained world with a mind of its own, so as long as a cultivator was talented enough, he or she would be accepted into the Dao Temple by a mysterious force.

Therefore, in the early days after the Void Dao Temple appeared, the people on the continent could frequently see some cultivators being invited to the Dao Temple.

These cultivators who were accepted came from various Sects across the continent.

To the Sects that had nurtured such cultivators, the Dao Temple would reward them. The rewards were good news to the experienced Emperor Realm Masters who were unable to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm.

That was because the rewards given by the Dao Temple included the way to condense a Dao Seal and refine the Powers of the Seven Elements into them. There were also a lot of common cultivation resources that could be used by the disciples of those Sects.

1,000 years had passed, so the Sects on the continent had gotten used to the existence of the Void Dao Temple, and they had acknowledged that it was the most important place in this World.

It was every Sect’s goal to nurture a disciple who would have the right to be accepted into the Dao Temple; therefore, these Sects were fervent when it came to recruiting talented young disciples. If they could get a disciple with an extraordinary aptitude, that would be wonderful news for the entire Sect.

That was the reason Wen Yuan returned to his Sect in a hurry.

Despite being an Origin King, he was unable to identify whether Xiao Xiao had an excellent aptitude or not; therefore, he had to invite an Elder to come over and have a look.

If they could get a disciple who would be accepted by the Dao Temple, Water Moon Pavilion’s status on the continent would be greatly enhanced.

Water Moon Pavilion wasn’t a major Sect. The Sect Master, who was the most powerful among them, was only in the First-Order Emperor Realm, and the Elders were only in the Dao Source Realm.

Such a Sect would have been considered outstanding 1,000 years ago, but it was too mediocre these days.

It was 800 years ago when the last disciple from Water Moon Pavilion was invited to the Void Dao Temple, and the massive amount of cultivation resources given to them as a reward hugely benefited the disciples of Water Moon Pavilion. The leaders of the Sect still couldn’t forget about that time.

Over the years, they had been trying to take on disciples with amazing aptitude, but their attempts so far had been futile.

After Wen Yuan was gone, the hunter named Zhang Gen wouldn’t dare to stick around. Embarrassed, he ran away as the stout woman cursed at him. The stout woman’s Husband wanted to humiliate Zhang Gen, so he shot an arrow at the latter as he was running away. The arrow skirted past Zhang Gen, which caused him to scream and tumble to the ground.

The people behind him laughed at him.

It wasn’t until this moment that the teacher, who had been lying on the chair with a book covering his eyes, awakened. When he saw so many people outside the classroom, he asked Xiao Xiao in puzzlement, “What are they doing here? What happened?”

An exasperated Xiao Xiao glowered at the teacher, “You should just keep sleeping, sir.”

The teacher scratched his head while appearing perplexed.

The cultivators from Water Moon Pavilion were quick, probably because taking on disciples was an important matter to them. Wen Yuan soon returned to Water Moon Pavilion and found the Elder closest to him. Upon learning what was going on, the Elder rushed over to the village.

Only one hour had passed since Wen Yuan left the village; therefore, when Xiao Xiao was done having her breakfast and was ready to follow her Father to go hunting, two figures descended from the sky and landed in front of their door.

One of them was Wen Yuan, and the other was an amiable-looking elderly man whose face radiated a healthy glow.

“Is it this child?” The old man saw Xiao Xiao the moment he landed on the ground.

Wen Yuan nodded, “Yes, it’s her.”

With a curious look, the Elder said, “Even you were unable to see through her aptitude, so there might be something special about this girl. I’ll have a look.”

Wen Yuan glanced at the hunter and the stout woman, then said, “This is an Elder from Water Moon Pavilion. I invited him to come over and take a look at Xiao Xiao’s aptitude. Please rest assured that she won’t be harmed in any way.”

The hunter nodded gently, “Many thanks for the effort.”

Upon getting the hunter’s permission, the Elder said to Xiao Xiao, “Little girl, show me your hand.”

Wen Yuan had done the same thing to her before, so Xiao Xiao directly extended her hand.

The old man stuck out two fingers and felt her pulse. As he ran his fingers through his beard, he focused on examining her.

A moment later, he opened his eyes and gazed at Xiao Xiao, “Little girl, are you willing to join Water Moon Pavilion?”

Xiao Xiao directly shook her head, “No.”

The old man was surprised. He initially thought that since he had said so, the little girl would readily accept his invitation; after all, most mortals yearned to be cultivators.

It never crossed his mind that the young girl would directly turn him down.

This had never happened to him before.

Nevertheless, she was just a young child who didn’t know the benefits of becoming a cultivator, so after giving it a thought, he asked, “Why don’t you want to join our Sect?”

Xiao Xiao turned to look at the couple, “I want to be with my Father and Mother. I don’t want to leave them.”

Upon hearing that, the couple felt warmth in their hearts.

The Elder nodded gently, “I see. However, you’ll grow up one day. It’s not possible that you can stay with your parents forever.”

Xiao Xiao tilted her head, “I don’t want to grow up, then. That way, I won’t be separated from my Father and Mother.”

The couple felt their hearts melting, thinking that they had no more regrets in life by having such a Daughter.

The Elder broke into laughter and thought that this child was indeed innocent.

Regardless, he kept persuading her by saying, “How are you going to provide for your parents when they grow old if you don’t want to grow up?”

“I can go hunting!” Xiao Xiao lifted the petite bow in her hand. It was specifically made for her by the hunter.

The old man shook his head, “You might fall into danger one day by frequently wandering around on the mountain; moreover, the amount of prey on the mountain is not infinite. However, if you can cultivate, you won’t have to hunt with a bow and arrows. You can easily capture prey by using a Secret Technique. When you’re able to fly, you can go around the continent and take in different views. You’ll have a brighter future that way. Isn’t that better than if you stay in this village?”

There was no doubt that his reasons were sound, but Xiao Xiao still shook her head.

The Elder wasn’t in a rush. Although he was speaking to Xiao Xiao, he knew that her parents would be the ones who would make a decision. Despite the little girl’s lack of interest in cultivation, it was apparent that her parents were tempted.

As parents, they certainly wanted the best for their child’s future. The right to cultivate was the best gift anyone on the Void Continent could have.

Therefore, he wasn’t only reasoning with Xiao Xiao but also her parents. He believed that the couple would make the right choice.

He decided to stop persuading her and passed her something, “Take this. When you decide to start cultivating one day, you can burn it. Someone will come over to pick you up.”

Upon finishing his words, he turned around and left.

Wen Yuan cupped his fist at the couple, then left with the Elder.

After leaving the village, Wen Yuan asked, “Elder, does the child really have an extraordinary aptitude?”

The Elder shook his head, “It’s embarrassing to admit, but I can’t see through her either.”

Wen Yuan was astounded, “You can’t see through her aptitude?” Then, he asked in puzzlement, “In that case, why did you decide to take her on?”

The Elder chuckled, “That’s exactly the reason I have to recruit her. Since we can’t see it through, we can only let her prove her worth. If her aptitude is truly excellent, we’ll gain a gifted disciple. However, if her aptitude is terrible, we won’t lose anything but a few resources.”

Upon hearing his reason, Wen Yuan replied, “You’re indeed intelligent, Elder.”

He was still in a dilemma over the little girl’s aptitude, but the Elder had already come up with a solution. Regardless of whether the young girl had an amazing aptitude or not, they just had to accept her into their Sect. They would find out the truth in the future.

As long as she was a part of Water Moon Pavilion, her aptitude would no longer matter.

After the Elder and Wen Yuan were gone, Xiao Xiao looked down at the thing in her hand. It was an incense stick that didn’t look special at all, but it was significantly shorter than the commonly seen incense sticks as it was only as long as an adult’s finger. Moreover, it seemed that half of it had been burned.

[Only half of it is left. That old man is stingy. How could he give me something that someone else had used before?]