Joys and Sorrows Do Not Align

At this moment, the gazes of everyone present converged entirely upon Li Yuande.

Facing these burning stares, Li Yuande remained utterly composed, a carefree air about him.

His breathing was long and peaceful, the spiritual energy within his body abundant. A gentle smile hung on his face, making him look not at all like a man about to face his demise.

As the appointed hour arrived, Li Yuande slightly turned his head and looked toward the third-class viewing platform.

"Children, watch today's demonstration carefully."

He murmured softly, as if speaking to all the young cultivators in attendance.

Yet Zi He and Li Qingwan knew with absolute certainty that their Ancestor was leaving them with his final words of farewell.

Moments later, Li Yuande began to circulate his cultivation technique. He gathered the full force of his spiritual power into his Qi Mansion, beginning the refinement of his True Essence.

He dispersed every single shred of his concealment techniques. It was as though he stood stark naked before the observing cultivators, allowing every minute change within his body to be laid bare and viewed without obstruction.

"That True Essence is about to explode!"

Only a few breaths into the process, the crowd saw that the very first strand of True Essence Li Yuande condensed was on the verge of rupturing due to a deliberate flaw in the refinement steps.

An unformed strand of True Essence detonating inside the Qi Mansion would severely damage the foundation of one's path. Once such a thing occurred, the attempt at Condensed Origin would be deemed an absolute failure.

Seeing this, the young cultivators could not help but break out in a cold sweat on Li Yuande's behalf.

However, Yang Lingrui could sense that Zi He and Li Qingwan, the true descendants of the Li family, remained completely calm, their hearts untroubled by any ripples.

They knew better than anyone just what a peerless genius their Ancestor was.

As Yang Lingrui continued to watch, he saw the senior employ an incredibly ingenious technique, guiding the volatile, fracturing strand of True Essence toward a specific acupoint.

"Crack!"

The True Essence detonated right at the acupoint of Li Yuande's left wrist, instantly blasting the lower half of his left arm into a mist of blood.

In the very next instant, the four Condensed Origin cultivators made their move. Channeling their True Essence to activate healing techniques, they restored Li Yuande's shattered left arm within a mere few breaths.

"Brilliant! Truly brilliant!"

"As expected of Senior Yuande! Such a redirection is nothing short of a divine stroke!"

"If I can master this technique, my own chances of reaching the Condensed Origin realm in the future will increase tremendously!"

Seeing Li Yuande defuse the crisis so flawlessly, the cultivators on the viewing platforms erupted into waves of astonished praise.

Once his arm recovered, Li Yuande resumed refining his True Essence.

To ensure the demonstration provided the absolute best learning experience, he purposefully utilized four other flawed refinement methods, showcasing the corrective technique four more times.

The parts that shattered during these iterations were his right arm, both legs, and his right chest.

Four separate clouds of blood mist erupted one after another before the crowd, blooming like crimson fireworks.

And every time a bloody firework blossomed, it drew a chorus of cheers and raucous shouts from the viewing platforms.

Yet amidst the fervent gazes and ecstatic emotions of the crowd, Yang Lingrui, standing silently behind Zi He, noticed that the young man's breathing quickened for a brief moment before being forced back into a steady rhythm.

On the other side, Ye Lan felt Li Qingwan's hand tighten unconsciously, gripping her with trembling strength.

Yang Lingrui knew all too well the sheer agony of having one's flesh and bones ground to pieces.

When his own body had been physically torn apart to that extent, the pain was so unbearable that he had no choice but to scream aloud.

Yet before his eyes, Li Yuande did not so much as furrow his brow throughout the entire process of his body shattering and reforming five consecutive times.

The onlookers saw only the exquisite skill and transcendent willpower. None of them stopped to consider what kind of excruciating, unimaginable torment Li Yuande was enduring.

With their Ancestor suffering right before them, his descendants could do nothing but bear witness with their own eyes. They were completely, utterly powerless.

Li Qingwan had it slightly easier; she was allowed to feel the grief, allowed to let her tears fall.

But Zi He, burdened by his altered identity, had to bury his agonizing struggle deep within his heart, unable to let even a shred of it show.

What followed next left the entire audience dumbfounded.

Once he no longer needed to demonstrate the potential errors of the process, Li Yuande refined five perfect strands of True Essence in the span of a single quarter-hour.

Such efficiency caused even the expressions of the four protecting Condensed Origin cultivators to shift in disbelief.

To Li Yuande, refining True Essence seemed as effortless as rolling bits of clay between his fingers.

This level of talent was simply heaven-defying.

Even the Western Consort, seated atop her pink auspicious cloud, cast a sideways glance and asked Xuan Zhou, "This man possesses extraordinary aptitude. Why was he never brought into the service of the imperial court?"

"Replying to Your Highness," Xuan Zhou said with a low bow, "this man was originally a Dao Stone designated by Lone Moon Mountain. Later, in order to preserve his clan's bloodline, he chose to submit to our dynasty."

The Western Consort gave a slight nod, murmuring a soft, "What a pity," before falling silent once more.

After half an hour, Li Yuande had successfully refined a total of twenty strands of True Essence.

In the next instant, he began to personally crush and disperse those very strands, one by one.

He then repeated the refinement process from the beginning. This time he was even faster, taking less than half an hour to reconstruct all twenty strands of True Essence.

Then, he crushed and dispersed them yet again, repeating the cycle.

"Senior Yuande is truly a peerless genius of this age!"

"We can only feel ashamed of our own inadequacy. He has our utmost admiration!"

"The senior's righteousness is profound! We pray the senior might demonstrate it a few more times, so that mediocre fools like us can learn a bit more!"

On the viewing platforms, the young cultivators continuously marveled at Li Yuande's profound talent.

At the same time, a selfish desire grew in their hearts; they wanted Li Yuande to repeat the refinement method over and over, hoping to glean more insights for their own paths.

Ye Lan found herself watching the display absentmindedly, until a warm, wet sensation dripped onto the back of her hand. Startled, she turned her head, only to see that Li Qingwan beside her was already weeping silent rivers of tears.

True Essence was born from spiritual power, but from the moment it was refined into shape, it became an intrinsic part of a cultivator's body, no different from their own flesh and blood.

For Li Yuande to repeatedly crush and tear apart his own True Essence in this manner was a torment identical to being sliced to pieces alive.

"Zi He, Senior Li Yuande's talent is truly remarkable," Chu Hao remarked, watching the elder shatter his True Essence once more. "It is just a pity that he stood on the wrong side at the beginning. Being able to secure Li Qingwan's entry into the academy is already a decent end for him."

"Mm."

Hearing Zi He's minimal response, Chu Hao assumed he was simply engrossed in the spectacle and did not press further.

However, Yang Lingrui, standing just behind Zi He, could see that the hand the young man held behind his back was clenched into a fierce fist, the veins on his wrist bulging violently.

Recognizing the danger, Yang Lingrui immediately took two steps forward. He feigned an eager desire to get a closer look at the demonstration, subtly positioning his body to shield Zi He from any malicious eyes that might be watching.

Finally, after four grueling hours, Li Yuande's demonstration of refining and shattering his True Essence eight times came to an end.

The young cultivators on the viewing platforms all wore expressions of lingering longing, wishing for more.

By this point, even with a willpower as unyielding as Li Yuande's, fine beads of sweat began to dot his forehead.

The four Condensed Origin cultivators timely channeled a surge of True Essence into him, aiding the recovery of his physical strength.

Li Yuande regulated his breathing for a short while, then focused his mind once more. He initiated the final step of breaking through the Condensed Origin realm: condensing the Origin Core.

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