Chapter 543 - 327: The Martial Path, Severed?

Chapter 543: Chapter 327: The Martial Path, Severed?

’Could it be? Is this World Origin Qi poisonous?’

Yu Fei was utterly baffled. He ran more tests and probes, and finally confirmed it: the World Origin Qi was harmful to him, targeting his spiritual soul in particular.

’This... how is this possible?’

Breakthroughs on the martial path had always happened this way. Why was it that only he could sense that the World Origin Qi was harmful to his body? It made no sense.

The emerald-green World Origin Qi swirled, trying to enter Yu Fei’s body.

But his Abyssal Insight’s harm prediction was constantly active, a fact Yu Fei couldn’t ignore.

After a long internal struggle, he gave up on this advancement.

He reversed the Secret Technique. The emerald-green World Origin Qi that filled the sky vanished, but as it did, Yu Fei sensed a faint emotion emanating from it—regret.

"Ngh..."

Yu Fei’s face was deathly pale, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

Abruptly halting his advancement to Grandmaster had sent violent turmoil through his body, inevitably causing internal injuries.

Ye Shuping and Tang Lihui shot to their feet at the same time, their expressions grave.

"He failed the advancement?" Tang Lihui asked in confusion. He even wondered if he had seen things, silently glancing at his teacher.

Ye Shuping’s tone was grave. "Yes, he failed. Logically, that should be impossible. Let’s go! We need to see what happened!"

The two of them immediately headed for the Geometric Pyramid Realm. Since the situation was unexpected, Ye Shuping concealed his presence as they went.

In the fifth-floor training hall, Xiaohai’s form coalesced. Seeing that Yu Fei was awake, it said softly,

"There’s a new visitor request. The party is the principal of Shenhan..."

Yu Fei agreed without a second thought. With Ye Shuping’s power, he could have entered undetected, but since the Geometric Pyramid Realm was Yu Fei’s private residence, he had still sent a formal request through the intelligent butler.

The prism-like outer window of the fifth floor slid open, and two figures appeared abruptly beside Yu Fei.

He was about to get up but was stopped by Ye Shuping.

Ye Shuping then placed his right hand on the center of Yu Fei’s back.

"Your Qi Sea is in turmoil, your meridians are slightly damaged, and your spiritual soul is severely drained. Rest for half a month, and you’ll be fine. It’s nothing serious."

Tang Lihui also looked over with concern. Yu Fei, his face pale, said, "Teacher, Senior Brother, I’m fine!"

Ye Shuping’s face was clouded with doubt. "Tell me, what exactly happened? It didn’t look like you were unable to advance. Your preparations were more than sufficient. How could you suddenly fail at the final step?"

Ye Shuping couldn’t understand it either. He was completely stumped. Judging by the phenomena just now, an unprecedented Grandmaster should have been born. How did it all fall apart at the final moment?

Tang Lihui remained silent, but he was just as baffled.

Yu Fei didn’t know how to explain. The whole thing was just too outrageous. Why would the World Origin Qi, which helped all other human Martial Artists advance, be harmful to him?

Moreover, based on the feedback from his Abyssal Insight, the damage would have been permanent and catastrophic.

"Teacher, do you two remember what it felt like to absorb the World Origin Qi when you advanced to the Grandmaster realm?"

Ye Shuping was puzzled. "Why do you ask?"

Yu Fei explained with a deep frown, "I have an ability that predicts harm. It gives me feedback, like a sensation of pain, that varies depending on the severity of the potential injury. It’s helped me immensely in battle."

"But just now, as I was about to absorb the World Origin Qi, that ability triggered. It warned me that if I let the Qi enter my body, it would cause irreversible damage, especially to my spiritual soul."

Tang Lihui couldn’t help but argue, "For millennia, everyone in this world has absorbed World Origin Qi to elevate their realm of existence! There’s no precedent for it being harmful!"

Yu Fei looked lost. "But, Senior Brother, my harm prediction ability has never been wrong in all these years. I’ve relied on it to defeat countless powerful enemies."

Tang Lihui gave a wry smile. "Yu Fei, could it be that you’re just being paranoid?"

"No!"

Ye Shuping suddenly spoke up. "Yu Fei, pause your attempts to advance for now. Let me look into some records first."

"Teacher?"

Tang Lihui was taken aback. "But for millennia, every Martial Artist has advanced this way!"

"But for those same millennia, no Martial Artist has ever reached a realm beyond that of a Martial Saint. We know there must be a path forward, so why can’t any of us find it?"

Ye Shuping’s expression was grave. He continued, "Could it be possible that for thousands of years, all of us have been on the wrong path?"

He said it with great uncertainty; clearly, he wasn’t sure himself.

"Yu Fei, focus on your recovery for now. When you have a moment, write up a report for me. Describe in detail everything that happened during your advancement attempt.

Xiaohui, you’re coming with me to check the archives. We’ll start from the present and work our way back—through the Modern Era, the New Calendar, the Old Calendar, Late Antiquity, Middle Antiquity... We’ll go through every single record related to advancement to the Grandmaster realm.

Yu Fei’s situation has given me an idea. I used to only read the notes and speculations left by Martial Saints and assumed the path ended there. Perhaps the problem lies at the very first step: the ’Dragon Gate’ to the Grandmaster realm. Also, I’ll find some time to visit that old relic at Yuqing and see what their research has turned up on World Origin Qi."

The moment he finished speaking, Ye Shuping rushed off with Tang Lihui. It seemed Yu Fei’s failure had, paradoxically, sparked a flash of inspiration in him.

’What a mess this has turned into.’

The feedback from his Abyssal Insight talent wouldn’t lie.

After some thought, he decided to simply list out every single detail of the advancement process, leaving nothing out, and sent the report to Ye Shuping.

The failure to advance to Grandmaster cast a shadow over Yu Fei’s heart. A little over a month passed, and he finally finished recuperating. Just then, Ye Shuping summoned him.

When he arrived, he was surprised to find Zhuo Feiming and Tang Shengquan there as well.

Yu Fei greeted them each in turn. "Mr. Tang, it’s been a while!"