Chapter 501 - 246: The Four Main Branches Select Disciples, The Cruel Competition for True Inheritance, Jiang Che Reaches the Entry Level of the Spirit Void Technique in One Night

Hearing this, a shadow crossed Lei Wanjun’s eyes.

Evidently, Moon Shadow had struck a nerve.

In that battle, although Cao Ge had defended his position, it was a pyrrhic victory.

In the Myriad Phenomena Dao Sect, Inner Sect Disciples numbered in the thousands.

But as for True Disciples, there were always only nine!

These Nine Great True Inheritors’ seats were not determined by seniority, nor were they passed down from master to disciple.

Instead, it was a matter of pure, unadulterated—

The law of the jungle. The victor is king!

Any Inner Sect Disciple who believed their strength was sufficient could challenge any of the True Disciples!

If they won, they would take the other’s rank and status!

Behind each of the Nine Great True Inheritors was a claim to the Sect’s most vital resources, along with supreme status and glory!

The higher the rank, the more incredible the resources they received!

And naturally, their strength was greater as well.

To seize more True Inheritance Seats and thereby secure greater benefits for their respective veins, the four great peaks were locked in a constant struggle, both open and secret.

Compared to the contest for the Nine Great True Inheritors,

the allocation of new Inner Sect Disciples was merely an appetizer.

Even a top Seed at the Tenth Layer of Great Perfection had no value until they had time to grow.

"If Cao Ge is finished, someone stronger will naturally rise to take his place!"

Lei Wanjun snorted. "My Heaven-Slaying Peak is teeming with talent," he said forcefully. "There are quite a few who could take the Ninth True Inheritor’s spot!"

Listening to their back-and-forth, Gu Shan, who was standing to the side, spoke up in a low voice:

"The ninth seat... is certainly a hot potato."

"Too many people have their eyes on that position."

It was the truth.

Among the Nine Great True Inheritors, the ninth was the weakest and, naturally, a common target for all.

But even as the weakest of the True Disciples, Cao Ge’s Cultivation had been polished to the very limit of the True Master Realm—

the Thirteenth Layer Peak of the True Master Realm!

He was just a Half-Step away from a complete sublimation, from stepping onto the True Mastery Dao!

In the outside world, such strength was enough to establish a sect and become a regional hegemon.

But in the Myriad Phenomena Dao Sect, he was merely the gatekeeper of the True Disciples, constantly facing the risk of being unseated by some rising genius!

"The top few positions are much more stable by comparison."

Daoist Wu Wei chimed in with a smile, "Senior Brother Gu, that Eighth True Inheritor from your Coiling Dragon Peak... a young man named Mu Qing, wasn’t it? I hear he’s broken through to the True Mastery Realm?"

Gu Shan nodded, a hint of pride on his face.

"Mu Qing broke through just last month. He has already crossed that great chasm and reached the True Mastery First Realm!"

The True Mastery Realm!

Once one stepped into this Realm, it signified a leap in their very life essence, putting them in a different world from those in the True Master Realm!

Therefore, the Eighth True Inheritor’s position was rock-solid. An ordinary cultivator at the Peak of the True Master Realm wouldn’t even dare to covet it.

"However..."

Moon Shadow’s voice drifted over faintly.

"If we’re talking about stability, who could possibly compare to the First True Inheritor?"

At the mention of this person, Lei Wanjun and Moon Shadow, who had been at each other’s throats, and even the normally unflappable Daoist Wu Wei, all grew unconsciously solemn.

The First True Inheritor, Ye Wuchen!

A living legend in the Myriad Phenomena Dao Sect, hailed as the "Daoist," and the publicly acknowledged heir to the position of Sect Leader!

"Peak of the Fourth Realm of True Mastery..."

Lei Wanjun took a deep breath, a complicated look in his eyes. "Just one more step and he’ll enter the Grandmaster Realm, becoming our equal."

"And the key is, he’s not even forty," Moon Shadow added quietly.

"Such a young Grandmaster..." Gu Shan sighed.

The True Mastery Realm is divided into four major realms, with the gap between each being as wide as a separate heaven.

And above the True Mastery Realm are the Grandmasters.

A Grandmaster was a being who had truly transcended the mundane.

The four of them, the Vein Masters, were all in the Grandmaster Realm.

Although they did not appear particularly old,

especially Moon Shadow, who looked like a woman in the bloom of her youth,

in reality, all four were over three hundred years old!

Yet Ye Wuchen had already reached the rank of Half-step Grandmaster at such a young age, and his combat prowess was nothing short of astonishing!

There were even rumors that he had once defeated a veteran Grandmaster Realm expert, fighting above his own Realm!

Within the Myriad Phenomena Dao Sect, he was an insurmountable Divine Mountain in the hearts of all disciples!

"So you see..."

Daoist Wu Wei stood up, flicking his Duster and shattering the heavy atmosphere.

"The competition for the True Inheritance seats is what’s truly fundamental."

"We’ve spent all this effort selecting these new disciples today precisely to cultivate new challengers for those nine positions. Or perhaps... their successors?"

His gaze swept over Jiang Che’s Jade Scroll, a flicker of anticipation in his eyes.

"Be it Jiang Che or Feng Wuji, they’re still too green."

"But I believe that with enough time, even those lofty True Inheritance Seats... are not necessarily out of their reach!"

"Perhaps even..."

He glanced up at the dome of Taixu Hall, as if gazing into the hazy, distant future.

"The very future of our Myriad Phenomena Dao Sect rests on the shoulders of these children."

The other three fell silent at his words.

They placed such importance on these two at the Tenth Layer of Great Perfection precisely because they saw in them the potential to challenge for a True Inheritance seat, and perhaps even to reach for something higher!

This wasn’t just about a disciple’s glory; it was about the destiny of their respective veins, and indeed, the fate and fortune of the entire Myriad Phenomena Dao Sect for the next hundred, even thousand, years!

Resources were never simply handed out.

In this brutal Martial Arts World, you could only seize them! Fight for them!

"I’m off."

Lei Wanjun rose to his feet, and with a great wave of his sleeve, transformed into a streak of lightning and shot out of the hall. "I’m going back to train that Feng Wuji! Wu Wei, if you can’t properly teach Jiang Che, don’t blame me for gloating later!"

"I wouldn’t dream of troubling you, Senior Brother," Daoist Wu Wei replied with a chuckle.