Primordial Tribulation: Sovereign of Yin and Yang

Chapter 4

Chapter 004: Hidden Cultivation and Lin Wanqing’s Watchful Eyes

1. Menial Work and a Surge in Soulforce

Paradoxically, life became easier for Lu Qingyun after entering the inner sect as a menial worker. Cleaning the archives and tending to the pill storerooms left him enough gaps of time to slip away every three nights, returning to the Valley of Ten Thousand Swords to receive Mo Lao’s instruction.

Mo Lao, though only a lingering remnant of his former self, was once a demonic grandmaster of the sword whose insight eclipsed that of the mortal martial world. What he taught Lu Qingyun was no longer mere sword forms, but the very philosophy of the sword — and the mastery of the soul itself.

“The sword is the extension of the soul,” Mo Lao said, his voice echoing within Lu Qingyun’s mind. “The two forces inside you clash — but they also feed one another. Use the Devouring method of the Soul Codex. Suppress them. Command them. Make them the slaves of your spirit!”

Obeying his master, Lu Qingyun’s soulforce grew at a staggering rate. He needed no internal qi at all — just his soul. Soon he could sense every stir of wind and rustle of grass within dozens of feet, even the faintest tremor of spiritual energy in the air.

He began practicing the second layer of the Soul Codex: Gazing into the Void. In his consciousness, he forged his intent into an invisible blade, swinging it again and again. Though it could not yet strike the physical world, it laid the foundation for what would one day become the true art of “forging the sword from the soul.”

He knew that if he relied only on inner strength, he would forever be a cripple. But in terms of soulforce? He now surpassed every disciple of the Yunhai Sword Sect — perhaps even most innate-stage martial masters in the mortal world.

2. Lin Wanqing’s Curious Gaze

Lin Wanqing, the sect’s most gifted senior disciple, had been restless of late.

She secluded herself before the Sword Comprehension Stone, striving to break through to the Innate Realm — the gateway to drawing upon the qi of heaven and earth, the first true step onto the immortal path. Yet her heart would not settle.

While cultivating the Lunar Sword Method one evening, her sword light suddenly faltered. She felt it — a pulse of soulforce, so faint yet so immense it made her skin prickle. It surged from the direction of the back mountain, then vanished like a receding tide.

This soulforce carried with it a sense both familiar and dangerous.

Her mind flashed back to the inner sect selection three months ago, to the young man she had dismissed without a thought — the “discarded child of a cold clan,” Lu Qingyun. She had felt this strange aura from him then, fleetingly. Now, it was unmistakable.

“Could it be that something in the f*******n ground has stirred?”

She resolved to search the archives for answers.

Inside the library, she found him again — Lu Qingyun — quietly dusting bamboo scrolls, moving with calm precision.

She walked closer, releasing a wisp of lunar sword intent. The energy was soft yet piercing, capable of influencing the hearts of those nearby.

Lu Qingyun’s body stiffened for an instant, but he swiftly invoked the Soul Codex, raising an invisible barrier in his sea of consciousness. Outwardly, he merely lifted his head and looked at her with steady, unruffled eyes.

“Senior Sister, do you have orders for me?” His voice was hoarse, calm.

Lin Wanqing studied him carefully. Any ordinary outer disciple would be trembling or wide-eyed under her sword intent — yet Lu Qingyun’s gaze held only stillness, and behind that stillness… a fleeting, indescribable weight, as though he had seen more than he should.

“…Nothing.” She withdrew her sword intent, but her doubts only deepened.

Why, when she faced this supposed “cripple,” did the Lunar Sword Soul within her react — not with hostility, but with something closer to recognition… or fate’s pull?

3. The Test of Battle

Mo Lao was pleased with his progress. “Your soulforce is enough to contend with a third-stage Innate master,” he said, “but your body is too frail. Learn to let the soul mend the flesh.”

He sent Lu Qingyun into a small beast-infested mountain range beyond the sect’s borders. These beasts, though lacking a cultivator’s intellect, were vicious and resilient — perfect for battle training.

On his first hunt, Lu Qingyun relied on his heightened perception to evade every fatal strike. But his stamina gave out. A tusked boar’s brute charge nearly killed him.

It was then, on the edge of death, that the Azure Dragon bloodline within him roared awake. A violent power surged through his limbs, and with a single punch he shattered the boar’s skull.

When the strength receded, he collapsed to the ground, utterly spent — but alive.

“Do you see now?” Mo Lao’s voice was filled with grim satisfaction. “Your cursed bloodline is also your greatest gift! Learn to master it. Seek stronger foes. Only on the edge of life and death will your soulforce merge with that power!”

From that night on, Lu Qingyun lived a double life: by day, the quiet servant of the library; by night, a lone hunter in the beast mountains, dancing on the knife’s edge between life and death.

With every narrow escape, his body hardened, his spirit sharpened — unknowingly forging the vessel he would one day need to fuse with the full might of his Azure Dragon blood.