Chen Min, one of the nine Golden Core cultivators of the Green Pill Sect, appearing in the Immortal Fate Hall was no accident.

Ever since the cultivators from the Firmament Origin Cultivation World and the Ten Thousand Moon Lake Cultivation World were discovered attempting to invade the Spirit Mist Cultivation World, the Seven Great Sects had each dispatched a Golden Core cultivator to the Spirit Mist Immortal Fate City to assist the Rogue Cultivator Alliance in defending this crucial city of the Spirit Mist Cultivation World.

It happened to be Chen Min’s turn on duty today. Her spiritual sense detected violent spatial fluctuations from the ancient teleportation formation within the Immortal Fate Hall, suggesting someone was teleporting over from another distant cultivation world. Naturally, she had to come and assess the situation to prevent any unforeseen incidents.

By the time she arrived outside the hall, a young Foundation Establishment stage cultivator had already emerged from the ancient teleportation array, and this person’s aura felt somewhat familiar.

With a moment’s recollection, Chen Min remembered who this cultivator was: a disciple of the Green Pill Sect, and someone deeply connected to Huangfu Bing'er.

Regarding Huangfu Bing'er, Chen Min’s emotions were exceedingly complex. Bing'er was not her biological daughter; she was the offspring of a low-status female rogue cultivator whom Huangfu Rui had taken a fancy to behind Chen Min’s back. She, a dignified Golden Core cultivator from the renowned Chen family of the cultivation world, was actually inferior to a lowly, impoverished Foundation Establishment woman—this was a stain she could never wipe away in her life.

That was long past, and since Huangfu Bing'er had become the sole heir of the Huangfu family, protected by Huangfu Rui’s covert support, Chen Min could do nothing to her. She could only vent her anger upon everyone close to Huangfu Bing'er.

Several years ago, she had seen Ye Qin by the lava river on the third level of the Myriad Withered Ridge cave system and discovered the clandestine relationship between Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er. Her resentment naturally turned toward Ye Qin.

She had even entertained the thought of killing Ye Qin.

However, Ye Qin was at the ninth layer of the Qi Refining stage then, standing at the final juncture of the Sitting in Oblivion Sutra, having entered a state of simulated death where he could perish from permanent slumber at any moment. If she personally struck him down, the method would be beneath her station, and it would inevitably affect her state of mind and create inner demons when she attempted to break through to the Nascent Soul stage in the future. Considering this, she refrained from acting, choosing instead to let him be, allowing him to live or die on his own in the depths of the Myriad Withered Ridge. If Ye Qin died naturally, that would have been ideal.

Alas, fate did not grant her wish. Ye Qin remained in seclusion within the Myriad Withered Ridge caves for three years, miraculously breaking through the bottleneck and successfully achieving Foundation Establishment, becoming one of the over two hundred Foundation Establishment disciples of the Green Pill Sect. Shortly after, Ye Qin emerged and journeyed to the distant Northern Qi Kingdom for three years of tempering.

Six or seven years passed since then, and she had gradually forgotten about him, not pursuing the matter further.

She never expected to encounter him here today.

Ye Qin also originated from a low-status rogue cultivator background, just like Bing'er’s birth mother—how could this not infuriate her!

Although cultivators purportedly paid less attention to background and family standing, valuing aptitude and cultivation talent more highly.

But without the full financial and material support from a family in the early stages, meticulously nurtured, how high could one ultimately achieve? Take the nine Golden Core cultivators of the Green Pill Sect, for instance; which one was not from a major family, having been cultivated with spiritual elixirs almost since before birth? Only then could they attain their current fortune.

As for cultivators from rogue backgrounds, they wasted a vast amount of time from the outset. By the time they achieved some measure of cultivation, they were already old, their lifespans nearly exhausted. How could one possibly expect rogue cultivators to progress far on the path of cultivation?

Considering Ye Qin’s background and his relationship with Huangfu Bing'er, the anger Chen Min had suppressed surged back into her heart. She absolutely could not allow a low-status rogue cultivator to forge any familial ties with the Huangfu or Chen families.

“There’s no better day than today. Since you’ve run into me, even if I don’t kill you, I’ll certainly skin you alive. Being the son-in-law of Chen Min is not so easily accomplished,” Chen Min thought to herself. With a cold snort, she halted the Foundation Establishment cultivators inside the hall and then ordered Ye Qin to step out.

Ye Qin dutifully hurried out of the hall, executing a standard salute, paying respects to the beautiful Aunt-Master Chen Min before him.

“Disciple Ye Qin pays his respects to Aunt-Master Chen! May I ask why Aunt-Master summoned this disciple? What are your instructions?” He sensed a sliver of warm anger in Aunt-Master Chen’s tone and dared not look too long, his mind filled with confusion as to how this Golden Core master knew of a low-ranking disciple like him within the Green Pill Sect.

The beautiful lady scrutinized Ye Qin with a cold smile.

This was the first time she was formally seeing this unacknowledged son-in-law. The last time Ye Qin was in the simulated death state, she hadn't been able to clearly make out his expression, but now she saw him perfectly.

Her supposed son-in-law’s appearance was utterly ordinary, showing nothing remarkable. Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Green Pill Sect were accustomed to wearing white brocade robes edged with gold thread, yet he stubbornly wore the coarse blue cloth robes worn only by handyman disciples in the Qi Refining stage, showing no regard for his status. He was low-key and silent, carrying a certain dull, shy, and constrained earthiness. His hands were rough; one wondered which small farming family he originated from, as he entirely lacked the noble aura that radiated from the bearing of cultivators from famous families.

This was intolerable to Chen Min. There were countless talented young cultivators from renowned families within the Green Pill Sect, and many more in other cultivation sects. How could Huangfu Bing'er have chosen such a cultivator as her dual cultivation partner?

Just as Chen Min was about to utter a few sarcastic remarks, inquiring how Ye Qin managed to secure a marriage bond with Huangfu Bing'er, she fell silent as her sharp gaze suddenly filled with astonishment and confusion.

“Peak of the third layer of Foundation Establishment, just shy of the fourth layer!”

Chen Min abruptly registered this cultivation realm that made her heart skip a beat, a fleeting look of shock flashing through her eyes. Usually, she paid little attention to the cultivation of Foundation Establishment cultivators. But Ye Qin’s rapid progress in cultivation still startled her.

He had only just achieved Foundation Establishment three and a half years ago. Calculating it this way, he had advanced by more than one layer in less than a year—this was simply unbelievable.

Strictly speaking, there were indeed a few individuals in the Green Pill Sect who cultivated faster than Ye Qin.

For example, Huangfu Bing'er of the Huangfu family, among the core Foundation Establishment disciples currently being groomed by the Green Pill Sect, possessed ice and fire dual spiritual roots rated at forty-nine and forty-eight points, totaling ninety-seven. Coupled with the Green Pill Sect’s unique cultivation secret art, the Ice Fire Heart Condensation Art, she had reached the fourth layer of Foundation Establishment within three years.

And Yan Wei of the Yan family, possessing a fire single spiritual root of eighty-three points, reached the fourth layer of Foundation Establishment in just about two and a half years while cultivating the True Spirit Sutra of Li Fire.

Then there was Chen Shan, a female disciple of the Chen family, whose water spiritual root reached seventy-one. She achieved the fourth layer of Foundation Establishment in only about three years cultivating the *Talisman Sutra.

They were the fastest cultivating cultivators within the Green Pill Sect, possessing extremely high spiritual roots, yet their cultivation speed was still marginally faster than Ye Qin's.

But the issue was that they all had the full support of the Green Pill Sect, at least one Ancestor Soul, and at least one major cultivation family behind them, consuming immense quantities of spiritual elixirs and financial resources to achieve such a state.