Wandering and meandering, he gradually imparted the duties of the Sect Leader to Yue Ning, subsequently involving Zhou Zhiruo in the management of the sect as well.

These two disciples, who had followed Ye Wen the longest, were now grown adults, their martial arts and understanding gradually maturing. Ye Wen had initially envisioned giving them more time to accumulate experience, so that when he eventually grew tired of the responsibilities, they would be perfectly positioned to inherit the position of Shu Shan Sect Leader from him.

"Alas, fate wills otherwise!"

Having learned that his master would soon achieve the legendary realm of 'Shattering the Void' sought by all in the martial world, and upon understanding his own identity and the responsibilities he was about to shoulder, Yue Ning spoke increasingly little during this period, spending day and night studying how to manage a first-rate sect that had already established itself and was revered by countless people in the Jianghu.

"Remember, as the leader of a major sect, there are times when merely being in the right is not enough to act with impunity! Standing too high means more eyes are fixed upon you; even the slightest controversy can be infinitely magnified by those with malicious intent, leading to devastating blows to both the sect and yourself." "Your temperament is mature and your actions cautious; this is why I am passing the leadership to you! The Shu Shan Sect reached its zenith under my hand, but maintaining stability at this peak requires not further climbing, but slowing our pace to digest everything we have already attained! Our sect's foundation is still too weak; after you take over, you must focus on nurturing more capable disciples." "Of course, although I have said so much advising caution in handling matters, there is one thing you must understand! Our Shu Shan Sect is not one that allows bullying. If others offend our sect, then strike back fiercely! Furthermore, disciples who err within our own sect must be punished severely; we cannot allow any pretext to render our rules meaningless..."

He spoke a great deal of scattered advice, until Ye Wen himself felt somewhat dizzy, unsure if his disciple had grasped the full extent of his meaning.

Fortunately, Yue Ning nodded and replied, "Your disciple understands!" This answer reassured Ye Wen greatly; he knew his senior disciple's character—if he said he understood, he truly did, without any pretense.

"It is good that you understand!" Ye Wen then reached into his robes and handed a booklet to Yue Ning: "This is the Innate Violet Qi that I have successfully cultivated—the supreme technique of our sect! This is a recent copy made by your master. Besides the cultivation mantra, I have annotated points requiring special attention. Once your Purple Haze Skill reaches Great Accomplishment, you only need to follow the incantations in this manual to master this supreme art." "Yes!" Yue Ning respectfully accepted the manual, thinking that was the end of the instructions. Unexpectedly, Ye Wen then produced two more booklets.

"These two. One is the Purple Dawn Dragon Qi Sword, which I created myself. Once you cultivate the Innate Violet Qi to Minor Accomplishment, you can begin practicing this technique. Remember, you absolutely must not practice this art before achieving a breakthrough in the Innate Violet Qi!" He then pointed to the other booklet: "This one contains the Sword Control Art and the Ten Thousand Sword Secret. The Sword Control Art can only be cultivated once your Purple Dawn Dragon Qi reaches a certain level. As for the Ten Thousand Sword Secret... forget practicing that one! If not for several fortunate encounters, I might have died because of this technique."

Saying this, Ye Wen suddenly wished to tear the latter half of that booklet apart, but after careful thought, he could not bring himself to do it. This Ten Thousand Sword Secret was something he had devised himself; it was truly the crystallization of his efforts, far more precious than stacks of manuals. However, the requirements for this technique were extremely harsh. Yue Ning did not possess Ye Wen's myriad fortuitous encounters; if he forced himself to practice this supreme art and ended up with internal injuries or simply perished, would that not leave behind a harmful manual?

Seeing his master unable to take the action, Yue Ning assumed his master was reluctant to part with the technique, and finally said, "Master, your disciple promises that even if I practice this supreme art, I will not use it recklessly—unless the Shu Shan Sect faces a crisis of life and death!" Seeing Yue Ning say this, Ye Wen nodded and handed over both manuals together, finally waving his hand to dismiss him.

Of his disciples, the eldest, Yue Ning, was to succeed him as the Sect Leader, so he needed extra guidance. The second disciple, Zhou Zhiruo, possessed a comprehensive enough set of skills that her future achievements were limitless if she focused on cultivation; she required no further extensive attention.

The third disciple, Xu Ping, was currently not on the mountain, and the fourth, Liu Muyan, served as an official in the court.

The remaining ones were the fifth disciple, Guo Jing, and the sixth, Li Xiaoyao. One was diligent, the other supremely gifted; neither required much lengthy speech from him, and they were already adults who understood how to conduct themselves going forward.

After Yue Ning withdrew, Xu Xian walked in without greeting. The two martial brothers exchanged glances, and Xu Xian was the first to speak.

"I had imagined growing old on the mountain alongside you, Martial Brother, but I didn't expect you to depart first!" "Tsk... what kind of talk is that? Am I about to die?"

"Hahaha!" Xu Xian laughed heartily, dispelling the slightly awkward atmosphere before speaking: "Martial Brother has glimpsed the legendary realm of Shattering the Void; what does it feel like?"

"Feel?" Ye Wen gave a wry smile. "It’s like arriving in a place where you don't belong, where everyone glares at you, wishing they could kick you out immediately!" During these past days, aside from giving these instructions and reorganizing the overall structure of the Shu Shan Sect, the most frequent thing he did was continually transfer the essence of the Crimson Fruit within his body to the bodies of two women through fangshi (sexual union).

Currently, both women were meditating in his chambers to quickly refine that essence, hoping to catch up to Ye Wen's cultivation level swiftly enough to shatter the void alongside him.

Initially, this method was highly efficient; the two women's powers increased rapidly. However, it slowed down the further they progressed. Especially recently, the women noticed that most of the Crimson Fruit essence was used to improve their physique and meridians, with little left over to directly enhance their cultivation.

Of course, if the two women were determined to digest the essence solely as power, they could forcibly convert it without improving their physical condition. But Ye Wen believed improving the physique was a necessary precondition, vaguely sensing that its importance was even greater than raw