No one could believe their ears. Mu Yan had actually refused such generous rewards?
Did he not understand the value of these treasures?
The young cultivators of the Mu Clan grew restless, each secretly wishing they could step into Mu Yan's place and claim the prizes for themselves.
With such rare treasures, their cultivation would surely soar!
Yet Mu Yan wouldn't even spare them a glance?
The clan elders, too, were visibly stunned. None could comprehend why Mu Yan would reject such gifts. Shouldn't he be overjoyed?
Why was he so indifferent?
More than that—why did he wear that look of disdain?
The Grand Elder was utterly perplexed. Even for someone like him, these treasures held considerable allure—how could Mu Yan, a mere junior, scoff at them?
Unless… was he simply being greedy? Unsatisfied with such offerings, was he now trying to raise the stakes and demand more?
With that suspicion, the Grand Elder's expression darkened.
Still, considering Mu Yan's status as champion and his potential role in the clan's future, the Grand Elder said, "Mu Yan, do you find the rewards insufficient?"
"These represent a portion of the clan's very foundation. Don't be too greedy—learn when to be content. I'll personally add an extra reward of one thousand spirit stones!"
The offer came laced with veiled warning and subtle appeasement.
The audience gasped in shock, then looked on with wide-eyed envy.
A thousand spirit stones! That was no trivial sum.
Back when Mu Yan was still considered a genius, his yearly spirit stone allowance had been only five hundred. Now, a single reward of a thousand was enough to drive anyone mad with excitement.
Even Mu Lei looked eagerly toward his son, silently urging him to accept. After all, it wasn't every day the Grand Elder opened his coffers so freely—such an opportunity might never come again!
But to Mu Yan, this so-called "bonus" only made the championship and its rewards feel more laughable.
"As a disciple of the Kunlun Holy Land, do not insult me with such trash. Champion? Rewards? I, Mu Yan, want none of it!"
He burst into laughter, showing not the slightest regard for the Grand Elder's pride.
His second rejection stunned the entire crowd.
Were these rewards truly beneath him?
What kind of treasures could possibly satisfy someone like him?
The elders, now flushed with anger and embarrassment, felt as if they were being toyed with.
"What will it take to please you?!" the Grand Elder snapped, his beard trembling with rage.
Mu Yan only laughed louder and replied, "I returned today to resolve my inner doubts—and now, my purpose is fulfilled."
He had overturned every assumption about him.
By looking at their faces, he could sense it all—their fear, confusion, admiration, envy, even flattery.
That was enough.
"Yan'er, where are you going?" Mu Lei called out in haste.
Mu Yan turned and replied, "Father, I have already joined the Kunlun Holy Land. Naturally, I must return there to continue my cultivation."
"Kunlun Holy Land?" Mu Lei frowned in confusion.
He had never heard of such a power.
The others gasped with awe. A "Holy Land" represented one of the highest echelons in the Desolate Immortal World!
Any sect bearing that title required a direct inheritance from an Immortal Emperor.
To be admitted into one, a cultivator had to be a one-in-a-million genius—nothing less would do.
If Mu Yan had truly joined a Holy Land, then perhaps the Mu Clan could bask in its reflected glory, rising with him.
At this thought, the Grand Elder and his peers, who had been cold and dismissive moments before, quickly plastered on warm, flattering smiles.
The younger cultivators looked at Mu Yan with newfound reverence.
Mu Kun may have been strong, but he could never dream of entering a Holy Land.
Mu Yan, on the other hand, had already become the brightest star of the Mu Clan—destined to shine across the Heaven Realm, the Eastern Victory Continent, and even the entire Desolate Immortal World.
"A Holy Land? Yan'er, did you say you've joined one? Where is this Kunlun Holy Land?" Mu Lei asked, still puzzled.
Though unfamiliar with the name, he assumed his own ignorance was to blame. If it bore the name of a Holy Land, how could it possibly be lacking?
The Grand Elder and the others beamed with excessive cheer, completely abandoning their previous severity.
Mu Yan lifted his chin proudly. "The Kunlun Holy Land lies within our very own Heaven Realm. Though newly established, it shall soon shake the entire Desolate Immortal World."
Hearing this, Mu Lei felt something was amiss.
A Holy Land—newly established?
So… it wasn't developed yet?
His expression turned complicated. Had his foolish son been deceived by some charlatan?
True Holy Lands were founded by Immortal Emperors and had shaken the world from the moment of their inception. When had any begun as mere small sects?
To call such a place a "Holy Land" seemed more like self-deception than reality.
The Grand Elder and the others caught on as well. So the so-called Kunlun Holy Land was nothing more than a fledgling sect?
They had thought it some lofty, peerless force—what a joke.
"No wonder I've never heard of the Kunlun Holy Land," the Grand Elder sneered. "So it hasn't even developed yet?"
The thought that he had once tried to curry favor with Mu Yan now struck him as absurd.
The Second Elder added with a mocking tone, "Mu Yan, if your Kunlun Holy Land is so mighty, it must have a grand scale, yes? How many disciples does it currently boast?"
Mu Yan saw through their sarcasm but remained unmoved.
With his master's presence, the Kunlun Holy Land had nothing to fear.
"At present, I am its sole disciple—and its chief disciple as well," he declared proudly.
The elders burst into uproarious laughter, clutching their stomachs and wiping away tears.
"Just you? And you call it a Holy Land?"
"A Holy Land with only one disciple? How… magnificent!"
"I can't breathe—this Holy Land is too powerful, ha!"
Laughter rippled through the entire Mu Clan. All eyes turned to Mu Yan with ridicule, as though watching a clown.
They had thought the Kunlun Holy Land was some formidable power—yet it turned out to be a tiny sect with just a single disciple?
This was what he had been boasting about?
"Yan'er… how does your Kunlun Holy Land compare to the Jin Yu Sect?" Mu Lei asked cautiously.
The Jin Yu Sect was a powerful faction within the Heaven Realm. Its sect master was already in the Nascent Soul stage, and its disciples numbered in the tens of thousands.
His question was not without purpose—Mu Yan's fiancée was currently a core disciple of the Jin Yu Sect.
If the Kunlun Holy Land lagged far behind, the gap between them would only grow.
In a few years, they might become people of entirely different worlds.