Chapter 128: “The Vulgar Body Cultivator”

Lang Yue of the Falling Sunset Sect lay on the ground, staring up at the heavens, feeling as though several of his bones had snapped.

“Turns out... a vulgar body cultivator!”

His heart trembled, unable to make sense of it.

He had crossed mountains and rivers to arrive at the Dao Gate, just to spar with the prodigies of the Four Great Sects.

To witness their spiritual artifacts, to witness their techniques, to witness their methods... to broaden his horizons and gauge the gap.

“Why! Why is it a body cultivator!”

Even in the Falling Sunset Sect, there were hardly any disciples who trained the body.

In a cultivation holy land like the Dao Gate, how could there possibly be such a lowly existence as a body cultivator?

What was even more fatal was that everything had happened too suddenly. His opponent’s instantaneous explosive power was simply too overwhelming, so much so that Lang Yue had barely reacted.

The onlooker saw clearly what the participant could not.

It was only after hearing the exclamations from the spectators below that he realized his opponent hadn’t even used a technique, but merely martial arts of the martial world?

Lang Yue felt a mouthful of blood surge up, unbearably stifled!

He had indeed come to broaden his horizons, but he hadn’t expected it to be opened this damn wide!

He even felt that this Dao Gate disciple was deliberately humiliating him.

Did he disdain to even use techniques?

He had come with such respect to ask for guidance, and yet he was being insulted like this!

A body cultivator truly was vulgar!

The victor was already decided. Amid the murmurs of the crowd, Chu Huaixu stepped forward a few paces.

He looked at the fallen Lang Yue clutching his injuries and asked with concern, “Senior brother of the Falling Sunset Sect, are you alright?”

Lang Yue, with a bit of stubble on his face, turned his head away, feeling even more humiliated. He gritted his teeth and said, “Though my Falling Sunset Sect is but a small sect, and I, Lang Yue, cannot compare to the prodigies of your Dao Gate, yet for you to use mere martial arts—don’t you think that’s too much of an insult?”

Hearing this, Chu Huaixu chuckled.

But then, putting himself in the other’s place, he thought that it was indeed reasonable for this fellow—who would count as top-tier handsome even in Chengdu—to feel this way.

Looking down at him, he only spoke a single sentence that Lang Yue could not yet fully understand.

“If you feel I’ve humiliated you, then don’t be in a rush to leave. Watch a few more of my matches to come.”

With that said, Chu Huaixu left the stage.

For a body cultivator, the lowest rung on the chain of disdain, to defeat an opponent in a single move with martial arts—such a feat instantly stirred no small uproar in the martial arena.

Chu Huaixu hid his merits and fame, wandering around with Han Shuangjiang for a while, watching a few matches before the two of them lost interest and went home.

They had originally hoped they might bump into Little Xu, but his figure was nowhere to be seen.

“Most likely, his match isn’t scheduled for today,” said Chu Huaixu.

“I wonder where Junior Brother Xu has been all this time,” said Han Shuangjiang.

Now, every time she washed dishes, she would think of him.

“My guess is that he’s in the inner sect. After obtaining that sword, he must be undergoing some special training,” Chu Huaixu speculated.

Once back home, he opened his character panel.

After defeating Lang Yue just now, he had actually gained 1,017 experience points.

“Looks like aside from mission rewards, there are also ‘monster-kill rewards’?”

This gave him a small pleasant surprise.

With this, throughout the Grand Competition, he would only grow stronger with each battle.

Of course, his opponents would be the same.

They too would accumulate real combat experience, and some would even gain insights.

“Overall, the experience gained from victory isn’t much. Feels more like an added bonus,” Chu Huaixu thought.

The next day, it was Han Shuangjiang’s turn to enter the preliminaries.

He, as “family,” went along to spectate.

The opponent Big Ice Block drew happened to be a Dao Gate disciple.

The entire fight carried no suspense.

Han Shuangjiang defeated this senior brother within a few swift moves.

And this person’s cultivation was at the Ninth Heaven of the First Realm!

This left the crowd shocked.

“This junior sister, so beautiful, is actually this strong?”

“Our outer sect has birthed another heaven’s favored daughter!”

“I feel she didn’t even use her full strength.”

“Her sword... looks like a supreme-grade spiritual artifact!”

Clearly, the shock Big Ice Block brought was far greater than Chu Huaixu’s.

After all, a beautiful and powerful woman was naturally more eye-catching.

After all, beauties weren’t only loved by men; women loved them too.

What’s more, just the words “supreme-grade spiritual artifact” alone were enough to trigger a major earthquake in the outer sect!

The grade of 【Zhegutian】 was simply too high. No matter where it was, it would be an absolute treasure!

Moreover, the senior brother she defeated was actually a somewhat famous outer sect disciple.

Of course, not nearly strong enough to appear on Chu Huaixu’s “kill list.”

After the match ended, the two of them, as usual, wandered the martial arena looking for the ever-absent Little Xu.

Still no sign.

In the meantime, they happened to watch Ji Sikong’s match.

This man’s name was on the gambling boards, and his odds weren’t very high, meaning many had high expectations for him.

How should one put it—he truly was very strong.

“At the current stage, if Han Shuangjiang fought him without using Sword Intent, the chances would be about fifty-fifty.”

Chu Huaixu made a rough estimate in his mind.

Of course, Ji Sikong probably had hidden cards as well, so his true overall strength was not yet apparent.

They also watched a female disciple of the Sword Sect in her match. Her strength was likely no less than Ji Sikong’s.

This gave the two of them a sense of “the heroes of the world must not be underestimated.”

The Eastern Continent Grand Competition that time had, indeed, gathered prodigies.

Han Shuangjiang’s “curled-dog” trait had begun to take effect again, and she decided she would try even harder that night.

Chu Huaixu glanced at her — a single look that seemed to see through her — and then smiled as he asked, "You should be close to the Eighth Realm, right? Do you want me to give you a few spirit pills tonight to help with the breakthrough?"

"No need." she refused instinctively.

She still owed Chu Huaixu many sect contribution points, so there was no way she could accept his spirit pills.

"If I tell you to take them, you take them! Little Xu wasn’t this fussy — he only silently praised me in his heart." Chu Huaixu’s tone carried a teasing edge.

Han Shuangjiang looked at him and inwardly murmured in displeasure, "As if I had no conscience."

Who says I wouldn’t remember?

At night, he gave Big Ice Block a bottle of spirit pills.

After she took three, she smoothly broke through to the Eighth Realm.

The girl looked out the window, her thoughts drifting.

"If she truly won a good ranking in the Eastern Continent Grand Competition, she could earn a sect reward."

"Then she could go pick out something suitable for him — that could serve as a thank-you gift."

On the third day of the preliminaries, Xu Ziqing, carrying a sword scabbard on his back, arrived at the martial arena.

The sword scabbard was very long; if it were stood upright, it would be taller than he was.

This delicate-featured youth was already short, and the large sword scabbard on his back made him even more conspicuous.

The reddish-brown scabbard was crafted entirely from Coiling-Dragon Wood.

Its function was to conceal aura and block detection.

Although it was only a mid-grade spiritual artifact, its interior was engraved with formation patterns, so ordinary cultivators of the Sixth or Seventh Realm could not discern much.

Because the arena was crowded, the flow of people was immense, making Xu Ziqing’s movement somewhat difficult and drawing extra attention.

He had no choice but to sling the scabbard diagonally across his back, which meant he needed more space when he walked and often had to say, "Excuse me," to squeeze by.

Compared with the small fame of Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang, Little Xu’s reputation was rather obscure.

His only notable performance so far had been on the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion.

Almost no one recognized this boy with a masculine body but a feminine appearance, yet everyone felt he gave off a frail impression.

Xu Ziqing kept glancing left and right along the way, trying to find those two familiar figures.

Now, if he was not competing, he had to constantly follow the Little Martial Uncle Ancestor’s side,

practicing the Sword Nurturing Art several times every day, and studying secret techniques whose uses he did not even understand.

The rest of the time was spent cultivating the Ice-Muscle Jade-Bone Method.

After rising to a fourth-level mid-grade spirit embryo, his cultivation speed had not increased much.

Although his body-refinement path cultivated a physical shell that hid the spirit, the Spirit Embryo Secret Store still held a small amount of spiritual energy.

Every time he absorbed the world’s spiritual qi, if any of that qi passed through the Spirit Embryo Secret Store, that dark bluish-black small sword would devour at least seventy percent.

This made the youth slightly uncomfortable.

He now always felt as if he existed for the sake of that sword.

Most of his daily time was spent “feeding” that bronze sword.

This psychological feeling was unpleasant.

Especially after seeing that line on the Gentleman’s Monument.

Xu Ziqing treated every word Chu Huaixu had said as canonical.

His senior brother had engraved the words "A gentleman uses things; he is not used by things" — and now he felt he was walking the opposite path.

"I have shamed my senior brother’s teachings."

But for revenge, the youth clearly understood he needed strength.

This sword possessed incomparable might!

Therefore, Xu Ziqing’s path of will now wandered, his thoughts unsettled.

That day, his match stage just happened to be arena number eighteen inside the martial arena.

After identity verification, and at the signal of two inner-gate senior brothers acting as judges, he stepped onto the stage.

His opponent was a disciple from the Sword Sect named Wang Dong.

Wang Dong glanced at the delicate youth, and naturally looked toward his Adam’s apple, guessing his gender.

Then his eyes flicked to the rather large sword scabbard.

"Junior Brother, are you also a sword cultivator?" Wang Dong asked.

Little Xu looked tender, so he immediately took the senior-brother posture.

Wang Dong was already somewhat eager to try.

As had been said before, Dao Gate and the Sword Sect were never on friendly terms.

Sword Sect disciples loved to spar with Dao Gate’s sword cultivators to prove their sect was the true holy land of swordsmanship.

So he really hoped this seemingly weak youth was a sword cultivator.

If so, then winning would bring him greater satisfaction —

proving Dao Gate sword cultivators amounted to nothing!

But Xu Ziqing remained sincere as ever; he actually thought for a moment and then replied, "Senior Brother Wang Dong, I don’t really count as a sword cultivator — I’m a body cultivator."

At these words, the spectators under the stage all uttered exclamations.

"Another body cultivator?"

"Who was that body cultivator on this stage the day before yesterday?"

"Chu Huaixu!"

"Yes, yes, Chu Huaixu."

When Wang Dong heard his opponent was an uncouth body cultivator, he felt the contrast was striking.

So effeminate-looking, and yet a body-refiner?

An undisguised smile immediately appeared on his face.

Xu Ziqing did not see this scene at all.

Someone in the audience had triggered his “keyword,” and he was completely absorbed by the chatter below.

"Did Senior Brother also compete on this stage the day before yesterday?"

Just as he was distracted, Wang Dong spoke.

"Xu junior brother, with those thin arms and legs, can you really train the body?"

"I thought you were a sword cultivator, but you turned out to be a body cultivator — Dao Gate actually has body refiners?"

In the Xuanhuang Realm, sword cultivators were the proudest group.

It could almost be said... they always believed those who practiced the sword were the coolest!

And the Sword Sect’s sword cultivators were the proudest among them.

Wang Dong’s demeanor perfectly matched the stereotype of a Sword Sect disciple.

Immediately, Dao Gate disciples in the audience spoke up, "What’s wrong with body refinement!"

"Exactly!"

"That Chu Huaixu the day before yesterday was also a body cultivator — he didn’t use any techniques, only martial arts, and still defeated his opponent in one move!"

"Right, right! Who are you looking down on!"

Although they usually looked down on body cultivators, when it came to crucial moments, Dao Gate disciples were clear about their loyalties: they helped kin, not reason!

Listening to these righteously indignant words, Xu Ziqing’s heart only thought, "Senior Brother was as strong as ever!"

Just as he was filled with emotion, an extremely familiar voice came from behind:

"Little Xu."

The expression on the youth’s face changed in an instant, revealing boundless delight; his eyes brightened.

"Ah! Senior Brother!" He immediately turned and looked toward Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang, who had appeared there without his knowing.

He saw their lips move, though no sound came. But based on his understanding of Chu Huaixu, the youth instantly read the lip-reading.

The crude body cultivator in the audience was issuing an order to the body cultivator on stage:

"Kill him for me."

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