Chapter 519: Chapter 301: Confrontation

An Ye smiled, assuming Xu Yang looked this young because he had cultivated a youth-retaining technique.

Xu Yang’s face and voice didn’t seem like they belonged to a twenty-six-year-old at all, but rather a seventeen or eighteen-year-old.

But Xu Yang was indeed already twenty-six.

He only started practicing martial arts when he was almost eighteen. He had stayed at Weiyuan Hall for nearly two years and the Purple Sun Sect for almost six years. Now, he was twenty-six years old.

Xu Yang cupped his hands. "You flatter me, Senior."

A youth-retaining technique?

He thought, "It seems I’ll have to find something like this to cultivate in the future. It’ll be a good way to cover up the fact that I’ll look eighteen forever."

"Starting martial arts at eighteen, and in a place like the Purple Sun Sect no less... To break through to the Celestial Essence Realm by twenty-six means your talent isn’t bad. Come, let’s see if you’re telling the truth."

An Ye pointed at the iron pillar used for testing bone age.

Xu Yang was a little nervous. He added a point to his lifespan every day to keep his body at its peak eighteen-year-old state. He didn’t know whether this bone age testing device would read him as eighteen or twenty-six.

If the result came out as eighteen, it would cause quite a stir.

With no other choice, he reached out, pressed his hand against the iron pillar, and released a wisp of Gang Yuan.

A faint, warm red light burst from the iron pillar, mixed with a pale trace of gold.

The markings on the iron pillar lit up rapidly, eventually stopping at the twenty-six mark.

Xu Yang breathed a sigh of relief. The result wasn’t eighteen.

An Ye smiled. "To think you’ve also cultivated the Golden Gang Skill to the Great Success Realm. It seems your Body Refining talent isn’t bad either. The Celestial Strategy Academy has the follow-up Cultivation Techniques for the Golden Gang Skill. If you are selected, you can seek them out to cultivate."

Xu Yang’s heart skipped a beat. As expected of someone from the Celestial Strategy Academy. His Gang Yuan didn’t have much gold left in it, yet the other party could still tell at a glance that he had cultivated the Golden Gang Skill, rather than the Vajra Indestructible Body or the Celestial Spirit Body Refining Technique.

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior!" Xu Yang cupped his hands.

He hadn’t expected to guess right—the Celestial Strategy Academy really did have the follow-up Cultivation Techniques for the Golden Gang Skill.

"Go on!" An Ye handed the jade token to Xu Yang.

Xu Yang cupped his hands again before backing out of the hall.

"So it was the Golden Gang Skill you were cultivating all along!" Lin Jingyu walked in, flashing a smile the moment he brushed past Xu Yang.

Back then, he had only fought Xu Yang because he was curious about the Golden Gang Qi Xu Yang cultivated. But even after their battle, he hadn’t managed to figure out what Cultivation Technique Xu Yang used until his defeat.

Xu Yang stepped outside the hall. Yue Zhong, who had taken Lu Ren away, hadn’t returned. After the people from the Yellow Maple Valley finished their registration, the group didn’t wait for Yue Zhong and Lu Ren, heading straight back to Dragon Ascending Street instead.

Li Chuyang left directly with his two lackeys. Jiang Fan and Jiang Yan closely followed suit, leaving to head home.

Xu Yang greeted Sun Tao, returned to his room, and closed the door before taking out a piece of Spirit Iron from his bag.

After delaying for so long, it was time to start cultivating the Vajra Glazed Body.

He had long since comprehended most of the Cultivation Technique; all that was missing was the actual practice.

Gripping the Spirit Iron imbued with Spirituality, he circulated the Heart Method of the Vajra Glazed Body. A suction force emerged in his palm, enveloping the Spirit Iron in his hand.

In an instant, Xu Yang felt a sharp, tough Energy—distinct from Spiritual Qi—strip away from the Spirit Iron and drill into his body through his meridians.

The next moment, a piercing pain shot straight to his head, as if an icy knife had stabbed into his palm and drilled all the way up his arm to his shoulder.

His facial features instantly contorted, and his brows twitched. He had never imagined that cultivating the Vajra Glazed Body would be this painful. It felt exactly like a knife boring through his insides.

Enduring the agonizing pain, Xu Yang followed the Heart Method to refine this Spiritual Essence drawn from the Spirit Iron into his bones and flesh. This process was even more painful than before, akin to pouring red-hot molten iron into every bone and limb of his body.

Two hours later.

The essence of a piece of Spirit Iron had been completely absorbed. Xu Yang looked as though he had just been fished out of the water, his entire body drenched in sweat.

[Vajra Glazed Body - Entry Level (113/10000)]

Gasping for air, he finally understood why not a single one of the Celestial Essence Realm cultivators he had killed cultivated Body Refining Techniques. This kind of Cultivation Technique was simply not something ordinary people could endure.

Without a powerful Heart Spirit, the pain alone could torture a person to death, or cause their body to outright collapse.

Fortunately, his Heart Spirit was powerful enough and his physical body was strong. Although it was painful, he could withstand it.

At this moment, he felt a sense of overall refreshment. Having refined one piece of Spirit Iron Essence into his body, the hardness of his bones, sinews, and flesh had increased significantly. Some tainted blood had been expelled from his pores. Through Introspection, he saw that a faint metallic luster had appeared on his bones and sinews.

"Good thing I don’t need to constantly absorb Spirit Iron Essence."

After reaching the Entry Level, absorbing Spirit Iron Essence once every ten days to half a month would be enough. Of course, one could also choose to absorb Spirit Iron Essence every day to cultivate, which would speed up the progression of the Cultivation Technique.

However, even if Xu Yang wasn’t afraid of the agonizing pain, he didn’t have that much Spirit Iron to cultivate with anyway.

After absorbing Spiritual Qi and cultivating for a while longer, Xu Yang lay down to sleep.

The next day.

Opening his eyes upon waking up, he looked at his panel.

[Celestial Strategy Academy registration successful: Points +100]

[Vajra Glazed Body reached Entry Level: Points +100]

[Martial Arts Longevity Points: 1612]

He had obtained another two hundred points!

As usual, he added one point to his lifespan, then added another three hundred points to his Root Bone.

Unfortunately, aside from his body feeling a little hot, his Root Bone still didn’t show any changes.

He didn’t feel discouraged. At the very beginning, his body wouldn’t react much at all after adding points. Now that he could feel heat, it proved there was hope of upgrading to a Spirit Bone. It wasn’t a futile effort; he just hadn’t added enough points yet.

Facing the morning sun, Xu Yang pushed open his door and stepped outside. After washing up simply, he arrived at the front courtyard, only to see Sun Tao and the others sitting together, their faces filled with envy.

Xu Yang approached them. "Senior Brother Sun, what are you all so envious about?"

Zhang Hanzhou said sourly, "Peak Master Yue returned. Lu Ren really hit the jackpot. His Weapon Forging Talent was highly valued by the Celestial Strategy Academy, and he has already been exceptionally admitted as a disciple of the academy.

"He came back this morning to pack his luggage. He’s already moved into the Celestial Strategy Academy today, officially becoming one of their members."

Xu Yang was also somewhat surprised. Lu Ren had actually moved straight into the Celestial Strategy Academy. Even Spirit Bone Celestial Prides probably didn’t receive such treatment.

"I heard you and Lu Ren have been competing against each other ever since your Martial Arts Hall days. Looks like you’ve lost to him now," Qi Xuancheng said, looking at Xu Yang with great interest.

"Yeah, I lost," Xu Yang said calmly.

He never argued over these kinds of things. He had always believed in using his fists, not his mouth.

Seeing that Xu Yang barely reacted, Qi Xuancheng couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

"You, Sun Tao, and Lu Ren came from the same sect. If you guys manage to enter the Celestial Strategy Academy, at least you’ll have some backing in the future. Unfortunately, I don’t have any ties with him," Zhang Hanzhou said.

Given how highly the Celestial Strategy Academy valued Lu Ren, his status in the academy definitely wouldn’t be low in the future. Moreover, even though Weapon Forgers like him served powerful cultivators, they also cultivated formidable networks of connections.

"You’re mistaken about that. Our relationship with Lu Ren is just so-so," Sun Tao said. He didn’t expect Lu Ren to look after him and Xu Yang either.

Besides, with Lu Ren’s character, there was a high probability he wouldn’t help him and Xu Yang anyway. Lu Ren would never do anything that didn’t benefit him. They understood Lu Ren all too well.

"Relying on anyone else is a pipe dream. You can only rely on yourself. If you were Lu Ren, would you look after us?" Ye Qiuling said.

Zhang Hanzhou was immediately rendered speechless.

Over the following days.

Xu Yang lived a secluded life, following a steady routine of cultivation. Aside from eating, he basically never left the Purple Sun Sect’s courtyard.

Sun Tao, Qi Xuancheng, and the others were much the same, burying themselves in bitter cultivation.

The Spiritual Qi here was abundant, and there were many geniuses. If they didn’t work hard, they were highly likely fated to be eliminated.

As time passed, Dragon Ascending Street gradually grew more crowded. Disciples from various sects who were here to participate in the selection arrived one after another.

Many of them didn’t look very old, but the auras they exuded made even Xu Yang feel a wave of apprehension.

One day.

The group was just about to go eat. As soon as they stepped out of the Purple Sun Sect’s courtyard, five or six people carrying large black swords on their backs walked right toward them.

"It’s the people from the Iron Sword Sect!" Sun Tao hissed softly.

Everyone knew that the Perfect Root Bone genius of the Iron Sword Sect had publicly declared he would ambush Xu Yang during the Secondary Dragon Ascension. Even though they knew Xu Yang’s talent was extraordinary, Huo Xiaochen was a Perfect Root Bone genius who had broken through to the Celestial Essence Realm long ago.

"Ignore them. They wouldn’t dare make a move on Dragon Ascending Street," Ye Qiuling said.

Qi Xuancheng and Zhang Hanzhou, on the other hand, wore expressions that said they were ready to watch a good show at any moment. Although they often went out together, it didn’t mean they had a harmonious relationship; they simply ate meals together.

"People from the Purple Sun Sect?" Huo Xiaochen strode over and blocked their path. "Which one of you is Xu Yang?"

He had seen Xu Yang at the Purple Sun Sect, but back then, the two had only crossed paths and hadn’t been introduced to each other. Xu Yang recognized him, but he didn’t recognize Xu Yang.

"Why is Huo Xiaochen blocking the path of the Purple Sun Sect people?"

"Looks like we’ve got a good show to watch!"

"Who is Xu Yang? For Huo Xiaochen to ask for him personally, could he also be a Perfect Root Bone genius?"

"He’s no Perfect Root Bone genius. He’s just some unlucky bastard who offended Huo Xiaochen."

"Just a nobody. Though this will certainly make him famous."

...

As a Perfect Root Bone genius, Huo Xiaochen was quite famous. Seeing him stop the people from the Purple Sun Sect, the surrounding crowd stopped to watch.

"The people from the Purple Sun Sect are being blocked by Huo Xiaochen. Should we go over and help them?"

The disciples of the Yellow Maple Valley happened to be coming out at this time. Seeing this scene, Lin Jingyu couldn’t help but ask Huang Xiao in a low voice.

He was still young and possessed a bit of youthful loyalty. Since they had traveled all the way to Yun Province with the Purple Sun Sect people, he felt it wouldn’t be right to just stand by and not lend a hand at a time like this.

"Don’t meddle in other people’s business," Huang Xiao said. "Huo Xiaochen is a Perfect Root Bone genius. It’s not worth making an enemy out of him for these few people. If he targets us during the selection, we’ll be in trouble."

Luo Ying nodded. "Junior Brother Lin, you have a bright future ahead of you. You should be making friends with a genius like Huo Xiaochen, not offending him for a few irrelevant nobodies."

They had merely traveled together; it couldn’t even be considered a friendship. Couldn’t he see that even Qi Xuancheng, Zhang Hanzhou, and Ye Qiuling had stepped further away, afraid of being caught in the crossfire? Xu Yang simply wasn’t worth offending Huo Xiaochen over.

Hearing this, Lin Jingyu had no choice but to stay put with Huang Xiao and the others.

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