Chapter 92 Vying for Beauty and Glamor
Ting Lanyue was the first to recollect her thoughts as she said, “Junior Martial Brother Zhong, you bashed them all? This will only make things worse, making enemies with so many people, I’m afraid they will surely come for you after they are awake … and that senior martial sister over there, you even slammed her until her eyeballs rolled to the back of her head, why did you beat her until this extent?”
Zhong Yue smiled and said, “Senior martial sister, just now that Senior Martial Brother Ta said that it will not affect the amicable relationship between us.”
Ting Lanyue was bewildered and said, “Getting beaten to this extent and you’re saying it wouldn’t affect the amicable relationship? Then Senior Martial Brother Ta’s magnanimity must be extraordinarily great!”
Li Xiuniang took in a deep breath of air, she pushed her chest up, gazed at Zhong Yue and asked, “Junior Martial Brother Zhong, were all these senior martial sisters and senior martial brothers defeated by you?”
Tao Yanran’s beautiful eyes glistened as she also took a glimpse at Zhong Yue. She was Tao Daier’s elder sister, a core disciple of the Tao Lin Clan. It was just that she had never met with Zhong Yue in the Lawless Battles.
Yu Feiyan also gazed at Zhong Yue in bewilderment, she was shocked and surprised at the same time.
It was too unbelievable, Zhong Yue was the same as them, one who had acquired his name and reputation in the Lawless Battles and rose to fame after his extraordinary battle with Shui Qingyan; and an exception was even made to confer the title of strongest of the upper house to the two of them at the same time.
But these were all matters that ultimately, merely pertained to the outer hall upper house!
The inner hall was entirely different!
Each and every disciple of inner hall was a Qi Practitioner, some may have recently entered and some had been here for tens of years; their strength and prowess were incredible, unequivocally superior to those that had just been inducted into the ranks of inner hall disciples!
How could Zhong Yue have been able to utterly defeat all these senior martial sisters and brothers despite having only just entered the inner hall three months ago? And there were so many of them?
Zhong Yue led the way and walked into his cave dwelling, he smiled and said, “Although all these senior martial siblings have cultivated for quite some time, they have yet to experience the tempering of life and death battles ... inexperienced and untested, they have the requisite prowess but can’t fully unleash them. When faced with me, they are just like flowers raised meticulously in a greenhouse getting tossed into a heavy storm, surely they would come out withered and battered upon coming out the other side.”
Tao Yanran impishly stuck out her tongue, those Qi Practitioners fainted away on the ground were their senior martial siblings, and they were much stronger than the four young ladies currently standing in front of Zhong Yue.
But in Zhong Yue’s eyes, these Qi Practitioners were merely house flowers unable to endure the storm, only able to wither away and die when faced against a force of nature such as himself.
“Swank.” Yu Feiyan twitched her mouth, she followed Zhong Yue into his cave dwelling.
Zhong Yue turned his head around, smiled and said, “I’m not boasting, furthermore, their cultivation levels are not as strong as mine, and their strengths are also weaker than mine; it really is just me bullying them, actually.”
The other three young ladies quickly followed with Tao Yanran asking in curiosity, “Their cultivation level is not as strong as yours? But these senior martial brothers and senior martial sisters were already cultivating in the inner hall a few years before we entered their ranks, I’d even venture to say that there are quite a number of them that have already achieved the level of Rebirth!”
“So have I,” Zhong Yue smiled and answered.
Yu Feiyan, Li Xiuniang and the other two ladies were shocked, they simply could not believe their ears, Zhong Yue was already a Rebirth Qi Practitioner!
How long had it been since the day he manifested the spirit and became a Qi Practitioner, even if he had ascended to become a Qi Practitioner on the day he entered the Ethereal Palace, that would only leave two months for him to achieve the level of Rebirth and achieve the state of [Spirit Soul as One]. Was something like this even in the realm of possibility?
One had to know, it necessitated the arduous accumulation of decades of hard work before most Qi Practitioners would be able to coalesce their soul with the spirit and achieve the state of [Spirit Soul as One]. Some even dedicated half of their lifetime only to achieve a peak of Rebirth Qi Practitioner. And yet, Zhong Yue had only spent two months to reach that vaunted stage – it was utterly horrifying!
This was the first time Zhong Yue entered his own cave dwelling and so he took the time to gaze around his abode. The experience was quite novel to him, although it was referred to as a cave dwelling, it was quite different to the cold and lifeless cave the name would evoke. Instead, it was quite lavish and luxurious, embellished with golden ornamentation; there were a small garden and a fish pond, a pavilion and a balcony with a marvelous waterfall beside – it was wide and spacious.
He walked to the side of a cliff to see carvings scattered all around on the slopes. They were probably left behind by the previous Qi Practitioners that have taken residence in this particular cave dwelling.
“The hills in Swords Gate are grouped and counted in units of hundreds, there would be a cave dwelling on each hill, all these cave dwellings have a long history and were home to countless masters over the years. All these Qi Practitioners would usually jot down their gained knowledge and insights within the cave dwellings during their cultivation.”
Li Xiuniang said, “To be able to grow our own understandings from their knowledge and insights are very beneficial to our cultivation, these engravings are a tremendous grace on the part of the seniors who used to call these cave dwellings home.”
Zhong Yue nodded in agreement as he cast his glance towards the carvings on the cliff; some of them were regarding the totems, some pertained to the ways of the sword, some delved into the profundity of array formations, and some others expounded on the forging of soul weapons and the fabrication of totem pillars.
“It’s normal for Junior Martial Brother Zhong to become a Qi Practitioner, but how did your strength increase so greatly in such a short period of time of three months, and you have even achieved the level of Rebirth?”
The young ladies hopped to the side of the waterfall and collected some waters to boil a pot of tea. They rested in a small kiosk beside the waterfall as they enjoyed a cup of warm hot tea; Yu Feiyan could not help but to ask, “The spirit I’ve manifested is one of the top ten spirits in Swords gate, but even so, it’ll take me another two to three years before I can achieve the state of [Spirit Soul as One]. So just exactly how did you manage to achieve that state in such a short time? Is the Sword Spirit that is ranked first really that strong?”
Zhong Yue smiled and kept silent, the reason he could be this strong was not because of the Sword Spirit, but the Great Sun Golden Crow.
He had not reached out to manifest the Sword Spirit of Swords Gate, but instead, he went to the sun and manifested the Great Sun Golden Crow. But the implications such a matter would bring would be immense, this was naturally something he could never afford to reveal, else his identity would be exposed to the monster race.
He had successfully coalesced the Great Sun Golden Crow Yuan Shen, with it controlling the Sword Qi, he could control the Sword Qi at will as if they an extension of his arms; he could even withstand the assaults of tens of Qi Practitioners without any stress, even his ability to wield the shields of the Xuan Wu was swift and nimble, allowing him a dynamically impervious defense.
If it were instead Zhong Yue’s thoughts that controlled them, he would have lost the speed and agility that had been so vital to his survival thus far. He would have already been hit long before the shield was able to be erected.
Spirit and soul as one formed the Yuan Shen, this state was a prodigious leap to the Qi Practitioners; and especially after they had grasped the esoteric knowledge and abstruse quintessence in their spirits, their prowess would bloom greatly!
“It’s really unexpected, we will have to call you our Senior Martial Brother Zhong from now on.” Ting Lanyue’s eyes were filled with complicated feelings.
“It is indeed ... unexpected.”
Yu Feiyan also sighed, she reminisced of the days when she was still a viable rival to Zhong Yue; and yet, Zhong Yue had catapulted to greater heights and continued to soar to altitudes that are growing increasingly distant to her. In the blink an eye, he had now surpassed her position and had become her senior martial brother.
Right now, I might not even be able to withstand one strike from him. Could it really be that sword token that made him so strong?
Zhong Yue chatted with the four young ladies for some time, although he was already an inner hall disciple, he had little to no understandings about the inner hall. Moreover, he wasn’t even entirely cognizant of all the levels of cultivation. His mind was currently a filled with questions he would like answers to.
“Senior Martial Brother Zhong, with so many things you don’t know, how exactly were you able to achieve the level of Rebirth?”
The four young ladies did not to know whether to laugh or cry, Ting Lanyue smiled and said, “The inner hall consists of eight separate halls, with each one of them teaching different ways and techniques, but regardless of which or how many halls you join, you can still acquire the quintessences of the techniques taught in each. For example, I’ve joined the Hall of Sword Qi, Hall of Sword Heart, and Hall of Shield Wall. The Hall of Sword Qi focuses on the Sword Qi, the Hall of Sword Heart focuses on the tempering of the will in the face of hardship, and the Hall of Shield Wall concentrates on the defensive techniques. Other than these three, there is still the Hall of the Totem Spirit, Hall of Weapon Refinement, the Hall of Array Formations, the Hall of Soaring Vermilion and the Hall of the Swimming Dragon. The Hall of Totem Spirit takes charge of explaining the abstruse arts of totems and totem spirits; the Hall of Weapon Refinement teaches the ways to forge soul weapons and make totem pillars; the Hall of Array Formations expound on the esoteric knowledge pertaining to totem array formations; the Hall of Soaring Vermilion teaches the flying combat skills and the Hall of the Swimming Dragon imparts the movement arts and combat arts.”
Tao Yanran then continued, “These eight halls have a hall master of their own who themselves would impart the knowledge and arts to the disciples. There would also be strong cultivators coming in from time to time to pass down their experiences. The inner hall disciples can select the halls based on their own personal interests, or even elect to join all eight halls. But other than these eight, there are still internal halls of the top clans that teach the secret arts and techniques of their respective clans. These are naturally only restricted to the clan’s Qi Practitioners. For example, my Tao Lin Clan has a hall of our own, the Hall of Rosy Clouds, if other Qi Practitioners were to enter, they would have to be a son or daughter-in-law to the Tao Lin Clan.”
She gazed deeply at Zhong Yue as she spoke these words while seemingly insinuating other meanings that were left unsaid, “A man is considered to be an adult as soon as he becomes a Qi Practitioner; it will be a long journey of cultivation for the rest of his lifetime, if only he could find a lovely partner and to walk the path of cultivation alongside with, it’ll be able to relieve the loneliness of cultivation. What do you think, Senior Martial Brother Zhong?”
Yu Feiyan faked a cough and said, “To enter the Hall of Dragon Steer, one must also become the son-in-law of my You Yu Clan.”
Li Xiuniang grinded her teeth in disdain, she sneered and said, “You two alluring women … Senior Martial Brother Zhong, if you become a son-in-law of my Li Shan Clan, you can also enter our Hall of Lotus God and cultivate there!”
Tao Yanran then said with deep meanings, “There are more girls in my Tao Lin Clan.”
“My Li Shan Clan’s girls have more spirituality!” Li Xiuniang smiled and answered.
Yu Feiyan was indifferent, she said, “The girls in my You Yu Clan are better at maintaining a household.”
While Ting Lanyue on the side blinked her eyes, she looked at her three sisters that were covertly fighting, she was feeling very vexed and said, “There is no internal hall of my Da Ting Clan, it seems like my clan can’t get a son-in-law….”
Zhong Yue coughed and quickly said, “Four senior martial sisters, what are the levels of the Qi Practitioners?”
The four young ladies then stopped their petty quarrels, Ting Lanyue had a wide circle of acquaintances and had previously inquired about the same thing. She replied, “The first stage of the Qi Practitioner is the Spirit Nurturing stage, nurturing the spirit manifested. One may need to spend at least a couple of years to accumulate enough to reach the next stage would have to spend at least one or two years to possibly years at this level. But since Senior Martial Brother Zhong Yue has already passed this level, you should be very familiar with it, right?”
Zhong Yue’s face darkened, he had actually never been in that stage as he had charged straight into the realm of Rebirth – his knowledge towards the level of Spirit Nurturing was virtually a blank slate.
“The second level is Rebirth, coalescing the spirit and soul into one and distilling it into the atman, this is the level that Senior Martial Brother Zhong is currently standing on. The third level would be the Awakening, opening of the five wheels in the body — with the opening of all five wheels, comes the Combat Yuan Shen; I hear that it is very abstruse and mysterious, it is a very important cultivation level.”
Ting Lanyue continued on, “The fourth level is the Atman Body, which is to merge your atman with the body, the state of [Atman Body As One] and acquire a Combat Body. Cultivating to this level would elevate your prowess to the same stage as the hall masters. As for the higher cultivation levels, I hear that they are the levels of Inner Core, Heavenly Dharma, True Spirit and Imminent Deity. But I am not so sure of their strengths nor the sequences they come in. But I guess these are only achievable by the elders or the cultivation magnates.”
Tao Yanran continued, “The four young successors of our Swords Gate have already cultivated to a very high level, rumor says that they are already above the hall masters and have reached to the stage of the elders, not far away from becoming magnates themselves.”
Zhong Yue’s heart shifted, he suddenly thought of something and asked, “Have the four successors returned from the pursuit of the two island lords?”
“I hear that Feng Wuji, Fang Jiange and Lei Hong, the three of them are back, but Jun Sixie still hasn’t returned.”