A direct promotion to core disciple following a year of confinement!
The decision made by Sect Master Chen Xuanhua was just too astonis.h.i.+ng. How could this even be considered punishment? It was perhaps more accurate to say this was to purposefully protect this little b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Right now, Fang Xing was just fourteen years old, and even if he were to become a core disciple a year from now, he’d still be fifteen. Among the current core disciples, Xiao Jianming had been promoted at sixteen, and Xu Linyun at seventeen; even if he was promoted a year from now, Fang Xing would still be younger than both.
There were also people who remembered the location the sect master a.s.signed to Fang Xing for confinement: The Valley of Hidden Dragon. It was not a place people were typically sent for confinement—that distinction belonged to the isolated and weathered back mountains of the Peak of Flying Stone—and was actually a very fortunate location inside the Qing-Yun Sect that was abundant with Qi. Furthermore, adding in the fact that a newly promoted core disciple would often be given a valley as a gift, the situation became even clearer—Fang Xing’s so-called "confinement" was most likely giving him his valley in advance!
Xu Linyun smiled and turned towards him. "s.h.i.+di Fang, congratulations." Those Duanzhen disciples around him and a few other disciples from the other valleys who wanted to befriend him all followed with their own congratulations. Fang Xing laughed. "I’m being sent to confinement; what is there to congratulate?" Yet, despite his words, everyone sardonically wondered why he was laughing so brightly if there was nothing to congratulate.
Amidst the laughter and smiles, Xiao Shanhe’s expression grew even gloomier as he glanced across towards Xiao Jianming. With a wave of his sleeve, he left to return back to his Shanhe Valley. Xiao Jianming said nothing, mounting his steel eagle and following closely behind.
Once the pair arrived at a secluded peak near Shanhe Valley, Xiao Shanhe turned towards Xiao Jianming and spoke in a deep voice, "I am very disappointed!"
Xiao Jianming had sent a Message Talisman to Xiao Shanhe—his uncle—before his return, and this was also one of the reasons why the latter had opposed Fang Xing’s promotion into a core disciple. The status of a core disciple was not to be taken lightly, after all, and many things would become more difficult if Fang Xing were to obtain it. However, he hadn’t expected that Sect Master Chen Xuanhua had seemingly made up his mind about protecting this boy to the point of directly promoting him into a core disciple. This so-called "confinement" was nothing more than a joke.
"The boy is truly vile. Not only did I not get anything out of him, there’s now a grudge between us!" Xiao Jianming spoke up with hatred after a moment of silence. He believed his uncle was angry at him for being unable to get Fang Xing to reveal any secrets. Yet when Xiao Shanhe heard this, he coldly replied, "If that was the case, you shouldn’t have let him come back alive!"
Xiao Jianming was a little take aback at that and tried to explain. "Bai Qianzhang just recently went into seclusion. I’m afraid that—"
"Since he’s just recently gone into seclusion, the chances of him coming out now is at its lowest! The chances of him coming out of his seclusion to give us a difficult time just because of this boy is probably less than ten percent! Yet you—for the risk of less than ten percent—let someone who already holds a grudge against your life return alive? Jianming, it seems in the four years you’ve gone training, not only did you not gain more guts, you lost some of what you had!"
Xiao Jianming stood dumbfounded, all five of his fingers clutching ever so tightly onto his iron sword. "One more year!" he suddenly spoke. "The boy will only become a core disciple in a year’s time. I will kill him within one year!"
"Wrong again!" Xiao Shanhe calmly replied. "To not make good on your chance to kill him at Mount Desolation and then try to kill him upon your return to the sect, is that not plain idiocy? A boy like this will not be your threat within the next three or four years, and if you break into Foundation Stage this year, you and he would no longer be on the same level anymore. By then, so what if he is a core disciple? With two Foundation Stage cultivators, how could it not be easy to kill a core disciple?"
"Foundation Stage this year?" Xiao Jianming was surprised. The Purple Mist Orchid had been lost; how did his uncle still expect him to break into the Foundation Stage?
Xiao Shanhe let out a long sigh. "I have to say, you are very lucky. Just half a month ago, people belonging to the Fuyao Palace have revealed themselves. They recently visited the Melodic Ice Palace, and when the master of the Melodic Ice Palace had their disciples put on a performance for the Fuyao Palace visitor, the best performer of the night was given a Foundation Pellet. That pellet was crafted by a Purple-Furnace Master, and it has a seventy-percent success rate of breaking into the Foundation Stage."
Xiao Jianming gulped. "Seventy percent?" He knew the Foundation Pellets within the Qing-Yun Sect—always crafted by Danxia Valley’s chief elder, Qin’nyao—would only have a thirty-percent success rate for even the ones with the best quality. If the consumption of the pellet failed, the foundation of the consumer might be damaged, which would then set them back from ever breaking through into the Foundation Stage again. This was the reason why it was so hard for Qing-Yun disciples to become Foundation Stage cultivators. Yet now there was hope: the opportunity to obtain a Foundation Pellet with a seventy-percent successful breakthrough rate.
"When this was discovered, the three of us—me, the sect master, and Elder Qin’nyao—traveled over immediately. Although we were unable to meet the person from Fuyao Palace, we have been told by their servants that after a three-month stay at the Melodic Ice Palace, they will leave for the Ephemeral b.u.t.terfly Sect to stay for three more months before paying a visit to our Qing-Yun Sect. If you want to successfully break through into the Foundation Stage, put on your best performance then!"
Xiao Jianming clenched his teeth, his eyes gleaming. "Yes, I will definitely seize this chance!"
Since the confinement was planned to start tomorrow, then today was to be spent in celebration within the Duanzhen Valley. Tie Rukuang had also announced that Fang Xing would become Duanzhen Valley’s official lead s.h.i.+xiong. Although this announcement was rather surprising, it wasn’t as extreme as the sect master’s earlier decision. Everyone felt that Tie Rukuang’s announcement was just a matter of time, so no one questioned it and simply offered Fang Xing their congratulatory gifts.
Even Ye Tianlong—who was in seclusion—and Murong Ying—who was recovering—heard the news, astonis.h.i.+ng both. They’d wanted to take revenge for the shame they’d received in the past, yet this boy had now unexpectedly soared in status. Let alone obtaining revenge, it would be good news to them if Fang Xing was willing to let go of their feud of the past without bringing trouble to them in the present. With such thoughts, both of them arranged good gifts for Fang Xing as both a congratulations and an apology, and Fang Xing fortunately didn’t even check what the gifts were before accepting it all.
On this same night, Tie Rukuang decided to give Fang Xing a handsome reward: amongst all of his spirit weapons and cultivation manuals, Fang Xing was allowed to pick as he desired. Fang Xing chose "Qing-Yun Nine Swords" without any hesitation, and Tie Rukuang immediately knew this boy was just the same as before. Fang Xing was not really interested in gaining tiers of cultivation and instead liked to put all his heart into trying to increase his battle prowess.
"Normally speaking, one cannot obtain Qing-Yun Nine Swords without first entering the Hall of Heaven’s Tribute or becoming a core disciple. However, to privately teach you this technique in advance is not a large issue. You have to understand that despite being extremely powerful, its primary characteristics lie in the agility and flexibility of the sword, with hundreds of alternatives in even a single strike. You have a good foundation with very concentrated Qi, but you may not necessarily understand the real essence of a sword!"
As Tie Rukuang continued to explain, Fang Xing questioned with seriousness, "Is it possible to beat Xiao Jianming?"
Tie Rukuang looked at Fang Xing with curiosity. To most of the Qing-Yun disciples, Xiao Jianming’s existence was G.o.dlike, and setting him as the first goal to overcome like this little b.a.s.t.a.r.d had done was extremely rare. Despite this, Tie Rukuang considered the question seriously and shook his head. "Xiao Jianming is the top pupil of the Qing-Yun Sect, and he’s even stronger than I was when I was younger. Especially when it comes to understanding and using swords, for you to surpa.s.s him in this regard would be very difficult…. Aiii, besides, perhaps he’d break through into the Foundation Stage within the next half year. For you to beat him is very unlikely!"
Tie Rukuang was very nearly ridiculing Fang Xing. He’d heard from Wu Xiangtong about the enmity between Xiao Jianming and Fang Xing at Mount Desolation, and he believed Fang Xing wanted to beat Xiao Jianming in a short period of time just because of this event.
"Foundation Stage?" Fang Xing was astonished. If Xiao Jianming were to break through into the next stage, when would he get the chance to kill him?
Laughing, Tie Rukuang casually mentioned everything about the Fuyao Palace visitor before continuing. "If you were a little stronger, you would actually qualify to join us in greeting the visitor from Fuyao Palace as a core disciple. It is a pity your cultivation level is still too low right now and the t.i.tle of core disciple is not yet set in stone, so you’ll unfortunately miss out this time around. As for who has the highest chance to seize this opportunity, it’s most likely between Linyun and Jianming. Between these two, it’s still Xiao Jianming who has the highest chance!"
"Dammit, what Fuyao f*cking Palace? Gifting pellets all over the place, are they really so rich?" Fang Xing loudly cursed with clear frustration. It was just too annoying; the appearance of this Fuyao Palace had immediately ruined his plans.
Startled, Tie Rukuang hastily covered Fang Xing’s mouth and quietly warned, "Do you want to die, you little son of a turtle-egg b.a.s.t.a.r.d? Are you even qualified to curse the Fuyao Palace? They are the host of the Immortals’ Gathering at the Yaochi Pond, a gathering for the most powerful cultivators in all the realm. Who doesn’t show their respect in front of someone from the Fuyao Palace? If your words were overheard by others outside, do you know how many of them would happily take your head to show the Fuyao Palace their loyalty and benevolence?"
Yet Fang Xing continued to curse, which caused Tie Rukuang to immediately cover his mouth tightly and refuse to let go.
After a while, Fang Xing finally finished cursing and Tie Rukuang was able to release his hand. While Fang Xing still simmered, Tie Rukuang wiped sweat off his forehead and said, "You little b.a.s.t.a.r.d, you’re going to get me killed one day. Did s.h.i.+shu Bai not teach you that a loose tongue causes trouble?"
"Uncle s.h.i.+’yi never taught me this useless c.r.a.p!"
Tie Rukuang spitefully kicked him and began to scold, "Go back to your Valley of Hidden Dragon to begin your confinement. I’ve had enough of you!"
Still angry, Fang Xing rode atop the golden crow and arrived at the Valley of Hidden Dragon overnight. It seemed there had already been disciples ordered to clean the pavilions before his arrival, and all of the essential furniture had been readied; instead of a "confinement", it was actually closer to a vacation. He didn’t mind most of this, so he grabbed a few Spirit Stones to toss at the disciples who’d been asking for a tip before walking inside the pavilion to continue being angry.
By the time night fell, Fang Xing submerged into his Sea of Consciousness and dragged the Demonic Peng King out. "If I—your grandpa—want to kill a ninth-tier Spirit Stage Battle Cultivator within half a year by studying Qing-Yun Sect’s high-tier Qing-Yun Nine Swords, is that possible?" he yelled.
Without a second thought, the Demonic Peng King shook his head. "Impossible!"
Without another word, Fang Xing went straight into stomping mode, sending the Peng King into another phase of frantic, pain-filled crying.
"Didn’t you say you have lots of techniques and skills? Why should I keep you alive if they can’t even kill someone in Spirit Stage tier nine?"
"Aoo…. What does that have to do with techniques? No matter how strong it is, you’ll still need enough time to learn and practice…."
"Your grandpa doesn’t have time."
"Aoo…. That’s none of my business…."
"... I’ll burn you to death!"
"Fine, let me think of an idea! I will definitely come up with an idea…."
"I’ll give you one day. If you still haven’t come up with one by the time I wake up tomorrow, you’re definitely going to die!" With that final threat, Fang Xing immediately left the Sea of Consciousness, leaving the Demonic Peng King to cry helplessly to himself.