Chapter 62: What Is Your Great Insight, Senior Brother?

Chapter 62: Chapter 62: What Is Your Great Insight, Senior Brother?

’Senior Brother Yang, who is about to become an Inner Sect Disciple, is already at Body Tempering Great Success. By the time he participates in the trial, he’ll definitely have reached Body Tempering Perfection. If Senior Brother Yang is only considered average among the Inner Sect at that point, then the disciples from the Nangong Family taking part in the trial will probably be even stronger than he is now. The strongest among them might even be more powerful than Senior Brother Yang will be two months from now.’

After seeing Senior Brother Yang off, Liu Chen couldn’t help but ponder the matter. ’This is rather troublesome. Since I promised my master’s wife, I have to see it through. But I don’t want to blatantly let the Nangong Family know I was the one who did it.’

’The best approach would be to disguise my identity and take them out in a single strike.’

’Forget it. I should just focus on my cultivation. I’ll figure out how to deal with it after I actually meet the Nangong Family’s disciples.’

In the end, Liu Chen gave up on trying to calculate the Nangong Family’s potential combat strength out of thin air. There was no way for him to know what he would be up against, so it was better to improve himself as much as possible.

「On the twelfth of July,」 through Liu Chen’s unremitting efforts, his Cyan Lotus Demon-Slaying Sword reached Great Success. A surge of cyan Spiritual Power surfaced within his body, causing him to glimpse the illusion of a blooming cyan lotus.

The Sword Techniques of this Swordsmanship became even more familiar to him. Beyond that, it produced a special kind of Spiritual Power that seemed to have a strange quality to it. Perhaps this was why the Swordsmanship could slay demons. Liu Chen named it Cyan Lotus Spiritual Power.

After a long period of thought, Liu Chen used this peculiar Spiritual Power to replace the one he normally absorbed during his next Body Tempering session. During the process, the pain that he had long since stopped feeling assaulted him once more, even more intensely than ever before.

[Purple Bamboo Scripture Body Tempering Mastery +20]

But after one round of Body Tempering, the pain quickly vanished, replaced by the same Proficiency notification as before.

’This might just work.’

Liu Chen narrowed his eyes. Since he could still gain Proficiency, he decided to continue using this method for Body Tempering from now on.

「On the fifteenth of July,」 a full moon hung high over the bamboo forest. After a few days of acclimation, Liu Chen no longer felt much pain even when using the Cyan Lotus Spiritual Power for Body Tempering.

The night was deep. The complex pathways of two Spiritual Veins successively appeared in Liu Chen’s mind, and parts he hadn’t understood before instantly became clear.

’After the Body Protection Technique reached Great Success, there doesn’t seem to be much change. It still just improves the arrangement of the Spiritual Veins to increase defense. And even at Great Success, the Resting Technique can only affect the detection of Cultivators at the same Realm.’

Liu Chen narrowed his eyes and cast the two spells on himself again. Both were essential for survival.

Liu Chen wasn’t very satisfied with the effect of his Resting Technique, but for now, there was no need to replace it. Besides, he had already cultivated it to Great Success, so it felt wrong to give it up. In any case, it didn’t require dedicated practice; he only needed to maintain the corresponding Spiritual Veins to gain Proficiency. Under these circumstances, there was little to complain about.

These thoughts didn’t last long. Liu Chen soon fell asleep, and when he woke again, another busy day began.

The next time Liu Chen had a moment to sit and think was on the twenty-seventh of July. There were only three days left until the Inner Sect Disciple assessment, and on this day, the Withering Skill—the one he had practiced the longest—finally reached Perfection.

With the Perfection of his Withering Skill, Liu Chen’s understanding of Spiritual Veins deepened. Before, he was confident he could make a Body Tempering Cultivator’s Spiritual Veins wither, but that was without any regard for whether the Cultivator lived or died. Now that the Withering Skill had reached Perfection, he could guarantee the Cultivator would survive.

Furthermore, Liu Chen now had some insight into the unique path this Magic could take: ensuring that a Cultivator would not feel a trace of pain as their Spiritual Veins withered.

But the Withering Skill wasn’t the first Magic Liu Chen had brought to Perfection. The first was his Sword Control Technique, which, thanks to the Sword Holding Technique, gave him an extra half an hour of practice time each day.

After reaching Perfection, the Sword Control Technique could unleash ninety percent of his original Swordsmanship’s power. Liu Chen’s unique idea was simple: to bring out as much of his original Swordsmanship’s power as possible, ideally to the point where he could perfectly replicate his Basic Sword Skill.

In addition, his Flying Flower Skill had reached Great Success, while his Solid Spirit Technique and Soul Crossing Technique were at Minor Success. Nearly a month of arduous cultivation left Liu Chen feeling very satisfied.

-----------------

Inside the Bamboo Garden, Senior Brother Yang sat quietly across from Liu Chen. Although he hadn’t said a word since arriving, Liu Chen knew exactly why he was here.

The Inner Sect Disciple assessment would officially begin in three days, on the first of August, but according to Purple Cloud Valley’s rules, disciples participating in the assessment had to head to the examination grounds tomorrow to begin preparations.

They were given three days to understand the full set of rules and to prevent other factors from interfering with the assessment. This wasn’t originally necessary, but a few years ago, the family backing an Outer Disciple hired an assassin to severely injure a rival Outer Disciple the day before the assessment.

That family was, of course, wiped out by Purple Cloud Valley, but the injured Outer Disciple failed to become an Inner Sect Disciple that year, wasting a whole year of his time.

This was the story Senior Brother Yang had just told. However, it only explained why he had to leave tomorrow, not why he was sitting here in silence.

"Congratulations on reaching Body Tempering Perfection, Senior Brother Yang. You will surely shine in the Inner Sect Disciple assessment in three days. I will be waiting here on Purple Bamboo Peak for your triumphant return."

Seeing that the mealtime was about to pass, Liu Chen finally broke the silence. This was the biggest difference between the Senior Brother Yang of today and the one from yesterday; he had now reached Body Tempering Perfection. If the Inner Sect Disciple trial hadn’t been moved up, he would have been able to use his Meridian Passage Realm Cultivation to bypass the assessment and be promoted directly to an Inner Sect Disciple.

But alas, there were no ’what ifs’. The Inner Sect Disciple assessment had been moved from late September to the beginning of August, a difference of nearly fifty days—time in which many things could have been accomplished.

With Senior Brother Yang’s Talent, if he hadn’t pursued true perfection in the Body Tempering Realm, he likely could have successfully broken through to the Meridian Passage Realm.

"You have a good eye, Junior Brother."

Yang Haichen smiled. He had also made some progress during this time. Besides reaching Body Tempering Perfection, he had also achieved the Beginner level in the Resting Technique. He originally thought he could hide it from his junior brother, but it seemed he had been too naive.

"I’m here this time about our business."

Yang Haichen fell silent for a moment, then continued, "I have to go to the Purple Cloud Valley plaza tomorrow to wait for the assessment to begin. The faint feeling of being watched has faded a lot these past few days. I suppose the True Disciple of Purple Bamboo Peak is almost out of Spirit Stones."

If he wanted to get Spiritual Cuisine in the future, he first needed someone to buy it. And starting tomorrow, Purple Cloud Valley would be sealed off, so the plaza where the Inner Sect Disciple assessment candidates would be waiting was undoubtedly a place that would draw the attention of everyone in the valley.

If they sold Spiritual Cuisine at this time, it would surely cause a sensation, and the True Disciples from the other peaks would undoubtedly scramble to buy it afterward.

"What’s your brilliant plan, Senior Brother?"

Liu Chen narrowed his eyes. In this period of time, he had already amassed 140,000 Spirit Stones in his Storage Ring. If the Storage Ring his master had given him wasn’t so large, it probably wouldn’t have been able to hold them all.