Chapter 11: A Troublesome Visitor

Always keep something in reserve when in front of others.

This was a piece of advice Qingxi often heard. Now that he found himself in this unfamiliar world, it was only natural to conceal his true abilities. Only in this way could he best protect himself.

“One must always be vigilant,” Qingxi silently warned himself. Gathering his vital energy, he resumed practicing the Vajra Fist.

After dozens, even hundreds of repetitions, he mastered the technique, able to gather his energy instantly and unleash the Vajra Fist with ease.

This was the sign of perfection in the art.

“So quickly?” Qingxi’s brows arched in surprise.

At that moment, his little assistant spoke up: “The host’s spiritual root has advanced to the Mortal Grade, thus your perception has improved. Naturally, you can master this martial skill more swiftly.”

“Even so, when I practiced the Gale Palm yesterday, it took over a thousand attempts to reach perfection. Today it’s so much faster—it doesn’t quite add up!” Qingxi lowered his fists, voicing his doubts to the assistant.

“All martial techniques are simply the release of vital energy. Though the energy flows through different meridians depending on the skill, the principle remains the same. With your thousand repetitions of the Gale Palm and my guidance in the most precise energy routes, your training in the Vajra Fist becomes twice as effective with half the effort. Moreover, with my assistance, your speed in mastering martial skills will only continue to increase.”

Qingxi pondered the explanation, and soon understood.

By this time, the other registered disciples had arrived at the Hall of Registered Disciples.

“Good morning, Brother Qingxi!” they greeted him warmly.

“Morning,” Qingxi replied with a gentle smile. He put aside the Vajra Fist and began practicing the Azure Dragon Claw.

This, too, was a close-combat technique.

Vital energy gathered at his five fingertips, turning into a thin layer of azure light, like a dragon’s claw. With a light swipe, Qingxi left five deep marks on the wooden post.

Building on his previous foundation, Qingxi found the difficulty of mastering these skills decreased dramatically, and by the end of the day, he had brought the Azure Dragon Claw to perfection.

The next day, he was once again the first to arrive.

“Blazing Palm!”

With a shout, Qingxi thrust his palm forward. Scorching heat surged forth like a storm, igniting the grass before him.

“Techniques that release energy outward are powerful, but the expenditure is considerable,” he noted, stepping forward to stamp out the flames. He then alternated between martial skills, beginning practice on the Giant Rock Palm.

In a flash, seven days went by.

On this day, as always, Qingxi was the first to reach the Hall of Registered Disciples.

Through days of arduous training, even without any Qi Condensing Pills, he had relied on the advantage of his Mortal Grade spiritual root to break through smoothly to the ninth level of Qi Refinement.

As for the Blazing Palm, Giant Rock Palm, Vajra Fist, Azure Dragon Claw, and Gale Palm, all five techniques had reached perfection.

Yet, much to his frustration, no matter how diligently he practiced, he could not bring these skills to consummation.

The assistant explained that his lack of real combat experience was the root cause. To bring a martial skill to the stage of true mastery, relentless practice alone was not enough. Only in the ever-changing heat of battle could one seize rare inspiration and make a breakthrough.

That day, all the registered disciples arrived early.

The reason was that Tu Yongsheng was coming to assess their progress.

Sitting in the shade of a tree, Qingxi glanced around, instantly discerning everyone’s cultivation.

Apart from himself, who had reached the ninth level of Qi Refinement, the others were only at the second level.

“It’s just as I thought. Even with the same spiritual root, the difference made by having medicinal support is immense,” Qingxi mused, feeling secretly fortunate.

Without the three Qi Condensing Pills gifted by Nie Yu, even with his spiritual root now at the Mortal Grade, he would only have reached the peak of the third level after seven days.

Now, however, he had leapt eight stages in one go, nearly meeting the requirement to be promoted to an Outer Sect disciple.

The assistant commented, “That is because all twelve of your main meridians are open. Within the Qi Refinement stage, you have no bottlenecks. Otherwise, even with enough Qi Condensing Pills, you wouldn’t have advanced so quickly.”

Qingxi considered this. “Indeed, it’s said that some Qi Refiners need years to refine their foundation and overcome each bottleneck. For now, I have none, which makes up for the disadvantage of my former lower-grade spiritual root.”

At this moment, there was a commotion at the main gate. Two figures came flying through the air, crashing to the ground.

Everyone peered closely and recognized them as fellow registered disciples who had entered the sect at the same time.

“Well, well!”

“So you’re this year’s batch of registered disciples.”

“You look like a flock of country bumpkins—can’t even take a hit.”

From outside came three disdainful voices. Then, three young men strode into the hall, each dressed in the distinctive blue robes of the Outer Sect, swords slung across their backs.

“They’re Outer Sect disciples!”

Someone helped the two fallen disciples to their feet and stared warily at the three newcomers, whose intentions were anything but friendly.

Qingxi, in the shade, glanced at them and immediately read their information.

They were newly promoted Outer Sect disciples, each at the tenth level of Qi Refinement, each mastering several martial skills at the basic stage.

Faced with these aggressive Outer Sect disciples, the registered disciples’ faces showed fear.

The aura radiating from the three was overwhelming, conjuring the sense of facing wild tigers. Though not on the level of the elders, they made the registered disciples’ hearts tremble.

“Senior brothers, we don’t know how we’ve offended you. Could you be merciful?” The two wounded disciples, wracked with pain, looked on with fear and confusion.

“Offended? No, you haven’t offended us.”

A disciple named Zhou Hua shook his head, his smile cold and insincere. “We’re just here to uphold an Outer Sect tradition.”

“What tradition?” The registered disciples exchanged glances; they had never heard of such a thing.

Zhou Hua gave a short laugh, eyes gleaming with pride. “Naturally, to teach you a lesson. That way, in the future, you’ll show enough respect—and tribute—when you see your seniors.”

After saying this, Zhou Hua felt a wave of satisfaction. When he was a new registered disciple the previous year, he too had been brutally beaten by Outer Sect disciples. From that day on, he learned that only a hard fist earned respect.

A year had passed in the blink of an eye. He was now an Outer Sect disciple himself. The tables had turned, and it was his turn to beat the registered disciples, establishing his own authority.

He was already envisioning the steady stream of Qi Condensing Pills these disciples would have to hand over in the coming year, and his heart soared at the prospect of rapid advancement.

“Enough talk. Let’s teach them a lesson—they’ll understand soon enough.” Zhou Hua nodded to his two companions, and the three struck simultaneously.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Three registered disciples barely had time to react before being struck by straight punches, sent flying, and rolling to the ground, moaning in pain.

The remaining registered disciples looked on in anger, yet dared not speak.

Qingxi’s expression in the shade grew colder and colder.

...

Meanwhile, not far away, two figures stood atop a rooftop.

One was Elder Tu Yongsheng.

The other was an old man with gray hair, whose aura was vast and profound, far beyond Tu Yongsheng’s.

Without a doubt, this was a master of the Innate Realm.

The master who “set up his disciples for failure” had arrived; now, where were my lovely (recommendation) tickets?