Chapter 153: Deputy Chief Instructor

Time passed quickly.

Batch after batch of top-grade spiritual elixirs of all grades was scattered in massive quantities. Virtually every mysterious beast injured in the great battle received one—no, rather, one in every beast's mouth.

Gu Xiaopang was finally released from his alchemy state. While his entire body was utterly exhausted, he simultaneously felt an inexplicable sense of refreshing clarity.

When he stood up, his joints cracked like popping firecrackers, and an aura at the very peak of the mid-stage Golden Core realm radiated directly outward.

Finally finding a free moment, Gu Xiaopang immediately began his internal inspection in astonishment.

In his dantian, the eight golden cores had simultaneously grown larger by a small circle, and the volume of spiritual power transformed into crystals was greater than the previous half by a wide margin.

His bodily meridians were broader and denser, while the power of his physical body and bones had also progressed significantly.

Within his sea of consciousness in the head, the spiritual power vortex had grown terrifyingly more formidable by several fractions, and even the soul lake beneath it had been expanded by nearly a third once again. Countless towering giant waves roared and lashed violently into the skies as the spiritual power vortex swept across.

Clenching his fists, Gu Xiaopang felt a power even greater than the one before his alchemy session residing within his body, and he smiled happily.

Immediately afterward, he cast his gaze around in a circle, cupped his fists, and bowed deeply to all the mysterious beasts that had fought for him or alongside him.

"Roar..."

"Screech..."

Every single one of the million-plus mysterious beasts raised its head and stretched its neck, responding in kind through their own unique ways.

"Alright, you brat, along with this lass, come with us. As for the rest of you, return to your respective territories."

With this single sentence from the leading mysterious beast grand demon, the million-plus mysterious beasts began to retrace their steps back to their respective domains, a vast and mighty procession yet remarkably orderly.

A massive wing several meters long and wide flicked, hoisting Gu Xiaopang and Bai Ling'er onto its back.

As the feathers flapped, the sparse ancient vegetation lingering around the battlefield snapped in response, flying far away. The fifth-tier roc took flight, followed closely by the Earth Demonic Bear King at its side, moving as fast as lightning.

The group of mysterious beast magnates officially set off, returning toward the distant Mysterious Beast Forest in the Central Region.

Gu Xiaopang's heart was stirred with intense excitement, and Bai Ling'er was equally consumed by curiosity.

......

Meanwhile, back at the Misty Sect.

From the dozen or so magnates at the top down to the tens of thousands of ordinary sect members, everyone had halted all their tasks during the great battle within the Endless Forest, paying rapt attention to every development.

When word finally arrived that Gu Xiaopang had schemed to slaughter that shameless expert of the mid-stage Tribulation Crossing realm, the entire Misty Sect erupted in a frenzy.

Especially shortly thereafter, when news spread that the Eastern Region's premier faction, the Soul Devouring Sect, had been utterly annihilated, every single member of the Misty Sect felt an indescribable surge of elation.

Although Gu Xiaopang had already been struck from the Misty Sect's roster, to many, many members of the sect, he remained their Young Sect Master.

Their very own Young Sect Master had first accomplished the unprecedented feat of refining a spiritual artifact, then incited a million-strong beast tide, and subsequently gone berserk to slaughter ten thousand foes single-handedly. He had even forged the myth of a Golden Core realm cultivator slaying a Tribulation Crossing expert, and through his own isolated scheming, had completely brought about the downfall of the entire Soul Devouring Sect...

Every member of the Misty Sect felt immensely proud of this.

Among the tens of thousands of sect members, there was no shortage of clever individuals. As the sequence of events flashed through their minds, they had already roughly deduced why things had evolved to this state. In their hearts, they felt not only profound admiration for Gu Xiaopang, but also deep, lingering sentiment.

These individuals—whether elders, stewards, or disciples—understood the truth themselves, yet none of them ever truly exposed it.

As for the external factions, they had naturally grasped the Misty Sect's stance from the very beginning. Thus, the pretext put forth by the Misty Sect at the time was truly nothing more than a pretext.

Yet regarding this, countless factions understood in their hearts that whether the Misty Sect's expulsion of Gu Xiaopang was genuine or merely a convenient excuse, the action was a resounding proclamation to the entire continent: Gu Xiaopang was Gu Xiaopang, and the Misty Sect was the Misty Sect. No one should dare to trouble the Misty Sect on Gu Xiaopang's account. Otherwise, not only would they lack a righteous justification, but the two spiritual artifacts alone were sufficient to deter them, preventing the situation from reaching a complete rupture.

The great battle had concluded, and First Supreme Elder Nangong Hongbo returned to the sect at the earliest opportunity.

Following another round of deliberations, the large-scale artifact-refining grand event—which Gu Xiaopang had initiated but had to interrupt halfway—was organized once again. This time, the masters of the various pavilions personally oversaw and jointly hosted it, even descending to the grounds to work themselves.

In the days that followed, the vigorous artifact refinement completely reclaimed the attention of the entire sect's members. Batch after batch of superior and top-grade precious tools, along with countless artifacts of various grades, were forged and rapidly inscribed with patterns by the members of the Formation Pavilion.

Gu Xiaopang had utilized every single drop of essence liquid remaining after impurities were stripped from all the scrap materials he had acquired by spending over forty million spiritual stones. Successfully refining precious tools and magical artifacts with a total value of no less than one hundred and fifty million spiritual stones,

he genuinely elevated the overall strength of the entire Misty Sect by more than a notch. Coupled with the massive stockpiles subsequently contributed by the Misty Sect's magnates, nearly everyone was re-equipped from head to toe.

As for Gu Xiaopang's private territory in the central region of the Southern Domain:

Because they had genuinely experienced Gu Xiaopang's monstrous intellect and his merciless, vengeful temperament, the Asura Mansion did not immediately repossess his private lands.

In fact, in the eyes of the Asura Mansion's magnates at this moment, taking the initiative to guard Gu Xiaopang's private territory—or rather, guarding the Misty Sect's private territory—wasn't that simply an indirect way of showing goodwill to Gu Xiaopang? It would demonstrate their trustworthiness while allowing them to sell a favor without losing their dignity. Once Gu Xiaopang truly matured, could the Asura Mansion possibly lack benefits?!

After all, their Asura Mansion still possessed several damaged spiritual artifacts eagerly awaiting repair.

Therefore, the magnates of the Asura Mansion were all daydreaming, imagining the day when their own damaged spiritual artifacts were fully repaired. By then, even if they were asked to lock horns with the Supreme Shrine, what difficulty would there be, and what was there to fear?

After all, possessing an additional intact spiritual artifact was equivalent, to a certain degree, to having the foundation of a Great Completion realm ancestor. They simply could not afford to take this lightly.

......

Following the procession of mysterious beast magnates, the deeper they ventured, the more oppressive the coercive aura became.

Back in the Southern Domain's Endless Forest, fifth-tier beasts could be counted on one's fingers. However, after passing the Myriad-Year Ancient Sophora and each bowing or nodding to Elder Sophora in turn, they officially stepped into the territory of the Central Region's Mysterious Beast Forest. Here, the auras of fifth-tier powerhouses were countless, and the auras of sixth-tier grand figures also began to multiply.

Amidst Gu Xiaopang's shock and curiosity, the arm guard hidden invisibly beneath the skin of his left arm suddenly trembled slightly. Moreover, the deeper they traveled, the more violently the arm guard vibrated.

"Master, what is this situation?"

"There must be other components of the God of War set deep within the Mysterious Beast Forest. Each component should have the function of sensing the others within a certain distance."

"Doesn't that mean......?"

"Calm your mind first, you brat. We don't know the actual situation regarding that component. If you act rashly and offend the mysterious beasts again, you truly will become the public enemy of the entire world."

"Rest assured, Master, this kid understands."

Sure enough, as Gu Xiaopang drew closer to the deepest core alongside the group of mysterious beast magnates, the sensing intensity of the arm guard grew even more violent. Fortunately, Gu Xiaopang had already bound it as his master and nurtured it for quite some time, allowing him to suppress it; otherwise, it would inevitably have drawn the attention of the mysterious beast magnates.

Along the way, the grand figures had remained silent.

By this point, it was still the same.

Not until they reached a deeper area where a region isolated by dense fog came into view did they officially arrive at their destination.

With a shake of the fifth-tier roc's body, Gu Xiaopang and Bai Ling'er plummeted directly into the foggy zone.

Fortunately, knowing that the mysterious beast magnates held no malice toward them, the two of them felt no fear despite their confusion over this action.

"Starting today, Gu Changqing shall be the deputy head instructor for all of you!"

"Anyone who feels they have made progress may seek out the deputy head instructor for a spar!"

"Roar, roar, roar, roar!..."

Before Gu Xiaopang could even process where the voice had come from or what these words meant, his figure was surrounded by no less than several thousand juvenile mysterious beasts. Alu and A'mei were actually among them, even blinking at him with a human-like expression.

Instantly realizing the situation, Gu Xiaopang muttered inwardly that he had been tricked by the old fellow.

Bai Ling'er was likewise caught within the circle, but seeing Gu Xiaopang's suddenly drooping head, her melodious, peerless laughter rang out once again.

......

Once the juvenile mysterious beasts had all paid their respects to their big brother, Gu Xiaopang's days became quite colorful.

That very day, Gu Xiaopang and Bai Ling'er chose a dense giant tree canopy, constructing two simple little wooden huts on a large tree fork—one for each of them.

The huts were crude, but fortunately, the floor plan was quite spacious, leaving plenty of room for each of them inside.

Toward evening, a fourth-tier beautiful maiden who had long since been able to transform into human form came knocking.

She appeared to be seventeen or eighteen years old, her beauty almost on par with Bai Ling'er's, yet possessing an entirely different grace.

Her facial features were delicate and exquisite, draped in emerald gauze, with skin as flawless and bright as the autumn moon. Her slender, jade-like hands were casually clasped behind her back, a smile resting at the corners of her lips.

"Oh, it's you?!"

"Hehe, why couldn't it be me?"

"Hahaha, it can, it definitely has to... Well, long time no see!"

The beauty exchanged simple pleasantries with Gu Xiaopang and, without waiting for an invitation, walked right into the wooden hut.

Gu Xiaopang awkwardly scratched the back of his head. Just then, Bai Ling'er, hearing the commotion from the adjacent hut, opened her door and stepped out.

Inside the compact yet decent-sized wooden hut, there was no bed and no table; only a few low protruding tree stumps served as temporary stools.

"Welcome to my home."

The beauty wanted to correct her statement to "I should be welcoming you to my home," but suddenly realized that the beauty opposite her was a mysterious beast, which indeed meant she had entered someone else's dwelling.

"Back at the Zijin Imperial Capital, you saved my life, but we parted in a rush. Let's make a formal introduction now. My name is Lu Xinyou."

"You can just call me Xinyou. By the way, Deputy Head Instructor, I happen to be your direct superior—the head instructor here, hehe."

"What? You're the head instructor? ...Then what are your primary responsibilities?"

"Me? I mainly manage order. On ordinary days, whichever little fellow dares to slack off... I'm the one who supervises them."

"Ah, I know. You mean you're the discipline committee member."

"Discipline committee member? What's that? Is it an official title?"

"Oh, a slip of the tongue. Never mind that. I just want to ask, why is my role as deputy head instructor reduced to being nothing more than a punching bag?"

"As for that, I heard from the elders that you are exceptionally resilient and proficient in all eight elemental attributes, making you the most suitable candidate to test their cultivation progress."

"Can I choose not to be this deputy head instructor or whatever?"

"You certainly can! As long as you can break through the dense fog of this place, you're free to go!"

Hearing this, Gu Xiaopang's eyes instantly lit up, and a smile surfaced on his face once again, though no matter how one looked at it, it resembled a sly grin.

In truth, Gu Xiaopang was thinking to himself: *Who does this young master think he is? If I can't even break through this lousy fog, how could I ever hope to make it in the outside world?!*

Therefore, not long after Lu Xiaoyou's voice faded, Gu Xiaopang zipped forward in a flash, dashing toward the distant fog.

"Thud!"

"Ouch!"

"Thud!"

"Ah, my head!"

"Thud!"

"Hiss, that hurts like hell!"

Having tried countless methods and suffered countless beatings in return, Gu Xiaopang—whose physical body was immensely powerful—was left bruised and battered, his face slightly distorted.

After staring blankly for a long time, Gu Xiaopang finally snapped back to reality. With a bitter smile, he began mentally preparing himself for the miserable routine of his future daily life.

Most likely, from now on, he would be treated like a punching bag by countless juvenile mysterious beasts and beaten to a pulp every single day.

Sigh, what a bitter life this was.

......