Chapter Five: Senior Brother, Please Open the Door
"Have you heard? Ouyang Shuai and the other six mountain lords’ grandsons were all beaten up in a single day."
"Are you serious? Who could be that formidable?"
"Not only did I hear about it—when Gu Xiaoping and the others were getting thrashed, I was right there watching!"
"You mean Gu Changqing? Impossible, isn’t he just recovering and still at the third stage?"
...
Within a day, the news that the chubby Gu Changqing had pounded the six brothers spread like wildfire, from ten to a hundred, reaching every ear. No one doubted it, nor did it need any proof.
For the six brothers, though their injuries weren’t severe, lying in bed for a few days was inevitable.
"Zhang Dahut, come over here, your brother needs a word with you."
"You’ve got guts, Nie Xiaolong. Didn’t get enough of a beating last time, did you? Watch how I deal with you!"
...
With fists and feet flying, the two were soon tangled in a brawl.
"Gentlemen, I have top-grade healing salves. Apply them for a moment and you’ll recover. Interested in some?"
...
"Liuxia Hui, come here, your brother needs a word with you."
"Damn it, Yang Buju, your whole family’s Liuxia Hui! You still owe me for snatching my wild spirit ginseng last time. This time, I’ll take back with interest!"
"Take my Floating Cloud Palm!"
...
A chorus of cries and shouts, strips of fabric fluttering...
After the match, the two stood panting heavily, glaring at each other, as if neither had the strength to lift a hand again.
"Haha, both my dear brothers are here. I have some supreme energy-replenishing pills..."
"You there—come over here, your brother needs a word with you."
...
With a single phrase, Gu Changqing’s call resonated throughout the outer sect!
Even many disciples who had entered the inner sect took it as a trend; with this phrase, a storm would surely brew, and someone would inevitably be flattened...
From then on, the usually low-ranking, low-talent disciples of the Main Peak’s Pill Pavilion became hot commodities among the outer sect, since they could always concoct all sorts of remedies perfectly suited to their fellows’ needs...
Unnoticed, all the lower-ranking disciples of the Main Peak’s Pill Pavilion had successfully latched onto Gu Changqing, who became the thigh everyone clung to. Even those who had formerly been hostile because he snatched Mu Wan’er away found the chubby Gu surprisingly agreeable; all past grievances dissipated like smoke.
Returning to the courtyard behind the Fifth Peak Lord’s hall, Gu Changqing sprawled indolently beneath the ancient bodhi tree, in his grandfather’s favorite vine chair, holding the purple jade spirit flask his grandfather was usually reluctant to use, sipping icy spiritual nectar from time to time.
The scene was oddly harmonious.
"Those guys all had cultivation one or two stages higher than mine, yet they couldn’t beat me. Looks like your chubby lord is pretty impressive after all!"
Whether it was his good mood or something else, Gu Changqing, quite unconsciously, didn’t mind calling himself chubby—a word he usually avoided.
Once his self-admiration passed, Gu Changqing returned to a serious state, pondering that his cultivation was still lacking. If he could reach the same stage as those fellows, perhaps he could even challenge the high-stage disciples of the outer sect.
Normally, the high-stage outer sect disciples were either at the martial arena or in the cultivation chambers, rarely mingling with lower-stage juniors.
The annual outer sect competition was three months away. Anyone hoping to advance to Foundation Establishment or win a top-three spot to enter the inner sect would not waste their precious time.
"Brother Bao, open up, your junior has business with you!"
Gu Changqing arrived early outside the cultivation chamber of a seventh-stage senior, calling out.
Brother Bao, finishing his practice and opening the door, looked at Gu Changqing in confusion.
"What is it, little brother?"
"Actually, nothing big—I’d like to challenge you one-on-one."
"A duel? With me?"
...
Already bruised and battered, Gu Changqing took another palm strike to the chest from Brother Bao, nearly disrupting his internal energy, breathing raggedly.
He thought, it’s more interesting to challenge the higher stages.
Recalling the beast technique he’d learned from the unnamed martial arts scroll, the Earth Demon Bear Palm should counter Brother Bao’s Bone-crushing Palm head-on.
He instantly stepped forward, stomping hard—the flagstones cracked beneath his feet. Launching into the air, he executed the Earth Demon Bear Palm with unstoppable momentum, striking directly at Brother Bao’s incoming palm...
As Gu Changqing had become a rising star in the outer sect, dozens of disciples followed him when they saw him heading to the cultivation chamber. When they realized he was challenging a high-stage senior, they nearly burst out laughing—especially when Brother Bao, taking it seriously, sent Gu Changqing stumbling with a forceful palm. They were convinced he was intentionally seeking trouble.
But then, as they watched Gu Changqing, like a demon bear, soar and strike with his palm, their jaws nearly dropped.
"What martial art is that?"
"Earth Demon Bear Palm."
"Did your grandfather, Lord Gu, teach you?"
"No, I learned it from an unnamed beast martial arts scroll in the scripture library."
"Beast martial arts? Unnamed?"
...
Brother Bao, forced back several steps by the direct hit, was incredulous.
His peak-strength palm was neutralized by a junior three stages below him, and he even suffered a hidden loss.
What stunned him further was that the palm technique was from that unnamed beast martial arts scroll in the scripture library, which he himself had ignored countless times.
"Is that martial art really so powerful?"
"I’ve flipped through it before, but many of its moves seemed vulgar, so I tossed it aside."
"Humans using beast techniques—is it really that effective?"
...
The lucky spectators discussed excitedly...
At midday, after a hearty meal and with the help of a recovery pill, Gu Changqing returned to peak form and headed straight back to the cultivation chambers.
A crowd of attentive lower-stage disciples, larger than before, surged after him like a wave.
"Brother Chai, open up, your junior has business with you."
...
After a flying kick, Gu Changqing rolled on the ground several times, utterly covered in dust.
Brother Chai, at the eighth stage, was clearly stronger than Brother Bao at the seventh.
Gu Changqing paused, ceasing his attempt to rise, instead lying prone. His left foot stood like a needle, aiming straight for Brother Chai’s chest as he reached down to grab him.
Brother Chai, with solid combat experience, guarded his chest with his palm and lifted his knee to counter the unfavorable position.
Gu Changqing, achieving nothing with his first move, pushed off with his right foot, slid half a meter forward, and caught Brother Chai mid-air, grabbing his feet and pulling him down.
Opportunity struck again. Gu Changqing, whose left foot had stayed raised, concentrated his energy and struck true, landing a direct hit on Brother Chai’s chest...
"What martial art are you using?"
"Unnamed beast technique from the scripture library..."
Everyone was speechless once more...
"Brother Gai, open up, your junior has business with you..."
Gu Changqing’s beast technique triumphed again, but luck was not with him this time. Against Brother Gai, who had just entered the ninth stage, the battle was utterly chaotic.
As the sun set behind the mountains, the challenge ended, and the result stunned the onlookers.
Both Gu Changqing and Brother Gai were knocked unconscious and carried off to the Pill Pavilion’s healer’s hall.