Chapter 58: The Storyteller
“Aaah!!!” A heart-wrenching scream echoed from the adjacent room.
Chu Huaixu rose from the meditation cushion, thoroughly satisfied. He even mimicked the scream with theatrical flair in his own room: “Aaah!”
Old Chu, who had been tormented to death by this “Period Purgatory,” was now exploding with pleasure! His scalp tingled with exhilaration.
“Ah, so comfortable, so comfortable,” Chu Huaixu said with a radiant smile as he pushed open his door and headed towards the cold pond.
In the small room, Xu Ziqing lay on the ground, despondent and disbelieving.
“This Cultivation Technique is truly torturous!”
His gaze fell upon the small booklet, and a sudden realization dawned upon him.
“The two seniors on the first and second pages definitely didn’t succeed! That’s why they left behind such writings!”
“This Cultivation Technique is too difficult and torturous. Only the third senior succeeded, which is why he left behind four words—Peerless Divine Skill!” Xu Ziqing’s imagination ran wild, creating a narrative.
Strangely, the logic seemed to hold.
He had finally understood that if he couldn’t endure the pain and circulate the energy for one full cycle, all the previous suffering would have been in vain.
“No wonder Senior Brother told me to prepare myself psychologically.” He once again felt his Senior Brother’s kindness.
When Xu Ziqing thought of his family’s demise, driven by the deep-seated hatred for their murderers, he was now living solely for revenge.
He grit his teeth and began to cultivate again.
Chu Huaixu had immediately leveled up by spending experience points, achieving immediate mastery, and his pain threshold had risen accordingly.
Xu Ziqing, having achieved nothing yet, had a pain threshold no different from an ordinary person, making it even harder to bear.
The Sword Refining Art actually had the most difficult entry! Most Body Refining related Cultivation Techniques were like this.
The delicate young man transformed his deep-seated hatred into strength, persisting through the pain that almost made him faint.
Finally, he successfully circulated the energy for one full cycle. He immediately collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air.
“Did I… did I succeed?” A smile appeared on his face. Curled up on the ground, he looked somewhat pathetic.
Soon, this smile turned into a wry grimace, because his acupoints remained unmoved, still severely blocked.
The path of cultivating a False Spiritual Embryo was never easy.
“As expected, I was overconfident. I’m not some cultivation prodigy at all,” Xu Ziqing felt a wave of frustration. The sharp edges of his youth were once again smoothed by reality.
“It seems I truly am a rookie, just as Senior Brother said.” He echoed Chu Huaixu’s words, mocking himself.
With this thought, he took out the first brocade pouch from his robe.
“Senior Brother said I could open the first brocade pouch after circulating the energy for one cycle.” He was somewhat curious, wondering what brilliant strategy lay within.
Upon opening it, four words met his eyes, causing his pupils to contract.
—”If you’re weak, practice more!”
Meanwhile, Chu Huaixu had arrived by the cold pond.
“It’s starting to emit cold air?” His expression turned serious.
Previously, the cold air in the pond had been absorbed by the Secret Realm, allowing him to enter the depths with his Meridian-Opening Stage cultivation.
Now, the cold air was beginning to regenerate, leaving him with even less time.
“I need to take all the experience points from the third trial while the cold air is still sparse!” Chu Huaixu thought.
He seized the opportunity and leaped down.
The water-repelling bead took effect again, but he still felt a chill.
Moreover, the colder it got the deeper he went.
If not for his robust physique, he might have found it difficult to withstand the biting cold.
Upon entering the Secret Realm, Chu Huaixu still took the entrance to cave number seven.
Then, using the [Map] function, he moved quickly through the maze of the first trial.
Very soon, he had cleared it directly.
Reaching the eleventh fork in the road, Chu Huaixu knew that the illusion lay ahead.
He walked into it, and with a thought, the black sword, which was connected to his mind, trembled slightly.
In an instant, the surrounding illusion shattered violently, just like before, cracking like a mirror into irregular fissures.
Bright light penetrated through the gaps in the cracks, blinding him.
When everything returned to normal, he was standing in the clearing paved with bluestone slabs.
“This is already the second time.”
“I can now confirm that the illusion was broken by the [Heart Sword]!”
“This means that after seeing through the illusion in the second trial, there are still other ways to pass.”
“However, I destroyed it with a single sword strike?” Chu Huaixu speculated in his mind.
He closed his eyes and carefully sensed the small sword in his sea of consciousness again.
It had clearly just exerted its power, yet it now appeared feeble again.
Chu Huaixu did not linger there and left the clearing, which might still carry Han Shuangjiang’s scent.
He pushed open the stone door and entered the third trial.
Since there was no one around, he decided to strip before diving into the water to endure the blades.
“I can’t be ruining a set of clothes every time, can I?”
After jumping into the water, events unfolded as Chu Huaixu had predicted.
The suspended stone walls on both sides began to descend, blocking the water flow, and the underground river once again transformed into a pool.
The formation began to take effect, and water blades swept towards him.
After enduring several cuts, medicinal liquid for body tempering began to flow from the four openings.
Chu Huaixu clearly felt that the damage caused by the water blades was becoming smaller and smaller.
Having opened another acupoint, he had, in effect, successfully tempered his body once more, increasing his defensive capabilities.
As for the slight pain, it was negligible.
What disappointed him was that the experience points growth rate had also slowed down, by more than fifty percent.
“The effects of the body tempering medicinal liquid in strengthening muscles and bones are limited, after all.”
“I estimate I’m not far from its limit.”
But regardless, it was better than nothing.
Why would he be unsatisfied when swimming in a pool idly could make him stronger?
Half an hour passed quickly. Chu Huaixu swam leisurely, sometimes on his back, sometimes doing the breaststroke.
He didn’t even bother with the water blades.
When the water blades dissipated, he checked his gains for this round.
“It’s not just halved; it’s only 850 experience points.”
“However, combined with what I had left before, it’s just enough to reach level 8.” He felt content.
Chu Huaixu climbed out of the water, put on his robes, and then took out the Spirit Disk from his Storage Token and placed it on the stone pillar.
He placed his palm on the Spirit Disk, and the pointer turned to the third mark.
The stone door opened, and he entered the secret chamber again.
There was no system prompt, nor did he receive the dungeon clear reward of the [Pill King’s Token] again.
“It seems this 1000 experience points clear reward can’t be farmed repeatedly.”
“I can’t exploit it!” Chu Huaixu felt another pang of disappointment.
Currently, his only option was to return the way he came and re-enter the dungeon, solely relying on the third trial to squeeze out more experience points.
With this thought, he began to act again.
Mirror Country, Imperial Capital, Hongxiu Zhao.
Hongxiu Zhao was a famous brothel in the Imperial Capital. It was said to have originally belonged to the Dual Cultivation sect, the Joyous Sect.
However, after the demise of the Joyous Sect, Hongxiu Zhao had changed owners.
Although still a brothel, its management style had evolved.
Here, on the central high platform, a storyteller was eloquently narrating a tale.
In such a high-class establishment, there were naturally those who enjoyed refined arts.
Of course, the main reason was that this storyteller was truly excellent, able to vividly recount stories from the cultivation world.
After he finished, many people in the outer hall still tipped him.
“Your storytelling is really good, but it’s always a bit short.” A benefactor said, still wanting more.
“It’s not short, not short at all.” The storyteller smiled slightly and cupped his hands in thanks to those who gave him money.
After coming off stage, he found a corner seat in the outer hall.
His work was done; soon, girls would be performing dances on stage.
The storyteller, dressed in a white robe, took out a mirror from his chest and looked at himself intently, then adjusted the two wisps of dragon-like hair at his temples.
He was of ordinary appearance and short stature, yet he gazed at himself in the mirror with rapt attention.
At the same table sat a burly man.
His skin was dark and rough, and his hair was a bit messy, making him look like a middle-aged farmer.
The man’s ten fingers had very ugly fingernails, as if someone who habitually bit their nails had deformed them over time.
He looked helplessly at the storyteller who was constantly admiring himself in the mirror and couldn’t help but ask:
“Junior Uncle, shouldn’t we be heading back to the sect soon?”
