The Most Brutal Teaching (Part One)

The Most Brutal Teaching (Part One)

"Smack—smack—smack—" Li Qiye gave Zhang Yu a vicious beating. Among the three hundred disciples, Zhang Yu's cultivation was on the lower end, though he had entered the sect one or two years earlier than most of the others.

Although Zhang Yu's cultivation was shallow, he possessed the tenacity of an old ox and an unyielding spirit. The Snake-Beating Cudgel lashed mercilessly across his body, leaving him aching all over, his sinews and bones feeling as though they had been flayed apart. He could barely even stand.

Yet Zhang Yu resisted again and again. Even knowing such resistance was futile, he still crawled back to his feet time after time—only to be beaten flat by Li Qiye time after time.

Li Qiye had deliberately set out to test him this time, whipping Zhang Yu viciously again and again. Though not a single blow drew blood, each one hurt Zhang Yu so badly that every bone in his body seemed shattered.

Anyone else would have long since lain motionless on the ground, but Zhang Yu kept climbing back up, again and again resisting Li Qiye's ruthless blows.

"Smack—smack—smack—" The cudgel struck Zhang Yu one blow after another. The sound of the beating made the disciples present shudder in fright, and many went pale, feeling that Li Qiye had gone too far with Zhang Yu.

The first three times, Li Qiye had stopped once he knocked someone to the ground. But this time, he seemed determined to make things difficult for Zhang Yu, beating him viciously again and again. Zhang Yu rose again and again, only to be knocked back down by Li Qiye again and again.

In the end, Zhang Yu was beaten until he could no longer rise. Though there was no wound on him and no blood, his whole body spasmed, his limbs curled up, and he trembled from the pain. Cold sweat the size of soybeans streamed down his face, which had turned deathly pale. It was clear just how much agony he was in.

Seeing Zhang Yu's fate, many disciples began trembling, their hearts crawling with dread. Even more of the female disciples could not bear to watch and dared not look.

"An unyielding spirit. Very good." Li Qiye glanced at Zhang Yu, curled up on the ground, and said calmly, "If I were unhappy, I would not stoop to venting my anger on small fry like you. Taking ten thousand steps back, if I wanted to lay hands on you, I could think of three to five hundred inhuman methods to torture you at any time!"

Li Qiye said this not only for Zhang Yu to hear, but for every disciple present.

"You—" After thoroughly beating Zhang Yu, Li Qiye casually pointed the Snake-Beating Cudgel at a disciple. "Step out."

The disciple Li Qiye had singled out felt his hair stand on end, his legs trembling uncontrollably. Yet under Li Qiye's tyrannical intimidation, he had no choice but to step forward.

"Do you know why I'm beating you?" Li Qiye looked at the disciple and asked with a smile.

At that moment, Li Qiye's smile looked even more terrifying to the disciple than a demon's grin. His legs shook, chills rose all over his body, and he could barely speak. Stammering, he said, "I-it's because we... we offended Senior Brother..."

"Wrong—" Li Qiye said with a smile. "Fight back..." As he spoke, the Snake-Beating Cudgel in his hand lashed out again.

"Smack—smack—smack—" The disciple was beaten badly by Li Qiye and began howling miserably.

"Next." Li Qiye casually pointed at another disciple and gave him another savage beating, whipping him until he lay on the ground, unable to get back up.

For a time, wails rose and fell throughout the valley. Under the Snake-Beating Cudgel, one disciple after another suffered disaster.

"Tell me, do you know why I'm beating you?" Li Qiye beat a disciple until there was nowhere left for him to run. The disciple could only resign himself to fate. Li Qiye whipped him until his face was bruised and swollen, and in the end, he simply gave up resisting, clasped his hands over his head, and let Li Qiye strike him mercilessly.

"N-no, I don't know..." The disciple could only count himself unlucky. He gave more than ten answers, yet not one of them made Li Qiye stop.

"E-elder Brother's every strike... sh-shatters the flaws in our techniques. Or... perhaps Elder Brother is t-testing the defects in our cultivation arts." At that moment, a timid voice sounded.

The instant he heard that voice, Li Qiye stopped. He immediately turned around and looked toward it. The one who had spoken was a female disciple Li Qiye vaguely remembered, with large eyes and a somewhat timid demeanor.

The female disciple was delicate and pretty. One glance at her manner was enough to tell that she was not bold by nature. As Li Qiye's fierce gaze fell upon her, the large-eyed female disciple instinctively took a step back, sweat forming in her palms. The senior sisters beside her could not help worrying for her and gently tugged at her.

"You, come out." Li Qiye pointed at the large-eyed, timid-looking female disciple and said with a smile.

The large-eyed, timid-looking female disciple was badly frightened and slowly shuffled out. The sight was rather amusing. Li Qiye was only a boy of thirteen or fourteen, while the young woman before him was clearly older than he was.

Yet before Li Qiye, the large-eyed, timid-looking female disciple crept forward as if she were a little lamb facing a big gray wolf.

"Tell me, why am I beating you?" Li Qiye looked at the female disciple with a smiling face, while her complexion turned pale and she did not dare come closer.

The large-eyed, timid-looking female disciple was truly afraid of Li Qiye and could not help taking another step back. The scene made Li Qiye seem like some wicked young master who specialized in bullying kind-hearted maidservants.

In the end, the female disciple gritted her teeth and said in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz, "I-I think that every one of Senior Brother's strikes... sh-shatters the flaws in our moves. S-Senior Brother may be testing the defects in our cultivation arts."

Having said that, the large-eyed, timid-looking female disciple glanced at Li Qiye without much confidence, then quickly lowered her head again. She truly was afraid of him.

Just as the female disciple thought Li Qiye was about to fly into a rage, he instead asked leisurely, "What is your name?"

"X-Xu Pei." The large-eyed female disciple's scalp tingled beneath Li Qiye's gaze. She was older than Li Qiye, but when he looked at her, she felt as though a primordial savage beast had fixed its eyes on her.

"Xu Pei, Junior Sister Xu." Li Qiye said with a smile, "I have good news for you. You are very lucky—you guessed correctly."

As soon as Li Qiye said this, many of the disciples present froze. Xu Pei, meanwhile, was overjoyed inside. She had finally escaped disaster.

"From now on, you are Senior Sister. The three hundred disciples of Wash Stone Valley will all be led by you." Li Qiye spoke unhurriedly. "However, now it is your turn to make a move."

Li Qiye's sudden appointment left all the disciples stunned. Xu Pei was stunned as well, but not because of the appointment—it was because of Li Qiye's last sentence.

"S-Senior Brother, I... I guessed your question correctly. D-doesn't that mean I don't have to be beaten?" Xu Pei finally gathered her courage and asked timidly.

Li Qiye narrowed his eyes and said with a smile, "You did guess correctly, but I never said I would let you off. I am a very fair person. I have always treated everyone equally." To Xu Pei, Li Qiye's smiling face was even more terrifying than a big gray wolf.

In the end, Xu Pei had no choice but to gather her courage and fight back. As she made her move, she could not help saying timidly, "S-Senior Brother, d-don't hit my face, a-all right...?"

Beauty was in a woman's nature, even for cultivators. Although Li Qiye's Snake-Beating Cudgel could strike without leaving wounds, having one's face beaten black and blue was still a torment for any girl.

"I can consider it." Li Qiye said with a smile. Yet his Snake-Beating Cudgel was already lashing toward her face.

Xu Pei was greatly alarmed. She immediately stepped through the sect's footwork and dodged the Snake-Beating Cudgel aimed at her face. But the cudgel clung to her like a maggot to the bone; the moment she evaded it, it lashed at her again.

Xu Pei was horrified. Again and again, she used the footwork of the Washing Yan Ancient Sect to evade, yet Li Qiye pursued her until she had nowhere to flee.

"If you keep running away, do you believe I'll beat that pretty little face of yours into a pig's head?" Li Qiye's demonic voice rang out.

Those words frightened Xu Pei badly. She no longer dared evade and immediately turned to face him. With a sharp cry, the longsword in her hand swept out, slashing at Li Qiye.

With a bang, Li Qiye mercilessly struck Xu Pei's delicate shoulder with his cudgel. The pain brought tears streaming from her eyes, as if her shoulder were about to shatter.

"This move, One Sword Sweeps Dust, is one degree too weak in force, making it vulnerable to a single blow. One Sword Sweeps Dust—its move must live up to its name: hard yet dense!" Li Qiye struck Xu Pei's delicate shoulder viciously with his cudgel, making her nearly cry from pain, yet he continued speaking with a smile.

"Again—" Li Qiye ignored Xu Pei's pitiful state, his smiling expression utterly ruthless. "In a fight to the death, you need not only a mind meticulous as dust, but also courage as vast as the sky. When enemies meet on a narrow road, the brave win! Your heart is like a bright mirror, able to discern the finest detail, but you lack the courage and resolve to fight to the bitter end, to battle until death!"

Li Qiye was guiding Xu Pei. He was not only pointing out the flaws in her moves, but also correcting her weaknesses in actual combat!

Xu Pei could only endure the pain and fight again. With a sharp cry, her sword net spread like the sea as she counterattacked Li Qiye under his cold rebukes.

With a bang, Li Qiye struck her waist viciously with his cudgel and said flatly, "What this move, Sword Vast as the Sea, lacks is grandeur. The essence of this move lies in the word 'vast'! Vast and righteous qi!"

"Bang—" Again and again, Li Qiye shattered Xu Pei's flaws, instructing her move by move. "This move, Southern Swallow Returns to Nest, has been practiced well, but do not grow complacent. Your mastery is still lacking by a little. If your mastery were one degree more refined, you could shift its flaw in an instant..."

Li Qiye had studied all the cultivation arts and moves practiced by the disciples of Wash Stone Valley. In truth, the cultivation arts and moves practiced by the three hundred disciples of Wash Stone Valley were limited, and most of those cultivation arts had been left behind in the Washing Yan Ancient Sect by Li Qiye himself. Some had even been created by Li Qiye for Immortal Emperor Mingren to practice.