Chapter 7

In the main hall of Ice God Peak, Liu Ruyan sat upright in the seat of honor, her cool gaze fixed on Elder Xu Qin below.

Xu Qin did not dare raise his head. The aura Liu Ruyan unconsciously radiated was already making his legs tremble faintly.

"Is this about Lin Xuan?"

Liu Ruyan was the first to break the silence.

"Yes!"

Xu Qin hurriedly replied, "Peak Lord Liu, Lin Xuan is going to step onto the Life and Death Arena with a disciple of fifth-grade aptitude today. Considering his relationship with your beloved disciple, this junior does not know how to handle it."

"Does he still intend to use a mortal body to resist a cultivator head-on?"

Liu Ruyan's brows furrowed slightly.

"I observed that his physical condition is very strong. He should have undergone systematic training and far surpasses ordinary mortals."

Elder Xu Qin replied.

Liu Ruyan nodded lightly. Naturally, this had not escaped her notice either.

"Even so, with crippled-body aptitude, he cannot comprehend the Body Forging method in a short time, much less enter the Body Forging Realm. He is far too arrogant."

Xu Qin said nothing, tacitly agreeing.

Aptitude was the stepping stone on the path of immortality. The more outstanding one's aptitude, the smoother one's cultivation path would be.

Throughout the ages, talent and aptitude had blocked the way for who knew how many seekers of the immortal path.

The dry bones fallen upon this road were denser than the sands of the Ganges.

"Go. Let him suffer a little, enough to make him understand the cruelty of the immortal path. Hopefully, he will retreat in the face of difficulty and no longer affect Yu'er's path to immortality in the future."

In the end, Liu Ruyan left behind those words and vanished.

"Yes!"

Though Liu Ruyan had departed, Xu Qin still maintained his respectful posture as he slowly withdrew from the hall.

Meanwhile, Lin Xuan had already arrived at Servant Plaza. The servant overseer, Niu Fang, was gathering all the newly recruited servants.

Zhang Tao had long been standing at his side. The moment they saw Lin Xuan, both Zhang Tao and Niu Fang revealed cold glints in their eyes.

"Lin Xuan!"

Niu Fang called out directly.

Hearing this, Lin Xuan walked up before Niu Fang without saying a word.

Niu Fang did not mind and said directly, "From now on, your task will be raising Wild Boars at the Animal Husbandry Garden."

"Each day, you must complete one thousand jin of pig grass and slaughter twenty Wild Boars. Upon completion, you will receive 1 point of sect contribution."

"If you fail to complete your tasks three times, then you are not worthy of remaining in the Divine Firmament Holy Land."

After Niu Fang finished speaking, he turned to Zhang Tao. "Senior Brother Zhang, are you satisfied with this arrangement?"

Before Zhang Tao could answer, dense murmurs suddenly rose from all around.

"Gasp..."

"Lin Xuan is way too miserable. Raising Wild Boars is the most troublesome task. It practically leaves no time for cultivation."

"But aren't those tasks normally done by senior brothers in the Body Forging Realm? Lin Xuan only just entered the sect, same as us."

"Tsk, who told him to offend an outer sect disciple?"

"Speaking of that, doesn't he still have a Life and Death Arena challenge in a while?"

"Haha, then can't Senior Brother Zhang beat him half-crippled, leaving him unable to complete his tasks? He might even get bitten to death by a Wild Boar while slaughtering pigs afterward!"

"Gasp, the immortal path really is cruel!"

Countless people sucked in cold breaths. At that moment, all of them became exceedingly cautious.

Zhang Tao also gleaned plenty from the surrounding discussion and immediately looked at Niu Fang with immense satisfaction.

"You did well. If anything comes up in the future, you can come directly to me."

"Then many thanks to Senior Brother Zhang." Niu Fang beamed with delight.

Lin Xuan merely watched the two of them indifferently and did not refute them.

Whether Niu Fang or Zhang Tao, both had already been placed on his kill list.

The immortal path was cruel. Then he would carve out a bloody road through it.

Lin Xuan feared nothing!

"However, I wonder whether slaughtering Wild Boars can seize even more time?"

"Wild Boars possess demonic beast bloodlines. Even if they are domesticated, they are still demonic beasts at the early Body Forging Realm. I wonder how they differ from ordinary pigs."

Lin Xuan found himself inexplicably looking forward to it.

Very soon, Niu Fang assigned tasks to everyone before dismissing them.

Some of the servants headed toward their respective posts.

Of course, a portion of them remained behind to watch the excitement.

"Lin Xuan, let's go! Young Master Zhang is already waiting for you at the Life and Death Arena."

The two Clearwater Town servants following Zhang Tao came to Lin Xuan's sides, one on his left and one on his right, looking at him mockingly.

"Hehe, you slaughtered pigs in Clearwater Town, and after coming to a holy land immortal sect, you are still slaughtering pigs. Lin Xuan, Lin Xuan, you are only fit to slaughter pigs for the rest of your life."

Whoosh!

Lin Xuan suddenly struck, a bright blade flash instantly pressing against the speaker's neck.

"Do you believe I'll slaughter you like a pig right now?"

"Ma San!"

The other man cried out in alarm and shouted, "Lin Xuan, stop! Do you dare disregard the sect rules?"

At that moment, Ma San did not even dare breathe loudly. Lin Xuan's blade had already cut a slit into his neck. One fraction deeper and it would immediately sever his carotid artery.

His body trembled as the fear of death spread through his heart.

Whoosh!

Just then, Ma San felt the icy chill at his neck vanish.

The next second, Lin Xuan appeared beside Liu Qi, who had just spoken up for Ma San. That sharp blade was now pressed against Liu Qi's neck as well.

Drip!

Blood slid down the blade and dripped onto the ground.

"You, you..." Liu Qi was badly startled, his face turning deathly pale in an instant.

"In my eyes, you are no different from pigs. A pig lording it over others with a dog's backing—make sure you pick the right target, understand?"

Lin Xuan's indifferent voice entered Liu Qi's ears, his words as icy as a blade.

Neither Liu Qi nor Ma San dared speak. Their hearts were filled with extreme humiliation and fury.

Yet they dared be angry but did not dare speak!

"Cowards!"

Lin Xuan sheathed his blade, then raised his hand and delivered a resounding slap.

Smack!

Liu Qi was slapped straight to the ground.

Then Lin Xuan turned back and gave the dumbfounded Ma San another slap.

Ma San only felt his cheek burn with pain. When he touched it, it had already swollen.

"Damn it, damn it!"

"Young Master Zhang will kill him. He'll kill him."

Only after Lin Xuan had gone far away did the two release their venomous voices.

The expressions of the surrounding servants were somewhat complicated.

Lin Xuan's decisiveness had truly frightened them. They had no doubt that without the restrictions of sect rules, those two would already be cold corpses.

Lin Xuan soon arrived at the Life and Death Arena.

Zhang Tao stood atop the nearly three-hundred-square-meter Life and Death Arena, arms folded over his chest, his gaze domineering.

All around him, words filled with envy continuously rang out.

"Fifth-grade aptitude, early Body Forging Realm after only three days of entering the sect. So envious."

"Hehe... all one can say is that he truly deserves to be Senior Brother Zhang. It would be wonderful if I could cling to his thigh."

"Who wouldn't want to? Unfortunately, how could lowly servants like us get such an opportunity?"

Listening to the discussion around him, Zhang Tao's vanity was greatly satisfied.

But suddenly, his brows furrowed and a burst of fury erupted in his eyes.

Ma San and Liu Qi had gone around Lin Xuan and arrived beneath the Life and Death Arena first. Their miserable states fell fully into his eyes.

"Who did this?"

Zhang Tao asked coldly.