"You've gone too far!"
Fang Chen glared at Cao Bin and Tian Hu's retreating backs, grinding his teeth in fury.
He had never expected the two of them to be so vicious.
But right now, there was nothing he could do.
"Just you wait! One day, I'll get my revenge!"
Clutching his chest, Fang Chen slowly rose from the ground. Tian Hu's two kicks had been brutal, and pain still throbbed through his chest.
Only after Tian Hu and Cao Bin had gone did he summon the Floating Immortal Sword and continue chopping bamboo.
He knew Cao Bin and the others would seize the bamboo he cut down. Still, he kept working. In his present situation, he had no choice but to yield.
If he failed to cut down another two stalks of Exquisite Bamboo before dark, Cao Bin would certainly have the other menial workers teach him a harsh lesson when he returned.
There was another reason, too: he wanted to grow stronger.
Cao Bin and the others might steal the bamboo, but they could not steal the energy he absorbed from the Floating Immortal Sword while chopping it.
Cao Bin was cunning as a fox. By demanding another two stalks before dark, he had denied Fang Chen even a moment to catch his breath, wringing labor from him like a beast of burden.
At Dragon Tiger Mountain, his status was the lowest of the low. Anyone in a bad mood could curse him or even slap him a few times.
Why did they all bully him?
In the end, it was because he was weak.
Strength!
In this world, where the strong reigned supreme, strength was everything. Only when he grew stronger would others stop daring to bully him.
Fang Chen imagined the Exquisite Bamboo before him was Cao Bin, and his sword swung with even greater force. Fueled by hatred, each strike seemed to draw a little more energy from the Floating Immortal Sword into his body.
With the Floating Immortal Sword's help, Fang Chen could cut down at least three stalks of Exquisite Bamboo in two hours if he gave it his all.
But he did not do that.
He watched the time and spent the remaining hours chopping rocks instead.
Two hours later, Fang Chen cut down another stalk of Exquisite Bamboo. He could clearly feel that he had grown stronger.
It's only been a few hours, and my strength has already improved this much!
If I keep this up for a month, a year, or even several years, how strong will I become? Could I match a cultivator in the Qi Refining Realm by then?
Fang Chen wondered about it. He knew cultivators in the Qi Refining Realm possessed Mana and could cast spells. They were far stronger than ordinary people.
Mana was also called True Qi or Internal Force. The Savage World was vast, and people in different places used different names for the same thing.
He activated his Identity Token, and Cao Bin soon arrived with Tian Hu.
Cao Bin did not dare claim the Exquisite Bamboo under his own name. He had brought Tian Hu so they could record it under Tian Hu's name, then divide the spoils when they returned.
Fang Chen timed it so that he cut down the third stalk just before sunset.
By the time they returned to the foot of the mountain, darkness had fallen completely.
The menial workers sat by the door waiting for dinner, each of them looking half-dead with exhaustion.
Fang Chen was different. With the Floating Immortal Sword's help, the more he chopped, the more energy he had.
Of course, he put on an equally exhausted appearance.
All the menial workers from Dragon Tiger Mountain spent the night at Thousand Bamboo Ridge.
Thousand Bamboo Ridge had menial workers of its own. Their usual duties included tending the ridge, digging bamboo shoots, planting bamboo, gathering bamboo rice, catching bamboo worms, chopping bamboo, and making various items from it.
Though Thousand Bamboo Ridge had dozens of menial workers, they were all old, weak, sick, or disabled. The price of Exquisite Bamboo had soared recently, and the Glazed Sword Sect wanted to seize the chance to harvest more of it for sale. That was why the workers from Dragon Tiger Mountain had been sent over to help.
They were paid for their help, of course. During their stay, the people of Thousand Bamboo Ridge covered their food and lodging.
Everyone ate dinner together. With the workers of Thousand Bamboo Ridge watching, Cao Bin and the others from Dragon Tiger Mountain restrained themselves and did not make things difficult for Fang Chen.
After enduring constant oppression at Dragon Tiger Mountain, Fang Chen finally got to sit at the table and eat with everyone that night. He even had the braised pork he had dreamed of.
After dinner, everyone sharpened their blades. Then they jumped into the lake not far from the dormitory to bathe before sitting by the dormitory door and swapping tall tales.
Fang Chen could not get a word in.
He sat quietly and listened. Most of their talk was about women.
Whenever the women of the Spring Breeze Pavilion came up, they all grew excited.
The Spring Breeze Pavilion was a building in the market. It was full of lovely young women, all skilled at singing, dancing, and playing instruments.
Listening to the menial workers discuss relations between men and women, the inexperienced Fang Chen could not help yearning for them too.
Just as the conversation reached its liveliest point, a brilliant purple light shot into the sky to the southeast. An immense wave of energy followed.
"Rumble!"
The earth shook violently.
"What's happening?"
"Such a powerful surge of Spiritual Power!"
"That looks like Zixiao Peak!"
"What on earth happened?"
Everyone looked up at the purple pillar of light piercing the sky.
Fang Chen felt a slight warmth in his palm. Looking down, he saw it giving off a faint green glow.
The beam lasted about ten breaths before gradually fading. The Floating Immortal Sword Seal on Fang Chen's palm fell still again.
"Hahaha! Five hundred years! A full five hundred years! Zixiao Peak finally has a Saintess!"
A booming voice echoed between heaven and earth, lingering for a long time.
"What? Zixiao Peak has a Saintess?"
"Wonderful! Zixiao Peak finally has a Saintess!"
Everyone was shocked and thrilled by the announcement.
The Glazed Sword Sect had eight main peaks.
They were Crimson Rainbow Peak, Orange Sky Peak, Yellow Springs Peak, Green Support Peak, Azure Cloud Peak, Azure Abyss Peak, Zixiao Peak, and Glazed Peak.
Dragon Tiger Mountain and Thousand Bamboo Ridge both belonged to Azure Cloud Peak.
Each main peak had an Inherited Divine Sword.
Together, the eight divine swords could form the tremendously powerful Glazed Sword Array.
Glazed Peak stood above the other seven, and the Glazed Sword was the strongest of the eight divine swords.
Each divine sword held a complete inheritance.
The inheritance within a divine sword could only be grasped, never explained.
As the saying went, a thousand people meant a thousand different faces. Each person comprehended something different from the divine swords. It was like a cloud in the sky: one person might see a dog in it, while another saw a horse.
Of the eight divine swords, the Zixiao Sword was the most unusual. To this day, only women had been able to comprehend its sword techniques, so every disciple of Zixiao Peak was a woman.
The other seven divine swords could be comprehended by men and women alike.
Unfortunately, the Glazed Sword had been destroyed in a great battle ten thousand years ago, severing Glazed Peak's inheritance.
The peak that had once been the Glazed Sect's strongest had since dwindled, its talent gone and its glory faded.
The destruction of the Glazed Sword had also caused the Glazed Sword Sect's overall strength to decline steadily.
Ten thousand years ago, the Glazed Sword Sect had been a first-rate power in the Southern Barrens. Now it had fallen to the second rank, nearly at the very bottom.
Only those who cultivated a main peak's inherited arts to a certain level and gained the recognition of its Inherited Divine Sword could become a Holy Son or Saintess.
For centuries, no one at Zixiao Peak had gained the Zixiao Sword's recognition. The position of Saintess had remained vacant all that time.
Now that Zixiao Peak finally had a Saintess, it was a cause for immense celebration throughout the Glazed Sword Sect.
When they were done swapping tales, everyone went inside and crowded together on the floor mats to sleep.
Fang Chen was squeezed into a corner, without even enough room to lie flat.
Perhaps because they had worked all day, everyone soon fell asleep. Snores rose and fell around him.
Before you continue