As Simple as Breathing

The moment that sword was mentioned, the main hall instantly fell several degrees quieter.

In the end, Sect Leader Xiang Yan was the first to speak:

"Who can say for sure whether it will acknowledge her?"

"Once her cultivation reaches the First Realm, we'll know."

"But regardless, being able to accept a disciple with a Profound Yin Physique is indeed a blessing for our Dao Sect."

"Junior Uncle has never concerned himself with worldly affairs. After wandering the world for so many years, he's finally done something practical."

Everyone wore somewhat helpless, amused expressions when they heard him mention Junior Uncle.

Ninth Elder Nangong Yue spoke up at this moment. "Since this Han Shuangjiang has a Profound Yin Physique, what about this Chu Huai Xu who came up the mountain with her?"

As soon as she said this, everyone turned their eyes toward Li Chunsong, their gazes full of curiosity.

For this young man to be chosen by Junior Uncle alongside someone with a Profound Yin Physique, he definitely had something exceptional about him.

Fifth Elder Zhao Shuqi began urging him on. "Sixth Junior Brother, stop keeping us in suspense. Nobody's buying it. Hurry up and tell us!"

Standing in the center of the main hall, Li Chunsong seemed to want to speak but hesitated. In the end, he merely sighed and raised his hand.

"Him? It's better not to mention him! Better not mention him!"

The crowd exchanged glances, looking at one another in bewilderment.

First Elder Lu Pan's brows furrowed deeply, making his forehead wrinkles look even deeper. His tone was displeased. "Sixth, if I tell you to speak, then speak!"

Among all the senior and junior brothers, everyone feared Senior Brother Lu Pan except Junior Sister Chu Yinyin. Even Sect Leader Xiang Yan, who was now the sect leader, actually feared him deep down.

Li Chunsong immediately smiled obsequiously and rubbed his hands together. "Senior Brother, it's not that I'm unwilling to explain. It's just that there's truly... nothing to explain!"

"Anyway, based on the current situation, he should be a Pseudo-Spirit Fetus." Sixth Elder spread his hands.

"What do you mean, 'should be'?" Lu Pan continued frowning. As someone who had always been serious and exacting, he was very dissatisfied with this ambiguous answer.

"Because I don't know why Junior Uncle sent someone with a Pseudo-Spirit Fetus up the mountain. Besides, you haven't seen this kid. Let me tell you, he's incredibly handsome, and he's tall too." Li Chunsong narrowed his eyes, as if he were recounting something of earth-shattering importance.

"What!?" The Dao Sect bigwigs present were genuinely startled.

The reason was simple: they understood their Junior Uncle far too well.

Junior Uncle had quite a few minor flaws.

One of them was that he was jealous!

He wasn't tall, and his looks were ordinary, yet he fancied himself a romantic charmer.

He didn't like overly handsome men, especially tall and handsome ones.

Why had Sect Leader Xiang Yan been so highly valued by Junior Uncle back then?

They had privately speculated about it. Second Senior Brother was ugly to this extent, and he was even bald. Those were definitely all bonus points.

Under these circumstances, for someone like Chu Huai Xu, a Pseudo-Spirit Fetus, to still be chosen by Junior Uncle, there had to be something astonishing about him!

This alone made them faintly more curious and attentive toward Chu Huai Xu than toward Han Shuangjiang, the holder of a Profound Yin Physique!

Sect Leader Xiang Yan asked with concern, "You've arranged all the admission procedures, right? And you've chosen his Aperture Opening Stage Cultivation Method?"

Nangong Yue added from the side, "For a Profound Yin Physique, I remember the best match is the 'Ice Purity Art,' right?"

Li Chunsong waved his hand, looking somewhat helpless. "How could I not know to choose the 'Ice Purity Art'? It's such a small matter. Of course I handled it properly. Rest easy."

"But for this Chu Huai Xu, I imagine even you can't recommend anything, right?" He raised his brows.

Hearing this, everyone was unable to refute him.

A Pseudo-Spirit Fetus, after all. Anything they chose would be the same.

Even if Junior Uncle came, he would have no idea where to begin.

It was too difficult. This question was far too difficult!

"Ahem. It's only the Aperture Opening Stage. It won't hurt anything. Once he officially steps through the gate of cultivation and attempts to enter the First Realm, we can discuss it properly and choose a new Cultivation Technique for him." Xiang Yan settled the matter with finality.

At this, everyone nodded one after another.

Seeing that he had laid enough groundwork, Li Chunsong began rubbing his hands together again in the center of the main hall.

"I reckon they're already cultivating separately in their rooms."

"Everyone seems to be in high spirits today. A small bet can add some fun. How about we bet on something?" He rubbed his hands together even more vigorously.

As the Enforcement Elder, Lu Pan immediately snorted. "Sixth Elder, a nation has its laws, and a sect has its rules. Our Dao Sect has never encouraged such behavior. Sect rule seventeen states that privately arranging a bet incurs a fine of one hundred silver taels, while every participant is fined fifty."

"Don't break the rules!"

Hearing this, Sixth Elder Li Chunsong immediately smiled. "I understand, I understand."

As he spoke, he took one hundred silver taels' worth of banknotes from his Storage Token, walked over to Lu Pan, and offered them up with both hands.

The Enforcement Elder stared at him with a stern expression, then swept his gaze across everyone in the main hall.

One banknote after another was taken from Storage Tokens, wrapped in Spiritual Power, and floated onto his desk.

Now it was everyone else's turn to stare at him.

Lu Pan remained solemn and unmoving, like a mountain.

In the end, Ninth Elder Nangong Yue gave him an out. "Oh, Senior Brother, don't be such a spoilsport. It's rare for everyone to be in such high spirits today. Let's all join in."

The Enforcement Elder, his deep forehead wrinkles prominent, wore a dark expression and snorted again. He took out a banknote and slapped it onto the table. "Smack! No next time!"

In the Dao Sect Main Hall, Li Chunsong began making a proposal. "Let's bet on how long they'll need to open their first orifice. How about it?"

Zhao Shuqi waved his hand. "What's there to bet on? Han Shuangjiang has a Profound Yin Physique. She only needs to circulate the 'Ice Purity Art' through one cycle, and she'll naturally succeed in opening her orifices."

"That's right. With her physique, it's equivalent to having all Nine Orifices naturally open. Right now, they're merely clogged with some bodily impurities. Her orifices are practically just for show." Nangong Yue added her explanation.

"Betting on her would be boring." Li Chunsong began rubbing his hands again, his face faintly flushing. "If we're going to bet, let's bet on the Pseudo-Spirit Fetus!"

At this, everyone looked at one another.

Tsk—if it's a Pseudo-Spirit Fetus, then it really is impossible to say.

"How do you plan to bet?" Zhao Shuqi asked.

"With three days as the limit?" Li Chunsong suggested.

"Fine. I bet he'll break through the first orifice within three days!" Xiang Yan spoke first.

"I'll bet on within three days too."

"Count me in."

"Three days should be enough." Even Lu Pan said this.

Now Li Chunsong was anxious.

I wanted to bet on within three days too!

"No! He's a Pseudo-Spirit Fetus! It'd already be impressive if he opened his first orifice within ten days, and he'd need to combine it with Body Tempering for that. Why are all of you betting on three days?" He was truly panicking.

"Because he was chosen by Junior Uncle," Nangong Yue replied matter-of-factly.

"Exactly, exactly!" Zhao Shuqi chimed in.

Seeing Li Chunsong's speechless expression, they asked with a laugh, "You weren't also planning to bet on within three days, were you?"

"Otherwise?" Li Chunsong was genuinely at a loss for words.

At this moment, Xiang Yan's ugly bald head suddenly seemed to light up. He abruptly asked, "Sixth Junior Brother, how long did you take to open your first orifice back then?"

Li Chunsong lifted his chin. "Although I'm not a top-grade Spirit Fetus like someone with a Profound Yin Physique, I was still born with all Nine Orifices open. Naturally, I only needed to circulate my cultivation once."

"Then why not have a little more faith in Chu Huai Xu?" Xiang Yan said in his extremely unpleasant voice.

Hearing this, Li Chunsong's gambling nature began to explode.

Children don't cry every day!

I refuse to believe it. Every time I try to seek wealth through danger, is it really that difficult to obtain it?

Junior Uncle, please bless me! he silently prayed.

This man, known by the players as the Charitable gambling king, flushed even deeper. "I bet he'll open his orifices after one circulation!"

Everyone laughed together and bet against him.

As mentioned earlier, the Aperture Opening Stage was formally known as the Aperture Forging Body Stage.

Take Xue Hu, who had been instantly killed by a single slash from Chu Huai Xu. Why was it said that a Pseudo-Spirit Fetus had only the path of Body Tempering?

It was because even if someone with a Pseudo-Spirit Fetus spent money to buy an Aperture Opening Pill and swallowed it, they still needed to constantly use external force to temper their body.

Those who possessed a Spirit Fetus would have it absorb the medicinal effects and transmit them to every part of their bodies.

They did not need Body Tempering. Their bodies could grow stronger simply by taking pills.

A Pseudo-Spirit Fetus could not spread the medicinal effects of the Aperture Opening Pill throughout the body, so it needed external stimulation through Body Tempering.

The process was painful and torturous.

Many people couldn't even persist in exercising every day, let alone endure the agonizing Body Tempering.

Even more despairingly, quite a few people with Pseudo-Spirit Fetuses spent a fortune buying Aperture Opening Pills, took them, and persisted in Body Tempering every day, only to possibly open two or three orifices in the end.

After all that effort, they were merely a little stronger and a little fitter than ordinary people.

Only after entering the First Realm could one truly be considered a cultivator! The difference from mortals was like heaven and earth!

As an expert of the Eighth Realm, Xiang Yan had secretly swept his Spiritual Sense across Medicine Mountain just now. He had already discovered that all Nine Orifices in Chu Huai Xu's body were completely sealed, blocked tightly shut.

One circulation would take about the time needed to burn a stick of incense.

With the blockage that severe, how could he possibly open them?

The bet officially began.

The Great Cultivators in the main hall spread out their Spiritual Senses one after another, sensing the current conditions of Chu Huai Xu and Han Shuangjiang.

"Oh? This little girl has already succeeded in opening her orifices!" Nangong Yue smiled. "Looks like she couldn't wait to begin cultivating."

Meanwhile, Chu Huai Xu had just finished reading that Booklet. Without haste or impatience, he spread out the Jade slip and prepared to cultivate the "Sword Refining Art."

The main hall fell completely silent. Everyone closed their eyes and patiently sensed the situation with their Spiritual Senses.

Before long, however, everyone opened their eyes in unison, their faces filled with disbelief.

Because Chu Huai Xu's first orifice had actually opened.

And it had taken only three breaths.