Time flew by.
The year Lei Dong spent being punished in Small Yin Sha Cave was the hardest and most grueling of his life since joining the sect. When he finally stepped out of the cave again, his entire bearing had changed completely from a year ago. His once slightly boyish face had grown rugged and resolute. He was thinner, but still looked spirited. Yet his eyes had grown a little dimmer, and now they revealed an unmistakable weariness.
All year long, he had needed to condense his true qi without pause to fend off the Yin Sha Qi invading his body. Only when he held his breath and focused on cultivating in meditation could he recover a little energy. If not for his cultivation at Qi Refining Level Six, which had long since transformed him and set him far apart from ordinary mortals, how could he still be standing here in good health?
Myriad Ghost Cave had stood for seventy or eighty years. People were not often sent there for punishment, but every few years, one or two unlucky souls ended up inside. Still, very few were sentenced to a full year. Anyone with even slightly wavering resolve might well suffer a mental breakdown after just a few months. Besides, prolonged exposure to Yin Sha Qi was no joke. If not for the bottle of Sha-dispelling Pills Ding Wanyan had managed to get for him, Lei Dong would surely have suffered terribly as the Yin Sha Qi ravaged his blood vessels and soul.
But Lei Dong's suffering over the past year had not been in vain. In the past, he had focused too much on his cultivation level. As soon as he felt ready, he would impatiently rush to break through to the next level. Over time, that could easily leave one's foundation unstable; the higher one's cultivation, the more likely one was to encounter all kinds of bottlenecks. Yet after spending the year in the cave, Lei Dong had entered at the beginning of Qi Refining Level Six and emerged still at the beginning of Qi Refining Level Six. On the surface, his cultivation had not advanced at all. In truth, the Profound Yin True Qi within him had changed greatly.
Because he had to fend off the Yin Sha Qi at every moment, his true qi was never enough. Lei Dong had gradually gone from being lavish with it to being downright miserly. He had learned to circulate more true qi when the Yin Sha Qi grew dense and strong, and to conserve it as much as possible when it weakened. At first, he had found this difficult to adapt to. After all, the Yin Sha wind was extraordinarily strange, waxing and waning with almost no discernible pattern.
But with time, Lei Dong had completely adapted to the subtle shifts in its strength. He could now instinctively increase or reduce his true qi expenditure, aiming for just the right amount and not wasting a trace. As his control over true qi improved, so did the speed and precision with which he cast spells. The awkward, halting parts in the circulation of some of his spells had mysteriously vanished as his control grew stronger. His mastery over spellcasting had also improved by a great deal.
Of course, that did not mean that after a year, Lei Dong had reached perfection or the pinnacle in his use of true qi and spells. Quite the opposite: his current ability was barely at an introductory level. He was simply a little ahead of his fellow disciples and had gained a slight advantage over them.
Moreover, after a year of constant honing, his Profound Yin True Qi had become purer and more condensed. It was several points stronger than that of an ordinary Qi Refining Level Six cultivator.
Lei Dong returned to his quarters without showing his feelings, intending to rest properly for a few days. Yet as a Personal Disciple, he still drew plenty of attention. Rumors that he had fallen out of favor, after dying down for a time, began to resurface and soon grew more and more rampant.
Lei Dong paid no attention to such talk. He stayed cooped up at home, recuperating after a full year without proper rest. But word of him keeping to himself soon turned into rumors that he had absorbed too much Yin Sha Qi in Small Yin Sha Cave and suffered a great decline in cultivation.
Ding Wanyan had been right: as a Personal Disciple, he was bound to draw attention, and people were bound to gossip behind his back. But what happened next struck Lei Dong as rather amusing.
Wu Qianqiu was one of the outstanding disciples among their peers. During the first Small Competition, he had tried to play the pig to eat the tiger, and his Ghost Sha Palm had nearly caught Lei Dong off guard. But Lei Dong had swiftly put him in his place with an overwhelming show of force.
So much time had passed that Lei Dong still remembered him, but because of the difference in their status, he had not paid much attention to him. Now, however, the fellow had apparently lost his mind and sent Lei Dong a formal challenge to a fight to the death. Lei Dong was at a loss for words. If the fool wanted to die, surely there were better ways to go about it? Had he learned some powerful spell and decided to play the pig to eat the tiger again?
Before long, Chen Ge had compiled the past few years of information on Wu Qianqiu and set it before Lei Dong. The records showed that ever since Wu Qianqiu had joined Myriad Ghost Cave of the Yin Sha Sect, he had kept a very low profile. His cultivation was decent, and he was humble and courteous, never making enemies. But then again, Wu Qianqiu really did have some unbelievable luck.
Two years earlier, while out adventuring because he had hit a bottleneck, the fellow had been chased by a powerful Monster Beast. He had stumbled into a secluded valley, only to discover another terrifying Monster Beast there. Now that was luck for you. Anyone else would have died ten times over. But the two beasts had ignored Wu Qianqiu, a mere rookie, and fought each other instead. In the end, they had somehow both nearly died, leaving Wu Qianqiu to reap the rewards.
That was not all. The Monster Beast in the valley had been guarding a ginseng plant that was nearly ripe and had grown for a full three thousand years. Thanks to that, the fellow had struck it rich...
Reading the records of Wu Qianqiu's incredible luck left Lei Dong speechless, as if he were asking the heavens why. A story about escaping certain death and striking it rich could only be found in a novel, couldn't it? He was a transmigrator, after all, practically tailor-made to be the protagonist. Yet so far, aside from obtaining the Mysterious Soul Nurturing Pagoda, his luck had always been pretty average. No, in truth, a little below average.
Having struck it rich, Wu Qianqiu had naturally grown restless. Perhaps it was because Lei Dong had beaten him years ago, or perhaps because among the three Personal Disciples, Lei Dong seemed the easiest to bully. Especially since he had recently fallen out of favor and was supposedly burdened by Yin Sha Qi. In short, if Wu Qianqiu wanted to make a name for himself, he had to follow Lei Dong's example and climb to the top over a Personal Disciple's corpse.
By every measure, Lei Dong was his best choice. And Lei Dong had no way to refuse. As a Personal Disciple, he could reasonably refuse an ordinary disciple's request to spar, since losing a regular challenge would cost him little. But it was extremely difficult to refuse a challenge to the death from an ordinary disciple. The challenger was risking his life for a chance to rise in the ranks; if Lei Dong refused, it would disgrace all the Personal Disciples. Even Myriad Ghost Ancestor would change his attitude toward him from then on. Over time, this kind of challenge to the death had gradually become a traditional rule of the Yin Sha Sect.
In other words, ordinary disciples could challenge Personal Disciples to a fight to the death. If the other party refused or was defeated, the challenger could use that chance to rise in the ranks. This tradition gave ordinary disciples a goal to strive for and a reason to cultivate with all their might. At the same time, it was like an invisible whip, constantly driving the Personal Disciples to cultivate just as hard.
Lei Dong accepted the challenge without hesitation. Of course, he had no choice. Refusing would mean giving up his current status and position, leaving everything to Wu Qianqiu. And it was one thing never to have risen to the top; once you fell from it, life in Myriad Ghost Cave would never be easy again.
Several days later, at the martial arts arena, Ghost Slave personally presided over the fight to the death after hearing about it.
After they went through the usual formalities of a fight to the death, Wu Qianqiu, who looked much more mature than he had a few years earlier, gave Lei Dong a sheepish, apologetic smile. "Senior Brother Lei, please don't take offense. I hope you'll go easy on me."
Lei Dong narrowed his eyes, then smiled back. "Junior Brother Wu, you're too kind. Thank you so much."
"?" Wu Qianqiu looked a little bewildered. What was there to thank him for?
"Your senior brother's been a little short on cash lately, and I just happen to be in need of a few Upper Grade Magic Items to sell for some quick money. Junior Brother Wu, you're a real pal, a true stand-up guy. You've practically brought them right to my doorstep. Of course I have to thank you." Lei Dong looked as if he were overcome with gratitude.
(Brothers and sisters, your recommendation votes have been amazing; we've already reached first place on the newcomers' list. Thank you all! I should be putting out a three-chapter burst today. The next chapter is expected before six this afternoon.)
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