Hope After the Cold Shower

(Forgetting Worries)

Chu Xiaotian got a good look at the Mad Blade Hall Master and couldn't help marveling inwardly. This Ba Dao certainly lived up to the word "Ba" in his name.

The man stood five feet tall, broad and burly, with thick brows, big eyes, and a full beard. That was enough to make him look imposing just standing there. Add the five-foot-long, inch-thick saber resting on the rack beside him, and his domineering aura became all the more terrifying.

"Hall Master Ba Dao, you flatter me. I came here not only to sell some pills, but also to ask for your help with something. I hope you'll agree." Xia Xue looked at the Mad Blade Hall Master, tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and said with a smile.

"Miss Xia, there's no need to be so polite. Just tell me what you need. If it's within my power, I certainly won't refuse." Ba Dao waved a hand and answered in a booming voice without the slightest hesitation. As a first-rank Alchemist, Xia Xue naturally made more than the pills Chu Xiaotian had seen before. She supplied the pills for their entire martial hall, so they treated her with great courtesy.

"In that case, I'll thank you in advance, Hall Master Ba Dao. Here's the situation: my friend needs a cultivation technique, and I'd like him to join your martial hall and train under you." Xia Xue first cupped her hands toward Ba Dao in thanks, then pointed to Chu Xiaotian and explained why she had come.

"Hahaha! I thought it was something serious. So you're recruiting for my Mad Blade Martial Hall, Miss Xia! How could I refuse such a good thing? This young man looks extraordinary. He's clearly no ordinary person. He can train at my Mad Blade Martial Hall from now on. My Mad Battle Blade Art may not be some profound technique, but here in Greenwood Town, no one can match it." Ba Dao laughed heartily, looked Chu Xiaotian up and down, and accepted him with great satisfaction, without a moment's hesitation.

This man really is straightforward, Chu Xiaotian thought, feeling quite favorably toward Ba Dao. He then cupped his hands to the hall master. "Thank you for taking me in."

"Haha, don't thank me, kid. Thank Miss Xia instead. You're joining my Mad Blade Martial Hall on her recommendation. Even if I had three times the nerve, I wouldn't dare slight her. Here, this is the basic cultivation technique of my martial hall, the first three levels of the Mad Battle Blade Art. They'll take you to the third level of Body Refining. Once you reach that level, I'll teach you the remaining seven. Take it." Ba Dao patted Chu Xiaotian on the shoulder with a hearty laugh, then took out a thin, yellow booklet and handed it to him. Xia Xue was an Alchemist, after all. Everyone wanted to earn her favor.

"Thank you, Hall Master." Chu Xiaotian accepted the booklet, which bore the words "Mad Battle Blade Art," and bowed to Ba Dao, his face alight with joy. Though it contained only the first three levels, it was the first cultivation manual he had ever received, so he treasured it deeply.

Suppressing his urge to start cultivating at once, Chu Xiaotian walked over to Xia Xue with a grin. "Xiaoxue, I'll keep staying by your side as your bodyguard. Once I get stronger, I'll drive off all the beasts that attack you. And that lecher who treated you so lightly—like that round ball—will get squashed under my foot too. How does that sound?" He had said earlier that he would stop staying with Xia Xue once he found a place to cultivate. But now, he had changed his mind and decided to remain by her side.

Everything that had happened had already shown him that Xia Xue was a rare treasure. If he truly wanted to realize the little wish in his heart, he couldn't leave her side. Otherwise, he might never get another chance.

Xia Xue's cheeks flushed as she looked at Chu Xiaotian, then at Ba Dao. After a moment's hesitation, she said softly, "That's not up to me. You're a member of the Mad Blade Martial Hall now. You can only leave if Hall Master Ba Dao agrees that you don't have to stay here all the time. Otherwise, you can't leave."

Chu Xiaotian froze for a moment before coming to his senses. Now that he was a member of the Mad Blade Martial Hall, it seemed he wasn't quite so free anymore. He turned his gaze to Ba Dao, wanting to hear what he would say.

Ba Dao was taken aback too. He hadn't expected Chu Xiaotian to say something like that, and it put him in a difficult position. By the martial hall's rules, anyone cultivating its Mad Battle Blade Art couldn't just leave whenever they pleased. But this fellow happened to be Xia Xue's friend, and judging by the way they acted around each other, they were quite close. After all, this was the first time he had seen Xia Xue walking alone with a man. He didn't know whether she would be angry or pleased if he refused to let Chu Xiaotian stay with her. He looked to Xia Xue, hoping to read something in her expression, but quickly realized it was no use. Her face gave nothing away.

"Young man, since you want so badly to stay with Miss Xia, I have no objection, of course—provided Miss Xia agrees." Ba Dao deliberated for a long while without reaching a firm decision, so he tossed the ball back to Xia Xue. Naturally, what he meant was that he agreed.

Chu Xiaotian brightened and immediately put on a pitiful expression, turning his gaze to Xia Xue. She had to fight the urge to laugh.

"Fine, then. You can keep living in my valley. But you have to get stronger quickly. I want to venture into the Forest Sea soon to find spirit herbs and make higher-grade pills." Xia Xue gave Chu Xiaotian a helpless look and spoke in a teasing, petulant tone. She really couldn't bring herself to refuse him. After all, he had saved her life. And there was one more thing: his grilled meat. It was truly delicious, and she had never tasted anything like it before. Besides, compared with the lecherous way other men looked at her, Chu Xiaotian's gaze was much purer. So she decided to let him keep living with her.

"Xiaoxue, you're the best! To repay you, I've decided to grill all kinds of meat for you every day from now on." Chu Xiaotian grinned so broadly he could barely contain himself; he almost ran over to hug Xia Xue and kiss her twice.

Xia Xue rolled her eyes at him and teased, "Are you trying to fatten me up into a pig?"

"Even if you were a pig, you'd be the most beautiful pig in the world. I guarantee people would be fighting over you." Chu Xiaotian chuckled and couldn't resist teasing Xia Xue.

Xia Xue could only roll her eyes at him, not knowing what else to do. Ba Dao, meanwhile, stood there smiling as he watched Chu Xiaotian and Xia Xue "flirt and bicker." After they had joked around for a while, Xia Xue took out a small pouch and handed it to Ba Dao. Inside were sixty percent of the pills she had made during this period: fifty first-rank pills. Xia Xue was the only Alchemist near Greenwood Town, so her pills were all spoken for before they were even made.

The buyers were the two major powers in Greenwood Town. The Hundred Herb Pavilion took forty percent, while the remaining sixty percent went to the Mad Blade Martial Hall. That was the advantage Ba Dao's greater strength gave him over the three experts from the Hundred Herb Pavilion.

"Miss Xia, there are five hundred Origin Stones in here. Please keep them safe." After accepting the pills Xia Xue had given him, Ba Dao handed her a small pouch as well and smiled.

Chu Xiaotian paid no attention to their transaction. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor of his room, eagerly cultivating according to the Mad Battle Blade Art Ba Dao had given him.

The first three levels of the Mad Battle Blade Art weren't difficult. They simply explained how to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into the body and use it to temper the flesh. Following the instructions, Chu Xiaotian sensed the spiritual energy around him with ease. He also readily managed to draw it into his body, something he had tried and failed to do for a long time. A thread of spiritual energy no thicker than a strand of hair entered him.

Chu Xiaotian smiled. Being able to draw spiritual energy into his body meant he had taken the first step on the path of cultivation. As long as he kept going, becoming a powerhouse who looked down upon the whole world would no longer be a distant dream.

But just as he was brimming with excitement, believing he had taken the first step toward becoming an unparalleled powerhouse, a bucket of cold water came crashing down on him.

Before the spiritual energy he had drawn in could temper his body, a chill suddenly surged from some corner within him. Before he could react, it completely dissolved that thread of spiritual energy.

Once it was done, the chill vanished from Chu Xiaotian's awareness as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving him sitting there in stunned confusion, unable to make sense of what had happened.

You damn Corpse Poison! I never picked a fight with you or did anything to you. Did you really have to do this to me? After sitting there in a daze for a long while, Chu Xiaotian finally came to his senses and cursed inwardly. Then he tried cultivating the Mad Battle Blade Art again. He now understood that the chill was the Corpse Poison dormant inside him. The Jade Pendant around his neck kept it in check, so it usually didn't surface during the day. But now it had suddenly appeared and devoured the first wisp of spiritual energy he had drawn into his body.

Unwilling to accept it, he convinced himself that it had been a fluke and decided to see whether it would happen again. But he tried ten times in a row, and the bloody results proved that the first time hadn't been a fluke at all: the Corpse Poison in his body really did devour every bit of spiritual energy that entered him.