Taking Advantage

Chu Xiaotian's complexion turned ghastly pale in an instant; the excitement of having successfully taken the first step toward becoming a powerhouse vanished completely.

Falling from heaven to hell—that feeling was far more agonizing than simply dwelling in hell from the start. He had finally arrived in a mythical world and possessed the opportunity to become a peerless expert, only to have his path blocked by the corpse poison within his own body. At this moment, Chu Xiaotian was on the verge of madness, mentally cursing the zombie that had bitten him and its ancestors for eighteen generations over and over again.

Ba Dao had been discussing matters with Xia Xue, but he had also kept Chu Xiaotian's situation in his line of sight. Given his cultivation level, he had clearly sensed everything Chu Xiaotian had just done. Generally speaking, someone who had just come into contact with cultivation techniques could not possibly sense the existence of heaven and earth spiritual energy, let alone draw it into their body. Only those with supreme talent could achieve this in such a short time.

Chu Xiaotian's initial performance proved that he belonged to that category of transcendent talent, which filled Ba Dao with immense joy; a disciple with such talent was someone anyone would want to take under their wing. However, the subsequent events made his mood plummet. Chu Xiaotian's body actually devoured every bit of spiritual energy that entered it—this was undoubtedly a death sentence for his path of cultivation. In fact, he had been just as skeptical as Chu Xiaotian at first, but after a dozen failures, he had no choice but to accept the reality.

He strode over to Chu Xiaotian, grabbed his wrist, and carefully examined the state of his body. The more he looked, the tighter his brows furrowed. Chu Xiaotian's body was perfectly fine, yet it consumed all incoming spiritual energy; such a phenomenon left him utterly bewildered and at a loss.

"Ba Dao Hall Master, what is wrong with him?" Xia Xue stood beside Ba Dao, her delicate brows slightly knitted as she spoke softly. Her strength was not high enough to sense the situation inside Chu Xiaotian's body, so she could only guess through intuition that his cultivation might have hit a snag.

Ba Dao did not answer immediately. After a long while, he frowned and said, "His constitution is very strange; all the spiritual energy that enters his body is devoured completely."

Ba Dao was unable to sense the corpse poison within Chu Xiaotian, so he could only attribute the previous situation to a problem with Chu Xiaotian's constitution. Such issues were not common in this world, but they were not so rare that people were completely ignorant of them—at the very least, Ba Dao was aware of them.

"Then can I still cultivate in the future?" As soon as Ba Dao's voice fell, Chu Xiaotian asked impatiently. This was the question he cared about most right now.

"Difficult, very difficult. With your constitution, unless you only cultivate your physical body. However, since there is no possibility of using spiritual energy to refine the body, your achievements won't be very high; the most likely outcome is stopping at the tenth stage of Body Refining," Ba Dao said, slowly shaking his head with a soft sigh. He had previously thought Chu Xiaotian possessed transcendent talent, never expecting him to be saddled with such a bizarre constitution that severed his path of cultivation entirely.

"Is there no one in the entire Great Xia Dynasty who has a way?" Xia Xue looked at Ba Dao with a glimmer of hope. She considered herself someone who understood Chu Xiaotian's desire to cultivate, and she knew that if he couldn't, the blow would certainly be devastating.

"That is hard to say. However, even if there were, given his situation, I fear..." Ba Dao spoke with uncertainty. His strength could be called the best here, but in the entire dynasty, he was only a bottom-tier figure. He hadn't traveled to many places and didn't know much about such bizarre cases. But he did know one thing: with Chu Xiaotian's lack of money and influence, even if such a method existed, it was unlikely anyone would be willing to do it for him.

Chu Xiaotian and Xia Xue were both clever people; they understood perfectly well what Ba Dao had left unsaid.

Having just found a path to becoming a powerhouse only to have it severed in an instant, Chu Xiaotian was incredibly dejected. He stood up listlessly, thanked Ba Dao, handed the three-layered Mad Battle Blade Art back to him, and then walked out, swaying unsteadily.

Watching him, Ba Dao opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, he didn't speak, only sighing softly and letting him walk out. Xia Xue thanked Ba Dao as well and hurried out after him.

The blow Chu Xiaotian had received was significant; he seemed to have completely forgotten Xia Xue's presence, walking aimlessly toward the outskirts of the town. Xia Xue understood his mood and didn't speak, following quietly behind him. After such an incident, Xia Xue even forgot about her plan to go to the Hundred Herb Pavilion to trade pills for herbs.

The two walked in silence, one after the other. An hour later, Chu Xiaotian reached the entrance of the valley where Xia Xue lived. Gazing at the river flowing out from the mountain cave, Chu Xiaotian stopped walking. He sat down by the riverbank, silently watching the rushing water. In a world where one could cultivate, the desire to become a peerless powerhouse was something every man would inevitably harbor, and intensely so. But now, his path of cultivation had been ruthlessly severed, leaving everything in ruins. The pain in Chu Xiaotian's heart was beyond words—it was as agonizing as it could possibly be.

"Don't worry. The Great Xia Dynasty is vast with countless powerhouses; this is only a small town. Outside, there might be someone who has a way to cure your constitution." Just as Chu Xiaotian was in the depths of his agony, a fragrant breeze accompanied by Xia Xue's gentle voice reached his ears. She sat down beside him, a serene smile on her face, turning to look at the young man lost in pain.

"That's easy to say, but I'm just a poor boy with no money or influence. Who would help me?" Chu Xiaotian gave a bitter laugh, holding no hope for such a thing. Whether in his previous world or this one, it was rarely possible for those without money or power to obtain anything good.

"Have you forgotten? I am an alchemist. Although I am not strong now, I will certainly become powerful in the future. By then, I should be able to get others to help you. Even if I can't, as long as I see my master, given his status, it should be possible. You are my savior; consider this my way of repaying that debt," Xia Xue said, turning to look at Chu Xiaotian with great sincerity. This was the only way she could think of to help him right now.

Chu Xiaotian's heart stirred; what Xia Xue said was highly feasible. From the way the people of Greenwood Town treated Xia Xue, it was clear that alchemists held a very high status in the entire dynasty. If even the weakest first-tier alchemist was treated this way, then a seventh-tier alchemist like her master went without saying. His problem might just be a matter of a single word to such a person. However, a moment later, a wave of dejection washed over him. He suddenly realized that the chances of success were not high.

Xia Xue would need to reach the fifth tier as an alchemist before she could see her master, and in Chu Xiaotian's view, the time required to reach that level would not be short. At the very least, it wouldn't happen in ten or twenty years. This was evident from the fact that Xia Xue had met her master at fifteen and was still only a first-tier alchemist at seventeen; improving one's rank as an alchemist was no easy feat. If that were the case, by the time ten or twenty years had passed, even if the corpse poison in his body could be completely cured, he might no longer be able to cultivate. Chu Xiaotian understood the principle that the older one got, the harder cultivation became.

Of course, these were only his inner thoughts; he didn't show a hint of them. After all, this was Xia Xue's kindness, and he couldn't treat it like donkey liver and lungs.

He gave Xia Xue a look of immense gratitude, and seizing the opportunity, he grabbed her slender hand. With a voice that sounded slightly choked, he stared into her eyes and said with great solemnity, "Xiaoxue, you treat me so well, I don't know how to repay you. I've decided: I will offer myself to you. From now on, wherever you go, I will follow."

Chu Xiaotian had never pursued a girl before, but he had picked up some tips from his uncles in the village—the keys to chasing a girl were to be bold, attentive, and thick-skinned. In Chu Xiaotian's eyes, Xia Xue's beauty was enough to topple cities and kingdoms; in his eighteen years of life, he had never seen such a beautiful girl, not even on television. Now that he had suddenly encountered such a girl, if he didn't pursue her, he felt he might as well go bang his head against a wall and die. This time, he threw all shame to the wind, intending to cling to Xia Xue and never let go. Of course, while making this exaggerated declaration, he was also very happy to take the opportunity to hold her small hand and experience that strange, wonderful sensation.

Xia Xue was only a seventeen-year-old girl who had lived her whole life in these mountains, and she didn't know much about the affairs between men and women. Although she had often been subjected to the lecherous gazes of Pi Yanxing, the manager of the Hundred Herb Pavilion, no one had ever touched her body. Now, suddenly having her hand grabbed by Chu Xiaotian, her pretty face turned beet red in an instant. Her heart hammered like a frightened deer, and she was so flustered that she forgot to pull away or even answer him.

Chu Xiaotian stared fixedly at Xia Xue; while his face wore an expression of being moved to the point of death, he was blooming with joy inside. He knew that after this stunt, he would certainly have left a deep impression on Xia Xue's heart, and the first step in his pursuit of her had been successfully taken. From now on, as long as nothing unexpected happened, this city-toppling beauty would be his, Chu Xiaotian's.

Of course, this was only the best-case scenario. If some powerful figure were to intervene and snatch her away, he wouldn't be able to protect this lovely girl with his current situation. If he didn't want such a thing to happen, he needed to possess powerful strength. The matter went in circles, and in the end, it returned to the original problem: strength. With strength, nothing would be a problem.