"Let my brother send you down."
The Scholar, seated cross-legged on the ground, spoke softly.
The bearded, burly man standing nearby did not hesitate in the slightest. He strode straight to the crack in the ground before them and stepped forward. A heavy bang soon rang out.
The bearded man—the Scholar's younger brother—was not actually very tall.
Only around six feet.
He could even be called short, but his body was simply too brawny. Coupled with the beast-hide armor adorning his hemp robes, the thick beard covering his face, and his exceptionally luxuriant body hair—
One could not help calling him a burly man.
Then, the Scholar sitting cross-legged at the cliff's edge waved for Chen Qiu and the other man to come closer. He reached out and grabbed the corners of their clothes. In the blink of an eye, he had brought them both to the bottom of the cliff.
"..."
Chen Qiu stood where he was and swept his gaze around. The floor of this gorge lay several hundred zhang below the ground above. Withered grass and gray stones carpeted the earth, while rain had carved streak after streak into the rock walls exposed on either side.
Looking up, the sky had become exceedingly narrow.
This gorge stretched so long that neither end could be seen, yet it was not wide. At most, it could fit eight people standing shoulder to shoulder, making it rather cramped. The rock walls on both sides were riddled with stone caves like honeycombs.
From time to time, cries like the wailing of infants drifted on the wind, echoing through the depths of the gorge.
"We're here."
"In an hour, my brother will come down to pick you up."
"Listen carefully and look up. Don't get crushed to death."
The Scholar formed that familiar hand seal again and murmured, "Knock."
The Three-Foot Azure Edge shot from his sleeve toward the sky. Then, the Scholar sitting cross-legged atop the rock vanished. In the next blink, the bearded, burly man beside him vanished as well.
After the two left.
Chen Qiu took a deep breath. With a wary expression, he gripped Huang Shikai's Wraith in his left hand and surveyed the surroundings. "Prepare for battle."
His plan was simple.
Since killing demonic beasts in the Qi Refining Realm could grant a decent amount of cultivation progress, why waste too much time in the Qi Refining Realm? Though he did not have many Spirit Stones to buy heavily injured demonic beasts, killing them himself was the same thing—just riskier.
What was more, once he broke through into the Foundation Establishment Realm, his Pink Trait could finally bring its full effect into play.
Raising his cultivation as much as possible and achieving Foundation Establishment early was the true path.
"Pretty good."
Fat Dragon let out a long breath. He likewise pulled the spirit-treasure saber called "Dragon Slayer" from his robes, gripped it tightly, and stood behind Chen Qiu, ready to face the enemy alongside him.
He had only known Chen Qiu for one day.
Yet the events of that day had been more thrilling than the five months since he had transmigrated here!
Meanwhile, beside the cliff above the gorge.
This young man dressed as a Scholar sat cross-legged in place. Looking somewhat dazed, he lifted his head toward the clouds on the horizon. He was neither reading picture books nor cracking melon seeds, as if lost in thought—or simply staring blankly into space.
"Brother."
At that moment—
The bearded, burly man who had been standing quietly to one side suddenly said in a muffled voice, "He was the first person to squat down and speak to you."
"Why not follow him?"
"Him?"
Only then did the Scholar seem to come back to himself. After a long while, he shook his head and chuckled. "He won't do. He's too weak, and he has no power behind him. He is of no use to us."
A long time ago, he had begun searching for a worthy master.
But he had not succeeded even once.
The reason he gave his younger brother was that he needed his master to respect him. At the very least, when recruiting him, they had to squat down to speak with him instead of making him raise his head to look up at them.
His younger brother had been slow-witted since childhood and trusted him completely, so naturally, he believed it.
Yet of every faction that had come to recruit him, let alone squatting down to speak to him, not a single one had sent its clan head or sect master. They had all sent underlings.
Those clan heads and even great elders were unwilling to make the trip themselves, as though personally coming for the two brothers would somehow demean them.
"But..."
The bearded, burly man's voice weakened. "Brother, you do not have much longer to live. You were once Great Xia's finest sword cultivator, but your cultivation has now fallen to the Foundation Establishment Third Layer. If you do not find a worthy master soon, you will die."
"Mm."
The Scholar sitting cross-legged on the ground summoned a miniature Three-Foot Azure Edge. His expression was complicated as he looked at this natal spirit treasure, which trembled eagerly before him as though it had gained sentience. He remained silent.
He had begun cultivating at thirteen and attained Heavenly Dao Perfect Foundation Establishment at fifteen. At twenty-four, he entered the Golden Core Realm.
Both his initial Traits and the Traits he received upon reaching later major realms had been extraordinarily suited to a sword cultivator.
And in several secret realms and grotto-heavens, he had obtained all manner of Traits and cultivation arts suited to him!
At twenty-seven, he fought alone against the top three on Great Xia's "Prodigy Rankings." He did not fall behind in the slightest, and after battling bitterly for three hours, he cut all three down and slit their throats with a single sword, thoroughly making his name known across the realm!
The world called him Great Xia's finest sword cultivator.
They called him a young man of great promise.
Success at a young age naturally made him feel as high as the heavens. From then on, he acted ever more as he pleased. At one point, he even believed that sword cultivators ought to do as they pleased—that those who cowered and held back did not deserve to be called sword cultivators!
He righted what displeased him and killed those he hated.
He believed there was no matter under heaven he could not settle, no person he could not kill.
He offended countless people, yet not one of them could keep him. The world knew only that White Robe was Great Xia's finest sword cultivator; no one knew he had a younger brother, or that he and his brother possessed a Bloodline Trait.
No matter where he went, his brother was always waiting within ten thousand li of him.
Should he encounter danger, he could immediately teleport away.
Yes, the teleportation range of their Bloodline Trait was not a hundred li, but ten thousand li. So long as he wanted to leave, no one under heaven could stop him.
His younger brother was somewhat dim-witted. Whenever he returned home and told his brother about his exploits outside, his brother would always be puzzled and find it dull, merely telling him to be more careful.
He did not know what it meant to be careful.
He only knew that when the world discussed him, when everyone called him Great Xia's finest sword cultivator, he was happy.
He would even deliberately stop and secretly listen to people speak of him with admiration.
Later...
Later, he finally stumbled. There were no eternal legends in the martial world. His name had once been known by half the people of Great Xia, if not every household, but now no one spoke of him anymore.
It was as though Great Xia had never possessed a finest sword cultivator.
Or perhaps there was already a new finest sword cultivator.
Only four years had passed, and he was already dead—dead in the martial world.
No one spoke of him anymore.
No storyteller spoke of his deeds with rising and falling passion anymore.
In that battle, he had been severely wounded by three Late Golden Core Realm experts. He relied on a Trait to feign death and escape, his cultivation falling drastically. Bone-Eroding Poison had also been planted within him, leaving him no path but to wait for death. He could only change his appearance and name, bringing his younger brother to hide in this remote corner of Windward City in Great Xia.
He had only one condition for accepting recruitment: give him a Heavenly Dao Treasure Jade.
Priced at 3,000 Spirit Stones.
With a Heavenly Dao Treasure Jade, though he could not recover to the Golden Core Realm, he could resolve the Bone-Eroding Poison in his body. His daily suffering would lessen, he would no longer face the threat of death, and he could live several more decades.
During those decades, he could protect his younger brother once more.
Though he no longer possessed his former glory.
At least they would have no worries over food and clothing.
But at that price... not a single faction could offer it, nor was any faction willing to offer it. And he could hardly tell them that he had once been Great Xia's finest sword cultivator, and was worth that price.
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