Primordial Body Refinement Art

Those words made Xiao Xier's steps falter for an instant. She snorted and said no more.

Inside the Immortal Arts Pavilion, Xiao Yan's first glance fell upon countless floating Immortal Arts, and he could not help but be utterly shocked.

So many Immortal Arts!

There had to be one that matched his constitution, right?

"Please place your hand on the stone platform ahead."

An ethereal female voice sounded beside his ear.

"Hm?"

Xiao Yan looked around but saw no one. Given all he had experienced over the years, he remained fairly calm.

"I am the Guardian Spirit of the Immortal Arts Pavilion."

The ethereal female voice continued to echo by his ear. "According to the rules, every disciple who newly joins our Heavenly Dao Sect may choose one Immortal Art."

"If you wish to choose for yourself, you may select any Immortal Art scroll at will. If you want me to choose for you, please place your hand on the stone stele ahead."

"Guardian Spirit? The legendary spirit of a sacred artifact Xier mentioned? Senior Guardian Spirit, why is it that my constitution cannot cultivate?" After pondering for a moment, Xiao Yan asked.

"Place your hand on the stone stele, and all shall be revealed." The ethereal female voice sounded once more.

"Alright, sorry for the trouble, Senior!"

With that, Xiao Yan slowly placed his hand upon the stone stele before him.

Very soon, a gentle wave of energy spread from the stone stele. Xiao Yan felt his body tremble, after which a warm current began coursing through him.

"Senior Guardian Spirit, what exactly is wrong with my constitution?" Xiao Yan asked carefully, tense to the extreme.

"Your constitution is an Heaven-Abandoned Body, one of the rarest in this world." The ethereal female voice resounded within Xiao Yan's mind.

Rumble!

As though a bolt from the blue had struck him, Xiao Yan's mind buzzed, his face filled with sorrow.

"Heaven-Abandoned Body!" Xiao Yan stood rooted to the spot, momentarily losing himself.

Though he did not know what an Heaven-Abandoned Body truly was, he could tell from the name alone that this was no good news!

Abandoned by Heaven!

Had even the heavens cast him aside?

"The so-called Heaven-Abandoned Body means that Heaven has forgotten your existence, leaving you without a dantian and unable to refine Qi."

The Guardian Spirit's voice continued.

Xiao Yan gave a bitter smile. "Then can my dantian still be repaired?"

"Unless you obtain a Ninth Transformation Golden Core to be reborn into another life and rebuild your body, or a Dao-Proving expert changes your fate against the heavens and reshapes your dantian. Even then, however, your cultivation speed would be a thousand, perhaps ten thousand times slower than others'."

The ethereal female voice came again.

At those words, a trace of despair appeared on Xiao Yan's face.

Whether it was a Ninth Transformation Golden Core or a Dao-Proving expert, he had never even heard of either. He could not begin to imagine what realm such existences stood in.

"Does that mean I'll never be able to cultivate for the rest of my life? That I can only remain trampled beneath Liu Yanran's feet forever?" Xiao Yan said unwillingly.

"No. Your dantian cannot be repaired for now, but that does not mean you cannot cultivate. The question is whether you can endure pain that ordinary people cannot bear." The Guardian Spirit's voice continued.

"I can cultivate?" A glimmer of light flashed in Xiao Yan's eyes again. Then he said firmly, "As long as I can cultivate, as long as I can grow stronger, I can endure any pain!"

"Since that is so, there is an Immortal Art most suitable for you to cultivate." The Guardian Spirit continued.

Then, a scroll appeared before Xiao Yan.

"What Immortal Art is this?" Xiao Yan asked in confusion.

"This is a body refinement technique: the 'Primordial Body Refinement Art: Fleshly Body Chapter.'"

"Primordial Body Refinement Art?" Xiao Yan murmured.

"Because you have no dantian, you cannot refine Qi. Yet for that very reason, you possess the finest constitution for body refinement. If you master this art, it will more than make up for the flaws of your dantian. You may even surpass Qi Refiners of the same realm," the Guardian Spirit said.

"Really?" Xiao Yan's eyes flew wide open as he cried out.

"Of course. But body refinement requires one to endure the utmost torment of the flesh, comparable to being cut by a thousand blades, before one can forge an incomparably hard body. Can you endure it?" the Guardian Spirit asked.

"I can. No matter what pain it is, I am willing to accept it!" Xiao Yan took a deep breath and nodded earnestly.

So long as he could cultivate, what did a little physical pain amount to?

"Thank you, Senior Guardian Spirit!" Xiao Yan thanked her solemnly and reached out to seize the scroll tightly.

Liu Yanran, three years from now, I will definitely defeat you!

Outside the Immortal Arts Pavilion, Xiao Xier stared at Su Bai.

"If anything happens to Brother Xiao Yan, I will hold you accountable!"

"Please believe in my strength. This world is vast; there are no small number of powers stronger than the Lingxiao Sect and Cloud Heaven Sect!"

Her eyes carried a heavy warning, yet her words made Su Bai nod in agreement.

"You're right. This world is indeed vast, and the Lingxiao Sect and Cloud Heaven Sect amount to nothing."

Then Su Bai abruptly changed his tune and said with a chuckle:

"However, as for anyone stronger than my Heavenly Dao Sect—sorry, I truly have never heard of one."

"What do you mean by that?" Xiao Xier frowned and snapped coldly.

"I don't know what I mean? I merely wonder: a sixteen-year-old at Foundation Establishment, unprecedented in Great Zhao. What exactly do you intend by approaching my disciple?"

At that point, Su Bai suddenly raised his head, an amused smile curling across his lips.

"You... saw through my cultivation?"

At those words, Xiao Xier's pupils abruptly contracted as she stared fixedly at Su Bai.

She possessed a supreme treasure. Unless she made a move, it should have been impossible for anyone outside to see through her cultivation!

Ordinarily, she had always disguised herself as Third-Level Qi Refinement, unwilling to draw too much attention.

Yet now, someone had exposed her secret in a single sentence!

"Not only did I see through your cultivation, I also have a question. Why does a young lady from an ancient Lineage have only a mere Nascent Soul Realm bodyguard assigned to her?"

Su Bai's gaze turned toward a certain spot in the void, his eyes smiling yet not smiling.

Deep within the clouds, a black shadow stiffened all over beneath that gaze.

He had been discovered!

Xiao Xier could not help taking a step back, staring at Su Bai in utter shock.

Not only had he seen through her, he had also seen through Uncle Shadow!

He even knew that she came from an ancient Lineage!

Who exactly was this man?

Could he also be an Inheritance holder from an ancient Lineage?

"Is the Nascent Soul Realm not enough?" Xiao Xier lowered her voice.

What arrogance—calling the Nascent Soul Realm merely that!

Merely!

One had to know that in the Cultivation World, a Nascent Soul cultivator was an ancestor-level figure, enough to prop up a super sect!

Even Immortal Gates ranked among the top five hundred, like the Lingxiao Sect and Cloud Heaven Sect, had no stronger expert than a Nascent Soul cultivator within them!

"Hehe, it is enough for now. But what about later? As I recall, the previous sect master of the Cloud Heaven Sect entered seclusion for a hundred years and did not die. Perhaps he has already reached Spirit Transformation by now."

"When Brother Xiao Yan heads to the Cloud Heaven Sect then, I fear your bodyguard will not be able to protect him."

"Your Lineage, let alone summoning a mere Nascent Soul cultivator, should have no difficulty calling forth a whole group of Spirit Transformation experts, or even those beyond Spirit Transformation, right?"

At those words, Xiao Xier fell silent.

It seemed... he did have a few points.

Above the clouds, the black shadow's entire body twitched.

Spirit Transformation cultivators guarded the gates of her Lineage. If he, a mere Nascent Soul cultivator, did not stay by the young lady's side...

I'm finished—I'm going to lose my job!