At the summit of Jade Gourd Peak.
Bang!
Covered in blood, Xu Taiping tossed the stone cauldron onto the designated stone platform.
"Does this count as reaching the summit?"
Xu Taiping asked a disciple of Lay Buddhist Yuqing beside the stone platform.
"It... it does!"
The young disciple froze for a moment, then nodded emphatically.
"Phew!..."
At that, Xu Taiping let out a long breath, then took out his gourd and gulped down a mouthful of Dragon Gall Wine.
"Hiss..."
The mouthful of Dragon Gall Wine sent a shudder through him.
Even after drinking Dragon Gall Wine for three years, he still had not grown accustomed to it.
When he raised his head again, he discovered that everyone was watching him, each with a complicated look in their eyes.
He gave everyone a slight nod.
Without asking, he knew they must have looked that way because of that sword strike just now.
At first, he had never imagined that the strike would cause such a commotion.
By the time he realized it, it was too late.
That single strike had stolen all the limelight from Yuqing's disciples, who had already begun preparing the celebration at the summit, and from the disciples who had reached the summit earlier.
Realizing that he might already have become the center of attention, Xu Taiping had originally intended to head straight down the mountain after cutting down the last tree.
But then he remembered that reaching the summit would earn him a flask of spirit spring water, so he steeled himself and came up.
"Eldest Brother Taiping, that sword strike truly opened my eyes."
Just then, a short young man stepped forward courteously to congratulate Xu Taiping.
Xu Taiping turned to look and discovered that it was actually Xiao Ye.
He was rather surprised that