Looking at the long whip, then at Li Yao's expression that seemed to say, "Senior brother, hurry up and whip me," Chu Kuangren's mouth twitched.
Could this Li Yao have masochistic tendencies?
To be honest, the original owner of his body had resented Li Yao. After all, she had injured him so badly that he had been bedridden for two days.
Having transmigrated and inherited the original owner's memories, Chu Kuangren likewise had little fondness for Li Yao.
But ultimately, he was not the original Chu Kuangren, and his hatred for Li Yao was not as intense.
Chu Kuangren pondered for a moment, then raised his hand, circulated his Spiritual Power, and struck with his palm. The strike contained the domineering Sword Qi unique to the Purple Star Emperor Heaven Sword Art, with enough power to cleave mountains and split the earth.
Bang!
The palm strike slammed straight into Li Yao's chest.
Li Yao neither dodged nor evaded it, taking the strike head-on. She was blasted a hundred feet away, blood spraying from her mouth.
"Back then, I took a palm strike from you. Today, you took one from me. From now on, our old scores are settled. You may leave."
Chu Kuangren withdrew his Palm Qi and spoke evenly.
He had not held back at all with that strike. From Li Yao's caved-in chest, it was clear that at least four or five ribs had broken.
Fortunately, Li Yao's own cultivation was not weak; she was in the Golden Core Realm. Otherwise, it would not have been impossible for that strike to kill her on the spot.
Chu Kuangren felt that this should be a suitable way to handle things. He had both avenged the original owner and shown his magnanimous side.
"Thank you for sparing my life, senior brother!"
Li Yao struggled to prop herself up, knelt, and kowtowed to Chu Kuangren with an audible thud before staggering away.
"You're far too merciful, young master."
Xiao Bing spoke from beside him.
She had also heard about what Li Yao had done to Chu Kuangren. Even if he had killed her on the spot, she would not have found it surprising.
"That counts as merciful?"
Chu Kuangren shook his head in amusement.
It seems this world is already accustomed to killing. I'll have to get used to it.
Luckily, I have the original owner's memories. It shouldn't be too difficult.
The matter with Li Yao was merely a minor interlude.
Chu Kuangren continued to immerse himself in cultivation, though one day he heard that Li Yao had dismissed all the male consorts she had gathered.
It seemed his palm strike had knocked a drastic change into her temperament.
Chu Kuangren paid it no mind.
Several days later.
Inside Ling Tian Dao Palace, a pillar of Sword Qi suddenly shot into the sky.
Every sword within a hundred-mile radius of the Dao Palace hummed in unison!
The sudden phenomena left quite a few people taken aback.
"These phenomena again!"
"The aura comes from Ling Tian Dao Palace. It's Chu Kuangren."
"Even for a Supreme Dao Body, isn't this too terrifying? Phenomena every few days-are we supposed to get any cultivating done?"
Inside Longevity Hall at the Mystic Heaven Sect.
Venerable Xuanqi abruptly opened his eyes and said in bewilderment, "This aura is Golden Core. He's already broken through to Golden Core?"
Even for a Supreme Dao Body, this was far too fast.
The phenomena vanished as quickly as they had appeared.
Inside the Dao Palace, Chu Kuangren reined in his aura and slowly opened his eyes. A streak of purple light flashed through his pupils.
"I've finally broken through to Golden Core," Chu Kuangren murmured.
In fewer than ten days, he had successfully advanced from an ordinary Qi Refining Realm martial artist to the Golden Core Realm. Such progress was almost inconceivable.
"Kuangren, come see me."
Just then, a voice sounded beside Chu Kuangren's ear.
It was Venerable Xuanqi.
Chu Kuangren tidied himself up, then went to Longevity Hall.
"Kuangren, have you broken through to the Golden Core Realm?"
Venerable Xuanqi asked him directly as soon as they met.
"Yes, Master."
Venerable Xuanqi had only been guessing, but now that he heard Chu Kuangren admit it himself, a trace of shock inevitably appeared in his eyes.
He really had broken through to the Golden Core Realm.
This speed was far too fast.
He himself was one of the world's foremost cultivation prodigies, yet it had taken him nearly two years to advance from Qi Refining to the Golden Core Realm.
Chu Kuangren had taken fewer than ten days!
Such cultivation speed was simply too crushing!
"Master, what's wrong?"
Chu Kuangren asked when he saw Venerable Xuanqi's dumbfounded expression.
"Ahem." Venerable Xuanqi came back to his senses, coughed twice, then said, "Very good, but guard against arrogance and impatience. Cultivation is like rowing upstream: if you don't advance, you fall behind. There are plenty of cultivators who progress swiftly early on, only to struggle for every inch later. More important than speed is laying a solid foundation."
"I understand." Chu Kuangren nodded.
He had a Supreme Dao Body and also cultivated a Sage Law. Even without deliberately strengthening his foundation, it was still among the very best within his realm.
"Since you've broken through to the Golden Core Realm, go find yourself a sword on Sword Mountain. You have the Nine-Orifice Exquisite Sword Heart. Even a Sage Artifact will readily acknowledge you as its master. Just don't empty the whole mountain."
Venerable Xuanqi chuckled.
"Yes."
Afterward, Venerable Xuanqi gave Chu Kuangren some further guidance.
Before returning to the Dao Palace, Chu Kuangren followed Venerable Xuanqi's advice and visited Sword Mountain first, intending to find a weapon that suited his hand.
Sword Mountain was a supreme treasure of the Mystic Heaven Sect, approaching the level of an Emperor Weapon. It held countless treasured and renowned swords, even Sage Artifacts.
Merely approaching it, one could feel an oppressive Sword Qi.
Chu Kuangren arrived at the foot of Sword Mountain.
Before he had even properly set foot on it, Sword Mountain trembled.
It seemed to be welcoming Chu Kuangren's arrival.
These phenomena made many disciples click their tongues in wonder, filled with envy.
"Sword Mountain has barely stirred a few times in over ten thousand years, yet it's reacted repeatedly because of Chu Kuangren. The Supreme Dao Body truly lives up to its reputation."
"So he's Chu Kuangren, the newly appointed Chief Disciple? He really is extraordinary. Look at those features, that bearing. A dragon among men."
"To rise from an outer sect disciple to our chief senior brother in one leap-such a speed of promotion is inconceivable. Even ascending to heaven in a single step could be no more than this."
"Damn, someone more handsome than me actually exists?"
Chu Kuangren was like the most dazzling moon in the night sky. Wherever he went, he was the center of attention.
"Ah, I was already handsome enough. Now, with this Exiled Immortal Bearing on top of it, I probably won't get any peace wherever I go."
Chu Kuangren shook his head.
This was even more tiring than being a superstar idol in his previous life.
Ignoring the disciples along the way, Chu Kuangren headed straight toward Sword Mountain's summit. The closer he came to the summit, the higher the swords' grades became.
All manner of swords filled his vision.
Heavy swords, slender swords, broad swords, paired mother-and-child swords, flexible swords...
Some ornate, some plain and ancient, some bizarrely shaped...
The countless swords dazzled Chu Kuangren's eyes.
Not only that, he seemed able to sense these swords' emotions. It was an indescribable, profoundly mysterious feeling.
Every sword conveyed its affinity for him.
"This Nine-Orifice Exquisite Sword Heart really is incredible. This ability alone, making all swords under heaven feel an affinity for me, would be enough for countless Sword Dao cultivators to dream of," Chu Kuangren could not help remarking.
Some swordsmen pursued the state of Human-Sword Unity, which required an exceptional compatibility and mutual resonance between themselves and their swords.
Yet Chu Kuangren could make all swords feel a natural affinity for him. For him, Human-Sword Unity was as simple as eating and drinking-far too easy.
At Sword Mountain's summit, nine swords stood embedded in bluestone.
Each sword radiated an incomparably piercing Sword Intent.
These nine swords were nine of the Mystic Heaven Sect's ten great sage swords. The remaining one was in the hands of the Mystic Heaven Sect Daoist, Nangong Huang.
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