A Thought Through Eternity

The entire wooden sword became blurred as it spun around in the yard, almost disappearing from sight, replaced by the shockwaves it left behind as it moved. The air seemed to be filled with gusts at that moment, and Bai Xiaochun’s excitement only intensified.

After a while, he flung his right arm to the side, the wooden sword flashed, and returned to his palm. It didn’t seem like much, it’s colourful appearance was seemingly inconspicuous, but actually, the sword had went through three refinements. Its quality was on a completely different level.

“Lifting the Heavy as Though It Was Light and Lifting the Light as Thought It Was Heavy - if I could master both of these techniques, their combination would make me the only one capable of that godlike ability from the Purple Qi Cauldron Techniques! Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath, his eyes full of anticipation.

“Purple Qi Cauldron Melting Technique!” Bai Xiaochun stored away his wooden sword, closed his eyes and stood in the courtyard. After a while, his right hand abruptly shot up, pointing at the sky. Immediately after that, the Qi, which was supposed to be invisible to the naked eye, became visible with flashes of light, forming into strings that began to form something similar to a cauldron.

As if guided by some mysterious force, the cauldron slowly took shape.

At the same time, shockwave after shockwave was emitted out from it. The Qi produced was stronger than the Qi from his swordplay earlier.

On the other hand, Bai Xiaochun’s face was rapidly paling. The Qi within his body was being rapidly depleted, and the cauldron had only finished materializing after burning eighty percent of his Qi. Floating in mid-air, the cauldron was surrounded by an intense Qi pressure, and followed by Bai Xiaochun pointing his finger forward, the cauldron shot out, crashing hard against the ground.

The instant the cauldron and the ground made contact, the cauldron shattered and a huge amount of Qi exploded out from it.

The roar of that explosion was intense, it reverberated throughout the courtyard, and the ground around the impact audibly fractured.

Fortunately, the Scented Cloud Mountain was protected by a formation technique, fixing the fractures as soon as they formed. The impact, however, was heard by many of the outer sect disciples, raising their curiosity about its source.

Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath. He hadn’t expected the Purple Qi Cauldron Melting Technique to be this overwhelming. That impact gave him the feeling that if he was to be matched against himself, he wouldn’t be able to put up a fight at all.

“Purple Qi Cauldron Melting Technique lives up to its name. It’s a very mysterious technique, and it requires an understanding of both the ‘Lifting the Light as Though It Was Heavy’ and ‘Lifting the Heavy as Though It Was Light’ methods.” Bai Xiaochun’s eyes shone, however, it was replaced by a frown moments after. It was very strong, but the Qi it consumed was way too much.

Bai Xiaochun didn’t know, but actually, he had only exhausted eighty percent of his Qi because of its purity. Other disciples would use up the entirety of their Qi before the eighth level of Qi Condensation even if they comprehended the technique. Those at the ninth level were the ones who could actually use that technique, but the cost for them wasn’t small either.

“The Purple Qi Cauldron Techniques are split into three grades. The cauldron I just made was only of the low quality. Medium quality would be two cauldrons, and high quality would form three cauldrons that will merge together to form a bigger cauldron.” as Bai Xiaochun thought hard about it, he sat down and started breathing deeply. Once the moon was up high, his eyes opened with a flash of light, the Qi within his body was already replenished.

“This technique can become my killer move. If those Zhou Xinqi admirers were to find any trouble with me, they’d have this cauldron on their heads.” Bai Xiaochun was just feeling relieved when the freckled man came to his mind, which made him furrow his brow.

“He’s in the Inner Sect, and to be in the Inner Sect, you need to be at least at the eighth level of Qi Condensation…” Bai Xiaochun felt unease as he was deep in thought while staring at his skin. He got up and took a few steps, his speed was extremely fast. He put his index finger and thumb together, which created a black light that he flung to the side.

“Ka-Ka” sounds could be heard as a subtle explosion rang in the air. Bai Xiaochun’s movement seemed flawless. He looked at his two fingers, and slowly calmed himself down.

“This is my trump card… it’s for saving my life.” Bai Xiaochun released a soft sigh, thinking that the self-defence killer move should be as strong as possible. He was, however, scared of the Unending Longevity Technique.

He did try to improve his Unending Longevity Technique after acquiring the impenetrable skin, but the sense of hunger that came with the training was just too much for him to handle.

Only small chicks were left here. There really was nothing left for him to eat, and if he relied solely on the spirit food here, Bai Xiaochun was sure he would starve to death before completing the training.

He had also searched the entire mountain for other spirit beasts to use as food, but after the great chicken thief events, people no longer kept their livestock in open areas in order to protect it.

Bai Xiaochun was stressed, his face troubled. Just as he was thinking about ways to solve the hunger problem, he suddenly thought of that Life-prolonging Pill.

“Oh yeah…” Bai Xiaochun’s eyes brightened. There were many different types of spirit herbs, not only for cultivation, but also for replenishing Qi. Upon achieving the impenetrable iron skin, Bai Xiaochun had realized that practicing the Unending Longevity Technique essentially needed Qi.

“I haven’t taken the test yet, but my knowledge of herbs is completely sufficient for me to create medicine myself. The materials were expensive, but those found in the grass and on the trees are much cheaper.” Bai Xiaochun thought it wasn’t a bad idea.

“If I make medicine now, it’d be a lot more easier for me when I take the examination, and it’d also be a lot easier in the future when I refine the Foundation Establishment Pill.” Filled with great determination, Bai Xiaochun put his hand on his chin and started thinking. He stood up, the sun had already risen by the time he was done thinking.

“To create medicine I need the recipes. This should be easy, you don’t need to be a medicine disciple to get those. The city square at the bottom of the mountain has some recipes for sale.” Bai Xiaochun patted his pouch. Ever since his arrival at the Scented Cloud Mountain, there was barely any chance for him to spend his money. With outer sect disciples receiving some spirit stones every month, he had quite a lot saved up.

As for the superficial stuff, he never really cared about it. He dashed down the path to the foot of Scented Cloud Mountain.

It was his second time going down the mountain ever since he came here. The first time was to buy medicinal herbs and exchange for pills. Just as he left the Scented Cloud Mountain, two shadows dashed toward a courtyard on the Green Peak Mountain.

“Is Senior Brother Chen here!”

“Senior Brother Chen! Bai Xiaochun went down the mountain!” These two figure’s cultivation levels were strong, both of them at the fourth level of Qi Condensation. The two of them were excited as they walked in the courtyard towards a huge man.

He was burly, his back was like a tiger’s, and his waist was like a bear’s.

“Bai Xiaochun? Has he finally left the mountain?” The big man laughed as he slowly stood up. He was like a mountain, and he was at the fifth level of Qi condensation.

He was the old head of the Administrative Department, Chen Fei.

At that time, the three of them spent their days content in the Administrative Department. Almost everything they needed was there, and there were handymen who served them. They also had spirit stones. Their life was good until Bai Xiaochun and the others forced their way up the mountain, making them into outer sect disciples. The two hard years intensified their hate for Bai Xiaochun.

But Zhang Fatso One was not one you should make an enemy of, and Black Fatso Three was not someone you want to involve yourself with either. Bai Xiaochun, however, was weaker than the two of them, and was the only suitable target for revenge. But he never left the sect, and Chen Fei, while being known in the sect, dared not break the sect’s rules.

After all, he was just the elder cousin of an inner sect disciple. Having handymen subordinates was already the limit of what he could achieve.

All this time, he was waiting for Bai Xiaochun to leave the sect on an errand, and it took two years for that to happen. The time had finally arrived, and Chen Fei was confident. He had trained to the fifth level of Qi condensation, and scouted out how Bai Xiaochun was doing with his cultivation. His achievements were just lucky flukes.

“That year when he used the ‘Lifting the Heavy as Though It Was Light’ method, I actually thought he had mastered it. Hmph, forcing me into an outer sect disciple, I will not forgive him.” Chen Fei’s eyes burned with fury. He didn’t intend to kill Bai Xiaochun, but he planned to break his bones and damage his veins. He wanted him to be hospitalized for a year.

And this kind of thing wouldn’t be too concerning for the sect, but they’d investigate it nonetheless. However, he wasn’t going to be caught red handed. There’d also be no death. And Chen Fei had a reputation in the sect. There weren’t going to be any consequences for his revenge.

Chen Fei’s body shot out as he sprinted down the mountain, the duo following behind him. They reached the foot of the mountain soon enough, and hid near the path used to reach the city square.

The city square wasn’t big. Bai Xiaochun didn’t take long to find the recipes he needed. One was for replenishing Qi, and the other was for nourishing Qi. High quality ones were rare, but low quality ones were pretty common for commoners to use to strengthen their bodies.

For other people, they would be useless, but to Bai Xiaochun, they were treasure. He had the turtle-shell pot, and any common pill that was refined thrice would be on a whole new level.

Using the rest of the spirit stones for medicinal herbs, Bai Xiaochun patted his storage pouch as he hummed on his way back to the mountain, leaving the city square. In his mind, he was fascinated about the successful medicine he was about to make.

But just as he started walking up the path, he abruptly stopped. Upon reaching the sixth Qi Condensation level, his senses had sharpened up a lot. He immediately sensed the breaths of three people hiding in the bushes. At this moment, his heart started beating faster.

Seeing Bai Xiaochun stop there, the three jumped out and stood in front of him.

“Bai Xiaochun, today, I’m paying back all the wrongs you have done to me!” Chen Fei glared at Bai Xiaochun, laughing with his two followers who also circled around to surround him.

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Regular chapter 3/3 for the week

Translated by: Marcus

TLCed by: Nat Nat

Edited by: Arch, Crimsonguard