Chapter 9 Growth

  "Have these three ever eaten other people's food?" Ling Sheng asked.

  "Hei Xi sank into deep thought for a long time, and hesitated: 'It seems... like I've had a young person's wine.'"

  "That's it." Ling Sheng pointed at the three corpses and said: "Look."

  The corpse's face is distorted, its color turned black, and there are insects lurking around the ears, nose, and mouth, but they seem to be afraid of strangers or sunlight and dare not crawl out of the corpse.

  "Gu technique?" Hei Xi's expression changed slightly, and he said in a low voice: "No wonder we all got poisoned. It turns out that it was a Gu Dao master. Legend has it that a master who refines the Ben Ming Gu insect can release toxic gas by consuming their own vital energy, leaving no living thing in its wake. However, if one is prepared, they can still avoid it. Looks like the person who did this is someone who has refined the Ben Ming Gu insect."

  "I've met him," Ling Sheng said.

  "What?" Hei Xi's face changed greatly.

  "That guy was killed by me." Ling Sheng said.

  Hei Xi's expression finally eased up, but as if he remembered something, he suddenly asked: "Have you killed that Gu insect?"

  "I killed his physical body, but the Gu worm escaped. What, could it be that this Gu worm still has no master and can continue to wreak havoc?" Ling Sheng furrowed his brow and said.

  "That's all, escaped from his Gu insect, and later it might come back for revenge." Hei Xi muttered to himself, with a hint of worry on his face. "A cultivator, unless they have the boundary of Yu Qi, otherwise they don't have much power to protect themselves, and it's easy to be invaded by evil things."

  "Can it come back for revenge?" Ling Sheng's eyebrows were tightly furrowed, that wasp was indeed quite troublesome, ordinary blades couldn't hurt it, unless he broke through the boundary of his aura, releasing a sword energy that could destroy anything, otherwise there would be no small trouble.

  "Although the side door technique is not as orthodox, it is strange and varied, and the Gu technique is an extremely mysterious and cruel method. An ordinary person can create a Gu worm, but if one cultivates their Qi, they can refine their own life-bound Gu worm, with methods that are both mysterious and ruthless, and extremely deadly."

  After a moment of contemplation, Hei Xuan continued: "If it's an orthodox disciple who breaks through the Qi Refining stage, they will have acquired mysterious techniques and magical abilities. Relying on their sect's foundation and the profundity of their mantra, they can deal with rogue cultivators of the same realm, or even surpass ordinary scattered practitioners. However, before reaching the Qi Refining stage, true energy only has the effect of strengthening the body and improving physical health, which cannot compare to the techniques of those heretical sects."

  The disciples of the Great School have a profound foundation, and whether it's their skills or techniques, they must be much more brilliant than ordinary loose cultivators. Therefore, under the same conditions, if they were to engage in a battle of magical techniques, the disciples of the Great School would definitely emerge victorious. Unless the opponent also has extraordinary means or has obtained some extraordinary inheritance.

  After all, the scattered people outside the sect can only grope and try on their own, and some have only obtained cultivation methods but do not have the magical powers of combat. Even if they have extraordinary skills and techniques, they can only try and experiment without the guidance of a master.

  Of course, these deeply rooted disciples of the major sects belong to the core inner door disciples. As for Ling Sheng and Hei Xi, these outer door disciples are just some miscellaneous servants in the eyes of the sect, only occasionally will someone stand out and become an inner door disciple.

  However, due to limitations in their field of vision and experience, outer door disciples who are promoted to inner door disciples often do not compare to the original inner door disciples.

  ……

  Not far away, the outer door disciples who had just woken up looked confused and their eyes were filled with complexity as they gazed at Ling Sheng.

  The young man before them was someone they had always despised, yet he had just saved their lives.

  A life-saving favor, a rebirth kindness.

  But these people couldn't bring themselves to go and thank him in person.

  "Big Brother Shī, Master Shì summoned me yesterday and told me to be a sword slave beside Sū Bái Big Brother," Líng Shèng said in a low voice.

  "'Sword slave?' A surge of blood rushed to the surface of Hei Xizhen's face as he angrily exclaimed, 'Su Bai may have a boundless future ahead of him, but being a sword slave is a fate worse than death. Not only has his dignity been lost, but three or four of his sword slaves have already died from the constant invasion of sword energy, dying after prolonged suffering. You... how could you agree to this?'"

  "What is Master worried about? Don't you understand me yet?" Ling Sheng smiled slightly, but the light in his eyes was somewhat cold.

  Hei Xi gazed deeply at him, silently pondering in his heart. This young man was usually quiet and taciturn, though it was due to being cold-shouldered by others, but upon careful consideration, wasn't he also secretly arrogant? Others didn't want to get close to him, and he too disdained to chat with those who looked down on him.

  Hei Xin, as a senior brother, deeply understood that this junior brother was young and vigorous, with sharp edges and a strong will, and would never be willing to be manipulated by others, nor would he become a sword slave who could only wait for death after being invaded by the sword energy.

  "That thing back then, anyone with eyes can see through it." Hei Xi was silent for a long time before suddenly saying: "That person is an inner disciple of the Ling E Tian Bao Sect, while you and I are just miscellaneous outer disciples, not comparable. Back then, that elder in Xing Tang was trying to curry favor with him, so he framed you with a bad reputation, and even if others saw through the truth, they wouldn't have spoken up for you and offended an inner disciple of the Ling E Tian Bao Sect."

  "I naturally understand what Shixiong means." Ling Sheng's eyes flashed with a cold intent, and he said in a low voice: "Whether it's this little brat from the Lingtian Tianbao Sect or Xing Tangzhang, I will go to them for an explanation in the future."

  "With this spirit, that's enough." Hei Xi nodded heavily. He didn't expect Ling Sheng to be able to get justice back, but only hoped that Ling Sheng could keep his spirits up, neither discouraged nor despairing.

  As for recovering justice, it's a bit too far-fetched.

  A disciple of the Lingtian Sect and an elder of the same sect. These two individuals, whether in terms of status or cultivation, make one feel disheartened, and even wanting to look up to them is a futile endeavor.

  A difference between immortals and mortals!

  The difference between immortals and mortals.

  "Let's go."

  Ling Sheng smiled and put the black tin on his back, saying in a low voice: "My cultivation is not necessarily inferior to that of my senior brother. In terms of means, my senior brother can't compare with me."

  Hei Xi's body shook all over, and it was a long time before he revealed a smile, deeply moved: "Yes, Shixiong was poisoned by someone without even seeing the opponent's face, but you now have the ability to kill that person."

  "Grew up."

  An old man past sixty leaned against Ling Sheng's back and whispered in a low voice.

  ……

  "Big brother, Ling Sheng saved our lives, why must he be so inhumane and not even willing to say half a sentence more to us?" A young man said indignantly.

  Hei Xi tilted his head, gazing at the figure that had become a tiny speck on the horizon, and said softly: "She saved your lives, yet you never even exchanged a word with her. Let's not mention gratitude for now; can't you even manage some ordinary pleasantries? You're all so taciturn, it seems like those who were rescued are always silent. Must the one doing the rescuing always be the first to speak?"

  "Can't he even ask us a few questions?" The young man's expression was indignant.

  The rest of the people did not speak up, but they also deeply agreed with it.

  "Why does he want to ask you for a letter of introduction?" Hei Xi smiled silently.

  Everyone was stunned.

  Hei Xi suddenly became interested and asked, "Over the years, you've been spreading rumors, exaggerating every little thing, viewing him as a shame to the Empty Mountain Sect. Even speaking one more word would be self-defilement. But he has never explained himself to you, nor had any intention of improving your relationship. Why is that?"

  The young man hesitated for a moment before saying, "Even if he's trying to be friendly with us, no one would bother to pay attention to him. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't humiliate myself either."

  "He only said one thing that was right." Hei Xi rubbed the young man's head and sighed, saying: "He is usually silent and rarely speaks, not because he is afraid of making a fool of himself, but because of his cold temperament. You look down on him, but has he ever taken you, these fellow disciples without a standpoint, to heart?"

  "He... he never put us in his eyes?" The young man was both ashamed and angry, and the others also had an angry look.

  "All these years, I've taken good care of him and even thought of letting him blend in with the outer disciples, but all my fellow brothers looked down on him with disdain, and his nature was destined to not fit in with us." Hei Xi fell silent for a moment before finally sighing: "In the end, he's just different from us."

  "What's different?"

  "We are mere iron chunks, while he is born with the makings of fine steel. With refinement, he will surely become a sharp tool." Hei Xi swept his gaze over the crowd and said, "We are destined for mediocrity, but as for him, his future may not be boundless, yet at the very least, he surpasses us in many ways."

  "Shixion is indeed too arrogant." Another middle-aged man sneered.

  "If I'm not mistaken, Ling Sheng has already stepped into the Refining Qi threshold." Hei Xi let out a sigh and said with a bitter smile: "He may not necessarily be able to roam freely in the world, but at such a young age, he's already entered the Cultivating Qi realm. Later on, when he breaks through to the Controlling Qi stage and becomes an inner sect disciple, it'll be a done deal. Among us, he's like a crane standing out among chickens."

  "He, he broke through?"

  Everyone was shocked.

  "Yes, I spent decades, while he is just a teenager of ten plus years old." Hei Xi sighed deeply.

  "Hmph, even if he's a crane standing among chickens here, he's still an ordinary crane. The inner disciples are numerous, and they're all exceptionally talented individuals who have received the sect's nurturing, worthy of being called a group of celestial cranes. Ling Sheng will inevitably be submerged among them." A middle-aged cultivator who had been practicing for decades but had yet to grasp the basics of Qi cultivation snorted in envy.

  Hei Xi glanced at him and then took in the expressions of the crowd, and couldn't help but sigh: "Then let's take a look."

  ……

  In the mountains, a tall and robust man walked forward with big strides, walking like the wind. Wherever he passed, leaves rustled, branches swayed, as if his whole body was filled with a fierce wind.

  This sturdy man wore tattered and coarse clothes, with a snakeskin wrapped around his waist, showing both coarseness and savagery.

  Suddenly, the burly man's footsteps came to a halt as he gazed at a white and green striped caterpillar on a nearby branch. He furrowed his brow and muttered in a low voice, "Even my physical body has been destroyed?"

  He shook his head and casually picked up the silkworm. Strangely, this ferocious silkworm was extremely gentle.

  "The feat of dying and coming back to life is something that only your master's ancestor can accomplish. However, among the hundreds of disciples under your master's seat, I am just one of them, so there isn't much hope for revival. Nevertheless, since you have a strand of true energy stored in the Gu insect, it's not impossible that you might regain a weak consciousness in the future."

  The strong man sighed and casually flicked his finger, sending the silkworm flying high into the air until it disappeared into a dark cloud.

  "Even if I could invite a master craftsman, why would I waste such a great opportunity on you?"