The cliff is ahead of them, and the group comprised of one boy and two girls finally could see it in their earnest. Cliffs stood a thousand meters to the sky, arranged randomly like poorly made steps in a gorge with a river. Thirty-zhang wide. There is a whole ecosystem of devil beasts there, ripe for extermination.
"There's no true herbivore here," Jingyi remarked. "Even the weakest of the demon beasts are the juvenile hogs, and they're omnivores."
Juvenile hogs, high-tier rank 1. Adult sow, low-tier rank 2. Alpha boar, mid-tier rank 2. All devil beasts are tiered and ranked based on their danger to cultivators. The hogs are fast-breeding and resilient but largely powerless in the face of a Qi-condensation cultivator.
They're too predictable and inflexible. Even among devil beasts, they're too straightforward and reliant on brute force.
"There are a lot of green-jade crocodiles and blue river gators. But they're chilling over there." Jingyi looked. "To be honest, I dislike indiscriminate killing anyway."
"Well, that was easy." Xuan Lian ran to the river edge, picked a piece of wood, and repeatedly smacked it on a rock to create a commotion.
One of the green crocodiles immediately rushed to chase her, while the blue gator showed complete disinterest.
"Gators are largely timid, while Crocs are incredibly aggressive." Jingyi realized. "I see."
In that case, Jingyi doesn't feel like being polite. She ran toward the crocodile, and as the beast opened its jaw to maul her, Jingyi dodged and punched it by the side of its head.
"Aieeee!" Jingyi cried and flailed.
"Well yeah, their green jade skin isn't for show." Xuan Di winced. "What were you thinking?!"
Green-jade crocodiles have rocky green scales on their upper body. These beautiful, seemingly fragile jade were anything but. They're actually a form of metal composite stronger than ordinary iron.
Even though she practiced body cultivation, her skin wasn't as hard as those Earth method practitioners. The naturally gifted Green-jade crocodiles are far more resilient than her bare fist.
"I forgot!" Jingyi pulled a pair of Snow moth silk ropes she bought six months ago and tied them around her hands and forearms in seconds, making an impromptu gauntlet.
The crocodile engaged Xuan Lian, who skilfully danced around and occasionally delivered sucker punches. Jingyi also gave a full power strike to the side with a resounding crunch.
However, this time, she wasn't hurt. The rope acted as an impact dampener and added mass to her arms, granting a more powerful punch.
"Oh, you can also punch hard." Xuan Lian gathered her power in her gauntlet, putting all her strength and body weight. She punched the twelve-chi long, two thousand catties crocodile.
The uppercut threw the creature's head up by several zhangs. Xuan Lian's punch was explosive. Quite literally, as she put pure Yang fire Qi into her fist. A blinding flash of golden light briefly erupted.
Jingyi did not waste her time. Already in the air, she delivered a downward kick that blasted the crocodile into a four-zhang-wide crater.
"Take some distance! It's not going down from half-baked barrage!" Xuan Di called. "Green jade crocodiles are low-tier rank 3 beasts!"
Jingyi and Xuan Lian jumped back several times and put defensive stances. As the crocodile jumped off the crater, a complicated glowing sigil showed underneath it. The circle was five zhang wide, and four sword souls erupted and stabbed the crocodile from underneath while four flying swords stabbed its back.
[Eight Trigram - Four sword shadows]!
"Not yet. The skin is too thick." Xuan Di shouted. "I need to use flying swords and stab the belly. Sword souls aren't enough right now."
The crocodile shuddered, throwing the swords on its back to the air. Although its stomach was bleeding, the wound wasn't deep enough.
Rank-3 beasts aren't a joke. Even an alpha boar would have died by now! But the Green-jade crocodile was barely weakened. If anything, it was enraged.
"Jing-er, let's flip it on its back!" Xuan Lian said.
"Right."
Xuan Lian ran toward the crocodile, which it welcomed in glee as its jaw opened in response. However, Xuan Lian punched the upper and lower lips and stopped the two thousand catties crocodile on its track. The impact cracked the ground from sheer braking force.
Jingyi rolled under the crocodile and used her arms as a spring to deliver a devastating upward dropkick. In the face of such a strength, two thousand catties are weightless!
The twelve-chi-long crocodile flipped, allowing Xuan Di to execute [Four sword shadows] again. But this time, he cast two formations at once. Eight sword souls and eight flying swords concentrated on the beast's belly.
The combined strength and sharpness pierced the thick skin and caused the beast to roar in immense pain. And then it stopped.
"That was terrifying," Jingyi said, with a monotone voice and expressionless face.
Xuan Di and Xuan Lian both looked at her in disbelief. She doesn't look terrified. It wasn't until they looked at Jingyi's shaken legs that they noticed.
"A single mistake could be fatal." Xuan Di scratched his head. "I apologize for being a useless man."
Xuan Lian frowned.
"There's no way that is the case." Xuan Lian crossed her arms. "Your body is fragile, but you have the greatest offensive power in this group. A Green-jade crocodile in two strokes of sword formations and using two sword formations at once. Few in this exam can do it."
Jingyi would be lucky to kill that beast with ten moves! Although sword practitioners are proud of their killing power, compared to kids of similar ages and cultivation, the difference is on several levels.
"Saying that... both of you could kill me in two moves." Xuan Di cringed. "Please protect me."
Xuan Di said that his sword formation is not infallible. Although mediocre martial artists can be defeated, people who practice body cultivation can resist and break through the barrage.
"Was it Wei Bi? The boy who broke your [four sword shadows] the first time?" Xuan Lian asked. "Until that point, it was unbeatable. Even I was terrified of it."
"It was indeed Wei Bi." Xuan Di said. "I wonder how he's doing. He's probably taking the exam in the Central Peak Academy right now."
From how nostalgic Wei Bi spoke of him, he must be a precious friend.
"This Wei Bi person, what kind of body technique he practiced?" Jingyi asked.
"[Thousand Stone Dizang], an Earth method body cultivation." Xuan Di said. "Its agility was laughable, but the sheer resilience and sprint speed... even if a green-Jade crocodile bites him, he won't get hurt."
That's scary!
"In other words, the current me is extremely vulnerable against body cultivators. So don't be too charmed." Xuan Di huffed. "I could only support you from behind."
If Xuan Di said this in front of other boys, a laughingstock he would be. In this world, men should protect the women. That's common sense.
However, it was part of the reason why Jingyi trusted him. Xuan Di is humble. He knows the difference between confidence and arrogance. He knew his strength and weakness and would leverage those strengths even if he needed others to cover him.
Jingyi rested her elbow on his shoulder and poked his rounded cheek. "Fear not. Di-er has two strong Jiejie to protect you."
"Xuan Di, your skin sure is thick. Are you sure you don't practice body cultivation?" Xuan Lian twitched and grinned but clearly was mad.
...
Taking on three more green-Jade crocodiles was not a small task. Although the first one was stupid enough to charge alone, the other three were not so much.
Indeed, one of them broke through the defense line and caught Xuan Di by its mouth.
"Di-ER!" Xuan Lian shouted. But she was too distracted and slammed into the rocky cliff, courtesy of a tail smash from the crocodile she was fighting.
"FOCUS!" Xuan Di cast a talisman paper to create Qi armor around his arms, boosting his strength enough to pry open the jaw and escape. "I can hold on for a while!"
However, though his arm strengths and defense improved, his legs were still so-so. With just a body slam from the crocodile, he immediately buckled and had to run away.
Xuan Di decided to buy time and called out one of his flying swords to ride. "I can't use sword formation and fly! I'll think of a way to kill!"
"Heard you." Jingyi grasped the crocodile's snout and kneed it.
Xuan Lian recovered, and now twice as mad, she tackled the other crocodile. And the resulting impact was like a small meteor, glowing crater and all.
"HATEFUL!"
The girls could hold themselves against the Crocs. Xuan Di is the liability and knows it. At least as long as his cultivation is restrained.
However, Jingyi herself felt restless. Her contractual duty was to protect Xuan Di from this situation! Nevertheless, while taking a single crocodile with the three of them was painless, fighting one alone was taxing.
When the crocodile tried to whip its tail, Jingyi caught it and swung
the reptile up and down to smash it. However, after slamming it twice, the croc gripped the ground and successfully whipped the tail, sending Jingyi to plunge into the ground like a stake.
The croc bit Jingyi's leg and tried to tear her apart but failed. Thankfully, Jingyi was wearing a boot.
Still alive and kicking, bastard!
Jingyi put her palm on the crocodile's eyes and then focused her Qi. Contrary to logic, a devil beast's eyes aren't always its weak points. In the case of Green-jade crocodiles, their eyes are as hard as diamond and as tough as steel.
It has to be a powerful, decisive attack.
[Southern Dragon Buddha Palm]!
A violent eruption of Yin Qi exploded through the eyes and into the head cavity of the crocodile, blasting the organ and flesh on the other side of the face. Jingyi doesn't like it because the blowback also hurt her arm joints.
But if there's any attack in her arsenal that could take such a strong enemy in one shot, that would be it.
"Di-er?!"
Xuan Di lay on the back of a blue river gator as it munched the corpse of the green-jade crocodile. From the wound it suffered, Xuan Di gored the crocodile's stomach.
"If you don't hurt them, the Blue River gator won't bother humans." Xuan Di said as he sent a barrage of sword souls and killed the crocodile Xuan Lian was fighting. "They coexisted. But when a fight breaks out between two individual members, it's always deadly."
A Blue River gator is physically inferior to that of Green-Jade crocodiles. But the difference isn't so vast as to make them a different rank. Blue River gators are also faster on the land and in the water, which makes them scarier for humans to fight.
It seems that Xuan Di purposely instigated a fight between the gator and the crocodile and immediately went for a kill shot.
"You're so smart, should have told us!" Xuan Lian yelled. "Lame! I was worried for nothing!"
"I told you to focus. Why did you not listen? Not every problem can be solved with brute force." Xuan Di asked.
Xuan Lian pouted. He teased her as one of the Xuan clan's heir candidates. To be a clan Patriarch, martial prowess alone is not enough. If you're not cunning, you're not fit for leadership.
"Jing-jie, are you alright? Your arm is hurt, right?"
"Dislocated, but otherwise fine."
"You... what?" Xuan Di twitched.
"Dislocated," Jingyi responded again.
"How could someone cultivate the body got dislocated?!" Xuan Lian gawked.
"Qi recoil." Jingyi shrugged. "This technique is a bit inconvenient, but at least the drawback isn't as severe, and the power is magnified compared to before. This should heal in two hours without any problem."
"Is it because of the [Ghost Jade Forge]?" Xuan Di asked.
"Seems like it," Jingyi said. "The effect might be eliminated or significantly lessened if I reach the third stage of the technique. And I'm half-step to that point."
In [Ghost Jade Forge], there are six levels of body refining. The skin and muscle, the internal organs, the ligaments and joints, the bone, and the marrow. After marrow is refined, it is possible to break into Foundation Establishment by undergoing blood transformation.
"In that case, it is better to rest." Xuan Di said. "Exam is four hours, and we already killed four rank-3 beasts in less than an hour. If we fail, I'll be amazed."
"True." Xuan Lian agreed. "I can't believe we killed four of them by ourselves."
It is not that Jingyi doesn't understand how phenomenal this is. The three of them are all in the first Qi condensation density. Rank-3 beasts, if not in the mid-density, most people wouldn't be willing to try! The power of top-grade martial scripture is too phenomenal!
Others will have to struggle and kill lesser-ranked beasts to catch up.
"With that said, we can't be too cocky. So let us begin recovering." Xuan Di threw a bottle of healing pills to Jingyi. "Even if some of them are spoiled babies, there should be people with greater talent than us. Luck and persistence is also a talent."
Complacency is one of the greatest enemies in cultivation, second only to arrogance. Above the sky is another sky, and there is always a bigger fish.
"I'll save it for an emergency," Jingyi said. "Unless Lian-jie wanted to pursue the top leaderboards."
"Tempting, but I'm also tired." Xuan Lian waved dismissively. "If someone can do better than us, I won't take offense."
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CHAPTER 06 - THE ADMISSION EXAM, PART 2
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Jingyi sat cross-legged as she focused her Qi flow to heal her injuries. Doing so would shorten the recovery time significantly. However, as she did this, her haze-like byproduct bothered Xuan Lian.
Because it got to the point where Jingyi created a whole cloud!
"No wonder everyone calls you a ghost." Xuan Lian said. "At this rate, your fog will become Yin fiend!"
"It's a deliberate choice." Jingyi confidently said. "The fewer people bother me, the better."
"Crazy talk!"
"Hey, like you love being harassed by some lecherous trash." Xuan Di pointed. "Leave my fiancee alone!"
Xuan Lian didn't leave Jingyi alone, though. Instead, she helped her by channeling a gentle, steady stream of Qi from her palm to Jingyi's back.
However, there was an unexpected reaction as Jingyi's absorbency ratio suddenly increased, and the waste Qi around her spun like a small twister, increasingly turbulent yet faint. Also, there was a small gold light strand coloring the translucent twister.
"This reaction... what is this?" Xuan Lian blinked. "Even my energy recovery speed is increased!"
"Qi body resonance." Xuan Di frowned. "I was expecting this, but the result is certainly shocking."
"Why is that?" Jingyi asked.
"The truth is, Jing-jie had an Extreme Yin constitution." Xuan Di said. "While Lian-jie had a Supreme Yang constitution. So your breath becomes resonant."
"Wait, you HAVE Extreme Yin body?" Xuan Lian gasped. "And why would you sit so far, Di-er?!"
"If I sat too close, my Qi would be stimulated, and my restriction tattoo become useless." Xuan Di grinned. "That would be bad for my health, and it wasn't a metaphor."
If Xuan Di's Qi ran freely, weight loss would be inevitable. The restriction tattoo cut his Qi absorption and refinement rate by one-third.
"Yes," Jingyi confirmed. "I have an Extreme Yin constitution."
"The reason she chooses [Ghost Jade Forge] is not only because of element compatibility, but the technique creates a lot of waste byproduct in the form of turbulent Yin Qi. Which apparently attractive to many ghosts and other fiend creatures." Xuan Di explained.
"This waste byproduct would therefore block her natural charm against men, who is attracted to the gentle Yin aura. Because of this, her Qi cultivation progress won't lose to you."
"I see." Xuan Lian sighed. "My apologies for being outspoken without knowing."
People of this world are outspoken against people doing things against common sense. Because to these people, this person is both an aberration and crazy. After all, why would someone want to look less attractive?
Xuan Lian finally got the answer.
A girl with an Extreme Yin constitution lives an unhappy life. The real blame for this had to be put on the classic Dao sex method and the men who abused it.
In the classic Dao sex method, the women act as furnaces, and the men become fire sources. Qi refinement and absorption through this method is faster than meditation alone. As such, the practice can be found not just in Daoism. Many religions or cultures have them.
However, in the Dao sex method, the refining cycle is done in the woman's body, while men freely reap the benefits. Improperly done, the burden can be immense (resulting in damaged cultivation). Let alone the psychological damage of helplessness and being used as nothing but tools by men.
An Extreme Yin body is desirable due to the Yin nature of making something out of nothingness (an imaginary shape). Women with an Extreme Yin body allow for even greater efficiency of Qi refining through the Dao sex method.
Men would kill each other to conquer Jingyi's body, with or without her consent and heart.
It is a cruel practice, yet also considered righteous and acceptable. For Jingyi? She'd rather kill herself rather than live like that.
Thinking like this, Xuan Lian understood why Jingyi was willing to become Xuan Di's fiancee. Xuan Di's Qi cursed cultivation also threatens his health and even life. Abusing Jingyi's body for fast progress equals killing himself.
Xuan Di noticed some easy prey and stood up. "I'm going to kill these hogs."
Even a small group of hogs possess no threat. So the girls aren't worried. Nevertheless, Xuan Lian said. "Be careful."
"Oh, and you two make perfect Dao partners. Don't do anything lewd, please?" Xuan Di jokingly commented, and Xuan Lian threw a rock to his back, making him cry as he ran away.
Xuan Lian looked at Jingyi and blushed. "Umm, does that mean the two of you... can't..."
"At least until the curse got resolved? It is almost impossible." Jingyi told her. "But it is beneficial for us to spend together immersed in a bath since it cools down his circulation, which is violent and corrosive."
Xuan Lian widened her eyes in surprise. "Because your turbulent Yin Qi saturated the water and calmed his Qi cycle!"
"That was indeed what happened." Jingyi smiled.
This is the extent of intimacy that Jingyi and Xuan Di have done as a boy and a girl. The opposite of sensual and passionate.
"In that case, I'm never going to win." Xuan Lian sighed. "Being close to someone with a Supreme Yang body is probably the last thing he wanted. But then again, as a Dao partner, someone weird like me is unwanted."
"Why is that?"
"With a Supreme Yang constitution, I am both a furnace and a powerful fire source. If my man isn't careful with me, they'll get a heavy backlash." Xuan Lian winced. "Although it can be rewarding to sleep with someone like me, most Daoists would consider the risk not worth it.."
However, on both sides of gender, finding Yin or Yang constitution is not an easy task.
"In the past, Xuan Di had a pure fire spirit root, which would be ideal to be my Dao partner. However, after he consumed Daemon Punishment Soul Pill, his spirit root mutated to develop Yin Fire."
Wuxing Ouyang Qi cultivation method had five elements and ten mutations. The five elements comprise wood, fire, water, earth, and metal. Yin Fire is a Yin mutation of the Fire element. It often appears as black, shadowy fire.
"If that was the only thing that happened? Things would be fine, but Xuan Di cultivated the Yang Fire method. In this vast Pugilistic world, he might be the only person with Yang Fire and Yin Fire in his body."
Yang Fire and Yin Fire sit with each other in the ten mutated elements. However, their nature is polar opposites of each other. Because they constantly compete, they stimulate each other, boosting Xuan Di's cultivation vastly higher than anyone else.
However, the burden caused his body metabolism to increase disproportionately. Without the perfected body of a Foundation Establishment, this issue cannot be solved, only halted.
"Once he became Foundation Establishment, that would not be an issue." Jingyi smiled. "At least, in theory."
There is still a chance that Doctor Duanmu Yu's prediction was wrong because there isn't enough sample to take reference from. There were records of people suffering similarly to Xuan Di. Either they die a miserable death or discard their Qi cultivation altogether.
"I'm tired of hearing false hopes and empty promises." Xuan Lian scoffed. "Aren't you the weird one, pushing your rival to win your fiancee?"
"In this world, a man having two or more wives is normal. And if Di-er is happy, I have no objection." Jingyi flatly responded.
Not that Jingyi likes the idea. But that was how reality is.
Besides, their relationship right now is on a contractual basis. If the contract is complete and nothing blossoms, Jingyi would be at ease to leave Xuan Di in someone else's hands.
"Of course, the current Di-er doesn't have mental and physical development. So refrain from seducing him into something you can't walk back." Jingyi stood. "The healing speed is phenomenal. I owe Lian-jie a small favor."
"Nevermind about that." Xuan Lian said as she clenched her fist. A flaming gold aura covered her. "Because of you, I broke into the second density of Qi Condensation. If anything, I owe you a favor."
The resonance between Jingyi's Extreme Yin body and Xuan Lian's Supreme Yang Body is unmatched, even though they have no physical contact. Merely sitting close to each other, their physical and Qi recovery rates increased by one-half.
With the gentle Yang Qi donated by Xuan Lian, Jingyi recovered three times as fast as predicted.
Unfortunately, Xuan Di was right. Jingyi and Xuan Lian made the perfect Dao cultivation partner.
Heaven had a shitty sense of humor, Jingyi thought.
"Also, we're the same age. So calling me -jie is unwarranted." Xuan Lian pouted. "I'm not that much older than you!"
"In that case, I'll also call you Lian-er."
"JINGYI-JIE! LIAN-JIE!" Xuan Di shouted. "I FOUND A GOOD ONE!"
Just in time for them to resume hunting!
...
"I was hunting a bunch of hogs by the river, but the smell of blood attracted something." Xuan Di pointed.
It was a White-jade crocodile, a close relative of the Green-jade crocodile. The difference is that White-jade crocodile is supposed to live in salt water.
"It seems this secret world has a small salt lake instead of the ocean." Jingyi read the map. "This salt lake was seeded carefully with sea monsters."
"But a White-jade crocodile... the adult is a high-tier rank-3 beast. Can we really beat one?!"
Similar in physical appearance, the two crocodiles are different in threat level.
An adult Green-jade crocodile is twelve chi long and weighs two thousand catties. However, an adult White-jade crocodile is eighteen chi long and weighs almost six thousand catties. The strength and resilience are on another level, hence the gap in beast ranking.
"Unexpectedly, this small salt lake might be the one with the hardest difficulty of hunting. None of the creatures here are lower than rank-3!" Xuan Di remarked. "But I found this stray, juvenile White-jade Crocs. If my estimation is correct, it should be mid-tier rank-3 in power. Fighting it alone is less dangerous than fighting three Green-jade crocodiles at once."
"Hmm. You might be correct." Xuan Lian reconsidered her opinion. "If we can bait it away further, we can engage it safely without other Crocs approaching us."
"Bait it," Jingyi said as she pulled out spare ropes and a piece of raw hog thigh before pouring a bottle of blood on it.
Xuan Di cackled like a maniac as he dragged the meat by tying it to his flying sword. The giant white crocodile chased him with bloodlust eyes at tremendous speed. Were it not for their body cultivation, it would be impossible for Jingyi and Xuan Lian to catch up from behind.
They threw bombs behind them to block the road leading to the salt lake. They wanted to trap this juvenile White-jade crocodile and kill it.
"We're done!"
Xuan Di yanked the rope to get the meat and threw it to the ground to stop the rampaging creature. He threw more explosives to block the terrain.
The white crocodile was trapped between two cliffs.
"Let's kill it!"
"Kill!"
However, they were interrupted by a massive energy sword five zhang long, which immediately pinned the crocodile and gave it severe injuries. The rocky back skin was slightly cracked, and the energy sword pierced through.
The crocodile howled and coughed blood.
Sword Essence...
Someone in the exam has a Sword Essence?!
Above Sword Seed are Sword Souls, and above Sword Souls are Sword Essence. Sword Seed is a party trick that exists as the mark of base comprehension.
Sword Souls are as destructive as a first-grade flying sword. Sword Souls means the cultivator perfectly comprehends a sword technique at the spiritual level and makes a perfect replication of it.
Sword Essence, however, means the person integrated their soul with a sword scripture. They condense the core structure of the technique with massive Qi, making it extremely powerful.
To inflict similar injury, even Jingyi has to use [Southern Dragon Buddha Palm].
"Who is there?!" Xuan Lian called out.
A boy, roughly fifteen or sixteen years old, stood on the cliff. His coat fluttered with the wind. His eyes were obscured by a pair of glowing glasses, something uncommonly encountered in this region.
Xuan Lian, however, knew this person. All too well.
"Ouyang Fang!" Xuan Lian gritted her teeth. "Never strikes as someone who would steal a kill."
"You still pretend you know me well. You have no face." He scoffed.
"Oh, in that case, you turned out to be a dishonorable scum now." Xuan Lian goaded. "Disappointing."
"You-!"
"Focus, hey!" Jingyi interrupted the standoff because the crocodile had recovered and tried to attack the distracted Xuan Lian.
However, she was surprised to see the sword essence stab the ground beside Xuan Lian, shocking the Young Miss while protecting her from harm.
Xuan Lian punched the stunned crocodile, and the uppercut sent the crocodile on its back. Taking this chance, Xuan Di summoned two [Four Sword Shadows] formations and peppered the crocodile's stomach with physical and spiritual swords.
Eight Sword Souls and eight flying swords sank into the crocodile's stomach. Unfortunately, it wasn't an instant kill. Nevertheless, Jingyi and Xuan Lian jumped on the crocodile. They pushed the flying swords with brute strength to finish the beast.
"You two are the absolute worst at communicating." Xuan Di said. "Come down and have a talk, Fang-ge."
"Who is that, exactly?" Jingyi questioned.
"Ouyang Fang, from the now exterminated Ouyang Clan." Xuan Di explained. "He was Lian-jie's fiancee."
Jingyi's brain grinds to a halt.