“How about this!”
He Pingsheng said, “Fellow Daoist Xiao Xuan, since you can wait for me for three years, you can certainly wait for me for thirty years!”
“Just wait a few more years for me. When I break through to the Qi Refining Stage Tenth Layer, let’s talk about the competition then!”
He Pingsheng usually didn't argue with people.
But that didn't mean he couldn't.
After his Divine Thought became strong, his mind gradually opened, and his thinking and reactions naturally far surpassed those of his peers.
Xiao Xuan on the other side was so angry he almost vomited blood.
“Hmph…” The scrawny Old Man angrily flicked his sleeves and stood up, saying, “Is the Tai Xu Sect full of cowards and glib talkers like you?”
“If that’s truly the case, then the Tai Xu Sect is not far from being annihilated!”
“Let’s go!”
The Old Man angrily pulled his Disciple away.
Clap, clap, clap…
Zhao Ling'er, Xu Kunlun, and Tian Xiaoqing clapped their hands happily.
“Junior Brother, you’re amazing!”
“Against such people, this is exactly the method to use!”
“A Tenth Layer challenging you, an Eighth Layer, isn’t that clearly bullying?”
Senior Sister and Senior Brother both spoke up for He Pingsheng.
But Yu Ning on the opposite side frowned tightly and said, “It’s not that simple!”
“This Immortal Master Chibing and Xiao Xuan haven’t achieved their goal, so I’m afraid they won’t let it go so easily!”
“He Pingsheng, you must stay calm!”
“Remember your Master’s words: no matter how they provoke you in the future, you are not allowed to accept their challenge!”
“Do you understand?”
Finally, she added, “Can you stay calm?”
“Don’t worry, Master!” He Pingsheng smiled and said, “If you want me to fight him, I definitely can’t win. But if you want me to stay calm and not take the challenge, I can do that perfectly!”
“Your Disciple will definitely stay calm!”
“Alright!” Yu Ning said, “Go, you don’t need to pay attention to them!”
He Pingsheng bid farewell to his Master and then returned to his residence to continue cultivating.
Although he said he would stay calm, this matter also made He Pingsheng feel a sense of crisis.
Cultivation!
Improving his cultivation was the fundamental thing.
Although that Xiao Xuan fellow wasn't much, he did say one thing correctly: in the Cultivation World, strength is always respected.
Only by improving one's strength can one gain respect.
At the very least, he couldn't let his Dao Companion look down on him, right?
He Pingsheng opened his mouth, and another top-grade Medicinal Pill was swallowed by him.
The Li Fire True Method within his body circulated frantically.
Cultivating leisurely like this, unknowingly, more than a month passed.
On this day, a knock on the door sounded again at the entrance of his small courtyard.
He Pingsheng opened the door and was greatly surprised to see his Master Yu Ning standing outside. He immediately said, “Master, why have you come?”
Yu Ning asked, “Can’t I come?”
Her expression was a little displeased.
He Pingsheng said, “Of course you can come, but if you need to summon your Disciple, just let me know, and your Disciple will naturally go to Yu Ning Palace to pay respects. Why would you, an Old Man, come personally!”
“Sigh…” Yu Ning said, “Stop being glib with me!”
“I have something to tell you!”
He Pingsheng said, “Master, please speak!”
Yu Ning said, “Little Ninth… I’m sorry… I… I couldn’t stay calm!”
“Ah?” He Pingsheng’s mouth dropped open. “You couldn’t stay calm, what do you mean?”
Yu Ning said, “Regarding the challenge from the Ice Peak Sect, last time your Master told you to stay calm, but now… we can’t stay calm anymore!”
He Pingsheng’s heart sank. “Master, what exactly happened?”
Yu Ning said, “After Xiao Xuan and Chibing returned from here last time, they were resentful, so they set up a challenge arena in the Dao Xuan Alliance, saying they would wait for you for three years, allowing you to advance to the Qi Refining Stage Tenth Layer within three years!”
“After reaching the Tenth Layer, you can then compete with him!”
“They’ve already set up the arena!”
“I originally thought we just wouldn’t accept it!”
“But… this matter has spread like wildfire within the Dao Xuan Alliance. The entire Dao Xuan Alliance, dozens of Sects, and hundreds of Families all know about it!”
“If you don’t go, it might not be good!”
Hearing this, He Pingsheng’s face also darkened. These people were determined to force him to act.
“And!” Yu Ning continued, “Our Tai Xu Sect’s Old Ancestor, who is the Master of your Ancestral Master Immortal Master Chongyang, the Nascent Soul Stage powerful Taixu Old Ancestor, has personally spoken!”
“He said to make sure you go!”
“Taixu Old Ancestor?” A respectful expression appeared on He Pingsheng’s face.
Legend had it that there was an Old Ancestor in the Tai Xu Sect whose cultivation had reached the Nascent Soul Stage, but he had never seen the Old Ancestor. In He Pingsheng’s impression, this Old Ancestor was always in seclusion cultivating and never bothered with Sect affairs.
But the Taixu Old Ancestor was, after all, the Grand Elder of the entire Tai Xu Sect. Once he spoke, who in the entire School dared to disobey?
“Yes!” Yu Ning said, “The Taixu Old Ancestor’s original words were ‘A person can die, but their face cannot be lost’…”
“This is his Old Man’s command!”
“As your Master, I can still speak on Xiuzhu Peak, but looking at the entire Tai Xu Sect, where can I speak? The Taixu Old Ancestor doesn’t even know who I am!”
“So, Little Ninth… this challenge, I’m afraid we have to accept it, even if we don’t want to!”
“There’s one more thing!” Yu Ning continued, “The Qiao Family from Tianfu Mountain also seems to have agreed to this matter!”
He Pingsheng’s eyes narrowed slightly.
The Ice Peak Immortal Sect set up the arena, the Taixu Old Ancestor accepted it, and Old Qiao’s Family also agreed.
Then this time, he had to go, whether he wanted to or not.
He had to go, even if it meant biting the bullet.
“Alright!” He Pingsheng nodded. “Your Disciple will accept it. Master, do you know what rules they’ve set?”
“Is it a gamble on winning or losing, or on life and death?”
Yu Ning said, “Of course it’s a gamble on winning or losing!”
“Perhaps fearing you wouldn’t agree to the challenge, they said that during this competition, both sides would only rely on their martial arts skills and would not be allowed to use any Treasure Artifacts, Talismans, Medicinal Pills, or any other auxiliary items!”
“Just compare Spells and martial arts!”
He Pingsheng breathed a sigh of relief.
If it was only a comparison of Spells and martial arts, then he still had hope.
After all, he was a man who had cultivated five Dantians.
“So if you lose, at most you’ll just lose face, and at most break off the engagement with the Qiao Family!”
“Anyway, I don’t think the Qiao Family had any good intentions either!”
Yu Ning comforted He Pingsheng as she spoke.
“However…” Yu Ning added, “The problem now isn’t how to compete, it’s whether you can cultivate to the Qi Refining Stage Tenth Layer within three years!”
“If you can cultivate to it, that’s good. If you can’t, then it will be even more troublesome!”
He Pingsheng nodded.
They had set up the arena and given him three years. If he couldn't catch up to their cultivation in three years, wouldn't he be laughed at?
“Master, don’t worry, in three years, your Disciple will definitely be able to cultivate to the Tenth Layer!”
“Good!” Yu Ning said, “The Taixu Old Ancestor said that for these three years, you can enter and exit any main hall in the entire Tai Xu Sect, and you can cultivate any suitable Cultivation Techniques and Spells within the Sect!”
“If you need anything, just take this token and go directly to the various main halls to ask for it!”
“Whether it’s medicinal herbs or Cultivation Techniques!”
“Oh, and for these three years, you don’t need to do Alchemy for the School anymore!”
“Prepare well!”
“The Old Ancestor said you can lose, after all, the opponent is a Genius. But the Old Ancestor has one request, and that is not to lose too badly… you have to save some face for our Tai Xu Sect!”
“As long as you don’t lose too badly, then we won’t lose face!”