After listening to Qin Chu, Mo Daozi put away the Azure King Token. The Azure King Token was too important; on one hand, it was a symbol of status, and on the other, it could enhance the power of the Sect’s defensive array.
After staying with Qin Chu for a while, Mo Daozi and the others departed. Today was a joyful day for them; Qin Chu had returned and brought back the extremely important Heavenly Fragrance Grass. With Heavenly Fragrance Grass as the main ingredient, they could refine Heavenly Origin Pills, which would rapidly increase the Cultivation of all fifth-rank Cultivators within the Sect.
In the Cultivation world, for Cultivators to achieve success, the first point is themselves—their Cultivation Aptitude and Cultivation attitude. The second point is external—Opportunities and resources.
If one's own conditions are solid, and they have resources, then there will be no problem with the improvement of their Cultivation. Now that Qin Chu had brought back the Heavenly Fragrance Grass, it was equivalent to giving the fifth-rank Cultivators of the Azure Cloud Sect a chance to improve.
Qin Chu settled down, diligently Cultivating every day.
As for tempering, Qin Chu temporarily put it aside because he had enough points. Furthermore, in actual combat, he and Zihuan had practiced for a while, and his combat ability had already caught up with his Cultivation.
While Cultivating steadily, Qin Chu would also visit the Utility Disciple courtyard on the main Peak when he had time, as he had promised Luo Zhen to bring some Aura to the main Peak.
One day, as Qin Chu was leaving the main Peak's Utility Disciple courtyard, he encountered Inner Sect Disciples from the main Peak.
Seeing this group of people blocking his way, Qin Chu frowned.
“Junior Brother Qin, we are here to challenge you, overestimating ourselves. It doesn’t matter if we lose; losing will help us understand the gap,” the leading Inner Sect Disciple said, looking at Qin Chu.
Looking at the Inner Sect Disciples from the main Peak standing before him, Qin Chu said, “Very well. One cannot live a mediocre life; having ambitious thoughts is a good thing!”
Subsequently, Qin Chu went to the main Peak’s martial arts field and accepted the challenge from the main Peak’s Disciples.
In fact, there was no challenge. When Qin Chu was at the eighth level of the second-rank Condensation Realm, Inner Sect Disciples were no match for him. Now that he was at the eighth level of the third-rank True Yuan Realm, a whole major rank higher, how could Inner Sect Disciples fight him?
However, Qin Chu did not make the Inner Sect Disciples look bad; he defeated his opponents only after several rounds of combat.
After a few battles, the Inner Sect Disciples gave up.
“Junior Brother Qin, we will go back and work hard, then come back to spar with Junior Brother Qin. We hope Junior Brother Qin will not refuse,” an Inner Sect Disciple said.
“I won’t, but I have many things to do and am not always available. So, on the first and fifteenth of every month, I will come to the martial arts field. As long as there is a challenge, I will not avoid it!” Qin Chu said, then left.
How overbearing!
To accept any challenge, how overbearing this was! One must know that Qin Chu was a Utility Disciple who had joined for less than two years; even the elites who had joined in the past could not reach this level.
Luo Zhen and Lu Yuan also learned of this news. The two decided to add fuel to the fire and issued an announcement: whoever could defeat Qin Chu would be rewarded with 30,000 points.
When Qin Chu heard this news, he just cursed inwardly, thinking, “This is endlessly exploiting my value!” Three thousand points could even be exchanged for a classic text.
After Cultivating for half a month, it was the first day of the month, the day of the challenge. Qin Chu tidied up, intending to go out, but he noticed his hair had grown a bit long.
In the past, when he was in the mountains, Qin Chu would just cut his long hair with a knife. After coming to the Azure Cloud Sect, other Disciples would tie their hair into a bun, but he always let his hair hang loosely behind his head. Now that it was long, it was inconvenient for combat.
After thinking for a moment, Qin Chu tore a sleeve from a robe into strips, twisted them into a thin hemp rope, and tied his hair back at the nape of his neck, passing the rope over his forehead. The excess rope ends served as hair ornaments. Although simple, his hair was no longer messy and didn't look bad.
Qin Chu thought it was good; although some hair still hung in front of his forehead, it didn't affect combat.
When Qin Chu arrived at the main Peak’s martial arts field, many people were already there, including some Core Disciples.
In the past, Core Disciples rarely cared about the affairs of Inner Sect Disciples and Outer Sect Disciples; their levels were different, and they looked down on them. But now it was different; the Utility Hall had produced a Heaven-Defying figure, a person worthy of their attention.
“It’s very lively!” Arriving at the martial arts field, Qin Chu saw some familiar faces: Inner Sect Disciples from Azure Bamboo Peak had come, as well as Bai Yu, Lin Zheng, and others from the Utility Hall. Liu Xue, Lin Yue, and others were also there, standing next to Core Disciples.
“When you come out to fight, we naturally want to watch and learn from you,” Liu Xue said with a smile.
“Come on! Everyone looks at me like points, or rather, I am points. If you want to get the points, then defeat me. But I’ll say this beforehand: I won’t go easy, because that would be an insult to you and a blasphemy to my diligent Cultivation. If we dare to fight, we must be able to lose!” Qin Chu said, then walked into the martial arts field.
The battle began. After the last incident, the Disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect were full of fighting spirit. So what if Qin Chu was strong? How could one become strong without the courage to draw their sword?
However, courage was courage, and the gap was still there. The Inner Sect Disciples who fought simply could not withstand Qin Chu’s attacks.
Qin Chu’s Azure Spirit Sword didn’t even leave its sheath; he attacked with the scabbard. Even without a sword glow, Qin Chu’s attack, a perfect combination of his Spirit Shocking Sword Art and basic sword techniques, was not something just anyone could withstand.
After a few battles, the Inner Sect Disciples stopped fighting. Courage was courage, but the gap was too large; they simply couldn’t win. Knowing they couldn’t win and still going up was just asking for abuse.
“Very exciting! Junior Brother Qin, will you accept a challenge from a Core Disciple? It’s not that I’m shameless, but my hands are itching!” A Core Disciple stepped forward.
“Why wouldn’t I accept? If I can’t win, can’t I at least lose?” Qin Chu smiled.
The Core Disciple walked into the arena, then cupped his fists at Qin Chu, “Core Disciple Tang Yu, a fourth-rank Spirit Origin Realm Cultivator. This sparring match is not about winning or losing, but about learning from each other.”
“Good!” Qin Chu returned the gesture, then stepped back two paces.
At this moment, Tang Yu drew his sword and slashed towards Qin Chu.
Qin Chu raised his right hand, and the Azure Spirit Sword was unsheathed. This was the first time he truly faced a fourth-rank Spirit Origin Realm Cultivator. Before, he had killed fourth-rank Yao Beasts and Peak third-rank Cultivators, but he had never truly fought a fourth-rank Cultivator.
With a clear ringing sound, Qin Chu and Tang Yu’s long swords clashed, and then both retreated.
What astonished the onlookers was that Tang Yu retreated further than Qin Chu. Qin Chu only took one step back before steadying himself.
Letting out a long shout, Tang Yu unleashed his sword technique, attacking Qin Chu like a fierce storm.
Qin Chu stood his ground, his Azure Spirit Sword beginning to strike. Each of his sword strikes was simple, using basic sword moves, but combined with his casual yet perfectly timed footwork, he blocked all of Tang Yu’s sword techniques. He was as steady as a mountain!
One attacking, one defending, after a quarter of an hour of battle, Tang Yu retreated and sheathed his sword, “The gap is still quite large. My Gale Sword Technique, which excels at offense, couldn’t break through your casual defense.”
“An even match,” Qin Chu said.
“As you said, if one dares to fight, one must be able to lose. If not this time, I’ll come again next time!” Tang Yu cupped his fists at Qin Chu.
“I'll be waiting,” Qin Chu replied, then turned and walked away.