Chapter 226: Frustration Makes a Person Stronger
Translator: Subudai11 Editor: Chrissy
Zhu Shiyao was so powerful, so why was Wang Lu the Lead Representative?
Hai Yunfan’s question was like a poke to his hemorrhoids… It was so painfully sore that Wang Lu had to confess the truth.
"Of course, by virtue of my wisdom and handsomeness."
After he wrote those words, there was no reply from the other side of the shadow letter for a long time. There were signs of crumpling as if it had been folded vigorously, only for it to be stretched before Hai Yunfan’s writing neatly reappeared again.
"Back to the main topic?"
"No one’s stopping you, I never encouraged you to push for that lead representative topic!"
"Brother Wang really has a profound concept of blaming others. Hahaha. Okay then, let’s get down to the main business. But, before that, I need to explain the background first, it’s like this…"
Hai Yunfan has spared no expense in carrying out this confidential live correspondence with Wang Lu, but certainly, it was not to make jokes on his Lead Representatives qualification. After this interlude, Hai Yunfan began to narrate their seven people experience in exploring the ancient sword tomb one and a half month ago. Wang Lu himself was quite interested in this. The news of the birth of the ancient sword tomb on the Southern Heaven Region has spread all over the Nine Regions, which attracted many outstanding heroes to gather there. How Zhu Shiyao stood above everyone else certainly could give many useful references to Wang Lu.
"At that time, among those who gathered around the ancient sword tomb on the Southern Heaven Region, there were around two thousands small fries from various small schools and sects who wanted to join the fun or try their luck. As for cultivators who were worth taking care of, there were several hundreds of them. In addition to the young generation elite disciples from big sects, some ancient individuals also came because they were unwilling to be left out. Perhaps there’s nothing attractive in this sword tomb for those Unity Stage cultivators, but at that time, there were three Deity Stage characters gathered there. As for Yuanying and Jindan, there were more than a hundred of them. It was simply a spectacular scene."
"For my Ten Thousand Arts Sect, those ancient individuals are actually not that scary; they are extremely old and too old-fashioned. If it’s an event of survival or fighting, perhaps we are not their opponents. However, in this historical site exploration, they hold no advantage over us. What is really worth caring about is the elites of each sect’s younger generation. Surely, Brother Wang has already known that since the strange change more than twenty years ago, young people with outstanding abilities surge forward like waves in all over the Nine Regions. In addition to the Five Uniques, all the other sects also have their own core disciples with superior strength. These people are blessed with providence; their strength and intelligence all are first class. They can often create miracles, trampling some senior cultivators under their feet. At that time, gathered before the ancient sword tomb at the Southern Heaven Region, there were around thirty to forty of such cultivators. However, frankly speaking, most of the so-called talented geniuses are still mediocre. Those really worthy of our concern are the other disciples from the Five Uniques."
"At that time, we obtained the news that, besides my Ten Thousand Arts Sect, there are also elite disciples from Spirit Sword Sect and Kunlun Immortal Sect. Our brothers were so eager, thinking that we could compete with Brother Wang and Senior Sister Liu Li. However, unexpectedly, we didn’t even see the shadow of the people from the Spirit Sword Sect. We only met with Senior Sister Zhou Mumu and her group from Kunlun Immortal Sect. Kunlun Immortal Sect is indeed the origin of the Immortal Path, Senior Sister Zhou is really outstanding, not in the least bit inferior to Senior Sister Liu Li. However, after Big Brother Ziye managed to challenge her into a fight, he obtained two victories out of three rounds of fight, so we slightly have the upper hand."
Reading to this, Wang Lu could not help but write, "Do you have any shame? Zhou Mumu lost to Zhan Ziye, yet you have the nerve to put her on par with Liu Li? Did you forget that several years ago, Zhan Ziye came to challenge Liu Li, only to be beaten black and blue that he ran back with his tail between his legs? On behalf of the world, I spit on your Ten Thousand Arts Sect."
"Hahaha, Brother Wang didn’t know that when Senior Brother Ziye lost to Senior Sister Liu Li, his cultivation base has actually reached the Xudan Stage. Initially, he thought that this would ensure his success. However, unexpectedly, he still lost to Senior Sister Liu Li’s Brilliant Sword Heart. When he returned to the sect after that, he was like a dying ember, all day long he said that he would be lonely forever. However, when he was in this disheartened state and dejected because of love, he had a breakthrough in his Ten Thousand Methods Comprehension; his strength suddenly soared. According to our Ten Thousand Arts Sect’s professional calculation, even if at this time Senior Sister Liu Li has also reached the low-level Xudan Stage, it would still be difficult for her to contend with Senior Brother Ziye’s Ten Thousand Motionless Immortal Heart."
Wang Lu was inexplicably surprised. "Outrageous! Why would being frustrated because of love give such benefits? Why didn’t I know this!?"
"Huh?"
"Nevermind. Just continue."
"Actually, Brother Wang need not mind this. We each walk in our own Immortal Path. The pace of the journey is different on each path—this time, this path is slower, but another time, that path is quicker. Right now, it’s just our Ten Thousand Arts Sect’s disciples are a bit faster… In short, we got a bit of victory in the fight against Kunlun Immortal Sect. However, when the door of the sword tomb is opened, nobody has the thought to fight again."
"From the end of the Age of Chaos to now, the ancient sword tomb has managed to survive, so obviously, it has a tremendous and remarkable ability. Even the current number one cultivator in the Immortal Path, Daoist Master He Tu, wouldn’t dare attack it head-on. Therefore, when the sword tomb was opened, people set aside their animosity and dispute and gave all their effort to advance into the sword tomb. The first level of the sword tomb is a spatial space similar to mustard seed bag. When the front door of the sword tomb was opened, from the more than two thousand cultivators, only three hundred was left behind. Those loose cultivators who came to join in the fun had not been transmitted and were isolated outside. Afterward, I heard that they even dug three feet into the ground, but the sword tomb that initially occupied a very wide area unexpectedly seemed to disappear."
Wang Lu pondered and then wrote, "Disappeared? The main body of the sword tomb is not in the Southern Heaven Region?"
"Later, our analysis is like this: The Southern Heaven Region is only where the entrance of the tomb is, but the main body is in the space well beyond our imagination. The sword tomb can allow you to go out of that space but will not allow you to go in. If you think it’s difficult to survive there, you can use spell to escape. However, once you go out, you can’t go in. Previously, those who entered the first level were all in high spirit, so no one had the intention to give up, and the first hurdle was indeed not difficult. While being transmitted, an explanation flashed through our heart. We realized that, as long as we found three blades of golden grass in the midst of a vast prairie, we would be transmitted to the next level. Afterwards, some people did accidentally find the golden grass, but they discovered that as soon as they touched it, it would dissolve and enter the body, unable to be conserved. Therefore, it could not be fought over. And the sword tomb indeed did not encourage us to fight inside. On the grassland, there was a fog-shaped strange creature that would throw and wrap itself on the person that started a fight. No matter how much that person struggled, it would not be taken off. After a while, the person would disappear. Moreover, the person wouldn’t be transmitted out of the sword tomb, but rather vanish without a trace, and most probably die."
Wang Lu sighed with emotion as he wrote, "Invisible killing, the fog is really scary."
"Therefore, the most important thing is to find the golden grass. The grassland is boundless, so looking for golden grasses is like searching a needle in a haystack. For the whole day, hundreds of people looked for those golden grasses, and only a few people found them. And without exception, they were all young cultivators. Those true experts of Deity Stage couldn’t fully use their remarkable abilities within the sword tomb. Instead, they were vaguely rejected. One of them clearly saw a golden grass, but when he came forward to pick it, before he could touch it, the golden grass faded on its own!"
Wang Lu gave his evaluation, "Probably it’s afraid of the porcelain old man [1]."
"... In short, after we evaluated it, we came to the conclusion that this was the test of a person’s immortal chance, and this is where young cultivators like us hold the advantage over those powerful ancient cultivators, since our luck is much better than those antiques! In addition, it was also necessary to utilize other skills. We couldn’t fight on the grassland, so strong fighting prowess is useless. However, deduction technique and various day to day knowledge are not forbidden. We soon realized that if we wanted to get three pieces of golden grasses, unless we have the luck that goes against the heaven, we would have to use our brain. In this regard, our Ten Thousand Arts Sect was undoubtedly the most dominant. Under the leadership of Big Brother, the seven of us simultaneously launched our big deduction technique. From the spots where the golden grasses were previously been founded, we analyzed the terrain, soil, air, and other factors in order to determine the spots where there would be golden grasses. Although we can’t determine it very precisely, we can greatly narrow the search range. Other party like Sister Zhou’s group from Kunlun Immortal Sect also has their own deduction method, but their algorithms were obviously not as advanced as us. Therefore, in three days, we managed to find all the necessary golden grasses for our group of seven people to leave the grassland. However, each member of their group of six people still lacks one golden grass. It is said that among those powerful old antiques of Yuanying Stage or above, none even managed to get three golden grasses—their primordial spirit is powerful, and their ability to compute is beyond us, but their algorithm is backward. Moreover, they are not resilient enough; they don’t know how to adjust their calculation at a moment’s notice."
"However, after entering the second level, we realized that the first level was designed, to a large extent, as a protection. Because without enough calculation ability, enough resilience, and enough luck, the second level would only be a road to death for them. The second level is in a totally dark space. No matter what spell you use, you still wouldn’t be able to see anything. And there was killing intent everywhere around you. There were very vicious monsters that once you came less than thirty meters away from it, it would pounce itself on you and corrode you into a pus. Moreover, they were very sensitive to the primordial spirit; once a person’s primordial spirit touches it, it would chase that person endlessly. In such a space, we needed to find the key to the next level. We can only rely on hearing, touch, smell… and thinking power. There are patterns to the location and movement of the monsters, so if they can be calculated in advance, people would be able to cross the surrounding monsters. However, this also requires extremely high thinking power and luck, because there were illusions that greatly interfered with our information collection. Our Ten Thousand Arts Sect group alone simply couldn’t pass this level. In our several attempts, even Senior Sister Ye Feifei nearly went all in. Later, when Senior Sister Zhou Mumu and her group arrived, we laid down our hatchet and started to cooperate, only then did we barely manage to pass."
"The third level is even more difficult. Fortunately, after our two sects have joined forces, our strength is not the same anymore. After passing the third level, we finally arrived at the main focus of this experiential learning, the treasure room of sword tomb… but in the end, the outcome was really unexpected."
Wang Lu could almost hear the helpless sigh of Hai Yunfan.
"We initially thought that the last difficulty that we needed to overcome was about the distribution of the benefit with the Kunlun Immortal Sect. However, because we thought that our overall strength is a bit more powerful, we were still full of confidence. However, when we opened the door to the treasure room, we saw… your Sect’s Senior Sister Zhu Shiyao was already there, holding the spiritual treasure ancient sword, completing the last rite of ownership."
"... I can understand your mood."
The sorrowful handwriting of Hai Yunfan then appeared, "After twenty years of growing up as childhood sweethearts, unable to be separated from each other, and at the same time the two families are being difficult and trying to separate the couple, only for the couple to overcome it and have their blessings. Then, after the marriage ceremony, when the groom finally enters the bridal chamber, he discovers that the bride is having sexual intercourse with a strange man; can you really understand such a mood?"
"Little Hai, your Ten Thousand Motionless Immortal Heart should also have a big breakthrough, right? Hahahah!"
"It’s almost broken instead! Moreover, my Immortal Heart is by no means going to accept wearing a green hat!"
"Hahaha, then what happened?"
"Of course we didn’t accept this. We joined hands to subdue her to rob the ancient sword, however, unexpectedly, with a single sword strike from her, we were utterly routed. Although everybody was already exhausted at that time, and we only have thirty to fifty percent power left, but… it really made people speechless."
"..." Reading this, Wang Lu also could not help but suck in a mouthful of cold air.
A single sword strike defeated more than ten elite disciples of the Five Uniques? This was so f*cking going against the heaven! " Big Sister, can’t you be less mightier than that !?"
"So, Little Hai, you deliberately wrote me about this, is it for me to join you to condemn Zhu Shiyao’s despicable behavior in seizing away the treasure?"
Hai Yunfan wrote, "Exploration of the sword tomb rely on skill and luck, so, though we were unhappy that we were unable to defeat her, as disciples of the Five Uniques, we still have the mentality of willing to accept the bet no matter what the outcome. My main purpose in writing this is on my next question."
"After Zhu Shiyao defeated us all and floated away, we were taking a break and about to prepare to return when we found out that...The levels on the ancient sword tomb are not only three; there are still many levels below us! In fact, the size of the entire ancient sword tomb is far larger than we originally thought, which really terrified us. What we saw was only the tip of the iceberg. The top grade spiritual treasure of ancient sword that was taken away by Zhu Shiyao was probably just a trivial object in that ancient sword tomb. The more precious objects are still hidden deep within!"
"This is undoubtedly a once in countless years rarely seen ancient ruins in the Nine Regions. At present, this fact is strictly confidential among our Ten Thousand Arts Sect and Kunlun Immortal Sect. As for Spirit Sword Sect… since Zhu Shiyao has reached the third floor, this fact could not be hidden away from you guys. Not to mention we also couldn’t possibly deal with the lower levels of the ancient sword tomb alone; we could only do it through collaboration. So, I wrote this letter to invite you to explore the deeper levels of the ancient sword tomb together with us. I know that your Sect’s Elders will decide about this soon, however, whether or not they allow the cooperation, that is your sect’s decision. It does not go against any principle for me as an individual to invite you. Brother Wang, let’s join hands."
Wang Lu pondered for a moment and then wrote, "Little Hai, you are a good person."
…
[1] (A type of scam in China)
[2] (being cuckolded)