Chapter 13: As Simple as Breathing

The moment that sword was mentioned, the hall immediately quieted down a little.

In the end, it was the Sect Master Xiang Yan who spoke first:

“Whether or not it acknowledges her, who can say for sure?”

“When she reaches the First Realm, the answer will be clear.”

“But regardless, having a disciple with the Body of Profound Yin join our sect is indeed a blessing for our Dao Gate.”

“Little Martial Uncle, who has stayed away from worldly matters and wandered for so many years, has finally done something useful.”

When everyone heard him mention Little Martial Uncle, their faces showed a mix of helplessness and amusement.

Elder Nine, Nangong Yue, spoke up at this moment: “Since this Han Shuangjiang possesses the Body of Profound Yin, what about this Chu Huaixu who came up the mountain with her?”

As soon as she said this, everyone turned their gaze in unison to Li Chunsong, eyes full of curiosity.

For someone to be chosen alongside the Body of Profound Yin by Little Martial Uncle, he surely had some extraordinary quality.

Elder Five, Zhao Shuqin, began to urge: “Sixth Junior Brother, stop being mysterious. We’re not falling for that trick of yours. Out with it, out with it!”

Li Chunsong, standing in the center of the hall, hesitated to speak, then finally sighed and raised his hand:

“Him? Better left unmentioned! Better left unmentioned!”

Everyone exchanged glances, bewildered.

Elder One, Lu Pan, frowned deeply, his forehead lines even more pronounced, and spoke with displeasure: “Sixth, I told you to speak, so speak!”

Among all the brothers and sisters, aside from Little Junior Sister Chu Yinyin, everyone feared Eldest Brother Lu Pan. Even the current Sect Master, Second Brother Xiang Yan, feared him deep down.

Li Chunsong immediately gave a sheepish grin and rubbed his hands together. “Eldest Brother, it’s not that I don’t want to say it. It’s just that... I really don’t know how to explain!”

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“From what I can see, he should be a 【False Spirit Embryo】.” The Sixth Elder spread his hands.

“What do you mean ‘should be’?” Lu Pan still frowned. Always serious and precise, he was clearly unhappy with such a vague answer.

“Because I don’t understand why Little Martial Uncle would bring someone with a False Spirit Embryo up the mountain. And you haven’t seen this guy—let me tell you, he’s really good-looking, and tall too.” Li Chunsong squinted his eyes, as if talking about something earth-shattering.

“What!?” The assembled Dao Gate seniors were genuinely startled.

The reason was simple: they knew Little Martial Uncle too well.

That man had many little quirks.

One of them was jealousy!

He wasn’t tall and looked ordinary, but fancied himself as charming.

He didn’t like men who were too handsome—especially tall and handsome ones.

Why was Sect Master Xiang Yan so favored by Little Martial Uncle back in the day?

They had speculated in private: Second Brother, looking the way he did and being bald, all of that probably scored him extra points.

In this context, for someone like Chu Huaixu—just a False Spirit Embryo—to be chosen by Little Martial Uncle, he must possess something truly extraordinary!

Just based on that, their curiosity and attention toward Chu Huaixu had already faintly surpassed that of Han Shuangjiang, the Body of Profound Yin!

Sect Master Xiang Yan asked with concern, “You’ve taken care of all the entry procedures, right? And selected a cultivation method for the Qi-Opening Stage?”

Nangong Yue added from the side, “For the Body of Profound Yin... I remember the most compatible one is the 《Ice Purity Art》, right?”

Li Chunsong waved his hand with a touch of helplessness. “Would I not know to choose the 《Ice Purity Art》? Such a trivial matter, I’ve handled it reliably. Don’t worry.”

“As for this Chu Huaixu, I suppose you all wouldn’t know what to recommend either?” He raised his eyebrows.

Upon hearing this, everyone couldn’t refute it.

For a False Spirit Embryo, any choice was the same.

Even if Little Martial Uncle were here, he wouldn’t know where to begin either.

Too difficult—this question was just too difficult!

“Ahem, it’s only the Qi-Opening Stage. It doesn’t matter much. When he formally steps into the path of cultivation and begins to challenge the First Realm, we’ll then discuss thoroughly and choose a new cultivation method for him.” Xiang Yan made the final decision.

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

Seeing that the buildup was just about right, Li Chunsong once again started rubbing his hands in the center of the hall.

“I’m guessing they’re already cultivating separately in their rooms by now.”

“I see everyone’s in good spirits today. A little bet to keep things interesting—why don’t we wager on something?” He rubbed his hands even more eagerly.

As the Enforcement Elder, Lu Pan immediately snorted: “Sixth Elder, there’s law in the nation and rules in the sect. Our Dao Gate has never encouraged this kind of behavior. According to Sect Rule No. 17, anyone setting up a private wager is fined one hundred silver, and all participants are fined fifty each.”

“Don’t break the rules!”

Elder Six, Li Chunsong, immediately smiled and said, “I understand, I understand.”

As he spoke, he took out a one hundred tael silver note from his Storage Token and walked over to Lu Pan, offering it with both hands.

The Enforcement Elder stared at him sternly, then swept his gaze over everyone in the great hall.

One silver note after another was pulled from Storage Tokens, wrapped in spiritual energy, and floated onto his table.

Now it was everyone else's turn to stare at him.

Lu Pan’s face remained solemn, as still as a mountain.

Finally, it was Elder Nine, Nangong Yue, who gave him an out: “Come now, Eldest Brother, don’t be such a killjoy. It’s rare for everyone to be in such high spirits today. Let’s all take part!”

The Enforcement Elder, with deep forehead lines and a dark expression, gave another snort and slapped a silver note on the table: “Smack—! Just this once!”

...

...

In the Dao Gate’s main hall, Li Chunsong proposed, “Let’s bet on how long it will take them to open their first aperture, how about that?”

Zhao Shuqin waved his hand: “What’s there to bet on? Han Shuangjiang has the Body of Profound Yin. As long as she circulates the 《Ice Purity Art》 through her body once, she’ll succeed in opening the aperture.”

“Exactly, with her physique, it’s like being born with all nine apertures open. Right now, it’s just that her body is clogged with some impurities. Her apertures are practically non-existent.” Nangong Yue added.

“Betting on her is pointless.” Li Chunsong started rubbing his hands again, his face even slightly flushed: “If we’re betting, let’s bet on the 【False Spirit Embryo】!”

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at each other.

Hiss—! A False Spirit Embryo, now that’s truly uncertain.

“So how do you propose we bet?” Zhao Shuqin asked.

“Set a limit of three days?” Li Chunsong suggested.

“Alright, I bet he’ll open the first aperture within three days!” Xiang Yan spoke first.

“I bet within three days too.”

“Count me in.”

“Three days should be enough.” Even Lu Pan said the same.

Now things were getting bad—Li Chunsong panicked.

He also wanted to bet on within three days!

“What! He’s a False Spirit Embryo! If he can open the first aperture within ten days, that’s already impressive—and it has to be combined with Body Training too. How are all of you betting on three days!” He was really anxious.

“Because he’s the one chosen by Little Martial Uncle.” Nangong Yue replied matter-of-factly.

“Exactly, exactly!” Zhao Shuqin chimed in.

Seeing Li Chunsong at a loss for words, they smiled and asked, “You weren’t planning to bet on within three days too, were you?”

“What else?” Li Chunsong was truly speechless.

At this point, the bald and ugly Xiang Yan suddenly had a flash of inspiration and asked, “Sixth Brother, how long did it take you to open your first aperture back in the day?”

Li Chunsong raised his chin: “Though I don’t have a top-tier Spirit Embryo like the Body of Profound Yin, I was also born with all nine apertures open, so naturally just one cycle of circulation.”

“Then why not have a little more confidence in Chu Huaixu?” Xiang Yan said in his extremely grating voice.

Hearing this, Li Chunsong’s gambling instinct flared up.

—There’s no child that cries forever!

I don’t believe it. I keep chasing wealth through risk—can it really be that hard to catch?

“Little Martial Uncle, bless me!” he silently prayed in his heart.

This man, dubbed by players as the Charitable Gambling King, blushed even more and said, “I bet he’ll open his aperture in just one cycle!”

Everyone smiled in unison and began placing opposite bets.

As previously mentioned, the Qi-Opening Stage is fully known as the Qi-Opening and Body Training Stage.

Why was it said that False Spirit Embryos, like the one Chu Huaixu killed with a single strike—Xue Hu—only had one path: Body Training?

Because those with False Spirit Embryos, even if they spent money to buy a Qi-Opening Pill and swallowed it, still needed to rely on external force to temper their body.

Those with Spirit Embryos could absorb the medicinal power, spreading it through their entire body.

They didn’t need to train their body—just by taking pills, they would grow stronger.

False Spirit Embryos, however, couldn’t spread the pill’s effect through their body, so they had to rely on Body Training to stimulate the body externally.

This process was painful and torturous.

Many people couldn’t even stick to daily physical training, let alone the agonizing pain of Body Training.

What’s more despairing was that many with False Spirit Embryos, even after spending a fortune on Qi-Opening Pills and training diligently every day, could still only open two or three apertures in the end.

After all that effort, they’d only be slightly stronger and tougher than the average person.

Only upon entering the First Realm could one truly be called a cultivator—truly different from ordinary mortals!

As a cultivator in the Eighth Realm, Xiang Yan had already secretly scanned Medicine Mountain with his divine sense. He had detected that all nine of Chu Huaixu’s apertures were tightly sealed.

A single cycle of circulation took about the time of one incense stick.

With everything blocked so tightly, how could he possibly open anything?

Thus, the betting officially began.

The senior cultivators in the hall all released their divine sense to sense Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang’s current states.

“Huh, the little girl has already opened her aperture!” Nangong Yue smiled. “Looks like she couldn’t wait to start cultivating.”

Meanwhile, Chu Huaixu had just finished reading the booklet and calmly laid out the jade slip, preparing to cultivate the 《Sword Refining Art》.

The hall fell silent. Everyone closed their eyes, using their divine senses to patiently observe.

But before long, they all opened their eyes at once, each with a look of disbelief on their face.

Because Chu Huaixu’s first aperture had already opened.

And it had only taken three breaths.

...