Chapter 128: Chapter 128: Another Provocation
"What?"
"That’s impossible!"
"A lowly commoner from the countryside made it so you couldn’t even fight back, Senior Brother Cheng?"
For a moment, the group could hardly believe their ears. Their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
They tried to read Senior Brother Cheng’s expression for any clues.
But Senior Brother Cheng’s face was ashen, and he clearly wasn’t joking.
At that, the expressions of the other four finally changed.
"Senior Brother Cheng, how did you almost die? Does that kid have three heads and six arms or something?"
"Yeah, he doesn’t look like anything special. His aura isn’t particularly strong either. He’s just an ordinary new student."
"Exactly. Most new students who just joined the Profound Spirit Academy are First Layer Warriors. Even the talented ones are only Second Layer Warriors like you, Senior Brother Cheng. It’s unlikely that someone could make it so you couldn’t fight back, right?"
Even though they knew Senior Brother Cheng wasn’t joking, they still found it hard to believe. No matter how they thought about it, they couldn’t figure out what was so special about Ye Xuan.
That a young man who didn’t even look that old could render a Second Layer Warrior like Senior Brother Cheng unable to retaliate, almost killing him, sounded like a complete fairy tale.
"I don’t know either, but that kid is just... unnatural."
Senior Brother Cheng’s brow was deeply furrowed, his expression ugly. It wasn’t just the four of them who found it hard to believe; even he was full of doubt and apprehension.
Logically, there shouldn’t be any new student in the entire Profound Spirit Academy who could make a Second Layer Warrior like him feel fear.
But that earlier feeling—that his life was completely in another’s hands—had left him deeply terrified.
In truth, Senior Brother Cheng didn’t even know what had just happened. He only knew that when Ye Xuan had closed in and lifted him up, all the Profound Qi and his Martial Soul had seemed to collapse completely, and he couldn’t summon even a shred of power. It felt as if his opponent could decapitate him with a single thought.
He never wanted to experience that feeling a second time.
Their constant questions pushed Senior Brother Cheng to the point of humiliation and rage. He said coldly, "Believe it or not, that kid is extremely strange. He’s not someone the few of us can take on. It’s just unnatural. When did our Profound Spirit Academy get such a monstrous new student?"
Seeing Senior Brother Cheng like this, the others stopped doubting him. Although they were still skeptical, a deep sense of fear toward Ye Xuan had taken root in their hearts.
"But Senior Brother Cheng, are we just going to let this go? We’re a group of noble young masters from the Royal City, and we were scared off by some brute from the countryside. If word of this gets out, where will we show our faces? How can we still make a name for ourselves in the Royal City?"
"Yeah, Senior Brother Cheng, if this gets out, we’ll become a laughingstock in our circle. We’ll never be able to hold our heads high in the academy again."
"Besides, those two chicks in the courtyard are really something, tsk tsk. To think wild roses from the countryside could be so fragrant. They’re not much worse than the beauties in the Royal City."
"Beauties like them, Senior Brother Cheng... are we really just going to give up?"
Senior Brother Cheng’s eyes darkened as he sneered. "Give up? In my, Chengkun’s, dictionary, those two words don’t exist. However, that kid really is unnatural. The few of us are no match for him. It seems... I’ll have to go find my big brother."
"Senior Brother Cheng, are you talking about... Brother Cheng Yu?"
The four of them exclaimed in shock.
"But of course." Senior Brother Cheng gave an arrogant smile.
"Haha, fantastic! With Brother Cheng Yu stepping in, that kid is as good as dead."
"I heard Senior Brother Cheng Yu entered the Profound Spirit Academy’s advanced class last year and became a First Layer Martial Master. Teaching this kid a lesson will be a piece of cake for him."
"He dared to offend Senior Brother Cheng. Doesn’t that kid know not to be so arrogant out here? He’ll probably regret it in a little while."
"Exactly. No matter how strong that kid is, can he possibly compare to Senior Brother Cheng Yu?"
"Let’s go! We’ll find Brother Cheng Yu right now!"
The group of them, looking furtive and excited, quickly disappeared from outside the courtyard.
At that moment, Ye Xuan was sitting cross-legged in his private chamber, his Profound Sense retracted, resting with his eyes closed.
Now that he was in the Royal City, many things could be set in motion. Ye Xuan prepared to lay out a plan for himself.
’First, my Martial Soul. I’ve broken through to the Xuanwu Realm, so I can start strengthening it. For an ordinary Martial Artist, just being able to upgrade their Martial Soul at all would be a blessing from the heavens.’
’But for me, a former Eighth Grade Soul Emperor, if I’m going to upgrade my Martial Soul, it has to be the greatest possible upgrade. A simple promotion from One-Star to Two-Stars is something I would never settle for.’
This meant Ye Xuan would need far more materials and preparation. Moreover, he possessed three Martial Souls, which multiplied the difficulty several times over compared to a normal foundation.
Second, were the martial techniques he would cultivate.
’For a Martial Artist, the Profound Vein Realm is mainly a process of tempering the body and opening the Profound Veins; the requirements for martial techniques aren’t high. However, upon reaching the Spirit Martial Realm, one can begin to learn some techniques. And at the Xuanwu Realm, one can start to truly master and develop them.’
For his Cultivation Technique, Ye Xuan practiced the heaven-defying Nine Profound Prideful World Art. As for martial techniques, there were many he could master and execute without needing to learn them at all. But there were others that placed immense demands on the body and Profound Qi, which Ye Xuan would have to learn from scratch.
Many martial techniques even required a large amount of materials, a lot of which were extremely expensive and couldn’t be found in Blue Moon City at all. This was the main reason Ye Xuan had come to the Royal City, hoping to make a breakthrough here.
’Once a Martial Artist reaches the Martial Master Realm, they begin to temper their physical body in preparation for condensing Profound Qi into Profound Power. But whether it’s the Nine Transformations of God and Demon, the Eight-Nine Profound Art, or the Jingang Indestructible Divine Art, they are all easy to start but require consuming vast treasures to cultivate to the peak. The Nine Revolutions Sacred Body I cultivate is even more so.’
’This Divine Ability uses the body as a furnace, Profound Power as the true fire, and the Martial Soul as the source, refining them together to forge an indestructible sacred body.’
Ye Xuan had given much thought to which Body Refining martial art he would cultivate.
The Nine Revolutions Sacred Body was divided into nine "revolutions," each one incredibly difficult to achieve. It had been obtained by a Nine Heavens Martial Emperor in a past age after surviving a life-and-death struggle in an ancient ruin.
After that Nine Heavens Martial Emperor perished, the Nine Revolutions Sacred Body began to circulate among the top factions of the continent.
On the Celestial Profound Continent, countless experts had attempted to cultivate this Nine Revolutions Sacred Body. However, due to its harsh requirements, very few could even complete the first three transformations, and practically no one had ever mastered the first six.
Some great masters even declared that the Nine Revolutions Sacred Body was simply an incomplete Body Refining Technique, impossible to fully master.
Gradually, the number of experts on the Celestial Profound Continent who practiced the Nine Revolutions Sacred Body dwindled.
But Ye Xuan knew that this Body Refining Technique was not incomplete. Its conditions were just incredibly demanding, placing strict requirements on a Martial Artist’s talent, temperament, and more. It also required a massive amount of resources. Once mastered, however, its power would be absolutely heaven-defying.
In his past life, Ye Xuan had a poor start. Although he eventually became a Tier Eight Martial Emperor, his potential for further development was severely limited. In this life, Ye Xuan would not allow himself to make the same mistake.
Moreover, the events he had encountered in that mysterious place within the Profound Domain before his fall in his past life gave him a lingering sense of crisis.
’That mysterious place was fraught with danger and utterly extraordinary. It definitely wasn’t created by an ordinary person. Even with my attainments and strength, I still fell. I hope it was just an accident. If someone arranged it deliberately, I’m afraid the Celestial Profound Continent will know peace no longer.’
Ye Xuan had not dwelled much on the scene of his fall in his past life, but the fear in his heart had never faded.
Therefore, after his rebirth, he appeared carefree, as if treating life like a game, but he constantly reminded himself that in this life, he had to go further, become stronger, to earn the right to explore that mysterious place that had caused his demise.
One step at a time, with every move planned to perfection—this was what Ye Xuan was doing now.
’To cultivate the Nine Revolutions Sacred Body, I first need to temper my body with the power of the five elements. In the initial stages, only Five-Element Crystals can provide such pure power. It seems I’ll have to find a way to get some.’
Ye Xuan mused to himself.
Just then, a sudden noise from outside his door snapped him out of his meditation.
"Hm?" Ye Xuan opened the door to his private chamber, released his retracted Profound Sense, and his expression immediately changed.
Sometime, a group of people had appeared in the courtyard. The leader, dressed in black combat attire, wore an arrogant expression. Behind him stood several others with menacing auras—it was Chengkun and his troublemaking group from before.
In addition, Leng Yingying, Feng Rouyi, and Chen Xing were also in the courtyard. Chen Xing was on the ground, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, looking quite wretched. Leng Yingying and Feng Rouyi both had furious expressions and were panting for breath, their Profound Qi somewhat weak. They had clearly just been in a big fight.
The Profound Spirit Academy had invested heavily in the construction of its student dormitories. The private chambers for cultivation had excellent soundproofing. Coupled with the fact that Ye Xuan had intentionally retracted his Profound Sense earlier, he had completely missed the conflict outside.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The young man named Wu Lang had a fierce look in his eyes as he pounded on the door to Ye Xuan’s room. After hammering on it for a long time with no response, he turned with an ugly expression and said, "Senior Brother Cheng, there’s no movement inside."
The young man in black combat attire gave Chengkun a cold look. "Chengkun, the person you mentioned? Is he really in there?"
Chengkun seemed rather timid in front of this young man. He whispered, "Big Brother, the kid was definitely here earlier, but I don’t know about now."
A flash of displeasure crossed the face of the youth in black. Wu Lang then said, "Senior Brother Cheng, should I just kick his door down? I bet he knows Brother Cheng Yu is here and is too scared to come out. Let’s just barge in and see where he can hide."
"You idiot," the black-clad youth cursed under his breath, his gaze disdainful. "Are you trying to attract the academy’s Law Enforcement Team? Forcibly entering a student’s room is a serious offense." He then looked toward Chen Xing.
