"Speak another word of nonsense and you’ll be facing sect discipline," snapped Zuo Mu, a disciple of Elder Tie Fu.
"What nonsense? Xu Yang is right behind me. Ask him yourself! I still need to go inform the Elders and the Peak Master."
The man pointed behind him. Just as he said, Xu Yang, Lu Chuping, and Gao Lin were striding through the gateway, followed by the disciples who had descended the mountain with them to wipe out the Blood Lotus Sect stronghold.
He was actually walking side-by-side with Gao Lin and Lu Chuping. On his back, he carried a long object wrapped in black cloth. His handsome face was calm and composed, as if this was all perfectly natural, and even the more senior disciples behind them showed no sign of complaint.
"Xu Yang, have you reached Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement?"
Someone, unable to hold back any longer, asked in a loud voice.
In an instant, every gaze fell upon Xu Yang, their eyes fixed on him.
The vast expanse of Li Fire Peak fell so silent you could hear a pin drop, everyone waiting for his answer.
The handsome, plainly dressed youth met their stares with a calm gaze and nodded. "That’s right. I’ve reached Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement."
BOOM!
Those few words struck everyone like a clap of thunder, making their Heart Spirits tremble.
Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement! He had actually reached Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement!
"Senior Brother Gao, Senior Brother Li, is what Xu Yang said true?"
Even though Xu Yang had admitted it himself, many still couldn’t believe it and turned to ask Gao Lin and Lu Chuping.
"That’s right. Junior Brother Xu has indeed reached Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement!" Gao Lin and Lu Chuping said in unison.
With both of them confirming it, even those who found it unbelievable had no choice but to accept the fact.
"He really reached Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement!"
"Just like when he was an Outer Disciple, he’s rewritten the Ten Heroes List."
"So he was the dark horse all along!"
...
The disciples of Li Fire Peak, regardless of whose tutelage they were under, erupted in an uproar, staring at Xu Yang in shock.
Even people like Han Feng and Lu Ren hadn’t reached Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement, yet he had.
Keep in mind, Xu Yang was from the same class of disciples as Du Chuan, who ranked fourth on the Ten Heroes List. Du Chuan had only reached Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement a little over half a month ago, and Xu Yang was only half a month behind him.
Didn’t that mean Xu Yang’s true talent should have placed him ninth on the Ten Heroes List?
’I’m not dreaming. He really reached Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement!’ A roar filled Lu Ren’s mind, and he felt a chill run down his limbs.
Xu Yang had truly surpassed him once again.
He didn’t even know when he himself would reach Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement, yet Xu Yang had already taken that step.
It wasn’t that Xu Yang couldn’t catch up to him; it was that he couldn’t catch up to Xu Yang.
"Impossible! The Outer Disciple tournament was only a few months ago! How could you have possibly reached Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement? Not even Jiang Fan or Li Chuyang broke through this quickly! Even if you have no bottlenecks, it’s impossible to reach Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement this fast!" a discordant voice cried out.
Xiong Kun looked slightly crazed as he harshly questioned Xu Yang.
He found it even harder to accept Xu Yang’s Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement than Lu Ren did, because it meant he was about to be knocked off the Ten Heroes List.
’Finally, someone who understands my pain!’
Seeing Xiong Kun’s reaction, Lu Ren felt a strange sense of satisfaction. Now someone else finally understood just how infuriating that guy was.
"Looks like Xiong Kun is about to lose his mind!"
"If you made it onto the Ten Heroes List only to get knocked off before your seat was even warm, you’d lose your mind too."
"And to think he was pitying Xu Yang before for just barely missing the Ten Heroes List. Turns out he’s the most pitiful one."
"I know I’d go crazy if it were me."
...
Everyone looked at Xiong Kun with pity, then their gazes snapped in unison toward Xu Yang, wanting to hear his explanation.
They were also curious how Xu Yang had managed to reach Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement in such a short time.
"Who told you I only broke through to Marrow Cleansing during the Outer Disciple tournament?" Xu Yang said lightly.
He knew he had to explain some things clearly, or else people would assume he had obtained some heaven-defying treasure to reach Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement so quickly.
Xiong Kun froze for a moment, then snapped, "If you broke through to Marrow Cleansing long ago, why were you only third place, not first?"
Xu Yang smiled. "I didn’t want to fight pointless battles. Third place was enough to get exempted from the assessment mission. What’s the use in fighting for first? Aren’t the benefits for first, second, and third place all the same?"
Indeed, there really wasn’t any difference between first, second, and third.
Both he and Xu Yang had first submitted apprenticeship requests to Medicine King Peak, but both had been rejected. When they tried Li Fire Peak, they received similar treatment, both scorned by their respective masters.
’So when he fought me back then, he was still holding back.’ Lu Ren’s fists clenched.
’That sneaky bastard. As I thought, he’s been hiding his true abilities all along.’
Despair washed over him. Xu Yang was like an unfathomable pool of water. Every time he thought he saw Xu Yang clearly, he was only seeing what Xu Yang wanted him to see. For all he knew, the sneaky bastard was still hiding something even now.
"Don’t mistake my Junior Brother Xu for someone like you," Gao Lin said, his tone unfriendly as he looked at Xiong Kun. "He doesn’t care about empty fame. If my master hadn’t ordered him to go exterminate the Blood Lotus Sect Demons this time, he never would have revealed his Cultivation. He just wants to cultivate in peace. Ever since he started, when have you ever seen him show off his Cultivation? He only ever reveals it when he has no other choice. Only competitive show-offs like you can’t wait for the entire world to know the second you make the slightest breakthrough."
Xiong Kun and Lu Ren both felt a pang in their chests. ’You can be indifferent to fame, fine, but don’t do it right after we’ve started to feel good about ourselves! We just managed to feel a sense of superiority over Xu Yang, and in the next moment, he turns around and stomps on our faces.’
Just then, one of Elder Huoyun’s disciples pushed through the crowd, walked up to Gao Lin and Xu Yang, and cupped his hands. "Senior Brother Gao, Master has ordered you and Junior Brother Xu to see him now."
Gao Lin and Xu Yang nodded. They cupped their hands toward Lu Chuping and the other disciples from the mission, then pushed through the crowd and headed for Fire Cloud Elder Hall.
"If I’d known Xu Yang was such a genius, I would have gotten on his good side earlier."
"If I had known he was that kind of genius, I would have taught him the Thousand Forging Technique for free. I definitely would have earned his friendship."
"It’s too late to say anything now."
"Friendship isn’t necessary. As long as you never offended him, you should be fine."
...
Many who had crossed paths with Xu Yang were kicking themselves with regret for having slighted him.
With talent like that, while one couldn’t be certain about Secondary Dragon Ascension, reaching Celestial Essence was practically guaranteed.
A Celestial Essence Strong Person!
Why were the ten great families of Cyan Yang City always the ten great families? It wasn’t because they were the wealthiest or most powerful, nor because they had the most members, nor because their ancestors were once glorious figures in the Purple Sun Sect. The sole reason was that each of their families had a Celestial Essence Strong Person. That was all.
For a Celestial Essence Strong Person to build a faction comparable to one of the ten great families—while not exactly effortless—was by no means a difficult task. People would willingly offer resources and assets just to get on their good side.
’I offended him!’
In the crowd, Luo Xin’s face was ashen as he watched the handsome figure, with the object wrapped in black cloth on his back, walk away.
The person he had warned would not live long when he first joined Li Fire Peak turned out to be such a genius.
Later, because of his cousin and their previous unpleasantness, he had falsely accused Xu Yang of being a Blood Lotus Sect spy.
At this moment, his heart was filled with both regret and terror. ’After offending a genius like that, can I still live?’
"Brother Luo, what’s wrong? Are you sick? You look terrible, and you’re trembling a little," someone noticed Luo Xin’s strange state and asked with concern.
"Sick my ass! How could a Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement Martial Artist get sick? He’s the one who falsely accused Xu Yang of being a Blood Lotus Sect spy. He’s just scared shitless."
"If you don’t want to get dragged into his mess, stay away from him. If Xu Yang mistakes you for his friend, you’re done for."
...
As soon as those words were spoken, the people around Luo Xin jumped back as if electrocuted, treating him like a monster to be avoided at all costs.
Luo Xin trembled all over, finally understanding Xu Yang’s current status. Even some people who were on good terms with him now didn’t dare to even look his way.
"Luo Xin is finished. He tried to have Xu Yang killed, but I bet he never expected Xu Yang to be such a genius."
"He really went too far back then. Xu Yang managed to come back alive against all odds, and he still suspected him of being a spy. That’s the kind of grudge you don’t come back from."
"How could a genius like Xu Yang possibly be a spy?"
"He was just taking the opportunity to get revenge after Xu Yang rejected him."
...
The great debaters began to argue in Xu Yang’s favor. Regardless of whether they had previously suspected Xu Yang of being a spy, everyone now felt it was impossible. It was all Luo Xin being petty and narrow-minded. In short, the consensus was to stay far away from Luo Xin and not get involved.