Chapter 7 Strange Sensations

  Xia Chen endured the knee-piercing pain and stood up, coldly staring at Li Yuanyao and others, without saying a word. So many people were targeting him, and explaining was meaningless, no one would listen to him.

  "You're courting death, kid." Yue Zifeng's face turned iron-gray. His personally selected disciple had been beaten to a pulp, and even as a divine cultivator with excellent self-control, he couldn't suppress his anger.

  "Master, you must take charge and get rid of this useless thing for me." Zhuo Bufan was still seething with anger.

  "Master Yue, they framed Xia Chen, it's not like that." The round-faced girl said, then quickly told the whole story.

  "Not bad, I can also testify that although Xia Chen offended Zhuo Bu Fan, if it wasn't for Zhuo Bu Fan provoking him first, Xia Chen wouldn't have made a move." The sturdy youth said.

  "Master Yu, you are a divine cultivator, although you are an extraordinary master, but we believe that you will handle this matter impartially and fairly." That somewhat childish young man reacted extremely quickly, and instead used his words to pin down Yue Zi Feng.

  Xia Chen's heart warmed up, these three new disciples were not familiar with him, but they were willing to stand up for him, it was truly rare and precious, if it were someone else, they would have probably run away already.

  "You few insignificant people, colluding with Xia Chen to be treacherous and deceitful, yet you still dare to threaten Master Yue?" Wu Gang said angrily.

  "You're so glib, we just want to restore the truth of the matter. Who's as despicable as you, framing Xia Chen, spreading lies and nonsense, without even blushing?" The young man retorted fearlessly, his words sharp as needles.

  Both sides started quarreling.

  "Shut up!" Yue Zifeng shouted, and everyone immediately fell silent.

  "No matter what, you've hurt Not Ordinary." Yue Zifeng gazed at Xia Chen, his eyes icy cold. "A disciple with mediocre talent like yours, even a hundred of them wouldn't be worth one of Not Ordinary's little fingers."

  Xia Chen's heart sank, and Yue Zi Feng's words were clearly a provocation. It seemed that today's matter was difficult to end well. As an elder cultivator, his casual remark could ruin Xia Chen and expel him from the sect.

  "I won't waste you, because that's not what I should do." Yue Zifeng seemed to have seen through his thoughts and sneered, "Junior, let you barely survive for now. Two months later, the new disciple assessment will take place. Everything you've done today, I'll make you pay back a hundredfold. Follow me, Master."

  He coldly swept a glance at Xia Chen, turned around and left, with his status, he didn't bother to say more to Xia Chen.

  "Trash, when the time comes, I'll break every bone in your body and turn you into a puddle of mud. You just wait." Zhuo Bufan gritted his teeth and followed Yue Zifeng away.

  Xu Fang beckoned to Li Yuanyao and left without a word, from start to finish, she didn't even glance at Xia Chen and the others.

  "Clown, two months later, I'll witness you being beaten to a pulp by Nofan with my own eyes." Li Yuanyao sneered and followed Xu Fang as she walked away.

  "Haha, this guy is going to be out of luck. I really want to see it happen two months later, when Brother Zhu beats him to death."

  "Brother Zhuo's innate talent far surpasses this guy, and with Aunt Yue personally guiding him, two months later the new disciples' assessment won't even allow him to kill him instantly. I'm afraid by then it will be a one-sided crushing defeat for Brother Zhuo."

  "Didn't the seniors of our sect say it already? This guy's potential is at most only threefold in the mortal realm, can't compare to Brother Zhuo. Such a mediocre disciple has no value in existing. Staying in Zhengxuan Sect for two months is already a rare opportunity, just honestly go back and be a miscellaneous servant."

  Wu Gang and Yang Er's new disciples loudly jeered and ridiculed, also leaving one after another.

  Xia Chen's face was expressionless, but deep down, his hatred was burning like a raging fire. He had finally embarked on the path of cultivation and didn't want to provoke anyone, only wanting to focus on his practice, but unfortunately, the tree wanted to be still, yet the wind wouldn't stop.

  "Xia Chen, are you okay? Don't mind those people, they're just a bunch of stupid followers." The round-faced girl comforted.

  The sturdy young man and the tender youth also spoke words of comfort.

  Xia Chen thanked the three of them deeply and without saying anything, he headed towards his own courtyard.

  All three of them thought he was in a heavy mood and didn't say much more, gazing at his back, sighing.

  "Xia Chen beat Zhuo Bu Fan so badly, I reckon two months later, Zhuo Bu Fan will go crazy and take revenge, Xia Chen might not be able to withstand it."

  "Yes, that Zhuo Bu Fan and Li Yuan Yao may be very annoying, but after all they are the personally selected disciples. Whether it's innate conditions or acquired resources, they far surpass what we can compare to."

  "I hope Xia Chen can hold on, two months is neither long nor short, and there may be a turning point."

  The three of them whispered for a moment before they all disappeared.

  Xia Chen entered the courtyard, swept the house clean, and then sat in her bedroom, thinking carefully.

  His mood was indeed a bit urgent, but not very heavy. Since the foreign object in his body could allow him to cultivate to the first level of Houtian overnight, it probably had a counter-heavenly function. With bitter cultivation, he might not necessarily be inferior to Zhuo Bu Fan.

  But continuing to cultivate, what will happen to the foreign objects in his body, Xia Chen didn't know either, this was exactly where he wasn't confident.

  Moreover, the day after tomorrow's boundary not only cultivates true energy but also cultivates kung fu. In this regard, Zhuo Bu Fan is far superior to him, which means that he will have to pay more to defeat Zhuo Bu Fan.

  Strength, I must have great strength, Xia Chen has never yearned for strength like he does now.

  He closed his eyes and sat upright, calming his mind and nurturing his spirit. After a moment, he opened his eyes again, and his thoughts had become calm. Only then did he open the disciple's manual.

  The Disciples' Handbook is divided into several chapters, recording the history of the Zhengxuan Sect, its rules and regulations, as well as the cultivation situation in the Great Liang Dynasty.

  The leader of Zhengyuan Sect is called Zhan Fengchen, also known as the white-haired old man, who is a cultivator in the Divine Ability Realm. Other cultivators in the Divine Ability Realm are also introduced in detail in the manual.

  The Realm of Omniscience is a higher realm above the Post-Heavenly Realm, also divided into ten levels.

  Zhan Fengchen is the leader of Zhengyuan Sect, but he's not the real person in charge. He's only responsible for handling the sect's daily affairs.

  Above War Wind Dust and others, there are four ancestors of the sect, with profound cultivation that cannot be measured.

  Above the four masters, there is an even more mysterious old ancestor who has cultivated through the heavens.

  However, several masters and ancestors are either closed for many years or go out on a long journey, and ordinary disciples can hardly see them.

  There are seven major cultivation sects in the Great Liang Dynasty, and countless scattered cultivators and small organizations. The manual naturally cannot record them all, but only focuses on introducing the seven major sects.

  In the cultivation chapter, there are detailed introductions to Fa Bao, Dan Yao, Gong Fa, Jing Jie, and Yao Shou, accompanied by illustrations. After reading it several times, Xia Chen had a very deep impression of the cultivation world.

  After finishing reading the Disciple's Handbook, Xia Chen sat on his bed and began his daily compulsory cultivation of true energy.

  What surprised him was that the growth rate of his true energy remained as terrifying as last night, as if there was a bottomless pit in his dantian, absorbing the heaven and earth's original energy like a whale swallowing the sea.

  The next morning, as soon as it dawned, Xia Chen went out and rushed to the Zhengxuan Sect's martial arts arena.

  As the name suggests, the performance stage is a platform for demonstrating kung fu skills and is the main way for ordinary disciples to acquire kung fu.

  Every morning, a disciple with a cultivation base of Sixth Heaven and above will demonstrate their skills on the martial stage and answer questions. As for how much they learn, that depends on each individual's comprehension and diligence.

  Even if you don't practice, no one will urge you, but if you don't strive to improve, the sect will have assessments at regular intervals, and ordinary disciples who rank at the bottom will naturally not be able to escape the fate of being eliminated.

  When Xia Chen arrived at the performance stage, there was still no one around. He casually found a front-row seat and sat down, quietly circulating his true energy.

  Before long, disciples began to arrive one after another. These disciples were all old disciples of the first or second generation, but Xia Chen didn't recognize any of them. However, not a single one of these new disciples had arrived yet.

  As for Zhuo Bufan and Li Yuanyao, they are direct disciples, with their masters personally teaching them profound skills, so there's no need for them to come here to learn.

  After a while, a young man in his thirties walked over from afar, without seeing how he exerted himself, and suddenly appeared on the martial arts platform with extremely swift movements.

  The crowd of disciples immediately stood up and applauded: "Welcome, Feng Chuan Xun Shi Xiong's martial performance."

  "Hello everyone, I'm demonstrating the Seven Shadows Fist. I suppose many of you have already learned this most basic acquired skill, but since our sect has recently taken in many new disciples, I'll demonstrate it a few more times. Everyone should pay attention and comprehend."

  He didn't waste words and directly began demonstrating.

  Xia Yan looked at it seriously, and saw that the Wind Transmission Fist was powerful and vigorous, with swift movements, attacking like lightning, sharp and agile, and defending with a solemn atmosphere, as steady as a mountain, making people sigh in admiration.

  His fists flew faster and faster, gradually, a clear fist shadow appeared, looking like the wind was transmitting a message with four arms.

  Then comes the second fist shadow, the third fist shadow...

  When the fourth fist shadow appeared, the speed of Feng Chuanxin finally slowed down, and the fist shadows no longer continued to overlap.

  The wind transmission signal began to gather momentum, and the four fist shadows also disappeared one by one. Finally, it returned to the starting position, standing still, a complete set of Seven Shadow Fist technique was thus completed in one breath.

  "The Seven Shadows Fist is only considered to have truly entered the door when it can produce a shadowy fist. Of course, this requires accumulation of time and cultivation. Generally speaking, only those with post-heavenly third-level cultivation or higher can produce the first shadowy fist, so everyone should not be impatient, and instead focus on cultivating diligently."

  He paused for a moment, then said: "In the later stages of cultivation, whether it's the first five stages of refining Qi, refining skin, refining flesh, refining tendons, and refining bones, or the latter five stages of refining meridians, refining organs, refining blood, refining marrow, and refining apertures, all are measured by the standard of true Qi. It is through controlling the body with Qi that one can enter the realm of spiritual connection! Therefore, everyone's cultivation focus must be placed on true Qi, techniques are auxiliary, true Qi is fundamental, without true Qi, techniques will never reach the essence of cultivation."

  Everyone nodded in agreement, and Feng's words struck a chord with them.

  Next, Feng Chuanxin slowed down his movements and demonstrated the Seven Shadows Fist twice more, trying to make it clear for everyone to see.

  Then Feng Chuanxin began to clarify on the spot, and the disciples asked questions one after another.

  Xia Yan looked at it seriously, although the Seven Shadows Fist was the most basic foundation method, but it was still much more mysterious than the methods he had learned before, and there were many things that didn't understand. Just as he wanted to ask a question, the snow-white cauldron in his dantian suddenly moved slightly, bringing up a strange feeling.

  This strange feeling is very mysterious and difficult to describe in words, it seems to be an epiphany of clear logic, yet it also seems to be the arrival of inspiration, having an inexplicable but extremely accurate intuition about certain things.