CH 9

When Chu Feng saw Su Mujin, his eyes gleamed. “What a peerless beauty! Look at that face, that figure! An absolutely first rate combination, but I never expected it to belong to a man. What a pity! Truly a great pity!”

“He’s mine. Brother, you really need to watch your words.” 

Gu Feng felt irritable, watching Su Mujin being harassed, and spoke without thinking things through carefully.

The sudden silence was deafening and Chu Feng and his companion had horrified expressions on their faces. Gu Feng belatedly realized that what he had just said was too easily misunderstood, so he explained: “Cough, he is my didi, and hates people describing his appearance in feminine terms, right Xiao Jin?”

“. . . mmm.” Su Mujin felt a faint disappointment. Just now he almost believed that gege had at long last become enlightened as to his feelings.

“I see, so it’s like that! Shixiong, good-looking people can also be male, so you should know that those kinds of words are really inappropriate. Next time, I think you’d better not speak so impulsively.” 

The disciple who was still in her foundation building stage advised Chu Feng tartly.

“What strong vinegar! Don’t be jealous, Lin Yue, I’m still awfully fond of you.”

Chu Feng turned his gaze upon Lin Yue and smiled, pulled her into his arms, Lin Yue’s face immediately turned red.

Su Mujin, Gu Feng: “. . .”

These two are shameless!

“Oh by the way, did you know your jiejie has a Dao companion?” Chu Feng unexpectedly opened his mouth to inquire as they returned to the road.

“Who is it? I’ve been away the past few years, cultivating, so I didn’t know about this.” Gu Feng was alarmed. Gu Yunxi had unexpectedly gained a Dao companion.

“The other party is a Sword Pavilion inner disciple, it’s said he’s extremely talented. He’s already reached the summit of the golden core period despite being so young. He’s absolutely qualified to be her match. But how can you be so ignorant of such an important matter as your jiejie looking for a Dao companion? Where have you been these last couple years?” 

Gu Feng relaxed and let out the breath he’d been holding. Thankfully it wasn’t Mo Ran. However, Chu Feng was probably trying to feel out the state of Gu Feng’s cultivation by talking in circles.

“I’ve been away for several years cultivating within a hidden realm I accidentally stumbled upon. Now I’ve come back, but to avoid trouble, when I return to the sect I intend to cultivate to the early stage of golden core. I hope Brother Chu can help me keep this under wraps.” Gu Feng spoke with deliberation, trying to make it seem as though encountering the hidden realm was a fortuitous event he only mentioned reluctantly.

“Rest assured! Today you saved us, so I owe you a favor. I’ll keep your secret. Lin Yue and I are busy, so we’ll head out first.”

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Returning to the sect, Gu Feng and Su Mujin concealed their cultivation level, appearing to be in the early stage of the golden core period, and then went to register with a peak. Within the sect were five peaks. Taixu Peak, Battle Spirit Peak, Sword Soul Peak, Healing Heart Peak, and Tempering Talent Peak.

Battle Spirit Peak specialized in combat capability; Sword Soul Peak specialized in sword cultivation; Healing Heart Peak specialized in refining pills; Tempering Talent Peak specialized in refining weapons and magical implements; and Taixu Peak was originally named Ten Thousand Arts Peak, specializing in the magical arts. Later, because the first sect leader was produced by Ten Thousand Arts Peak, it was renamed Taixu Peak. Any disciples studying under a peak leader were known as ‘true legacy disciples.’

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Suddenly, a piercing alarm sounded. Taixu Sect only used this alert system for serious matters to signal people to assemble. Gu Feng’s face lit up with joy — the awaited time had finally arrived! 

The martial arts training arena was usually full of disciples facing off against each other, but when major events took place, the stage was used to deliver the news.

“There really are a lot of people.” Gu Feng brought Su Mujin to the training arena. Those already gathered in the arena were as thick as stalks in a field of flax. They numbered several thousands of people, with still more arriving in the distance, blackening the sky like bees swarming from a hive, all heading toward the training arena.

“What’s going on? There are so many people.”

“Even Gu shijie has shown up, looking ever more enigmatic!” 

“Not just Gu shijie, there are a lot of bigwigs here. It seems that something major has occurred.”

Surrounded by noise as the disciples whispered among themselves, Gu Feng cast his sight all around. Gu Yunxi, Xiao Chen, Hua Yan, Chu Feng and more had all actually shown up. Behind each of them stood their crowds of supporters as numerous as the stars surrounding the moon. Among them, Gu Yunxi’s supporters were the greatest in number.

Gu Feng evaluated their cultivation levels, but was unable to register any of them? Apparently all of them had at least reached the peak of late stage golden core. Gu Feng’s expression dimmed. He was still too far behind.

Everyone suddenly quieted down. Gu Feng perked up, and caught sight of a man arriving through a parting of the sea of disciples. His face was obscured, but his silhouette alone was enough to cause fear, and his aura was absolutely terrifying. All the qi refining period disciples in the vicinity felt like they would pass out. Without question, this person was precisely the leader of Taixu Sect, Gu Hanshan. He was at the summit of the ascension period of cultivation, and merely one step away from becoming as immortal as heaven and earth. 

“Greetings, Sect Leader.”

Several thousand disciples all saluted as one, and the sound was deafening, reverberating across the land and up to the heavens. This cheap dad still had power and prestige, Gu Feng internally commented.

“Rise!” The sect leader did not shout, but miraculously his voice sounded within the minds of everyone present.

“In the wastelands there has arisen a mansion of Celestials. Only those below the nascent soul period are permitted to enter, but to ensure safety, disciples must be above the late stage of the foundation building period. Furthermore, thirty percent of any gains must be handed over to the sect. All interested disciples must go to their peak leader to sign up to be included. Tomorrow we set out.” Gu Hanshan’s speech was very simple, and even a little sloppy. 

Below, the disciples immediately erupted with excitement. You should be aware that these days the spiritual resources of the continent were in short supply, and Celestials had already become a legend. It had been ten thousand years since anyone had ascended to that level of immortality, but miraculously a Celestial mansion had now appeared. Perhaps one might be fortunate enough to gain a Celestial inheritance. To find such a thing would be a major turning point in one’s cultivation path.

Each and every one of the disciples who had reached the required cultivation level were itching to have a go and sign up their name, while those who didn’t qualify could only hang their heads in disappointment and withdraw. Quickly, the arena emptied and only a few thousand remained.

Those who signed up were many. Gu Feng and Su Mujin stood in line for ages before their turn finally came. Unfortunately, in this world there will inevitably be those who love to obstruct your path. They’re just as irritating as bedbugs.

“Hold it! Didi, you still want to recklessly go to the celestial mountain even though your abilities are a joke? How repulsive have you become? Not only do you not qualify to go, Jiejie advises you to not get involved, lest you suffer the consequences of your foolish choices.” Gu Yunxi spoke scornfully, and all the nearby disciples burst into uproarious laughter. 

This woman is truly awe-inspiring. Each of my lifetimes she always makes things difficult. Gu Feng turned, gently smiled, and said: “I am well aware of my situation, no need for jiejie to trouble herself over it.”

While speaking, he placed his palm on the testing column, the color of which rapidly changed to yellow. Indeed, he really had already reached the golden core period, and the disciples all around gasped in shock. Who among them didn’t know that Gu Feng was a failure at cultivation, and couldn’t even build his foundation? But now after just a few years, he had already reached the golden core period?

“Now may I sign up?” Gu Feng cooly asked.

Gu Yunxi’s face shifted, but she stuck with her decision to obstruct Gu Feng, and coldly spoke, “Daddy, you’re clear on Didi’s capabilities, He can’t possibly have achieved this level of cultivation in such a short time period. He must have used some unscrupulous method of cultivation. Perhaps he colluded with Devil’s Castle. Nu’er thinks he should be handed over to the Judicial Hall to be investigated.” 

Gu Feng’s eyes flashed, but he didn’t speak. He wanted to sound out what weight this son held in the heart of his cheap dad.

Gu HanShan quietly sized up Gu Feng, before briefly saying this one sentence to Gu Yunxi, “Do as you see fit.”

Gu Feng’s eyes grew a bit hazy, the past flashing before him. The previous ‘Gu Feng’ had adored this dad very much, but he didn’t expect Gu Hanshan would be so callous. Gu Feng internally sneered at him and had planned to open his mouth to defend himself at that point, when suddenly a hand reached over and squeezed his own. That person’s strength was quite strong, as if he wanted to transfer fortitude through their tightly clasped hands.

Gu Feng turned his head to look, just to see Su Mujin give him a meaningful look. Su Mujin released his hand and moved to stand in front of Gu Feng, who had fallen into a trance. Though Su Mujin’s figure was slight, his courage had an indescribably reassuring power. The magnitude of what he had already accomplished for the sake of Gu Feng made him stand tall in Gu Feng’s eyes. 

Su Mujin pulled out a red colored stone, and slowly began to speak, “The reason why Gu Feng Shixiong was able to cultivate so quickly is due to collecting spirit stones. This was a fortuitous event for Shixiong. The past few years, Shixiong has continuously put in great effort to cultivate, and has never indulged in any untoward methods.

As soon as this stone was brought out, everyone could feel that the concentration of spiritual energy in this location had become richer by many fold; this was a truly spiritual stone. This cultivation technique of collecting spiritual stones was just what it sounds like. When the spiritual essence of the surroundings was intensified, cultivation became twice as efficient; spiritual stones are a really rare treasure.

Su Mujin spoke neither fast nor slow. This, in combination with his charisma, convinced quite a few people to accept his explanation without question.

“Regarding this matter—while returning, I and Lin Yue ran into some Devil’s Castle disciples, and Gu Shidi bravely put himself in harm’s way to save us. Shidi is the kind of person who sacrifices himself for the sake of others. There’s no way I could imagine him colluding with Devil’s Castle people.” Chu Feng delivered an impassioned speech, exaggerating a few details. 

Hearing this speech, all traces of doubt were wiped from the faces of the surrounding disciples. On the contrary, their expressions even showed a bit of admiration. Furthermore, many of the female disciples blushed pink with love as they ogled Gu Feng.

The corners of Gu Feng’s lips twitched. Merely stating the facts would have been fine, but Chu Feng exaggerated too much. If the situation had really put Gu Feng’s life in danger, he never would have taken the risk to save them, okay?

Catching sight of those women’s gazes, Su Mujin’s expression turned completely dark.

Gu Yunxi was unwilling to give up and still wanted to continue arguing, but was checked by the look in Gu Hanshan’s eyes. He opened his mouth and mildly commented: “Let’s drop this matter. Feng’er, now that you’ve grown up, I’m very gratified. Please be cautious when exploring the spiritual ruins.” 

“Many thanks for your concern, Sect Leader.” Gu Feng forced a smile as he replied, taking pains to emphasize the pair of words ‘Sect Leader.’

The Author has something to say:

Simple explanation of lifespan for each level

Qi Refining — ordinary

Foundation Building — 200 years 

Golden Core — 500 years

Nascent Soul —1000 years

Demigod — 5000 years

Ascension — 10000 years 

Celestials are as immortal as the heavens and earth

Past the Celestial stage is one further stage involving spoilers so I won’t mention it.