Chapter 50

Chapter 50

Physical Cultivation

The rooms provided to the guests were wide and works of art. Mu Yu sprawled out on his bed. Cheng Yan poured a cup of tea he brewed for their shifu and asked, “Mu Yu, do you want a cup?”

“I’ll pass. Tea tastes horrible.” Mu Yu considered tea bitter and inferior to even Uncle An’s soups.

Feng Haochen smiled. “Tea can calm one’s mind. The art of tea is about what you reap after the bitter taste. Drinking tea isn’t about appreciating its taste but what it does mentally.”

Mu Yu touched his head. “That is too profound. Profound things are not for me.”

Cheng Yan shook his head and sat down in front of his shifu. Mu Yu let his mind wander to the upcoming competition and queried, “Shifu, can I participate in tomorrow’s competition?”

“Sure. It’s a learning experience.”

“Awesome. Shifu, what sort of competition is it? Is it a literature, martial arts or combination of both?”

Mu Yu thought he was well educated after spending two years with Feng Haochen. Occasionally, he’d recite, “As the sun sets, birds sing one final song.”

“Cheng Yan, you tell him,” Feng Haochen instructed.

“The rules are simple. Among the twenty sects, each sect will send out one member to spar with the other nineteen in a round-robin tournament format. Each sect is permitted seven entrants. Each contest is decided between seven contestants. In other words, seven competitors will have to fight nineteen matches. If two sects share the same placing, the two sects will have another contest. That is how placings are decided.”

“Will you join me?” questioned Mu Yu. “We can be Team Cheng Mu Yan Yu. Who knows? We might win.”

Cheng Yan chuckled under his breath and shook his head. “To ensure it’s fair, the entrants are young disciples under twenty-five and restricted to those no more advanced than Foundation Establishment Realm. As soon as I fight, the Golden Core Realm elders will pick up on my real cultivation level. If you wish to compete, you will have to fight nineteen sects in nineteen matches. They’ll have substitutes, but you’ll be on your own.”

Mu Yu’s smile froze. “Man, we should’ve brought Ling’er and Xiang Nan.”

“It’s not as if you need to win. You can pick your fights and quit.”

“What are the cultivation levels of the other twenty year old cultivators?”

Cheng Yan paused to think, then answered, “Normally, cultivators of our sect’s calibre should’ve easily reached Foundation Establishment Realm’s Ninth Layer. I’m sure the top few sects have one or more of them. The lower-ranked sects would be around Foundation Establishment Realm’s Fifth Layer. Some of them may have only just reached Foundation Establishment Realm or are still at Qi Refinement Realm. One of the four from Universe Sect is at Qi Refinement’s Ninth Layer.”

That was the first time Mu Yu heard any cultivator concerned himself with an ordinary sword. “So... how do you fly?”

“Will Cheng Yan be competing tomorrow?”

Mu Yu was dumbstruck for a second upon hearing the unexpected question. Whilst thinking Gu Yitian was in over his head, he queried, “What, you want to train with him?”

“I have a hunch he’s strong, so I want to challenge him.”

Mu Yu shrugged. “You’re going to be disappointed, then. Our sect isn’t interested in competitions, so he doesn’t plan to partake in it. I will, however. Maybe we can have a spar.”

“You’re not my target. I’m after the ones deemed to have aptitude. We’re all grey-rank disciples; there’s no reason for us to spar.”

Daoist Bo Yang recruited the grey-rank disciples back then to make up numbers. Since Dustfallen Sect was ranked dead last, Gu Yitian concluded Mu Yu was inferior to himself.

“You’re also a grey-rank disciple? Oh, man, how come nobody chose me? I’m not ugly.” Mu Yu slapped himself gently after realising how ungrateful he sounded.

“If nobody thinks highly of you, why would you be here?”

“I was kidding. Are you really a grey-rank disciple?”

“Aptitude is a worthless measure. Have you heard of body cultivation?”

Physical cultivation, a difficult cultivation style, was a last resort for those lacking innate aptitude. Simply put, the cultivator had to subject their body to tremendous pain to break their limits and go beyond. Obviously, unwavering willpower was a compulsory component if one was to deliberately subject themselves to pain daily.

Unlike cultivators who wielded spiritual energy, they used their sheer physical might. Upon reaching a certain threshold, they would possess might comparable to cultivators wielding spiritual energy. The majority of those who attempted physical cultivation quit due to the excruciating pain. Gu Yitian’s persistence to pursue it was a testament to his mental fortitude.

“You’re a physical cultivator?”

Gu Yitian placed his sword down on the table. Its weight tipped the table onto an angle. Hence, he used a hand to balance it out: “This sword weighs a thousand kilograms, so I have to carry it on my back. I lack the spiritual energy to use Sleeve Universe.”

Mu Yu was wowed.

Gu Yitian picked up his sword and left. Mu Yu was eager to witness the power of body cultivation tomorrow.