Chapter 384: Which Esteemed Cultivator From the Mount Shu Sect?

The owner of the medicinal hall, his daughter, and a few young apprentices, were busy at the back of the medicinal hall. The martial artists from the Blazing Fire Gang were familiar with the place, so they just went inside and found somewhere to sit as they waited.

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Chu Liang was the only one sitting in the main hall, and that was why he had witnessed the sudden arrival of the cultivators and heard one of them say, "Don't let any of them get out alive!"

Chu Liang raised his eyebrows in shock.

What do they mean by that?

The dozens of cultivators outside the medicinal hall didn't enter it. Instead, they formed hand seals, summoning their flying swords!

"Hold on!" Chu Liang shouted, trying to stop them.

This group was obviously there to exterminate everyone in the medicinal hall. They'd just had a fierce battle, yet they even followed the opposing gang into the medicinal hall to finish the job. They were acting just like criminals!

Chu Liang had just arrived, so he didn't want to get involved in the local gang conflicts, and he had no intention of stopping their mutual acts of revenge. Nonetheless, these people were being extremely rude!

Inside the medicinal hall, there was Chu Liang, who was an innocent bystander, as well as Xu Zhiyin and her father, both of whom had nothing to do with the gangs.

With his cultivation level, it would be easy for Chu Liang to leave, but he wouldn't be able to inform Xu Zhiyin and her father in time. Besides, Xu Zhiyin might be in the middle of a bath; he couldn't just barge in and take her away.

Just imagine...

The young lady is bathing, and I push open the bathroom door.

I lift the curtain and yell, "Miss Xu, bad guys are coming!"

That... would be like I'm announcing my own arrival.

[1]

So, all Chu Liang could do was stop the people in front of him.

However, the group's leader had already given an order. The dozens of cultivators ignored Chu Liang, and their flying swords spread out, transforming into thousands of swordlights.

The beams of swordlight shot into the hall!

A few rounds of attacks from these thousands of swordlights would turn the medicinal hall into a huge sieve. No one inside would be able to survive. If the Blazing Fire Gang members were uninjured, they might be able to put up a fight, but they had no chance in their current state.

Nevertheless, Chu Liang was there.

Frowning, he summoned the Dustless Sword. It instantly split into hundreds and thousands of swordlights. Chu Liang had activated the Thousand Swords Seal!

Under the control of Chu Liang's powerful divine sense, each beam of swordlight precisely intercepted the swordlights shooting toward the medicinal hall. As the clang of clashing metal rang incessantly, the outer walls of the medicinal hall remained undamaged.

Clang, clang, clang—

After the group's first round of attacks, their thousands of swordlights shattered.

Chu Liang's Dustless Sword returned to his side, its blade gleaming brilliantly. However, more than half of the opponent's flying swords had broken!

It was a fight of one against dozens, yet Chu Liang emerged victorious! If Chu Liang hadn't held back, the next round of attacks from the Dustless Sword would have rendered almost all of these cultivators incapable of escaping.

Even when compared to the Mount Shu Sect's standard-issue flying swords, those cultivators' flying swords were inferior. How could they withstand an attack from a legendary sword like the Dustless Sword? It was natural that the Dustless Sword would cut them in two with one strike.

Despite their low quality, those flying swords had been extremely rare finds in Python Belly City. This was evident from the pained expressions of the cultivators.

Seeing their precious flying swords cut down, the group of cultivators became irate and wanted to attack Chu Liang with their divine abilities.

Right then, someone shouted, "Hold on!"

It was the brocade-robed man on the elephant's back.

He sat up straight in alarm and said, "Where did this powerful cultivator come from?"

The cultivators around him were generally at the third realm. There were even a few at the second realm. So, to them, Chu Liang, who was a top-tier fourth realm cultivator, could indeed be considered a powerful cultivator.

In Python Belly City, it was normal for cultivators to have low cultivation levels.

If Chu Liang were considered to be part of the ruling upper class of cultivators, then the middle class was made up of the prodigious disciples of the Divine Nine and the Terrestrial Ten and the lower-middle class was made up of the ordinary disciples. That meant the poor lower class was made up of the sectless cultivators in the martial world, and the cultivators in Python Belly City were undoubtedly part of an even lower class—the beggar class.

When resources were extremely scarce, a cultivator's lack of talent would be less apparent. The third realm would be an impassible wall for everyone.

Those who had already been cultivators before entering the Python Belly City would very likely remain forever stuck at the cultivation level they were at when they entered. It was only possible for cultivators to make breakthroughs in cultivation without any resources when they had surpassed the sixth realm and entered the Heavenly Gate[2].

Chu Liang swiftly moved to the front of the medicinal hall and said loudly, "I am not a member of the Blazing Fire Gang, nor am I a martial artist. I have nothing to do with your grudges. But today you have provoked me, so you better leave my sight immediately, or else..."

He took a large stride forward and pivoted, launching into a sudden leap. Then he punched downward, striking the giant elephant's head from above!

Boooom

.

Chu Liang's punch left the several-zhang-tall giant elephant shaking violently.

At the next moment, the black rock beneath it cracked. The elephant sank over a zhang deep into the black-rock ground. It died instantly, with its corpse embedded in the earth.

A chill washed over the surrounding cultivators, and not one of them dared to make a sound. They were all there together, yet none of them had managed to stop Chu Liang's punch, so how could they dare to act up again?

The brocade-robed man on the dead elephant looked up at Chu Liang and unconsciously found himself kneeling before Chu Liang.

The brocade-robed man trembled for a long while before finally squeezing out one sentence. "And you say you're not a martial artist..."

He used such great divine strength to kill the giant elephant with one punch... He can't be an immortality cultivator that also cultivates martial arts, could he?

...

The Sun and Moon Pavilion cultivators left in utter disgrace, practically fleeing in disarray.

While watching them go, Chu Liang sighed.

He had gotten involved in something troublesome so soon after arriving in Python Belly City.

"What happened?" Xu Zhiyin asked cautiously as she walked up from behind.

She and the group of martial artists behind her had heard the noises of the clashing flying swords and emerged from the medicinal hall to see what was going on. However, instead of a sword fight, what they saw was Chu Liang punching an elephant.

Chu Liang briefly explained what had happened.

"

Ah...

" Xu Zhiyin gasped in shock, breathing in a mouthful of the cold, foul air of Python Belly City.

She and her father had been practicing medicine there for many years and never thought they would one day become the targets of a major faction.

Xu Zhiyin had lived in Python Belly City all her life. It was impossible for her to be unafraid of what might happen next.

"You don't need to be so afraid. Their main target is these martial artists, not you and your father," Chu Liang comforted.

"But..." Xu Zhiyin turned to look at the martial artists behind her. "Normally, no matter how fiercely you fight each other, you never chase the opposing party into the medicinal hall. Why has that changed today?"

Among the martial artists, there was an older man who had lost half of his arm. That arm had just been bandaged, but judging from the neatness of the wound, it seemed that the amputated half of an arm had been cleanly sliced off with a flying sword.

That man stood up angrily and said, "Those cultivators are afraid of our chief, so they used to pretend they were noble and virtuous, standing aloof from worldly affairs. But now that the chief—"

"Old Zhang!" someone called out, reminding the man not to divulge the matter.

That man then reluctantly closed his mouth.

The east side of the city was the Blazing Fire Gang's territory, so they quickly learned of how the Sun and Moon Pavilion had gone after their members even at the medicinal hall.

Soon after, a large group of over a hundred martial artists gathered at the medicinal hall, setting a tight defensive formation around it.

That probably wasn't even all of the Blazing Fire Gang's members.

The threshold for becoming a martial artist was much lower than that for immortality cultivators. Truly talented cultivators were rare, with there being only one in ten thousand, whereas good martial artists were one in a hundred. Moreover, it was much simpler for martial artists at a level below the seventh realm to advance in their cultivation. Therefore, the ratio of martial artists to cultivators in the world was always disproportionate.

However, there were only two sects practicing martial arts ranked in the Divine Nine and the Terrestrial Ten. That was because immortality cultivators held an absolute advantage once they surpassed the seventh realm and entered the peak realms of power.

The person leading the large group of martial artists was a short-haired woman in a close-fitting outfit. She was tall and robust, with a scar between her brows. The woman looked fierce as well as capable and experienced. Judging by how the others in the group addressed her, the woman had to be the vice-chief of the Blazing Fire Gang.

The vice-chief entered the main hall of the medicinal hall and glanced at everyone there.

The first thing she asked was, "Is everyone all right?"

All of the injured people, including those missing an arm or a leg, replied in unison, "We're fine."

Chu Liang knew why they responded like that, but he still found the scene quite strange.

The vice-chief shifted her gaze to Chu Liang. "So, it was this young hero who saved you all? Indeed, heroes emerge from the young."

"I don't deserve your praise," Chu Liang replied modestly. "I am Chu Liang. Miss Xu saved me and brought me back here, so it's only right that I help when the medicinal hall is in trouble."

He tactfully indicated that he had only taken action because of Xu Zhiyin.

The vice-chief immediately said, "Xu Zhiyin and her father aren't part of the Blazing Fire Gang, but they've saved many of our brothers in the east side over the years. Our brothers have deep feelings of gratitude toward them. We won't let the Sun and Moon Pavilion get away with this!"

Chu Liang gave a nod of support, but he didn't intend to get further involved in the conflict.

However, the vice-chief added, "Young hero, with your exceptional skills, you'll be a great help when you join us."

Chu Liang hurriedly forced a smile. "Vice-Chief, I don't have such plans at the moment..."

"

Hmm?

" The vice-chief looked at him strangely, feeling rather puzzled. "But you've offended the Sun and Moon Pavilion, and you can't join the demons. Where else can you go in Python Belly City if you don't join us?"

"I have a senior brother who fell in here with me," Chu Liang answered. "I want to find him quickly and then leave together."

"Leave?" the vice-chief uttered, her expression suddenly turning odd.

It wasn't just her. The expressions of the surrounding Blazing Fire Gang members also became very odd, as if they had just heard something utterly absurd.

After a long while, the vice-chief said quietly, "Young Hero Chu, I advise you to give up this idea. I guess you're unfamiliar with how things work here since you've just entered Python Belly City, but you have to know that no one has ever left here alive..."

"That may be the case in the past, but..." Chu Liang declared in a powerful and resonating voice, "I am a disciple of the Mount Shu Sect!"

He spoke with a strong sense of confidence that he could get out of Python Belly City.

Even if Chu Liang didn't use the jade talisman that contained Shattering the Void, he believed it wouldn't be long before his teacher and the Mount Shu Sect's higher-ups noticed that he was missing. They would then go looking for him in the South Sea.

If he had disappeared quietly, it would be different. However, such a huge event had occurred in the South Sea. There was no way they would miss it in their investigation.

The vice-chief of the Four Seas Whale Gang had been swallowed by the Heaven-Devouring Python and had never been found.

Nevertheless, the Mount Shu Sect was different from the Whale Gang.

Every disciple of the Mount Shu Sect held this belief:

No matter where you are when you encounter danger, don't give up. Remember that you have a powerful sect behind you...

Upon hearing that Chu Liang was a disciple of the Mount Shu Sect, the people around him looked surprised.

There were many cultivators in Python Belly City, but disciples of sects in the Divine Nine were extremely rare.

Furthermore, they had no idea that Chu Liang was not simply an ordinary disciple of Mount Shu. He had yet to mention his prestigious titles: the eldest senior brother of Silver Sword Peak, the semi-finalist of the Mount Shu Sect's Mahjong Tournament, the champion of the Mount Shu Sect's Flying-Sword Race, and the runner-up of the Mount Shu Summit...

How could the Mount Shu Sect not care that he was missing?

After getting over her shock, the vice-chief asked, "Then which immortality cultivator of the Mount Shu Sect is your teacher?"

"Silver Sword Peak's Di Nu—"

Being in Python Belly City, Chu Liang had lowered his guard a little and casually mentioned his teacher's name.

Midway, he suddenly realized,

I can't mention my teacher's name as long as I'm outside Mount Shu!

As expected, before he even finished speaking...

"Di Nufeng?!" the vice-chief exclaimed.

The gazes of the surrounding Blazing Fire Gang members darkened slightly.

Their expressions said it all.

Chu Liang thought,

Crap!

1. The difference between singular and plural is often not distinguished in Chinese, so the joke here is that Xu Zhiyin could interpret it as Chu Liang announcing his arrival as the bad guy who is there to peep at her bathe. ☜

2. The third cultivation gate. Realms 7-9. ☜