Naked Sword Art

The Elders and physician were all too stunned to speak, because they could feel how powerful Liang Shen was, so they couldn't fathom how great of a threat Chu Piao could've been if he really was as dangerous as Liang Shen made him out to be.

Seeing as Chu Piao was currently restrained by Liang Shen's profound realm technique, they all breathed a sigh of relief, and they felt grateful that Liang Shen had involved himself in the matter.

"Liang Shen, I spoke without knowledge, but you have enlightened me with the truth. Please accept my sincerest apology," the physician said as he fell to his hands and knees.

"Raise your head. I am not so unreasonable as to punish those that ask questions. Especially since my actions did in fact seem rather harsh at first glance," Liang Shen said before laughing light-heartedly, but the physician didn't dare to raise his head.

The Physician became relieved to hear his words, because if Liang Shen had instead decided to behead the physician, none of the Elders would have batted an eye.

Liang Shen turned to the Elder then spoke against, but this time with a tone of seriousness, saying,

"This is a Qingxiao sect matter now. If I discover that any of you have disclosed what happened here to any living or nonliving person, I will return here, but I will not be so forgiving."

"Liang Shen, we will not utter a single word of this to anyone else, you have our word," an Elder replied.

"Good, good, I knew I could trust you Elders. Now I must be on my way, I have urgent matters to address. You all must understand," Liang Shen said with a smile before leaving with Chu Piao.

The Elders, and even the physician, all kept their heads bowed till Liang Shen was gone. They all engraved his warning deep in their hearts, for powerful cultivators were truly a terrifying existence in this world.

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Meanwhile, Li Lian and Xun Wei were explaining the details of their mission to Xiao Fang as they entered the 5th floor of the Ancestral Training Grounds. The land was as vast as a large city and was inhabited by 6th- and 7th-tier beasts. Xiao Hei, however, remained asleep as Xiao Fang carried her on his back.

Beast Power Levels:

• 6th-tier beast ≈ 1st stage Profound Realm

• 7th-tier beast ≈ 5th stage Profound Realm

Although Xiao Fang was only accompanying them using his [ Solid Clone ]—while his real body remained on the 7th floor attempting to tame the Cannibal Abnormal Beast—he was confident they would be safe. He had just been on the 5th floor the other day with his class, grouped up with Bai Fan and Zhao Pan. He was familiar with the landscape and the most common beasts in the area, so he knew they could complete their mission without much worry.

Mission Objective:

Fill a high-grade spirit pendant by defeating tiered beasts inhabiting the 5th floor of the Ancestral Training Grounds.

Note: Both Li Lian and Xun Wei each possessed one.

Understanding how much Qi each of those high-grade spirit pendants could contain, Xiao Fang offered to switch theirs with his—since his were nearly full—but they declined, wanting to grow stronger through their own efforts.

"Fang, didn't you say your real body would be here? Where is it?" Li Lian asked.

"I said I was in the Ancestral Training Grounds. I never said I'd be on the 5th floor," Xiao Fang replied.

"Are you on the 6th floor?" Xun Wei asked.

Xiao Fang paused for a moment, then said,

"I'm not."

Li Lian stopped walking and frowned. She looked back at Xiao Fang and said,

"You're on the 7th?"

Hearing that, Xiao Hei's cat ears perked up, though her eyes remained closed.

Xiao Fang didn't respond—not because he didn't want to, but because he recognized the look on Li Lian's face. He was trying to think of the right thing to say before she did something reckless. However, Li Lian didn't give him much time to think and respond. Without another word, she turned around and walked back toward the exit of the 5th floor.

"Lian, where are you going?" Xun Wei asked.

"Come. We're going to the 7th floor," Li Lian replied.

Xiao Hei's body shivered as she suddenly spoke up,

"What? Why would you go there? It's full of powerful beasts!"

"I'm aware," Li Lian replied.

"They're as strong as Divine Realm cultivators! Do you really think you can win against that?"

…

Li Lian's Cultivation realms:

• Body Cultivation: Body Core realm [ 2nd stage ]

• Spirit Cultivation: Spirit Core realm [ 3rd stage ]

• Weapon: Whip

• [ Heavenly Fire ] spirit attribute, [ 1st stage Dragon Perception ]

Xun Wei's Cultivation realms:

• Body Cultivation: Body Core realm [ 1st stage ]

• Spirit Cultivation: Spirit Refinement realm [ 7th stage ]

• Weapon: Sword

• [ Stealth ] Purple rank core,

• [ Nine Winds of the Azure Dragon ] spirit attribute

…

"As long as we don't run into any surprises, we will be fine," Li Lian said confidently.

Xiao Hei couldn't believe what she was hearing

Xun Wei suddenly patted her on the head and said,

"Cheer up, a lot has changed during the time we were away. You'll see," Xun Wei smirked.

Xiao Fang was also skeptical, as their cultivation realms were still too low. He knew that Li Lian's battle power had reached the Divine Realm due to her spirit attribute and the [ 1st Stage of Dragon Perception ], which boosted her spirit cultivation by two realms. Because of this, he wasn't too worried about her. However, he was far more concerned for Xun Wei, who was still in the Core Realm, and whose spirit attribute only increased her battle power by a single realm.

On the bright side, the time it would take to complete their mission would be considerably shorter. As far as Xiao Fang knew, it would only take roughly 200 8th-tier beasts or a couple dozen 9th-tier beasts to fill 1 high-grade spirit pendant. If they were to stay on the 5th floor, even if they were able to kill a couple hundred 6th- and 7th-tier beasts there, Xiao Fang knew it would've hardly made a dent in their high-grade spirit pendants.

{"Xiao Hei, assist them the best you can till I arrive."} Xiao Fang said to Xiao Hei via [ Spirit Transmission ]

Xiao Fang was only in the Profound Realm himself, and since Xiao Hei's cultivation mirrored his, she wouldn't stand a chance against an 8th- or 9th-tier beast with nothing but her fists. She lacked a spirit attribute, but her only saving grace was her ability to use spirit cultivation techniques, if used right, could fill the gap in strength..

Xiao Fang's Cultivation Realms:

• Body Cultivation = 1st Profound

• Spirit Cultivation = 3rd Profound

• Divine Sword = 1st Profound

• Dual Cultivation = 7th Core

• Soul Devouring = 1st Core

• Illusory Body = 5th Refinement

• Death Reaper = 3rd Refinement

• Weapon: Sword

• [ Poison resistance ] red core, [ Stealth ] Purple core, [ Enhanced Speed ] blue core

• [ True immortal Lightning Tribulation ] spirit attribute

Death Reaper kills: 40

Xiao Fang's [ Solid Clone ] was a realm below his original body and he wasn't familiar with how to use his spirit attribute with it. With a sword, the solid clone's battle power was only equivalent to that of a Profound Realm cultivator. So, if they were to encounter a horde of 8th-tier beasts, there would be little he could do to get them out of that kind of situation.

Among the four of them, Li Lian was the strongest. She knew this fact as well, but it didn't faze her, she was confident in her abilities, Xun Wei seemed to be confident in it too, that made Xiao Fang want to believe in her as well.

'Show me just how much stronger you got, Li Lian,' Xiao Fang thought.

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Meanwhile, deep within a cave on the 7th floor in the Ancestral Training Grounds, Xiao Fang sat cross-legged in solitude, but his soul was in turmoil. What was meant to be a smooth and straightforward process was turning out to be far more difficult than he was led to believe.

Beads of sweat trickled down his face, and his brows were tightly furrowed as he struggled to contain the soul of the Cannibal Abnormal Beast within his own. Its fighting spirit was overwhelming, but Xiao Fang remained resolute in his attempt to tame it.

Suddenly, the beast began to rampage, making it several times harder to restrain than before. Just as it seemed like it was about to break free from his grasp, it unexpectedly began to calm—though not enough for Xiao Fang to fully tame it, just enough for him to maintain control.

If anyone were to see him now, they would witness a strange yet mesmerizing light-purple haze radiating from his body. Even Xiao Fang himself wouldn't have understood why it was happening, but if he would have had to guess, he'd assume it was somehow connected to the reason why the beast was suddenly becoming less resistant to being tamed.

'Just a little bit longer beast, I'll make you mine.'