Chapter 77: Elite Gathering, Second Tribulation Tongue Sword And Second Tribulation Gu Worm
Fang Shu heard the call and was slightly stunned. He immediately turned his head to look.
He saw that it was Qin Min standing at the doorway of the Assembly Hall, nodding at him with a smile on her face.
Beside this female Daoist Child was a stranger’s face, also a woman. The qi and blood on her body was not ordinary; she should also be an Immortal Cultivator who had entered the Dao.
Fang Shu stopped and politely replied to Qin Min: “Junior Sister Qin Min, what is it?”
Qin Min saw that she had taken the initiative to greet him, but Fang Shu’s reaction was indifferent, not enthusiastic and delighted like the other senior brothers. A trace of displeasure arose in her eyes.
However, she still smiled and first introduced the woman beside her: “This is Senior Sister Hua Xiaqing, an Inner Courtyard Disciple from Bi Zhu Guan in town.”
Fang Shu nodded toward Hua Xiaqing, and she also slightly nodded in acknowledgment: “I have seen Fellow Daoist Fang.”
After introducing the two to know each other, Qin Min said with a reserved expression: “Senior Brother, I happened to hear when you entered the hall earlier. Senior Brother has now passed through the Second Tribulation and become a Second Tribulation Human Immortal.
Senior Sister Hua happened to come looking for me and wants to go with me to the elite gathering of disciples from the various dojos in town. Senior Brother can also come with me. I will introduce you, and it will be good for sparring and martial comparison to gain experience.”
She paused slightly and added a bit of temptation to her tone: “I heard there is also a prize at the gathering. Winning or losing is secondary. If we can use this to befriend people from the various dojos, when we enter the Immortal Sect together in the future, we can look out for each other.”
Who knew that upon hearing this, not only did Fang Shu not show any moved expression on his face, but his brows slightly furrowed: “Sparring and martial comparison?”
Fang Shu pondered in his heart and suddenly remembered what the Dojo Master had just said about the early sect selection.
He wondered if this so-called dojo elite gathering was also related to this matter.
But after thinking about it, he couldn’t be bothered to figure it out.
This matter wasn’t instructed by the Dojo Master; it was just a private gathering of the disciples. Moreover, comparing martial skills with others, while beneficial for gaining experience, would also expose one’s own skills and trump cards, and might even become a foil for others.
Fang Shu had no motivation at all to get involved in such miscellaneous affairs, nor did he have the spare time to strive for the so-called applause and limelight.
“Sorry, for such an elite gathering, I have just broken through and my learning is shallow. I won’t go and make a fool of myself.” He politely declined.
Upon hearing this, Qin Min’s expression stiffened slightly. She had not expected Fang Shu to refuse her at all.
Especially since this wasn’t the first time she had been refused in the dojo. Yesterday, when she excitedly went to invite Du Yu Er to accompany her, the other party had also smiled and politely declined the suggestion to go together.
Qin Min’s face showed displeasure as she said in a heavy voice: “Senior Brother, I haven’t invited anyone else for this matter. In the entire dojo, only Senior Brother and I have caught Senior Sister Fang Lu’s eye.
You and I can both be considered immortal talents. At this gathering, if we support each other, we will surely not disgrace the dojo and avoid those people saying that Du Gu Guan has no one.”
Faced with the word “disgrace the dojo” in this woman’s words, Fang Shu remained unmoved and was not at all swayed by her words.
He smiled, cupped his hands, and said nothing more, no longer explaining, just reminding: “Whether our dojo has people or not is not for those people to decide.”
As a result, Qin Min’s expression became even more untenable.
Especially with someone from outside the dojo watching beside her. The other party’s gaze occasionally fell on her face, making Qin Min feel a bit hot and spicy.
“Hmph!” Qin Min couldn’t help but feel annoyed in her heart, and she said coldly again:
“I gave you a chance, but you didn’t seize it. Senior Brother, don’t blame me in the future.”
Seeing this, Fang Shu nodded to the two and left directly.
As he passed by the two women, without looking back, his voice lightly drifted into their ears:
“By the way, Junior Sister Qin Min, just call me ‘Senior Brother Fang Shu’ from now on.”
After throwing down these words, Fang Shu completely left the Assembly Hall and slipped toward the front courtyard.
Leaving Qin Min standing there, her already stiff expression became even more rigid.
This woman suddenly remembered that she seemed to have “instructed” Fang Shu about this before, but unexpectedly, this guy still remembered it.
She became even more annoyed and muttered under her breath: “What a petty and narrow-minded fellow.”
Beside her, Hua Xiaqing, the disciple from Bi Zhu Guan, stood with her chest puffed out. Seeing this scene in Du Gu Guan, a hint of amused laughter arose in her eyes.
But after Fang Shu walked far away and confirmed he couldn’t hear, this female Daoist Child hurriedly criticized Fang Shu in a low voice:
“He is indeed a short-sighted fellow. Sister, you possess a Spiritual Root, yet facing your kind invitation, this guy is unwilling.
With such demeanor, it seems he will have a hard time entering the Immortal Sect in the future.”
Hearing the comfort from her good sister, Qin Min’s expression improved somewhat.
After exchanging a few more words, she felt that every sentence from Hua Xiaqing hit her heart.
The other party neither mocked the earlier incident nor gave her empty consolation; she simply followed her words and secretly spat at Fang Shu.
Hua Xiaqing smiled at the corner of her mouth and suddenly said: “However, Sister, you said something wrong earlier.”
Qin Min was puzzled upon hearing this.
Hua Xiaqing immediately added: “In my view, in the current Du Gu Guan, only Sister is an Immortal Sect talent; no one can surpass you.”
These words made Qin Min’s face slightly red. Her expression invigorated, she felt full of ambition and said:
“Thanks to Sister’s auspicious words. Even if our dojo only has me attending, today I will measure the disciples from the various dojos in town!”
“Good.” Hua Xiaqing appropriately showed anticipation on her face.
The two women then stepped out of Du Gu Guan’s gate together and headed straight for the so-called “elite gathering.”
On the other side.
Fang Shu had already put the earlier interlude behind him.
He quickly arrived at the junction between the front and back courtyards. After greeting Snake Master who was guarding the underground storeroom, with his body hair standing on end, he bowed and entered the underground storeroom.
As he walked, he thought to himself: “This Snake Master still gives me chills. It seems that even if he is not a Qi-Refining monster, he is definitely on the verge of Qi Refining.”
Soon, bamboo slips, stone tablets, boxes, medicine boxes, and other items on the shelves of the underground storeroom appeared before his eyes, attracting his attention.
The chill in Fang Shu’s heart dissipated completely, replaced by full anticipation.
His gaze swept over the treasures on the shelves one by one and found that in this storeroom the Dojo Master allowed him to enter, all the items inside were of Second Tribulation quality!
After some thought, he first discarded the magic secret techniques.
Now that he had Gu Technique at his side and Fire Blade Technique for protection, even if magic was not enough, he could go to the Monster Market to shop for bargains later, which would be better and cheaper.
On the contrary, for medicines that could catch the Dojo Master’s eye, not to say they were all excellent, but they definitely wouldn’t be pitfalls.
Sure enough, the medicines on the shelves, any with risks, were clearly written on the yellow paper stuck to the boxes.
Thus, Fang Shu’s gaze wandered among them. After some consideration, he skipped over the various pills and ointments for nurturing the body and landed on various strange medicines.
Suddenly, his gaze fixed. The six words “Hundred Spirits Secret Refining Oil” entered his eyes.
According to the description on the medicine bottle, this bottle of tool oil was refined from the bodies of a hundred kinds of spiritual beasts. It could be applied to Magic Tools to nurture them and enhance the spiritual quality within the Magic Tools.
In particular, when applied to weapons like sabers, spears, swords, and halberds, it had wonderful effects, increasing the toughness of the weapons and repairing some damage.
Fang Shu immediately took down the oil bottle the size of a baby’s fist and thought to himself: “Just right to use as sword oil, to see if it can make my Tongue Sword also cross into the Second Tribulation.”
After the incident at Shao Wei Guan last time, Fang Shu had the complete Long Tongue Sword method and could sacrifice and refine a Third Tribulation Tongue Sword in one go.
However, even after the Tongue Sword swallowed some Precious Blood again, it still failed to advance and was just a little short.
Fang Shu had originally planned to use his current Second Tribulation qi and blood to nurture it well and promote the Tongue Sword’s advancement.
But now it seemed he could completely use this bottle of tool oil to nurture it, saving time and qi and blood.
With his mind made up, Fang Shu took the tool oil and turned to leave, no longer looking at the other treasures on the shelves.
Back at the underground storeroom entrance, after Snake Master flicked his tongue and sniffed over his body, he left safely.
Next.
Fang Shu found his Second Uncle Yu Le in Du Gu Guan and told him the good news of his cultivation breakthrough.
Second Uncle Yu Le was immediately delighted and secretly prepared a few free side dishes, pulling Fang Shu to eat directly in the kitchen.
After eating and drinking their fill, Fang Shu reminded Second Uncle that he had already informed the Dojo Master of the cultivation breakthrough, but unless necessary, don’t tell others in the dojo to avoid attracting jealousy.
Second Uncle, this old slick, upon hearing this, said with a disdainful face: “Go go go, do I need you to tell me?”
Fang Shu smiled without speaking.
He casually slipped the unfinished bottle of spiritual wine into his sleeve and, seeing the other’s pained expression, leisurely took his leave.
Several days later.
Fang Shu applied the “Hundred Spirits Secret Refining Oil” to the Long Tongue Sword, sacrificing and refining the sword over and over.
When the tool oil was left with only a small half bottle, he successfully sacrificed the Tongue Sword into tribulation, turning it into a Second Tribulation Magic Tool!
After the Second Tribulation, the Tongue Sword’s blade toughness was at least twice as much as before. Though made of flesh, it could now cut iron like mud.
Moreover, when Fang Shu applied Fire Blade Technique to the sword again, it was red-hot, emitting even fiercer heat, like a fire stick just taken from an iron furnace. The Fire Blade Technique secret scripts on the sword body also circulated more smoothly.
In his joy, Fang Shu became a bit carried away. Holding the sword, he casually thrust it toward the quiet room’s wall again.
Puchi!
This time, not only was the quiet room’s brick and stone pierced, but the inner layer’s golden iron pillar was also pierced half a foot deep, emitting a trembling sound.
He withdrew the sword and turned it into a long whip, coiling it around both sides.
After some estimation, the Tongue Sword’s length had also increased by more than double compared to before. Now it could freely strike thieves and pluck hearts within a range of two zhang seven chi.
Its maximum reach could strike over three zhang seven chi, but it was slightly stiff and less flexible.
Zheng!
Fang Shu shook the Long Tongue Sword, shrinking it to three chi in size, flicked it with his hand, and it emitted a vibrating sound.
He couldn’t help but exclaim: “What a good Magic Tool!”
With this Magic Tool at his side, his Magic Power was undoubtedly even stronger.
Combined with his solid qi and blood and the various ghostly Gu Techniques, perhaps he could even barely contend with ordinary Third Tribulation Immortals.
Immediately, Fang Shu felt tempted to continue practicing the Second Tribulation Tongue Sword in the quiet room to explore its maximum power.
But suddenly, he saw the hole in the wall he had casually poked earlier and snapped back to reality, realizing he had almost wrecked the quiet room again.
His face twitched, and he hurriedly went up to inspect it, relieved: “Good thing, just need to plaster some.”
Fang Shu pondered, his eyes narrowing, and he immediately thought of a good place to test the sword and technique.
It was the Qian Shan Mine outside the town!
Just right, now that he had broken through to the Second Tribulation, and also cultivated Fire Blade Technique and Second Tribulation Tongue Sword, it was time to go to the mine outside town to search for Purple Lead Mica Milk to facilitate his next cultivation.
Even if he couldn’t find it, or the harvest was too little.
On the way back, he could, as the Dojo Master said, casually extort Mine Owner Cao.
With this thought, Fang Shu’s heart became even more moved.
However, he did not rush out immediately. Instead, he stayed in the quiet room, methodically applying the remaining tool oil completely to the Long Tongue Sword.
When the tool oil was completely used up, holding the Tongue Sword in hand, he could pluck leaves and flowers three zhang away and leave sword marks four zhang away.
At this point, Fang Shu finally wiped his mouth, sheathed the sword, leaped out of the quiet room, and began preparing for the trip.
Because he might seclude in the mine tunnel or encounter a collapse, he prepared a full hundred Grain-Avoiding Pills just for those.
In addition, Clean Clothes Talismans, Clean Water Talismans, Water Drawing Talismans, Compass Talismans, and so on, he also prepared fully.
Even so, after repeated deliberation, he still did not set out promptly but shut himself in his room again for another seclusion.
This seclusion, Fang Shu was not cultivating or refining tools, but refining Gu.
After repeated attempts and striking while the iron is hot, he successfully refined a “Second Tribulation Breath-Holding Insect” in one go. Only then did he relax greatly and truly feel the itch to move out.
Actually, if not for his goods being almost depleted, he would probably refine the “Sleepy Bug” and “Follower Bug” into Second Tribulation Gu Worms as well before considering going out.
This made Fang Shu sigh inwardly:
“Immortal cultivation disciplines are good, but they cost a lot of money. I wonder how much it will cost to sacrifice and refine the Natal Gu Worm…”
But this also made him even more expectant for the outing to search for treasures.
After sorting his mood, he specially checked the almanac and picked a day that was “suitable for travel, avoid opening new graves.”
Thus, on this day.
Fang Shu changed his appearance, left a note in the room as backup, and quietly left Gu Ling Town.
Although he left town low-key, he found a large group of companions.
Fang Shu successfully blended in with a group of miners leaving town to mine, thanks to the Breath-Holding Insect’s effect, without the leading Immortal Cultivator noticing anything amiss.
Upon arriving at Qian Shan Mine, he encountered dog demons, pig demons, and other keen-scented beings, none of which detected anything wrong.
This immediately made Fang Shu realize that the “Breath-Holding Insect” lived up to being one of the three Tribulation Gu Recipes alongside Sleepy Bug and Follower Bug; its effect was excellent, truly allowing him to conceal his aura, mix in like a fish in troubled waters, and escape notice.
Next.
Fang Shu acted just like an ordinary miner, honestly mining and passing days at Qian Shan Mine.
The only difference from other miners was that he seemed too restless, switching many mine tunnels in a row, dreaming every day of “striking it rich.”
This drew sneers from many veteran miners.
Finally, one day.
In others’ eyes, he completely went missing, his life or death unknown.
In reality, he skipped work and went AWOL, following the mine map left by Cheng Guanzi to beneath a mine vein abandoned for over ten years.
Busy today, late return. Posting the combined two chapters first, will make up another chapter tomorrow!
