Chapter 159 - 156: Duel Against a Prodigy

Chapter 159: Chapter 156: Duel Against a Prodigy

Minor Success!

When those two words echoed in his mind, Chen Yue couldn’t help but recall when he first obtained the Tiger Roar Golden Bell Shield.

’Back then, how long did it take me to cultivate the Tiger Roar Golden Bell Shield to Minor Success?’

’And now?’

’From Entry Level to Minor Success, it took just three days.’

’The Cultivation Technique’s difficulty was the same, yet the time was compressed to a matter of days.’

Chen Yue smiled and shook his head, suppressing these chaotic thoughts.

He closed his eyes again and began to slowly circulate the Vast Heart Rock Skill.

The energy within his body slowly flowed under the guidance of the Cultivation Technique. The Medicinal Power still stagnant in the corners of his meridians was stripped away and broken down bit by bit, merging into his own Qi Blood and Inner Strength.

Time quietly passed amidst this day-after-day cultivation.

In the blink of an eye, eight days passed.

Chen Yue’s life in the Panshi Sect proceeded in an orderly manner.

There was no movement at all from the Mutual Aid Association.

No harassment, no threats, as if the tense confrontation from before had never happened.

This silence was more alarming than any commotion.

But Chen Yue didn’t care. He had his own rhythm, his own plan, his own goals.

A few days ago, he had submitted a challenge request to Meng Guihong, ranked one-hundredth on the Cyan Cloud Ranking.

When challenging the Cyan Cloud Ranking, you couldn’t just fight whomever you wanted.

The rules were clear: you could only start from the one-hundredth place and work your way up step by step.

And a single challenge cost one hundred Contribution Points.

Of course, these one hundred Contribution Points weren’t a complete waste.

According to the Panshi Sect’s rules, if you succeeded in your challenge and replaced the person at the one-hundredth rank, the one hundred Contribution Points would be returned to you in full.

But if you failed the challenge, those one hundred Contribution Points would no longer be yours.

A portion would be handed over to the Sect, and the other part would be rewarded to the person who successfully defended their rank, as compensation for their hard work in the fight.

So, disciples had to think carefully before challenging the Cyan Cloud Ranking; they couldn’t just rush in on a whim.

Everyone on the Cyan Cloud Ranking was an expert at the Refining Organ Realm. They would absolutely not hold back. Being bedridden for ten days to half a month after a defeat was considered a light outcome.

Their Contribution Points would also take a hit. For most Inner Sect Disciples, one hundred Contribution Points was no small sum.

As for the disciples on the Cyan Cloud Ranking, they didn’t have to fight immediately after receiving a challenge request.

The rules gave them an ample buffer period. From the moment they received the challenge notification, they had ten days to handle any urgent matters.

And if the disciple was not currently in the Sect but out on a mission, the situation was even more flexible.

After all, Panshi Sect disciples often had to go on assignments, sometimes being away for ten days, half a month, or even longer.

If they happened to be challenged during this time, you couldn’t expect them to fly back from a thousand miles away, could you?

Taking this into account, if the Defending Disciple was not in the Sect at the time of the challenge, they could delay it for a few more days after returning to the Sect, giving them enough time to rest before accepting the challenge.

Unfortunately, when Chen Yue submitted his challenge request to Meng Guihong, Meng Guihong happened to be away from the Sect.

According to a Deacon Disciple who checked the records, Meng Guihong had left the Panshi Sect seven days ago, with an uncertain return date.

But based on the nature and route of his mission, it was estimated that the earliest he could return would be in another four or five days.

When Chen Yue heard this news, he merely frowned for a moment before his expression relaxed.

He didn’t need to just wait around for Meng Guihong to return.

There was a supplementary rule: if the challenged party was not in the Sect after receiving the challenge, the challenger could choose to wait or change their target.

Specifically, after waiting for ten days, the challenger could skip the absent Defending Disciple and challenge any disciple ranked from ninetieth to ninety-ninth on the Cyan Cloud Ranking.

However, the disciple who received the challenge would still have ten days to handle their own affairs before accepting it.

This rule applied to everyone and didn’t change just because the challenged party was a substitute choice.

Ten days was nothing to a Martial Artist.

Chen Yue could naturally afford to wait.

His current cultivation rhythm was very stable. He did what he needed to do every day and wouldn’t be thrown off by a single challenge request.

Whether it was ten days or half a month, he grew a little stronger each day. The longer he waited, the stronger he would be when he stepped onto the fighting stage.

However, a practical problem had recently forced Chen Yue to slightly adjust his plans.

His Contribution Points were indeed not covering his expenses.

So, for the past few days, he had increased the number of batches of Alchemy he performed, going from three a day to four, sometimes adding another one if he was in good condition.

The time spent on Alchemy each day increased from just over two hours to nearly three.

This inevitably cut into his cultivation time, but there was no other way. Without Contribution Points, he couldn’t even exchange for medicinal ingredients, let alone cultivate.

Chen Yue had just walked out of the Hundred Herbs Pavilion, still clutching a Jade Bottle containing the three Nourishing Spirit Pill Yang Pills he had refined today. He was walking down the stone steps of Dan Peak with his head lowered, not paying attention to what was in front of him.

"Junior Brother!"

A clear voice suddenly reached his ears, filled with obvious joy and excitement.

Chen Yue looked up and immediately saw Liu Wenying standing at the bottom of the stone steps outside the Hundred Herbs Pavilion.

She wore a goose-yellow dress, her hair casually tied up with a wooden hairpin, a few loose strands fluttering slightly in the mountain breeze.

She had a wide smile on her face, her eyes curved into crescents. Her whole being was like a flower blooming in the sunlight, bright and full of life.

Seeing Chen Yue look over, Liu Wenying immediately waved vigorously at him, the motion so large that her sleeves flew up.

Chen Yue descended the last step and stopped three paces away from Liu Wenying.

His gaze naturally fell upon Liu Wenying. He didn’t intentionally try to sense it, but a Martial Artist’s sensitivity to auras is instinctual, and he had already clearly detected the change in the aura emanating from her.

That aura was a level stronger than before.

A smile appeared on Chen Yue’s face. He took a step forward, cupped his hands in a salute, and said, "Congratulations, Senior Sister, on your breakthrough to the Marrow Refining Realm!"

Hearing this, Liu Wenying’s lips curled into a wide grin, her whole face seeming to glow. Her laughter was as crisp as wind chimes in the mountains.

"Oh, I just cultivated a little and broke through. It’s nothing, nothing at all!"

Heavens knew how much time and energy Liu Wenying had spent on cultivation recently.

Over the past few days, she had spent almost every spare moment cultivating, even sitting in meditation and circulating her Cultivation Technique late into the night.

Fortunately, she had been cultivating the Panshi Skill for several years, so her foundation was quite solid.

Plus, she had finally gained a complete understanding of the Fourth Layer of the Panshi Skill a few days ago, breaking through that barrier. Afterward, she pushed forward in one go and broke through to the Marrow Refining Realm.

Now that she was in the Marrow Refining Realm, just like Chen Yue, the stone that had been weighing on her heart finally fell.

Although she knew in her heart that even though they were both in the Marrow Refining Realm, the difference in their combat power was absurdly large.

But that didn’t matter. What mattered was that she could now be called "Senior Sister" by Chen Yue with a clear conscience.

Liu Wenying puffed out her chest, her chin lifted slightly, and a hint of smug satisfaction crept into her smile.

Seeing Liu Wenying’s undisguised look of pride, Chen Yue couldn’t help but smile as well.

Liu Wenying was a simple person. When she was happy, she was happy; when she was unhappy, she was unhappy. All her emotions were written on her face; she never hid anything.

In a world full of schemes and calculations, this kind of personality was actually quite refreshing.

"Senior Sister,"

Chen Yue said with a smile, "Would you like to go to the dining hall on Dan Peak? I heard some new Demon Beast Flesh arrived recently. The quality is good. We can consider it a celebration for your breakthrough to the Marrow Refining Realm."

Although he hadn’t been in the Sect for long, he could feel this Senior Sister’s care and goodwill toward him.

"No, no,"

Liu Wenying waved her hand, her tone turning a bit more serious, unlike her earlier playful manner.

"I didn’t come here today to show off my breakthrough to the Marrow Refining Realm. I have something important to tell you."

She deliberately stressed the word "important," a rare, solemn expression appearing on her face.

"What is it," Chen Yue’s lips curved up slightly, his tone carrying a hint of teasing, "that could be more important than Senior Sister’s breakthrough to the Marrow Refining Realm?"

"Junior Brother, that’s not right of you!"

Liu Wenying shot Chen Yue a playfully reproachful glance. She put her hands on her hips, tilted her head slightly, and deliberately put on a serious expression.

"It’s real business. Our master is preparing to enter seclusion to break through to the Innate Acupoint Refining Realm."

Hearing this, the smile on Chen Yue’s face froze.

Liu Wenying continued, "Master asked me to tell you that he won’t be able to guide your cultivation for a while, so you don’t make the trip for nothing."

After saying this, she watched Chen Yue quietly, waiting for him to process the information.

Chen Yue’s expression grew serious. His brow furrowed slightly, and his gaze shifted from Liu Wenying to the distant direction of their master’s courtyard.

"Is it today? Is anyone standing guard for him?"

For any Martial Artist at the Refining Organ Realm, breaking through to the Innate Acupoint Refining Realm was a massive hurdle, or perhaps more accurately, a chasm.

A Martial Artist at the peak of the Refining Organ Realm might need to prepare for several years, or even over a decade, for this. Even the proudest person would inevitably feel nervous and awed when facing this chasm.

Moreover, unlike breakthroughs to all previous realms, breaking through to the Innate Acupoint Refining Realm had an extremely cruel characteristic: if one failed, the Martial Artist would be severely injured.

Ruptured meridians, a shaken Dantian, reversed Qi Blood flow, damaged Divine Sense—every one of these potential injuries required a long time and expensive Elixirs to recover from.

What was even more terrifying was that such severe injuries often left behind hidden wounds that were difficult to heal, like an irreparable crack embedded in a Martial Artist’s foundation.

There were many high-spirited Refining Organ Realm disciples in the Sect who had been overflowing with Talent and had limitless prospects, considered sure-fire candidates for the Innate realm.

But after a single failed breakthrough, their progress stagnated.

The hidden injuries within their bodies robbed them of even a second chance to attempt the breakthrough.

Every time they tried to charge toward the Innate realm again, that hidden injury would cause them to fail at the final, critical moment.