Chapter 83, Another Secret Art Choice and Hardship Breeds Character

Translator: Raznick

 

Since becoming the Clan Leader’s aide, Zhou Chun had reduced his visits to this library.

 

He only came occasionally when he had free time.

 

But even then, it wasn’t to read books—it was to visit the guardian of the library, the Wood Spirit Ape.

 

The incident where he once used the Wood Spirit Ape to hunt Green-crowned Flying Snakes had given Zhou Chun a great deal of insight.

 

Like the Wood Spirit Ape, which was a rare beast of the Zhou Clan, if one could build a good relationship with it, it would be much easier to ask for its help in the future compared to relying on a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Moreover, there would be no need to owe anyone a favor.

 

However, today he came to the library to visit the Wood Spirit Ape as a mere pretext; his real intention was to head upstairs to select another secret art to train.

 

A few years ago, he had chosen Elemental Armor Art, which he had long since mastered and could now easily perform.

 

The Cicada Forest Blending Breath, obtained from the bandit cultivator he had slain, had also been trained.

 

It was time to add another secret art to his repertoire.

 

Unlike mystical arts, the power of a secret art wasn’t fixed; it grew stronger with the cultivator.

 

The same Elemental Armor Art, when used by Zhou Chun, equated to a superior first-grade defensive mystical art, but in the hands of someone at the Foundation Establishment Stage, its defensive effects could rival those of a second-grade defensive mystical art.

 

Therefore, even for a Qi Refining cultivator who had cultivated a secret art, it would still be highly useful when they reached the Foundation Establishment Stage.

 

“The same old rules, you go up there and pick one secret art, then bring it down to me.”

 

In the library, Zhou Daoquan opened the forbidden passageway to the second floor with a wave of his hand, motioning for Zhou Chun to proceed upward. However, upon hearing Zhou Daoquan’s words, Zhou Chun did not rush to comply.

 

He cupped his hands in a respectful gesture and addressed him: “Elder, please understand. During my time representing the clan at the five cultivating clans’ martial competition, I was awarded an opportunity to select one secret art. Upon being promoted to core clan member, I should also be entitled to another selection. Therefore, this time, I would like to choose two secret arts.”

 

“Two? Do you have enough time to train them both?” Zhou Daoquan blinked in surprise, his expression filled with disbelief as he looked at Zhou Chun.

 

Zhou Chun, anticipating this reaction and responded: “I no longer need to attend to various trivial tasks, and I have grown familiar with clan affairs. The time I can dedicate each day to training should be sufficient for pursuing two secret arts.”

 

Zhou Daoquan’s eyes sparkled with amazement as he exclaimed: “Little rascal, it seems you truly are a cut above the rest!”

 

Then he swept his sleeves and said, “Alright, then you may choose two secret arts.”

 

“Thank you, Elder.”

 

Zhou Chun stepped up to the second floor.

 

Soon after, he came downstairs with two selected secret arts.

 

During his previous selection of Elemental Armor Art, Zhou Chun had chosen it because he lacked sufficient defensive skill.

 

This time, however, the two secret arts he selected were both aimed at enhancing his offensive capabilities.

 

Hard Gold Sword Energy was an offensive secret art, requiring a metal spirit root to train. It consisted of two levels: upon mastering the first level, one could condense a hard metal spiritual power in the right hand’s primary meridian and unleash it as sword energy to attack enemies; on reaching the second level, another hard metal spiritual power could be condensed in the left hand primary meridian.

 

Burning Blood Art was a support secret art that one could use to convert their own lifeblood into spiritual power.

 

“Hey kid, planning to pick a fight with someone? Why these two?”

 

When Zhou Daoquan finished reviewing the two secret arts brought down by Zhou Chun, he couldn’t help but roll his eyes in obvious disdain, looking at him with complete bewilderment.

 

It was no wonder he didn’t understand.

 

The two secret arts were both of a type that harmed the practitioner before they could harm others. The Burning Blood Art needed little explanation—it burned the blood essence of cultivators, making recovery difficult. Overuse not only risked death but even those who survived would see their lifespan greatly reduced.

 

As for Hard Gold Sword Energy, to successfully train it and enhance its power, one had to use secret methods to absorb the metal energy from mineral deposits and transform it into Supreme White Gold Energy.

 

This process not only caused intense pain but the cultivator would feel excruciating torment like being peeled away. The slightest mistake could damage the right arm’s meridians, potentially leaving behind lifelong injuries that couldn’t be healed.

 

What made this secret art particularly terrifying was that each time it was used, recomposing the Supreme White Gold Vitality in one’s arms required enduring that same unbearable agony of metal piercing the body all over again.

 

Although it was true that most cultivators endured hardship to strengthen themselves, Zhou Chun’s decision puzzled Zhou Daoquan. After all, Zhou Chun was already ahead of his peers, so why put himself through such torture?

 

Zhou Chun, sensing the Elder’s confusion, explained, “Elder, you misunderstand. I chose these secret arts because I saw value in their life-saving potential during emergencies.

 

“Why care about a bit of pain when your own safety is at stake?” Zhou Chun asked rhetorically.

 

By the end of his explanation, determination had set in on Zhou Chun’s face. Suffering was nothing compared to the chance to grow stronger!

 

However, Zhou Daoquan’s expression turned bizarre.

 

“Why care about a bit of pain?”

 

Zhou Daoquan repeated Zhou Chun’s words in a strange tone, then looked at him with a smirk: “I hope you’ll feel the same when you train it!”

 

This peculiar behavior left Zhou Chun feeling uneasy, making him question whether he had made the right choice after all.

 

But soon, he dismissed these doubts and reaffirmed his resolve.

 

[Endure pain, achieve greatness!]

 

Zhou Chun was confident that he could succeed!

 

After determining the two types of secret art, Zhou Daoquan allowed him to take copies back for study and practice since he would be staying at the Pagoda Peak office regularly.

 

However, if he wished to leave Nine Peaks, he first had to return them to the library to prevent it from falling into unintended hands.

 

This generous act was clearly due to his elevated status and influence, which were beyond what he once was.

 

Zhou Chun himself was fully aware of this.

 

After repeatedly thanking Zhou Daoquan, he returned to Pagoda Peak with the secret arts, completely satisfied.

 

When Zhou Chun began cultivating Hard Gold Sword Energy, he finally understood what Zhou Daoquan had meant.

 

At first he merely absorbed a small portion of the metal Qi from ordinary iron.

 

Even so, the intense pain that came with the metal Qi entering his body was unbearable.

 

His temples throbbed, and cold sweat poured down his face as he struggled to endure it.

 

After forcing himself for some time, he could no longer continue and had to stop cultivating.

 

After this period of time, Zhou Chun would attempt to cultivate the Hard Gold Sword Energy secret art every day, but he was unable to complete even one normal round of cultivation. Many times, the pain was unbearable, and after being injured by the metal Qi in his meridians twice, he seriously considered giving up. However, remembering how hard-won this secret art was, along with the records of its formidable power and Third Elder Zhou Daoquan’s words at that time, Zhou Chun clenched his teeth and pressed on.

 

After all, he had already boasted about it, and abandoning it now would be like slapping himself in the face. Moreover, if he gave up cultivating this secret art, wouldn’t it mean he couldn’t endure hardship? If he couldn’t bear suffering what ordinary people couldn’t, how could he convince his elders that he was capable of achieving extraordinary things and becoming someone exceptional? For both his reputation and his self-worth, Zhou Chun had no choice but to push through. He would master the Hard Gold Sword Energy no matter what!

 

Diligence never failed those who were committed. After enduring the intense pain of metal Qi entering his body for over two or three months, Zhou Chun finally began to adapt to it.

 

His right hand’s meridian grew resilient through repeated injuries and recoveries, slowly beginning to accommodate the metal Qi.

 

At last, he successfully completed a round of the secret art cultivation, managing to seal the absorbed Golden Qi within his right hand’s Taiyin Lung Channel. As they say, the hardest part is at the beginning—once this first success was achieved, future cultivations would become much easier.

 

To keep this matter confidential, Zhou Chun’s cultivation of the Hard Gold Sword Energy was known only to Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi and Third Elder Zhou Daoquan. Once mastered, this secret art would become his greatest trump card!

 

Spring passed, winter came, flowers bloomed and withered. In an instant, Zhou Chun had lived in this world for seven years.

 

Seven years had passed, and he had integrated into this world, thoroughly convincing himself that he was one of them.

 

Now, in every word he spoke and deed he performed, he was indistinguishable from a native-born inhabitant of this world.

 

The Zhou Clan cultivators, his fellow clansmen, had all grown accustomed to the man he had become. None gave a thought to how he used to be.

 

Seven years had also brought Zhou Chun to the age of twenty-eight. His cultivation, which had started at the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining Stage, had advanced all the way to the Tenth Layer of Qi Refining Stage.

 

Rising four ranks in seven years—this cultivation speed left many Zhou Clan cultivators in awe.

 

But those who knew the truth were not surprised at all.

 

This pace was entirely due to the foundation built by consuming massive quantities of pills.

 

Yet, because Zhou Chun had ingested so many pills over the past few years, he could clearly sense that their effects on him were diminishing. He was developing a significant tolerance to them.

 

If he didn’t want to waste pills, he might need to stop taking them for a while.

 

Otherwise, if his body developed too high a tolerance, it would reduce the effectiveness of the Foundation Establishment Pill when he later took it to break through the Foundation Establishment barrier. That would be a classic case of penny-wise and pound-foolish.

 

On this day, Zhou Chun was invited to go to his elder brother Zhou Zhengyong’s house, where he witnessed him testing his eldest son’s spirit roots.

 

It was less than half a year ago that Zhou Zhengyong’s Dao companion, Sun Yujiao, gave birth to a healthy boy, whose nickname was Lan’er.

 

The reason why he only had a nickname now was because his spirit roots hadn’t been tested yet.

 

Why they were waiting until now to test the child’s spirit roots was because only members of the Zhou Clan who were cultivators could take on a character name from the clan’s lineage.

 

If Zhou Zhengyong’s son had a good spirit roots, he could be given a full name with the clan’s character. Otherwise, they could just give him any ordinary name.

 

Testing spirit roots was like opening a box; you never knew what you’d get until the box was opened.

 

Zhou Zhengyong and his wife felt uneasy about being alone when the time came, so they wanted to invite a close friend to witness the event together.

 

Additionally, according to Zhou Zhengyong, Zhou Chun was currently in a period of good fortune, and having him present might bring some luck to their son.

 

Naturally, Zhou Chun didn’t refuse such a request.

 

After he arrived at Zhou Zhengyong’s house, it wasn’t long before Sun Yujiao put the boy to sleep.

 

Looking at the sleeping infant and the anxious faces of Zhou Zhengyong and his wife, they all hesitated, unable to bring themselves to act for quite some time.

 

“Maybe Thirteenth Brother should do it!”

 

Zhou Zhengyong scratched his head and looked at Zhou Chun with a conflicted expression.

 

As the child’s father, he naturally wanted to personally test his son’s spirit roots. However, he also feared that if the results turned out disappointing, he would regret it for the rest of his life. Thus, he found himself torn.

 

“Brother Yong, you’re putting me in a difficult position!” Zhou Chun sighed， shaking his head as he said, “I can help with other matters, but this one—since you, Brother Yong, are the child’s father—it would be most appropriate for you to do it yourself.”

 

Sun Yujiao beside him also nodded and spoke up: “Thirteenth Brother is right. Husband, don’t hesitate anymore! We’ve already agreed on this earlier—whether it turns out good or bad, we should accept it!”

 

The words of his close friend and wife seemed to give Zhou Zhengyong the confidence and courage he needed. After a brief moment of hesitation, he nodded: “Alright then… let’s do it!”

 

Then, without hesitation, he gestured with his hands and unleashed an art specifically designed to assess spirit roots.

 

The Spirit Test was single-purpose, yet it was a genuine superior first-grade mystical art.

 

Had Zhou Zhengyong not broken through in his cultivation last year to reach the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, he wouldn’t have been able to perform this mystical art.

 

As Zhou Zhengyong gestured with his hands, a sphere infused with countless white runes appeared from his hand and was then hurled into the infant nestled in the cradle on the table.

 

The sleeping infant sensed something amiss and suddenly let out a piercing cry.

 

But at that moment, Zhou Zhengyong and his wife were too distracted to notice. Both of their eyes remained fixed on their child.

 

Soon after the sphere entered the infant’s body, a pure beam of energy shot out from the infant’s forehead.

 

The spiritual light emitted a bluish-red glow, bursting forth from the infant and extending to a height of five feet before halting its momentum, subsequently dissipating slowly.

 

Zhou Chun donned a smile and congratulated Brother Yong and his wife with cupped hands, stating: “Congratulations, congratulations to Brother Yong and Sister! Nephew not only possesses spirit roots, but they’re also average spirit roots of wood and fire attributes. Brother Yong, your lineage now has a successor!”

 

Upon hearing Zhou Chun’s congratulations, Brother Yong’s smile could no longer be contained. He burst out laughing loudly, exclaiming: “Ha ha ha! Average spirit roots! My son possesses average spirit roots! I have a successor!!”