From a loser to an immortal sage

Chapter 453 Victory Through Peril Demonstrates Strength

The bluestone slabs of the training ground still retained the coolness of the teleportation array. Just as I steadied myself, a sharp pain suddenly shot through the back of my neck—it was the aura of a demonic beast, ten times more violent than before.

"Watch out!" Senior Brother Lin's hand was still gripping my wrist, and the Xuan Tie sword was drawn with a "hum," its tip pointing straight to the sky.

I followed his gaze and saw the black and red poisonous mist surging from the northwest corner of the training ground, twisting like a living thing. Wherever it passed, the bluestone slabs hissed and emitted white smoke, and even the fragments of the Spirit Gathering Flag that Zhou Qing had just picked up were corroded and had holes.

"Afu!" I grabbed his wrist. "Form a defensive formation!"

The chubby boy lay on the center of the formation, nodding repeatedly, his forehead covered in bits of grass: "It'll be...it'll be finished soon!"

But this fog is poisonous! Before she could finish speaking, Chu Qing suddenly started coughing violently. She had already been hit in the waist by the tailbone of the demon beast, and now she was coughing so hard that she curled up like a shrimp, with blood splattering onto Xiao Tao's moon-white Taoist robe.

"Junior Sister Chu!" Zhou Qing rushed over to support her, pressing his fingertips against her back and channeling spiritual energy into her. "She still has the poisonous thorns of a demonic beast inside her!"

My throat tightened.

Just now, when that half-inch-long poisonous thorn pierced Chu Qing's thigh in the pile of rubble, I wanted to pull it out for her first, but the monster's front claws had already slammed down—I could only protect her as she rushed towards the teleportation array.

As the poisonous fog drew closer, her face turned as white as paper, and large beads of sweat dripped from her forehead.

"Senior Brother Lin!" I opened the storage bag at my waist and took out the last two antidote pills. "Take Chu Qing and Xiao Tao to the lightning rod behind the lightning rod on the east side of the training ground!"

Elder Li's hidden poison array is there!

His hand, gripping the sword, paused. The half-finished osmanthus sachet on the black iron tassel brushed against the back of my hand: "And you?"

"Zhou Qing, Wang Erniu, and I will form a Three Talents Formation to block the poisonous fog!" I stuffed the medicine into his palm. "Quick!"

Any later and the poisonous fog will spread!

He stared at my blood-stained sleeve for a couple of moments, then suddenly shoved the sword into my hand: "Use my sword, it's effective against demonic poison." As he turned, a gust of wind rose, the hem of his black Taoist robe brushing against my feet. When I looked up again, he was already carrying Chu Qing on his back, running eastward, with Xiao Tao clutching his clothes and stumbling after him.

The stench of the poisonous fog had already filled my nostrils, like rotten fish mixed with rust.

I gritted my teeth and made a hand seal. A pale blue spiritual light shone from Zhou Qing's fingertips. Wang Erniu stuck the Xuan Tie sword into the ground and knelt down, his forehead touching the hilt of the sword. This was his family's "Man and Sword in Formation," which could feed the sword's spiritual power back to the person setting up the formation.

"Rise!" I shouted.

The three beams of light collided and condensed into a semi-transparent barrier above the training ground.

The moment the poisonous fog hit, the barrier cracked open with a "crack," Zhou Qing coughed up blood, and Wang Erniu's neck veins bulged, with blood droplets from the sword blade trickling down the back of his hand.

"Hold on!" I bit my tongue, and as the taste of blood spread, the remnant soul that I had been suppressing within me suddenly stirred—it was an ancient immortal soul that I had obtained by accident before transmigrating. Normally, I could only use three-tenths of it, but now, in order to protect these disciples who had been training with me for three months, I gritted my teeth and drew out seven-tenths of it.

Golden light surged through his veins to his fingertips, and the barrier expanded dramatically, keeping the poisonous mist at bay for five steps.

I heard Chu Qing gasp behind me, followed by Xiao Tao's tearful "Wake up, wake up," and Senior Brother Lin's "Take your medicine first."

But the monster's attacks didn't stop there.

A muffled roar suddenly erupted from within the poisonous fog, and a snake's forked tongue as thick as a bowl burst forth from the fog, the resulting gust of wind flipping Zhou Qing's hair ribbon.

I instinctively swung my sword to block, and the moment the black iron sword collided with the snake's forked tongue, the shock caused my tiger's mouth to split open, and blood droplets splattered onto the sword, making a "hissing" corrosive sound—it turned out that the snake's forked tongue was covered with a layer of venom.

"Senior Sister Xiao!" Wang Erniu suddenly rushed over and took the second blow for me with his back.

His Taoist robe was instantly corroded, leaving a large hole and exposing his bloodied and mangled back, yet he still smiled: "I'm tough, you...you keep going!"

My eyes hurt.

This child used to fetch water in the servants' quarters and was always called a "stupid ox." But now, the blood on his back is flowing down my wrist, burning me and making my heart race.

"Get back, all of you!"

The clear, melodious sound of the sword pierced through the poisonous mist.

I turned my head and saw Wen Chen standing in the center of the training ground. His white clothes were stained gray by the poisonous fog, but he still looked like a pillar of strength.

The green sword at his fingertips gleamed coldly, and with each slash of sword energy, the poisonous mist receded by three points.

"Yao Yao." His gaze swept over my blood-stained sleeve, then fell on the wound on Wang Erniu's back, his brows furrowing so deeply they could trap a fly. "Bring the disciples behind me."

I suddenly felt relieved.

Three months ago in the library, he said, "If you want to teach disciples, I will guard the training ground for you." Now he has really come, with sword energy that can split the heavens and the earth, to shield me from all the wind and rain.

"Come here, everyone!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. Zhou Qing staggered and helped Wang Erniu up, Xiao Tao half-dragged and half-pulled Chu Qing along, and Senior Brother Lin protected the back.

By the time we squeezed to Wen Chen's side, his sword energy had already woven a dense net, forcing the poisonous mist to shrink into a ball, revealing the battered and bruised beast inside—its left eye had been blinded by Senior Brother Lin's sword, and a fragment of Zhou Qing's Spirit Gathering Flag was still stuck in its right claw, yet it was still spitting out black blood.

"Prepare to die." Wen Chen's voice was as cold as ice.

The Qingfeng sword drew a silver arc and precisely pierced the monster's throat.

It let out a final roar, its massive body crashing onto the training ground, the impact making my eardrums ache.

As blood splattered, Wen Chen suddenly reached out and pulled me into his arms, his warm palm covering the back of my neck, shielding me from all the splattered blood.

"It's alright." His voice was muffled above my head.

Before I could even catch my breath, Hall Master Zhao's voice, like a thorn, pierced the brief moment of peace: "Xiao Yao!"

I looked up and saw him standing on the steps of the viewing platform beside the martial arts arena, his black Taoist robe stained with dust, and the broken leaves on his jade thumb ring still swaying.

Two sword-wielding disciples followed behind him, the "Hall of Enforcement" tokens at their waists gleaming coldly in the setting sun.

"Do you know your crime?" His voice was like an icicle striking a bluestone slab. "Knowing these disciples were only at the third level of Qi Refining, you insisted on taking them to the Demon Beast Valley for training; knowing the teleportation array's core was unstable, you still forced it to activate; and now look what's happened—Wang Erniu is seriously injured, Chu Qing is poisoned by demonic energy, and even Elder Li has vomited blood—is this your so-called 'teaching according to aptitude'?"

My throat tightened.

Three months ago, Elder Li personally approached me, saying that these disciples had ordinary spiritual roots and that it would take a hundred years to achieve success using conventional teaching methods. He asked me to use the "practical Qi training" method I learned before transmigrating to guide them. It was Hall Master Zhao who himself approved the "special training order," saying that "if they can return alive, each person will advance one rank." It was the array eye stone of the teleportation array; he said yesterday, "I personally checked it, and it's very stable."

But the way he looked at me at that moment was like he was looking at a child who had caused trouble.

“Hall Master Zhao,” Senior Brother Lin suddenly spoke, his back still stained with Chu Qing’s blood, but his voice as steady as a mountain, “it was I who suggested going to the Demon Beast Valley, so I should be punished.”

"And me!" Zhou Qing wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "Senior Sister Xiao warned us it would be dangerous, but we insisted on going!"

“Yes!” Xiao Tao gripped Chu Qing’s hand. “We want to become stronger quickly, we don’t want to be called the ‘useless class’ anymore!”

Master Zhao's face was so dark it could drip water.

He glanced at our blood-stained Taoist robes, then at the monster's corpse on the ground, and suddenly sneered, "Good, very good."

"Xiao Yao, your good disciple—now she's learned to lie in groups." He turned to the enforcement disciples behind him and said, "Take Xiao Yao back to the Enforcement Hall. I'll investigate the matter and then determine the punishment!"

Wen Chen tightened his grip on my waist.

I could feel his spiritual energy surging, but in the end he just gently patted my back—he knew that forcing me in front of everyone would only embarrass me more.

"Senior Sister Xiao!" Chu Qing suddenly rushed out from the crowd. She had just taken an antidote and her steps were still unsteady, but she gripped my clothes tightly. "Why do they blame you?"

"If it weren't for you, we would have been eaten by monsters long ago!"

“That’s right!” Wang Erniu wiped the blood off his face. “Last month, I was bullied by the outer disciples, and it was Senior Sister Xiao who stood up for me; the day before yesterday, Junior Sister Chu was hungry, and it was Senior Sister Xiao who shared half of her fasting pill; today, if it weren’t for her… if it weren’t for her…” He couldn’t finish his sentence, and stared down at his blood-soaked Daoist robe.

The training ground suddenly fell silent.

The wind swirled fallen leaves across the viewing platform, and I heard a few whispers in the distance: "I heard that Master Zhao's personal disciple was defeated by Xiao Yao's 'useless class' at the sword-testing tournament last month..." "Isn't that right?"

That kid is still recuperating at the medicine hut...

Master Zhao's ears turned red.

He abruptly flung open his sleeves: "Where are the people from the Enforcement Hall?"

Hurry up and take her away!

Just as the two disciples were about to step forward, a commotion of footsteps suddenly came from behind the viewing platform.

I looked up and saw a dozen or so senior outer disciples crowded on the steps. Leading them was Chen He, the most favored disciple of Hall Master Zhao—whose Daoist robe had been burned by Chu Qing's "Fire Butterfly Formation" last month. He was now grinning sinisterly: "Junior Sister Xiao's teaching methods really should be investigated."

His disciples behind him joined in the jeering: "That's right, treating their disciples' lives like a game! This useless class doesn't even deserve to be called a class!"

The setting sun cast their shadows long, like a group of menacing ghosts.

I gripped Wen Chen's sleeve tightly, suddenly remembering three months ago in the servants' hall, when these same people surrounded my disciples, calling them "trash without spiritual roots."

Now, they've simply changed their story.

Wen Chen's fingertips gently touched the back of my hand, as if to say, "I'm here."

I took a deep breath and loosened my clenched fist—some scores have to be settled slowly.

(A cold laugh came from the distant viewing platform from Chen He: "Junior Sister Xiao, the instruments of torture in the Enforcement Hall don't recognize any 'Celestial Venerable Daoist Couple'...")

Chen He's words were like a fine needle, pricking the back of my neck.

Chu Qing's hand, clutching the hem of my clothes, was trembling. Wang Erniu staggered to the front of me, his back soaked in blood that clung to his Taoist robe, but his voice boomed like thunder: "You're the ones lying!"

Senior Sister Xiao leads us in sword practice before dawn every day, sharing her spirit jade with us for body tempering. Yesterday, when the teleportation array malfunctioned, she could have run away by herself, but she insisted on coming back to pull Xiao Tao back—"

"Enough!" Hall Master Zhao slammed his hand on the railing of the viewing platform, and the jade paperweight snapped in two with a "crack." "These self-taught bastards from menial jobs dare to talk about rules?" His gaze swept over my disciples' blood-stained robes, and he suddenly sneered, "I'd like to ask, Xiao Yao, has your 'practical Qi cultivation' for teaching them forgotten even the sect rule that 'a disciple's life is above all else'?"

My throat tastes bitter.

Three months ago, when Elder Li came to me with the "Ancient Qi Cultivation Manual," he said, "These children have such poor spiritual roots; even if they cultivate step by step for a hundred years, they'll still be trampled underfoot." Yesterday, he personally stuffed three mid-grade Spirit Gathering Jade pieces into the teleportation array, patting his chest and saying, "Absolutely foolproof." But now, he's huddled in a corner of the viewing platform, his gray beard trembling like withered grass in the autumn wind, opening his mouth, his voice barely audible: "Junior Brother Zhao... Xiao's method... actually..."

"Senior Brother Li!" Hall Master Zhao turned and glared at him. "Have you forgotten the time when you were a handyman at Sword Testing Peak and a monster bit off three of your fingers?" Elder Li's face turned deathly pale instantly. The last half of his sentence caught in his throat. He took a half step back and leaned on the railing, panting heavily.

"Senior Sister Xiao, they're bullying us!" Xiao Tao suddenly burst into tears. She was only at the second level of Qi Refining, and she had just blocked half of the poisonous mist for Chu Qing. Now, tears mixed with blood from her nose were streaming down her face. "Yesterday in the Monster Valley, Senior Sister Xiao used her body to shield me from the tail spikes!"