CHAPTER 16: BEAUTIFUL GENTLEMAN, MY FOOT!

While Lu Chen and Jun Laoye were off hunting demonic beasts, someone casually joked that Nantian Yijian's guqin playing actually sounded quite nice.

At first, everyone was only teasing him, but after Nantian Yijian played a piece and listened to it himself, he genuinely believed his playing was shockingly divine. From then on, he began wearing plain white robes every day and sat in the camp playing his guqin. In the end, everyone in the camp couldn't stand it anymore and drove him out.

However, Nantian Yijian had no self-awareness at all. He mocked them for being uncultured and continued playing outside the camp.

Skrrt, skrrt... Twang, twang...

As soon as the first notes rang out, the surrounding cultivators began cursing.

"Who the hell is that? I'm gonna kill him!"

"Don't hold me back."

"Let's all go together..."

But the moment they realized the sound came from someone from the Heavenly Mandate Hall, no one dared lay a hand on him for fear of stirring up trouble. Still, they didn't hold back with their words.

"I'll give a spirit stone to whoever shuts him up."

"I'll give ten! Someone! Just go already!"

"I'll give fifty! Just make him stop! I'm going to die!"

Nantian Yijian ignored the scolding and kept playing.

The cultivators outside the camp mocked him relentlessly, cursing him and even his ancestors, but not a single one dared drive him away.

The entire day passed with the group stuck between curses and the grating sounds of Nantian Yijian playing his guqin.

Skrrt, skrrt... Twang, twang...

The next day, Nantian Yijian stepped out of his tent, ready to resume his playing. However, two burly men suddenly jumped out from a nearby tent, threw a sack over him, and began beating him.

The surrounding cultivators cheered at the scene.

"Yeah! Beat him up!"

"Teach him a lesson for playing that damned music!"

"Finally, someone's putting him in his place!"

The crowd's shouts clearly fueled the two brutes, making them hit Nantian Yijian even harder.

One of them shouted as he beat him, "I'll beat the crap outta you! Did you really think your music was any good just because someone joked about it? You're killing us out here!"

Inside the sack, Nantian Yijian still refused to back down. "You people just lack appreciation. My music is a masterpiece, unmatched in the world. You simply don't understand it."

That only made the brute hit even harder. "Unmatched, huh? I'll give you unmatched! I'll beat your unmatched ass!"

Eventually, Nantian Yijian couldn't take it anymore and begged for mercy. "Oh, I know who you are now! Brother Ma, right? Please, stop! I was wrong, I'll go play somewhere else!"

Nevertheless, the man didn't stop at all. After both of them had vented their anger, they simply tossed Nantian Yijian into a nearby bush.

Nantian Yijian struggled out of the sack, stuck his head out, and looked around. Seeing no one nearby, he started shouting again, "See? Just as I said! I am a man of unmatched elegance! How could uncultured people like you possibly compare to me?"

After brushing off his white robes, he walked into the forest and ran into Lu Chen and Jun Laoye in the midst of a fierce hunt for demonic beasts.

Seeing the two competing, Nantian Yijian sat down beside them and started strumming again.

"Little Lu, Little Jun! You two are in for a treat! Listen to this new piece I've learned."

He plucked the strings and began to play, but the sounds were unbearably jarring. Even the demonic beasts nearby grew increasingly agitated, and one of them almost nearly landed a hit on Lu Chen.

Lu Chen quickly stopped him. "Yijian, stop playing! You're not cut out for music. Come help us hunt demonic beasts and train your swordsmanship instead."

Nonetheless, Nantian Yijian completely ignored them. He instead mutttered to himself, "Am I truly the only one in this world who understands what it means to have the bearing of a beautiful gentleman? How pitiful. How lamentable."

As he spoke, he pressed even harder on the strings. The sounds grew even more grating, yet Nantian Yijian remained utterly entranced by his own music.

Skrrt, skrrt... Twang, twang...

Skrrt, skrrt... Twang, twang...

Lu Chen and Jun Laoye scrambled to drive the demonic beasts away, trying to get as far as possible from Nantian Yijian's devilish guqin playing.

They moved farther and farther from the main camp until they encountered a massive, snake-like demonic beast. After two days of hunting, this was the final one on their list.

Once they defeated it, Lu Chen would be done with his quota of one thousand demonic beasts. Seeing it before him, he prepared to rush in and finish the fight within ten minutes.

Jun Laoye followed behind, but when he saw the purple glow on the snake demon's forehead, he frowned. Not good! It's a Purple-Eyed Heaven-Devouring Python.

Demonic beasts could also develop divine abilities every time they advanced to a new level in cultivation. In fact, they were even more prone to gaining them than humans. These divine abilities typically manifested around the eyes, waist, or ankles. This particular snake had one such ability, which appeared as a faint purple glow at the center of its head.

"Little Lu! Get back! We're no match for this thing!"

By the time Jun Laoye shouted, the snake had already locked onto Lu Chen. Its strange, glimmering eyes flickered with eerie light as it repeatedly flicked its tongue in and out.

Jun Laoye rushed to Lu Chen's side. "This isn't a regular demonic beast. It's a Heaven-Devouring Python that has reached the Qi Regulation Realm. See that purple glow at its forehead? That's a divine ability. It only appears after it breaks through, and once it does so, it'd be called the Purple-Eyed Heaven-Devouring Python."

Lu Chen stared at the purple glow on the snake's forehead and saw that it was indeed a glowing purple eye.

He realized then that he had been careless. He called out to Feng Tiancheng in his mind, hoping for some advice. However, he got no response.

"Damn... I have been too reckless. I charged in without thinking."

Jun Laoye reassured him, "This isn't your fault. You haven't trained in a sect. It's normal not to know this stuff. The Heaven-Devouring Python is extremely fast. Once it notices you, it's almost impossible to escape. But it seems to have just entered the Qi Regulation Realm. If we give it everything we've got, we should be able to defeat it. Let's treat this like a real match and see who wins in the end."

Lu Chen looked at Jun Laoye and realized his own shortcomings. Things had been going too smoothly lately, and he had started to grow arrogant and underestimate his opponents. If he kept this up, all his hard work would be in vain, and there would be no point in talking about saving his grandfather.

He steadied himself and said, "Alright. Then let's compete again. Let's see whose skills are truly better."

Feng Tiancheng silently nodded in approval from within the Twin-Fish Medallion. This time, he had deliberately chosen not to remind Lu Chen of anything.

Feng Tiancheng understood that he couldn't always stay by Lu Chen's side. Lu Chen had a strong mind and clear goals, but prior to this python, his cultivation journey had been smooth sailing so far. This kind of success was a disguised form of harm. If Lu Chen didn't adjust his mindset, he would eventually pay the price.

Lu Chen and Jun Laoye attacked the Heaven-Devouring Python. This was a challenge unlike any they had faced before, but they still had a chance to kill the Purple-Eyed Heaven-Devouring Python as long as they coordinated well enough.

"Star-Serpent Cloud Concealment! Green Sovereign Divine Tree!"

Lu Chen used Star-Serpent Cloud Concealment to leap behind the python, then released vines from the Divine Tree to distract it from the rear. At the same time, Jun Laoye launched a frontal assault with his spear.

The python moved at blinding speed. They could only land about five out of ten attacks.

Seeing this, Lu Chen shouted, "Little Jun, we need a new plan. We have to draw its attention, or it's going to wear us down!"

With that, Lu Chen leaped backward, working with Jun Laoye to flank the python from both sides.

Jun Laoye called out to Lu Chen, "Hold it down. I'll unleash the Heavenly Dao Command."

"Green Sovereign Divine Tree! Binding Strike! Spirit Qi Drain!"

Lu Chen controlled the tree's vines and split it into hundreds of smaller ones. This time, he didn't hide the Divine Tree's ability to drain spirit qi. Crimson light flared from the vines, blotting out the sky. Each strand looked like a dragon cast from molten crimson, forming a massive wave of light that surged toward the python.

In an instant, the surrounding air trembled under the sheer pressure. The fiery red vines wrapped around the Purple-Eyed Heaven-Devouring Python, and its aura dropped sharply.

Jun Laoye stared at the scene in shock. He had never seen such a technique before.

He raised both spears and spun them before himself, unleashing a flurry of strikes. "Heavenly Dao Command: Heavenly Lightning Sutra!"

Black clouds gathered in the sky. Bolts of blue lightning rained down from it, landing blow after blow at the Heaven-Devouring Python.

Watching the lightning descend, Lu Chen finally realized the true power of the Heavenly Dao Command. He thought to himself, Good thing it didn't hit me last time, or I'd have been done for.

But the Heaven-Devouring Python was, after all, a beast in the Qi Regulation Realm. After being struck several times, it broke free of Lu Chen's bindings with a violent struggle. A streak of violet light shot out from its forehead and pierced straight toward Jun Laoye.

With a sickening squelch, the violet beam tore through Jun Laoye. Blood instantly soaked his clothes, and he fell to the ground while still in the stance of summoning lightning.

"Heavenly Dao Command: Heavenly Lightning Sutra—Heavenly Lightning Avatar!"

He managed to unleash one final move before falling unconscious. His body sparked with crackling lightning that surged through him uncontrollably.

Lu Chen's eyes reddened as he saw Jun Laoye bleeding out on the ground. Without hesitation, he unleashed all his Divine Tree's vines in a full-force assault on the python.

The vines relentlessly drained the python's life energy, which Lu Chen then channeled into his hands. He began forming the hand seals for Heaven-Splitting Six Yang Palms, while the vines from his Divine Tree continued to hold the python at bay.

The python screamed in pain and turned to charge at Lu Chen, but Lu Chen had already made up his mind to take risks. At this point, it's do or die.

Lu Chen slowly gathered all of his spirit qi into his hands. The surrounding qi was continuously compressed, and in this moment of unparalleled resolve, the Heaven-Splitting Six Yang Palms finally manifested its First Yang. The flames in Lu Chen's hands gradually converged into a sphere shaped like a blazing sun, with all of their heat compressed into that single orb.[1]

"First Form of Heaven-Splitting Six Yang Palms—Blazing Sun Cleaves The Heaven!"

As the python rushed toward him, Lu Chen bit his tongue and spat a mouthful of blood into the sun-like orb. He roared, "Come on then! Let's see which one of us kills the other!"

"Star-Serpent Cloud Concealment!" Lu Chen shouted thunderously.

He shot upward and slammed the blazing sun onto the Heaven-Devouring Python's head. In that moment, the orb's power exploded outward, tearing through space. Fierce winds howled and flattened the surrounding trees.

Blazing red fire surged wildly within the miniature sun in Lu Chen's hands, as if it had found an opening to break through. Those flames originated from the Yang Ocean Pearl. Since the Yang Ocean Pearl was a fragment of the Yuanyang Twin-Fish Disk, its power was far beyond what a Qi Regulation Realm demonic beast could endure. The orb tore into the third eye on the python's forehead, releasing a sickening stench of burning flesh.

The python writhed in pain, its tail thrashing wildly and smashing into Lu Chen repeatedly.

By now, Lu Chen was barely conscious, but his body moved on instinct, forcing the sun orb deeper into the python. His hands were like twin volcanoes erupting after millennia of buildup. They were unstoppable and world-shattering.

Finally, the third eye was torn open. Blood gushed out. Lu Chen, too, reached his limit and was flung away by the python's final sweep of its tail.

The Green Sovereign Divine Tree swiftly stretched out a cluster of vines to catch him, while another set stabbed into the python's bleeding forehead, greedily drawing out its life essence to transfer back into Lu Chen's body.

1. In cultivation context, First Yang means that the first true stage or level has finally been unlocked or activated. Yang also symbolizes rebirth, resurgence, the beginning of growth or return of light. ☜