Third Level

It was enough food to fill the stomachs of a whole big family, but Yang Wu ate almost everything without much problem.

Yu Jing was speechless seeing his disciple eating meal after meal without decreasing his speed, it was as if his stomach had no limit. Yang Wu didn't bother to look modest either, his body needed more nutrients than others.

"Wait," Yu Jing shouted hurriedly when he saw Yang Wu setting his sight on the main delicacy, the Fire Fish Pot, "Leave some for me!"

In the end, Yu Jing ate one percent of all the food he bought, Yang Wu burped without caring to look elegant and patted his swollen belly.

"You little monster!" Yu Jing cursed with a dark face, he only managed to eat the Fire Fish Pot because he divided it personally, otherwise, everything would be in his disciple's belly.

Yang Wu ignored his master's dissatisfied expression and the strange looks he was receiving from the people around, he was actually having trouble controlling his body, it digested a lot of high-quality nutrients and energy, and it was on the brink of overflowing.

He felt he could take the chance and try to break through his Martial Realm and advance his Five Mysteries Art to the third level. But because of his master's presence, he ignored his urges.

As if sensing his disciple's anxiety, Yu Jing clicked his tongue and said, "It's not a secret a special constitution might possess uncommon ways to get stronger. Do you think I didn't notice your body can get stronger without relying on immortal cultivation?"

Yang Wu twitched the corners of his mouth and found it very satisfactory that his master misunderstood the situation, "I'm sorry for trying to hide it from you."

"Bah!" Yu Jing grunted, "It's just that your special constitution way to grow stronger is extremely similar to a mystical beast, with a focus on growing the body's internal energy and strength.

"If not because mystical beasts were unable to do immortal cultivation, everyone would think you are a beast rather than a human."

Yang Wu was very happy with all that misunderstanding but still didn't lower his guard completely.

"Since you are in a hurry, let me send you back first," Yu Jing suddenly laughed, making Yang Wu's heart shudder, "There you go!" Yu Jing pointed his finger at him.

Yang Wu's body began to float, and suddenly turned into a stream of light, quickly disappearing into the horizon through the window.

"Bye bye!" Yu Jing waved his hand at him, "I hope you don't throw up everything in my cave! I will kill you if you do!"

Everyone who secretly observed them suddenly felt cold, they avoided making eye contact with their eccentric Peak Master.

Although Yang Wu was traveling very quickly through the sky, he still heard his master's words clearly, he could only curse his master's eight generations of ancestors in his heart.

He couldn't control his body and could only see himself flying into his master's cave and suddenly stopping just before his room's door.

"Fuck you!" he couldn't help but curse with his mouth.

"Clean your mouth!" his master's voice sounded in his mind and he felt a pain in his head as if he was slapped.

Yang Wu clenched his fists and entered his room with bloodshot eyes, he was determined to get revenge... one day. He was an old monster several hundreds of years old and once had the power to blow up mountains, how could he feel okay by being disrespected like that?

He sat on his cushion and began to actively digest the food with his Qi Blood, quickly turning it into pure energy and nutrients for his body. Because all that food was something akin to a treasure full of Yuan Qi, it quickly filled his body with enough background for a breakthrough.

The third level of the Five Mysteries Art was about turning his Five Elements Qi Blood into an energy able to reach his soul and interact with it, into something beyond ordinary earthly energy. Normally, only after reaching the Martial Heart Stage would someone be able to do this, but his Martial Art made it possible before reaching it.

Because Yang Wu was someone who surpassed the Martial Heart Stage in his past life, it was something rather easy to do, he only needed enough energy to transform his Qi Blood.

He took a deep breath and his Soul began to stir, he forcefully ripped off a piece of his Soul, causing him sharp pain, he was quick to send this piece of his soul into his Qi Center, where he enveloped it with all his Qi Blood, not sparing even a little bit, but because his organs were stronger than before they could be okay without Qi Blood if just for a little while.

He then supported the pain and used some blood essence to add to the mix. He began to rotate his Qi Blood and used his blood essence as a bridge between the piece of his soul and his Qi Blood. Slowly, the piece of his soul began to rotate along the Qi Blood and began to dissolve into all that mix along the blood essence.

When his piece of soul completely merged with his Qi Blood, the pain in his soul disappeared, for his soul was whole once again. His Qi Blood began to wash not only his body but also his soul, which was connected to the whole body, as an overlapping entity.

[For those who are yet to understand. In this novel, the soul doesn't stay in the brain in the early stages but is connected to the whole body as a second body. The soul's hands overlapped with the body's hands and so on.]

Finally, under the constant washing of his Qi Blood, his Qi Center and Qi Veins also began to transform and began to exist both in his body and soul.

When this process was completed, Yang Wu then began to wash the rest of his body with his Qi Blood, from the innermost marrow to the ends of the strands of hair.

His body began to transform again, reaching a perfect resonance and balance with his soul, and consequently his mind. It was as his body and soul became one.

Although his brute strength didn't increase much, his control of it was many times more precise. His movements would be quicker and with less waste of energy.

After an unknown amount of time, Yang Wu opened his eyes and smelled a nice aroma of incense, "Done?"

It was an unknown man to him, and his master was beside him smoking a pipe, from which the nice aroma came.

"Disciple greets master!" Yang Wu held his fists and bowed to his master, showing superficial respect, "Who is this senior?"

"He is our Sect Master," Yu Jing said with the pipe still in his mouth, "Quickly bow!"

"Disciple greets the Sect Master!" Yang Wu bowed deeply.

"It's okay," the Sect Master made a gesture for him to stop bowing, "My name is Jian Sheng, you can be at ease in my presence."

"It's this disciple's honor to meet Sect Master in person," Yang Wu remained polite.

Jian Sheng nodded and said, "I came here to meet Yu's new disciple, you. I didn't expect him to accept a disciple so suddenly."

"It's my luck to catch my master's eyes," Yang Wu said with modesty, but he was slandering his master in his heart.

"Hehehe," Yu Jing laughed with a meaningful look as if seeing through Yang Wu's disguise.

"Do you know what it means to be a 'Lineage' Inner Disciple?" Jian Sheng suddenly asked.

"I only know it's very important," Yang Wu shook his head.

"Of course, Yu's mind is too clueless for him to explain such an important thing to his disciple," Jian Sheng snorted and cast a sharp glance at Yu Jing, who avoided eye contact.

"Being a 'Lineage' disciple means you are the chosen successor of a Peak Master, someone who will inherit the Peak he is in charge of when he either dies or becomes a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator," Jian Sheng patiently explained, "Do you understand the severity of the situation now?"

Yang Wu nodded and said, "A fellow disciple already warned me of the sect's inner competition."

"So someone already warned you," Jian Sheng nodded, "Do you know what you need the most right now?"

"Cultivation," Yang Wu answered without hesitation.

"That's right!" Jian Sheng smiled and cast a mocking glance at Yu Jing, "He is smarter than you when you were his age."

"Hmph!" Yu Jing simply continued to smoke his pipe, holding back from saying anything which could anger Jian Sheng more.

"All the people who want to succeed Yu Jing as the new Peak Master without becoming his disciple were at the Golden Core Realm," Jian Sheng began to explain the situation while massaging his short beard, "And even if not them, there were many people who want to become Yu Jing's disciple, and they are all at least at the Foundation Establishment Realm!"

"You don't need to be afraid!" Yu Jing suddenly said, "Could it be they would ignore me and attack you?"

Jian Sheng seemed upset by his words and said, "You idiot! Did you forget the sect's rules?"

"Rules are made to be broken," Yu Jing rebuked with a wise bearing as if seeing through all things.

Jian Sheng slapped his head hard, making Yu Jing's head hit the ground, "Are you strong enough to break them?"

"Damn old man!" Yu Jing couldn't help but curse, but didn't counterattack.

"All 'Lineage' disciples need to prove they are worthy of being a successor to the peak," Jian Sheng ignored Yu Jing and returned his explanation, "It is done by winning challenges from other inner disciples and contributing to the sect!"

"So I have no choice but to fight," Yang Wu nodded and felt actually relieved that was all, he was good at talking with fists but horrible at dealing with politics and complicated plots.

In his first life, he defeated most of his enemies with his fists, not with his wits. He never had the patience to deal with his enemies' fake smiles and shit-talk. He preferred to end everything quickly, regardless of what other people thought.

"Are you... relieved?" Jian Sheng was surprised, he could easily feel Yang Wu's soul fluctuations, and he seemed calmer than before.

"This disciple is dull-witted," Yang Wu said with a bitter smile, "I never liked to talk too much and deal with overcomplicated things such as politics, I prefer to beat people with my fists."

"Yes! That's what I'm talking about!" Yu Jing shouted excitedly, happy with his disciple's answer.

"But there were situations where you will be forced to sit and talk," Jian Sheng sighed and took Yu Jing's role to teach Yang Wu, "If they were stronger and more numerous, what can you do?"

"Run," Yang Wu and Yu Jing answered at the same time.

"If you can't run?" Jian Sheng asked again, with a clever expression.

"Join the enemy and plan to backstab them later," Yang Wu and Yu Jing answered as if it were obvious.

"If the enemies just want to kill you?" Jian Sheng asked again, not losing his demeanor as a great master, "If the enemy is too strong to be beaten, too smart to be tricked, too quick for you to run away from him, and that just wants to kill you quickly, what will you do?"

'I know of a technique which can make my heart stop and make my soul feign dissipation,' Yang Wu said in his heart, 'And I'm very skilled!'

"Sect Master, will talk and plans be useful in such a case?" Yang Wu asked cleverly, causing Jian Sheng's smile to fade.

Yu Jing held back his laugh, but Jian Sheng still cast him a cold look.

"Cough!" Jian Sheng quickly recovered his bearing and patiently explained, "If you possess precious information or are good enough at lying, you can make your enemy change his mind!"

"Or make him feign he changed his mind," Yu Jing sneered.

"Ahem, I suddenly remembered I have something important to do with your master, let's see each other when we have the chance!" Jian Sheng said and disappeared with Yu Jing.

"Noo!!!!" Yu Jing's voice echoed in the room.

Yang Wu sighed and smiled, "What an interesting person." Of course, he was referring to the Sect Master, not his cheap master.

He closed his eyes in meditation and began to circulate his Martial Art.

His body, full of high-quality energy and nutrients, quickly increased the quantity of Qi Blood he had. His Martial Realm was quickly climbing towards the Martial Zealot Realm.