Chapter 119: Strengthening One's Cultivation

The atmosphere of the conversation grew somewhat stifling due to Liu Kuang’s misunderstanding. Originally, Liu Kuang had many questions he wanted to ask Liu Pan, but because of "Ji," he ultimately refrained.

Liu Kuang harbored significant doubts about "Ji." What kind of organization lacked even a token for members to identify one another? What was the purpose of building an organization that couldn't even be described as "scattered sand"?

At the moment he was told he had been added to "Ji," Liu Kuang felt genuinely uncomfortable. However, after Liu Pan explained that the organization was absolutely free and that joining it would be beneficial, Liu Kuang slowly "calmed down." He had always known that the Liu Pan before him was no ordinary person. From their past interactions and experiences, Liu Kuang had always felt that Liu Pan possessed a sense of foresight. In the early stages, he would say or do things others couldn't understand, only for the final outcome to prove that everything he did was correct.

In truth, the reason Liu Kuang was unhappy about being added to "Ji" wasn't just because he felt Liu Pan was playing "underhanded tricks," but also because of the disparity in their current strength, cultivation, and status.

Three months ago, on the very day he entered the Burning Heaven Sect, Liu Kuang was taken as a personal disciple by Li Yi. In those three months, he lacked no cultivation resources, and his cultivation had soared, reaching the third level of the Martial King realm after surviving the Martial Master realm lightning tribulation. Even now, Liu Kuang remembered the looks on the faces of the people in the Burning Heaven Sect when he triggered and subsequently survived that tribulation.

As for Liu Pan, his current cultivation was merely at the ninth level of the Martial Master realm, and his primordial energy was extremely unstable. Anyone could see that the two were no longer on the same level. Once, they had been nearly equal, and because of Liu Pan’s mysterious nature, Liu Kuang had always felt he was unfathomable. But now, with such a glaring gap visible at a glance, how could Liu Kuang maintain his initial mindset?

Waiting outside the sect previously had actually been because Liu Kuang knew that people from the Burning Heaven Sect were heading to the border of the Southern County to recruit disciples. He believed Liu Pan had the ability to join the Burning Heaven Sect, so he waited, wanting to see if the person he found unfathomable would join, and whether he would still give him the same feeling as before. But the reality left him very disappointed. At that moment, without even needing to trade blows, Liu Kuang understood that the current Liu Pan was utterly vulnerable before him.

It was at that exact moment that Liu Pan’s image in his heart faded significantly. To put it bluntly, he had instinctively elevated himself and lowered Liu Pan. In this world dominated by martial arts, cultivation and strength determined almost everything. Because of this, as their strength grew, many people’s mindsets would change, and they would become more or less conceited. Liu Kuang was a normal person and could not avoid such vanity. Moreover, his breakthroughs over the past three short months were truly enough to make him proud. In fact, the Liu Kuang in the book had also been conceited, but his current arrogance had arrived much earlier than in the story. To Liu Pan, this was simply because he hadn't yet suffered enough.

Growth without experiencing storms is rarely reliable. That was Liu Pan’s belief. The reason Liu Pan liked to "abuse" his protagonists so severely when writing was because he believed that for a protagonist to reach the highest pinnacle, they had to be tempered by raging storms; otherwise, they were unworthy of reaching the end, let alone attaining an achievement that no one else could reach.

After a moment of silence, Liu Kuang opened his mouth but still said nothing. As he pondered, the questions in his mind only multiplied. What puzzled him most was Liu Pan’s current state. Despite being at the ninth level of the Martial Master realm, his primordial energy was as unstable as that of a sixth-level Martial Master. Why would someone like this "trash" be favored by Li Feiyang and taken as an apprentice? Could it be...

At this moment, Liu Kuang had an inkling: perhaps Liu Pan was still the same unfathomable person. He even began to suspect that Liu Pan entering the Burning Heaven Sect in such a state was a calculated move. As for the purpose, he could not fathom it. Liu Pan had no idea what was going through Liu Kuang’s mind; if he did, he might have vomited blood. Planning his entry into the Burning Heaven Sect? What a joke! In such a dangerous place, without any guarantees, who in their right mind would want to come?

Ultimately, due to the oppressive atmosphere, the two didn't chat further. Before long, Li Tu emerged from the main hall, beckoned to Liu Kuang, and then took Liu Pan away from Burning Heaven Peak.

For the next month, Liu Pan felt as if he were dreaming. Initially, he thought he would soon be taken away from the Burning Heaven Sect and set on that path that made him uneasy, but that didn't happen. After leaving Burning Heaven Peak, Liu Pan was taken to the sect’s scripture pavilion, where he received the sixth layer of the "Mystic Ice Technique" for free. He was then taken to a secluded mountain peak within the sect called Cloud Water Peak.

Cloud Water Peak was where Li Tu resided. Liu Pan also confirmed that Li Tu was a water-element alchemist with considerable skill, at least at the level of a low-grade Earth-rank alchemist—and that was a conservative estimate. While on Cloud Water Peak, Liu Pan was once again urged to cultivate. However, unlike Li Feiyang’s urging, this training was very different. It wasn't about raising his realm, but about consolidating his cultivation. Pills were provided for free, Li Tu personally guided him, and he even occasionally sparred with other Burning Heaven Sect disciples of similar rank.

What was going on? Liu Pan was a bit bewildered. Helping him consolidate his cultivation to this extent—wasn't this treating him a bit too well? Liu Pan tried asking Li Tu why, but Li Tu only explained, "This is good for you," and revealed nothing more.

Good for him? Liu Pan was skeptical. There were no free lunches in the world, and furthermore, the path behind the Extreme Cold Physique had never appeared in his book, which meant this path was likely unspeakable.

Benefits from an unspeakable path? Anyone with a bit of sense would understand that this was not as simple as it appeared on the surface. However, in the Tianfeng Continent, perhaps only Liu Pan could spot the problem; after all, others were not the author and did not know that the path behind the Extreme Cold Physique could not see the light of day. Despite his doubts, Liu Pan still diligently consolidated his cultivation. Regardless of the ending buried at the end of this path, it was indeed beneficial to him for now. Moreover, for the sake of his future cultivation, he had to consolidate his foundation before breaking through to the Martial King realm.

In a month, the unstable primordial energy in Liu Pan’s body had been solidified, and his cultivation had reached the perfection of the Martial Master realm, ready to break through to the Martial King realm at any time. However, even though he could attempt the breakthrough, Liu Pan stopped his training. The reason was the lightning tribulation that accompanied the transition to the Martial King realm.

Now, inside the Burning Heaven Sect, although his Extreme Cold Physique made it highly likely he would trigger a tribulation, and he would be taken outside the sect to face it, this tribulation... seemed unfit for public view. Liu Pan still remembered Zhang Zu saying that his tribulation was a "Heretic's Lightning Tribulation." If the people of the Burning Heaven Sect found out, he would likely become a subject of study. Furthermore, his body would inevitably suffer hidden injuries after the tribulation, which would trigger that strange power. Once the people of the Burning Heaven Sect discovered that power within him, the consequences were unforeseeable.

Just as Liu Pan was contemplating how to avoid the tribulation while continuing his training, Li Tu signaled for him to stop and prepare to leave immediately. Leave immediately? The sudden change in pace left Liu Pan confused, but it also made him breathe a sigh of relief. He had been worried that Li Tu would make him continue training to attempt a breakthrough. Now it seemed he had overthought it. Stopping his training and leaving was exactly what Liu Pan wanted.

Li Tu didn't say where they were going. However, on the very day Liu Pan fully consolidated his cultivation, Li Tu took him, using a flying artifact to leave the Burning Heaven Sect, heading north. As the author, Liu Pan naturally knew what lay to the north of the Burning Heaven Sect. In the north of the Burning Heaven Sect, at the northernmost point of the Southern County, there was a city no less grand than the Burning Heaven City outside the sect’s gates. It could be considered the largest city in the Southern County. Liu Pan still remembered that this city was called Yanyang City.