Chapter Sixty-Eight: You’re Still Weak?

“Am I being a bit despicable?”
Looking at his own duplicate lying on the ground, Xu Chen suddenly felt that since they shared the same face, there was no need for such cruelty.
“It’s a little despicable, yes. But if you don’t act despicably, then you’re just foolish. You have to choose one or the other.”
With these words, the duplicate’s heart veins completely rotted away, and the kneeling copy collapsed to the ground.
“You make a good point.”
The world inverted, space shattered, and that familiar sensation of soul separation returned once more.
When Xu Chen regained his senses, he found he had transformed into the little beggar from his last experience with the Six Sacred Ape Forms.
By now, he had evolved into a senior errand disciple at the Daoist Canon Pavilion.
Once the little beggar, now a simple, honest youth in his twenties.
He worked diligently and spoke little.
Each day, after finishing his tasks, he returned home in silence to cultivate.
“A tug-of-war again.”
Seeing the man he had possessed, Xu Chen felt a headache coming on. Of all these worlds, this man required the most time.
“I wonder how long it will take this time.”
The man took a cultivation scroll from the Canon Pavilion, a method for forging the body through vital energy, somewhat superior to the Six Sacred Ape Forms.
“The Twelve-Fold Wave Body-Tempering Method—a senior brother said that if I reach the unity of form and intent, I can advance to the Treasure Body Realm.”
With reverence, the man opened the scroll and began his long cultivation.
From Xu Chen’s perspective, thanks to the foundation of the Sacred Ape Forms, the man quickly mastered the basics.
But progress slowed dramatically after that.
So, he cultivated steadily, day and night, for five years, finally reaching proficiency in the Twelve-Fold Wave Body-Tempering Method.
Just as Xu Chen thought it would take another decade, one night, this introverted youth stumbled upon his own opportunity.
From Xu Chen’s third-person view, a remnant soul of a powerful demonic cultivator possessed the man.
But the man was still at the vital energy stage, far from the level required for a soul takeover.
So, each night after cultivation, the demonic remnant soul would pull him into a dream to instruct him.
“Why are you so stupid? You can’t even cultivate this trash method properly!”
“If your aptitude is poor, stop cultivating! Why work so hard at night? Because of you, my soul fragment found its way here.”
“The most important thing about the Twelve-Fold Wave Method is the operation of vital energy and the use of force.”
“Stupid! You’re incredibly stupid!”
“Go find a place to kill yourself. Let’s die together.”

“You’re a rotten log I can’t carve.”
“You’re mud that won’t stick to the wall!”
No matter how the demonic remnant soul taught him, the man couldn’t grasp it, and the soul grew ever more frustrated, moving from patient guidance to furious rants.
Xu Chen felt the discomfort keenly, as if the insults were directed at himself.
Yet the man seemed to have a pure heart. No matter how the soul cursed and insulted him, he treated the demonic remnant as a master, with respect.
But the remnant soul possessed some skill; after countless experiments, he finally found a teaching method that suited the man.
Each night, he would draw the man into a dream, possess him there, and let him comprehend the unity of form and intent in the Twelve-Fold Wave Method.
Three years passed in this way before Xu Chen returned to the Sacred White Space.
“Nearly nine years have gone by. I wonder what fate awaits that little beggar in the world of comprehension?”
A flood of insights rushed into Xu Chen’s mind.
So many revelations—after absorbing them all, Xu Chen felt his mind shrouded in chaos.
His consciousness returned to his body, and lying on his bed, Xu Chen opened his eyes.
Instantly, an indescribable exhaustion washed over him, and he fell into a deep sleep.
He slept for three days straight.
Outside, in the training ground, Xu Chen practiced the Twelve-Fold Wave Body-Tempering Method.
A raging sea phantom, covering dozens of yards, appeared.
Towering waves, endless and fierce.
The angry sea surged in harmony with Xu Chen’s every move.
Not far away, Fox Moon’s eyes sparkled with admiration.
“Brother Xu is amazing!”
“Great waves surge!”
The angry sea raised waves dozens of yards high, hurling them toward the surface.
With a thunderous crash, twelve explosive booms echoed across the courtyard.
The sea phantom faded, and Xu Chen withdrew his power.
Only then did he notice the scene around him—within dozens of yards, everything was reduced to ruins.
“I’ll have Old Monkey come fix this later.”
“Brother Xu, let me handle it,” Fox Moon volunteered.
“Thank you, then.”
Fox Moon ran into the dense woods at once.
Meanwhile, Xu Chen carefully sensed the surging power of vital energy within him.

“It directly boosted my strength by two tigers. Now I have a bit more than the strength of one dragon and four tigers.”
“But this is only the beginning.”
Xu Chen remembered the tournament he’d watched outside Illusion Valley.
Truth be told, with his current strength, any random participant from there could easily defeat him.
“The day after tomorrow is the Wei clan’s Ancestor’s ten-thousandth birthday. I should let Steward Bai know.”
“After the Wei clan’s grand celebration, I’ll systematically cultivate all the vital energy forging methods I found before.”
As Xu Chen pondered his next steps, a luxurious spirit vessel landed outside the gate.
“Junior Brother Xu, the Wei clan’s Ancestor’s ten-thousandth birthday is coming up. Let’s go together,” Li Chengfu said as he stepped off the vessel.
“You’ve been investigating me?” Xu Chen refrained from asking any obvious questions.
“You may not know, but my grandmother is also from the Wei clan. Your name is on the Wei clan’s relatives list,” Li Chengfu scratched his head.
“I see.”
“Let’s go. Take me to Steward Bai so I can ask for leave.”
“No need. When the sect asks, just show the Wei clan’s token. That’s all you need.” Li Chengfu was clearly experienced.
“All right.”
“Let’s set off now. First, let’s stop by my home in Leizhou City.”
“My family has the finest illusion array. Senior Sister Bai will be there too. You can spar with her when the time comes.”
Li Chengfu stepped onto the spirit vessel and signaled Xu Chen to hurry up.
In Leizhou City, the two emerged from the teleportation hall.
A beast carriage was already waiting outside.
Through its window, Xu Chen gazed at the bustling cityscape, his mind awash with thoughts.
Even after conquering the Twelve-Fold Wave and gaining one dragon and four tigers’ worth of strength, he remained insignificant within the sect.
“Junior Brother Xu, you seem troubled,” Li Chengfu observed Xu Chen’s silence.
“I’m just reflecting on how weak I still am in the vital energy stage,” Xu Chen replied after some thought.
“Weak? You’re already strong!”
“With your battle talent, even if you master a few basic vital energy forging methods to the unity of form and intent,
increase your vital energy to two dragons, and advance to the Treasure Body Realm,
then those Daixi Sect disciples you saw before, with three or four dragons’ strength, you could defeat them easily.”
“Besides, haven’t you inherited the Saint Yang Treasure Body?” Li Chengfu sized up Xu Chen from head to toe.