Chapter Eighty-Seven: Agreeing to Form a Team

My brother is in there! How dare you try to poach my doorstep!

And what of it?

Li Chengfu glared at Li Caiyun in fury, then turned his gaze to Li Caishi. The girl shrank back in fear.

"Because your sister, and those paltry little trinkets, are all you've got."

"First, you look down on my brother. Second, you look down on me."

"Get lost. A woman like your sister, I could have arranged for my brother all the way from Great Creek Sect to the capital of Thunder Province."

"Change them every day and never repeat yourself."

"My brother is not some shallow, impatient man!"

With a harsh wave, Li Chengfu was about to drive them both out.

Li Caiyun's face changed. She grabbed Li Caishi and left the teahouse.

Xuchen watched the direction the two had gone, then looked at Li Chengfu.

"Since you all share the same surname, are you family?"

"Of course not."

After the two had gone, Li Chengfu's expression returned to normal.

"Ever since word of this spread, everyone in the human race, from the armies to the great powers, has been searching for fighters whose vital force exceeds the strength of three dragons."

"For someone like you, Junior Brother Xu, you're practically the finest prize in their eyes." Li Chengfu brewed another pot of spirit tea.

"The finest prize? I feel like there must be plenty whose vital force exceeds three dragons." Xuchen took the freshly brewed tea Li Chengfu handed him.

"There are many."

"But most cultivate vital-force foundation methods only to strengthen their roots and deepen their foundation, so that they can later advance to the treasure-body realm and cultivate techniques and divine powers. It does nothing for combat strength."

"Under the same level of strength, a hundred of them would not equal one Junior Brother Xu."

"Besides, if one's combat power has not reached a certain level, one is not even qualified to enter."

As he spoke, Li Chengfu looked at Xuchen with eager anticipation.

"Junior Brother Xu, what do you think? Will you go?"

After Xuchen lifted the spirit tea and drank.

"I'll go. Such a great opportunity would be a lifelong regret to miss."

In truth, on his way here, Xuchen had already considered this question. Hiding away in one place and merely grinding out strength was a rather dull existence.

If there were a chance, he still wanted to go out and see the world.

"Good!" Li Chengfu slapped the table hard in excitement.

Now our three-man team is complete!

"Long-Life that little brat goes to hunt for treasures, I read the signs and foretell fortune and misfortune, and Junior Brother Xu will handle the fighting."

"In the battlefield of the Primordial Age's myriad saints, we'll surely accomplish something great!"

"Brother Li, with your standing, finding a few strong vital-force cultivators should be easy. Why choose me?" Since he had already decided to join them, Xuchen chose to ask plainly.

"First, Junior Brother Xu is the strongest fighter at the same level I have ever seen, and I trust your character as well. In a place like that, one's conduct matters most."

"Second, in the battlefield of the Primordial Age's myriad saints, strength is only one part of it. More important is treasure hunting, and predicting and avoiding all manner of dangers."

"Junior Brother Xu, your speed, eyesight, and hearing are all top-notch. You can even detect that little brat Zong Shouchang's traces. That is the main reason."

"Third, more people is not better in there. A team of three is just right."

As Li Chengfu spoke, there was a knock at the teahouse door, and then Zong Shouchang entered.

"Junior Brother Xu, now we're only waiting for you."

"Once the three of us unite, we can make a real name for ourselves." There was a strange brilliance in Zong Shouchang's eyes.

"Junior Brother Xu has agreed. As long as you don't hold us back then, that's enough." Li Chengfu curled his lip from the side.

"Me holding you back? Your useless vital-force foundation method is the one dragging everything down." Zong Shouchang shot Li Chengfu a glare.

"You can tell yin and yang fortunes and judge luck and calamity, and you still say it's useless?"

"I alone can count for eight of you. If it's a scout you're looking for, who can't you find?"

Seeing the two were about to quarrel, Xuchen quickly stepped in.

"Besides vital force reaching the strength of three dragons or more, is there anything else we need to prepare?"

"Yes." Li Chengfu took out a jade slip and handed it to Xuchen.

"This is the information on that battlefield of the Primordial Age's myriad saints. It was explored by one of our human race's great sages, who paid a tremendous price to enter it."

"Although those with the strength of three dragons or more can go in, there are still all sorts of deadly zones inside. These must be distinguished in advance."

Xuchen took the jade slip, held it close to his brow for a glance, then put it into his storage pouch.

"The laws of the Great Dao are in chaos on the primordial battlefield. Storage treasures and the like cannot be brought in at all."

"Everything must be carried by hand or on the shoulder, though when the time comes I will bring a phantom-color dragon horse to carry the supplies." Li Chengfu said.

"Then there shouldn't be any other problems." Xuchen nodded slightly. What remained was simply to hurry and raise his strength.

After the three had finished their cold tea and chatted a while longer, they parted ways.

Back home, Xuchen began to cultivate in earnest.

Half a month later, Soul Nine-Revolutions had reached the beginner stage.

Xuchen entered the Holy White Space and directly pushed open the wooden door of Soul Nine-Revolutions.

The moon hung high and bright, the forest was lush, and within it lay a small lake. There, his doppelganger sat by the shore, gazing up at the moon in the sky.

Fight, or pass?

Xuchen looked at the back of the doppelganger.

"Such a beautiful moonlit scene—shouldn't it be savored a little longer?"

The doppelganger glanced back at him.

"It's passable, though it falls a little short of the scenery I've already seen." Xuchen said quietly.

In this world, Xuchen felt that he had already admired every beauty during his hundred-thousand-li journey.

"Boring. Then I'll let you pass."

The world shattered, and Xuchen's soul was seized into an unknown space.

"Damn it, at the very least it used to be people before. How did I end up a bug now?"

At that moment, Xuchen possessed the body of a glowing insect, like a tiny luminous snake.

The insect's surroundings were extremely dark and damp. Though Xuchen felt uncomfortable, he could sense that the insect greatly favored such an environment.

Within it, the insect sought food and devoured its own kind. Its body slowly grew, and it too began to evolve little by little.

After devouring a hundred insects roughly its own size, the insect evolved.

Then it began once more to seek out its own kind and consume them.

In Xuchen's eyes, each evolution was an exaltation of the soul.

The little insect also grew ever more intelligent.

Within that transformation, Xuchen sensed certain traits akin to those of Soul Nine-Revolutions.

The little insect's ninth evolution transformed it into a winged man.

The world shattered, and Xuchen returned.

A flood of insights surfaced in Xuchen's mind.

As his consciousness returned to his body, Xuchen began cultivating Soul Nine-Revolutions.

After fully digesting its insights, Xuchen's vital force increased by the strength of one tiger.

As for the promised strengthening of the soul, Xuchen felt no change at all.

"No change is no change. Time to cultivate the next vital-force foundation method."

Xuchen took out the jade slip of Fish-Dragon Transformation Dance from his storage pouch.

"Enhances movement technique and vital force, and includes a secret art that can temporarily raise one's strength. Fish-Dragon Transformation. Once cultivated to the unity of mind and intent stage, it grants the strength of two dragons and five tigers."

"My current strength is two dragons and one tiger. This one should be easy to handle with a bit of effort." Xuchen thought as he studied it.