Chapter 148: Growing Bigger and Stronger
Chapter 148: Growing Bigger and Stronger
“This… this is my Shoushan Sect’s… Divine Nether Body Tempering Art?”
When Young Sect Master Xu and the two elders waited from dark to dawn, and were finally invited into the Jade Mirror Peak hall, they still walked lightly.
As they saw that stack of ink-soaked scripture manuscripts by Fang Cun’s hand, which looked like they had just been written, the three of them all seemed to fall into an unreal dream.
Their hands trembled, truly seeming like they dared not touch it…
It was as if just one touch might make the scripture manuscripts break.
“Whether it is or isn’t, that should be up to the three of you to tell!”
Fang Cun, who had just woken up, lazily sipped his tea, looking as if he had stayed up all night without sleep, and said with a laugh.
“Good… good… we… I’ll look…”
Young Sect Master Xu kept agreeing, then took a deep breath and slowly stepped forward.
He forced his hand to steady itself as he took up that stack of scriptures.
The two elders by his sides had already leaned their heads in.
After glancing back and forth a few times, their expressions turned solemn; they quickly flipped through page after page, silently thinking it over in their hearts.
The three of them all grew both surprised and doubtful, and extremely excited.
“Yes… yes…”
The more they read, the more they kept nodding, their eyes even becoming a bit moist.
With their cultivation level, they had been helpless without the Treasure Body Method.
But with a scripture before them, a little thought made it clear if it was real or fake—wasn’t the simplest way just to compare it with the arts from the Divine Nether Scriptures?
“Heaven be praised, our Shoushan Sect has truly regained the Divine Nether Body Tempering Art one day…”
Young Sect Master Xu’s voice caught in his throat, and his usually quiet face now showed a hint of excited unease.
“Yes, yes…”
Even the two elders chimed in by his side, gently wiping their eyes as they sighed, “Second Young Master Fang’s handwriting is truly excellent!”
Fang Cun thought to himself: “This darn thing was copied by Little Fox!”
But outwardly, he showed nothing, simply nodding and smiling lightly at them in modesty.
“It’s still far off—needs more practice!”
“Huh?”
Little Fox, sitting at the small table, raised her head with a confused face.
Young Sect Master Xu and the elders Cold Stone and Green Pine were in a hurry, almost unable to wait as they flipped through it once more.
The more they read, the more surprised and doubtful they became, and their spirits grew more excited.
At times, they were joyful and lowly muttered, “So that’s how it was!”
At other times, they had sudden realizations and said, “It was like this!”
A few points left them puzzled, and they remarked in surprise, “How could it be this way? It seems different from the records…”
“I don’t know!”
Whenever they looked at him questioningly, Fang Cun just shook his head with a smile and kept silent.
Young Sect Master Xu and the two elders immediately understood.
It was already rare enough for Second Young Master Fang to get the Divine Nether Body Tempering Art method from Elder Shenshan.
And now, Elder Shenshan was crazy and muddle-minded, so it was normal if he misremembered a point or two.
Moreover, upon thinking it over, the strangeness actually seemed clever—probably not a mistake, but just something they couldn’t grasp.
Anyway, they needed plenty of time to carefully go through this scripture again.
“No matter what, it can be confirmed… it can be confirmed… this… this is the Divine Nether Body Tempering Art…”
“Our Shoushan Sect… ha, it’s finally out of the struggle!”
In any case, they had settled the scripture’s truth, and the two elders were thoroughly stirred.
Especially Elder Cold Stone, who was about to cry with emotion.
“My future monthly pay, finally it can be paid on time?”
For the disciples, having the Treasure Body Method meant boundless potential.
But for him, Elder Green Pine, or even Young Sect Master Xu, cultivation didn’t shift much, as they had already practiced other rank-four Treasure Body Methods.
Starting over with the Divine Nether Body Tempering Art would be very hard.
But the meaning wasn’t so simple—having a refinement method meant Shoushan Sect was different now; it meant their own statuses changed.
More importantly, it meant they could get their silver coins each month…
While the two elders were moved, Young Sect Master Xu appeared even more serious and dignified.
He deeply sighed, brought out a precious ancient box, placed the stack of scriptures inside, then bowed to Fang Cun and said, “Second Young Master Fang, this great kindness—Shoushan Sect truly has no way to repay it.
I wish only to bow in thanks on behalf of our generations of sect masters and elders, to honor Second Young Master Fang’s noble spirit…”
With that, the respected sect master took a step back, lifted his long robe, and truly meant to bow.
But Fang Cun quickly stopped him and laughed.
“I’m an elder of Shoushan Sect too—are you thanking me on my own behalf?”
“But… but this Divine Nether Body Tempering Art… for our Shoushan Sect… really… truly…”
Young Sect Master Xu looked up at Fang Cun, at a loss for words.
Fang Cun smiled and asked, “That thing I told you back then—did you think I was bragging?”
Young Sect Master Xu was silent for a while before replying, “I didn’t quite believe Second Young Master Fang was bragging, but still…”
He couldn’t finish his own sentence and shook his head lightly.
“However, Second Young Master Fang’s noble spirit—Wenxin is deeply grateful.
Back then, Second Young Master Fang offered 300 Dragon Stones and one sentence to buy three tenths of our Shoushan Sect’s Dragon Vein; I was the greedy one.
The Dragon Stones aside, this scripture alone is enough to make all of Shoushan Sect eternally grateful.
As for those Dragon Stones…”
Fang Cun asked curiously, staring with a smile, “Do you plan to give them back?”
Young Sect Master Xu flushed instantly.
“We can’t return them all full—over 200 have already been refined into the Spiritual Vein…”
“Haha…”
Fang Cun waved his sleeve and laughed heartily.
“A few Dragon Stones—no need to mention that.
Since I gave you that sentence back then, I have to honor it.
Finding this Treasure Body Method is just the start—there’s much more to do!”
Young Sect Master Xu froze for a moment, then nodded heavily.
“We’ll all follow Second Young Master Fang!”
The two elders quickly nodded along, faces serious.
“We’ll obey whoever pays the monthly salary…”
Looking at their earnest expression, Fang Cun couldn’t help but smile.
With their words, he felt reassured.
…
…
“Junior Brother Yu, here is the scripture for the Divine Nether Body Tempering Art and the complete Divine Nether Scriptures.
You must ponder them deeply!”
After sending off the overjoyed Young Sect Master Xu and the two elders who had nearly danced in the hall, Fang Cun called in Yu Qingli.
He handed over a copy of the scriptures written by Little Fox and the Shoushan Sect’s Divine Nether Scriptures.
Yu Qingli looked at the scriptures in front of him silently, his expression like he wanted to kill someone.
Fang Cun paused thoughtfully before adding, “Junior Brother Yu, actually with your talent, stepping up to rank-four Divine Nether Body shouldn’t be too hard.
I’ve prepared some Dragon Stones and Spirit Pills just for your training—I hope you improve fast and don’t let me down!”
Yu Qingli stayed quiet, looking this time as if he not only wanted to kill, but wipe out an entire family…
“That expression…”
Fang Cun was puzzled inside.
“How can he look so unhappy?”
Before his thoughts ended, he saw Yu Qingli suddenly burst into tears.
“Second Young Master Fang, your kindness—I really…”
His voice choked as he bowed deeply to Fang Cun.
Fang Cun thought: “So this is how you show deep emotion—I thought someone wronged you…”
Yu Qingli was truly stirred at the moment.
In truth, considering his talent, joining the Shoushan Sect felt a bit wasted.
After all, Shoushan Sect only taught Five Qi Body Refining Art and a few simple spells—methods he could do on his own.
But Yu Qingli was satisfied—he knew how rare this chance was, and never asked for a thing, though he secretly craved it.
He planned to settle in slowly.
He never imagined, though—only days after entering the sect, Fang Cun would gift him the Treasure Body Method and Divine Nether Scriptures?
Before joining Shoushan Sect, he had felt weaker than old friends like Meng Zhixue, He Zhenzhang, or Meng Qing’er; he was prepared for that.
But, unexpectedly, he ended up stronger?
After all, even in big sects, you needed merit to earn arts.
He not only got the Treasure Body Method instantly, with all the spells, but also Dragon Stones…
Watching Yu Qingli’s touched and speechless state, a sly idea sparked in Fang Cun.
He deliberately laughed and teased. “The Divine Nether Scriptures include various Shoushan Sect techniques: besides the forbidden arts, there are nineteen spells, each with power and mystery.
One called Divine Nether Demon Display Body might suit you.
See if you can grasp it.”
Yu Qingli dared not be careless at all; he replied intently.
“I’ve marked it down!”
Fang Cun felt excited inside.
The Divine Nether Demon Display Body was an advanced form of soul-fearing art—showing a demonic form to scare enemies.
He now looked forward to how Yu Qingli’s aura would match with such demonic power.
…
…
“How are those rogues doing now?”
After Yuqingli left, Fang Cun summoned Xiao Qingliu.
“They’ve been well-behaved.
Beyond that small favor last time, they just rented places nearby.
When not doing good deeds, they keep indoors.”
Xiao Qingliu answered with a grin.
“Their neighbors call them great do-gooders…”
“Aren’t they just?”
Fang Cun chuckled, pulled out the third scripture, casually tore out a few pages, and handed the rest to Xiao Qingliu.
“Give this Divine Nether Body Tempering Art to them.
Tell them I’m tired of their weakness—just Breath Refining Realm and fifth-rank Treasure Body Rogue Cultivators.
They need to step up!”
“Rank-four method in the rogue world? Things’ll get wild…”
Xiao Qingliu’s eyes lit up, sensing fun times.
“Young Master, what are you plotting?”
Fang Cun grinned.
“Step one—grow bigger and stronger!”
“And step two?”
“You guess?”