Longevity Martial Arts: Grinding Experience in the Chaotic World

Chapter 1299 673: Sword Qi (2)

Tang Zhiyuan nodded, then suddenly asked.

"What about Ling Xiao? You don't want to deal with him together?"

Ke Yucheng shook his head.

"Ling Xiao has been in seclusion lately, and... I always feel he's even more dangerous than Gu Sheng. Let's take care of one first."

While the two were plotting, in another cave mansion on Three Days Peak, Wang Yuchen was sitting cross‑legged at the center of the Spirit Gathering Array, Spiritual Power surging around him.

Ever since he lost to Ling Xiao last time, he had shut himself away in bitter cultivation, vowing to wash away his humiliation.

"Ling Xiao... Gu Sheng..."

Wang Yuchen gnashed his teeth, his hands changing spell seals as Spiritual Power roared through his meridians.

Suddenly, a series of soft knocks at the door interrupted his cultivation.

"Who?!"

Wang Yuchen's eyes snapped open, bloodshot and furious.

The rage of having his cultivation interrupted was almost about to erupt.

"Senior Brother Wang, I am the new Disciple Liang Yu. I have an important matter to report."

A respectful yet uneasy voice sounded from outside the door.

"New Disciple?"

Wang Yuchen let out a cold laugh, flicked his sleeve, and the stone door boomed open as an invisible force dragged the person outside straight in.

Liang Yu only felt his vision blur before he was heavily slammed onto the stone floor.

He scrambled to his feet, forcing down the pain to bow.

"Senior Brother Wang, please quell your anger. I truly have an urgent matter..."

"A rookie who just passed the entry-level, what urgent matter could you possibly have?"

Wang Yuchen looked down at Liang Yu from on high, releasing his Spiritual Power pressure without the slightest restraint.

Cold sweat seeped from Liang Yu's forehead, but he still persisted.

"It concerns the true identities of Gu Sheng and Ling Xiao..."

Deep in the cave of Xuanming Divine Mountain.

Gu Sheng sat cross‑legged, his bare upper body beaded with fine sweat, glinting a bronzed sheen under the dim light.

The torn scraps of clothing scattered around silently told of the violent scene from his earlier cultivation.

"Hah!"

With a low shout, dozens of razor‑sharp strands of Sword Qi suddenly burst from within Gu Sheng, carving sword marks of varying depth into the stone walls.

Stone fragments flew, dust billowed, and the entire cave trembled faintly.

Gu Sheng's eyes snapped open, two tangible streaks of Sword Intent shooting from his pupils, piercing straight through the thick mountain wall.

With a thunderous boom, two bottomless craters were blasted open outside the cave, sending plumes of dust soaring into the sky.

"Cough, cough... Gu Sheng! Can you damn well be a little more careful!"

Not far away, Ling Xiao was choked into coughing by the dense smoke and had no choice but to pull himself out of his cultivation state.

He waved his sleeve to scatter the dust, revealing a handsome face laced with helplessness.

Only then did Gu Sheng notice his own sorry state. He rubbed his nose in embarrassment.

"Sorry, I lost control for a moment."

Ling Xiao's gaze ran up and down his bare torso, the corner of his mouth curling in mockery.

"Tell me, this is already the third time this month, isn't it? Don't tell me you actually have some special kink?"

"Get lost!"

Gu Sheng cursed with a laugh, taking out a new set of tight black clothes from his Storage Ring and changing into them.

"When cultivating the Heavenly Sorrow Sword, Sword Qi leaks out. Clothes getting shredded is perfectly normal."

Ling Xiao curled his lip and casually tossed over a jug of Spiritual Wine.

"Yeah, right. You're just the one who doesn't care whether you live or die when you cultivate."

Gu Sheng caught the jug and raised his head, taking a long swig. The fiery liquid slid down his throat, driving out the chill of residual Sword Qi within him.

He wiped the corner of his mouth, his eyes gleaming.

"What about you? How's that Heavenly Rank Martial Technique coming along?"

"First Level at Great Success."

Ling Xiao shook the wine jug, not without pride.

"I may not be as freakish as you, but among our peers I'm still top‑tier."

Gu Sheng chuckled at that and raised one finger.

"One Heavenly Rank Martial Technique at Perfect First Level."

He paused, then raised a second finger.

"Plus one Earth Rank Martial Technique, also at Perfect First Level."

"What?!"

Ling Xiao almost choked on his wine, eyes widening.

"When did you pick up another Earth Rank Martial Technique?"

"While you were obsessing over that Phantom Step."

A sly look flashed in Gu Sheng's eyes.

"So, want to spar a bit?"

Ling Xiao waved his hands repeatedly.

"Spare me, spare me. Sparring with a monster like you is just asking to be abused."

He sighed, a hint of envy in his tone.

"I really don't get how you cultivate. We joined the Sect at the same time..."

Gu Sheng only smiled without answering and took another swig of wine. Just

Only he himself knew that those times of secretly training alone deep into the night, those moments teetering on the edge of life and death, were what had been exchanged for his current achievements.

"Right."

Ling Xiao suddenly lowered his voice.

"Do you want to go out for a walk tonight? If we keep cultivating in this cave, our bones are going to rust."

Battle intent flashed in Gu Sheng's eyes.

"That's exactly what I was thinking. Actual combat is the best way to test one's strength."

The two exchanged a glance, then clinked their wine flasks in tacit understanding.

"But we have to be careful."

Ling Xiao's expression turned serious.

"Xuanming Divine Mountain isn't like the trial grounds inside the Sect. The Demon Beasts here are truly vicious. I heard that just last month three Core Disciples died halfway up the mountain."

Gu Sheng nodded, his gaze turning to the sky outside the cave, which was gradually darkening.

"Qinghe Holy Land's training methods are cruel to begin with. Only those who can survive in this environment are true experts."

"Speaking of which."

Ling Xiao lowered his voice.

"Have you heard? There's been some disturbance at the mountaintop recently. They say traces of Xuanming True Water have appeared."

Gu Sheng's pupils shrank slightly.

Xuanming True Water, a legendary heavenly treasure; a single drop could cleanse the marrow and wash the meridians, the Treasure countless Cultivators dreamed of obtaining.

"Is the information reliable?"

"Eighty percent chance it's real."

Ling Xiao licked his lips.

"But going to the mountaintop now is too dangerous. They say Fourth Rank Demon Beasts have appeared."

Gu Sheng pondered for a moment.

"To be safe, we should operate around the mountainside for a few days. Once we feel out the situation, we can consider going up."

While the two were discussing, behind a huge boulder several hundred meters away, two pairs of cold eyes were fixed dead on the cave's direction.

"Those two lunatics actually dare to go out at night."

Tang Zhiyuan shrank his neck, a hint of fear in his voice.

"The night on Xuanming Divine Mountain is at least ten times more dangerous than the day."

Ke Yucheng, beside him, let out a cold laugh.

"Best if they die in a Demon Beast's mouth and save us the trouble of doing it ourselves."

Tang Zhiyuan turned his head to look at his companion.

"By the way, where did you get so many points to exchange for Concealment Talismans? Just one costs fifty points!"

Pain flickered in Ke Yucheng's eyes.

"I was originally saving them to trade for a Breaking Barrier Pill. Just fifty more and I could have broken through."

He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white.

"But that bastard Gu Sheng humiliated me on the sparring platform. If I don't avenge this, I, Ke Yucheng, swear I'm not human!"

"Just to vent your anger?"

Tang Zhiyuan stared at him in disbelief.

"That's an Elixir Pill that can help you break through to the Spirit Sea Realm!"

Ke Yucheng gave a sinister smile.

"It's not just about revenge. I've received word that Gu Sheng has a great Treasure on him. Otherwise, how could he have improved so quickly?"

"As long as we get our hands on it, everything will be worth it."

Tang Zhiyuan swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Though he felt uneasy, greed ultimately overwhelmed his reason.

"Th-then we just follow from far away and act when an opportunity presents itself?"

"Hmph, coward."

Ke Yucheng glanced at him in disdain.

"If you're scared, you can get lost right now."

Tang Zhiyuan's face alternated between green and white, and in the end he gritted his teeth.

"Who says I'm scared? Let's do it then!"

At that moment, a bone-piercingly cold wind suddenly swept across all of Xuanming Divine Mountain.

The sky, which had still retained a bit of light, was instantly shrouded by dark clouds, and impenetrable darkness descended upon the land.

"What's going on?"

Tang Zhiyuan grabbed Ke Yucheng's sleeve in terror.

Ke Yucheng's expression also changed.

"Something's wrong, this Yin Qi..."

Before he could finish, a deafening roar came from the mountaintop, the sound wave so powerful that the mountain itself trembled slightly.

A streak of cyan Sword Qi shot straight into the sky, slashing viciously at the churning black Demon Qi atop the mountain.

"Boom—"

Amid the earth-shattering explosion, a blinding light illuminated half the sky.

Even from such a distance, the four of them could feel that suffocating pressure.

At the cave entrance, Gu Sheng and Ling Xiao's expressions changed at the same time.

"That was... Sword Qi?"

Ling Xiao's voice trembled.

"What kind of person can unleash such terrifying Sword Qi in a place like the mountaintop?"

Gu Sheng narrowed his eyes, the Sword Qi within his body unconsciously resonating.