Scripture of Days Past

Chi Shude felt as if his throat had been caught in a vise. He desperately tried to pry Chu Qiguang’s fingers apart, but it was to no avail.

Yang Ling tricked me! He clearly knew that my Star Plucking Finger would be no match for Chu Qiguang’s Primordial High Zenith Qigong, yet he still encouraged me to waste an entire month on it!

As Chu Qiguang slowly tightened his grip, Yang Ling began to feel the onset of asphyxiation. Shame, anger, and resentment flooded his mind.

He instinctively lashed out with all his might, still trying to free himself and turn the tables.

He struck Chu Qiguang’s glabella with his finger while simultaneously throwing a kick at Chu Qiguang’s chest. Immediately after that, he unleashed his Star Plucking Finger once again with his other hand.

His finger struck Chu Qiguang’s right wrist with a resounding thump, but it might as well have struck the granite boulder that Chu Qiguang had been pounding away at for the past month.

Every single blow he unleashed struck Chu Qiguang’s vital regions with unerring accuracy, but he could only watch in despair as Chu Qiguang’s purple skin absorbed all of his attacks with ease.

Even a direct finger strike to the glabella only sent Chu Qiguang’s head cocking back by a tiny degree, and the entire time, he was watching Chi Shude with a mocking sneer on his face.

”How weak,” Chu Qiguang scoffed.

Chi Shude could feel Chu Qiguang tightening his grip even further. He mustered up all of his remaining strength to unleash a new barrage of attacks, but they had about as much impact on Chu Qiguang as a stiff breeze.

”Your body is weak, your qi and blood are pitiful, and your finger techniques are incredibly unpolished. I can’t believe I worked so hard over the past month just to face an opponent as pathetic as you. You’re not worthy of taking a punch from me. A slap will suffice.”

Chu Qiguang released Chi Shude’s throat with a disappointed expression as he spoke, then swung his palm at Chi Shude’s face as if swatting a fly.

Chi Shude gritted his teeth and raised his arms to defend himself, but his arms were instantly knocked aside on impact, and Chu Qiguang’s slap landed squarely on his face.

Chi Shude was sent flying off the platform before crashing to the ground like a rag doll, temporarily robbed of the ability to move.

On the platform, Chu Qiguang looked up at the sky with a blissful expression as his symptoms faded away.

Li Jian had already rushed over to examine Chi Shude’s condition.

Meanwhile, Zhong Shan’e turned to Yang Ling with a pleased smile and praised, ”You’ve done well to identify Chu Qiguang’s aptitude for physical cultivation.”

Yang Ling was still staring at Chu Qiguang in a daze, and he reflexively nodded in response to Zhong Shan’e’s praise.

”You’ve certainly unearthed a brilliant diamond in the rough,” Zhong Shan’e continued. ”The fact that he was able to reach the second level of the Primordial High Zenith Qigong in just a month as a third-state martial artist indicates an incredibly high level of aptitude. In fact, he most likely possesses some type of special physical constitution.”

Yang Ling didn’t know what to say. He had no idea that Chu Qiguang had aptitude for physical cultivation. He simply wanted Chu Qiguang to waste time on the Primordial High Zenith Qigong and the Heavenly Demon Vanquishing Palms.

How could this be? He was able to reach the second level of the Primordial High Zenith Qigong after just a month of cultivation? Haven’t I just done him a huge favor by finding him a cultivation art that’s perfectly suited to him?

The thought of helping someone who had orchestrated Li Changqing’s downfall made Yang Ling feel as if he had just swallowed a fly.

In his current state, Li He and Jiang Longyu are probably the only ones with any chance of defeating him. I can’t let him keep improving like this! Next month, I’m going to instruct him to pursue other cultivation arts instead of the Primordial High Zenith Qigong!

With that in mind, he said, ”Chu Qiguang does indeed possess an extremely high level of aptitude for the Primordial High Zenith Qigong, but right now, his skills are too one-dimensional. His weaknesses are too clear, and he’ll be in trouble if he encounters an opponent who can break through his physical defenses. Starting from next month, I’m planning to instruct him more in movement and weapon techniques to cover his weaknesses.”

”That makes sense,” Zhong Shan’e replied with a nod. ”You’ve clearly done a great job with him so far, so I’ll defer to your better judgment here. However, I will say that there’s no need for him to place too much emphasis on mastering more techniques. After all, he’s only a third-state martial artist right now, so his top priority should be to advance his cultivation base.”

”I’ll be sure to tell him that,” Yang Ling replied.

Meanwhile, Zhao Lingxiao was watching Chu Qiguang’s performance with a nod of approval.

What a brilliant prodigy he is! It is my duty to guide him into the embrace of the Profound Origin Dao Lord! If he wants more Daoist scriptures to read, then I’ll get more for him, even if I have to sell everything I own!

All of the trainees were momentarily stunned into silence at the sight of Chi Shude being swatted off the platform like a fly, but that silence quickly gave way to a flurry of astonished chatter.

”That was insane!” Li Chu exclaimed.

”How is this possible?” Huang Xiangyu murmured to himself with a stunned expression. ”Is the Primordial High Zenith Qigong really that powerful?”

Everyone had been convinced that Chi Shude had secured the victory, but Chu Qiguang had subverted everyone’s expectations and won the battle in the most overwhelming fashion imaginable.

It was an incredibly intimidating show of brute force. It felt as if Chi Shude had been a powerless child attacking an immovable mountain.

Chi Shude was already an exceptional prodigy in his own right, but Chu Qiguang had just crushed him like an ant.

Zhang Haizhu’s mouth was hanging so wide open that an egg could easily fit inside.

Aside from Li He, I don’t think any of us even has a chance of keeping up with Chu Qiguang in hand-to-hand combat!

Jiang Longyu had also been watching intently, and an excited smile appeared on his face.

Looks like Chu Qiguang is back on track! Without all those distractions getting in the way of his cultivation, he’s beginning to prove himself a worthy rival again. Finally, there’s a fellow third-state martial artist who’s worthy of facing my saber.

The sparring matches continued, but all of Chu Qiguang’s subsequent opponents either surrendered or went into battle against him armed with weapons.

They all sorely detested him for being a non-believer, but they were also forced to come to terms with the fact that they stood no chance against Chu Qiguang in hand-to-hand combat.