The Founder of Qi Cultivation, Reincarnates?

The Demon Sealing Pagoda was located in a valley between two mountains, but while it was situated at the bottom of the valley, its massive size was not overshadowed by the two mountains on either side of it.

Its color was a mix of dark red and pitch black, and as Xi Shen stood on a tree branch looking at it closely, he realized the material used to make it was very smooth and glossy.

It resemble jade but it obviously wasn’t. He also realized that it was one solid whole. It was as if someone had taken a big chunk of this material and carved it into a pagoda with 24 floors.

Taking his eyes off of this humongous sight, he looked around the clearing that consisted of the disciples', various colored robes the blacksmith's disciples' black robes being more prominent since their Pavilion was nearby.

The tree he was on was quite tall so he had a full view of the entrance of the Pagoda that was a few hundred meters away.

He saw more disciples crowding around a wide and tall stone pillar next to the entrance. Xi Shen guessed that to be the pillar responsible for keeping track of the disciples inside.

After glazing over the crowd for a moment, he spotted Yang Su and Ling Xia in her disguise there as well.

He also saw several disciples in white robes mingling in the crowd of black-robed disciples from the Blacksmith Pavilion. They were in strategical spots in the crowd to encircle Yang Su and Ling Xia.

“Tai...”

Xi Shen softly murmured. After which, the space over his right shoulder warped before Tai appeared out of a Pocket Space to rest on Xi Shen’s shoulder.

Xi Shen then said, “Disguise my appearance.”

Tai looked at his master’s serious expression, and unlike his usual nonchalance, when Xi Shen was serious he took it as a sign not to cause any mischief. So he meowed a comply before his light brown fur gained a golden color at the ends of it, as a strange and illusory aura radiated from his body.

His fur slowly swayed as that aura floated from his plump body to cover Xi Shen’s face and entire body.

Xi Shen’s once handsome face transformed into the average face of a random disciple Tai had seen walking around the Academy. His white robes had also turned black to resemble the Blacksmith disciples' robes.

After that was finished Tai then meowed at Xi Shen, causing him to release a slight smile before patting Tai’s head while saying, “Thanks, Tai.”

Tai leaned into Xi Shen’s palm for a bit moment and accepted his pat before his figure vanished back into a pocket space of his creation.

Though he stuck close to Xi Shen, since the illusions he could cast had a time limit. Asides from that there was the possibility of it coming undone because of strong impacts from external forces. So Tai or Little Snow would usually stay by Xi Shen to repair the disguise.

“All right, let's teach these Bai and Lin Clan brats a lesson for antagonizing my subordinates.”

A devilish smirk only known to few appeared at the corner of Xi Shen’s lips, as he easily leaped down several meters from the tree onto the ground. He then mingled into the crowd of the Blacksmith disciples and slowly made his way to the stone pillar at the Demon Sealing Pagoda.

Within the crowd near the stone pillar, a male blacksmith disciple suddenly spoke up while pointing at the pillar.

“Look! That Fei Yin’s name is moving from the sixth floor to the seventh floor!”

“He’s practically trying to commit suicide.” A disciple said shaking his head before continuing. “This Pagoda is used to test a disciple's physique. A Qi cultivator who isn’t focused on moving along the Fleshly Body path has no business entering it.”

“I haven’t been in there myself, but I heard from the people that have gone in, that the test involved fighting numerous Spirit beasts while having your Qi Cultivation completely suppressed. Because of this, you can only rely on your physique.”

That disciple then shook his head and said again, “That Fei Yin, who was forced in there by his own Sword Pavilion members is probably struggling for his life on the seventh floor. In there the strength and number of the Spirit beasts increase from the Sea Expansion Realm to the early Foundation Realm, with him having to fight over a dozen of them at once.”

Yang Su who was next to Ling Xia couldn’t help but have his heart drop as he heard those comments being made.

He had read about the Demon Sealing Pagoda being extremely difficult for Qi Cultivators without a strong physique, but listening to these disciples talk, it seemed as if was way harder than any books could describe.

From floors 1 to 5, Spirit beasts with strengths in the Four Physical Realm would be employed in waves. If someone’s physical strength was strong enough they would defeat all of them, but if not then they would have to survive the onslaught for a specific period of time.

This was the same case for the floors further up, just that the Spirit Beasts' strength increases, and they come in more waves.

As that disciple said on the seventh floor Fei Yin would be battling Spirit beasts with strength in the early Foundation Realm. If he was using his Qi Cultivation that was at the 7th stage, it would be a walk in the park for him to pass the test, but like most Qi Cultivators Fei Yin had prioritized cultivating Qi more than strengthening his physique, which means his physique was probably several times weaker than his Qi Cultivation.

Fighting over a dozen of early Foundation Realm Spirit beasts with only his physique was indeed a suicidal attempt.

As Yang Su was glancing at the stone pillar, he would look between the disciples to the entrance of the valley. He was looking for Xi Shen, but he hadn't seen him yet.

Just as Yang Su had looked away from the stone pillar to the entrance of the valley, the noise in the crowd became louder as people exclaimed in surprise. Yang Su instinctively turn back to look at the stone pillar, and there he saw the name of Fei Yin moving from the seventh of the stone pillar to the eighth section. It was situated at the bottom of the other disciples there, but his name was still there meaning he had completed the test on the seventh floor.

All the people here were surprised that Fei Yin would make it this far. As disciples from the Blacksmith Pavilion, one requirement for them to perform their profession was a strong physique. So their circumstances were opposite to that of Qi Cultivators, in that they put their external cultivation a bit more over internal cultivation.

Because of this difference between the Blacksmith division and the rest of the Academy, which focuses on cultivating Qi, there were times they would be ridiculed for their cultivation practices. One thing lead to another and the Blacksmith Pavilion members became black sheep among the various divisions, and would usually get into fights or arguments with people who prioritize Qi Cultivation.

A sort of hatred had then developed between the disciples who focus on Qi Cultivation, and the Blacksmith Pavilion members, where both sides would look down on each other for their method of training.

Having been shamed for their decision to focus more on external cultivation for so long, the cohesiveness between the Blacksmith Division members became extremely strong. Out of all the divisions within the Academy, they were one of the only few that had no infighting occur. They would even go out of their way to help a fellow Blacksmith member if they were being bullied.

This also gave the Blacksmith Pavilion the reputation of being called a pack of wolves. If one ever bullied one of their members the whole lot of them would take revenge on that one person, making their life in the Academy a living hell.

Most Blacksmith disciples in the crowd were praising Fei Yin in their hearts since his physique strength was only slightly below his Qi Cultivation. This meant that he put effort into strengthening his body more than the usual Qi Cultivators.

Any person like that got the nod of approval from the Blacksmith disciples.

However, just as Fei Yin’s name moved to the eighth section of the pillar, it started to glow a bright red light before disappearing from its position.

Seeing this a few Blacksmith disciple shook their heads sadly. Disciples have been known to die in the Demon Sealing Pagoda.

They thought Fei Yin would be one of them.

After Fei Yin’s name vanished, Yang Su stood there in stunned silence. He couldn’t believe Fei Yin had actually died.

The Bai Clan members in the Sword Pavilion members among the crowd had vicious grins on their faces when they saw that. They weren’t able to get Fei Yin to agree to a life and death match to have him killed, and the rules in the Academy were strict on disciples fighting amongst themselves. The Academy won’t interfere if the conflict is small, as fighting was the norm in the cultivation world. But fighting to kill your opponents was the Academy’s number one taboo.

So they resort to this plan instead, where they would force Fei Yin to his death.

But as the Bai Clan members were grinning from ear to ear, one young man that was around his early twenties and had around a dozen members disciples in white robes standing behind him, frowned and look towards the entrance of the Demon Sealing Pagoda.

After a brief moment, that young man’s eyes began to release a murderous glow when he saw Fei Yin’s bloodied figure limping out of the entrance.

Yang Su saw Fei Yin as well, and immediately rushed towards him with a silent Ling Xia by his side.

As Yang Su approached Fei Yin, he saw several grievous wounds on his body and abdomen. The Sword Pavilion white robes he had not gotten long ago were completely dyed red with his blood. There was even a long claw mark that went from his jaw down to his left upper chest, ruining his once decent appearance.

The Blacksmith disciples upon seeing this scene were shaking their heads in pity.

*******

Word Count: 1755