8: Chapter 8 The First Nude in Autumn

The ninth month.

The autumn wind was bleak.

All things were withered.

Amidst the autumn wind, Ji Yebai continued to Cultivate.

His thin clothing made him stand out.

Especially the white mist rising from his body and the crystalline beads of sweat; the scene appeared exceptionally discordant.

At this moment, if any bystander were to see this, they would likely have their jaw drop in shock.

Late autumn, especially deep in the mountains.

One could say the chill of the autumn wind was enough to kill a hundred flowers.

But with Ji Yebai, it was completely different; not only was he wearing thin clothes, but he was actually sweating so much. It was truly extraordinary.

Ji Yebai, however, was completely unconcerned.

At this moment, he was fully immersed in his Cultivation.

Nine months had passed.

His Cultivation was gradually reaching a peak state.

Even his sense of Qi was gradually reaching a state of overflowing.

Now, he frequently felt the Internal Strength within his body becoming so abundant that it felt as if it could overflow at any moment.

But precisely because of this,

Ji Yebai became increasingly devoted to his practice.

Overflowing.

It was a state.

It was also a critical threshold.

By maintaining this overflowing state and continuously deepening it, attempting to break through this threshold, one could then undergo a transformation and give birth to Internal Energy.

And at this time,

even though Ji Yebai had not yet birthed Internal Energy,

the sense of Qi in its overflowing state was already enough to help him withstand most of the autumn chill.

One must know,

that once Internal Energy is birthed, one is basically immune to heat and cold.

At least, this was true for conventional temperatures.

"If I maintain this state and continue practicing, the sense of Qi in its overflowing state will temper my body even faster. By keeping this state at all times, within three months, I will surely break the threshold and birth Internal Energy in one go."

Ji Yebai was incredibly excited internally.

However, his movements did not lose their form in the slightest.

Even as his mind wandered,

the tempered Longevity Fist did not deform even a bit.

This

had already become instinct.

As long as he could birth Internal Energy and become a Third-rate Martial Artist, Ji Yebai was confident he could seize those heaven-shaking Opportunities.

His heart fluctuated.

His thoughts were continuous.

Until finally, he realized his mind was in disarray.

Suddenly, his whole body shook.

Buzz!

An aura suddenly dispersed from all around Ji Yebai.

The withered leaves beneath his feet were instantly blown away.

"Whew..."

Ji Yebai slowly exhaled a breath.

A stream of white mist flew out, continuous and lingering.

It was like a Hada scarf, swirling endlessly in the air, only dispersing after half a minute.

And at this time, dense beads of sweat seeped from the pores all over Ji Yebai's body.

Each bead was crystal clear.

Looking at the sweat on his body, Ji Yebai nodded with satisfaction.

The sweat was now as clear as jade beads.

This indicated that the Impurities within his body were already very few.

This was also thanks to the effects of that yanyang fruit.

"What a pity!"

"In all this time, I've only found one yanyang fruit. If I could find a few more to temper the body's Impurities, it would surely make my body even healthier!"

Ji Yebai said with some regret.

Having trained to his current state,

the Impurities that could be expelled had already been expelled.

What remained

were those Impurities that were not easily removed.

If he could continue to expel Impurities, perhaps his Cultivation speed would become even smoother.

In his previous life, Ji Yebai had heard that if one could completely purge the Impurities from their body, it was possible to become an Immaculate Body.

The Cultivation speed of an Immaculate Body was far higher than that of an ordinary person.

"What a pity! What a pity!"

Ji Yebai shook his head, tossing the unrealistic thoughts out of his mind.

As someone with extremely poor Aptitude and bone structure, it was better for him to stay grounded.

He shook his head, flinging the sweat away.

Ji Yebai picked up a piece of clothing and walked toward the mountain spring.

Covered in sweat,

how could he not go for a wash?

At this time of year, although the water was already somewhat icy, it was still acceptable for Ji Yebai.

It was just a pity he couldn't take a hot bath.

The mountain spring water cascaded down with a splashing sound.

Ji Yebai faced the spray, enjoying the refreshing sensation of the cold water pouring over his skin.

But.

Right at that moment,

a roar echoed throughout the entire valley.

"Xu Tai, die for me!!!"

The massive roar drowned out all the sounds of the wind.

In an instant, the entire valley fell silent.

The next moment.

Buzz!

The sound of clashing metal rang out again.

"Hahahaha!"

"Wanting to ambush me? You're still a bit lacking! Elder Li, the taste of my blade isn't easy to bear, is it? Come and chase me again, and I'll give you another slash!"

A heavy and arrogant voice drifted over.

Ji Yebai paused slightly.

"What's the situation!?"

Why would someone appear deep in the mountains at this time?

Not quite understanding,

Ji Yebai prepared to go and take a look.

Stepping out of the mountain spring, Ji Yebai picked up his pants and prepared to put them on.

But he didn't expect the voice that came next to shock him directly.

"Xu Tai, for the sake of a spiritual plant, you actually killed the Sect Head's son! You can't run! I will catch you and personally tear you into ten thousand pieces!!!"

The voice spread far and wide, carrying fury.

But Ji Yebai had already filtered all that out.

His mind was tightly fixed on two words!

spiritual plant!!!

"spiritual plant? They actually know about spiritual plants?"

"Who is this!?"

Ji Yebai suddenly straightened up.

He hurriedly pulled on his pants, and without even putting on his shirt, he rushed quickly toward the direction where the voice came from.

Bare-chested and barefooted.

But his speed was no less than a hundred-meter sprint.

...

In the valley.

Li Hao's face was pale, but his expression was one of extreme anger.

His eyes were fixed intently on the figure a dozen meters away.

His body was drenched in blood, with no fewer than seven blade wounds.

And most critically, he had taken a slash to the thigh; blood was currently flowing, soaking his entire pant leg.

But what was shocking was,

even with such heavy injuries,

he still endured the pain, continuously chasing after the figure ahead.

And behind him, several other figures were running toward them.

"Xu Tai, I'm going to kill you!"

Suppressed roars continuously erupted from Li Hao's mouth.

While Xu Tai, who was ahead,

was somewhat disdainful.

Even though he was also heavily injured, he wasn't someone Li Hao could easily subdue.

But even so, he didn't dare to stop for a moment.

He had practiced martial arts for many years, and having broken through multiple layers of encirclement this time, he was already somewhat exhausted.

If it were normal times, he wouldn't even fear someone of Li Hao's strength.

But now it wouldn't do.

He had more than one blade wound on his body; if not for his decent control over his physical body, the blood loss alone would have made him lose his strength.

Not to mention, there were two more figures chasing behind Li Hao.

The Songhe Sect

was a small Sect.

It could be considered a Daoist School.

The entire Sect had only seven or eight people.

They relied on national relief grain, merely persisting in their Legacy.

However, this didn't mean the Songhe Sect had no specialties of its own.

One must know that most Sects without their own specialties couldn't even apply for intangible cultural heritage status, couldn't receive national relief funds, and wouldn't last long before disbanding.

The Songhe Sect's specialty was a technique called the Songhe Everlasting Skill.

It could prolong life.

The Songhe Sect had already existed for two hundred years.

It had also produced some so-called Martial Forest experts in the past.

But in modern times, it was basically in a state of decline.

Originally, the School was in a state of harmony.

A state where you're good, I'm good, everyone's good.

But unexpectedly, the Sect Head had somehow bought a spiritual plant at an auction that was suspected to be recorded in ancient texts.

Even more unexpected was that the spiritual plant was actually real.

The Sect Head was over fifty years old.

After consuming a leaf of the spiritual plant, he actually birthed Internal Strength.

Especially after seeing the Sect Head's Crane Peck move, which directly pecked through a tree trunk as thick as a bowl,

Xu Tai couldn't help but be moved.

He took advantage of the Sect Head's absence to sneak into the room and steal the spiritual plant.

But what he hadn't expected was that as soon as he succeeded, he was discovered by the Sect Head's son, Duan Xuewen.

In his great shock, he took advantage of the other's lack of preparation and broke Duan Xuewen's heart meridian with a single punch.

This was like poking a hornet's nest.

The five people remaining at the Sect immediately began to surround and hunt him down.

He had several narrow escapes.

If not for the fact that the five had lived in peace for too long and held the idea of capturing him alive, he wouldn't have had any chance to resist at all.

Even so, he was beaten into a state of heavy injury.

In order to escape with his life,

he turned his attention to the spiritual plant.

He directly plucked two leaves and swallowed them.

The spiritual plant truly lived up to its name.

It instantly emitted heat, giving his spirit a jolt and even restoring quite a bit of his physical strength.

He feigned defeat, then suddenly erupted, using a sneak attack to break the encirclement and bolting down the mountain.

After several desperate escapes, he fled into the deep mountains of Yuanjiajie.

But Li Hao and the others were in hot pursuit.

After fleeing into the deep mountains, Li Hao and the four others spread out to search for Xu Tai.

Just like just now.

Li Hao had somehow ambushed him alone ahead, instantly attacking Xu Tai.

The pity was,

Xu Tai was exceptionally alert.

Moreover, the spiritual plant in his stomach was still dispersing energy, stimulating his spirit and physical strength.

This caused his recovery to be much faster than Li Hao's.

Even his strikes were stronger.

He directly slashed Li Hao's thigh.

If not for sensing two more people chasing behind, he might have taught Li Hao a good lesson.

Just as he was thinking, he suddenly sensed movement ahead.

Xu Tai was startled and quickly came to a halt.

A middle-aged man holding a longsword abruptly leaped out, thrusting with his sword.

It was the Sect's Elder Wang Yue.

Xu Tai hurriedly raised his blade to block.

Buzz!

The sound of metal clashing spread once more.

Xu Tai retreated, instantly opening up some distance.

Elder Wang Yue's sword techniques had been practiced for no less than twenty years and were very sharp.

They were a great threat to him.

His body was covered in scars, eight of which were caused by the longsword in Wang Yue's hand.

Xu Tai stared at Wang Yue with full concentration while quietly backing away.

"Xu Tai, how dare you kill Xuewen!? The Sect has not treated you poorly, providing you with food, shelter, and martial arts training. Even Xuewen always called you 'Senior Brother'. How could you dare, how could you bring yourself to do it!!!"

Wang Yue's pupils were like burning flames as he stared dead at Xu Tai.

Xu Tai had been in the Sect for twenty years.

The Sect itself had only seven or eight people, with only three young juniors.

Therefore, all three were exceptionally favored.

But no one expected things to turn out like this.

Xu Tai was silent for a moment.

Then he grinned savagely: "As for Xuewen's matter, you can't blame me. I originally wanted to just take the things and leave; you can only blame his bad luck for appearing at that time!"

"You...!!!"

Hearing this,

Wang Yue was instantly enraged.

The longsword in his hand thrust out instantly.

And Xu Tai had long been prepared for this.

With a hook of his toe, a stone flew out.

Forcing Wang Yue to use his longsword to sweep the stone aside.

While Xu Tai seized the Opportunity, turned around, and bolted away.

"Still running!!!"

"The Sect Head has already boarded a plane and will arrive before dark. Where can you run!!!"

"You ungrateful wolf!"

Wang Yue was furious as he watched Xu Tai's bolting back.

"Hahahaha!"

Xu Tai laughed loudly without looking back: "Once I eat the spiritual plant and develop Internal Strength, will I be afraid of him!?"

Maybe, I'll personally send him to see Duan Xuewen!!!"

With every additional word Xu Tai spoke, Wang Yue's fury surged another notch.

"What audacity, you actually dare to think such a thing!!!"

"You disloyal, unfilial, unkind, and unrighteous scoundrel, you actually dare to dream of killing your master!!!"

Wang Yue's whole being became sharp.

Grasping his longsword, he gave chase with wild abandon.

Wang Yue's condition was clearly better.

He chased with all his might.

Quickly closing the distance.

"Old geezer, quite fast!"

Xu Tai glanced behind him out of the corner of his eye.

The gap was less than twenty meters...

Xu Tai's heart sank.

His condition was actually very poor.

Although the injuries were not fatal, the initial blood loss couldn't be made up for in the short term.

If he was caught by Wang Yue, he would definitely be no match for him.

At the very least, as long as Wang Yue tied him down, it wouldn't take long for Li Hao and the others to arrive from behind.

This situation was truly getting worse and worse.

Thinking of this,

Xu Tai subconsciously looked at the Spiritual Plant in his arms.

A five-leaf spiritual plant, now with only two lonely leaves left.

"Old geezer, you're still chasing!?"

Xu Tai's eyes showed ferocity as he suddenly turned his head and roared: "I'll eat these spiritual plant leaves right now and fight you to the end!!!"

After saying that, he lifted the spiritual plant to his mouth.

Opening his large mouth, he was about to bite down.

But.

Right at that moment.

Whoosh!

A rapid whistling sound through the air attacked.

Xu Tai abruptly looked up.

Only to see a dark shadow instantly strike toward his face.

"Holy sh*t!!!"

Xu Tai gave a strange cry and subconsciously tilted his head, dodging it.

Bang!

A crisp sound rang out.

A pebble was deeply embedded into a tree trunk.

The power was such that it was like a bullet, piercing through the thick, ancient bark.

Gulp!

Xu Tai subconsciously swallowed.

Cold sweat broke out all over him.

If that had hit his face, it would probably have blown his head open!

"A single pebble with such power!?"

"How is this possible!?"

Xu Tai was somewhat incredulous.

If this were the effect of a gun, so be it.

But it was just a pebble...

This was a bit...

Xu Tai's eyes were a bit glazed.

He suddenly remembered.

He seemed to have seen a figure flash by fifty meters away just now.

But was that possible!?

Throwing a pebble from fifty meters away with power no weaker than a bullet—how was that possible!?

Xu Tai was momentarily stunned by his own thought.

And the one even more startled was Wang Yue, who was chasing from behind.

He only saw Xu Tai suddenly flip over to dodge.

While he was wondering, a dark shadow attacked.

The next moment, it hit a tree trunk three meters away from him, sending wood chips flying.

He was in a forward-charging state!

When running, three meters was just a single stride.

"Hah, hah..."

Heavy panting sounded.

Wang Yue had just braked suddenly, his movements were so sudden and large that he directly tumbled out.

Such violent movement caused even his lungs to begin to ache.

Just as he stood up, he heard Xu Tai roar.

"Who are you!!!"

"Come out!"

"I saw you!!!"

Wang Yue looked up and saw Xu Tai standing on high alert.

Xu Tai's left hand protected the spiritual plant, while his right hand held his long blade across his chest.

His mind was on edge.

Just as Xu Tai was on guard, a figure walked out.

Accompanying it was a somewhat surprised voice.

"Your reflexes are quite agile! To have dodged my strike unharmed while being so distracted!"

Xu Tai's eyes widened, looking in shock at the man who walked out.

A... na... naked man!?

In the middle of autumn... a na... naked man!?