mtlumby2d Chapter 213: Zi Zun
Chapter 213: Zi Zun
Chapter 213: Zi Zun
“Have you gone insane? You aren’t even at the twelfth stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, yet you dare to attack a foundation establishment disciple? I’ll let it slide this time, but next time, your target may not be so merciful.”
Like a curse, those words tormented Zi Zun for over thirty years. It seemed that everything in his life had gone down after meeting Xi Tianyi.
First, the reason for the confrontation, his childhood sweetheart from his village tried to climb higher and hug someone else’s thigh. As a man, there was no greater shame than this.
Actually, there was.
And that was his woman discarding him and poaching another man, a hairless brat at that. Fueled by his temper Zi Zun had rushed to fight with Xi Tianyi, resulting in the subsequent consequences.
After the grand elder’s scion left, his childhood friend, Pandi, tried to help him up, but he pushed her away. How could he allow such a two-faced woman to near him again?
Furthermore, she was not an outer disciple but a servant disciple. Servant disciples were only disciples in name. They almost had no chance of promotion, and no one would choose to be their master. They could only rely on themselves to cultivate once they had time after their duties were fulfilled.
Zi Zun was different. Although he had a triple spiritual vein like Pandi, his constitution was good, allowing him to embark on the martial path. Coupled with his steel-like will, he was even set to become an inner disciple before all this happened. After leaving Pandi, a bright future should have awaited him.
But that all came crashing down.
Zi Zun’s promotion to an inner disciple had been set in stone, a world merging venerable already had eyes on him. The only reason he was not an inner disciple was due to the fact that promotions happened only once every five years.
With high hopes, Zi Zun had walked to Assignment Hall only to hear that he had not been selected. It was maddening. All the people who used to admire him all laughed at him. Those less talented, who could only watch from afar, all came forward to ridicule him.
Zi Zun even sought out the world merging elder, asking him why. The elder’s only response was, “You do not have the disposition to become an immortal. It’s true that your willpower is firm, but because of that, it will cause you unnecessary conflicts against others. Leave.”
Although Zi Zun was just a village boy with no formal education, how could he not hear the meaning behind the elder’s words? It was all because he offended the grand elder’s son, Xi Tianyi.
That was the second misfortune. The third misfortune was bullying. Having been deemed as someone with no chance of making a comeback, the former bullies who feared offending him all came like a pack of starving hyenas.
Most would add flowers to a wreath, but rarely would anyone send coals during the snow.
Zi Zun only understood what that phrase meant then. Not just them, the servant disciples also began to distance themselves and even hit him while he was down. And to add further humiliation, Pandi left him again, seeing that he was so futureless.
Under all this pressure, Zi Zun came to loath Xi Tianyi, viewing him as the mastermind of this petty revenge. What else could it be? How could the world turn against him if it wasn’t for that brat? It was a feeling that only increased when he heard what happened to Chun Dan.
Chun Dan had been taken away by a Justice Hall elder for stealing items. Zi Zun knew that Chun Dan was a bully, having also been on the receiving end of late. However, he knew that Chun Dan would have never stolen the things that were discovered in his house. When Chun Dan was arrested, the only thing out of the ordinary was Xi Tianyi’s presence at Caimen Peak that day, so Zi Zun correctly guessed that the culprit was Tianyi!
Undeterred, Zi Zun endured the indignity he suffered and cultivated silently, wanting to stun the world once he officially entered the Foundation Establishment Realm or the Bone Refinement Body Transformation Realm.
He accomplished the latter first but was rejected. Those that cultivated to the Bone Refinement Stage under the age of thirty had a chance of being rejected for promotion, but foundation establishment disciples were different. Persevering, Zi Zun cultivated and reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, but he was still rejected!
It was at this point that Zi Zun almost fell into despair. With a heart full of disappointment, the new foundation establishment disciple left the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Unlike inner disciples, outer disciples can leave the sect to temper themselves at the Foundation Establishment Realm or its equivalence.
“Who is Ba Shifeng?” Zi Zun asked. He had wanted to run away from all the praise most inner disciples had towards his archnemesis and wanted to let out steam, so he went to the sparring arenas. Then he discovered that there was this amazing disciple. As long as you beat him in a spar, you would get a hundred thousand high spirit stones!
Zi Zun had inherited many treasures from Leigong’s inheritance, but many of them were treasures that he couldn’t take arbitrarily. So, in essence, he didn’t have much money on hand, so the hundred thousand was very attractive to him.
“You must be a new inner disciple,” The disciple Zi Zun asked, concluded.
Zi Zun hid his annoyance and replied. “Yes, my name is Zi Zun.”
“Zi Zun, kinda weird. You can call me Thricesting.” Thricesting introduced himself. “Anyways, you haven’t heard of Ba Shifang, but you must have heard of Xi Tianyi, right?”
Zi Zun furrowed his brows. “What does Ba Shifang have to do with him?”
“Duh. Ba Shifang is Prince Xi’s clone. You tell me, how can he not have anything to do with Prince Xi?” Thricesting said as he hung his arm over Zi Zun’s shoulder, much to the latter’s annoyance. “Senior Brother Ba just entered the Core Formation Realm, but he is already comparable to late core formation masters.”
“So why is offering a hundred thousand spirit stone to any who defeat him? To satisfy his ego as he crushes all those who oppose him?” Zi Zun mockingly said.
“What? No. Originally Senior Brother Ba, showed up and many challenged him, but most of them were in the early or mid Core Formation Realm, so he won easily. And late and peak core formation masters didn’t want to risk being defeated, so Senior Brother Ba offered a prize.” Thricesting said, not having heard the ridicule in Zi Zun’s words.
Zi Zun grunted as he slung Thricesting’s arm off his shoulders. Along the way, Zi Zun stayed silent as Thricesting continued to yabber on, mainly about the greatness of Xi Tianyi and his clone, irritating Zi Zun to no end. The only reason he tolerated Thricesting’s endless words was due to the information within, primarily Ba Shifang’s combat abilities and techniques, along with titbits about Tianyi’s action over the years.
Soon, the two reached the sparring arenas. The one with the most people spectating was naturally the one Ba Shifang was on. Ba Shifang would appear on random days after digesting all the gains he received from the day’s battle.
Zi Zun’s eyes narrowed as he saw a handsome lad of about nineteen knock his opponent off the arena. In comparison with that tender face he had seen all those years ago, there was nothing alike, but Zi Zun knew in his heart that this man was related to his archnemesis.
“Winner, Ba Shifang!” The judge, a nascent soul disciple called Su Bojing, announced. Everyone knew that Su Bojing was Tianyi’s retainer and was present to officiate the matches. “Is there anyone else that would like to challenge Ba Shifang and win a hundred thousand spirit stones?”
Seeing the silence, Su Bojing sighed. It wasn’t always a hundred thousand spirit stones. When Ba Shifang first offered a monetary reward, it was only ten thousand spirit stones, but as less and less people challenged, the number of spirit stones was raised. Now, it seemed the prize amount would have to be raised again.
Su Bojing was about to announce the end of the day’s challenge when a disciple stepped up to the stage. “It seems that we have a new challenger! What is your name?”
“Shut up and start the match.” Zi Zun said, not giving Su Bojing any face at all.
Su Bojing frowned. If this weren’t an arena and him doing his duty as a retainer, he would have taught the discourteous junior a lesson. In the end, he just sneered and announced the beginning of the match. Let’s see if he still has the same arrogance after being beaten down by Ba Shifang.
Zi Zun observed his opponent carefully. Ba Shifang currently had a lax smile with his hands relaxed by his side. According to Thricesting, Ba Shifang never attacked first.
With a roar, thunder and lightning gathered in Zi Zun’s fist as he leaped at Ba Shifang, who only held out his hand to block the incoming fist. ‘Cocky bastard, I’ll show you what a mistake you made!’
There was a thunderous boom as fist met palm. To Zi Zun’s shock, Ba Shifang was only pushed back a few steps from the collision, and he didn’t appear to be hurt at all. At most, Ba Shifang shook his hand and took off his lax smile.
Zi Zun snorted. ‘I didn’t expect a mere clone to be this difficult to deal with. If a Core Formation Realm clone is this difficult to deal with, then his main body will only be stronger. If I can’t even win against a clone, I might as well just commit suicide!’
Zi Zun shifted into a preparatory stance. From under his clothes, blue markings could be seen glowing. Those were the Divine Thunder Tattoo formed by his Levin Judgement Martial body. Waving his arm, a chisel crackling with electricity appeared in his hand.
Now, the true battle could begin.