Chapter 11 - Testing

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  Upon walking out of the Martial Arts Library, Gu Xuan turned his gaze towards the gates of the Central District.

  After a few seconds, he began to walk in its direction with the intention of going down the mountain.

  For what reasons? It was of course, to gauge his current strength, not only that, but as well as to train his control over his body and inner qi.

  He might be extremely strong physically but currently, he can be comparable to a baby holding a deadly weapon.

  Soon after, he saw the two guards, Yu Wencheng and Zhong Wenling.

  Both of them couldn’t help but look at him in surprise.

  Their gazes met first before they nodded then turned to him.

  Zhong Wenling then began to say, “Junior Brother, you’ve just climbed up, why are you going down again?”

  Gu Xuan was originally just gonna pass by quietly but since Zhong Wenling took the initiative to ask, he replied with a smile, “I visited the library and read some books and found out that although I’ve reached the Qi Gathering Realm, I have no idea how strong I really am. I’d also like to study the martial arts technique that I’ve chosen.”

  Yu Wencheng on the side nodded in understanding, “I see, if that’s the case, you should go down, there’s still some vacant houses after all so you don’t need to rush to pick a house.”

  “Yes, that’s what I thought too so I’ll be going down first.”

  “Then, good luck on your training, Junior Brother.” Zhong Wenling replied.

  “So do I.” Yu Wencheng chimed.

  “Thank you, Senior Brothers.” Gu Xuan cupped his fist before waving his hand to them in goodbye.

  As he walked down the coiled path, Gu Xuan now wore the Central District Uniform after all, so those from the Lower District would bow their heads to him in respect as they passed by him.

  Meanwhile, Gu Xuan merely nodded to them with a polite smile.

  By the time Gu Xuan reached the bottom of the coiled path, Gu Xuan’s smile was a bit stiff so he couldn’t help but think, ‘Maybe I should be more aloof? I never realized Central District Disciples suffered this much attention. No wonder they all act either arrogant or cold towards others.’

  Gu Xuan had never experienced a high-ranking position after all. In his previous life, before he could start his career, his life was already taken.

  As for his life before he could start his career, due to his early exposure to reading novels, he had developed the trait of guessing people’s thoughts and began accustomed to playing the background character in order to be able to observe others in great detail.

  Gu Xuan decided to put this to the back of his mind for now, and if ever in the future he gets tired of this kind of life, he would just nod to some people occasionally to keep a certain distance but not too much that he seems aloof.

  He turned his attention towards the nearest tree, immediately bent his knees and jumped up in one swift motion with the intention of reaching a height just high enough to grab a branch.

  However, unfamiliar with the strength of his own body due to focusing only on cultivation over the years, he jumped too high. If he did nothing, his head would crash straight into the tree branch.

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  Reacting quickly, he pushed his palms upwards to halt his upward momentum. The branch trembled upon impact before he grabbed onto it and then hung like a monkey.

  As the momentum died down, he let out a sigh, ‘I miscalculated? No wonder Grandpa Liao said those words. Let alone inner qi control, I don’t even have enough awareness of my current body.’

  Glancing at the path below, he noticed several Lower District Disciples staring in his direction making him decide that it was better to leave before overthinking. He didn’t want to be like a monkey in a zoo for people to watch.

  He swung forward, gripping the branch tightly, and once he had enough momentum built up, he launched himself toward the next tree. This time, he used more force, so he was sent quite high up before the next tree that he was going to use as a stepping stone.

  ‘Good, it looks like it’s better to jump higher when you’re not proficient because you get more breathing room.’ He noted in his mind.

  The jump went more smoothly than before, one foot stepped onto a tree branch, allowing him to easily stabilize his balance and scan the next stepping place. Unfortunately, it was too far away and it was difficult to gauge how much force to use with his current proficiency.

  But there was a branch obstructing the path to the other, positioned a head higher than him. With this branch on the way, he jumped forward just enough to be able to hold the tree branch.

  Using the branch like a monkey bar, he swung forward. Suddenly, the tree branch cracked, and the feeling he had in his hand was as if he was grabbing into cotton.

  His eyes couldn’t help but widen in surprise but he reacted instantly. He let himself fall, scanned the surroundings on how he can save the situation wherein he doesn’t have to fall into the ground. Not having enough time to think, he let himself act instinctively and his eyes sharpened as he neared a tree trunk.

  He kicked off the bark, launching himself sideways towards the opposite tree, and as he regained balance in his jump, he jumped upwards and grabbed onto a branch before letting it go and letting his feet touch the tree branch he planned to use as a stepping stone.

  Gu Xuan’s heart was beating wildly as he chuckled, ‘I haven’t done this before but I was able to do such a thing? Maybe I’m not talented in cultivation but I’m definitely at least above average in terms of martial arts.’

  Gu Xuan, with an excited smile on his face, started moving deep into the forest.

  Every once in a while, he would miss a jump or two, but after a few minutes, he had gotten used to it, although it was still not in a level wherein he could jump from one tree to another on instinct alone, he wasn’t far off.

  Eventually, he stumbled upon an area resembling an open field that had only grass. Choose one last tree, his expression turned serious. He ran along the branch of a tree, jumping into a bark and into another, descending faster and faster with accumulated force.

  When his feet finally touched the ground in the open field, the soft ground beneath the grass sank slightly, leaving footprints on the grass and ground that was trampled.

  Gu Xuan straightened his bent knees upon impact, and crossed his hands in an x motion before letting his palms naturally hang on the side of his body.

  He closed his eyes briefly then opened them again softly as he let inner qi flow out of his dantian, travelling throughout his entire body.

  The inner qi flowed smoothly throughout his entire body within 2 seconds causing his body to emit a faint blue light.

  He clenched his palms to gauge his strength and with a hint of fascination in his eyes, he thought with quite a bit of obsession, ‘If I remember correctly, one can strengthen their bodies to 5 times? Meaning this isn’t the peak yet? I feel that I can still make more inner qi surge.’

  Soon, as this thought hit his mind, he began channeling more qi throughout his entire body and finally felt that it was the limit.

  Rather than a faint blue light, he was now, emitting a thin but rich sky blue light.

  With a slight grin on his face and excitement visible. He raised his left palm, stepped on the ground at a shoulder’s length, right fist to the waist.

  In the next moment, in one swift motion, he stepped forward with his right foot and used his right hand to punch out in full force.

  Boom!

  Along with the sound of explosion, a wind shockwave visible to the naked eye emerged from his fists and cleanly parted the grass field he was on in the middle.

  The land with grass in front of his fist became bald but as it went further and further, the thinning of grass became lesser and lesser.

  Soon, Gu Xuan’s originally excited face turned pale as the muscles in his right hand began to move wildly from within, making him suffer incredible pain.

  His bottoms touched the ground and he couldn’t help but use his left hand to hold onto his right arm in hopes to reduce the pain he was feeling.

  But although his face was pale from pain, his lips were smiling as if he was crazy, his expression filled with fascination, ‘It’s not a generic cultivation world where one can use martial arts techniques like they are skills in a game?!’

  “Hahaha! Things just began to become more interesting. I wonder how many more things will surprise me in the future…” He couldn’t help but laugh out loud as his right hand was suffering from pain akin to that of muscle cramps.

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