Chapter 1297: Li Xiongtu's Persistence

Under Lord Zi's deterrence, all the girls were so frightened that they hid outside. They were as silent as cicadas in winter, every one of them with their ears perked up to listen to the activity inside, for fear that they would miss out on instructions and get into huge trouble...

This lord had the guts to even scold the clan leader while mentioning his full name; even if he were to kill the few of them, there was probably nobody in the Li Clan who would dare to question him. In fact, they would probably even give him words of praise —"Good job killing them! What's the point of keeping them when they are so lazy... I wanted to kill them long ago..."

When he raised the question, the few girls naturally heard him immediately.

Cowering, a white-robed teenage girl replied, "The ones living next door are two of our young masters."

"Hmm?" Chu Yang's eyelid shifted slightly. "Come in and answer me!"

"The one on the right is the Eldest Young Master of the clan, Li Jue. The one on the left is the Little Young Master, Li Xiongtu," answered the white-robed girl with her head lowered as she walked in hesitantly.

After Li Xiongtu had returned to his origins and acknowledged his ancestors, he didn't join the age ranking in the clan. All the servants of the Li Clan addressed him as 'Little Young Master'.

"Li Xiongtu?" A flash went across Chu Yang's eyes.

It's actually him?

"Yes, ever since Little Young Master came back, he has been publicly acknowledged as the clan's cultivation madman. Little Young Master's diligence and hard work are top-notch even in the entire Li Clan." There was appreciation and admiration on the white-robed girl's face.

No matter which world, men who were diligent in improving themselves were always thought of highly by women. In this world, the so-called 'self-improvement' was cultivation!

"Oh..." Chu Yang waved her off thoughtfully. "You're dismissed."

The white-robed girl responded and exited the room with small steps. Toward this Lord Zi, these few girls were all rather puzzled. Because he had specifically asked for beautiful women to wait upon him, when they came here, all of them were filled with hopelessness and pessimism, certain that they were not going to be able to escape the fate of humiliation this time.

Unexpectedly, after this fellow had asked for them, he didn't even take a proper look at them.

What was going on? After the few girls had 'narrowly escaped death', they became rather perplexed instead. Could it be that this fellow didn't have... that kind of ability at all? And so, he had deliberately asked for a few beautiful women as cover?

When this thought occurred to them, all of them felt that this was highly probable.

And so, the few girls were even more careful in their actions. Supposedly, such people, because of this and that leading to so and so, they were all very you-know-what deep down in their hearts...

We must be careful and take absolute care not to end up being you-know-what... by him... because of you-know-what...

...

After putting in full effort to absorb the Earth Core Fire for a while, he could sense that the heat beneath his feet had already weakened somewhat. With a splash, Chu Yang got up from the pool and put on his clothes.

Yes, robes of white from head to toe.

This was the first time that Chu Yang had worn clothes of other colors ever since he came to the Upper Three Heavens.

He had always worn black robes.

And they were black robes that Wu Qianqian had made at that.

Ever since he became aware of those few words at the hem of the robes, every time Chu Yang wanted to change his clothes, those few words would appear as though a curse —'Chu Yang, Qianqian likes you'.

That was why he decided to stop wearing the black robes which Wu Qianqian had made...

When he thought of this, he would inevitably be reminded of the Wu Qianqian who was laying in the Nine Tribulations Space in a state between life and death after taking a palm strike from a ninth-grade Supreme Martial Artist in order to protect him.

Chu Yang's mood couldn't help but become somewhat heavy.

Sigh, the Nine Revival Herb...

...

"I'm going out for a while to take a look at this Little Young Master. Don't follow me." Chu Yang informed them of his plans and walked out calmly.

When the girls saw that he had actually come out today, all of them got a shock. But when they heard what he said, their hearts settled back down.

Chu Yang floated out like a wisp of smoke.

In the courtyard next door, under the shine of starlight, Li Xiongtu's big and tall physique looked even bigger and taller, and even more imposing. In such frigid weather, he surprisingly wore only a pair of shorts that was secured at the waist.

Right now, all of his cultivation had been used up. He was using pure muscle strength to carry and move a gigantic piece of Star Iron on the ground.

Based on Chu Yang's visual estimation, this piece of Star Iron was at least 2,500 kilograms!

If Li Xiongtu's cultivation was still intact, carrying it wouldn't pose any problem. However, right now, he had no internal energy whatsoever left in his meridians at all. In addition, more than half of his physical strength had already been expended.

Sinewy muscle lines surfaced throughout his body. Following a low grunt, the Star Iron left the ground.

Li Xiongtu's entire body trembled for a moment. Following yet another grunt, he gradually lifted and raised the Star Iron above his head.

A hint of admiration flashed past Chu Yang's eyes. Most people needed to release a loud and forceful shout in order to expel the stale air within their lungs when exerting such incredible strength. The term 'aspiration' wasn't just for show.

Making sounds with an exhalation of breath before one exerted strength could increase one's confidence, as well as allow the stale air within them to be expelled. The louder the sound, the more strength one could exhibit...

Yet Li Xiongtu did not do so. It was apparent that he was afraid of disturbing others' rest. Him being able to live here was proof of just how important the Li Clan saw him. He didn't need to care this much, but he had considered this nonetheless — This was the part which Chu Yang had admired about him.

Holding the Star Iron above him, Li Xiongtu adjusted his breathing. Then, he started to walk around the courtyard slowly. Every step he took, the ground underneath his feet shook violently.

Chu Yang noticed that tied to Li Xiongtu's body and arms were several bags made out of animal skins. The inside of the bags was completely filled up, most likely with high-density metals!

On his ankles, two large bags were attached. When they landed with every step he took, they crashed so hard onto the ground that the ground shook.

If one were to total up the weight of everything on him, the current weights on Li Xiongtu came up to at least 4,000 kilograms!

To shoulder such weight using pure muscle strength, this fellow clearly held no regard for his life for the sake of cultivation.

Li Xiongtu's walking speed became faster and faster. Droplets of perspiration trailed down his naked upper body. Bouts of white steam emanated from his body.

When Chu Yang took a close look at Li Xiongtu's cultivation, he couldn't help but get a huge shock.

Li Xiongtu should have entered the Upper Three Heavens at the same time that Dong Wushang and the others did.

But now, he was already a fifth-grade Martial Saint!

How could he have improved this fast?

Chu Yang was filled with astonishment. Dong Wushang should have broken through to first-grade Supreme Martial Artist by now. However, a large part of his cultivation was thanks to Rui Butong, as well as his help... With no regard for cost, he had used countless elixirs and spirit herbs, including those which didn't belong to this realm, to catalyze his cultivation.

However, Li Xiongtu did not have such resources. Him being a fifth-grade Monarch should already have been outside of expectations, much less a fifth-grade Martial Saint!

One must understand that when Li Xiongtu had come up to the Upper Three Heavens, he was only a third or fourth-grade Emperor.

However, Li Xiongtu in front of Chu Yang now was a through and through fifth-grade Martial Saint! Chu Yang found this rather strange.

He watched as Li Xiongtu walked while perspiration poured down his body like rain. His body was shaking the entire time, as though he would collapse the very next moment, even though he didn't. Every muscle in his body trembled...

Chu Yang discovered that every time Li Xiongtu was close to collapsing, he would mutter fiercely.

He turned his full attention to catch what he was saying.

"...I can do it!" Li Xiongtu panted heavily.

"...The clan has placed huge hopes on me... If I don't work hard, I'll look down on myself!"

"I want revenge!"

"Dong Wushang... I wonder what cultivation level you are now... I want to fight you!"

"Dong Wushang... I want to fight you!"

"Benefits that came without rhyme or reason... Why is that?"

"Why!"

"Why?! I'm not comfortable with this!"

...

Li Xiongtu bellowed lowly, his voice was soft and indistinct and only audible to himself. Toward the end, his physical strength had obviously reached its limit. He let out a bellow with every step he took.

He was like a helpless and tragic ant carrying a huge mountain on its back and moving forward as best as he could!

Chu Yang sighed lightly in his heart.

Li Xiongtu continued to take step after step staunchly... At last, his legs could no longer withstand the weight. With a thud, his left knee dropped to the ground.

With his entire body trembling, he continued to hold the Star Iron above him. His lips trembled as he half-knelt on the ground. "1,358 steps; that's five more steps than previously... I didn't manage to get up the last time. This time, I want to get up!"

He bellowed in a low voice with great effort non-stop, trying his best to summon his remaining strength to get up. But he really didn't have any strength left in him. It was already a commendable and rare feat that he could still remain upright. However, he wasn't going to be able to get back up no matter what.

After a long while, he let out a throaty grunt. His large-built body slowly sank to the ground. He laid on the ground with the heavy Star Iron weighing on top of him.

He panted heavily. At this moment, Li Xiongtu's eyes were savage and wild.

A girl dressed in white robes dashed out of the room. Her gentle eyes were full of heartache. Holding a cup of water, she walked over to Li Xiongtu and comforted him gently, "Divine techniques aren't achieved in a day... Young Master, you're already very diligent. You'll succeed sooner or later..."

Li Xiongtu let out a tragic laugh and downed the cup of water. He abruptly circulated his energy and the Star Iron fell off from on top of him with a crash. He got onto his feet with great strength.

"Divine techniques aren't achieved in a day; of course I know that. But I don't have much time left. My rivals are crazier and crazier one after the other!" Li Xiongtu continued calmly, "I want to walk at the front! Even if I train with all my might like this, compared to them, I may not necessarily be able to walk at the front!"

The white-robed girl replied with much heartache, "Young Master, you're always talking about your rivals... Who exactly are your rivals? Are they the young masters of the other few Super Clans?"

"How could they possibly be fit to be my rivals!" Li Xiongtu snorted. "My rivals... Only people who are worthy of my respect are my rivals. The young masters of the Nine Super Clans... hurhur... If they had been born in the same environment as my rivals, these young masters would have died a tragic death long ago!"

The eyes of the white-robed girl were rather stunned and worried. "If they are enemies, wouldn't the problem be solved if the clan sends a few experts to kill them? Why do you need to torment yourself like this?"

"Nonsense!" Li Xiongtu panted as he replied harshly, "My rivals are heroes and good men! They are my rivals, not my enemies! Toward my rivals, I want to put in my all to win the battle and conquer them! Even if I die in their hands someday, I have no regrets! I believe that even if they die in my hands, they will not have any regrets either!"

"Only fighting them fair and square is it my, Li Xiongtu's, style! If I borrow the strength of others to defeat my rivals, what do I amount to!"