Chapter 283.2: Imperial Martial Tournament - Part 2

"Is he dead? I think he moves a bit."

"He's deader than dead. There's no way anyone under the 4th-stage can survive Nine Fang Snake Poison Pill of our young master Ding!"

"If you say so."

In the isolated suburb area outside the Red Sun City's walls, two middle-aged clansmen with grey robes with the character "Ding" tossed a corpse of a young man to a giant pit.

This place was known as a nameless mass grave, where dead bodies from the city were gathered here. Murderers, cultivators, thieves, or outlaws commonly used this place to get rid of their victims' bodies.

At night, the dead bodies in the pit always disappeared without a trace. Therefore, it was the best place to dispose of the crime evidence, witnesses, or undesirable items.

Many dead bodies had already been thrown into the pit today. Combining with the new body that the two Ding clansmen had thrown, at least 30 bodies had been piling, emitting foul smell, attracting crows and vultures.

A few minutes later after the recent corpse of a young man was added to the mountain of dead humans, mysterious light descended from the sky and entered the lifeless body.

The dead body floated and shone in the dark grey light. The tribulation cloud gathered, and one of the Heaven Eyes appeared, looking at the corpse.

[...]

Instead of interfering with the mysterious soul from entering the corpse, the eye curved up into a grin before it left the soul alone.

As soon as it left, the dead teenager opened his eyes.

The corpse came back to life!

However, the soul inside didn't belong to the teenager!

The teenager's eyes glowed in dark light. He inhaled the first breath after he had descended to this mortal world. Yet, his pupils flared in anger as he remembered what had happened to him in the other realm.

'Kishin Douji, you sex fiend! Just because I punished your goons to uphold the lower world's laws, you mobilized your men and killed me in the immortal realm! Just you wait. I'll slaughter all your Oni descendants in this world and bring their heads there! Your stupid "Pure Blood" fetish will die along with you once I regain my former strength. If I can't kill you, I can't call myself Lu Fengxian!!'

The soul inside the body of this young man, Lu Fengxian, aka Immortal Fengxian, swore with his dao oath that he would definitely ascend to the god realm and slaughter Kishin Douji's entire family to pay back for what they had done to him in the immortal realm.

However, Lu Fengxian had lost his previous godly physique and his cultivation base. The new body was so weak that even a muscle tampering newbie could easily kill him with a punch.

Lu Fengxian touched his stomach to feel his dao dantian, which he had obtained after he had become an immortal. Unfortunately, he lost the power. Even the immortal soul physique and his hard work were gone.

He sighed and lamented.

'That devil's reincarnation technique was helpful, but the sacrifices and the tributes were too damn expensive. I get to keep my life, but I have to start all over in another mortal's body. Even my soul...'

Lu Fengxian tried to feel his soul energy that he used to have when he was an 8th-stage cultivator of this world. As he had expected, nothing was left behind. Not a strand of Qi was left.

Still, Lu Fengxian had a high hope. In the past, he only reached the 7th-stage when he was 29.

Meanwhile, the current body's bone age was merely 16 years old. He might be a muscle tampering trash, but Lu Fengxian had learned many immortal-grade cultivation techniques and supreme skills.

Moreover, Lu Fengxian still had his refined senses and combat experience. He might be able to reach the 7th-stage in two or three years, which would be a lot faster and more efficient than his previous life.

The resurrected teenager sneered as he looked at the sky. He could still see red lines, indicating the weaknesses of heaven and earth!

'I may have lost my strength, but I have my memory and experience! I'll convert this useless body to a godly being, surpassing my past self! Just you wait, I'll get back there in a few years.'

Lu Fengxian was motivated to reclaim his status and power. But for now, he needed to survive.

'Where am I exactly?'

Lu Fengxian looked around and examined some of the corpses below him.

'Corpses? Oh, right. I should have been thrown to the mass grave or something. This can be a blessing in disguise. I wonder if I can find something useful in here.'

As optimistic as he was, Lu Fengxian began treasure-hunting. He searched through the dead bodies, searching for something useful, such as pills, spirit stones, money, or spare clothes.

Unfortunately, he found nothing useful.

Lu Fengxian didn't give up. He picked up a sharp rock and dissect the dead bodies, looking for solidified dantian cores or essence cores.

Among the 30 corpses, only one of them managed to solidify a weak dantian core, but that was enough for Lu Fengxian.

The reincarnator grinned.

'It's inferior to the usual essence cores, but it's enough for this weak body. Come to think of it, my lungs and my heart feel a bit groggy. Has this body been poisoned?'

Lu Fengxian took his time to digest this body's old memory.

The original owner of this body was called Ding Bu, the youngest son of Ding Yuan. Unfortunately, he had no aptitude in cultivation, so his brothers always used him as a punching bag.

Ding Bu tried to ask his father for help, but Ding Yuan refused to reprimand his sons. Instead, he encouraged Ding Bu to get stronger.

The bullying got harsher when a pretty girl in the neighborhood, who was close to Ding Bu, was found to have a unique constitution. Ding Bu's brothers desired her to be their wife, and they started seeing him as an eyesore as he didn't deserve her.

Then, Ding Bu was forced to eat a poison pill and died.

Lu Fengxian's mood became foul when he thought of what Ding Bu had gone through.

'Ding Bu's brothers and his father are scums. Well, I'll avenge you since you gave me your body. I also need their resources for my cultivation future.'

Lu Fengxian climbed out of the pit, swearing that he would avenge Ding Bu.

After he had gotten out, he barged into the nearest abandoned shack, which seemed abandoned.

Lu Fengxian sat cross-legged and stared at the tiny bead in his hand. Then, he tossed it in his mouth and began using his old technique.

'Blood is metal and water. Blood contains heat and electricity. With breath and wind, the blood shall be purified. With my Qi and my will, five elements shall unite as one...'

...

A day later, Lu Fengxian dispelled all poison within his current body, including his bodily impurity. His cultivation base sharply rose to level 10 of 3rd-stage.

With a proper cultivation technique and a bit of Qi, refining his bone marrow, forming a dantian, and opening meridian channels was as simple and breathing.

What every youth tried to learn for years could be completed within a day in the hands of Lu Fengxian!

Currently, he was at the same level as common rich young masters, and he could defeat any 4th-stage cultivator or weaker opponents with ease.

Yet, Lu Fengxian wasn't satisfied. He needed more cultivation resources if he wanted to get back to his former strength.

'This body is still too weak. Refined stones and spirit stones won't be enough. I need something like an elemental fruit, element crystals, or essence cores.'

Lu Fengxian discarded his dirty clothes and strolled toward a well, which was located at the center of the suburb.

As he was walking, several local peasants gazed at him and his dirty body. They stared at him for a moment before they averted their eyes in fear.

Most of the local peasants were commoners. Even the strongest men among them were merely muscle tampering martial artists.

This was a harsh world to live in, so people without strength were usually bullied by the strong.

Thus, a strange cultivator who had dried blood on his dirty body terrified them. They didn't dare to offend Lu Fengxian.

Lu Fengxian felt bad that his presence scared the innocent townsmen. He hurried to the well and clean himself, planning to leave this place as soon as possible.

After Lu Fengxian had finished a bath, he stole worn pants and a ragged shirt that had been abandoned and put them on before he walked toward the city.

...

While Lu Fengxian had been walking toward the Ding Clan while he was thinking what he should do with Ding Bu's brothers, the corner of his eyes spotted a public bulletin board of Red Sun City. Curious about his surroundings and landscape, he stopped to read the announcements and the posters on the board to gather information.

Then, he found something interesting.

[Imperial Martial Tournament]

Lu Fengxian's eyes brightened as he liked competition. He read the rules and the detail three times, so he wouldn't miss a single detail.

'Bone age under 20? 10,000 essence cores? What kind of low-tier tournament is this? Well, since this is a cheap-ass tournament, this will probably be a walk in the park if I join! Thanks for the essence cores in advance, suckers!'

Lu Fengxian used to grow up from the holy land, and the low-tier tournament's winners usually receive 100,000 spirit crystals, which was another form of currency, equal to essence cores.

A tournament that gave out only 10,000 essence cores as the winner's prize bored Lu Fengxian. Still, he didn't have any other source of income at the moment, so he couldn't complain.

The former immortal sneered. He started asking around for a direction toward the registration area, so he could join the competition and get the cultivation resources.

...

Getting to the registration area was not easy.

Lu Fengxian came across so many hoodlums who used to bully Ding Bu. It took him a while to slaughter them and threw them to the pit, returning the favor.

He was happy that he had run into them as he got so many useful items, pills, and spirit stones from their spatial rings. They even had brand new sets of clothes.

Currently, Lu Fengxian wore clean blue robes and a low-grade broadsword. His beggar-like appearance was no more.

While Lu Fengxian got through the guards and entered the inner city area, queuing with the other tournament candidates to register their names, he saw a group of cultivators flying above him.

At first, Lu Fengxian didn't care. But when he noticed their cultivation base, he looked at them in shock.

'Two nascent soul experts, two core pillars experts, and two essence gathering ... monsters.'

Unlike others who paid attention to Ju Shoufen or Ku'er, Lu Fengxian sensed the abnormal presence and the aura of Ma Moxi and Miaomiao. His experience told him that these two young men were more dangerous than the others.

Instead of being intimidated by their presence, Lu Fengxian couldn't stop smiling.

He was delighted. Worthy opponents had appeared!

'Fuahahahaha! Who could have thought that promising youngsters are living in this god-forsaken continent!? What a pity. Had I met them earlier, I could have taken them as my disciples. Oh well, I guess I can take them under my wings once I beat them.'