Chapter 16: The Primordial Body Tempering Formula

These words made Xiao Xixi's footsteps falter for just an instant. She let out a soft "hmph" and said nothing more.

Inside the Immortal Arts Pavilion, the very first thing Xiao Yan saw was a vast array of floating immortal arts scrolls. His heart leaped with shock.

So many immortal arts!

Surely there had to be one that matched his constitution?

"Please place your hand on the stone platform ahead."

A faint, ethereal female voice drifted into his ears.

"Hmm?"

Xiao Yan looked around but saw no one. Given everything he had been through over the years, he managed to keep his composure.

"I am the spirit guardian of the Immortal Arts Pavilion."

The ethereal female voice continued to echo beside him: "By the rules, every disciple who newly joins our Heavenly Dao Sect may choose one immortal art."

"If you wish to choose for yourself, you may freely pick any scroll. If you would like me to choose for you, please place your hand on the stone stele ahead."

"A spirit guardian? The legendary sacred artifact spirit that Xixi mentioned? Senior spirit guardian, what is the reason I cannot cultivate?" Xiao Yan pondered for a moment before asking.

"Place your hand on the stone stele, and all will become clear," the ethereal voice replied.

"Very well. I apologize for the trouble, Senior."

With that, Xiao Yan slowly placed his hand upon the stone stele before him.

Almost immediately, a gentle wave of energy radiated from the stele. Xiao Yan felt his body shudder, and then a warm current began to flow through him.

"Senior spirit guardian, what exactly is the reason behind my constitution?" Xiao Yan asked with great care, his nerves stretched to their limit.

"Your constitution is the exceedingly rare Heaven-Forsaken Body."

Boom!

Like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky, Xiao Yan's mind buzzed and his face filled with despair.

"The Heaven-Forsaken Body!" Xiao Yan stood rooted to the spot, momentarily dazed.

He didn't know exactly what the Heaven-Forsaken Body was, but from the name alone he could tell it was not good news.

Heaven-forsaken!

Even the heavens had abandoned him?

"The so-called Heaven-Forsaken Body means that the heavens have forgotten your existence, leaving you without an elixir field and unable to refine Qi."

The spirit guardian's voice continued.

Xiao Yan smiled bitterly. "Can my elixir field be repaired?"

"Only if you had a Nine-Revolution Golden Elixir to let you live again and reforge your physical body, or if a Dao-Proven cultivator were to defy the heavens and reshape your elixir field for you. Even so, your cultivation speed would still be a thousand — even ten thousand — times slower than others."

The ethereal voice came again.

Upon hearing this, a trace of despair crept across Xiao Yan's face.

Whether it was the Nine-Revolution Golden Elixir or a Dao-Proven cultivator, he had never even heard of such things. He could not begin to imagine what realm of existence they represented.

"Does that mean I can never cultivate in this lifetime? That I'll be trampled under Liu Yanran's feet forever?" Xiao Yan said, unwilling to accept it.

"No. The fact that your elixir field cannot be repaired for now does not mean you cannot cultivate. The question is whether you can endure suffering that ordinary people cannot bear," the spirit guardian's voice continued.

"I can cultivate?" A spark of light flashed in Xiao Yan's eyes, and he said with firm resolve: "As long as I can cultivate, as long as I can grow stronger, I can endure any suffering — no matter what it is!"

"In that case, there is one immortal art that suits you best." The spirit guardian continued.

Moments later, a scroll appeared before Xiao Yan.

"What immortal art is this?" Xiao Yan asked, puzzled.

"This is a Body Tempering technique — the 'Primordial Body Tempering Formula: Flesh and Body Chapter.'"

"The Primordial Body Tempering Formula?" Xiao Yan murmured to himself.

"Because you have no elixir field, you cannot refine Qi. Yet for that very reason, you possess the ideal constitution for Body Tempering. If you master this technique, it will more than compensate for the deficiency of your elixir field — you may even surpass Qi Refining cultivators of the same level," the spirit guardian said.

"Truly?" Xiao Yan's eyes flew wide open as he cried out in astonishment.

"Indeed. However, Body Tempering requires enduring the most extreme torment of the flesh — akin to being cut by a thousand blades — before you can forge a body of unparalleled hardness. Can you bear it?" the spirit guardian asked.

"I can. Whatever the suffering, I am willing to accept it!" Xiao Yan took a deep breath and nodded earnestly.

As long as he could cultivate, what did mere physical pain matter?

"Thank you, Senior spirit guardian!" Xiao Yan expressed his sincere gratitude and reached out to grasp the scroll tightly.

Liu Yanran — in three years, I will definitely defeat you!

* * *

Outside the Immortal Arts Pavilion, Xiao Xixi fixed her gaze on Su Bai.

"If anything happens to Brother Xiao Yan, I will hold you accountable!"

"Please trust in my abilities. This world is vast — there are no shortage of factions more powerful than the Lingxiao Sect and the Yuntian Sect!"

Her eyes carried a deep and unmistakable warning. Those words made Su Bai nod in agreement.

"You're right. This world is indeed vast, and the Lingxiao Sect and Yuntian Sect are nothing remarkable."

Then, Su Bai's tone shifted entirely, and he said with a cheerful smile:

"However, as for any faction stronger than my Heavenly Dao Sect — I'm sorry, but I genuinely haven't heard of one."

"What do you mean by that?" Xiao Xixi's brow furrowed as she snapped coldly.

"I'm not sure what I mean, but — a sixteen-year-old at the Foundation Establishment Stage, unprecedented in all of Great Zhao. I'd very much like to know: why are you getting close to my disciple? What is it you're after?"

As he said this, Su Bai suddenly raised his head, a teasing smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

"You… you saw through my cultivation level?"

At those words, Xiao Xixi's pupils contracted sharply, her eyes locked onto Su Bai.

She carried a supreme treasure on her person — without making a move, it should have been absolutely impossible for anyone in the outside world to see through her cultivation!

She had always disguised herself as being at the Third Level of the Qi Refining Stage, not wanting to draw too much attention.

Yet now, someone had seen right through her secret with a single sentence!

"I not only saw through your cultivation level — I also have a question. You come from an ancient family, a young lady of considerable standing. Why is the bodyguard arranged for you only at the mere Nascent Soul Stage?"

Su Bai's gaze drifted toward a certain spot in the empty sky, his expression carrying a half-smile.

Deep within the cloud layer, a dark silhouette was caught in that gaze and immediately stiffened all over.

Discovered!

And Xiao Xixi involuntarily stepped back, staring at Su Bai with an expression of utter shock.

Not only had he seen through her — he had seen through Uncle Ying as well!

He even knew that she came from some ancient family!

Just who was this person?

Could he also be an inheritor from some ancient family?

"Is the Nascent Soul Stage not enough?" Xiao Xixi lowered her voice.

What an arrogant tone — "merely" the Nascent Soul Stage!

Merely!

One had to know that a Nascent Soul cultivator in the immortal cultivation world was a figure of patriarch-level standing — enough to prop up an entire super sect!

Even among the top-five-hundred immortal sects like the Lingxiao Sect and the Yuntian Sect, the strongest within their ranks were no more than Nascent Soul cultivators!

"Heh, it's enough for now. But what about later? I seem to recall that the previous generation's Sect Master of the Yuntian Sect entered closed-door cultivation one hundred years ago and has not died — it's quite possible he has already reached the Soul Transformation Stage by now."

"When your Brother Xiao Yan goes to the Yuntian Sect, do you really think that bodyguard of yours will be enough to protect him?"

"Your family — never mind a mere Nascent Soul cultivator, summoning a whole group of Soul Transformation cultivators or even those above Soul Transformation would be no great difficulty for them, would it?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Xixi fell silent.

It seemed… he had a point.

Up in the clouds, the dark silhouette twitched all over.

The family's doormen were all at the Soul Transformation Stage. If he, a mere Nascent Soul cultivator, wasn't staying by the young lady's side…

He was done for. He was going to lose his job!