Chapter 1959 Taming the Gourd

“Don’t move!”

Seeing the gourd about to rush over at any moment and swallow the pill, Zhang Xuan’s face darkened.

He had been scared by this fool’s habit of snatching things.

Whenever there was something good, it was sharper than a dog’s nose, popping out in an instant… A pill bought for two hundred Sword Pavilion coins—if you swallow it, how am I supposed to break through in cultivation?

“Give it to me to eat…”

The gourd wriggled: “Didn’t I tell you? The gourd is just my appearance. I myself am a supreme divine beast that roams heaven and earth, riding the wind and clouds. As long as I recover my power, I can take you galloping across the world, with no one able to stand against us… Giving it to me to eat is far better than increasing your cultivation a little…”

“Get lost!”

Seeing this guy so talkative, veins bulging on his forehead, Zhang Xuan kicked it aside and swallowed the pill in his palm in one gulp.

Trying to trick me out of my medicine—nice try!

Gurgle, gurgle!

The pill melted as soon as it entered his throat, a surge of mighty power spreading through his body. The strength that had been stagnant before advanced once again.

Late stage of Shattering Void!

Peak stage of Shattering Void!

After taking two mid-grade Immortal Origin Pills, his cultivation had reached the very peak of the fourth level of Ancient Sage, only one step away from the Void Immortal realm.

Feeling the abundant power within him, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief.

Though this level of strength was nothing much in the Lingyun Sword Pavilion, among inner disciples, it was definitely top-notch.

There were still three Immortal Origin Pills left. He gave two to his clone to help it break through smoothly, and one to the Ruthless Man, both of whom successfully advanced to the peak of Shattering Void.

These two were his trump cards. In danger, it was equivalent to suddenly doubling his strength—not to be overlooked.

“What about mine…”

Seeing the five pills quickly distributed, the gourd was full of resentment.

“All you know is eating, utterly useless. The pills are gone…” Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

“You drank my bathwater!” said the gourd.

“I don’t need a waste. Apart from eating all day, what have you ever done? When danger comes, you don’t come out to help. Why should I give you pills?” Zhang Xuan said angrily.

“You drank my bathwater!” said the gourd.

“You hide in my dantian every day, secretly absorbing my Heavenly Dao true energy—don’t think I don’t know! You’re nothing but a parasite. And you still act righteous? It’s good enough that I haven’t driven you out…” Zhang Xuan gritted his teeth.

“You drank my bathwater!” said the gourd.

“…” Zhang Xuan trembled: “Can we not mention the bathwater?”

“My bathwater healed your injuries! And you sold it to others and made money!” the gourd continued.

Zhang Xuan’s head ached: “Fine, you say you’re a divine beast that roams heaven and earth. How about this: if you acknowledge me as your master and obey me from now on, I’ll buy you mid-grade Immortal Origin Pills right now, even better medicines! Help you recover as soon as possible!”

“Acknowledge you as master?” The gourd wriggled.

“That’s right, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. As long as you become my spirit beast, you can absorb my true energy freely, and I’ll work hard to earn money and give you enough pills to help you recover as soon as possible!” Zhang Xuan said.

This gourd—though he didn’t know its level or exactly what it was—the soup from boiling it could heal injuries, with effects even more powerful than Heavenly Dao true energy. Its level must be high!

Even if it wasn’t the heaven-and-earth-roaming divine beast it claimed to be, it probably wasn’t too bad!

Otherwise, it couldn’t snatch things and hide in his dantian, leaving even him, at his current level, powerless.

Therefore, such a powerful thing should first be taken as a pet and bound by contract.

Otherwise, once it truly recovered, it would certainly be uncontrollable.

“I am a supreme divine beast that roams heaven and earth, riding the wind and clouds. It’s already good enough that you don’t bow to me, and you still want to tame me? Simply a dream…”

The gourd snorted, but before it finished speaking, it saw Zhang Xuan ponder for a moment, then move his hand, producing a mid-grade Immortal Origin Pill in his palm.

“Hmph, I am a supreme divine beast that roams heaven and earth, riding the wind and clouds. Do you think I would yield for a single pill?”

Drooling, the gourd struggled to restrain itself.

Saying nothing, Zhang Xuan turned his wrist, and another mid-grade Immortal Origin Pill appeared in his palm.

He had four hundred Sword Pavilion coins left and bought two more.

“Two pills won’t do either. At least… at least… at least twenty, no, a hundred pills!” The gourd turned proudly.

“A hundred? Fine, go play by yourself. I’ll rest a while…”

His eyebrow twitching, Zhang Xuan couldn’t be bothered to continue the nonsense. He turned his hand and put the pills back into his storage ring.

One mid-grade Immortal Origin Pill cost two hundred Sword Pavilion coins. A hundred would be a full twenty thousand… Even if he exhausted himself to death on the competition stage, he couldn’t earn that much!

Since that was the case, forget it.

“Well, actually, the pill matter is negotiable…”

Drooling nonstop, the gourd quickly turned around, its voice no longer firm but ingratiating: “How about this: you give me these two first… then get me another eight or ten, and I’ll consider acknowledging you as master…”

To it, this person’s cultivation was not high, but the true energy in his body gave it a comfortable feeling, and it vaguely carried a transcendent natural power. To be honest, acknowledging him as master was not unacceptable…

But if it agreed as soon as he asked, wouldn’t that make it, the gourd, seem worthless?

“Here!”

Seeing it let go, Zhang Xuan said no more. He flicked his finger, and two pills appeared at his fingertip again, flying straight over.

Whoosh!

Swallowing them, the gourd let out a burp, still unsatisfied: “These medicines are decent, but the grade is too low. For me, the higher the better...”

Zhang Xuan’s eyebrows twitched.

He had swallowed two, easily breaking through from the late stage of Shattering Void to the peak, yet this guy hadn’t changed at all... How could it eat so much!

Could it be that he really had to get it a hundred pills, or ones of a higher grade?

“Being able to easily swallow a mid-grade Immortal Essence Pill without any change means this guy’s level is definitely higher than imagined... First, tame it!”

Knowing that this creature was different from the spirit beasts and sacred beasts he had tamed before, and that the beating taming method was useless, Zhang Xuan paused, let the creature return to his dantian, and then, with a mental shift, returned to the Divine Connection Hall.

He had thought that winning over fourteen hundred Sword Pavilion coins from the bet would last him a while and let him live a comfortable life, but he never dreamed that less than two hours after coming out, he would be broke again.

At most, he had only thirty-two Sword Pavilion coins, not even enough to buy a fifth of the pills.

“Still need to make money...”

Rubbing his brow helplessly, he walked back toward the arena of the Divine Connection Hall.

...

At the very top of the peak where inner disciples resided.

In a courtyard perched on a cliff, a young man sat cross-legged on the ground, eyes tightly shut.

The thick spiritual energy in the sky slowly gathered around him, forming a huge vortex.

All his acupoints opened, devouring this spiritual energy like a pond gathering streams. After an unknown time, he suddenly opened his mouth.

Whoosh!

A sword of qi shot straight out, landing on a nearby rock and leaving a crack.

If one looked closely, this sword qi was exactly the spiritual energy he had just swallowed, without the slightest difference.

He absorbed the spiritual energy but did not condense it into true qi; instead, he ejected it through another method.

After doing this, he slowly opened his eyes and saw another young man approaching with a faint smile on his face.

“What? Still not breaking through? How long do you plan to suppress your cultivation?”

“I want to continue tempering and honing my sword intent. As for breaking through, we’ll talk later!” The first young man stood up.

“You’ve been tempering for a full three years now!” said the second young man.

“Three years is still too little. That Ten-Mile Sword God who once appeared in the Sword Pavilion tempered his sword intent for a full ten years before breaking through to the Void Immortal realm! That was when his sword left its sheath and shocked the world! Although I can’t match his talent, I also want to go further!”

The first young man responded, then looked at the young man before him and asked, “What brings you here to find me? Want to spar?”

“No sparring, I can’t beat you anyway... Just now, Zhu Yanhe and Wei Suifeng came to find me. They told me something I found very interesting. Want to hear it?”

The second young man smiled.

“Those two always cut corners and don’t want to cultivate hard. What could they have to say? I still need to cultivate, so I won’t see them...”

The first young man shook his head, apparently not fond of those two.

“Don’t refuse so quickly. Let me finish...” As if expecting this reaction, the second young man said, “They said that in the inner disciples’ Divine Connection Hall, they encountered a sword expert. The two of them fought him in a relay, but couldn’t even force him to use his ultimate move!”

“A relay battle, and they couldn’t force out his ultimate move?”

Startled, the first young man frowned: “Zhu Yanhe and Wei Suifeng, though they have their schemes, entered the sect early and have real strength at the peak of Shattering Void. Their understanding of swordsmanship is decent among inner disciples... For the two of them to fight in a relay and not even make him use his ultimate move at the same level... That’s impossible, right?”

“I saw it. It’s true. They even brought a recording. Want to take a look?”

Seeing he was curious, the second young man said.

“Let them in!”

Saying no more, the first young man waved his hand.

“Alright!” The second young man responded. In a moment, two figures walked in.

They were none other than Zhu Yanhe and “Nightfall,” whom Zhang Xuan had fought earlier in the Divine Connection Hall.

“Nightfall” was just a nickname; his real name was Wei Suifeng.

“Greetings, Senior Brother Liu! Senior Brother Liu!”

Arriving before them, the two bowed.

The two before them were none other than Liu Lujie, ranked first among inner disciples, and Wang Jiandong, ranked third!

“You say a master appeared in the Divine Connection Hall?”

The first young man, Liu Lujie, looked over with a calm expression.

“Yes!” Zhu Yanhe nodded, flipped his wrist, and produced a recording crystal, handing it over: “This is the recording of our battle with him. Please take a look, Senior Brother!”

Glancing at Wang Jiandong, who said nothing, Liu Lujie pointed his finger, sending a stream of true qi into it.

Hum!

The recording activated, and the scene of their battle appeared before them.

“Seeing through the flaw in your ultimate move at a glance... drawing the sword without releasing?”

His eyes fixed on it, after a moment, Liu Lujie’s eyebrows suddenly shot up.