Chapter 9: The Mysterious Purple Herb

Xu Xuan’s body arched backward like a drawn bow, his hands poised in the air in the shape of a serpent, one foot hooked above ground, while the other seemed rooted in the earth beneath him.

This was the first half of the most difficult combination in the second transformation of the Dragon Serpent technique.

Whoosh!

As he bent backward, a powerful gust swept past his nose, carried by Xu Xiaohu’s fist.

That was close!

With a margin of less than an inch, the first half of the move allowed him to narrowly evade Xu Xiaohu’s fierce attack.

Xu Xuan’s blood surged, an unprecedented vigor rising within him. Riding this momentum, he unleashed the second half of the combination with a force sharper than ever before.

Bang!

The foot suspended in midair swung up in a vicious arc, nearly describing a semicircle, and from below struck Xu Xiaohu, sending him flying.

This single kick released all the power stored in his arched body, its impact almost twice as strong as a normal full-force kick.

“Ah…”

Xu Xiaohu howled in pain, his body tumbling in midair to land face-first in the dirt, blood streaming from his nose.

As Xu Xiaohu crashed to the ground, Xu Xuan, following the momentum of his upward kick, flipped backward and landed lightly, swaying gently in place, his breath slightly ragged.

The final two moves of the combination had exhausted his strength, and now he felt somewhat spent.

Xu Xiaohu lay on the ground for a long while, unable to rise, his nostrils bleeding and one of his front teeth knocked out.

The spectators from the Xu family watched in astonishment, their eyes wide with disbelief.

Among the younger generation in the village, Xu Xiaohu was notorious for his ferocity. Yet now, this thin, frail Xu Xuan had knocked him down.

Xu Xuan’s chest heaved, his breathing fast, his mind reeling. He could scarcely believe that he had, with near-perfect technique, reversed his fortunes and put Xu Xiaohu down.

He remembered from childhood, he had always been bullied by Xu Xiaohu, never imagining that one day he would turn the tables.

“Just you wait, boy. If I don’t avenge this, I’m no gentleman…”

With Xu Xiaohu’s cold, vengeful roar ringing out, Xu Xuan picked up his herb basket and left with a calm expression.

The other villagers watched the slender youth’s departing figure and found their opinions of him beginning to change.

Having given Xu Xiaohu a taste of his own medicine, Xu Xuan felt an exhilaration unlike anything he’d known before.

Meanwhile, in the courtyard of the main Xu residence—

On the third floor of the pavilion, a heroic man of about thirty, broad-shouldered and sharp-eyed, stood beside a youth in a blue robe, fair-faced and handsome—Xu Yuan, the young master of the Xu family.

“Teacher Song, I never expected that the fierce Xu Xiaohu would be defeated by Xu Xuan.” Xu Yuan’s eyes betrayed a hint of resentment and his brows knit together. “His moves just now looked so strange…”

“Strange? I agree.” Song Heng smiled faintly, then changed his tone abruptly. “I’ve seen many schools of body refinement in Pinghua Town, but never anything as odd as those moves. And they are far more difficult than most. I suspect Xu Xuan…”

“Teacher Song, do you think Xu Xuan has met some reclusive master who taught him these body refinement techniques?”

Xu Yuan asked, his voice uncertain.

“Think about it. Without guidance, how could a poor, weak boy with average talent break through to the second stage of body refinement so quickly and master such difficult methods?”

Song Heng spoke gravely, hands behind his back, a gleam in his eyes.

Xu Yuan trusted his teacher’s words implicitly.

After all, Song Heng was the martial instructor brought in at great expense by his father to teach him body refinement. Even the uncles of the family, some at the fourth or fifth stage, treated Song Heng with deep respect.

…

“Just you wait, boy. If I don’t avenge this, I’m no gentleman…”

With Xu Xiaohu’s cold, vengeful roar echoing behind him, Xu Xuan left the village, calmly following the mountain path deeper into the hills.

After several hours of climbing, Xu Xuan finally reached the heart of the mountains.

In the past, reaching this spot would have left him breathless and exhausted.

But now, with his cultivation at the second stage of body refinement and aided by the breathing technique, he was neither flushed nor out of breath.

Even an adult at the third stage might not manage this.

It seemed even herb-gathering demanded stamina; for ordinary folk, reaching this place was no easy feat.

At last, at a certain cliffside, Xu Xuan saw a cluster of vibrant purple grass, its petals reflecting a faint glow in the sunlight.

The color and shape of this purple herb matched, at least eighty percent, the “Purple Sun Grass” described in his memories from the Compendium of Spiritual Fragrance.

According to that compendium, Purple Sun Grass was a low-grade spiritual pill ingredient, used for refining basic pills.

Spiritual pills!

For Xu Xuan, living in poverty in this remote region, such things were the stuff of dreams.

Gazing at the purple herb shimmering faintly in the sunlight, his heart raced.

As a boy, he’d often daydream of stumbling into a celestial’s cave in the wild mountains and forests, consuming legendary treasures or pills, and breaking through the limits of body refinement in one leap, stepping onto the revered path of immortal cultivation.

But as he grew older, he had come to understand that such fantasies belonged only to idle daydreams. Perhaps some would get lucky, but the odds were so slim, not even one in a million. Why should it fall to him?

Now, staring at the suspected Purple Sun Grass before him, Xu Xuan licked his lips, his eyes filled with hope.

If it truly was Purple Sun Grass, he could sell it in town for a tidy sum of spirit coins.

Following the methods recorded in the Compendium of Spiritual Fragrance, Xu Xuan carefully harvested the purple herb and placed it in his basket.

After searching the area for a long time, he finally gathered a sizable bundle.

The sun was beginning to set.

Xu Xuan’s expression grew serious. Spending the night alone in the deep mountains was unwise—not merely because of hunger and exposure.

Wild beasts sometimes prowled these parts, though he chose the safer paths. If he got lost at night and encountered a powerful beast, alone and unarmed, he might not survive.

To fight a beast barehanded required at least the fourth stage of body refinement, plus excellent weapons and courage.

He did not linger, but decisively began his descent.

Not until nightfall did Xu Xuan leave the mountain forests, shivering as wolf howls and tiger roars echoed behind him.

He couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat.

Even those at the fourth stage would not dare enter the wild forests at night.

He’d heard of some formidable body refinement practitioners—those at the seventh stage—who could kill bears and tigers barehanded. Such power! At that level, one never worried about hunger; hunting a single large beast could feed a common family for a month.

But those at the seventh stage were usually recruited by nearby powers and treated as honored guests. Even the lofty immortals regarded them warily.

As dusk enveloped the sky, Xu Xuan returned to the village and home, setting down his herb basket.

“Brother, you went up the mountain for herbs and only now returned, all dirty… Oh! You have some scratches on your face.”

Xu Huilan soon noticed the injuries on Xu Xuan.

After his fierce battle with Xu Xiaohu, he bore some minor wounds, though they were only superficial.

“It’s nothing. Xu Xiaohu got it worse,” Xu Xuan replied, a slight smile on his lips.

“Brother, be careful. If you’re not his match, don’t try to show off.”

Xu Huilan frowned, worried, quickly applying medicinal alcohol to his wounds. Their mother came over, her face full of concern.

They both assumed Xu Xuan had been bullied outside.

Xu Xuan smiled, offering no further explanation.

Later, while eating dinner, their neighbor Xu Gang arrived with a few companions, full of excitement.

“Hey, Xiao Xuan, when did you get so capable? I heard you knocked Xu Xiaohu flat outside the main Xu house!”

Xu Gang and several other youths spoke eagerly.

Led by Xu Gang, these boys had grown up with Xu Xuan and were often bullied by Xu Xiaohu.

“Yeah, Brother Xuan, you were amazing. That kick was so fierce, it sent Xu Xiaohu sprawling, unable to get up for ages.”

Another friend spoke with admiration, “Teach me some moves someday!”

Hearing this, Xu Xuan’s mother and sister were stunned, at first doubting, but as Xu Gang and his friends recounted the story, their faces filled with disbelief.

(First update, rally your votes!)