Chapter 118: Wind-Element Puppet

Xiahou Lu took out five Primordial Spirit Pearls to exchange for Li Sibai’s Xuantian Jade-Cleansing Pills. He did not really know how potent the pills were, so he had no idea what an appropriate exchange would be. Still, he did not want Li Sibai to suffer a loss.

Seeing Li Sibai hesitate, he assumed that the offer was not satisfactory and hurriedly said, “If you think that isn’t suitable, Young Hero Li, then I’ll exchange five Primordial Spirit Pearls for four hundred Xuantian Jade-Cleansing Pills. I’d actually like to challenge a few more cultivation-technique lanes, but unfortunately I don’t have many Primordial Spirit Pearls left. This is all I can offer.”

Li Sibai waved his hands repeatedly. “That’s not what I meant, Young Master Xiahou. Five hundred is five hundred; I have no objection.”

Li Sibai himself had no real concept of the exchange ratio. He had simply been shocked at seeing Primordial Spirit Pearls for the first time. Though he had never used one, he knew that they were definitely superior to Xuantian Jade-Cleansing Pills. Whether they could compare with Xuantian Grand Purity Pills, he did not know. But since he had no idea where to obtain the latter for now, he might as well exchange for some Primordial Spirit Pearls first.

He happened to have six hundred Xuantian Jade-Cleansing Pills on him. Since he also intended to attempt a challenge, he gave Xiahou Lu four hundred pills in exchange for four Primordial Spirit Pearls, keeping two hundred for himself.

The stout Tai Cheng had been resting nearby. When he saw his young master hand four Primordial Spirit Pearls to Li Sibai, he was startled and hurried over.

“Young Master, what are you doing?”

“Oh, Tai Cheng. I need the specially refined Xuantian Jade-Cleansing Pills of the Xuantian Sword Sect to enter the cultivation-technique lanes, so I exchanged some with Young Hero Li.”

“Exchanged some?” Tai Cheng glanced at Li Sibai, his face full of suspicion. “Young Master, how exactly did you make the exchange?”

Xiahou Lu felt somewhat displeased. After all, he was the young master, while Tai Cheng was merely his attendant. Nevertheless, he kept smiling and patiently explained the entire matter.

Tai Cheng became furious as soon as he heard it. “Young Master, that ratio isn’t appropriate.”

Tai Cheng never worried about speaking out of turn. Whatever came to mind, he said.

Li Sibai stood to one side, feeling extremely awkward. He was just about to say that they could renegotiate if necessary when Xiahou Lu abruptly waved his hand and struck his fan against his palm.

“Tai Cheng, I have made up my mind. Don’t say anything more.”

With that, he turned and headed straight toward the disciple at the reception desk.

Seeing his young master like this, Tai Cheng knew that nothing could be changed. He glared fiercely at Li Sibai with such hatred that it seemed he wanted to devour him alive.

His young master was good in every way, Tai Cheng thought resentfully, except that he was far too kind and far too easy to deceive. This Li Sibai was clearly a swindler. He had followed them from the library and tricked his young master into trusting him. Who would have thought he had been waiting for this moment—to cheat their young master out of his Primordial Spirit Pearls? As his young master’s attendant, he had failed to protect his master’s property. It was all this fellow’s fault. The more he thought about it, the more hateful Li Sibai seemed.

Li Sibai noticed Tai Cheng’s expression and knew that the man had misunderstood him. He could only shake his head helplessly. He did not bother explaining. He, too, walked toward the receiving disciple.

After all, this stout man’s misunderstanding of him was not something that could be cleared up with a few words. Rather than waste his breath here, it was better to attend to his own affairs first. In time, Tai Cheng would naturally understand that he was not that sort of person.

By then, Xiahou Lu had already completed the formalities. He had chosen the green cultivation-technique lane and received the pass token belonging to him.

Li Sibai clicked his tongue inwardly. In his estimation, Xiahou Lu’s strength was roughly on par with He Tianshu’s. He should be at the fourth level of the Qin Heart Realm, or at most the fifth—still somewhat weaker than Guo Jian.

According to what the receiving disciple had said earlier, even the weakest puppets in the purple cultivation-technique lanes possessed cultivation at the third level of the Qin Heart Realm. Wouldn’t that mean the puppets in the green lanes possessed cultivation at the sixth level?

Although they were only puppets and could not match real people in combat experience or adaptability, their bodies were certainly far more resistant to blows than those of ordinary cultivators.

Li Sibai found the pass token for the wind-based cultivation-technique lane he had chosen and asked the receiving disciple about his thoughts. The disciple nodded, confirming his guess, and then cast the two of them a sympathetic look.

What a strange day, he thought. No one had come for half a day, and then two fools had arrived at once. Both intended to challenge opponents above their level. They must have had more money than sense.

Xiahou Lu, walking ahead, paid no attention to what the disciple thought. He cupped his fists toward Li Sibai and said, “Young Hero Li, I’ll go in first. See you later.”

Li Sibai did not hesitate either. After replying that he would see him later, the two entered the cultivation-technique lanes one after the other.

Although they were called lanes, they were actually a collection of individual rooms scattered throughout the entire courtyard in an orderly fashion. A wooden plaque hung beside the entrance to each room, bearing the name of the corresponding cultivation-technique lane.

After parting from Xiahou Lu, Li Sibai quickly found the wind-based lane he had chosen. A single large character—“Wind”—was written on the wooden plaque outside. He took out his pass token and gently swiped it across the entrance. A stone door slowly opened.

Li Sibai hurriedly slipped through. His vision blurred, and a spacious room appeared before him. Behind him, he heard the stone door slowly closing.

He carefully surveyed the room. It was unlike what he had imagined. There was no arena, only sand covering the entire floor. The sand seemed to have been disturbed by the wind, lying in disordered heaps across the ground.

As Li Sibai was examining his surroundings, a violent gust suddenly rose. The room’s mechanisms creaked and groaned, and then the door directly ahead opened. A puppet walked out.

The puppet stood eight feet tall and had been crafted with astonishing precision. It was indistinguishable from a real person. The moment it appeared, it began forming hand seals. Li Sibai knew that it was preparing to cast a wind-based spell, and he did not dare to be careless. He immediately activated his Qi-powered Violet Light Divine Eyes.

At the same time, the surrounding sand seemed to respond to the puppet’s summons. It transformed into a series of sand swords—more than twenty of them—which shot toward Li Sibai like a rain of blades.

Through his Violet Light Divine Eyes, Li Sibai saw everything clearly. Though the sand itself was ordinary, after being strengthened by the wind-based spell, it was no weaker than an ordinary sharp sword. The slightest mistake would leave him skewered like candied fruit on a stick.

“No wonder this is called a cultivation-technique lane,” Li Sibai thought.

With the Purple Bamboo in his sea of consciousness working in tandem with the observations of his Qi-powered Violet Light Divine Eyes, he immediately worked out the best battle strategy.

He could not withstand the attack head-on. Although his body had been tempered once in the Bamboo Cavern, his overall defensive strength was still nowhere near enough to endure the sand swords directly. Besides, he possessed no defensive cultivation techniques.

At present, he had only one option: evade.

The Violet Light Divine Eyes flashed. After undergoing body tempering, Li Sibai’s speed and agility had increased dramatically. He moved nimbly through the rain of swords, calculating every movement with perfect precision. Dodging left and right, he actually managed to evade the entire barrage.

End of chapter.

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