The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

Chapter 410: Chapter 397: Fight

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Divine Dust shook his head. "Amitabha Buddha. This humble monk is sincerely inviting Donor Bai to be a guest at Xuanfa Temple, not to come seeking a fight."

Seeing that Divine Dust truly had no intention of making a move, Bai Yuan couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

He had challenged so many different schools, yet he had never crossed blades with an expert from a Buddhist sect.

As the Buddha’s Son of Xuankong Temple, Divine Dust was the perfect opponent. It was just a shame that this fight was clearly not going to happen today.

His fighting spirit gone, Bai Yuan turned to head back into the city. "In that case, Master, please return to Xuankong Temple. I will not be going."

But unexpectedly, Divine Dust didn’t seem to mind in the slightest.

"May I ask, Donor Bai, is that our Buddhist sect’s Dragon and Tiger Vajra Strength that you practice?"

Bai Yuan’s steps faltered. He turned back. "It is. What of it?"

He had obtained his Dragon and Tiger Vajra Strength from the Court’s No. 1 Heavenly Library. It wasn’t a secret, and there was nothing shameful about it.

Seeing Bai Yuan turn back, Divine Dust smiled faintly. "And what if my Xuanfa Temple possesses the true, complete version of the Dragon and Tiger Vajra Strength?"

His eyes shone with absolute certainty.

But to his surprise, Bai Yuan simply turned his head back again, strode toward the city gate, and tossed a single, indifferent phrase over his shoulder.

"Not interested."

...

A hush fell beneath the city gate.

Divine Dust was speechless.

He hadn’t expected Bai Yuan to actually refuse.

Xuanfa Temple had already looked into Bai Yuan; the man was obsessed with Cultivation Techniques. And this time, Xuanfa Temple was offering the complete version of the Dragon and Tiger Vajra Strength!

All Bai Yuan had to do was stay at Xuanfa Temple for a year or two and focus on his training to obtain a supreme legacy technique. He truly couldn’t fathom a reason for him to refuse.

A soft sigh escaped his lips.

Amitabha Buddha.

Divine Dust said no more.

He simply supported Guihai, slowly walking away from Binzhou City.

As Bai Yuan walked into Binzhou City, the crowds parted for him wherever he went.

Just then, Yue Xiaobai also made his way down from the top of the city wall.

He gave Bai Yuan a complicated look. ’So when we sparred before, Bai Yuan wasn’t even using his full strength.’

"How did it feel?"

"Average."

"..."

If anyone else had heard that, they would have thought Bai Yuan was just showing off.

He’d beaten the Zhengyang Sect’s number one genius half to death and then simply rated the experience "average." Truly, the most devastating flex is the one you don’t even seem to notice you’re making.

But only Bai Yuan knew his evaluation was from the heart.

’It wasn’t that Guihai was too weak. It’s that if today had been a true life-and-death battle, the one to die would have been me.’

’Guihai could break through the Mingxin Pass at any moment.’

’Once he entered the Mingxin realm, I would be no match for him at all.’

’Divine Dust’s situation was much the same.’

He had long since heard from Xiaobai that the more talented a disciple from a major sect, the more they liked to suppress their cultivation level. It wasn’t because they enjoyed suffering; it was because their ambitions were far-reaching.

The Mingxin realm was never their goal. Divine Connection was. Or, to be more precise, the legendary Martial Saint Pass.

That was why, even as those with less aptitude than Guihai and Divine Dust broke through to the Mingxin realm long before them, the two remained unhurried, constantly refining their foundations.

Yue Xiaobai asked, "Are you really not interested in the Dragon and Tiger Vajra Strength?"

He knew Bai Yuan all too well. It was no exaggeration to say the man’s obsession with Cultivation Techniques was a matter of life and death. For him to refuse today was something Yue Xiaobai hadn’t anticipated.

In his view, there were a hundred benefits and no drawbacks to Bai Yuan going to Xuanfa Temple to practice the complete version of the Dragon and Tiger Vajra Strength.

Whether it was the scholars or the soldiers, wasn’t serving the Court just a means to become stronger?

Besides, Bai Yuan was only invited to Xuanfa Temple for an academic exchange. The Court wouldn’t make a fuss over it.

Bai Yuan replied, "Of course I’m interested."

But he added a silent caveat: ’Just not right now.’

Thanks to Mr. Yuan, his current reserves of Cultivation Techniques were terrifyingly vast. The Dragon and Tiger Vajra Strength would be nice to have, but its absence wasn’t a major issue.

’The day I break through to Divine Connection, I can just go take it myself, just like Elder Pei did.’

’The Cloud Ladder Leap isn’t a Dragon Tiger Sect technique, but didn’t Elder Pei manage to get his hands on it anyway?’

Besides, he didn’t believe for a second that going to Xuanfa Temple right now would be a trivial matter.

If his Master hadn’t broken through, going would have been fine.

But at this particular moment, going would undoubtedly arouse the suspicion of Emperor Li Chengyuan.

No matter how magnanimous an emperor may appear, none would tolerate even the slightest threat to their throne. Isn’t that the very meaning of the saying, "serving a lord is like sleeping with a tiger?"

...

The Jianghu People who had gathered in Binzhou began to disperse.

Before long, news of what had happened here would be spread across the land by these very people.

Some gossips had already begun to hail Bai Yuan as the undisputed number one below the Mingxin realm. If even Guihai and Divine Dust were no match for him, then surely he had no equal in the present age.

Bai Yuan’s fame skyrocketed.

Some storytellers had even prepared tales of his rise from a simple village Hunter to the greatest under heaven, ready to be spread throughout the lands of Xuan Yang.

In a residence in Binzhou.

Yue Xiaobai was once again staying at Bai Yuan’s residence.

After this experience, he discovered that sticking close to Bai Yuan was the fastest way for him to improve.

He had previously been in seclusion at Xiyue, thinking he had made leaps and bounds in his training. To his dismay, he found he had only been left further in the dust by Bai Yuan. It... It was simply against all reason.

The current Bai Yuan was a prodigy who had assimilated the techniques of a hundred different schools. He was the perfect partner for practicing moves. Fighting him was like sparring with a hundred different people. Aside from the fact that you could never win, the value proposition was simply off the charts.

At that moment, Bai Yuan was holding a secret letter.

The letter’s contents were simple: Guihai and Divine Dust had broken through to the Mingxin Pass.

According to intelligence from the Xuan Yang Court’s spies, the two had entered seclusion immediately upon returning to their respective sects from Binzhou and then broken through. It all seemed so effortless. What was an insurmountable chasm for others was a smooth, open road for them.

Bai Yuan wasn’t the least bit surprised by this.

Given their deep foundations, it would have been perfectly natural for them to have a breakthrough while simply strolling down an Official Road.

Life returned to its normal rhythm.

Bai Yuan continued to slay monsters in Binzhou, sometimes even traveling to Xiangzhou. Naturally, the pace of his power progression was incredibly fast.

Just as he was deep in the grind, a letter from Jiangzhou arrived and disrupted everything.

"Change in the forbidden ground. Come at once. —Pei."

The letter was brief, but it put Bai Yuan on high alert.

The letter was, of course, from Elder Pei.

Before he had left the Dragon Tiger Sect, he had asked Elder Pei to keep an eye out for any unusual activity from the Qilin Great Demon.

He hadn’t expected something to happen so quickly.

’Could the Demon Seed have really appeared at the Dragon Tiger Sect?!’

At this thought, Bai Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The matter of the Dragon Tiger Sect’s forbidden ground was tied to the Divine Mansion. The Qilin Great Demon had once said that a mysterious expert had told it to wait for a destined person from a future generation, who would then grant it its freedom.

Bai Yuan had long suspected that this "destined person" was most likely the Demon Seed.

’If I can open those three palaces, I’m sure to obtain an incredible fortuitous encounter!’

’This is a huge opportunity!’

Without further delay, Bai Yuan immediately set off for the Dragon Tiger Sect. Upon learning of this, Yue Xiaobai surprisingly decided to follow him south.

...

「Seven days later.」

Bai Yuan and Yue Xiaobai traveled day and night, changing Demon Horses three times along the way. After crossing thousands of miles, they finally arrived at the foot of Dragon Tiger Mountain in Jiangzhou.

"You’ve arrived."

Elder Pei was sitting on a large boulder beside the stone steps leading up the mountain, looking like an Old Immortal of the mountains.

Bai Yuan and Yue Xiaobai bowed in unison.

"Daoist Pei."

Elder Pei showed no surprise at seeing Yue Xiaobai. After all, the two had spent some time together in the Capital City, and Elder Pei had even offered Yue Xiaobai guidance on multiple occasions.

The Dragon Tiger Sect and the Xiyue Sect had always been on good terms, and Elder Pei was also acquainted with Yue Xiaobai’s grandmaster.

Elder Pei stood and leaped down from the boulder.

"Yuexiao, this is not something you can get involved in. Why don’t you go and wait in my little courtyard for now."

Yue Xiaobai nodded silently.

Since Elder Pei had spoken, there must be a good reason. He silently followed Elder Pei up Dragon Tiger Mountain and then dutifully went to the elder’s small courtyard.

Bai Yuan, meanwhile, followed Elder Pei straight toward the back of the mountain.

Elder Pei walked in front, his hands clasped behind his back. "That monster with the Qilin Blood has been roaring daily of late, as if it’s trying to communicate something. I went to investigate but found nothing out of the ordinary, which is why I summoned you."

This only piqued Bai Yuan’s interest further.

According to his prior agreement with the qilin, it shouldn’t be acting this way unless the matter was related to the Divine Mansion.

He quickened his pace.

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