Chapter 3 Turning the Tables on the Evil Cultivator – Yu Xian on the Verge of a Breakthrough
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Footsteps grew clearer, finally reaching the entrance of the cave.
A shadow cast itself faintly into the cave through the dim light.
The person clearly sensed something. He didn’t enter right away but instead stood at the entrance for a moment, and then a wary voice rang out:
“Who’s inside?”
It was the voice of a grown man.
Yu Xian tensed up, his breath gathering, but he didn’t respond.
“This cave is my residence. If you’re a hunter from Dayushu Village or Shihe Village and happened upon this place to rest, please come out. I won’t harm you.”
The voice came again.
Yu Xian’s heart stirred. He didn’t know who this man was, but since he said he wouldn’t harm an ordinary hunter, there was probably no need to be overly cautious.
He could simply walk out, say he was a hunter resting for a bit, and then leave.
With that thought, Yu Xian nodded to himself and stepped out of the cave.
At the entrance stood a burly man, about thirty years old, with a grim expression as he stared at the cave.
“Uncle, I’m really sorry. I’m a hunter from Dayushu Village, I just…”
Yu Xian approached with an apologetic tone, stepping out of the cave and beginning to explain.
But before he could finish his sentence, his pupils suddenly shrank in horror!
The man’s face twisted with malice. With a wave of his hand—
A fireball the size of a rice bowl appeared instantly, like lightning, and slammed directly into Yu Xian’s chest!
Boom!
Flames shot out violently as Yu Xian was blasted a full meter away, coughing up a mouthful of blood before crashing to the ground, silent and motionless.
“Damn ant. How dare you sneak into my cave? Lucky I was out looking for spirit herbs. If you’d interrupted my cultivation, you could have ruined my foundation!”
The man pulled his hand back with a snort of disdain. He stepped forward, lifting a foot to kick what he believed was Yu Xian’s corpse aside.
But just as he raised his foot—
The seemingly lifeless Yu Xian suddenly opened his eyes!
The hatchet in his hand rose in a flash, faintly wrapped in spiritual energy, and stabbed upward without hesitation!
“What!?”
The man’s face changed drastically!
He never expected that a seemingly ordinary fourteen or fifteen-year-old hunter boy—who had taken a full fireball to the chest, skin scorched—was still alive!
Not only was he alive… he could channel spiritual energy!?
He was a cultivator too!!
Shhk!
The hatchet pierced flesh!
Yu Xian had poured every ounce of his strength into that strike, stabbing from below—straight through the man’s groin and into his gut!
“Aaaahhh!!”
The man screamed in agony and fell over.
But Yu Xian, like a wild predator, sprang up again. Though blood was still pouring from his mouth, he pounced with ferocity, pinning the man down and yanking out the hatchet now coated in bits of viscera.
With both hands raised—
“Wait! Ah! Fellow Daoist! Don’t kill me!!”
Squelch!!
The hatchet drove through the man’s chest, stabbing so deep it nearly sank to the hilt.
Warm blood sprayed across Yu Xian’s face.
The man’s eyes widened in disbelief, mouth gaping, blood gushing, opening and closing helplessly like a fish.
After a few hoarse gasps, he died completely.
Cough, cough!
Violent coughing racked Yu Xian’s body as he spat out more blood and collapsed beside the corpse.
His mother’s voice echoed in his ears:
“Xian’er, never trust anyone… In the cultivation world, they’re all bad people. Xian’er, remember this—everyone you meet will be bad… You must live, no matter what…”
Who knows how much time passed.
Yu Xian suddenly opened his eyes again.
It was already late afternoon.
The jade pendant on his chest still glowed faintly. Though the skin on his chest remained scorched and grotesque, the light had protected his heart.
He sat up slowly. The corpse beside him had already gone stiff.
It seemed the man had cleared out the local beasts beforehand—otherwise, with the stench of blood, it would’ve drawn predators long ago.
“Mother… you were right…”
Yu Xian stared at the body, and for the first time, he understood what it meant to say:
In the world of cultivation, everyone is evil…
He had done nothing to deserve this—no grudge, no enmity. It was their first meeting, and he had even apologized.
Yet the man had attacked him without hesitation, like squashing a bug.
If not for the jade pendant protecting his heart…
It would be his corpse lying cold and stiff right now.
That fireball… no ordinary mortal could have withstood it.
Only cultivators could fight cultivators.
He was lucky—his mother’s jade had saved him.
He was lucky—the man had taken him for a mere hunter, dropped his guard, and was fooled by his act.
He was lucky—the man had come so close.
He was lucky—after a year of Qi gathering, his body was strong enough to pierce the man’s spiritual shield with that strike.
All of it was sheer luck!
At that moment, Yu Xian’s entire body trembled.
In the end… he had killed someone.
Even though, in that moment, he had struck like a beast on the hunt—ruthless and determined…
But at this moment, his body was still trembling.
Killing a man was different from killing a beast.
Especially when he had just walked on the edge of death!
This… was the cultivation world.
A world where it’s either you die, or I do!
There were so many strokes of luck this time…
What about next time?
“The cultivation world… is full of bad people!”
Yu Xian’s trembling hands clenched into tight fists.
All of them… bad people!
After a long silence, Yu Xian gradually calmed his breathing and mind. Then, he reached out to search the corpse beside him.
This man was a cultivator. A spell-casting cultivator.
Which meant he was at least at the early stage of Qi Condensation.
There must be something valuable on him.
After rummaging around, Yu Xian’s eyes lit up.
He found a short dagger at the man’s waist — bronze sheath, cold gleam on the blade, brimming with spiritual energy.
Far sharper than his simple hatchet!
A useful item!
He continued searching and found a palm-sized scroll, two white jade bottles, and a token.
Inside the jade bottles were pills, but since he couldn’t recognize them, he dared not consume any recklessly.
The scroll had five characters written on it: Lesser Five Elemental Spells.
As for the token, it bore five ancient characters: Ascending Immortal Whitecloud Sect.
None of it was mundane!
Yu Xian quickly packed up these items.
Finally, he dragged the corpse into the cave, then stumbled back toward his home.
With his chest severely wounded, it was clearly impossible to break into the Qi Condensation realm for now.
This kind of injury would take at least a month to heal.
He found a mountain stream to wash the blood off his body.
By the time the sun had set, he finally returned home.
Enduring the sharp pain in his chest, Yu Xian changed his clothes and made a large pot of sorghum rice with cured meat.
After eating it all, he sat on the bed and let out a long breath.
Cross-legged, eyes closed — still drawing spiritual energy into his body.
The spiritual energy cleansed his meridians and nourished his dantian, aiding his recovery.
The night passed swiftly.
By dawn, the scorched skin on his chest had mostly faded, and the burnt flesh had already begun to scab over.
Yu Xian touched the scab on his chest, eyes gleaming.
He pulled out the bloodstained scroll.
Wielding thunder and flame with a mere gesture, killing like crushing ants…
That kind of power — he wanted it too!
Lesser Five Elemental Spells.
Opening the scroll, the first spell was:
Lesser Fireball Spell
The rest were:
Lesser Earth Shield Spell
Lesser Metal Flash Spell
Lesser Water Heal Spell
Lesser Wood Spirit Spell
The scroll detailed how to cast each spell.
The fireball that nearly killed him — it had been the Lesser Fireball Spell.
Unfortunately, all five spells required one to be in Qi Condensation Realm, with spiritual energy stored in the dantian.
He couldn’t even begin practicing them yet.
But this was still hope!
Yu Xian grinned and carefully stored the scroll, the short dagger, and the mysterious sect token close to his body.
Then, he got out of bed — did the laundry, prepared vegetables, and went to the fields to tend the crops.
Killing a cultivator and gaining those items felt like nothing more than a minor episode.
Yu Xian carried on with his usual life:
eating, sleeping, gathering herbs in the mountains, hunting animals, tending crops, drawing in spiritual energy, tempering his body, and nursing his injury.
Time flew. Two months passed.
The weather grew colder. Unknowingly, it was already mid-November.
After this month, Yu Xian would officially turn fifteen.
His chest was fully healed now — only faint scars remained.
His body was clear and strong. His dantian, crystal-bright.
“It’s time to condense Qi.”
After cultivating for a year and two months, Yu Xian knew:
He was ready for Qi Condensation.
Drawing Qi into the body was like sharpening a blade —
and when that blade reached its sharpest point, it was time to wield it!
Sharpening it endlessly would only dull it in the end.
And Yu Xian — he had reached the perfect moment.
That night.
Yu Xian sat in his room, cross-legged with closed eyes.
It was well past midnight.
No villagers would come disturb him.
And as for the mountains?
It was late autumn. The beasts in the mountains had gone wild, all hunting, hoarding fat for hibernation.
Entering the forest now would only invite more trouble.
He cleared his mind, focused inward, and calmed his spirit…
Spiritual energy from all around rushed toward Yu Xian.
But this time, it didn’t wash through his body.
Instead — under the guidance of his spiritual root — it flowed toward his dantian, beginning to gather there!
His dantian twisted and churned.
He was opening his Qi Sea!
