“Fellow Daoist Chu only knows one side of the story, not the other. This training mission is connected to the Secret Realm trip a year from now,” Lu Changlin explained. “You can ask for help with the training, as long as the person is a Qi Refining Cultivator. But to enter the Secret Realm, you must be a Disciple of this sect. Are we going to re-select people then?”
Chu Xiaotian patted his head, pretending he had just learned of this: “Ah, I didn’t know that! Thank you, Fellow Daoist Lu, for the reminder! But Senior Sister Tang’s followers, you’ve seen them, their cultivation isn’t high. There isn't even one Late Stage Cultivator among them. What should we do?”
Lu Changlin hesitated for a moment, then said: “It’s just that Junior Sister Tang still doesn’t trust me. I have quite a few skilled individuals on my side. Because the spots are limited, I can’t bring them all.”
Seeing Lu Changlin’s honesty, Chu Xiaotian stopped beating around the bush and said: “This isn’t difficult. I’m the one who arranges these things for Senior Sister Tang. I have a way to exclude the Tang Family members and arrange for Fellow Daoist Lu’s people to come in.”
“Will this be troublesome for Fellow Daoist Chu?” Lu Changlin asked with a bit of concern.
Chu Xiaotian patted his chest and guaranteed: “Not troublesome, not troublesome at all. However, it’s about quality, not quantity. We can only arrange for one or two to come in. If there are few, Senior Sister Tang will remember this favor as Fellow Daoist Lu’s help. If there are too many, it will make Senior Sister Tang suspicious, which would be undesirable.”
“Exactly, exactly. Fellow Daoist Chu is truly thoughtful.”
“It’s best to send Fellow Daoist Lu’s most capable person. If he can contribute greatly to the team, the credit will naturally go to Fellow Daoist Lu,” Chu Xiaotian said.
“That’s how it should be. Then, thank you, Fellow Daoist Chu,” Lu Changlin said.
After a pleasant conversation, Lu Changlin left a bottle of Spirit Pill for Middle Stage Qi Refining Cultivators and left contentedly.
The next day, Chu Xiaotian exchanged this bottle of Spirit Pill for thirty Spirit Stone, raising his cultivation to the fourth layer of Qi Refining.
With his Divine Sense, he went to the Outer Sect Disciple area and circled around, checking others' cultivation. As expected, everyone in the Outer Sect was at the Late Stage of Qi Refining.
After looking, he went to the Utility Disciple workshop to check. Gu Junshan was at the fourth layer of Qi Refining, and Shi Qiankai was at the fifth layer of Qi Refining. To his surprise, Han Kong from the Artifact Refining workshop was actually at the sixth layer of cultivation.
After a few days of initial excitement, Chu Xiaotian rearranged his time. Moreover, through his observation, Shi Qiankai and Gu Junshan were quite good people.
So, while they were working, Chu Xiaotian also busied himself collecting trash and practicing Spell incantations. When they were free, the three of them practiced combat techniques and coordination together.
Actually, Chu Xiaotian’s initial sparring partners were Outer Sect Disciple, but after watching a few of their duels, he lost interest.
However, it was normal. Even an Inner Sect Disciple like Tang Feiyan had mediocre combat skills, so what could be expected from Outer Sect Disciple?
It was better to find these two familiar ones. After all, Outer Sect Disciple had higher status and higher cultivation than Chu Xiaotian, and they weren't as obedient as these Utility Disciple.
Shi Qiankai was primarily earth-attributed, following the Body Cultivator path, with good defense and strength. Coupled with his iron rod Magical Artifact, his burst combat power was decent.
Gu Junshan was primarily metal-attributed, with impressive attack power, often deciding victory in a single strike. However, his combat skills were quite lacking; his movement and Spell casting often couldn't be synchronized. Unlike Chu Xiaotian and Shi Qiankai, who came from a martial artist background, their combat and killing skills were ingrained in their bones.
As for Chu Xiaotian, he was primarily wind-attributed, and his main advantage was speed. As long as he stuck to his opponent, preventing them from safely casting Spell. He would continuously shuttle around his opponent, attacking with both hands, one hand casting Wind Blade and the other wielding a sword for close combat.
Chu Xiaotian utilized his talent as an Escort Chief, continuously refining their coordination and combat techniques.
After several months of training, the three of them greatly improved their combat strength, and their coordination was extremely skilled.
In their individual duels, although Chu Xiaotian didn't have a Magical Artifact, he still held the upper hand, making Shi Qiankai and Gu Junshan greatly admire “Tian Ge.”
As the training mission approached, Lu Changlin also sent his most capable person: Zhang Wushan, a Great Perfection Qi Refining Cultivator.
Zhang Wushan came with Lu Changlin’s “special mission,” and he even started calling Chu Xiaotian “Tian Ge.”
Don't let Zhang Wushan's Great Perfection Qi Refining cultivation fool you; he was still a long way from Foundation Establishment.
He had a Four Spiritual Root. To achieve Foundation Establishment, in addition to his primary fire-attributed Spiritual Root reaching Perfection, the other three attributes also needed to reach Perfection.
As soon as Zhang Wushan joined, Chu Xiaotian pulled him into his three-person combat training group. At first, the three of them couldn't defeat Zhang Wushan even when working together; his cultivation was simply superior.
However, after Chu Xiaotian continuously refined their combat coordination, they surprisingly achieved an even win-loss record. In the end, Zhang Wushan couldn't win without using killing moves. But in sparring, why would one use killing moves and consumable items like Talisman?
At this point, Zhang Wushan was completely convinced by Chu Xiaotian, and the four of them clearly formed a small group.
As the date for confirming the Inner Sect training personnel approached, Tang Feiyan called Chu Xiaotian over. She said: “The mission is about to begin. Tang Yingjiang has already arrived at Frost Leaf Valley. You will accompany me to welcome him. According to the Tang Family Fortress’s ‘Cold Mountain Welcomes Flying Snow’ seniority, he is one generation higher than me. He is my distant cousin, so you must treat him with the respect due to an elder.”
She was worried that Chu Xiaotian, this local bully, who spent his days fighting and brawling, might lose his etiquette when dealing with elders.
Actually, she worried too much. Chu Xiaotian had been involved in the Jianghu since he was a child. At eighteen, he was already the Chief Escort, the head of the Chu River Escort Agency, a position not bestowed by others. His manner of dealing with people was something Tang Feiyan couldn't compare to!
After meeting Tang Yingjiang, Chu Xiaotian observed him with his Divine Sense: he was at the eighth layer of Qi Refining. Dressed as a scholarly swordsman, with a goatee, he appeared to be around forty or fifty years old, and his demeanor was quite good.
After the three of them arrived at Tang Feiyan’s Immortal Cave, Tang Feiyan and Tang Yingjiang sat down. Chu Xiaotian, as an attendant, had no seat and could only stand behind Tang Feiyan.
Tang Feiyan asked: “Chu Xiaotian, where are the others?”
Every time Tang Feiyan wanted to see her team members, Chu Xiaotian would fob her off with various excuses. This time, she wondered how he would evade.
Actually, Tang Feiyan didn't quite believe Chu Xiaotian could manage it. At that time, she would just have to directly select high-cultivation Outer Sect Disciple.
However, seeing Chu Xiaotian’s cultivation increase significantly each time, she temporarily chose to trust him. After all, in just half a year, Chu Xiaotian had actually cultivated to the Great Perfection of the fourth layer of Qi Refining, and his spiritual power was even more refined than hers.
“Young Miss, don’t worry, the candidates are already here. I’ll call them over,” Chu Xiaotian said confidently.
The first to arrive was Zhang Wushan. Chu Xiaotian introduced him: “This is Fellow Daoist Zhang Wushan, Fellow Daoist Lu’s most capable person, a Great Perfection Qi Refining Cultivator. His fire-attributed Spell are incredibly skillful and have reached the pinnacle of Perfection….”
This made Zhang Wushan quite embarrassed.
Tang Feiyan was very satisfied when she saw Zhang Wushan. Her requirement was just five Late Stage Qi Refining Cultivators, and Chu Xiaotian had actually found a Great Perfection helper.
Tang Feiyan exchanged pleasantries and asked: “Where are the other three?”
As she spoke, Shi Qiankai and Gu Junshan had already arrived.
Chu Xiaotian said: “And there are the three of us.”
This made Tang Feiyan so angry she jumped up. Tang Feiyan, of course, knew these two; they were always present when she held classes and were her followers. But for them to accompany her on a training mission would be a joke.
Her face was filled with rage. She pointed at Chu Xiaotian, wanting to scold him, but for a long time, she couldn’t form words, only managing to say: “You… you….”
Chu Xiaotian quickly explained: “Young Miss, please calm your anger. The three of us can stand in for one Great Perfection Cultivator.”