Scripture of Days Past

Shortly after being forced to his knees, Cheng Ming surrendered the match and stumbled down from the platform with a dazed, lifeless expression, looking as though his soul had been ripped from his body.

Meanwhile, everyone else was still reeling from the revelation that Chu Qiguang had made a breakthrough to the fourth state.

"Brother Chu is at the fourth state? When did that happen?" Zhang Haizhu exclaimed in astonishment.

Li Chu and Huang Yuxiang were just as stunned.

"So Brother Chu was being serious just now?"

Up until that point, Zhong Shan'e had been looking at Chu Qiguang with strong disapproval, but now his eyes were glowing with elation.

He had previously been highly critical of Chu Qiguang, believing that he was wasting the cultivation resources provided by the Demon Vanquishing Department. However, now that Chu Qiguang had reached the fourth state, it was a completely different story.

As the head instructor on Jade Face Mountain, the more trainees he could nurture to the fourth state, the more favor he would earn from the emperor. Furthermore, if someone as talented as Chu Qiguang could reach his full potential, it would do wonders for Zhong Shan'e's political career.

"You knew all along, didn't you, Yang Ling?" Zhong Shan'e asked as he turned to Yang Ling with a knowing smile. "No wonder you've been so protective of him lately. You must've already known that he was well on his way to the fourth state. You asked him to keep it a secret so he could surprise everyone, didn't you?"

Yang Ling was just as stunned as everyone else, but he quickly put on a composed facade and replied, "Of... Of course. Chu Qiguang has been quite receptive to my advice, and he's been working hard on making a breakthrough."

The sparring matches continued, and Chu Qiguang grew more with every passing minute.

What the hell is Layman Evergreen up to? How is it taking them this long to get here? Has the Immortal Dao always been this useless? No wonder they had to defect to the northern grasslands to pledge their allegiance to the wolf fiends!

As the sparring matches wore on, Chu Qiguang's name was drawn a few more times, but all of his opponents chose to surrender without putting up a fight.

That was until...

"Chu Qiguang versus Chi Shude!"

Chi Shude's eyes lit up when the match-up was announced. This was the moment that he had been waiting for.

Even though Chu Qiguang had also reached the fourth state, Chi Shude wasn't concerned in the slightest.

I reached the fourth state two months before him. He was only a third-state martial artist during the last monthly examination and had no choice but to surrender to me. He may have reached the fourth state since then, but I still have a two-month advantage over him. There's no way he's on my level.

With his confidence bolstered by his analysis, Chi Shude turned a righteous gaze on Chu Qiguang and reprimanded, "You've gone too far, Chu Qiguang! You could've simply defeated Cheng Ming, yet you chose to humiliate him in front of everyone! I'm going to give you a taste of your own medicine!"

"Who do you think is going to win, Yang Ling?" Zhong Shan'e asked.

In Yang Ling's mind, the obvious answer was Chi Shude. However, Chu Qiguang had surprised him on more than one occasion, and with that in mind, he suddenly found himself unsure.

"Don't tell me you actually think Chu Qiguang has a chance of winning!" Zhong Shan'e exclaimed in surprise.

Meanwhile, Chi Shude was still droning on, seemingly determined to claim both the moral victory and the victory on the platform.

"You only reached the fourth state this month, so I have a two-month advantage over you in both the cultivation of my qi and blood and the honing of my physical constitution. In a direct battle, you'll surely suffer a crushing defeat, so I bet you're planning to use some underhanded trick, aren't you? Let me tell you now that I won't give you the chance to use any of your snide little tricks! I will crush you so quickly that you won't have a chance to do anything..."

Chu Qiguang struggled to suppress the urge to roll his eyes as Chi Shude continued his self-righteous, triumphant spiel like some pantomime villain.

It didn't take long for Chu Qiguang to exhaust what little patience he had left. His entire body turned pitch-black as he channeled his Primordial High Zenith Demonic Arts.

That was enough to silence Chi Shude, whose cocky expression had turned to one of shock.

Chu Qiguang swung a hand down at him. Chi Shude raised both arms to defend himself, only to be knocked to the ground by the tremendous force behind the slap.

Chi Shude was just about to scramble back to his feet when he was swatted down onto the ground.

A chorus of astonished gasps rang out across the training ground, and even Zhong Shan'e was stunned by what he saw.

"He's already reached the third level of the Primordial High Zenith Qigong? It's only taken him half a year! On top of that, he managed to reach the third level while still only a fourth-state martial artist! Even if his aptitude is inferior to that of the Eight Han Resurgence Generals, the difference can't be very great!"

He turned and gave Yang Ling a pat on the shoulder as he praised, "I have to hand it to you, Yang Ling. You're a much better instructor than I am."

Meanwhile, Yang Ling was also staring at Chu Qiguang with a dumbstruck expression, and he wanted to slap himself across the face.

Why did I have to teach him the Primordial High Zenith Qigong? What the hell was I thinking?!

On the platform, the battle had already turned into a one-sided beating.

At first, Chi Shude tried to fight back, but he was completely unable to break through the defenses of Chu Qiguang's Primordial High Zenith Demonic Arts.

All the trainees watched with sympathetic expressions as Chu Qiguang kicked and stomped on the fallen Chi Shude like a cockroach. Only after Chi Shude surrendered was he finally kicked off the platform and put out of his misery.

After witnessing this dominant display, many of the trainees looked up at Chu Qiguang with fear in their eyes. As a non-believer, Chu Qiguang was a widely unpopular figure among the trainees, but no one could do anything about it.

"Not bad, Chi Shude," Chu Qiguang praised sarcastically. "You can be my new sparring partner from now on."

Chi Shude's heart instantly sank upon hearing this, and a chill ran down his spine as he recalled all the abuse Cheng Ming had suffered at Chu Qiguang's hands.

In contrast, Cheng Ming was immensely relieved to hear this.

Thank the Profound Origin Dao Lord! Chu Qiguang has finally found a new target!

After making short work of Chi Shude, Chu Qiguang returned to waiting. Before long, his impatience began to build again.

What the hell is going on? Have they canceled the attack? These fiends are way too unprofessional! I should've gotten Qiao Zhi to draw up an official schedule and plan of attack and submit it to Layman Evergreen!

All of a sudden, the announcement of the next match-up snapped Chu Qiguang out of his thoughts.

"Chu Qiguang versus Jiang Longyu!"

Their eyes met across the training ground. Jiang Longyu's eyes were filled with fierce battle intent, while Chu Qiguang looked more annoyed than anything else.