Chapter 28: The Three Great Malignancies

Old Madam Zheng had heard of Wang Li’s innate talent for completing cultivation methods, and she wished to see it for herself. She followed him to his small hut, leaving behind a pile of phonographs and a simplified playback machine in the meditation chamber, waiting for Liu Wanjin to return and tidy up.

Wang Li did not conceal his process of completing cultivation methods from Old Madam Zheng, but she nonetheless watched in vain. Even Wang Li himself could not comprehend the workings of his data analysis ability, much less anyone else.

After he had completed several fragments and copies of cultivation techniques, Wang Li immediately chose to synthesize them. As his realm improved, the speed at which he could combine techniques had noticeably increased.

After half a day, a high-grade Yellow-tier technique named “Thunderous Justice Chapter” appeared in Wang Li’s mind. This was a technique based on the completed copy of the mid-grade Yellow-tier thunder attribute method “Thunderous Body Technique,” fused with fragments of “Palm Lightning,” “Body Tempering Thunder Method,” and “Superior Thunder Principles.” It encompassed thunder cultivation, body tempering, applications of thunder attribute spiritual power, and an attack technique called “Palm Thunder Explosion.”

Much like with the “Purple Aura Ascendant Advanced Edition,” Wang Li encountered no obstacles in cultivating the “Thunderous Justice Chapter.” Merely circulating the technique once granted him entry; by the next day, he had achieved minor mastery. Even when he stopped running the method, ambient thunder attribute spiritual energy continued to pour into his body on its own.

Throughout the cultivation process, the anticipated conflict between techniques never appeared. Instead, the transformed thunder attribute spiritual power merged seamlessly with the fire attribute, tempering his body and expanding his meridians.

Harmonious.

Efficient!

Although, compared to the five elemental spiritual energies, ambient thunder attribute energy was scarce, the spiritual power it yielded was considerable—almost seventy percent that of fire attribute power. This demonstrated the thunder attribute's purity and superior quality.

With the rapid replenishment of thunder attribute spiritual power, Wang Li felt a marked increase in his cultivation speed. Running both “Purple Aura Ascendant Advanced Edition” and “Thunderous Justice Chapter” simultaneously, his advancement was seventy percent faster than cultivating the former alone.

With experience from “Purple Aura Ascendant Advanced Edition,” and seeing how techniques of different attributes could complement each other, Wang Li no longer worried about someone implanting the methods directly in his mind. He calmly savored the visible progress of his cultivation.

He mused, “Perhaps I’ve been too cautious. Even with so little thunder attribute energy, the increase in speed is significant. If I cultivate other five-element techniques, wouldn’t my progress be even faster?”

“You’re just realizing that?” Lord Sheng’s voice rang out in his soul. “Do you think Lord Sheng would deceive a child like you?”

Wang Li replied, somewhat embarrassed, “Didn’t you always say to be cautious?”

“You really don’t appreciate what you have!”

Lord Sheng vented his displeasure with a couple of curses, then said, “Don’t rush into five-element techniques yet. Wait until ‘Thunderous Justice Chapter’ and ‘Purple Aura Ascendant Advanced Edition’ reach mastery. You don’t need advanced methods right now. Refining your combat experience is more important than rapid advancement—I don’t want to see you embarrass yourself again.”

Lord Sheng had hit a sore spot.

Over the past days, Wang Li had heard some disciples’ opinions about his two bouts with Jiang Yue in the arena. How to sum it up? “Chicken pecking at chicken” perfectly described their duels.

The disciples’ assessments were remarkably... accurate.

What made Wang Li feel even more ashamed was that they always regarded him as some eccentric senior with peculiar interests.

This speculation made Wang Li want to cover his face, yet also strengthened his resolve to maintain his persona as a mysterious expert.

Though resigned, Wang Li was someone who cared about his reputation... He absolutely refused to admit he was a “chicken.”

“It’s settled then—until I reach a realm where I can defeat peers instantly, I won’t show myself again!”

Wang Li resolved fiercely.

Lord Sheng laughed, “That’s the spirit. You’re now a steward—if you compete, it should be with other stewards. Besides, you’re Chu Xuan’s disciple, so at minimum you should measure yourself against those three rogue disciples of Liuguang. As far as I know, those three major troublemakers—one is at the Tribulation realm, two are at the Transformation realm. Once you surpass them, you’ll be at the Earth Immortal stage. With your current growth rate, another eight hundred to a thousand years should do it.”

“So just lay low for now—maybe curse those three idiots so they don’t advance any further. Otherwise, you won’t be safe even at the True Immortal realm, hahaha!”

Wang Li replied warily, “Lord Sheng, you’re twisting my words. I never said I wanted to surpass the three big troublemakers. Technically, I’m not even their peer.”

The three major disciples of the Pure Yang Sect Master were notorious throughout the cultivation world. Of course Wang Li knew of them.

The eldest disciple, Zhen Jingzi, called himself “The Gatherer,” meaning “to collect the hearts of female cultivators across the world.” He was a renowned playboy, unable to walk past a beautiful female cultivator without being distracted. His numerous entanglements had earned him many enemies, and after abandoning the former Saintess of the Five Elements Pavilion, he was placed on their kill list twenty years ago. If not for his strength and powerful backing, his grave would be covered with shade trees by now.

The second disciple, Tian Nan, was born with the Dao body. He entered Foundation Establishment at nineteen, formed a Golden Core at twenty-five, reached the Transformation realm at thirty-nine, and now, not yet three hundred years old, was at the peak of the Incarnation stage. If he devoted himself to cultivation, he might achieve the Earth Immortal stage before Zhen Jingzi. Unfortunately, his aggressive, combative nature led him to challenge others recklessly. Fifty years ago, in pursuit of a breakthrough, he crippled Wang Donghai, a core disciple of the Beast Taming Sect, and Shen Qing, the closed-door disciple of the East Sea Sect Master. He seriously injured Jin Youming, heir of the Divine Weapon Valley, Luo Xie, heir of the Sacred Yang Holy Land, and Master Hongxin of Pure Yang Temple. He even killed the genius You Kui of the Limitless Sect, one of the Seven Demon Sects. His actions made him an infamous menace. Pure Yang Temple’s elders finally suppressed him in their secret realm, a token gesture to appease the sects he had harmed.

The third disciple, Huaiji, possessed a twisted heart beneath his charming appearance. Through a stroke of fortune, he inherited the legacy of the infamous ancient master “Thousand King,” becoming obsessed with all forms of deceit. He found joy in trickery and possessed a vile disposition. Once, posing as Master Liuguang, he lured away three thousand disciples from Wanshan Desolate Domain and Zhenxian City, and even converted over eighty recruitment sites of the Seven Demon Sects in the Wei Dynasty into branches of his fictitious “Heaven and Earth Immortal Alliance.”

With their antics, Master Liuguang’s three disciples managed to offend all eight righteous sects and the Seven Demon Sects. Countless cultivators loathed them, and they became the negative examples cited in educating disciples.

For their notorious deeds, the three were dubbed “The Three Great Cancers of Pure Yang.” Meanwhile, “Liuguang’s Apprentices” became a widespread joke in the cultivation world.

When people mentioned Master Liuguang, they thought first not of his status as sect master, but of his three disgraceful disciples, who had thoroughly ruined his reputation.

Yet, for all their infamy, the trio were undeniably geniuses. In terms of innate talent, prodigies like Jiang Yue, whose abilities were forcibly cultivated, could not compare.

Wang Li even suspected their aptitude might surpass his own “Innate Chaos Constitution.”

To surpass the three would be a daunting challenge.

He felt a surge of doubt about his own abilities.