This High Martial World is Too Crazy!!!

Chapter 12: Chapter 12: 10x Bitter Cultivation

Although Gu Shuqi had already left the training grounds, the impact he made would likely linger for a long time to come.

On the sun-drenched training grounds, the disciples who should have been starting their morning drills now began their individual meditations.

’I am the reincarnation of the Great Derivation Divine Monarch, now named Zhao Guicai. The current King of the Great Yan Country is my great-great-great-grandson.’

’My body may have weakened, but I still possess peerless talent. As long as I work as hard as I used to, all my power will return. I will feminize everyone under the heavens and gather them into my harem!’

Under Fang Can’s impassive gaze, a disciple in front of him was imagining himself to be the reincarnation of the Great Derivation Divine Monarch, silently chanting to himself as he practiced his punches.

He slowly turned his head, his gaze falling on another area.

There, a seventeen-year-old youth was also channeling the first King of the Great Yan Country, though his method was a bit different from the last.

The boy was excitedly doing push-ups, muttering something as he went: ”Great Chu Overlord! Great Chu Overlord! Great Chu Overlord!”

And in a corner, a youth with somewhat abstract features knelt on one knee, murmuring to an empty spot:

”Xiaofang, I’ve become a Hall Master, and the Sect Leader has already approved our marriage. Please, accept me... This is wonderful! I knew there was something between us...”

In another corner, a disciple who had just been beaten by Bai Feisi clutched his cheek. ’Bai Feisi is the world’s greatest expert to ever be slapped by a weakling, and I’m the world’s greatest weakling to ever slap an expert. Hehe, I even came out ahead by one slap, didn’t I?’

...

The entire training ground was now a scene of utter pandemonium. Over a thousand disciples were channeling all sorts of identities.

These identities included reincarnated experts, reborn titans, peerless geniuses, emperors, young lovers whose proposals were just accepted, and slaves being whipped by a queen... It was a grand showcase of performance art.

Of course, not everyone present was practicing this ’acting method’.

Besides Fang Can, another group was quietly practicing their martial arts.

Unlike the other disciples, they had started experimenting with this years ago, having long since integrated this ’spiritual victory’ into their own Martial Dao.

After all, this method of spiritual victory was just a theory; it was hard to keep it a secret.

Not all the disciples present were from poor families. If they had martial artists in their family, they’d almost certainly heard of similar methods.

They naturally wouldn’t hide it from their own children. From the very beginning, these disciples from privileged backgrounds had a several-year head start on the common disciples when it came to winning ’spiritually’.

Unaware of this, Fang Can quietly distanced himself from the crazed scene and continued to methodically practice the *Eighty-Eight Tiger Slaughter Grotto Heavens*.

In the distance, Yang Lie and Gu Shuqi observed the situation on the field and nodded in satisfaction.

”Not bad. The quality of this batch of disciples is quite high. Perhaps in twenty years, one of them might even emerge as our peer.”

”Manager Gu, although this method of spiritual victory shows excellent results in the early stages, isn’t it a bit too radical?” Yang Lie said deferentially from the side.

He knew of the method, of course, but he had his reasons for not teaching it to the disciples.

Based on his years of observation as an instructor, the ’acting method’ did indeed provide a massive boost to one’s martial arts progress in the early stages. However, almost everyone got stuck at the final leap of the Mortal Transformation Stage.

In recent years, the Tiger Slaughter Sect had been trying to align itself more with the righteous sects and was undergoing an ’industrial transformation’.

That was why he had stopped teaching this method to disciples several years ago, and had also ceased using other unorthodox techniques. He never expected Gu Shuqi to be the one to bring it up again.

”Let’s worry about getting them through the early stages first. We can think about what comes later, later.”

Gu Shuqi’s smile turned cold. ”The neighboring Transformation Sect has been causing a lot of friction with us lately. It might not be long before this entire batch has to be sent out to garrison our posts. Isn’t it better to raise their strength as much as possible right now?”

”Manager Gu speaks wisely,” Instructor Yang said, cupping his fists in agreement.

’Besides...’ A surge of resentment brewed in Gu Shuqi’s heart. ’I had to walk through the rain, so why should I let these brats use an umbrella?’

When he was young and naive, he too had been duped by some senior returning to the sect into practicing the ’acting method.’ The result was that his mind-state could never reach completion, leaving him stuck at his current stage for years. In a way, this was the cycle repeating itself.

’Oh, right.’ Gu Shuqi glanced sideways at Yang Lie, his eyes narrowing slightly. ’I remember that senior was invited back to speak by this old fossil. And now he’s putting on a good-guy act in front of me.’

At this thought, the corner of his mouth lifted into a slight smirk. ”Instructor Yang.”

Yang Lie felt a chill run down his spine. He said respectfully, ”Manager Gu, what are your orders?”

”The Tiger Slaughter Sect is in dire need of talent right now. The Sect Leader himself has said it: desperate times call for desperate measures. That being the case, let’s have the cafeteria’s side dishes follow the old recipes.”

As he spoke, a wistful look came over Gu Shuqi’s face. ”I haven’t tasted Divine Revelation Soup in years. I’m almost nostalgic for the feeling.”

By the time Gu Shuqi finished, Yang Lie’s back was drenched in cold sweat. Still, he gritted his teeth and said, ”I will carry out the Manager’s orders.”

...

’I’m starving again.’

「Noon.」

Fang Can clutched his stomach and spat out the arsenic in his mouth.

As his ’genius state’ faded, he could feel an intense hunger gnawing at him from the inside.

The more efficient the cultivation, the more energy it consumed, and the faster he became hungry.

And on his status panel, the results of his recent efforts were clear.

Name: Fang Can

Physique: 1.3

Spirit: 1.3

Qi: 1.2

Notes:

You have completed one full circulation of the *Eighty-Eight Tiger Slaughter Grotto Heavens*. EXP +78. Cultivation Technique has advanced to the second layer. Alienation speed increased by 10%.

Eighty-Eight Tiger Slaughter Grotto Heavens (Layer 2): 64/2000

Flesh Alienation: 0.0953%

...

’This cheat state is amazing. My comprehension is off the charts, and my Cultivation Technique improves sixty or seventy times faster than a normal person’s.’ Fang Can thought with a smile, clutching his head, which was spinning from hunger.

In just one hour, his Physique and Spirit had both increased by 0.1, and his Qi had shot up by 0.2.

The only downside was his alienation progress. It was a bit lacking—only a dozen or so times faster than a normal person’s.

After all, according to the information he’d gathered from his fellow disciples, the alienation process required one to sublimate their mortal coil and integrate their will into their body—a process that took slow, patient work.

For most people, their alienation progressed much faster than their Cultivation Technique, so they never had to worry about something like this.

’At this rate of alienation, it will take me ten years just to reach 100%.’

As he thought of this on his way to the cafeteria, a wave of sorrow washed over him.

’Even if I train my hardest for an hour a day in my genius state, I can only create a tenfold gap between myself and those ordinary folk? There has to be another way to speed this up!’

Musing on this, Fang Can arrived at the cafeteria.

He was about to order the stir-fried pork with green beans and a side of rice, just like yesterday, when the woman serving food spoke up, a simple smile on her face.

”Hey, handsome. Care for a bowl of Divine Revelation Soup?”