Chapter 131: A Truth

"This..."

Everyone present was startled by the sudden turn of events. They had been tossing corpses out one after another, so why had one suddenly come back to life?

"Quick, chase him! Don't let him—wait, hold on!"

Gu Jia'er reacted quickly and was about to lead her people in pursuit. However, when she expanded her divine sense and clearly saw the figure darting away, she was instantly dumbfounded.

It was actually Xu Zhe!

That guy hadn't died? And he had run out completely naked?

Good heavens, he certainly was well-endowed...

Gu Jia'er felt her face flush with a burning heat, and she hurriedly ordered her disciples to stop. Many of the female disciples of the Putuo Sect also wore strange expressions; having clearly seen more than they should have, they all came to a halt.

Only Qu Hongxiu, upon sensing Xu Zhe's aura, was filled with joy. "Uncle Xu, you're actually okay! That's wonderful, you scared us to death!" she shouted excitedly, taking off in a sprint to chase after him.

"Hey, little Hongxiu, don't go over there..."

Gu Jia'er regained her composure, her eyes twitching. She wanted to stop her, but it was too late. Qu Hongxiu had already turned into a streak of light, rushing in Xu Zhe's direction until her figure dwindled into a tiny black dot and vanished on the horizon.

"Truly reckless, with no sense of propriety at all."

Gu Jia'er shook her head, casting aside the shocking image from moments ago, and turned her gaze back to the corpses on the ground. Every one of these bodies was in a ghastly state, with some parts even charred black. The point was that these people were either at the Integration Stage or above, yet they had all died, while Xu Zhe had emerged alive. What on earth had happened inside the Divine Pill Grotto-Heaven?

"Could it be that Xu Zhe's strength has reached the point where he can slay those above the Integration Stage?"

Gu Jia'er immediately dismissed this absurd thought. She speculated that perhaps the Mo family elders had encountered that group of strangers, leading to a conflict and a life-or-death battle. It was unlikely that Xu Zhe had participated, but perhaps he had been the lucky survivor who snuck in and dealt the finishing blow to the wounded. She mentally constructed a story of "the snipe and the clam fighting, while the fisherman reaps the benefit," which felt somewhat more reasonable. Still, she would have to wait for Xu Zhe's return to ask for details.

"Clean up these corpses; don't let the people from the Heavenly Secret Path see—oh, no." As Gu Jia'er was instructing her disciples, her divine sense scanned the surroundings and immediately detected trouble. Several auras were hiding just hundreds of miles away. She turned to look and saw a few Heavenly Secret Path disciples fleeing for their lives, casting out several massive flying swords—clearly, these were the "Destruction-class" flying swords equipped with recording functions.

Evidently, the Heavenly Secret Path had recorded everything, including the corpses. And since they had even brought out the Destruction-class swords, there was little point in catching those few disciples now.

"Forget it. That guy has never been one for discretion anyway!"

Gu Jia'er shook her head helplessly. After ordering her disciples to clear the bodies, she waited on the spot for Xu Zhe.

This wait lasted for over an hour. When Xu Zhe and Qu Hongxiu finally returned, Gu Jia'er eyed them both with a bewildered expression. Xu Zhe was now wearing a brand-new set of clothes, his handsome appearance restored. Qu Hongxiu, however, was still blushing deeply, looking shy and coy, her eyes darting around, unable to meet the gaze of either Xu Zhe or Gu Jia'er.

"Hiss..."

Gu Jia'er gasped, shocked. "You two..."

"It's not what you think, we didn't do anything, don't talk nonsense, Holy Master Gu!" Before she could finish, Qu Hongxiu hurriedly explained.

"Is that so? Then what were you doing for over an hour?" Gu Jia'er asked with a playful, teasing smile.

"I went to help Uncle Xu buy clothes, but I took the wrong path and ended up circling around a few times." As she spoke, Qu Hongxiu's face turned even redder.

"That was my miscalculation; I was unprepared. I underwent my heavenly tribulation inside the Divine Pill Grotto-Heaven, and all my clothes were destroyed, leaving me with nothing to change into," Xu Zhe sighed, shaking his head.

He had truly almost made a fool of himself this time. He had charged into the thunderclouds and managed to siphon off the final few bolts of the Purple Firmament Tribulation, successfully breaking through to the Nascent Soul Stage. But when the tribulation ended, he discovered there wasn't a single living person left in the entire Grotto-Heaven. The Mo family elders, the Integration-stage cultivators from the Shenhou Palace, and even Mo Shanhai were all dead. The most bizarre part was the way Mo Shanhai died—he hadn't even left behind a complete body, as if some external force had obliterated him. Xu Zhe investigated briefly but found no cause of death, so he let it go. He had been embarrassed to discover his clothes were gone and could find nothing in any of the storage rings to replace them. Looking at the Mo family elders, they were reduced to nothing but blood-soaked rags. Left with no choice, he had emerged naked, but to prevent any potential ambushes at the exit, he had tossed the corpses out to divert attention. He hadn't expected Gu Jia'er and her group to be waiting there. Xu Zhe had slipped away immediately, but he hadn't realized that the dense Qu Hongxiu had followed him. It was then that he realized he couldn't exactly walk into town naked. Adhering to the principle of "a gentleman is open and honest," he had stopped in a desolate area, cleared his mind, and turned to face Qu Hongxiu with a serious expression. Qu Hongxiu had been stunned on the spot, looking terrified; she had only run off in a daze after he told her to find him some clothes. And as she said, she had taken the wrong road, spending an hour finding the garments.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Xu Zhe, I underestimated you. You've got quite the capability," Gu Jia'er teased with profound meaning, the double entendre clear. She knew perfectly well that they had only gone to find clothes, but she couldn't resist the opportunity to poke fun at them.

"What do you mean?" Xu Zhe asked, confused.

Then, as if he realized something, he added, "You're talking about the Mo family and those people, right? They seemed to have teamed up to kill me, but they failed. But please, don't misunderstand; I didn't kill them. I don't follow the path of slaughter."

"You didn't kill them?" Gu Jia'er was stunned. "Could it be they turned on each other?"

"No," Xu Zhe shook his head, pointing upward. "Heavenly Tribulation, understand?"

"???"

Gu Jia'er and Qu Hongxiu were both dumbfounded. Heavenly Tribulation?

"You mean you dragged them along to undergo the Four-Nine Heavenly Tribulation with you?"

"And they all died, while you, a Golden Core cultivator, came out unscathed?"

Both women were terrified. The Four-Nine Heavenly Tribulation was already difficult to survive, yet Xu Zhe had dragged Integration-stage and above cultivators into it, effectively increasing the difficulty for himself. But how was this outcome so bizarre? The experts had died, yet the Golden Core cultivator had survived.

"To be precise, I'm at the Nascent Soul Stage now," Xu Zhe said with a faint smile, tacitly confirming Gu Jia'er's words. Strictly speaking, the people from the Mo family and the Shenhou Palace had indeed died due to the tribulation. Of course, the prerequisite was that the pill toxins had drugged them first; otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy. But he had to admit, the gains from this tribulation were immense. Having swallowed four bolts of Purple Firmament lightning, his physical body had broken through the First-Turn Tyrant Body to reach the Second-Turn. This meant that his physical strength alone was enough to fight a Void-Refining stage cultivator.

His comprehensive strength had taken a leap forward. With his Nascent Soul early-stage cultivation and a Second-Turn Tyrant Body, he could confidently face even a Spirit-Severing early-stage cultivator without using any artifacts, easily handling ten at once. Against a mid-stage Spirit-Severing cultivator, he still had a good chance, and could manage two at once. Against a late-stage Spirit-Severing cultivator, his odds would be about fifty-fifty in a one-on-one fight. After all, the higher the realm, the greater the gap. The spiritual energy and rare treasures required to bridge a small gap from early to mid-stage Spirit-Severing were enough to cultivate a hundred Nascent Soul experts.

"You monster..." Gu Jia'er felt the aura radiating from Xu Zhe and considered how he had坑 (tricked) so many experts to their deaths, feeling overwhelmed with emotion. As far as she was concerned, if she had faced so many experts, even with the help of a heavenly tribulation, she would have died—and likely faster than the others.

"Uncle Xu, isn't this too fast?" Qu Hongxiu looked at him with a hint of resentment.

"What? This is fast?" Xu Zhe was startled, shaking his head. "This took twice as long as I estimated. I originally thought I could reach the Nascent Soul Stage in about ten days, but it ended up taking over thirty."

Gu Jia'er: "..."
Qu Hongxiu: "..."

Thirty-some days to go from early Golden Core to early Nascent Soul—how many people would be terrified to hear that? The key was that this guy wasn't even satisfied? He thought he could do it in ten days? In the world of cultivation, was there any difference between ten days and thirty? Even ten years and thirty years wouldn't make much difference! They hated this kind of humble-bragging; it was infuriating!

"However, through this experience, I've learned a truth," Xu Zhe said, reflecting with deep insight. "As long as you put in the effort, there will be a return. Although I spent twenty extra days, heaven does not disappoint the diligent. My strength has improved several times more than I expected."

*Crack!*

Gu Jia'er crushed a rock in her hand, said nothing, and turned to leave. Qu Hongxiu cast a lingering look at Xu Zhe, then glanced down at her own soft, dainty fists... forget it, she couldn't win. With a sigh of regret, she turned to follow Gu Jia'er.