Amidst all the mocking, taunting and ridiculing, Xu Que wore a smile and followed the directional signs on the mountain top towards the valley.
Along the way, there were many other Cultivators who were also on their way towards the valley who had heard of Xu Que wanting to finish the stage alone, and they could not help but laugh at him too.
Hence, Xu Que walked past tens and hundreds of them. More than half of them knew about his situation.
"Hey, I’ve heard of a young man who didn’t know his limits and wanted to pass through the second stage alone!"
"Ha ha! I’ve heard about it already and had been excited about it for a while. How could somebody be so stupid?"
"Yeah. One would have only a one hour limit if he chooses to go through the stage alone. With two in a group, they would have two hours. With six of us, we would accumulate to having six hours. Also, no matter how many members, only one of us needs to find the Star Miscanthus for the entire group to pass. Why does this young man choose to go through such pains to do it alone?"
"This Sky Incense Valley developed the stage with the same mission to complete but with different time limits. Other than evaluating participants on their Luck, it also tests on the ability to match and build rapport with the others. Without being able to understand this truth, it’s clear that this lad is definitely too young and have too little life experience."
"But, I’ve heard rumors of him. Other than being good-looking and being both refined and cultured, he dons a black robe and carries an ink-colored Buster Sword which makes him look especially imposing. Why would he make such a silly decision?"
"Eh, look! There’s someone in front wearing a black robe and carrying an ink-colored Buster sword. Don't tell me that’s him?"
"Where, where? Damn, it’s really him…"
Xu Que had already been ignoring the weird looks and mockery the passer bys had been giving him. With a faint smile on his face, he was filled with a look of toughness!
After all, people from the past always had things to say about me and the commoners tried to defame, bully, insult, laugh at, disparage, look down on, slander and deceive me. How am I supposed to punish them all?
One ought to bear with, allow, reason with, avoid, tolerate, respect, and ignore them and wait for a few years to see him again.
Hence, Xu Que held an optimistic attitude with a face full of smiles, turned around and told the few groups of people beside him, "Damn your mum. What the hell are you looking at? Do you want me to thrash you to death?"
"Whoa!" Everyone went into an uproar.
"We’ve misjudged you. Who would imagine that a dignified, cultured and refined good-looking young man like yourself would spout such vulgarities."
"Let it go, let’s ignore him. There are Sky Incense Valley disciples patrolling. Let’s teach him a lesson after we’ve entered the valley."
"Hmph! I would like to see his face after he fails to find the Star Miscanthus and get driven out of the stage!"
After seeing the people leaving with angered faces, Xu Que let out a gratified smile. He then walked towards the entrance of the valley elegantly.
Three Sky Incense Valley disciples stood at the valley’s entrance. There were two men and one woman and they were all at the Original Infant Stage. They were in charge of recording the time that Cultivators entered and left the valley. They also check if they brought the Star Miscanthus upon leaving.
Xu Que went up and asked courteously, "I am Hua Wu Que and I would like to enter the stage!"
The three disciples momentarily rolled their eyes and thought, "Brother, you were just scolding everybody a moment ago and now you are here acting so polite. Do you really think we are blind?"
"What’s the number on your wooden tablet?" The female disciple asked after recording Xu Que’s name in a book behind.
Xu Que lowered his head and looked at the wooden tablet. After staring blankly for a short moment, he read, "9527!"
"Okay!" The female disciple nodded lightly as she concentrated some Core Energy on her fingertip. She then tapped on the wooden tablet on Xu Que’s hand and said, "This wooden tablet has already been fused with the scent of your body. Nobody else will be able to pretend to be you and neither will you be able to act as another participant. Therefore, you must remember to return within your time limit, or else, even if you find the Star Miscanthus, you will be deemed to have failed. Do you understand?"
"I understand. Oh yes, lady, have you met a fairy before?" Xu Que asked the female disciple after nodding and answering her.
"Ah? I… haven’t." The female disciple was startled for a moment. Although as a cultivator, mortals usually address them as Fairies, but in the eyes of a Cultivator, only those who have soared heavenwards and enter the World of Immortals, were addressed as Fairies.
Xu Que slightly smiled and lovingly replied, "I haven’t seen one before too. However, ever since I met you, I think I’ve finally seen one!"
After hearing Xu Que’s words, she was initially shocked. When she reacted, her face blushed immediately. With a tinge of shyness, she lowered her head and didn’t dare make eye contact with Xu Que.
The other two male disciples, along with another group of male Cultivators, widened their eyes in the moment and their faces were filled with astonishment.
Just two sentences by him could make an Original Infant Stage lady blush. Damn, he is definitely brilliant and have such a fresh and refined flirting skill. He is definitely… awesome!
"Ding! Congratulations to host ‘Xu Que’ for successfully acting tough. The reward is 40 act tough points!"
He could gain act tough points just by hitting up a girl. Such a sleek and awesome method of hitting up a girl!
Xu Que let out a faint smile, kept his wooden tablet and turned around. He left the scene confidently amidst everyone’s shocked looks.
Several moments later, a male voice from one of the Sky Incense Valley disciples came from behind, "Hua Wu Que, number 9527, time limit in valley is one hour!"
Xu Que almost stumbled. What the hell, why were those words so familiar? The way he said it was like escorting somebody into a prison cell!
…
Entering the mountain valley, Xu Que suddenly realized that this entire valley was confined within a huge Spell.
Lifting his head and looking around, he realized that apart from the entrance, the entire area was enveloped by a layer of water-like protective screen. It was to stop participants from escaping with the Star Miscanthus.
"Looks like when I leave, I presume that my item hoard will be inspected? Heh, too bad, it’s useless. My system Deposit Storage cannot be checked by anyone else." Xu Que let out a smirk and strode forward.
There were quite a number of people in the mountain valley. Bit by bit, more Cultivators walked by. Some of them had just entered and some were about to leave the stage.
The ones entering had faces filled with deep anticipation and those leaving were either overjoyed or disappointed.
However, Xu Que felt rather at ease. His aim was to come in for a stroll and also to prank some people. When time was about to be up, he would exchange for several Star Miscanthus from the system store. He could finish the stage and act tough in one go.
After walking for several hundred meters, the amount of people around had gradually receded. After all, this mountain valley was huge. Groups which entered wouldn’t waste any time and activate their skills to quickly search for the Star Miscanthus.
Xu Que was the only one strolling around leisurely.
Moments later, he strolled upon an area with very little people. He prepared to find a place to lie down and bask in the sunlight. However, not too far in the distance, a few figures emerged and it looked like they were in a dispute of some sort.
Xu Que stopped in his tracks. After looking at the faces of the few people, he was dumbfounded.
Those were familiar faces!
In fact, he even knew people on both sides of the confrontation!
There were six Golden Core Staged Cultivators surrounding another six Foundation Building Staged Cultivators. Among them, there was a Foundation Building Staged lady who had a distinct temperament. She spoke resentfully, "You are merely bullying the weak."
"We are not bullying. We clearly saw the Star Miscanthus first. We only wanted to look for more of them. When we came back, you people already took it. Quickly hand it over." Xu Que recognized the man who had just finished talking. He was the green robed young man who was previously with Zeng Fan Rong and the others.
However, he did not form a group with Zeng Fan Rong and the others. Rather, he had found other several high Staged Cultivators as groupmates.
As for the group of Foundation Staged Cultivators who were being bullied, Xu Que recognized two of them.
The one with the distinctive temperament was Tang Xue Rou. She was the "Fairy Sister" Xu Que first saw after his rebirth. Another man, whose behaviour and appearance was out of the ordinary, was another disciple of the Celestial Sect. He was the saber-wielding youngster Xu Que met when he mistakenly barged into the Treasure Chamber, Zhang Su Liang.
The other four were also disciples of the Celestial Set. Xu Que recognized them but did not remember their names.
Perhaps they were prepared to leave the Celestial Sect, since the six of them were here today to participate in the Contest of the Sky Incense Valley!
However, what surprised Xu Que was the fact that Tang Xue Rou’s Cultivation speed was very fast. Only after a few months, she was already at the Foundation Building Stage and had achieved Stage 5 at that.
For Zhang Su Liang, he had already reached the Foundation Building Stage Full Foundation and was half a step from the Core Bearing Stage!
Under normal circumstances, Xu Que would leave after watching the commotion for some time. But at this point, the bully was the green robed young man. He was the one who mocked Xu Que earlier. With Xu Que’s watchful eyes, he definitely wouldn’t leave the scene with whatever he wanted.
"Don't move, robbery... Cough, my mistake, it’s become my habit after using that phrase too often." After yelling those words, Xu Que suddenly realized that they were unfitting for the situation. He then coughed and said seriously, "Hey, what are you guys doing? I’ve no problem with you all arguing. But the problem is, can you people please not stand beside my Star Miscanthus and make a ruckus?"
YOUR Star Miscanthus???
The two sides of people heard his words and turned their heads in unison. They were appalled.
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