Don't let Yu Ding take on any more disciples.

Chapter 275 My Senior Brother Abandoned His Cultivation Just to Chop Me Down

Within the landscape painting, in a primeval forest.

"Ugh, so unlucky..."

With a tense and frightened expression, Zhou Wu leaped left and right and ran for his life in the mountains and forests.

Occasionally, when he looked back, he saw towering ancient trees behind him collapsing in droves, raising clouds of dust, and a huge dragon horn crashing down like a small mountain.

The dragon-horned elephant possesses immense strength and a strong sense of territory. It is extremely ferocious, with its body covered in a layer of fine scales. Its name comes from the fact that its tusks are replaced by two crimson dragon horns, which have extremely powerful killing power.

"I knew it. Master told me to climb to the top of the mountain in the fastest way possible. It wouldn't be easy..." Zhou Wu thought to himself, speechless.

Actually, when he heard that his master's special training method was to make him run from the foot of the mountain to the top, he was still a little surprised. Was this all the so-called special training was?

Now it turns out that it was indeed not simple.

At the mountaintop, two figures stood still, looking at Zhou Wu who was running for his life.

"Was this time a bit too difficult?"

The former Ghost King Lu Mu stood beside the jade cauldron. Seeing this scene seemed to trigger some memories, and he hesitated and said, "Although this dragon-horned elephant has no innate supernatural powers, it is still a remnant of the ancient primordial world. It inherits a few traces of dragon blood in its body and has immense strength."

A fully grown dragon-horned elephant can exert a force of up to 25,000 jin (approximately 12,500 catties). A Qi cultivator could manage to kill it from a distance using magical artifacts, but this martial artist… had no choice but to take it head-on!

Yu Ding glanced at him: "Didn't you catch this thing?"

"Cough cough!" Lu Mu coughed lightly, then decisively shut his mouth and lowered his head to count the ants.

"This is not bad."

Yu Ding looked down at the man and elephant still running wildly, his expression flickering. Suddenly, he said, "Human martial arts originated in ancient times. You... should be very familiar with them, right?"

Lu Mu was the brother of Chi You, the God of War, who was a formidable figure who rivaled the Yellow Emperor and Yan Emperor. Their era should be considered the golden age of martial arts.

Upon hearing this, Lu Mu nodded slightly: "That's right!"

"What do you think of modern martial arts?" Yu Ding asked.

Lu Mu pondered for a moment, then said with some emotion, "Like a weasel giving birth to a mouse—each generation is worse than the last!"

"Huh?" Yu Ding was a little surprised when he heard this. This guy could actually recite rhymes?

"Why are you looking at me, sir? I'm just old, not isolated from the world," Lu Mu said.

Yu Ding pondered for a moment and said, "How can it be that each generation is worse than the last?"

To be honest, he didn't know much about human martial arts, but Lu Mu was also an ancestor of the human race and had a lot to say about it.

Lu Mu said solemnly, "In ancient times, it was an era filled with bloodshed and death every day. We fought against other tribes, other races, and even against heaven and earth. To survive, we had to constantly temper our bodies, strengthen our physiques, and hone our strength so that we could see the sun rise the next day."

"Transcendent... Well, in ancient times, we called that realm the Earth Realm. Back then, warriors who reached the Great Perfection of the Earth Realm generally possessed the strength of two or three dragon-horned elephants. However, there was once a person who reached the pinnacle of the Earth Realm, possessing a physical strength of approximately 108,000 jin. Throughout human history, only he has achieved this."

As he said this, a deep look of admiration appeared in his eyes: "As for whether anyone else has achieved that later, I don't know."

He paused, then chuckled, "But thinking about it, it seems unlikely, after all, not everyone is..."

His eyes dimmed again as he spoke.

One hundred and eight thousand catties... Upon hearing this, Yu Ding remained calm as always, though he was still somewhat taken aback.

To forge such immense power from a mortal body of flesh and blood—that peerless villain is truly something else.

"Your statement that each generation is worse than the last has some merit. Martial arts is a path that was forged by the human race in the struggle against all other races."

Yu Ding sighed, "The ancient human warriors were so fierce, partly because of their human wisdom, but in truth, it was all out of necessity."

When humans were first born, they were small in size, weak in strength, and possessed spiritual energy. As a result, they were quickly targeted as food for other races. In addition, there were various natural disasters. How could human tribes survive if they did not become food?
The only way forward is to fight against other races and the harsh environment.

If you don't fight or struggle, you have no right to live. That was the rule in ancient times.

Unlike now, after the rise of the human race, when humanity flourished, the wildness in people gradually faded away. Without the coercion of other races, martial arts naturally declined more and more.

"How did that person cultivate?" Yu Ding asked.

Lu Mu glanced at the jade cauldron, then looked at Zhou Wu below.

Yu Ding chuckled and said, "Is it also like me... being forced by ferocious beasts to unlock your potential?"

Lu Mu smiled awkwardly: "He would deliberately provoke those divine birds and ferocious beasts, go and fight with them, and come back after a whole day of fighting. Strangely enough, no matter how tired he was or how badly he was injured, he would be almost completely recovered the next day after a good night's sleep."

He took the initiative to go and fight the ferocious beast... Yu Ding's eyes twitched. He had acted rashly. It was indeed ferocious.

What do you think of me as a disciple?

Yu Ding asked, "Is it possible to cultivate to that level of the Earth Realm?"

Lu Mu stared at Zhou Wu for a moment, nodded, and then shook his head.

“I admit his natural talent is excellent, perhaps no worse than that person’s, but he… can’t do it!” Lu Mu said with certainty.

"why?"

"Because he lacks the heart of a strongman, even if that person were weaker than him and encountered a beast more ferocious than the dragon-horned elephant, he would not beg for mercy, much less run away."

Lu Mu recounted, "On the contrary, he would be even more excited and take the initiative to meet them. Even if he was covered in wounds, he would continue to search until the day he cut off the head of the ferocious beast. He became stronger when faced with a stronger opponent. That was his personality. He seemed to be a monster born for battle. It was his nature, and no one could change it."

Yu Ding didn't say a word as he watched Zhou Wu flee.

"Compared to him, I think...your other disciple...is quite good!"

Lu Mu suddenly said, "He has a trace of that person in him. Perhaps he can do it."

"This humble Taoist priest... understands."

Yu Ding's eyes flickered, and no one knew what he was thinking.

About an hour later.

"Huff! Huff... Master, I... I'm here..."

Zhou Wu was panting heavily, his hands supporting his thighs, and he looked drenched in sweat. He had also shaken off the dragon-horned elephant.

However, he was also exhausted and then collapsed to the ground with a thud.

After all this turmoil, his dantian was now completely empty, devoid of any true qi.

Yu Ding glanced at him, turned around, and said, "Recover a bit and then continue practicing."

"Yes!" Zhou Wu took a deep breath, sat up, and began to practice breathing exercises.

This time, when he practiced breathing exercises, he felt that the discomfort brought by the spiritual energy entering his body was no longer as painful as before. Moreover, the true energy transformed from the spiritual energy carried warmth as it circulated through his veins, making him feel as if he were in the sun, feeling warm all over.

Once his true energy was fully replenished, Zhou Wu opened his eyes with a joyful expression, feeling that his skill had increased significantly.

Yu Ding said calmly, "You can discard your old cultivation techniques."

"Yes!" Zhou Wu replied with a smug look.

"Have you rested enough? If you have, then let's continue training."

Yu Ding said, "Indeed, character determines destiny. This kid is indeed cunning, but he's also really lazy. He's the kind of guy who falls down and just takes a nap."

It was here that he met Huang Yu, his destined rival, which ignited his competitive spirit.

He'll never face difficulties unless he's pushed to the brink...

The daily routine of going up and down the mountain for cultivation continued.

The time it took him to reach the mountaintop was getting shorter and shorter, even shortening to within an incense stick's time, and his cultivation level was also increasing rapidly.

Until... three months later!
"Moo!" After he quietly shook off the dragon-horned elephant, a roar of wild bulls suddenly resounded through the sky, and a large herd of wild bulls surged out from all directions, chasing after him relentlessly.

"Is doing this... really okay?"

Lu Mu's figure behind him gradually solidified: "Thirty wild bulls, one dragon-horned elephant..."

"Don't worry, it's okay."

Yu Ding coughed lightly: "That's just how this kid is. He only acts when he's forced to. Look, his cultivation level has stabilized, hasn't it?"

Lu Mu: "..."

I've seen inhumans, but I've never seen anything that's not even human!

"Xiao Wu, what's wrong? When you encounter problems, all you do is run away?"

Yu Ding's voice came: "You can't even handle a few wild bulls and dragon-horned elephants in this strength training session. How are you going to catch up with your senior brother?"

Senior Brother... Zhou Wu, who was running at full speed, suddenly looked up, his eyes shining, and turned his head to look at the herd of wild bulls.

"Ah!" Zhou Wu gritted his teeth, let out a long roar, and charged into the herd of cattle as if he had been injected with chicken blood. In one go, he knocked more than ten wild bulls into the air.

Lu Mu looked at Yu Ding and then at Zhou Wu, his eyes widening in astonishment.

This jade cauldron... it really has its apprentice completely under its control!
then……

"Ah... Awooo..." Zhou Wu was thrown into the air by a horn, clutching his buttocks, and started running away behind the herd of cattle again.

"Not bad, there's been progress!" Yu Ding coughed lightly.

At this moment, inside Guigu Valley.

puff!
A powerful sword light, several meters long, slashed across like a bolt of lightning, cutting into the surging waterfall. But in the blink of an eye, it crumbled under the violent cascading of the waterfall.

Huang Yu stood in the middle of the Ghost Valley Thousand-Foot Waterfall, where a horizontal bridge had been added. He repeatedly raised his sword, channeled his true energy, and swept it out.

Seeing the sword light collapse, Huang Yu's expression remained unchanged. He calmly swung his sword again and again, while fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

He vividly remembered that just a few days ago, when he was preparing to begin his morning cultivation, he was taken by the jade cauldron to the middle of the waterfall, where overnight, a stone bridge ten feet wide had appeared, its ends disappearing into the edge of the waterfall.

"Yu'er, you have mastered the horizontal sword technique, and this is where you will hone your horizontal sword technique from now on."

"You can only say you've mastered the Horizontal Sword Technique when you can cut through this waterfall. That will be the day you descend the mountain."

Cutting open this waterfall... Huang Yu swung his sword for a long time, then stopped to rest slightly, gazing at the waterfall in silence.

Having spent his days cultivating upstream from the waterfall, he now knows that the area upstream is a rocky mountain where many rivers converge, cascading down from the cliffs into the valley below. The ferocity and power of the water are immeasurable.

This is the power of nature!

Cutting open the waterfall was a cultivation method he had never encountered before.

Even though he had reached the threshold of the Divine Realm of Martial Arts, the sword light he unleashed with all his might could not last long under the waterfall before dissipating.

Could someone like him really cut through this waterfall?
"Yes, if it were you... absolutely!"

When he was overwhelmed by this waterfall last time and began to doubt himself, that was what his master said.

"Yu'er!" Yu Ding appeared beside Huang Yu that day and gently patted Huang Yu's shoulder.

Huang Yu's expression changed drastically, his body went limp, and he felt as if a portion of his power had been destroyed, causing his cultivation level to drop from the Divine Ascension Realm. He looked at Yu Ding and asked, "Master, why?"

Looking at the jade cauldron, his eyes showed only astonishment and confusion, not anger.

Meeting his disciple's gaze, Yu Ding nodded gently and said, "Because your Transcendent Realm... is not yet at its peak, it is not perfect enough."

It's clear that this disciple truly trusts him.

"Not quite perfect enough?" Huang Yu was taken aback.

Yu Ding asked, "When you reached the peak of the Earth Realm, how strong was your physical body?"

"Approximately... 90,000 jin!"

Huang Yu hesitated for a moment and said, "Back then, a teacher told me that nine is the ultimate number, and ninety thousand jin of strength is the ultimate, one in ten thousand."

Yu Ding said calmly, "In ancient times, there was a person who reached the pinnacle of the Transcendent Realm with a physical strength of 108,000 jin. That was the ultimate Transcendent Realm."

108,000 catties...

Huang Yu's expression changed drastically, revealing genuine surprise.

"Xiao Wu has a chance to reach this realm. Fortunately, you haven't reached the true Divine Realm yet, so there's still a chance to make amends."

Yu Ding said softly, "From now on, you should cultivate diligently and not lose your rhythm. By the way, in about half a year, Xiao Wu should be able to reach the peak of this Earth Realm."

Six months later... Huang Yu's eyes narrowed. Did this mean that his junior brother would be able to catch up with him in six months?

What method did the master use to help him improve so rapidly?
Although he was prepared, Huang Yu was still inevitably a little flustered.

Fortunately, his master crippled his cultivation, giving him a chance to make amends. Otherwise, he would have suffered a great loss when facing his junior brother who had reached the limit of the Earth Realm. His master was fair to everyone... Huang Yu was filled with gratitude towards Yu Ding.

Inside the landscape painting, Zhou Wu lay panting on the grass, looking disheveled, his clothes tattered.

"How many kilograms of divine power does Senior Brother have at the peak of the Earth Realm?" Zhou Wu asked eagerly.

Yu Ding glanced at him: "I don't know, but he is now in the Transcendent Realm."

"Huh?" Zhou Wu was taken aback, then suddenly sat up. "Didn't Master say last time that he had already reached the half-step Divine Travel Realm?"

"But when he heard that the ultimate level of the Transcendent Realm was 108,000 jin of divine strength, and that you still had a chance to reach this level, he abandoned his cultivation and regressed to the Transcendent Realm."

Yu Ding said calmly, "And now, Yu'er is only one step away from the pinnacle of the Transcendent Realm."

"Hiss, what a dog..." Lu Mu, who was secretly speechless, thought, "Honestly, did your disciple cripple his own cultivation?"

"what?"

Zhou Wu was somewhat unsettled after hearing this, his expression flickering. He suddenly gave a bitter laugh and said, "Senior brother really went all out to kill me! Ahhhhh..."

After letting out a long howl, Zhou Wu, his face dark, silently walked down the mountain: "Again."

"Oh? Didn't you just say you were going to take a nap?" Yu Ding raised an eyebrow.

"How can I sleep with a senior brother who wants to kill me?"

Zhou Wu gritted his teeth and said, "That senior brother is really ruthless. He crippled his own cultivation just to kill him. You should know that although he had heard of the ultimate realm of the Earth Realm, he had never thought of stepping into that realm."

He used to think that he would be content with 70,000 to 80,000 jin of divine strength, after all, this was a level that many Earth Realm martial artists could not reach in their entire lives.

Isn't it good to be content with what you have?
Why put so much pressure on yourself?

However, now that he has that senior brother, he asked his master to find out how many kilograms of divine power that senior brother has at the peak of the Extraordinary Earth Realm.

Who knew that in order to step into that realm, that senior brother would actually abandon his own cultivation and drop his own level, leaving all the pressure on him.

Now all the pressure is on him, what can he do?
Continue to be content with what you have, and wait until the day you leave the mountain to be chopped down by your senior brother with a single sword strike?

That's absolutely unacceptable! The world is so beautiful; he hasn't lived enough yet. How could he possibly surrender his head to someone else?!

That senior brother was like a sword hanging over his head, making him dare not relax for a moment.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it, this bastard is trying to kill me."

Zhou Wu gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, saying fiercely, "One day I will chop him up, only then will I be worthy of all the suffering I have endured over the years."

P.S.: Ahem, the last minute this morning... well, it's still morning.

(End of this chapter)