Chapter 172: Choosing a Successor, Settling Karma

In the square, the gazes of more than a hundred Qingxi Sword Sect disciples looked curiously at Su Chen.

In their view, this young man didn't seem to have anything special.

No powerful magical power fluctuations could be felt from him, just like an ordinary person who had never practiced.

Why would the sect master be so respectful to him?

Daoist Qinghe walked onto the high platform, looked at the sect disciples below, cleared his throat, and spoke loudly.

"All disciples, gathering you today is for a great opportunity!"

His voice contained magical power and spread throughout the square.

"This Senior Disciple Wu Chen beside me is a high-ranking person who has achieved the Immortal Dao!"

As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar below the stage.

"What? This person is actually an immortal?"

"He looks younger than me."

"What do you know, immortals have eternal youth and live forever."

Although the disciples didn't dare to discuss loudly, they couldn't help but whisper privately.

Daoist Qinghe saw all this in his eyes, frowned, and shouted sharply: "Silence!"

"Senior is here, you all must not be rude!"

This shout of his startled the disciples below the stage, and they hurriedly closed their mouths.

But the eyes of the disciples still couldn't help but glance at Su Chen.

Daoist Qinghe turned to Su Chen and said respectfully: "Senior, the disciples have little knowledge, please forgive me."

Su Chen smiled faintly and waved his hand: "No matter."

His gaze swept over those disciples below the stage one by one.

These disciples had all achieved true qi, and the best among them had achieved the primordial spirit, carrying a sharp sword aura on their bodies; they were good seedlings for sword cultivation at a glance.

But they were not suitable for the "Thirty-Six Axes of Tiangang."

Su Chen's gaze continued to move.

Suddenly, his gaze stopped on a figure in a corner of the square.

It was a teenager who looked only fifteen or sixteen years old.

He was not tall, even a bit thin, with dark skin and an ordinary appearance, standing inconspicuously among the other disciples.

Other disciples all stood straight, trying hard to show their best side in front of the high-ranking person.

Only he was slightly hunched, head lowered, as if he didn't think he would be noticed by the high-ranking person.

Su Chen noticed that this person hadn't even achieved true qi.

But Su Chen felt a different aura from him; this disciple's bloodline seemed a bit strange.

"Interesting."

A smile appeared on Su Chen's face.

He beckoned to that teenager in the corner.

"That teenager in the corner, please come over."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's gaze looked at that corner.

The teenager didn't seem to expect the high-ranking person to call his name.

He was stunned for a moment, looked up, and quickly lowered his head again.

A disciple beside him pushed him and said: "Stone, Senior is calling you! What are you dazed for!"

The teenager then reacted; he scrambled out of the crowd and walked to the steps in front of the main hall with his head lowered.

"What is your name?" Su Chen looked at him and asked gently.

"Back... back to Senior, the disciple... the disciple is named Shi Yi." The teenager's voice was very small, and he was so nervous that he couldn't even speak clearly.

"Shi Yi?" Su Chen nodded, "Good name. Why are you so nervous?"

"I... I..." Shi Yi looked up, glanced at Su Chen quickly, and lowered his head again, saying in a small voice, "The disciple is dull, afraid of offending Senior."

Below the stage, among the disciples, someone saw Shi Yi being called up.

"Why is it him? He is just a handyman who chops wood and carries water, and he can't even achieve qi-refining; why would Senior take a fancy to him?"

"Yeah, could it be that this Senior has bad eyesight?"

Daoist Qinghe frowned when he heard these discussions.

He was also a bit strange, why Senior would specifically choose this Shi Yi.

He had some impression of this disciple.

He was an orphan brought back from a mountain village by an old man in the sect when he went down the mountain.

Because his aptitude was not good and his comprehension was poor, he had practiced in the sect for several years but couldn't even complete the most basic qi-refining, and finally could only be arranged to do some chores like chopping wood, carrying water, and cleaning.

He looked at Su Chen and explained carefully: "Senior, this child, his bones... are not very suitable for cultivation."

"No, he is very suitable."

Su Chen shook his head, saying something that made Daoist Qinghe very surprised.

He extended his hand and used his Hunyuan Jin Dan magical power to carefully probe Shi Yi's body.

"I didn't expect to meet someone with a trace of Witch Clan bloodline here; could it really be destined?"

Su Chen thought to himself after probing Shi Yi's body with his magical power.

"Do you want to learn a very powerful skill?" Su Chen looked into Shi Yi's eyes and asked.

Shi Yi looked up abruptly, a longing light erupting in his eyes.

Want!

How could he not want to?

He dreamed of it!

He didn't want to be mocked as a waste anymore, didn't want to be called and ordered around, didn't want to be just a handyman who chopped wood and carried water for the rest of his life.

He wanted to practice, wanted to learn skills, wanted to be like those senior brothers, flying with swords, slaying demons and eliminating evils.

"Want!"

This time, his voice was no longer as thin as a mosquito.

"Good!" Su Chen nodded, "Then from today on, you will learn from me for a period of time."

He turned around and said to Daoist Qinghe, who was completely stunned: "Daoist, it's him. I want to stay in

"Ah? Oh. Okay! Okay!" Master Qinghe was like someone waking from a dream and hurriedly nodded in agreement. "It's convenient, it's convenient. Senior, you can stay for as long as you like!"

Although he could not fathom why the senior had chosen this child, he knew that the senior's judgment could absolutely not be wrong.

Perhaps this youth named Shi Yi really did have some outstanding qualities that he had not discovered?

Meanwhile, the disciples below the stage had completely erupted into an uproar.

"What? The senior really chose that piece of trash?"

"Are you kidding me! He's a piece of trash who can't even perform Qi Refining to enter the body; by what right can he receive an expert's inheritance?"

For a moment, envy, jealousy, resentment... all sorts of emotions spread among the disciples.

Their gazes toward Shi Yi were filled with envy, wishing that they were the ones standing there at this moment.

And Shi Yi was still standing foolishly in place, feeling as if he were dreaming.

He had been chosen by an expert? He could learn very powerful skills?

He pinched his thigh hard; the intense pain told him that all of this was real.

A huge wave of joy surged from his heart.

He suddenly knelt on the ground and heavily kowtowed three times to Su Chen.

"Disciple Shi Yi pays respects to Master!"

Su Chen helped him up.

"I am not your master." He shook his head. "I am merely passing on a technique on behalf of another to settle a piece of karma. Between you and me, there is no master-disciple relationship."

"You only need to remember that the technique you will learn is called the *Thirty-Six Axes of Heavenly Gang*. This method does not cultivate the Primordial Spirit, only the physical body. Once you enter the path, there is no turning back. The path of cultivation is filled with endless pain and danger; it is a life-or-death struggle."

"Now, I will give you one more chance to choose. Are you still willing to learn?"

Su Chen's gaze became immensely solemn.

He had to let Shi Yi understand what kind of path he was about to face.

Shi Yi looked into Su Chen's eyes, nodded heavily without the slightest hesitation.

"I am willing!"

"As long as I can become stronger, I am not afraid of hardship!"

"Good."

A gratified smile appeared on Su Chen's face.