Naked Sword Art

The moment Xiao Fang stepped into the cauldron, the door immediately closed behind him like it did for Xiao Hei and Li Xiang. It was pitch black, but it made no difference to Xiao Fang since he was blindfolded.

He casually sat on the ground then crossed his legs. After a bit of concentration, he was able to send his spirit body into the cauldron's core. Xiao Fang surroundings began to quickly change. In the next moment he appeared to be in a totally different space.

Since he was purely in spirit form he no longer had his blindfold covering his eyes. So, using his eyes, he was able to see everything around him. The room was completely empty, but it was also really big. It was a bit wider than it was tall, and there were stairs spiraling along the wall, leading to the 2nd floor. If he had to guess, it seemed as if he was in a very large pagoda.

Suddenly, an elderly woman's voice sounded out,

"Welcome to the Illusory Spirit Trials. When you're ready, please proceed to the second floor to begin your test."

Xiao Fang wasn't one to spend time idling around, so he immediately began walking towards the stairs. However, Xiao Fang stopped only after taking his first step.

"Hm? What's this?" He said while looking down at his core.

Although his spirit body looked no different than his physical one, there was a glaring difference within him that was hard to miss.

Looking down he could see something glowing within his dantian. Although it was extremely unusual, there was something about it that was familiar.

'Is this my Spirit Attribute?' Xiao Fang thought.

He could still remember the first time he tried using it and how much pain it brought him. Since then he assumed something went wrong and refrained from practicing it, but looking at it now, it seemed as if it was perfectly fine.

There was a bright light blue light shining in his core, but also thin vein-like strands of light blue qi spreading throughout his entire body.

With a bit of hesitation he tried to release the power of his spirit attribute like he did before, but this time he tried to be more careful.

Slowly opening his inner gates, the thin stands began to light up. Each strand thickened more and more till his whole body was being lit up from within.

Xiao Fang gritted his teeth in pain, but he didn't stop trying to fight it. Eventually, the pain was just too unbearable to continue, so he stopped pushing his inner gates open and just held it there.

Looking at himself now, he felt like he could understand why it was hurting so much. Before, the best way to describe the pain was that it felt like his body was being torn to pieces, but as it turned out it was actually his spirit body that was breaking down, not his physical one.

Unlike before, he could visibly see the damage the spirit attribute was doing to his spirit body. Since Xiao Fang still had to do the cauldron's tests he eventually stopped releasing his spirit attribute, but to his surprise, he began to feel a nourishing energy spreading throughout his body. In the next moment, the damage he sustained healed almost instantly.

As far as Xiao Fang knew, a cultivator's body healed faster the higher their Body cultivation realm was. With the same logic, he assumed the spirit body healed faster depending on his spirit cultivation realm. However, his spirit body healed almost instantly after he stopped releasing his spirit attribute. Not only that, but he noticed that his spirit body had become a bit tougher too.

"I... feel completely fine. How is this possible?"

Xiao Fang released his spirit attribute again, but just like before, his spirit body immediately healed the moment he stopped releasing it.

'Could it be this pagoda?'

Xiao Fang pushed his inner gates open a few more times and realized he was releasing more and more each time he tried. It was as if he was getting stronger with each attempt. Xiao Fang was so excited about this new discovery that he nearly forgot about the trial.

After nearly destroying his spirit body and healing up several more times, he was convinced that he couldn't go any further. It was as if there was a barrier blocking his path, but no matter how hard he tried he simply couldn't get through it.

However, his struggles weren't without merits. After pushing himself so many times, he realized that he was not only able to keep the half-formed spirit attribute mode active for a few seconds, but it actually increased his cultivation by another realm. If he could already increase his cultivation by a realm now, just how much stronger would he get when he's able to use it's full power?

He tried it a few more times, but he was still unsuccessful. The power he could gain by crossing that barrier was tempting, but it was getting a bit tiring. 

Without even realizing it, Xiao Fang had spent nearly an hour on the first floor. Still, Xiao Fang wiped the sweat off his forehead then walked upstairs to the 2nd floor. There, Xiao Fang saw an elderly woman standing at the center of the room.

Xiao Fang tried to steady his breathing as he cupped his hands and bowed to the elder with the Black Paradise insignia on her plain white robes.

"Junior greets elder."

Xiao Fang raised his head and saw that the elder did not react to his greeting. He wondered if she was just asleep or just couldn't hear him, but then a slight frown emerged on her aged face.

"You're a man..."

Xiao Fang was confused by her comment.

"Yes... I am." Xiao Fang responded.

"I assume the spirit pet that came before you was yours as well."

Xiao Fang froze.

'Did Xiao Hei tell her or did she just figure it out on her own?' Xiao Fang thought.

He could tell that she was no ordinary elder, but he didn't think she'd know that Xiao Hei was a spirit pet. He could also tell that her cultivation was incredibly deep, that was probably why it felt like she could see right through him.

"She is," Xiao Fang didn't try denying it.

The mysterious elder sighed.

"For once I finally met a remarkable disciple, but it turns out he's just a man. I always knew my fate was cruel, but I didn't think it would be a tease as well."

"Elder, please allow me to take the test."

"The test? Ah right, you can forget about that. You're in no condition to be doing that now."

"What?"

Xiao Fang was confused. 'Why did the women in this sect despise men so much?' he thought.

Staring at the blue light in his dantian, the elder asked,

"I don't suppose you got that True Immortal Spirit Attribute from my sect."

"I did." Xiao Fang answered again.

The elder suddenly squinted her eyes at him. She was able to read him perfectly till now, but she didn't seem to believe his words this time.

"You're... telling the truth. How in the world were they able to get their hands on something like that." she said in astonishment.

Suddenly, the look on her face twisted.

"To think, they would waste such a priceless treasure on a man like you."

"Elder, I might be a bit tired, but I'm still able to continue. Give me a chance to prove myself," he argued.

"Is that so?" The elder smiled mischievously.

Xiao Fang didn't know what she had in mind, but it made him a bit nervous.

"Very well. If you can bring out the full power of your True Immortal Spirit Attribute, I'll consider it a pass."

"This..."

"What's wrong? Didn't you want to prove yourself? I enjoyed hearing you screams from up here. I want to hear more of it."

'This bitch is sadistic,' Xiao Fang thought.

"If you can unleash the power of that True Immortal Spirit Attribute, I'll not only give you a pass, but I'll also give you a strong spirit cultivation technique too."

"A strong spirit cultivation technique? What's the catch?"

The elder smiled innocently, but her next words were far from harmless.

"Well, you see... There's nothing you have that I want. So instead, I'll have my little spirit beast knock you around a bit for my entertainment. What do you say."

Xiao Fang didn't want to leave without being put into the same class as Xiao Hei. So even if the elder was intentionally making things hard for him, the only thing he could do was to suck it up and keep going.

Besides, considering how strong she was, if she really gave him a strong cultivation technique, that might actually make the whole thing worthwhile.

"Alright. I accept," Xiao Fang said.

Suddenly, the elder began to release some of her qi, allowing it to morph into a 7 foot tall, humanoid beast.

"Good. Shall we begin?"

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*Author's Note:

Hi everyone. I've been reading a few books on webnovel recently, but there was one that really caught my eye. I assume many of you have heard of it: 'My Pick Up Artist System' (Currently ranked 5th on Webnovel's power stone ranking). It's an R-18 comedy with a hilarious cast of characters, great relationship making advice, and some epic face-slapping too! If you haven't read it yet, then I highly recommend you go check it out.