Is It Wrong to Bully the Novice Village for System Rewards?

Chapter 245: “Body Refining Maniac”

Just as all the Demonic Cultivators were utterly baffled, Xu Wanchuan, the Hall Master of the Internal Affairs Hall, suddenly had an epiphany. His eyes widened in manic excitement as he announced, “This seat remembers now! It’s the Mortal Transformation Pill!”

“This Big Qi must have secretly ingested a Mortal Transformation Pill to voluntarily seal his cultivation right before entering the tower! He deliberately tricked the Moluo God-Slaughtering Tower into registering him as a mortal, forcing the tower spirits to scale their cultivation down to a mortal state!”

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. Thousands of eyes snapped toward the Hall Master, their faces a mixture of profound shock and lingering confusion.

Xu Wanchuan’s expression turned solemn, his voice ringing with absolute certainty.

“Many of you might not know this, but thousands of years ago, a certain disciple pulled off a similar exploit during the tower trial. This was because that disciple’s body-refining strength vastly overshadowed his Qi cultivation.”

“By using the Mortal Transformation Pill to scatter all his Qi right before the trial, the tower spirits he faced were simultaneously stripped of their Qi, drastically plummeting their combat strength. He then used his overwhelming physical might to crush the depowered spirits. Theoretically, using this loophole guarantees a far higher trial score. It is a brilliant, calculated gamble.”

“Big Qi undoubtedly deduced the same strategy! Moreover, his attainment in body refining far surpasses that ancient disciple. To effortlessly carve his way past the four-hundredth floor on pure physical strength alone… his innate talent is monstrous! His physical vessel is utterly transcendent!”

As Xu Wanchuan broke down the ‘truth’ step by step, the atmosphere in the plaza detonated. Epiphanies struck the crowd like lightning, their eyes filling with complex blends of awe and jealousy.

If the erudite Hall Master hadn’t seen through the illusion, who would have ever imagined the demonic tower could be exploited with such sheer tactical genius?

The Mortal Transformation Pill. Just as the name implied, ingesting it stripped a cultivator of all Qi for a set duration, reducing them to a mortal. Until the medicinal efficacy faded, recovery was impossible.

To cultivators, such a pill was worse than useless; calling it garbage was high praise. Cultivators were used to standing above the heavens, wielding world-shaking power. Stripping them of their might and throwing them back into the mortal dirt was no different from a death sentence.

Consequently, it wasn’t made for personal use. It was a poison pill, concocted by a deranged Demonic Cultivator alchemist.

As a poison, it was the perfect tool for brutal interrogations or keeping high-level prisoners from staging prison breaks—a highly favored commodity among Demonic Cultivators. Aside from that, only an astronomically small fraction of ascetic lunatics would willingly swallow it to experience the mortal realm and temper their Dao hearts.

Of course, as a mere Profound-grade pill, it only affected those below the Nascent Soul realm. It was completely useless against high-tier experts.

Yet here was a man audacious enough to revive an ancient, suicidal tactic for the demonic tower trial. The sheer cunning and iron-willed resolve required to willingly cripple oneself before entering a death trap left the crowd breathless.

“No wonder… What a terrifyingly brilliant scheme!”

“So that’s how it is! Everything makes perfect sense now. Big Qi must possess absolute, unshakable confidence in his physical body to forge such a perilous path. He is snatching victory from the jaws of death!”

“A stroke of genius! It’s a pity the path of body refining is a hellish grind, easy to dabble in but almost impossible to master. Otherwise, I would try this exact same method for my trial.”

“The mystery is solved! No wonder this maniac managed to blood-sacrifice the entirety of Blood Refining Peak and hack Elder Geng—a newly ascended Nascent Soul expert—to death! He’s been a peerless body-refining grandmaster hiding in plain sight this whole time!”

“Hiss… Four hundred and fifty floors now. He just obliterated a Soul Formation realm tower spirit with a single swing! His physical body is downright apocalyptic. ‘Body-refining expert’ doesn’t even cut it anymore; he’s a walking humanoid disaster!”

The fervent discussions cascaded through the crowd, thoroughly cementing a certain someone’s mythical title as the “Body Refining Maniac.”

Amidst the chaotic crowd, Situ Yan’s beautiful eyes shimmered with a dangerous, obsessive luster. She stared at the projection of the demonic tower with thick, suffocating infatuation.

The man I, Situ Yan, have set my sights on could never be mediocre, she thought smugly. I knew it all along. My Beloved Qi is the most magnificent man in The Saint Sect… no, in this entire world!

A faint, intoxicating smile graced her stunningly beautiful face. Her crimson dress fluttered in the wind, exuding a bewitching charm that drew the sidelong glances of countless male cultivators. Yet, none dared to step within ten feet of her. They were deathly afraid of provoking the notoriously ruthless eldest miss of the Situ family.

A beautiful rose, perhaps, but one laced with deadly venom.

Could it be… is he actually going to win?

Meanwhile, watching a certain someone bulldoze his way through the tower, Ji Chan’er flushed a deep, excited red. Her heart hammered against her ribs, her breathing growing ragged.

Ninety million High Grade Spirit Stones… I’m rich. I’m going to be filthy rich!

……

Moluo God-Slaughtering Tower.

The 560th Floor.

Swish!

The blade flashed, and a snake-headed, humanoid alien tower spirit was cleanly bisected. The severed halves dissolved into wisps of dark smoke, fading into the void.

Despite the clean kill, Qi Yuan didn’t look thrilled. He frowned, deep in thought.

At this height, the mobs had officially scaled up to the Void Refinement realm. Sure, the system was still suppressing their Qi to zero, but their raw physical stats and brute strength were solidly at the mid-Void Refinement stage.

Worse, the vast majority of the spirits sealed within the Moluo God-Slaughtering Tower were alien races, not human. A lot of these freaks had innate racial traits that made their base physical defense absurdly higher than a human cultivator of the same tier.

Take the snake-head he just killed, for instance. It was classified as a Void Refinement entity, but its actual physical defense rivaled a human cultivator at the Dao Integration realm.

He’d actually had to toggle on the second stage of his Blood Burning state and hack at the damn thing five or six times before it finally died.

This meant his OP physical advantage was shrinking a lot faster than he’d anticipated against these naturally tanky alien mobs!

The Abyssal Condensation Sword was still nerfed from its previous beatings. It had recovered a bit of juice, but it was lightyears away from its peak. Now, without any Qi to fuel it, bullying Nascent Soul and Soul Formation mobs was fine, but against a Dao Integration-level meat shield, the blade was starting to feel like a butter knife.

The mobs were only going to get spongier from here on out. If he kept trying to unga-bunga his way through with pure physical attacks, he might genuinely get hard-stuck against a Tribulation Crossing realm spirit, let alone a Great Ascension one!

Qi Yuan narrowed his eyes. A slightly unhinged idea began brewing in his head.

If raw stats aren’t enough to carry me, I guess it’s time to bust out the mechanics!

System, open the points mall.

Having made up his mind, he silently summoned the holographic storefront in his mind…

……

Outside the tower.

Seeing Qi Yuan finally halt his rampage at the 560th floor, Sect Leader Shen Honglian’s face softened with genuine approval.

“It appears Big Qi is preparing to withdraw. To possess such acute situational awareness at his age, knowing exactly when to advance and when to retreat… He is indeed a magnificent piece of jade waiting to be carved.”

Xu Wanchuan nodded vigorously, his tone dripping with admiration. “Exactly! The tower spirits might be devoid of Qi, but their physical resilience and combat instincts are completely authentic. For this boy to crush Void Refinement entities using only his flesh and blood… his body-refining attainment borders on the realm of myths! With a bit of Sect backing, his future is utterly limitless!”

However, another high-ranking Elder stroked his beard, shaking his head with a dismissive scoff.

“It’s a pity the Dao of Body Refining is a dead end. Its potential pales in comparison to orthodox Qi Refining. No matter how impenetrable his physical vessel, he is ultimately just a brutish thug. He will never ascend to the grand stage of true Immortals. If he encounters a competent Qi Refiner, they would just kite him to death with long-range techniques. Who would be foolish enough to engage him in close-quarters combat?”

This critique immediately drew nods of agreement from the surrounding Demonic Cultivators. Even Shen Xingxuan looked thoughtful.

So that bastard Big Qi is a high-level body cultivator. No wonder he managed to capture me last time. I was just too careless!

But now that I know his glaring weakness, the next time we fight, I just have to keep my distance! This lady will definitely beat that lecherous thug until he’s begging for mercy on his knees!

At this thought, her mood did a complete one-eighty. A bright, triumphant smile blossomed on her face, her large eyes curving into delighted little crescents.