I Can Do Anything?-Chapter 17: There Is Some.

"Phewww... Hahhh."

Xuan Wu continues breathing, each cycle takes around 10 minutes.

Around Xuan Wu's mouth, there is blood, and cuts. This is the result of continuously sharpening the sword.

"My 100th attempt. Here goes nothing!"

He starts breathing out, forming the base of the sword.

And then, he sculpts the hilt, the guard, and then finally the blade.

The blade starts out blunt and rounded, but after strategic exhaling and inhaling, it slowly sharpens.

The air around the sword suddenly changes, and a mysterious energy starts getting pulled in.

"This is it!"

Xuan Wu braces himself, and then—

SWHIP!

The sword, blade first, plunges into Xuan Wu through his mouth. The corner of his lips rip, and blood flies out, hitting the stone ground.

But there is a sparkle in Xuan Wu's eyes, he hops up, clenching his fist.

"I did it! I'm a cultivator!"

Sharp energy rages inside Xuan Wu, he quickly sits down to settle the qi inside his thin, fragile meridians.

[Cultivation Realm Updated.]

[First layer of Qi Gathering.]

After regulating his breath, and steadying the qi, he slowly stands up once again. This time, there is a strange atmosphere around him.

The atmosphere is similar to when an all-powerful emperor overlooks his puny subjects.

Yes!

This is the Cultivator Ego!

What are lowly mortals to you, once qi starts flowing inside of your meridians?

They are nothing!

Ants!

You are nothing more than an idea to them!

A theory, a hypothesis, a conspiracy theorist's ramblings!

Xuan Wu suddenly feels as if he is at the top of the world. He feels as if he can go around smacking elders without consequence.

He even considers an insane thought.

"Why not beat the shit out of that arrogant Zeng Su!?"

He laughs, wind coiling around his fingers in absolute arrogance.

[Cultivator Ego Detected.]

A system panel pops up.

[Configure it?]

Xuan Wu glances at the system panel, his eyes red—high off of his ego.

"Humph, why would I need a lousy cheat system?"

A cultivator ego can either support you in your future cultivation, or cause your downfall.

And depending on your cultivation talent, the ego will only hit you harder.

For some high-grade talents, they recognise that there are still many obstacles ahead, and they will use the ego as momentum.

Meanwhile, a lower-grade talent will allow the ego to possess them. Their insecurity about their talent strengthens their ego.

Xuan Wu cackles, stepping outside. "Who dares to fight me!?" He shouts, his voice echoing. the recent breakthrough caused his flesh to be imbued with qi, allowing him to be temporarily 1.25x stronger than normal. This is known as "Breakthrough Momentum" in the cultivation world, and has many more uses.

Suddenly, a shadow descends—Zeng Su, riding a sword, he grunts in pain as he visibly rubs his behind.

He then jumps off of the sword, landing in front of Xuan Wu.

"You arrogant bastard, you broke through to the first layer of Qi Gathering and think you're all powerful? Let this old man lecture you in the ways of cultivation!"

A powerful wind gets blasted towards Xuan Wu, knocking him into the outside stone walls of his abode.

Blood spews out of his mouth, his eyes starting to turn crazed as he wipes his mouth with his hand. "This bastard... this bastard is trying to kill me!"

His vision gets blurry, looking at the blood all over his hands. "B-blood, this fucker! I'll kill you! I'll really kill you!"

[Spiritual Adrenaline detected, would you like to boost your cultivation to Foundation Establishment]

Xuan Wu grins a malicious grin, his eyes now crimson. "Do it."

At that moment, Xuan Wu feels as if his meridians got filled with qi. Then, like it had a mind of its own, the qi rushed towards his dantian.

BOOM!

Slamming against the "Foundation Gate" all of his qi gathers into a pool in his dantian!

Zeng Su shields his head, face pale.

"N-no way, how could he just break into the first layer of Foundation Establishment realm like that?"

Zeng Su's arms start trembling, foundation getting weak, his steps faltering as he falls back.

"No, no, I'm in the Foundation Establishment realm as well, I shouldn't be afraid of a first layer like him!"

But then—

The "First layer" Xuan Wu suddenly starts rising up, going all the way to the ninth layer. The craziest part? His aura is stable!

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But then, something else happens, a stink starts spreading across the battlefield.

Zeng Su's face turns red in a mix of embarrassment and frustration. "No, no, not now!"

Donning white robes. His backside is now a bit brown.

All thanks to the joys of diarrhea.

For a moment, Xuan Wu's jaw drops. His cultivation ego falters.

"Did this grown cultivator just shit himself!?"

His nose scrunches up, hands balling into fists.

"This scumbag, deciding to shit through my very first fight... I understand."

Boom!

Xuan Wu bends his legs, lunging towards the embarrassed Zeng Su.

"Take this! Black Iron Fist!"

Coming up with an ability on the spot, Xuan Wu's qi rushes out of his meridians, forming a poor image of an iron gauntlet around his fist.

[Would you like to develop the Black Iron Fist?]

Ignoring the system message, Xuan Wu's fist slams right on Zeng Su's upset stomach.

"Gerraughhh!"

And so Zeng Su gets blasted back, brown matter flying everywhere as he crashes against the earth.

Xuan Wu, having defeated an opponent, feels his ego start to stabilise.

He looks at his hands, clenching and unclenching.

"So this is what a foundation establishment cultivator is capable of?"

Xuan Wu looks towards his abode.

...

[Setting cultivation to First layer Qi Gathering...]

In a moment of self awareness, Xuan Wu decided to revert back to Qi Gathering, so as to sustain his identity.

He feels his qi start to thin, exiting his dantian slowly, while his foundation gate heals up back to a pristine state, like it was never breached.

The qi settles back in his meridians, and he returns to being a First layer Qi Gathering realm cultivator like nothing ever happened.

A slight smoke builds up in his abode where he currently sits.

"Still... this cultivator ego is a dangerous thing."

Xuan Wu exhales shakily, looking towards the far off peak elder's abode.

While he was cleaning up the scene, he decided to add "Forgetful" to Zeng Su's conditions, and remove his diarrhea.

"What a mess."

Xuan Wu sighs, cultivator ego is really a big hindrance, especially since he's trying to keep a low profile.

Blue light flashes on his face, and then a line of text appears. Xuan Wu's eyebrows furrow in consideration. His fingers rubbed his chin in a steady rhythm, his thoughts wandering.

[Cultivator Ego Detected.]

[Configure it?]

He lazily accepts the offer, configuring his cultivator ego.

[Current Ego Degree: First layer.]

"It seems cultivator ego works differently to the realm of cultivation. This reminds me of my past world, when short people would disrespect taller ones. It has the same principles, just on a bigger scale." Xuan Wu confirms, comprehending the basic nature of Cultivator Ego.

Xuan Wu then gathers himself quietly and exits his abode. Outside, the peak elder stands absentmindedly, eyes wandering.

He looks to Xuan Wu.

"Disciple, do you know why I'm here?"

"No... sorry master, maybe you drank to much."

Zeng Su points a shaky finger at Xuan Wu, before sighing and retiring to his own abode.

Xuan Wu descends the mountain, making his way towards the Hidden Scripture Pavilion for a specific reason.

...