I Can Do Anything?-Chapter 35: Third Segment

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Xuan Wu sighs, looking up at the huge colosseum, pondering to himself.

"The second segment? It'd be interesting to watch, but..."

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He looks the other way, towards the Sword Peak far away, a tall mountain covered in fog from where he stands.

"To be honest, all of the hype exists in the third segment, why not spend my time cultivating?" Xuan Wu thinks, tapping his foot against the ground.

Suddenly, he feels a pat on his shoulder, turning around, he sees Fatty Wang, and Zi Rougang.

"You guys, what are you doing here?" Xuan Wu smiles, nodding at them.

"Haha, aren't you going to come inside?" Fatty Wang chuckles, pointing towards the colosseum.

Xuan Wu shakes his head. "I'm going to dedicate my time to cultivating... you see..." He shakes his head, and then takes a seat on the ground.

For a mortal, they would definitely get dust and dirt on their bottom, but since Xuan Wu is a cultivator, he can completely negate that by applying qi as a protective layer.

He looks up at Zi Rougang and Fatty Wang, who also take a seat with serious expressions.

"I... I have a low-grade talent." Xuan Wu starts.

Zi Rougang shudders, as he has the same exact issue as Xuan Wu.

Xuan Wu takes a deep breath, making sure to look as dramatic as possible. "Not even a low-grade talent... the lowest of the low-grade talents." He clenches his teeth, and his fist.

Zi Rougang correspondingly clenches his teeth and fist, aligning his thoughts with Xuan Wu.

"I understand you brother Xuan!" He whispers in a sound only he can hear, harshly shutting his eyes to block out any tears, and to listen.

Fatty Wang pats his chest, right above his heart, showing his solace.

A single tear streaks down Xuan Wu's cheek, and he chuckles, in a way a pathetic person would to try coping with his bitter life. "And I don't anyone's sympathy, I just need to talk, with you guys." Fatty Wang and Zi Rougang nod.

"Being a child, I was always fascinated with the idea of immortals, though I did not yet understand just what 'Cultivation' meant." Xuan Wu continues.

"And... I also just wanted the basics of it—to ride swords, to concoct pills... even to just be above the concept of mortals."

"Yet." He takes a short break to breathe. "The moment the elder called out my name, and told me that I had a low-grade talent... a barely passable low-grade talent... I nearly broke down, nearly cried in front of everyone." Xuan Wu confesses.

Zi Rougang, who always thought of himself as arrogant, as high above others due to his clan, starts holding back tears. The way Xuan Wu speaks, the way he admits to nearly crying at his lack of talent... it resonates with him, he feels it, not even in his heart, in his soul, the very depths of his soul.

Xuan Wu continues.

"To think that I lost during this outer competition, I started blaming my talent, I started blaming the heavens, why me! Why would you torture a child like me with this... almost a flicker of a talent! Why!"

Xuan Wu shouts, tears are now falling freely down his red face.

Zi Rougang sniffles, trying his best not to sob uncontrollably. The fact that he had those very same thoughts taunts him in a specific way.

Fatty Wang looks up, right at the very heavens he worships.

"But." He shouts, causing Fatty Wang and Zi Rougang to pause.

"I'm not going to let those thoughts drag me down... my ego was broken, yet I didn't let that drag me down... no, I am Xuan Wu! I am a strong, dignified cultivator, with a heart of steel!" Xuan Wu stands, clenching his fist and shouting.

"Thus! I have dedicated my time to cultivating, to perfecting my skills, what low-grade talent? I'll transform this 'low-grade' into something even the heavens wouldn't dare to utter, to even have thoughts of!"

Zi Rougang trembles, Fatty Wang gasps.

"Even a short mountain that never yields is taller than the mountain that reaches towards the heavens!"

And with that quote, Fatty Wang and Zi Rougang both yell, standing up with a force that would scare even a fifth layer qi gathering cultivator.

"Brother Xuan, go!" Fatty Wang shouts, tears streaking down his face.

"Go and cultivate! Ignore us! Become the short mountain that never yields!" Fatty Wang continues, waving his hand.

"Brother Xuan, your words have inspired me! What competition?" He starts walking towards his peak. "Just like you, I will never yield!" His voice fades as he swears to cultivate to the best of his ability.

Fatty Wang puts his hand on Xuan Wu's shoulder, wiping his face with the other. "Brother." He begins, "Go. Go now and become the greatest cultivator in the sect. I'll be waiting for you on the other side."

Fatty Wang smiles, and turns towards the colosseum, starting to walk one step at a time.

Xuan Wu nods, and the moment Fatty Wang walks into the colosseum, his face returns to normal.

"Great, now I'm free to cultivate." He smiles, now free of his friends, he skips his way to the sword peak.

The face that the sword peak is shaped like a sword, implanted on the ground has always fascinated Xuan Wu.

He sighs and admires as he walks up the stairs, eventually arriving to the first layer of the sword peak, where his abode lies.

It is said that the sword peak has three layers, the first is for the peak elder and disciples, the second is the handle for the peak leader and inner disciples, and the top... the third layer is always covered in a fog, not even the sect leader knows what transpires there.

Xuan Wu eagerly enters his abode and lights incense, taking a seat.

Getting into a meditative position, he starts his One Thousand Sword Cultivation technique, shaping his breaths like swords.

To cultivate is to have a free mind, no thoughts, no desires, just an empty plane of breathing.

Spiritual energy enters the shape of sword as he breaths, entering his meridians and slowly being converted into qi, qi that shapes his identity as a cultivator.

Soon, soon he will enter the actual third layer of cultivation, and he will continue cultivating onwards!

Sure, most of his words were a joke when he was back at the colosseum, speaking to Fatty Wang and Zi Rougang,

but his words of becoming the greatest in the sect?

The truth!

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