A life of leisure is worse than a life of flowers and splendour

Ten days later, a massive spaceship slowly landed at the camp's gate, carrying all of Dao Sect's newly recruited disciples. Xuancheng Zhenjun personally led the team to pick them up. He solemnly explained the situation to the disciples. On the way, they were ambushed by demonic cultivators, who even set up formations to capture them all. Fortunately, he, the Yuanying Zhenjun, personally escorted them, so no casualties were sustained. Without his presence, the consequences would have been disastrous.

Other sects were also ambushed, but thanks to the advance warning from the Dao Sect, their losses were not severe. The Dao Sect had a large contingent, and the Demon Sect had already divided its forces into several waves, waiting along the likely routes. The wave that was severely weakened by the Dao Sect's forces had its strength greatly reduced, and its formation was destroyed, making it much easier for those who subsequently took this route.

The others were prepared and dealt with the situation. However, the independent cultivators and smaller factions suffered some losses, so they formed an alliance and used the independent cultivator alliance's spaceship to jointly fight against the demon sect. However, perhaps due to the mixed forces and lack of unity, the spaceship's shield was breached, one Jindan died, and two were injured. Several newly recruited disciples were also killed by the demon cultivators who attacked the cabin.

Everyone's faces darkened upon hearing this, expressing anger and concern at the actions of these demonic cultivators. These cultivators seemed increasingly brazen, even daring to attack righteous cultivators in broad daylight. It seemed they were cornered this time. Who wouldn't be tempted by the resources within the secret realm? One more person meant a greater harvest. Their Demon Sect was already short on manpower, so they couldn't compete with them in terms of recruitment. Furthermore, the Dao Sect had even dispatched troops to follow and seize their men. Since both sects shared a northern territories, it was like enemies meeting to see eye to eye. So, they targeted the Dao Sect's newly recruited disciples, hoping to address the problem at its root and reduce their competition.

Daoist Master Xuancheng shared this story to raise the disciples' vigilance. They were to be even more vigilant in the secret realm. The Demon Sect was their mortal enemy, and they must not be taken lightly. He also requested that the elders and stewards strengthen their instruction and training of new disciples, allowing them to quickly improve their cultivation and enhance their self-defense capabilities.

Dao Zong recruited more than 200 new people this time, of which more than 120 were below the third level of Qi Refining or had not yet started practicing, accounting for the majority.

The Demon Sect's members were watching closely, even brazenly attempting to intercept Dao Zong's spaceship. If they encountered them in the secret realm, they would probably go all out. This journey to the secret realm was destined to be filled with bloodshed. Du Shuangshuang silently thought, she must improve her skills. Even if she couldn't fight back, she had to be able to escape.

Du Shuangshuang felt her daily training wasn't enough; she wanted to practice in real combat. But where could she find a place to practice? Finally, finding an open space in the camp, Du Shuangshuang and her second uncle and cousin began practicing with real swords and weapons. Of course, safety precautions were essential. Swords weren't imbued with spiritual energy, and using skills reduced the spiritual energy output. They were just form, not power. A blow would only leave a mark, and if it was truly injured, she could use rejuvenation techniques to heal it. The main focus was on reflexes and physical control.

The movement of the few people also attracted a lot of attention. Uncle Du and his cousin were a little embarrassed, especially his cousin who refused to take action no matter what. But Du Shuangshuang refused to do it. Which is more important, face or life? As long as she can save her life, Du Shuangshuang feels that face can be abandoned. Besides, they are not using their own faces in the first place, so what is there to be afraid of.

As it turned out, they'd overestimated their abilities. The sect had a permanent arena where disciples could practice and learn from each other. Consequently, many gathered there daily. As they began practicing, the crowds grew, and some even eager to try their hand at the arena themselves. The crowds grew so large that during the intermission between the two, someone immediately challenged them to a fight.

"Hey, hey, hey, Junior Brother, let's have a sparring match."

"Hey, Junior Sister, how about we have a sparring match?"

Du Shuangshuang readily agreed and was secretly happy in her heart: I was just worrying that I didn’t have the opportunity to get to know more about other people. Fighting with my own people always felt a bit restrained. Now someone finally took the initiative to come to me, it’s great!

But no one approached Du Zhengze. Firstly, his cultivation level was far behind. When sparring with his sister and father, they were mostly practicing their reflexes and physical skills. In a real fight, who would hold back just for fun? But Du Shuangshuang only learned this when she actually sparred with them. Secondly, he was too young, only eight years old, still a tiny child. Fighting him always felt like an adult bullying a child.

"Hey, wait, let's set up the formation first, so that the onlookers won't get hurt." Someone shouted.

Then two people took the initiative and divided the venue into two arenas, setting up a formation on one side. The arena was a bit crude, but it was adequate, considering everyone was in the Qi Refining stage. The Foundation Establishment stage came to take a look, and then the Qi Refining stage left. The Foundation Establishment stage couldn't use this makeshift arena; they had to go to the sect's arena specifically used for competition.

The four people who had made an appointment walked onto two stages respectively.

"Hello, junior sister. I am Chen Cheng from Lingyun Peak. I am at the tenth level of Qi Refining. Please give me your guidance." The man was wearing a light yellow inner sect disciple uniform. He behaved in a free and easy manner and seemed to be a good-tempered person.

"Hello, senior brother. I am Du Shuangshuang, a new disciple. I am at the ninth level of Qi Refining. Please give me your guidance." Du Shuangshuang also learned how to introduce herself, and then clasped his hands together and returned the greeting.

As soon as the words fell, the two of them quickly engaged in combat.

On the ring, both sides fought back and forth, neither giving in. Du Shuangshuang gradually adapted to the opponent's attack rhythm. With her ethereal and strange body movements, the opponent still couldn't touch the corner of her clothes. Because she and her second uncle always used to hold back, Du Shuangshuang was used to it. When her moves hit the opponent, the opponent was even a little surprised. The attack power was too weak. But the opponent didn't have the tradition of holding back. Du Shuangshuang dodged the opponent's move, and the opponent's move missed and fell to the ground, leaving a big hole in the ground. Du Shuangshuang's hair stood up instantly. Is this a real fight?

Du Shuangshuang didn't hold back this time. Although she didn't use her full strength, she still used about 70% of her strength. Du Shuangshuang relied on her ethereal and elusive body movements. The opponent had also practiced body movements, but he just couldn't catch up or hit her. The more they fought, the more frustrated and angry they became. At first, everyone was still testing the waters. It would be bad to just use a big move and cripple the opponent. This was a friendly match, not a life-or-death battle. After the initial testing, both sides began to exert their strength. Du Shuangshuang's fireball had just been launched. Many tiny earth spikes shot towards her from the opposite side. Earth overcomes fire, and the earth spikes easily passed through the fireball and hit her. Du Shuangshuang quickly swung out her vines, which stirred and shattered the earth spikes. Her own fireball was also blocked by the opponent's earth shield.

The fireball was gone, and the earthen shield only had a slight crack, not shattered or reduced to ash as she had expected. But the opponent was already surprised. A single fireball had cracked her shield; it would have taken at least two or three hits for such a crack to appear. Neither side had time to dwell on this. The arena was a battlefield; any confusion could be dealt with later. Right now, the focus was on defeating the opponent. Of course, the current situation didn't allow for much contemplation. After the first fireball, the second had already been launched. This time, the opponent launched not only earthen spikes, but also wooden spikes. Du Shuangshuang had no intention of taking it head-on. As soon as she had tangled the earthen spikes, dust flew up, and Du Shuangshuang took the opportunity to flee. Unexpectedly, the duster darted behind her and launched a punch. Du Shuangshuang dodged with a strange maneuver, thankfully staying on her guard.

Du Shuangshuang discovered that the dusty environment had a noticeable effect on her fire spirit power. It was surprisingly effective, albeit minimally, but she felt it. She imitated the others, condensing wooden thorns, which she then embedded in the thorny vines and attacked them. Thorns, large and small, visible and hidden, flew everywhere.

The other person has dual spiritual roots of earth and wood, while I have dual spiritual roots of fire and wood. My fire spiritual root is obviously restrained by the other person's earth spiritual root. The main reason is that the other person's cultivation is one level higher than mine. I am somewhat at a disadvantage when facing him.

The arena was covered in dust, with occasional fireballs and thorns flying out. Vines would sometimes fill the air, sometimes tangled together, and sometimes transformed into shields. However, Du Shuangshuang never used her Explosive Fire Technique. The main reason was that it was too powerful, and she was afraid of accidentally crippling someone. She also wanted to have a backup plan.

After a fierce bout, Du Shuangshuang felt incredibly refreshed. Unfettered and free to fight with all her might, she felt a profound sense of exhilaration. Unleashing her spiritual energy to its fullest potential, her movements synergizing with it, unleashing her full potential to the fullest. Du Shuangshuang surveyed the arena, secretly assessing the strength and form of both opponents. Feeling the match was nearly over, she decided not to persist and instead conceded. With a resolute leap, she leaped from the ring.

"Senior brother is really amazing. Junior sister admits defeat."

"Thank you for letting me win, Junior Sister. You are very capable, but it seems that you haven't tried your best yet. Let's fight again when there is a chance!"

Speaking of which, Du Shuangshuang had only used her body movements and magic in this match, not her swordsmanship. With her swordsmanship, Du Shuangshuang felt she couldn't lose. If she added Explosive Flame, the earth shield wouldn't hold up, and she might even injure the opponent. Such a powerful move would be perfect for a backup. Furthermore, since this was their first fight, Senior Brother Chen probably hadn't given it his all.

"Okay." Du Shuangshuang answered quickly and nodded with a smile. It would be even better if one could ignore the tears on her face.

Sometimes there were too many attacks and Du Shuangshuang couldn't react. She could only protect one part but not the other. She had some scratches and puncture wounds on her body, but it was just a matter of rejuvenation.

Cultivating immortality is truly wonderful. It saves time, money, and pain. Even after the wound heals, the pain lingers, like a memory, and I can't stop crying. If only I could cure my tendency to cry whenever I'm hurt. Whenever I get hurt, I start crying, and the person I'm hitting is constantly nervous.

Seeing Du Shuangshuang's tears, Chen Cheng still felt a little uncomfortable and apologized to Du Shuangshuang, "I'm sorry, junior sister. Are you hurt somewhere? It's my fault. I didn't control my strength." It felt very comfortable when he was beating her, and he was used to not controlling his strength. Thinking back to the first time when he hit her, it was like tickling. Maybe he hit her too hard, and the delicate little sister couldn't bear it.

But that's how the world of immortal cultivation works. If you run into an enemy, who's going to be polite? This is what my senior brothers often tell me. I always get beaten up badly, but my junior sister is much better off. But I don't dare say this, afraid of making her cry even more. What should I do? I was trying to get close to her, asking her for food, but now I'm getting beaten up and crying, and I don't know if that's going to work.

"No, no, it's really nothing. I just got some sand in my eye and it made me allergic, so I'm crying. I'm not crying, I really am not crying," Du Shuangshuang said, feeling both amused and annoyed. She couldn't tell everyone that she was crying because of the pain, because if she did, no one would dare to spar with her anymore. It wasn't known whether these cultivators were allergic or not, and whether anyone would believe them, but she couldn't think of a better excuse.

"Oh, why are you crying, Junior Sister? Did you hit me too hard?" However, there were always some enthusiastic senior brothers and sisters who came forward to show their concern for her and even helped Du Shuangshuang denounce Chen Cheng. Faced with everyone's enthusiasm, Du Shuangshuang could only helplessly continue to explain to everyone using the above words.

Suddenly, I felt a little worried. What should I do next time I have a fight? I can't use the allergy excuse again. What if the next time I fight, my senior brothers and sisters don't have earth spirit roots, or they don't use earth spikes to attack?

Du Shuangshuang really wants to find someone to ask if this problem of crying when in pain can be cured?

Second Uncle became more and more excited as the fight went on, and he even found the feeling he had on the battlefield back then. Second Uncle Du became more and more excited as the fight went on, especially when he found out that the other party was really going to attack him, his eyes started to shine with gold.

Regardless of winning or losing, Second Uncle fought battle after battle, each one filled with thrills and excitement. His figure moved like a ghost, weaving between his opponents, his sword gleaming with a cold light, each swing carrying a sharp aura. Seeing Second Uncle consistently using a sword instead of his familiar gun, it seemed he had a backup plan.

In the following battles, the Second Uncle entered the ring many times. Although he did not necessarily win, everyone knew that there was a desperate Du Erlang in the ring.

Du Shuangshuang also learned a lot of valuable experience and skills by watching the battle. She knew that only by constantly working hard to improve herself could she achieve better results in future battles.

It turns out that fire power can be used in this way, even combining a fireball with sawdust to create a sea of fire, leaving no gaps. I've learned something, I've learned something.

At the same time, it also brought her new ideas. Du Shuangshuang wondered what the effect would be if she mixed the wood spiritual power with the fire spiritual power, or whether it would be the same if she mixed the wood spiritual power with the explosive fire technique. She would go back and find a suitable place to try it secretly.