Zhou Donghuang already had a plan before ever leaving Ziyun.
He would leave Ziyun and make for Tielao in the Hengliu Stars. Then, he would go to the Lightning Sword Sect to look for his Third Senior Sister, He Mengxi, and help her reverse the sect’s fate so she wouldn’t be lost.
However, if things worked out, He Mengxi might not become a disciple of the same master under whom she’d trained in her previous life. Still, he would respect any decision she made, as long as she was the one making it.
“The Lightning Sword Sect, Tielao, and even the Hengliu Stars are adequate training environments before I reach the Primordial Soul stage. I’ll stay in the Hengliu Stars to train before I move to that stage.” This was Zhou Donghuang’s plan.
“Da Zhuang.”
He Mengxi looked out at the crowd and noticed a sturdy figure hovering around the fringes.
“There is an unoccupied yard beside yours. Bring the little Junior Brother along with you. While you’re at it, help him tidy up the place. You entered the sect before he did, so you have to look out for him,” He Mengxi said in a gentle tone, and she sounded very much like a gentle spring breeze.
“Yes, Senior Sister.”
As he spoke, Zhou Donghuang’s gaze fell on the man.
The sturdy figure floated over, coming closer to Zhou Donghuang.
This young man was so fit it was almost comical. He looked to be about three meters tall, but in terms of his build, he was more or less on a par with one zhang of Dharma as coagulated by adepts at the early Dharma stage.
One zhang was equivalent to about 3.3 meters.
In the blink of an eye, this giant of a man stood firmly in front of Zhou Donghuang. He was unmoving like an iron pagoda.
His mouth split into a grin to reveal two rows of pearly white teeth. He looked rather honest and straightforward when he smiled—almost a little foolish. “Hello, Little Junior Brother. I’m Da Zhuang. It’s nice to meet you.”
Da Zhuang’s build was hulking. Even though Zhou Donghuang was 1.8 meters tall, he was dwarfed by Da Zhuang and felt like a child.
Just then, He Mengxi appeared beside Zhou Donghuang in a flash and whispered to him so quietly only he could hear, “Little Junior Brother, Da Zhuang is only an adept at the Golden Essence stage, even though he’s already 29. He’s always been a little slower than his peers, so you better not bully him.”
She spoke earnestly, and Zhou Donghuang gathered from her tone that this Da Zhuang held a special place in Third Senior Sister’s heart. Why else would he trigger her maternal instincts?
“Da Zhuang.”
After she quietly instructed Zhou Donghuang, she turned to look at the giant. “I’ll have to leave the sect in a few days for a place that’s quite far away, so please help me take care of Little Junior Brother.”
“Don’t worry, Senior Sister. I’ll be around, and anyone who messes with Little Junior Brother will have to deal with me!” Da Zhuang grinned, looking like a fool.
At the same time, Zhou Donghuang’s gaze, which was directed at Da Zhuang, softened. His heart stirred. “This must be the person that Third Senior Sister told me about in her past life, the disciple who fought to send her to the galaxy teleporter when she was heavily injured, then sacrificed himself to buy her more time.
“I remember Third Senior Sister mentioned him before. His name was Da Zhuang.”
The fog around his past life memories lifted.
In his past life, He Mengxi’s eyes shone with a mother’s love every time she mentioned Da Zhuang, the Autumn Valley disciple who had given up his life to save hers. She heaved a heavy sigh each time she spoke his name.
And it was precise because he had remembered this that his attitude toward Da Zhuang started changing somewhat.
“Little Junior Brother, why don’t you go with Da Zhuang?” He Mengxi suggested to Zhou Donghuang.
Then, she looked at the rest of Autumn Valley’s disciples. “As for the rest of you, run along now. Get back to what you have to do!”
In terms of seniority, He Mengxi was not high up on the ladder. But as the only daughter of the Autumn Valley Lord, He Jin, she had been born with an inherent charm that could sway crowds.
With just one word from her, the horde of disciples scattered. Of course, there were still a few stragglers throwing flirty glances at Zhou Donghuang before reluctantly taking their leave.
Although there were quite a few male disciples in Autumn Valley, not a single one had caught the eye of any female disciples.
This disciple who had just joined the valley made their hearts skip a beat. His face alone beguiled them. It was as if their hormones, which had been dormant for many years, were suddenly triggered.
“Come with me, Little Junior Brother.” Da Zhuang grinned dopily at Zhou Donghuang. He walked ahead to lead the way, and Zhou Donghuang followed closely.
The yard where Da Zhuang stayed was near where He Mengxi and He Jin were staying—they were all situated on the east side, halfway up the hill.
Of course, there was still some distance separating their yards.
Halfway up the hill, they heard the sound of water below. A small waterfall poured down. It hit a stone platform then bloomed into water flowers.
There were two yards behind the stone platform.
Each yard housed a spacious room, and in front of the doors to the rooms was a courtyard where plants and flowers grew. There was also a stone table surrounded by several stone stools.
One of the yards was clean and tidy, but the other was covered with a layer of dust and several cobwebs.
“I’ll help you clean this up, Little Junior Brother,” Da Zhuang said as he rolled down his sleeves and headed into the dusty yard. Zhou Donghuang wondered what he was going to do with his sleeves like that. He soon realized Da Zhuang intended to use his sleeves to wipe the table and the door.
“He’s an adept at the Golden Essence stage, after all. Is this necessary?” Zhou Donghuang was speechless. This man was a bit of an inflexible blockhead.
Cling!!
Cling clang!!
Zhou Donghuang walked into the yard, which Da Zhuang was still tidying, and golden inner Yuan forcefully seeped out and around his body. The inner Yuan started tidying up the area, looking every bit like a mini-tornado.
In the blink of an eye, all the dust and cobwebs in the yard were swept up by the inner Yuan swirling around Zhou Donghuang’s body.
Just like that, the yard was spick and span.
Whoosh!
Under Da Zhuang’s stunned gaze, Zhou Donghuang left the stone platform and nimbly leaped into the air.
Along with the inner Yuan that had dissipated the dust, he filtered down through the air.
As for his white robes, they remained shiny and new, untouched by the dust.
“You’re so clever, Little Junior Brother. Why didn’t I think of using inner Yuan to tidy up the yard?”
Da Zhuang followed him out and extended a hand to hit his head. “No wonder Senior Sister is always calling me an idiot. It turns out, it’s because I am one! Little Junior Brother, what can I do to become as clever as you?”
Da Zhuang stared eagerly at Zhou Donghuang.
“Being clever isn’t always a good thing,” Zhou Donghuang said with a shake of his head.
So the saying went: win some, lose some. The smarter the person, the more numerous their worries.
And as for people like Da Zhuang, who were born with gigantism, they were not always very bright. Though they might not be the sharpest tools in the shed, at least they did not have a lot of worries.
Da Zhuang could not understand. “Why would it be a bad thing? Senior Sister said that if I were smarter, I wouldn’t be a match for the rest, even though I’m just an outer disciple,” Da Zhuang said as he scratched his head. His worries were written all over his face. “I’m too stupid. Senior Sister says I react too slowly, and I’m always half a beat behind.”
Slow reaction?
Zhou Donghuang smiled.
In his past life, he had met quite a few people like Da Zhuang with hulking builds. They’d all been in the same situation he had just described. Without exception, they were all powerhouses.
He might be a little dull, but he still had a functioning brain.
He might be slow, but he was not inept.
He was probably better situated in life than the average person, provided that he found the right path.
“Come! Strike me,” Zhou Donghuang said to Da Zhuang all of a sudden.
“Huh?” Da Zhuang was shocked and unable to react.
“I’m asking you to strike me with all you’ve got,” Zhou Donghuang repeated.
“With all I have? Attack you?”
Da Zhuang finally recovered from his shock. He hurriedly shook his head. “I can’t, Little Junior Brother. Although I can strike the other adepts who are at the Golden Essence stage, I can’t say the same for you. I’ll become really strong the moment I strike you. The strength of my punch is far stronger than that of the average adept at the Golden Essence stage. Not even they dare to challenge me,” Da Zhuang refused to hit him. As he spoke, it seemed like he was afraid of hurting Zhou Donghuang.
“You’re strong?”
Zhou Donghuang was taken aback then smiled. “Well, then. Now I want to witness this for myself…”
As soon as he said that, he made his move.
Whoosh!!
The golden inner Yuan surrounding Zhou Donghuang swept through the air and moved toward Da Zhuang in a split second. It took the shape of a punch packing golden essence and flew at Da Zhuang.
Flames surged out from the fist like golden fireworks.
Zhou Donghuang’s punch forced Da Zhuang’s hand, but he remained cautious. He tried to estimate the strength of the hit before retaliating with a blow that was more or less as powerful as the one Zhou Donghuang had dealt him.
Boom!!
A loud sound rang out. Da Zhuang’s huge fist collided with Zhou Donghuang’s. Two golden flames collided, equally matched in strength.
“I’ve only used 70% of my strength, Little Junior Brother,” Da Zhuang said to Zhou Donghuang with a grin.
“You’re strong, indeed.”
Zhou Donghuang was a little shocked. Da Zhuang’s strength came from his physical body. That alone was already stronger than the power of mid-quality spirit weapons summoned by adepts at the Golden Essence stage.
This strength was a natural battle machine.
Not only did his vast body look colossal, but the strength it contained was immense. Zhou Donghuang could also tell that this strength was untainted by any training.
A person like this, who could possess such strength solely through tempering his body with inner Yuan, could be regarded as a one-in-a-million genius in terms of physical training!
“Alright, let’s stop here,” Zhou Donghuang said to Da Zhuang.
“Okay.”
Da Zhuang withdrew his fist with a dopey grin. Zhou Donghuang also lowered his and stood up straight. He looked at Da Zhuang with sparkling eyes. “This Da Zhuang was born to train using the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen!”
