She was dressed in a green-colored gown that accentuated her slender and graceful figure while her beautiful face remained calm and expressionless. 

After entering the Flavorful Tower, she scanned the crowd there and found Qin Huaichuan sitting with Meng Luo in a corner having their meal. Qin Huaichuan was all smiles and he seemed to be in a very good mood as he chatted away happily with Meng Luo.

"Junior Sister Xu!" Sun Lihua waved at her.

Xu Jingya gave a fist salute but did not join Sun Lihua at her table. Instead, she went directly to Qin Huaichuan and Meng Luo. 

"Hi, Junior Sister Xu." Qin Huaichuan smiled when he raised his head and noticed her. "What's the matter?"

"Senior Brother Qin, as you wished, Junior Brother Zhao has indeed cultivated the Earth Matrix and Reincarnation Scripture in reverse!" Xu Jingya was expressionless as she stared straight at him.

"Oh?" Qin Huaichuan's smile grew wider, carrying a hint of condescension. "Has he managed to recover his martial arts?"

"What do you think?" Xu Jingya stared at him pointedly. "Senior Brother Qin, you do believe it's possible for him to recover his cultivation level that way?"

"Of course!" Qin Huaichuan laughed and said, "Junior Brother Zhao is very bold indeed. I find this truly admirable. I thought he wouldn't have dared to try it!"

"Instead of recovering his cultivation level, he has succ.u.mbed to internal demons and has become severely injured as compared to before!" Xu Jingya replied impa.s.sively. "He nearly died. This is exactly what Senior Brother Qin wished to see, isn't it?"

"He has really succ.u.mbed to internal demons?" Qin Huaichuan looked astonished.

"Who said I've succ.u.mbed to internal demons!" Chu Li slowly walked into the Flavorful Tower and looked at Xu Jingya. "Senior Sister Xu!"

Xu Jingya knitted her eyebrows together as she went to him.

Chu Li gave her a rea.s.suring smile and said, "I'm okay now."

"Why are you forcing yourself like this? What are you doing here?" Xu Jingya scolded him. 

Chu Li replied, "Although I've been severely injured, I can still handle my own meals. Let's go." 

He did not even spare Qin Huaichuan a glance and acted as though the guy was not there.

Xu Jingya threw Qin Huaichuan a sideways glance and scoffed lightly before she followed Chu Li to Sun Lihua's table.

Mo Cuicui rolled her eyes at him as she immediately stood up and went to bring them their food.

Chu Li sat down slowly.

With his sluggish movements and haggard demeanor, he looked as though he had just returned from death's door. Judging by the way he was struggling to move about, anyone could tell that he had suffered grave injuries and had lost whatever cultivation level he had so strenuously built up once again.

Xu Jingya could not suppress the urge to reach out and offer him support, but he pushed her hands away.

Sun Lihua asked, "What happened?"

Chu Li smiled. "It's nothing serious. I suffered some minor injuries."

"You really tried cultivating it in reverse?" Sun Lihua sighed.

Given Zhao Dahe's temperament, she, too, knew that he would certainly give reverse cultivation a try. It seemed like Qin Huaichuan had indeed been trying to deceive him and this time, he had fallen for it.

Some distance away, Qin Huaichuan and Meng Luo exchanged a glance and laughed.

The more powerful one's martial art was, the more careful one should be when cultivating it. More so, cultivating martial arts in reverse could lead to one's own death. It seemed like Zhao Dahe was more arrogant than they had expected and truly knew no fear. Now that he had damaged his foundation, it would be more difficult for him to restore his cultivation level.

Qin Huaichuan wished he had a few bowls of wine right now so that he could drink and express the delight in his heart.

Meng Luo laughed and said, "Senior Brother Qin, we managed to fool him after all. How stupid he is!"

"He's not stupid. He's just too arrogant. Boundless arrogance will always lead to one's own destruction. We shall see how he's going to overcome his situation this time!" Qin Huaichuan was grinning from ear to ear. "Let's carry on eating. He's no longer a threat to us."

"We've finally succeeded in getting revenge!" Meng Luo muttered resentfully. "After this, I'm going to challenge him." 

"He won't accept the challenge." Qin Huaichuan shook his head.

Song Donglin shook his head and sighed. "Junior Brother Zhao, you're unbelievable…"

Chu Li chuckled and said, "Don't worry. It's just a few minor injuries. I'll be fine after a while."

"Can you really recover?" Song Donglin asked. "You better not let Senior Brother Qin surpa.s.s you."

Chu Li scoffed and replied, "Even if I stop cultivating for two years, he still won't be able to surpa.s.s me. Let's continue eating. Don't worry about my injuries."

When the three of them saw that he did not wish to discuss this topic anymore, they fell silent.

"Haha…" Qin Huaichuan suddenly released a loud and hearty laugh, in which the sound overpowered all the other conversations in the Flavorful Tower.

Chu Li narrowed his eyes slightly as he turned to look at him.

Qin Huaichuan glanced over in Chu Li's direction and greeted him with a nod. Then, he rose to his feet and came over to give him a fist salute with a bright smile. "Junior Brother Zhao, have you managed to restore your cultivation level?"

Chu Li scoffed and replied coldly, "Senior Brother Qin, that was a good trick. Cultivating the Earth Matrix and Reincarnation Scripture was indeed a wonderful idea. You can give it a try!"

"Haha, I'd like to try it out too," Qin Huaichuan said and laughed heartily. "However, judging by your condition right now, it seems like reverse cultivation won't work. Thank you for personally giving it a try, Junior Brother Zhao. I can't thank you enough!"

Xu Jingya asked, "Senior Brother Qin, you've never tried cultivating it in reverse before?"

"Hehe, I've only heard that reverse cultivation can help restore a person's cultivation level," Qin Huaichuan replied with a chuckle. "That's why I just mentioned it in pa.s.sing when I saw how hard Junior Brother Zhao had been working to cultivate from scratch. I never thought that Junior Brother Zhao would take my words seriously. It's my fault that Junior Brother Zhao has ended up like this. I feel truly guilty about this!"

Chu Li said, "Cultivating the scripture in reverse worked pretty well for me though."

"Really?" Qin Huaichuan chuckled. "No matter how well it worked, I dare not give it a try. I'm afraid that I might end up suffering for it like you did, Junior Brother Zhao."

Chu Li said, "Senior Brother Qin, just admit it already. The Earth Matrix and Reincarnation Scripture isn't capable of rapidly restoring a person's martial arts cultivation!"

"Hehe…" Qin Huaichuan shook his head and laughed but did not make any comment.

Chu Li went on to say, "Previously, you appeared to have been crippled of your cultivation, but the truth was that your cultivation wasn't entirely crippled. You fooled everyone else when you claimed that the Earth Matrix and Reincarnation Scripture can restore your cultivation level rapidly, but I've asked around about this. I found out that the monks from the Reincarnation Temple have never made such claims before!" 

"Perhaps I've remembered it wrongly then," Qin Huaichuan replied with a huge grin. 

Chu Li replied, "You've taken advantage of my desire to recover my martial arts and convinced me to believe your lies. I nearly succ.u.mbed to internal demons because of you. I should properly thank you for this, Senior Brother Qin!"

"You're welcome. You're welcome," Qin Huaichuan replied and chuckled. "Junior Brother Zhao, you should focus on your cultivation and recover your martial arts as soon as possible. Everyone else has been cultivating very diligently. If you don't recover your martial arts skills soon, you may not be able to defend your reputation as the top disciple here!"

"So what if I fail to defend it?" Chu Li retorted.

"Hehe…" Qin Huaichuan laughed. "We might have to compete again and see who has achieved a higher cultivation level and improved faster."

Chu Li replied, "We can do that anytime you like!"

"You talk big!" Meng Luo laughed derisively and said, "I'll challenge you now. Would you dare to accept my challenge?"

He had raised his volume on purpose and his voice echoed through the entire Flavorful Tower.

Everyone else stopped talking and turned to look at them. Then, they began discussing the situation among themselves.

Indeed, it was rather unreasonable of Qin Huaichuan and Meng Luo to pick such a time to challenge him. Now, they were waiting to see if Zhao Dahe was bold enough to accept the challenge. If they were to be in his shoes, they would not accept the challenge since they would be at too great a disadvantage!

Chu Li cast him a sidelong glance. "You? You're not qualified!"

"I challenge your Light Blade. Would you be bold enough to accept my challenge?" Meng Luo asked and gave a scornful laugh.

Chu Li replied, "It's very hard to predict what'll happen if I use the Light Blade. Your life may be at risk. Would you still dare to challenge me?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Meng Luo retorted.

Chu Li slowly nodded. "Okay then, I'll accept your challenge. You can decide when it should take place!"

"Right now!" Meng Luo huffed and clenched his jaw.

Chu Li replied, "Sure, let's go."

"Junior Brother Zhao!" Song Donglin called out. "Now isn't the best time for you to accept any challenges."

Chu Li smiled at him. "Some people think too highly of their abilities. They believe that they can bully me just because my cultivation has been crippled. If I don't teach them a lesson, they have no idea how big of a gap there is between me and them!" 

"But given your current condition…" Song Donglin trailed off with a sigh.

"No matter how low my cultivation level has become, it's still a piece of cake for me to defeat everyone else here!" Chu Li said with a scoff while he swept his gaze over the other disciples around him. 

They were all frowning angrily at his arrogance. He was already in such a pitiful state and seemed to be on the verge of collapsing. However, he was still so proud and stubborn!

With that, the crowd left the Flavorful Tower and came to the martial arts field to enjoy the show, to see how he was going to be defeated. They were all looking forward to watching him be defeated so that he would stop behaving so arrogantly and recklessly after this.