The sound was not the wet, pulpy thud of a human body being turned into paste.
It was a deep, resonant BOOOOONG.
The sound of a colossal temple bell being struck. It echoed through the Great Forge, so powerful it made the anvils vibrate and the disciples clap their hands over their ears.
Elder Han's warhammer, a weapon that could shatter solid rock, had connected squarely with my chest. And it had bounced off.
I hadn't moved a single inch. I hadn't even swayed. The force of the blow, which should have sent me flying through the back wall of the forge, simply vanished. The pill's effect was absolute. For ten seconds, I was less a person and more a fundamental, unmovable part of the mountain itself.
Holy mother of all that is merciful, it worked! I'm not dead! My ribs feel fine! Though my robes have a rather large, hammer-shaped dent in them. I hope that comes out in the wash.
The recoil from the impact was tremendous. Elder Han, who had put his entire body into the swing, was not prepared for his unmovable object to meet his unstoppable force. The warhammer was violently repelled, and the shockwave traveled up its handle and into his arms.
With a cry of pain and surprise, the massive man was thrown backward. He stumbled, lost his footing, and crashed into a rack of cooling metal ingots, which then toppled over with a deafening clatter. He lay there, dazed and buried under a pile of his own handiwork, his hammer having flown from his grasp.
Silence returned, thick and heavy with disbelief.
I stood there, my deadpan expression unwavering, the front of my robes slightly indented. In reality, I was frantically counting the seconds.
Okay, that was maybe second three? Four? I have maybe six seconds left of being a mountain. I should probably use that time to run away. Very, very far away.
But my body remained rooted to the spot, a silent, arrogant statue.
The crowd stared, their minds struggling to reconcile what they had just seen. A Qi Refining disciple—stage two, a recent and ill-gotten promotion—had just tanked a full-power strike from a peak Foundation Establishment elder and emerged completely unscathed. Not only unscathed, he had sent the elder flying.
This wasn't just a difference in skill or philosophy. This was a violation of the fundamental laws of cultivation. It was like watching an ant win a shoving match against a bull elephant.
Feng Qing was the first to find her voice. It was filled with a new, higher level of reverence. This had transcended martial guidance and entered the realm of the divine.
"His body…" she whispered, her voice cracking. "It's… it's a Dharma Body! A legendary physique that only exists in the ancient scriptures! A body tempered to be as unyielding as the heavens themselves! That's why he doesn't need a sword! His own form is the ultimate weapon and the ultimate shield!"
Dharma Body? I have the body of a slightly asthmatic teenager who probably considered walking up a flight of stairs to be exercise! The only thing tempered about me is my rising sense of panic!
The disciples latched onto her words like drowning men to a lifeline. It was the only explanation that made any sense.
"A Dharma Body… no wonder he's so powerful."
"He let the Elder hit him just to prove the point! The ultimate lesson in humility!"
"He wasn't being arrogant! He was demonstrating the true path of body cultivation!"
[Widespread Acclaim at a Metaphysical Level detected.]
[The Chains of Acclaim have grown thorn-like barbs.]
[Inherent Cultivation Speed: -25%]
My soul wept. The chains weren't just heavy anymore; they were actively painful.
Elder Han groaned, pushing a pile of ingots off his chest. He got to his feet, shaking his head to clear it. He looked at his hands, which were numb and tingling from the shock, and then at me. His rage was gone, replaced by a dazed, profound confusion.
He was a master of forging. He understood materials, understood force and resistance better than anyone. What he had just experienced was impossible.
"What… what are you?" he breathed, his voice stripped of all its earlier aggression.
I gave him a look of what could only be interpreted as pitying disappointment. Inside, the ten-second timer on my invincibility pill ran out. I was back to being a fragile, fleshy mortal.
Oh gods, I'm vulnerable again. Please don't hit me again. The System probably won't give me the same pill twice. Next time it will probably give me a rubber chicken and a mandate to defeat him via slapstick comedy.
The Elder took my silence and my pitying look as his answer. He looked at his hammer on the floor, then at the roaring forge where the Azure Wave was melting into slag, and a look of dawning, horrified understanding crossed his face. He had bought into Feng Qing's insane theory.
He had just tried to strike down an enlightened being with a lump of metal.
His face paled. He stumbled forward, not with aggression, but with a desperate, clumsy reverence. He dropped to his knees before me.
What are you doing? Get up! Stand up! This is the worst possible outcome!
"This lowly one was blind!" Elder Han declared, his forehead pressing against the grimy floor. "He could not see the mountain for the stone! Master Li, your lesson was profound! This Han begs for your forgiveness!"
The other blacksmiths in the forge, seeing their master on his knees, quickly followed suit. One by one, they dropped to the ground, bowing their heads.
The crowd of disciples outside, witnessing this, also began to bow.
I was standing in the center of a sea of prostrated bodies. A hundred people, including a powerful elder, were kneeling before me, their faces filled with awe and reverence.
The Chains of Acclaim felt like they were going to crush my very soul into dust.
[Congratulations! You have achieved 'Sect-Wide Reverence'.]
[A Mandatory Heroic Quest is being generated based on your new status.]
My heart stopped. No. Not this. Anything but this.
[A crisis is brewing in the Spirit Herb Gardens. The Three-Tailed Spirit Fox, which was once scared away, has returned. Emboldened by a strange celestial event, it is now displaying powers far beyond its norm and has taken the chief gardener hostage.]
[Mandatory Heroic Quest: Rescue the hostage and subdue the Spirit Fox.]
[As a being of profound power and mercy, whose fame now echoes through every corner of the Jade Quill Sect, you cannot ignore such a plea for help.]
[Penalty for Refusal: The Chains of Acclaim will constrict, inflicting the pain of a thousand phantom cuts upon your soul for three days.]
I stared at the kneeling Elder Han, his shoulders trembling with misguided devotion. I looked at the bowing disciples. I looked at Feng Qing, whose eyes shone with the faith of a zealot.
It was their fault. Their belief, their praise, their adulation—it was all a poison that was killing me.
I had come here to provoke an elder and gain a reward to survive. I had succeeded. And in doing so, I had been handed a death sentence, forcing me to go fight a magically super-powered fox.
The Squeeze. The Correction. The cycle was turning.
I needed another reward. I needed a bigger, better one just to survive the consequences of the last one.
And there was only one person in this entire sect whose rage was pure enough, whose hatred was so profound, that it might just be enough to save me.
I had to find Chen Wei. I had to wake him up.
And then I had to make him even angrier.