Second Perfection of Refined Fire

Mingyue had trained bitterly at the Training Field all night. At dawn, Meng Yuan returned to his quarters.

His stomach was a little hungry again. Yet at this moment, Meng Yuan did not much feel like eating, because his mind was full of women.

There was nothing much to hope for in this life. Make a little money, gain a little power, sleep with a few more pretty girls, and that would do.

Seeing a faint glimmer of candlelight in the dead of night, Meng Yuan stepped forward and pushed open the door.

Jiang Tang had changed into new clothes today, pearls and jade draped over her hair. Under the dim yellow lamplight, she looked especially lovely.

"Brother, I want to sleep with you." Spring stirred in little Jiang Tang's eyes and brows, and she actually began taking off her clothes.

"This old fox's work is far too crude, isn't it? With this level of cultivation?" Meng Yuan rubbed his head, borrowing Nie Yannian's assessment of Great Tail Venerable. Then he drew his blade and slashed at once.

His head gave a faint throb, and then he heard a crisp cry. "Little Gelder, I've come to help you! Yah yah yah!"

Meng Yuan hurriedly opened his eyes and saw that the old fox held a short sword, already less than two yards before him.

A brown-furred, white-bellied figure with a floral bundle on her back came sprinting over. She leaped up and rammed the old fox with her head.

The old fox had intended to press Xiang Ling down with one hand, but seeing that Meng Yuan had already opened his eyes, terror appeared in her gaze. Clearly, she had never expected him to break free of her secret art so quickly. She no longer cared about Xiang Ling. Gripping the short sword with both hands, she stabbed urgently at Meng Yuan.

Meng Yuan immediately drew in his stomach and retreated, extending both hands at the same time to seize the hilt of her sword.

The old fox's arms were short, and she was injured besides. Meng Yuan succeeded at once, then twisted the weapon away from her.

"Spare me! Young hero, spare me! I'll give you a Heavenly Secrets Map!" Knowing the tide had turned, the old fox decisively begged for mercy.

Meng Yuan was very curious about what the Heavenly Secrets Map was, and he wanted to get one too.

But not now.

He rose and straddled the old fox, pinning her head with his left hand. With his other hand gripping the short sword, he drove it viciously into her neck.

One stab, two stabs, three stabs—Meng Yuan had forgotten how many times he stabbed.

The old fox was dead beyond all doubt, her head nearly severed from her body.

Only then did Meng Yuan get off the fox and sit on the ground, panting heavily.

Looking to the side, he saw Xiang Ling staring wide-eyed, blankly watching the old fox's corpse.

"The matchmaker is dead..." Only after a long while did Xiang Ling finally react.

"Yes, the fox is dead." Meng Yuan wiped the blood splashed across his face and smiled. "Are you scared?"

Xiang Ling nodded again and again. She truly was terrified.

"I remember you said your godmother taught you that a shameless life was better than a noble death. Then why did you risk your life to save me just now?" Meng Yuan asked.

Xiang Ling plopped down on the ground. After thinking for a while, she said, "I don't know either."

"You aren't afraid of dying?" Meng Yuan asked with a smile.

"I am!" Xiang Ling replied with perfect reason. "But godmother also said that living is nice, and dying is fine too."

"Living is nice, and dying is fine too." Meng Yuan repeated it, saying nothing more as he began searching the old fox's corpse again.

Aside from the green robe on her body, the old fox only had a short sword and a wooden staff. The wooden staff also seemed ordinary, showing just how desperately poor she was.

As for the so-called Heavenly Secrets Map, there was no knowing where it was.

"Do you know the matchmaker's background?" Meng Yuan asked Xiang Ling.

"I don't." Xiang Ling shook her head and scratched both ears. "The matchmaker was actually pretty nice. Sometimes she even told us stories about the city!"

"She was not a good person. You need to be more wary in the future too," Meng Yuan said.

"I've got plenty of wits!" Xiang Ling grew anxious the moment she heard the gelding master say she lacked sense.

"Yes, yes, you have plenty of wits. Gather some dry branches. Let's burn the fox." Seeing that there was no more oil to squeeze from her, Meng Yuan did not want to bring the body back and invite trouble, so he decided to burn it.

Xiang Ling was extremely obedient now. She hurried off to find dry branches, and Meng Yuan went to help as well.

"Your arrows would make great firewood!" Xiang Ling picked up an arrow and happily claimed credit.

"..." Meng Yuan flicked her forehead, then took her to retrieve every last arrow.

After the two of them worked for quite a while, they finally got the fire going.

A scorched stench drifted over. Neither Meng Yuan nor Xiang Ling avoided it; the former was reviewing the gains and losses of this battle of arts, while the latter did not know what she was thinking about.

"When Wolf One ate my godmother, he burned her like this too." Xiang Ling sniffled. "Godmother said that eating meat raw made one a beast, while eating it cooked made one a demon. She told Wolf One to cook her before eating her."

"..." Meng Yuan covered his forehead. For a moment, he truly could not understand what was in Xiang Ling's godmother's head.

"Are you going to eat?" Xiang Ling asked.

Meng Yuan was indeed a little hungry, but he truly had no appetite at all, so he shook his head.

"I won't eat either." Xiang Ling wiped her tears with her floral headscarf and muttered, "Little Gelder, can you read and write?"

"I learned a few characters," Meng Yuan said.

"Then can you write my name?" Xiang Ling asked curiously.

Meng Yuan immediately picked up a branch and began writing on the ground.

Xiang Ling leaned over from across him, her eyes round and wide. "This is my name?"

"It's backwards. Look at it from my side." Meng Yuan grabbed Xiang Ling by the back of her neck and lifted her over in front of him.

"Ah! My name is so pretty!" Xiang Ling had been sniffling just moments ago, but now she sniffed hard and began hopping about. Delighted, she said, "Write my godmother's name too."

"What is your godmother's name?" Meng Yuan asked.

"My godmother is called Flower Granny!" Xiang Ling said loudly.

Meng Yuan wrote Flower Granny's name on the ground as well.

Xiang Ling studied it carefully, even tracing it with her little paw.

Seeing her like this, Meng Yuan took out the old fox's short sword and carved the names of the mother and daughter pair into a small stone. "This way, you won't have to worry about the wind blowing the writing away."

"Little Gelder, you're so good!" Xiang Ling was overjoyed. She cradled the small stone in her hands, then untied the bundle from her back.

"I still haven't given you this." Xiang Ling took out a tiny Green Fruit.

Meng Yuan accepted the Green Fruit he had won at the risk of his life and examined it closely in his hand.

The fruit was only the size of the pad of a thumb, a faint crimson glimmering amid its lush green. When he brought it close and sniffed, it gave off a subtle fragrance.

Xiang Ling tucked the small stone into her bundle and carefully tied it around her neck again, showing how much she cherished it.

"Hurry and eat it!" Holding another Green Fruit in her hands, Xiang Ling said earnestly, "Godmother said you have to eat it quickly after picking it. In a few days, it won't taste good anymore."

"Didn't you say you could take it away as dowry? Why does it have to be eaten once it's picked?" Meng Yuan had originally planned to eat it after his refined fire reached perfection this time.

"I never said I'd pick it to use as dowry. It can be dowry without picking it!" Xiang Ling tilted her head, wearing the expression of someone looking at a fool.

"..." Meng Yuan rubbed his brow, not knowing what to say.

"I might as well eat mine too." Xiang Ling's tone turned sorrowful again. "Godmother had originally given me an idea—she told me to eat it in front of my future husband so I could show off my family's wealth. But I ended up eating it in front of you..."

She turned her back to him and began crunching away.

Seeing this, Meng Yuan no longer hesitated and swallowed his fruit at once.

Before he could even chew it carefully, it had already fallen into his stomach.

For a moment, Meng Yuan felt the Lower Thirty-Three Heavens tremble faintly. A scorching sensation rose in his dantian, and the acupoints throughout his body seemed to have widened somewhat.

His entire body grew faintly hot. With a slight inward focus, he saw that most of the Green Fruit's nutrients had been drawn away by the refined fire.

The refined fire immediately surged up. In only a few breaths, it had enveloped his entire body. It had clearly reached perfection.

Meng Yuan sensed that so long as he stirred it with his mind, the refined fire would immediately release its might and temper his body once more.

But this was clearly not the right time. And besides... looking at Xiang Ling again, the little fellow was steaming all over, swaying unsteadily and unable to stand firm.

Clearly, the Green Fruit's medicinal effect was too potent. Xiang Ling's small body could not contain so much of its power all at once.

"Xiang Ling?" Meng Yuan grabbed Xiang Ling by the back of her neck and lifted her up.

"Huh?" Xiang Ling was dazed, her eyes unfocused. "I'm so hot. I want to sleep."

Meng Yuan said no more. He tucked her into the front of his robe, secured the short sword and long blade, slung on his longbow and quiver, and headed down the mountain.