Crimson Fiend True Qi, Outstanding!

"I didn't expect to reach Entry Level in the 3rd Realm in just one night."

Su Que figured it was already night, so he took a piece of coarse cloth from the cave's supplies and wiped the sweat off his body.

He put on his shirt and glanced around the cave.

Zhao Tashan, the drug-den leader he'd stashed in the cave earlier, was no longer useful, so he'd killed him and buried the body underground.

Now the cave held no living person, only a few chests of medicinal herbs and some supplies—like lime powder, animal traps, and disguise clothes.

Earlier, he'd burned the dead branches inside the cave with his Crimson Fiend True Qi.

So he stepped out, gathered some more dead branches, brought them in, set the animal traps, and then left Qinghua Mountain, heading back toward Jade Water City.

After returning home, Su Que washed up and went straight to sleep.

The next morning, Su Que rose early, sat cross-legged on his bed, and cultivated the Crimson Fiend Skill.

After reaching 31% of Entry Level in the 3rd Realm, he wiped himself clean, dressed, and went to the schoolhouse to teach.

He'd gotten plenty of silver from the White Lotus Sect members, so the school's wages meant little to him now.

But first, the identity of a teacher was an excellent cover for his true self.

Second, he also enjoyed the peaceful life of teaching by day and training by night.

So he still went to the schoolhouse as usual.

In the afternoon, after class ended, Su Que headed to the pharmacy.

The herbs needed for the several Prescriptions he'd gotten from Jing You weren't all among the sixteen types he'd seized.

So he planned to buy the missing herbs separately from a few pharmacies.

Then he'd brew all the Prescriptions to see if any worked better than the Startling Blood Soup.

If one did, he'd find a way to get that Prescription's herbs.

After buying all the herbs, Su Que left the city, and once he reached a secluded spot, he broke into a run, went to the cave on Qinghua Mountain, and stored the herbs.

After cultivating the Crimson Fiend Skill for a while, Su Que saw the sky darkening and returned home to prepare for dinner.

When he got back, he found his sister Su Jing wearing a thick, old set of clothes that hid her naturally slim and curvy figure.

Her once smooth and neat hair was now tangled and split.

Her originally fair and delicate face was smudged with dirt and black ash.

"Sis, what's wrong?" Su Que asked.

Su Jing glanced at him and explained, "When I went to the market today, I heard something—the White Lotus Sect members were searching every house during the day. No idea what they're looking for."

"I don't know if they'll come to our home. I was afraid they'd do... that sort of thing to me, so I disguised myself."

"I'll wash this filth off when night comes."

Su Que listened and thought to himself.

'The White Lotus Sect is searching for someone... odds are it's me. Lucky I moved all the supplies from home to the cave long ago. Even if they come knocking, they won't find out who I am.'

Then he glanced at Su Jing again.

'This sister really did hold this family together alone in the years before my original self passed the scholar exam. She's quite clever.'

'Dressed like this, the White Lotus Sect members would hardly be interested.'

'After all, they've got plenty of silver in their pockets—going to a brothel is better than messing with a dirty, grimy woman.'

"I've made dinner. Eat first—I'm going to wash up," Su Jing said, then walked off.

Su Que helped himself to the food, ate, and then used the excuse of taking a walk to digest and slipped out again.

He left the city, headed straight for Qinghua Mountain, hunted a deer, roasted it for a meal, and then started brewing the medicines.

It took him over an hour to brew all five Prescriptions he'd gotten from Jing You.

He found the process tedious and time-consuming, and that was when he understood why some martial arts masters, who could roam freely and come and go as they pleased, still founded sects and organizations.

Because those masters really needed people to handle meaningless labor for them.

After drinking all five medicines, he found that only one matched the Startling Blood Soup in effect; the rest fell short.

"Still, these Prescriptions should be worth something. I'll copy them out sometime and sell them all."

As he thought this, Su Que started brewing the Startling Blood Soup.

Even though he'd taken those five medicines, the medicinal power in his body wasn't enough for tonight's consumption.

After drinking the Startling Blood Soup, Su Que cleared away all traces of the roasting and brewing, then entered the cave, took off his shirt, and began cultivating the Crimson Fiend Skill.

He sat cross-legged on the ground, focusing his mind to circulate the stream of Crimson Fiend True Qi within him.

The Crimson Fiend True Qi moved like a little mouse, traveling in circles through his body.

His heart felt an extremely pleasant sensation.

His flesh, skin, and blood gradually grew hot.

Soon, his skin flushed red, and a faint steam rose from it.

Another day passed without notice. By the second night, after eating dinner and hunting in the woods for a snack, Su Que returned to the cave on Qinghua Mountain to continue practicing the Crimson Fiend Skill.

After cultivating for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Su Que suddenly felt a searing heat brewing within his heart.

His mind stirred, and he called up his attributes.

Name: Su Que (18 years old)

Lifespan: 148

Talent Value: 27

Martial Arts: Seven Injuries Fist (6th Realm, Masterful 36%), Five Animal Frolics (1st Realm, Initial Glimpse 1%)

Internal Arts: Wedding Dress Divine Skill (4th Realm, Outstanding 30%), Crimson Fiend Skill (3rd Realm, Entry Level 99%)

"Just as I thought, another breakthrough!"

Su Que steadied his Heart Intent and continued channeling the Crimson Fiend True Qi.

Suddenly.

The searing heat in his heart gradually swelled, spreading across his entire heart in the blink of an eye.

Then, he heard an explosion in his ears.

The searing heat burst forth from his heart entirely, merging into the Crimson Fiend True Qi flowing through his meridians.

"The Crimson Fiend True Qi has grown stronger!"

Su Que sensed the Crimson Fiend True Qi and found it had swelled to nearly the size of a fist.

He checked his attributes—the Crimson Fiend Skill had indeed risen to the 4th Realm, Outstanding 1%.

He then looked at his Lifespan and Talent Value.

Lifespan: 151

Talent Value: 28

His Lifespan had increased by six years from the previous realm, and his Talent Value had gone up by one point.

'I wonder what changes the Crimson Fiend True Qi will have at this realm of the Crimson Fiend Skill?'

Su Que walked out of the cave, faced a pile of stacked dead branches, channeled the Crimson Fiend True Qi into his arm, and punched down at the air.

The Crimson Fiend True Qi erupted, and the pile of dead branches on the ground instantly burst into flames.

As he stamped out the fire with his foot, Su Que thought to himself.

Back when he first entered the 3rd Realm, Entry Level, he had to throw five consecutive punches, stacking the temperature of the Crimson Fiend True Qi, before the branches would ignite.

Now that he had reached the 4th Realm, Outstanding, a single punch was enough.

'I wonder what effect I can achieve by stacking the Crimson Fiend True Qi now?'

With that thought, Su Que walked toward a bare tree.

Suddenly, he activated the Crimson Fiend True Qi, channeled it into his arm, and without using force—only the true qi—punched the tree.

The trunk shook, and a scorched black fist imprint appeared on its surface.

'I wonder what would happen if I merged the Crimson Fiend True Qi into the Seven Injuries Fist's force?'

Thinking this, Su Que began executing the Seven Injuries Fist while simultaneously channeling the Crimson Fiend True Qi into his fists.

He struck with the Lung Injury Art from the Seven Injuries Fist, a technique whose fist force was primarily yin and soft, capable of sending the force deep into the target.

Su Que pounded the tree trunk with punch after punch, using the Seven Injuries Fist's force to drive all the Crimson Fiend True Qi deep inside the trunk.

Soon, crackling sounds came from within the trunk—the fire was burning the moisture inside the wood.

After ten punches, a burnt smell wafted out from the tree's core.

Then, raging flames erupted from inside the trunk, spreading outward toward the entire tree.

Seeing the whole tree about to catch fire and fearing it might draw attention, Su Que threw another punch!

All seven techniques of the Seven Injuries Fist struck at once, seven different streams of fist force bursting forth from a flurry of punches, converging on the spreading flames.

In less than a breath, the fire that was about to climb higher was extinguished by Su Que's Seven Injuries Fist force.