"I never expected to reach the 3rd realm, Entry Level, in just one night."
Guessing it was already late, Su Que took a strip of burlap from the supplies in the cave and wiped away his sweat.
After putting on his shirt, he glanced around the cave.
Zhao Tashan, the leader of the hidden medicine depot whom he had previously placed in the cave, had become useless, so Su Que killed him and buried his corpse underground.
There were no living people left in the cave now, only several crates of medicinal ingredients and various supplies, such as lime powder, animal traps, disguises, and so on.
Just now, he had burned the dead branches in the cave with Crimson Fiend True Qi.
So he left the cave, gathered more dead branches, covered the animal traps, then departed Qinghua Mountain and raced back toward Jade Water City.
After returning home, Su Que washed up and went straight to sleep.
Early the next morning, Su Que rose before dawn, sat cross-legged on his bed, and cultivated the Crimson Fiend Skill.
After cultivating it to 31% of the 3rd realm, Entry Level, he wiped away his sweat, got dressed, and went to teach at the academy.
He had obtained quite a bit of silver from the White Lotus Disciples, so the academy's wages no longer meant much to him.
But for one thing, the identity of a teacher was an excellent cover for his true identity.
For another, he enjoyed the peaceful life of teaching by day and practicing martial arts by night.
Thus, he still went to the academy as usual.
That afternoon, after class ended, Su Que headed toward the medicine shops.
Not all the medicinal ingredients required for the several prescriptions he had obtained from Jing You were among the sixteen types of herbs he had stolen.
So, he planned to buy the missing ingredients separately from several medicine shops.
Then he would brew every medicine in the prescriptions and see whether any worked better than Startling Blood Soup.
If one did work better, he would find another way to get his hands on the ingredients for that prescription.
After buying all the medicinal ingredients, Su Que left the city. Once he reached a deserted place, he broke into a run and went to the cave on Qinghua Mountain to store the herbs.
After cultivating the Crimson Fiend Skill for a while, Su Que saw that it was getting late and returned home to eat.
When he got home, he discovered that his older sister, Su Jing, was wearing thick old clothes that concealed her originally slender, curvaceous figure.
Her once smooth and orderly hair now looked disheveled and split at the ends.
Her once delicate, fair face was now smeared with dirt and soot.
"Sis, what happened?" Su Que asked.
Su Jing glanced at Su Que and explained, "When I went to the market today, I heard something. The White Lotus Disciples were searching every household during the day. I have no idea what they were looking for."
"I don't know whether the White Lotus Disciples will search this house. I was afraid they might do... that sort of thing to me, so I disguised myself."
"I'll wash this filth off after night falls."
After hearing this, Su Que pondered inwardly.
The White Lotus Sect is looking for someone... nine times out of ten, they're looking for me. Luckily, I moved all the supplies stored at home to the cave long ago. Even if the White Lotus Sect comes knocking, they won't discover my identity.
As he thought, Su Que suddenly looked at Su Jing again.
No wonder this sister of mine managed to support the whole household alone during the years before the original owner became a scholar. She really is quite clever.
Dressed like this, it would be almost impossible for the White Lotus Disciples to take any interest in her.
After all, the White Lotus Disciples have plenty of silver in their pockets. Going to a brothel for the girls there is always better than laying hands on a woman who is both dirty and rustic.
"I've made dinner. Eat first. I'm going to wash up," Su Jing said before walking away.
Su Que immediately served himself food. After eating, he used taking a walk to digest his meal as an excuse and went out again.
He left the city, headed straight for Qinghua Mountain, hunted a deer and roasted it as an extra meal, then began brewing medicine.
It took him more than two hours to brew all five prescriptions he had obtained from Jing You.
He realized that brewing medicine was tedious and time-consuming. Only then did he understand why some martial arts powerhouses, despite being free as the wind and able to come and go at will, still founded sects and organizations.
It was because these martial arts powerhouses truly needed people to help them with meaningless labor.
After drinking all five medicines, he found that only one had effects comparable to Startling Blood Soup. The others all fell short of it.
"These prescriptions should still be worth some money. I'll copy them down someday and sell them all."
Thinking this, Su Que went to brew Startling Blood Soup.
Although he had taken those five medicines, the medicinal power within his body was not enough to sustain his consumption for the night.
After drinking the Startling Blood Soup, Su Que cleared away every trace of roasting and medicine brewing, then entered the cave, removed his shirt, and began cultivating the Crimson Fiend Skill.
He sat cross-legged on the ground, focused his mind, and circulated the strand of Crimson Fiend True Qi within his body.
The Crimson Fiend True Qi moved in circles through his body like a little mouse.
An exceedingly comfortable sensation arose in his heart.
Meanwhile, his flesh and skin gradually became scorching hot.
Before long, his skin flushed red, and wisps of steam rose from it.
Another day passed before he knew it. On the following night, after Su Que finished dinner, hunted in the woods for an extra meal, and arrived at the cave on Qinghua Mountain once more, he continued cultivating the Crimson Fiend Skill.
After cultivating for about the time it took an incense stick to burn, Su Que suddenly felt a scorching heat brewing in his heart.
His thoughts stirred, and he summoned his Attributes.
Name: Su Que (18 years old) Lifespan: 148 Talent Value: 27 Martial Arts: *Seven Injuries Fist* (6th realm, Mastery Beyond Measure, 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%)
"As expected, I'm about to break through again!"
Su Que gathered his Heart Intent and continued circulating the Crimson Fiend True Qi.
Suddenly.
The scorching sensation in his heart gradually swelled, filling his entire heart in the blink of an eye.
Immediately afterward, he heard an explosion beside his ears.
The scorching sensation spread completely out of his heart, then merged with the Crimson Fiend True Qi that had originally been circulating through his meridians.
"The Crimson Fiend True Qi has grown stronger!"
Feeling the Crimson Fiend True Qi, Su Que found that it was now nearly the size of a fist.
He checked his Attributes. The Crimson Fiend Skill had indeed risen to the 4th realm, Outstanding, 1%.
Then he checked his Lifespan and Talent Value.
Lifespan: 151 Talent Value: 28
His Lifespan had increased by six years compared to the previous realm, while his Talent Value had increased by one point.
I wonder what changes this realm of the Crimson Fiend Skill has brought to the Crimson Fiend True Qi?
Su Que walked out of the cave, faced a pile of stacked dead branches, poured Crimson Fiend True Qi into his arm, and punched downward through the air.
Crimson Fiend True Qi burst forth, and the pile of dead branches on the ground immediately caught fire.
As Su Que stamped out the flames with his feet, he thought.
When he had first entered the 3rd realm, Entry Level, he had needed to throw five consecutive punches. Only after the temperature of the Crimson Fiend True Qi accumulated could he ignite the dead branches.
Now that he had entered the 4th realm, Outstanding, one punch was enough.
I wonder what effect I can achieve if I stack the Crimson Fiend True Qi now?
With that thought, Su Que walked toward a bare tree.
Suddenly, he circulated Crimson Fiend True Qi and poured it into his arm. Without using any physical force, relying only on true qi, he struck the tree with a punch.
The trunk swayed, and a charred black fist mark appeared on it.
I wonder what effect it would have if I fused Crimson Fiend True Qi into the force of the Seven Injuries Fist?
Thinking this, Su Que performed the Seven Injuries Fist while simultaneously circulating Crimson Fiend True Qi and pouring it into his fist.
He used the Lung Injury Art from the Seven Injuries Fist. The fist force of this art was primarily soft and yin, capable of sending fist force into whatever it struck.
Su Que struck the tree trunk again and again, using the force of the Seven Injuries Fist to send all the Crimson Fiend True Qi into the interior of the trunk.
Soon, crackling sounds came from within the trunk. It was likely the fire burning away the moisture inside the wood.
After ten punches, a burnt smell wafted out from the inside of the trunk.
Immediately afterward, raging flames ignited within the trunk and spread throughout the entire tree.
Seeing that the whole tree was about to burn, Su Que feared it would draw people over, so he threw another punch!
All seven arts of the Seven Injuries Fist erupted at once. Seven different streams of fist force burst forth amid a sky full of fists and closed in around the spreading flames.
In less than a breath, Su Que's Seven Injuries Fist force extinguished the flames that had been about to spread upward.
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