Name: Su Hao Cultivation: Qi Refining Level 8 Talents: Wood Emperor Physique (Orange), Hidden Kill (Purple), Apothecary (Blue), Fire Elemental Sword Physique (Blue), Sword Heart (Blue), Talisman Control (Blue), Lightning Palm (Blue), Initial Yang Qi (White), Golden Spirit Body (White), Water Spirit Body (White), Wood Affinity (White), Talent for the Sword Path (White), Martial General (White) Fragments: Gray Talent Fragments (×3)
Su Hao checked his panel and absorbed Zheng Tu's two blue talents.
With these two talents, he could at least open two more blue spiritual apertures.
After a night of painstaking cultivation, Su Hao succeeded in opening two spiritual apertures.
The Extreme Intent True Art now had six spiritual apertures.
He was only four blue talents away from completing the incomplete art.
White talents had a chance of opening spiritual apertures, but the difficulty was far too great. With that much effort, he might as well spend his time searching for more blue Talent Powers.
With ten spiritual apertures, he could unleash three times his strength.
Su Hao's spiritual apertures differed somewhat from the contents of the incomplete art. His spiritual apertures could grow and strengthen as his talents leveled up, so the potential they could unleash would naturally exceed what was recorded in the incomplete art.
The "Mirror Script Jade Contract" on the altar suddenly trembled.
Su Hao sensed something and walked over to unfurl the scroll. "Bamboo Heart Courtyard—three more medicine slaves have died. The medicine slaves inside the courtyard are terrified, and an uproar has broken out."
Huang Jiao reported the situation.
"Suppress them by force. Make them stay in their own rooms and keep them under strict watch.
"If anyone refuses to obey, you can use harsher measures. Kill a chicken to frighten the monkeys."
Su Hao brushed a finger across the Mirror Script Jade Contract, using his finger as a pen to write a reply on the jade contract.
"Yes, sir. This lowly one will handle it immediately." A moment later, more words appeared on the Mirror Script Jade Contract.
The Mirror Script Jade Contract was not as convenient as a voice transmission jade slip, but it had the advantage of being cheap.
Su Hao had no time to worry about whether those medicine slaves in Bamboo Heart Courtyard lived or died. Killing intent gleamed in his eyes.
"I hope Liu Mei knows when to stop!"
At dusk, Su Hao quietly went to Bamboo Heart Courtyard. Naturally, he did not forget to collect the gray Talent Fragments.
Besides the three gray Talent Fragments, there was also an unexpected surprise: a gray talent, Vigorous Yang!
"Consuming one gray Talent Fragment. Upgrading Vigorous Yang. Generating new talent: Initial Yang Qi (White)."
Su Hao himself already had a white talent, Initial Yang Qi.
Back then, Zhou Cui Feng of Joy Peak had sensed Su Hao's extraordinary Yang Qi, which was why she had taken the initiative to seduce him.
"Consuming Initial Yang Qi ×2. Generating new talent: Primal Yang Physique (Blue)."
"Primal Yang Physique..."
Yang Qi surged within Su Hao's body. He drew in a deep breath of hot air, his eyes blazing. "According to the Yin-Yang Harmonization Heaven and Earth Scroll, the Primal Yang Physique and Primal Yin Physique are both innate, talents carried from the womb that cannot be cultivated after birth."
"But by upgrading my talent entries, I defied common sense and gained the Primal Yang Physique after birth despite no longer being a virgin.
"But if I engage in relations between men and women again, it will deplete my Primal Yang and hinder Foundation Establishment."
"Unless she is like Liu Mei, possessing the Primal Yin Physique and cultivating the special Wife-Pleasing Scripture. Using a special method to absorb another person's essence from afar, she can strengthen her own Primal Yin without suffering any loss."
"My dual cultivation with her is an exception. One Yin and one Yang, naturally complementing each other—we would be an ideal pair of dual-cultivation partners. In the future, we might even be able to establish our foundations directly through this."
Su Hao's thoughts grew restless. He had begun to savor the Dao of dual cultivation.
That state of Yin and Yang blending together, perfectly harmonizing and coexisting, was extraordinarily wondrous and left an endless aftertaste, comparable to a miraculous spirit pill.
It was much simpler and more convenient than Su Hao painstakingly refining herbs and concocting pills.
Not long after Su Hao left,
Liu Mei hurried over. Standing where Su Hao had stopped moments ago, her cheeks gradually flushed with intoxication, agitation stirring within her. "My intuition was right! Did a cultivator with the Primal Yang Physique just pass through here?
"Strange. How did he disappear into thin air again?"
She was frantic, searching for him again and again around Bamboo Heart Courtyard.
But in the end, she failed to find him.
"Could that person be a Foundation Establishment cultivator... If so, then I'm the one in danger! Could he also be looking for me?"
A thought flashed through Liu Mei's mind, and she immediately panicked.
Yet this innate Primal Yang was crucial to her. She was unwilling to give up after failing to find him.
After deep thought, she finally regained some reason. "He probably wasn't targeting me. Otherwise, he wouldn't have left so easily."
Liu Mei turned to face Bamboo Heart Courtyard, listening to the faint sounds coming from within.
She drifted into the courtyard. Wherever she passed, every guard became dazed and dispirited, standing blankly in place as if they had not seen Liu Mei at all.
That night, Liu Mei vented the resentment of wanting something and being unable to obtain it on the medicine slaves.
Ten medicine slaves became dried corpses that night.
"Gray Talent Fragments (×12)"
Only five medicine slaves remained.
"Why did she kill so many medicine slaves all at once last night?" Su Hao furrowed his brows slightly.
The previous two times, she had killed three medicine slaves each day.
Either three medicine slaves had been enough for her cultivation, or she had deliberately toyed with them slowly, intentionally plunging everyone into a state of panic and enjoying this twisted pleasure.
Now it seemed he had guessed wrong.
"After the five, will she stop, or does she intend to kill me as well?
"Once she learns that I possess the Primal Yang Physique, she definitely won't let me go."
The day before, Su Hao had still entertained a faint fantasy about the wonderful prospect of mutual benefit and shared success.
In reality, this seemingly perfect solution carried enormous risks.
Even if Liu Mei agreed, Su Hao would not feel at ease.
Back then, he had been able to forcibly kill Zhou Cui Feng during the process.
Liu Mei came from Joy Peak and possessed the Wife-Pleasing Scripture. She was certainly more skilled than Su Hao, who only understood it superficially. At any moment, she could do as Su Hao had done to Zhou Cui Feng, strike viciously at the critical moment, and directly drain all his Primal Yang.
Dual cultivation was a long-term business. The benefits accumulated over many years were equivalent to an endless supply of pills.
But completely squeezing someone dry was a one-time deal, saving more than a decade of painstaking cultivation in one stroke.
It all depended on what Liu Mei was thinking.
Su Hao was not afraid of being unable to defeat her. He had already killed Zheng Tu, a ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator. Could he really lack confidence against Liu Mei, a fifth-level Qi Refining cultivator?
What worried Su Hao most was the person behind Liu Mei.
According to Huang Shanyu, an inner sect elder had reserved her.
Although he had not explained what "reserved" meant,
there was a high probability that the elder had also set his sights on Liu Mei's Primal Yin Physique.
She was different from Lin Zhi Shan. Lin Zhi Shan had a noble status and was the number one beauty of Joy Peak, so someone might be watching her situation at any time.
Killing her and killing Lin Zhi Shan would have entirely different consequences.
"Right... of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, retreating is the best strategy.
"Inside the sect, this is their territory. My hands are tied, and I can't even cultivate in peace.
"If she doesn't follow me, I'll further consolidate my strength and hide for a while. I'll eat all the remaining pills, then complete the refinement of the Soul Refining Banner.
"If she does follow me, then, heh..."
Su Hao narrowed his eyes. Inside the sect, he was wary of casting his net lest he alert the rat. Although he possessed greater strength, he could not explain his sudden breakthrough in cultivation and was afraid of exposing his secrets, so he did not dare act too boldly and could only let Liu Mei kill the medicine slaves.
Near the sect was a secret place, an excellent location for gathering spirit herbs and collecting Yin Souls!
Su Hao was alone and unencumbered. Once he decided to leave, he left at once, heading straight for the Flying Ship Pavilion on the main peak.
A huge Flying Ship hovered in midair.
"Blood Soul Secret Realm!"
Su Hao paid ten spirit stones directly.
On the pavilion terrace, a large group of disciples waited. They were all heading to the Blood Soul Secret Realm.
This place was a secret realm that Golden Light Sect and the other sects had seized after a fierce battle, reserved for disciples to gain experience and seek treasures.
"Su Hao took a Flying Ship and left the sect? Heh, if you hadn't fled, I might have let you live a few more days!"
At Joy Peak, Liu Mei received the news at the first opportunity, a hint of mockery entering her smile.
The reason she had delayed attacking Su Hao was precisely because she wanted him to live in fear as the medicine slaves died one by one.
Who told Lin Zhi Shan to be his master? His master had slipped away while she was off guard—could she really let even a disciple escape?
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