Intelligence

This was an extremely difficult movement, requiring both strength and flexibility. While every muscle and bone in the body had to become almost as soft as nothing, they also had to be extraordinarily tough, like cast iron.

Clearly, among the cultivation techniques Chen Yao practiced, this was one of the later postures.

Chen Mu activated Spirit Sight and circled Chen Yao once, carefully examining her. Then Mind-Soul Power surged out, fixing her entire body in place.

Chen Yao only felt a force cover her whole body, as though the air around her had condensed into solid ice, freezing her in place in that posture.

Next.

She felt that force pressing and adjusting several parts of her body. Her back bent into a slightly larger arc, her knees rose a little, and her abdomen drew in slightly.

As many as six or seven areas were adjusted one by one in detail.

Finally, they were completely fixed in place.

"All right."

"Keep doing it this way from now on."

Chen Mu nodded slightly, then retracted his power.

As his Mind-Soul Power withdrew, the force that had tightly bound every part of Chen Yao's body vanished all at once. Yet her posture did not change in the slightest; she remained standing exactly where she was.

At this moment, Chen Yao no longer wore a playful expression. Instead, she was serious and focused, using a martial artist's abilities to firmly memorize this most basic posture so that it would not change the next time.

Chen Mu did not disturb her either.

He returned to the table and chairs, sat down, picked up a book, and casually browsed through it.

About a quarter of an hour later.

"...Huff."

Chen Yao slowly exhaled. The white mist from that breath shot straight out like a long arrow, stretching all the way to the ground before finally vanishing.

She slowly stretched her limbs and returned to a standing position. Her vigorous blood qi seeped to the surface of her skin, making her entire body seem to take on a faintly pink hue.

More than a dozen breaths later.

The flush covering her body gradually began to fade.

"Second Brother, how long will it take me to reach Seventh Rank?"

Chen Yao looked at Chen Mu and asked softly.

Chen Mu pondered briefly before saying, "It's impossible to judge accurately. But judging from your condition, if you maintain this state day and night while cultivating, it should take more than three months."

"Three months..."

Chen Yao thought about it.

She was only a few months younger than Chen Mu and was also sixteen this year. If she reached Seventh Rank in three months, she would enter Seventh Rank at sixteen, which meant there was a very good chance she could enter Sixth Rank before turning twenty.

Originally, her Root Bone aptitude was a level below Chen Wu's. But after Chen Mu adjusted the details for her, her cultivation speed could increase substantially—she might even already surpass Chen Wu!

Chen Mu did not know the level of Chen Wu's Root Bone aptitude.

He only knew that after Chen Yao's adjustments, although she could not bring out one hundred percent of her potential like a sorcerer, she could at least bring out more than ninety-five percent.

Of course.

This was limited to cultivation speed.

"Thank you, Second Brother. I'll go back and practice my cultivation now."

Chen Yao spoke to Chen Mu obediently.

But just as she reached the doorway, her tone suddenly changed. She turned around, looked at Chen Mu with a beaming smile, and said,

"Second Brother, if I become the first female Martial Saint in the world, it'll all be thanks to you. When that happens, I'll grant you all the beauties under heaven. Just tell me which woman you like, and whether she's a saintess of the Eight Sects of the World or an Imperial Family princess, it won't matter. I'll snatch them all for you to become your sisters-in-law."

After saying this.

Afraid that Chen Mu would use "Silence" on her again, she hurriedly pushed open the door and scampered away.

"..."

Watching Chen Yao flee, Chen Mu rubbed his brow.

He was rather curious what Chen Yao had learned during these past few years since she began practicing martial arts. If she changed into tattered clothes and smeared her face a little dirtier, she could mingle with the rough characters of the martial world without the slightest difference showing.

Ning Qiang was only a few years older than Chen Yao and was still a young woman as well. Her gentleness and dignity were what a proper noble young lady should possess. How could Chen Yao still resemble a young lady of the Xuanguo Estate?

However.

Chen Mu could tell that when Chen Yao had mentioned, "My heart already belongs to the martial path," there had not been the slightest hesitation in her eyes. That determination truly was the embryonic form of Martial Dao Will.

Now, after his guidance and training, as long as Chen Yao did not wither halfway along the road, she would certainly achieve something on the martial path. At the very least, she had hope of becoming a Fourth Rank Non-Human!

"Fourth Rank Non-Human..."

Chen Mu thought again of Zhao Li, the Attendant of the Xuanguo Estate.

The reason Fourth Rank was called Non-Human was that in many respects, such beings were no longer similar to ordinary mortals. For example, regarding food, a Fourth Rank existence could eat a thousand sheep in a day, or go three years without eating!

If one could go three years without food or drink, one naturally had no need to excrete. One would have no such desires either, and could even stop breathing, dive into water, and remain submerged for ten years without surfacing... Being able to do all this naturally made one Non-Human.

By comparison.

A Fifth Rank Sorcerer also represented a qualitative transformation.

Their control over Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy advanced to another level. With a single thought, they could manifest arcane arts and divine abilities, and could likewise draw that energy into their bodies for their own use. They could go without food or drink, like an immortal descended to the mortal world.

Two days.

Two more days were needed.

The intelligence-gathering ability of Heaven's Secret Pavilion could be trusted. Regardless of whether Geng He's wife and daughter were alive or dead, there would certainly be a result in two days.

Even if the worst outcome was that his wife and daughter had both died, he could still find their graves and pay his respects. Though he could not perfectly resolve Geng He's obsession, as long as he erased even one part of it, he would gain one part in return.

He was only a hair's breadth away from becoming a Fifth Rank Sorcerer.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

After learning of Chen Mu's identity as a sorcerer, Chen Yao guessed that Chen Mu did not want everyone to know for the time being. Naturally, she did not deliberately spread the news. She was even rather pleased to be the only person who knew Chen Mu's secret.

As for Chen Mu, he crossed the threshold of a martial artist's Eighth Rank without any disturbance. The blood qi within his body split into two streams. Aside from his physique in his normal state becoming more than twice as strong as before, he also gained the ability to perform a second burst after the foundation of a first burst.

Name: Chen Mu

Age: 16

Martial Strength: Four Horses Strength

Soulmind: Initial Spirit lv9(+)

Soul Points: 3

With the enhancement of sorcerer abilities, Chen Mu's cultivation speed on the martial path was like riding a rocket, advancing a thousand miles a day. It still could not catch up to his sorcerer rank in such a short time, but it was better than nothing.

The eleventh day.

Chen Mu left the small courtyard.

Carrying the black wooden token, he headed to Heaven's Secret Pavilion to collect the intelligence he had commissioned ten days earlier.

Heaven's Secret Pavilion.

Ten days later, Chen Mu stepped inside once again. The same empty room entered his view. Black curtains covered every window, allowing only a faint trace of light to seep inside.

"Is there any news about the intelligence?"

Chen Mu came to the chair and sat down. He did not bother pouring tea, merely placing the wooden token engraved with "Geng-27" lightly on the table.

His calm voice echoed through the empty room.

Two breaths later.

Whoosh.

A streak of yellow light flew out from behind the dim screen and landed on the table before Chen Mu.

Looking closely, it was unmistakably a thin sheet of pale-yellow paper. Yet when it had flown out just now, it had been like a hidden weapon. Such effortless control was something even a Seventh Rank martial artist could not accomplish.

But Chen Mu's experience would naturally not be shaken by something like this. He simply picked up the sheet of pale-yellow paper and calmly looked at what was written on it.