Midnight Ambush

Late at night, inside the Cliff Secret Cave.

Ye Zhen, who had been sitting cross-legged on the ground, suddenly stood. When his eyes opened and closed, they gave off a startling impression of sharp light flashing forth. He clenched his fists, and wherever his blood qi flowed, it rose and fell like serpents and pythons slithering beneath his skin.

He suddenly exerted force and threw a punch. As the blood qi within him surged at high speed, it instantly condensed into a blood pearl. At first glance, it looked like an egg moving beneath Ye Zhen's skin before blasting out with his fist.

Blood Qi Condensation Pearl!

With the help of several days' worth of Marrow Spirit Liquid and the three Blood Origin Pills Ye Zhen had exchanged at the Sect Main Hall today, his cultivation had broken into the Blood Refining Triple Layer tonight in one stroke—the realm of Blood Qi Condensation Pearl.

In his excitement, Ye Zhen began practicing the Bear King Mountain Shoulder Fist right where he stood. The exhilarating sensation of every punch being filled with explosive power made him want to throw back his head and roar.

"Roar!"

Drawing in both fists, Ye Zhen suddenly leaped into the air and hammered down at the ground—the final move of the Bear King Mountain Shoulder Fist—Old Bear Pounds Ground!

Bang!

The terrifying force contained in Ye Zhen's fists made the entire Cliff Secret Cave tremble faintly. Loose fragments of stone on the cave walls were shaken loose and fell.

The sight filled Ye Zhen's eyes with delight.

Over the past month, Ye Zhen had practiced the Bear King Mountain Shoulder Fist countless times in this Cliff Secret Cave. He had performed Old Bear Pounds Ground innumerable times, but it had never possessed such power as it did now.

The confidence brought by strength made Ye Zhen wish dawn would come at once, so he could defeat Ma Yuanwu and properly vent this foul breath in his chest!

Crack!

That faint sound caused Ye Zhen's jubilant expression to undergo a heaven-shaking reversal, replaced by utter horror.

The Stone Shoot on the wall of the Cliff Secret Cave—the one that punctually dripped two drops of Marrow Spirit Liquid every day at midnight—suddenly broke from its root and fell.

The vibrations from his punch had actually snapped the Stone Shoot!

Looking at the half-section of Stone Shoot in his hand, still carrying a trace of dampness, then at the broken stub on the cave wall, Ye Zhen's brows furrowed tightly.

Ye Zhen did not know whether this counted as joy turning into sorrow, but one matter left him deeply troubled and worried—now that the Stone Shoot had broken, would Marrow Spirit Liquid still drip here at midnight tomorrow?

For now, this Marrow Spirit Liquid was of enormous use to Ye Zhen.

Not only now—over a long period in the future, this Marrow Spirit Liquid would also be of enormous benefit to Ye Zhen. Even if he became an Outer Disciple someday, the sect's Blood Origin Pills provided to Outer Disciples had effects roughly comparable to Marrow Spirit Liquid.

Yet they only received one Blood Origin Pill every five days.

If the broken Stone Shoot no longer dripped Marrow Spirit Liquid, Ye Zhen would truly want to cry without tears.

"Where exactly does this Marrow Spirit Liquid come from, or how is it produced?" With a headache brewing, Ye Zhen looked thoughtfully at the broken root of the Stone Shoot on the cave wall.

The broken Stone Shoot in his hand had nothing unusual about it apart from extremely fine, spiderweb-like hollow spaces within. He could pinch off a piece with his fingers and grind it into stone powder. There was nothing remarkable about it at all.

If someone claimed that the Marrow Spirit Liquid was produced inside this Stone Shoot, Ye Zhen truly would not believe it.

"Could it be..." Looking at the broken shoot, Ye Zhen's gaze suddenly shifted. "Could there be another world behind this Stone Shoot?"

After considering it carefully, Ye Zhen still suppressed his urge to dig open the broken shoot and investigate. Who knew what lay behind the Stone Shoot?

A treasure, or absolutely nothing?

"At the very least, I'll wait until midnight tomorrow to see whether Marrow Spirit Liquid still appears!"

As usual, after leaving the Cliff Secret Cave, Ye Zhen washed himself with the nearby stream before preparing to return to his room and rest.

During this period, whenever Ye Zhen consumed Marrow Spirit Liquid at night, a layer of grime would seep out from his body, more or less. This filth had changed from the black, foul-smelling sludge of the beginning into the grayish-white sweat it was now, with less and less appearing each time.

It was likely impurities expelled from his body after consuming the Marrow Spirit Liquid, and this had also brought Ye Zhen immense benefits.

On the way back, Ye Zhen carefully surveyed his surroundings and tried to walk through the darkness, afraid someone might discover his tracks and expose the Cliff Secret Cave.

When he reached his door, Ye Zhen froze. After Ma Yuanwu's group had smashed his door in the afternoon, Ye Zhen and Sha Fei had pieced it back together that evening. But now, it was broken again.

From a distance, the room was an even greater mess.

"Not good!"

With a cry, Ye Zhen rushed inside and saw Sha Fei covered in blood, tied up tightly and thrown onto the floor, with a pair of torn socks stuffed into his mouth.

The moment Sha Fei saw Ye Zhen enter, he began struggling violently despite being at death's door.

"Sha Fei, who did this? Who did this?" Not caring about anything else, Ye Zhen hurried forward to untie Sha Fei's ropes.

"Mmph, mmph..."

Unexpectedly, Sha Fei struggled with all his might and kicked Ye Zhen away with both feet. His eyes were wide with fury as he desperately rolled them at Ye Zhen, signaling frantically, looking as though he would roll his eyes until he fainted.

"It's an ambush!" The instant Ye Zhen pulled the torn socks from Sha Fei's mouth, Sha Fei roared wildly.

Almost at the same time, two scattered bedboards in the room suddenly sprang up and smashed toward Ye Zhen. Two shadows burst out from beneath them, throwing punches at once. With fierce fist winds, they attacked Ye Zhen from both sides.

"Yu Ping, Chen An, you've got some damn nerve!" The instant he saw the newcomers clearly, everything became clear.

Yu Ping and Chen An were Ma Yuanwu's infamous lackeys. Relying on Ma Yuanwu's power, these two had bullied plenty of people in the past. Since Yu Ping and Chen An, these two lackeys, had come, Ma Yuanwu, their ringleader, had to be nearby.

A thought flashed through Ye Zhen's mind, and he immediately became wary.

Dodging aside to evade Chen An on his right, Ye Zhen did not even look. He threw a fierce punch at the bedboard smashing down toward his head. In the darkness, the blood qi pearl condensed within Ye Zhen rolled rapidly toward his fist before abruptly exploding.

Bang!

Crack!

The sounds of the bedboard and bones breaking rang out almost simultaneously.

Ye Zhen's punch accurately pierced through the bedboard and collided head-on with Yu Ping's fist.

"Ah, my hand!"

As Yu Ping screamed, Ye Zhen had already used Lazy Bear Stretches Waist to kick at Chen An, who was charging at him from the right.

"Watch above!"

The instant Sha Fei's warning rang out, a vicious wind suddenly howled above Ye Zhen's head.

"Ye Zhen, you're finished!"

With a feral grin, Ma Yuanwu swooped down from the roof at Ye Zhen like a great bird. His rolling, pearl-like blood qi instantly swelled both fists by a full circle, and the force of his fists even blew Ye Zhen's hair apart.

"Who's finished is still uncertain!"

Already prepared, Ye Zhen met him with a Bear King Mountain Shoulder.

Bang!

When their fists collided, Ye Zhen took Ma Yuanwu's sneak attack head-on. He only retreated half a step, his expression unchanged.

Ma Yuanwu, who used the force of the clash to leap outside, saw that Ye Zhen had only retreated half a step, and his expression abruptly turned incomparably ugly.

That afternoon, when he had fought Ye Zhen head-on, Ye Zhen had been forced back three steps. But now, Ma Yuanwu had launched a killing move from above, already holding a tremendous advantage, yet Ye Zhen had only retreated half a step.

Even Ma Yuanwu himself would likely not have taken that killing move easily, but Ye Zhen now looked as though nothing had happened.

What shocked Ma Yuanwu most was that, with his cultivation, he could not severely injure Yu Ping and Chen An, two junior brothers at the Blood Refining Triple Layer, in a single move.

Yet Ye Zhen had instantly broken Yu Ping's right hand. Even now, Chen An's left leg, which had exchanged moves with Ye Zhen, was still trembling without stop.

In an instant, Ma Yuanwu lost his nerve.

"Ma Yuanwu, so it really was you!" Ye Zhen shouted sharply as he steadied himself.

"Hmph, so what?"

Ma Yuanwu and the others had originally planned to ambush Ye Zhen, severely injure him, then rob some cultivation pills from him. Now that their goal could not be achieved, especially since Ye Zhen's strength left Ma Yuanwu unable to gauge him, Ma Yuanwu no longer wished to continue fighting.

"Let's go!" With a cold snort, Ma Yuanwu prepared to withdraw just like that, having no intention whatsoever of giving Ye Zhen an explanation.

It was not that Ma Yuanwu had something wrong with his head. He had simply run wild and acted tyrannically on Hundred Pine Peak for too long. Once he was done having his fun, he left. If he beat you, he beat you; if he robbed you, he robbed you. Why would he care whether you felt good about it or not? Whether you accepted it or not?

Ye Zhen was furious, truly angered to the point of explosion.

"Trying to leave because you can't win?" Ye Zhen sneered and suddenly lunged forward. "Ma, stay right here for me!"