Secret

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Whoosh!

An ice-blue sword beam, carrying endless chill, slashed down directly at Ye Zhen. The freezing sword intent instantly covered Ye Zhen's entire body in a layer of white frost.

However, this time, Ye Zhen didn't even blink. He even rolled his eyes to carefully examine that ice-blue sword beam.

"Instructor Liao, your method of forging my courage is getting a bit stale, isn't it?" Ye Zhen said, looking quite bored as he stared at the ice-blue sword beam.

Instructor Liao Feibai, dressed in a pale blue dress with sword-like willow brows slanted upward and a heroic spirit that rivaled any man, appeared before Ye Zhen without warning.

"I thought you had forgotten our one-month agreement and was just about to go and slice you up for being a man of no word. I didn't expect you to actually show up."

Ye Zhen was instantly covered in cold sweat. He felt that the way Liao Feibai was looking him up and down was as if she were deciding where to land her blade, as if she really intended to cut him down. It made his whole body turn cold.

That a single look could make Ye Zhen feel this way only led him to conclude one thing: this woman, Liao Feibai, was terrifying.

"Don't worry. It's mainly because your cultivation is too tender to handle a proper thrashing. Once your cultivation advances a step further, I will definitely give you a surprise."

After saying this, Liao Feibai pointed to the stone tablet behind her, which was inscribed with the words 'To seek the Way, first forge courage,' and gestured for Ye Zhen to proceed. "Cut this tablet in half with one palm. I'll give you three chances. If you can't cut it after three tries, then prepare to..."

Clang!

Ye Zhen delivered a casual, diagonal palm strike. A Qi Gang suddenly manifested. Before his palm even made contact, a corner of the stone tablet was already sliced off by Ye Zhen, as if he were cutting through tofu.

Liao Feibai, who had been preparing to intimidate Ye Zhen, was suddenly stunned. The look she gave him was filled with intense, glowing curiosity. "Only one month, and you've actually improved this much?"

"Your potential is even greater than I imagined."

Hearing Instructor Liao Feibai's praise, just as Ye Zhen was about to feel smug, a flash of light appeared in her eyes. Her jade fingers flicked lightly and latched onto Ye Zhen's wrist pulse.

Instinctively, Ye Zhen's wrist trembled like a slippery snake, attempting to break free from her grip. But Liao Feibai's jade fingers were like the natural predator of snakes; with a light peck, she rendered Ye Zhen completely unable to move.

Ye Zhen felt a tremor in his wrist, and a cold force drilled into his body.

The fingers resting on his pulse were as cold as jade, but the power surging into his body was as frigid as ice.

That icy force gave a strange jolt inside him, and the blood energy in Ye Zhen's dantian, along with the few drops of True Essence he possessed, instantly began to boil like water in a pot.

The few drops of True Essence that Ye Zhen hadn't even utilized surged out uncontrollably with a whoosh, spreading across the surface of his arms.

"Three drops of True Essence? Very good. Daring to hide your cultivation in front of me? Do you really think these eyes of mine are blind?"

Before the words had even faded, Ye Zhen sensed trouble. The next instant, he was sent flying, tossed about like a lone boat in a vast ocean, spinning up, down, left, and right.

Under Liao Feibai's control, Ye Zhen was spun like a wheel. His head and feet blurred into a single mass; in that state, he was no longer a person, but clearly just a puppet in Liao Feibai's hands.

When his stomach began to churn and his head spun with dizziness, Ye Zhen was tossed aside. Leaving behind one sentence, Liao Feibai turned and walked into the inner courtyard with effortless grace.

"Once you're done vomiting, come inside!"

When Ye Zhen stepped into Liao Feibai's inner courtyard, he was still feeling lightheaded. Heaven knows how fast she had been spinning him; in that moment, Ye Zhen felt as if his limbs were about to be torn from his body. It was a sensation he never wanted to experience a second time.

"Your cultivation progress is faster than I expected, so the reward I give you naturally needs to be a bit higher."

Hearing this, Ye Zhen's eyes lit up. A reward! He never expected that he would receive a reward here on top of the cultivation guidance, and as for the fact that this seemed to exceed the scope of an instructor's duties, Ye Zhen chose to ignore it entirely.

"Three months. If you can convert all the blood energy in your body into True Essence and break through to the True Essence Realm within three months, I will reward you with a Human-tier High Grade cultivation manual."

"A Human-tier High Grade cultivation manual? Really?" Ye Zhen's expression turned incredibly shocked.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Menial Disciples immediately receive Human-tier Mid or High Grade manuals upon becoming Outer Disciples; that is a significant leap. However, the higher the grade of the manual, the more precious and rare it becomes.

If an Outer Disciple advances to an Inner Disciple, they are granted a new manual, but the grade of that new manual is usually only Human-tier Low Grade.

Only if an Inner Disciple manages to break into the Heaven Ranking or achieves excellent results in the sect competition do they have a chance to be rewarded with a Human-tier Mid Grade manual.

As for Human-tier High Grade manuals, it is almost impossible for an ordinary Inner Disciple to obtain one.

It is said that the sect-suppressing manual, which only the Sect Master of the Qi Yun Sect is qualified to practice, is only of Mid-grade Earth-tier.

From this, one can see just how precious a Human-tier High Grade cultivation manual is.

At the same time, higher-grade manuals possess inherent advantages in cultivation speed and power. If Ye Zhen could obtain a Human-tier High Grade manual early, the advantage it would generate would be beyond measure.

"Of course! As long as you can break through to the True Essence Realm within three months."

"Three months..."

Only then did Ye Zhen realize the condition Liao Feibai had set, and he was instantly stunned.

It wasn't that the condition was difficult; it was simply impossible.

Under normal circumstances, for an Outer Disciple who has condensed their first drop of True Essence, the fastest it takes to convert all their blood energy into True Essence and truly step into the True Essence Realm is one year—and that is with the help of Blood Origin Pills every single day.

Even with his secret supply of Marrow Spirit Liquid, Ye Zhen couldn't do it in three months. The fastest it would take would likely be over half a year.

"Instructor Liao, stop playing with me. Three months is simply impossible." Ye Zhen gave a bitter smile.

"What if you add this to the mix?"

A pill bottle appeared before Ye Zhen, with the words 'Condensing True Pill' written on it.

"One bottle?" Ye Zhen asked.

"One bottle!"

"One bottle isn't enough; four or five would be about right." Seeing Instructor Liao being so generous, Ye Zhen simply decided to push his luck.

At this request, Instructor Liao Feibai instantly looked like an enraged lioness, roaring wildly at Ye Zhen, "Four or five bottles of Condensing True Pill? Why don't you ask for eight or ten while you're at it?"

"If I fed that many Condensing True Pills to a pig, I could force it into the True Essence Realm, so why would I need to give you rewards to motivate you?"

"One bottle of Condensing True Pill, take it or get out! From now on, I'll strike you every time I see you."

As she roared, Liao Feibai even started cursing.

In the end, Ye Zhen sheepishly took the bottle of Condensing True Pill into his hands, "I'll try..."

"It's not about you trying, it's about you succeeding. If you can't do it, I'll strike you every time I see you from now on."

Ye Zhen was instantly dumbfounded. He gets struck if he takes it, and he gets struck if he doesn't? Isn't Instructor Liao being a bit too violent?

After a moment of contemplation, Ye Zhen took a deep breath, held up the Condensing True Pill in his hand, and asked with a rather solemn expression: "Instructor Liao, could you tell me why?"

"Why are you being so special to me, giving me cultivation techniques and pills? I recall that no other Outer Disciple has ever received your guidance before."

Seeing Ye Zhen ask this, Liao Feibai was not surprised at all; instead, she sneered: "What, are you scared? I've dug a huge pit for you and am just waiting for you to jump in. If you're scared, drop the pills and get out, and I'll strike you every time I see you from now on!"

"Scared of nothing! Three months it is." Liao Feibai's mockery stirred up Ye Zhen's spirit. He took the Condensing True Pill and turned to leave.

Just as a smug smile appeared on Liao Feibai's pretty face, Ye Zhen suddenly turned around and walked back, causing Liao Feibai's expression to stiffen.

"Instructor Liao, there is one more cultivation question I don't understand, and I would like your guidance." Ye Zhen said.

Hearing that Ye Zhen wanted to ask about cultivation, Liao Feibai finally breathed a sigh of relief, as she had just thought Ye Zhen was going to back out.

"Ask away."

"Instructor Liao, I don't know why, but when I practiced the Essence Blood Origin Body Art, I broke through directly from the Blood Refining Fourth Level to the Blood Refining Fifth Level without going through the Marrow Cleansing and Body Tempering process at all."

After a pause, Ye Zhen smiled bitterly, "I won't hide it from you, I haven't even taken a single Marrow Cleansing Pill!"

The next instant, Liao Feibai roared at Ye Zhen again: "Are you stupid? You have an Innate Pure Body; your body is already as pure as jade, so why would you need Marrow Cleansing and Body Tempering? If you were my disciple, I would slap you to death just to save myself the embarrassment!"

Before Instructor Liao could finish her sentence, Ye Zhen had already been so frightened by her roaring momentum that he bolted out without looking back. Behind him, Liao Feibai's roaring continued.

"Do you think I'm an idiot? If you didn't have an Innate Pure Body, let alone one bottle of Condensing True Pill, even with ten bottles, you wouldn't reach the True Essence Realm within three months!"

Ye Zhen, who had rushed out the door, muttered to himself in annoyance. Wasn't she just saying a moment ago that with enough Condensing True Pills, even a pig could be pushed to the True Essence Realm?

Ye Zhen hadn't expected the effect of the Innate Pure Body to be so significant. In that case, the effect of the Marrow Spirit Liquid must be even more important than he had imagined.

Inside Liao Feibai's instructor quarters, just after Ye Zhen fled in a panic, Fairy Caiyi, dressed in colorful robes and holding the Flower Civet in her arms, appeared behind Liao Feibai.

"Alright, Sister Liao, he's gone. Look at you, you scared him!" Fairy Caiyi said.

"What's the matter? This guy saved your precious little darling, and now you're feeling sorry for him?"

Teased by Liao Feibai, Fairy Caiyi's pretty face flushed a strange red as she thought of the cause of the Flower Civet's illness, "I am not."

"Still saying you're not? I just said one thing, and you're already blushing."

As they spoke, the two women began to laugh and play. After a while, Fairy Caiyi straightened her expression and said: "Sister Liao, have you noticed? This Ye Zhen has quite a few secrets."

"He became an Outer Disciple only a month ago, and his cultivation has skyrocketed from the Blood Refining Triple Layer to the Blood Refining Fifth Level. This speed is almost comparable to the cultivation speed of Ren Xihua."

"Moreover, this afternoon, a Phantom Snake King mysteriously turned into an empty shell. Although he said a Demon appeared, I always feel something is not quite right."

Listening to Fairy Caiyi's questions, Liao Feibai's willow-leaf eyebrows drooped, and her eyes suddenly became deep, "Little sister, in this world, who doesn't have a few secrets? Don't you think?"

"Take the secrets you and I have, for instance; are there few of them?"

After a pause, Liao Feibai added: "Besides, if we're talking about people with secrets, Caiyi, you are the biggest secret in our Qi Yun Sect..."