"What?" Even Xuan Bei, with his deep composure, was shocked into crying out, his face filled with disbelief.
Clang!
He had originally been preparing to toss the Monastic Blade back onto the weapon rack and properly comfort Meng Qi, but his hand trembled, and the blade smashed directly into the rack before bouncing to the floor. He failed to slot it back in as intended. For an Outer Scenery Expert, this was absolutely abnormal!
Meng Qi circulated the fourth stage of the Golden Bell Shield with all his might. A dark-golden hue flickered across his skin as he repeated what he had said before: "Master, I've mastered the fourth stage of the Golden Bell Shield."
"What happened to you?" Xuan Bei collected himself, but the astonishment in his eyes was difficult to conceal.
Only yesterday, his disciple had broken through to the third stage, yet today he had already mastered the fourth. Such speed was practically the stuff of myths!
Meng Qi had prepared his explanation before entering. Without raising his head, he said in a muffled voice, "Yesterday, when I watched Master practice the saber, I vaguely sensed the meaning that the mortal world is a furnace, severing my purity."
"Today, when I cultivated the fourth-stage technique, heat and cold struck me together. There was also an annoying little bird beside me, chattering incessantly. With three layers of torment bearing down on me, I suffered immensely and could barely hold on. At that moment, I somehow remembered that flavor and suddenly gained an enlightenment. The mortal world is a furnace, and heaven and earth are a furnace. Wasn't my present torment precisely the furnace fire bearing down on me, tempering my body, defiling my mind, and destroying my purity?"
"After that, after that, I somehow muddled my way into