It was confirmed!
Lu Li really had formed a Mana Seed.
And the Mana Seed she had formed was perfect-grade!
Brother Snake reminded him, "Not perfect. Transcendent!"
Ye Qiu asked inwardly, What does that mean?
The Great Serpent said, "Mana Seeds have four grades: flawed, flawless, perfect... and above those is Transcendent! In other words, it's many, many times more perfect than perfect!"
"Her mana is pure beyond belief!"
Ye Qiu asked, And?
The Great Serpent said, "Against her, the score would be nine to one! Give her one second, and you'd hit the floor nine times!"
Ye Qiu fell silent.
Who could stand up to that?
"All right, you're badly hurt. Get some rest." Lu Li stood. After a moment's thought, she asked, "The Ye Family sent an invitation. Ye Rudí's Young Master investiture ceremony is tomorrow. Are you going?"
Ye Qiu shook his head.
He wasn't interested.
Nor was he in the mood.
I'm miserable.
"All right." Lu Li turned to leave, but Ye Qiu suddenly called out to her.
Lu Li looked back.
Ye Qiu said, "Um, could you ask your teacher to give me back my million?"
"That's everything I own!"
Lu Li shook her head. "Teacher said money makes men go bad... and when you had money, you liked visiting brothels."
Ye Qiu's eyes bulged. "I'm a scoundrel even without money!"
Lu Li remained composed. "Then be a penniless scoundrel."
With that, she turned and left.
Ye Qiu's face darkened!
He lay alone in the room.
He stared blankly at the ceiling.
Damn.
Turning his head, he spotted a black saber beside the bed.
Ye Qiu sat up and grabbed it.
The saber was heavy!
But it was a broken saber!
And its edge had no real sharpness.
Ye Qiu examined it with his senses. There were no unusual fluctuations inside it, either. It seemed perfectly ordinary.
A saber so hard to pull out that it had nearly cost him his life, and this was it?
The Great Serpent said, "Be satisfied. What you suffered this time wasn't for nothing."
Ye Qiu sank into his mindscape. Holding the Broken Saber, he looked at Brother Snake, whose blood-red body coiled around Mountain Peak. "Is it that amazing?"
The Great Serpent shook his head. "Beyond amazing!"
Ye Qiu frowned, then examined the Broken Saber closely again... Apart from its weight, he truly couldn't see anything special about it.
The Great Serpent said, "This saber hasn't accepted you yet. After all, you cheated to pull it out."
Ye Qiu asked, "How do I get it to accept me?"
The Great Serpent's eyelids drooped. "You'll know when you're stronger."
Ye Qiu fell silent, then turned away.
The Great Serpent said, "Hurry up and find me more Demon Beast Spirits. I'm incredibly weak right now!"
Ye Qiu looked back at Brother Snake.
The Great Serpent said, "You think you'd still be alive if I hadn't protected you? That strike would've chopped you to pieces!"
Ye Qiu thought it over and nodded.
He left his mindscape.
He stroked the Broken Saber.
Although he couldn't see anything special about it yet, its weight suited his needs.
He had also discovered one thing about the Broken Saber: it was hard!
Hard and heavy. Even without much of an edge, a blow from it would be terrifying!
Not bad!
He put it into his Storage Ring.
He closed his eyes and began circulating the Great Dragon Breath Technique, checking his condition.
This time, he really had been badly hurt!
The injuries might even leave hidden ailments.
If he didn't deal with them early, they would cause trouble later.
Ye Qiu checked himself from head to toe and carefully treated the injuries that might become lasting ailments.
And he found that he hadn't come away empty-handed. His Qi and Blood had grown considerably.
His cultivation had advanced, too.
In that situation, he'd had no choice but to squeeze out every last bit of strength. That kind of pressure made advancement easiest!
Lu Li must also have found him plenty of good medicine. His body had absorbed a great deal of its essence.
A day and a night passed before Ye Qiu opened his eyes.
He felt much better.
He rose, dressed, and walked out of the room.
The mountain was quiet.
Neither Lu Li nor Nan Qingyue was there.
He took out the black Broken Saber, then closed his eyes.
He familiarized himself with the saber.
He tried to understand it.
To wield a saber skillfully, he needed to know it thoroughly and grow accustomed to its weight and balance.
Their rhythms had to become one.
Only then could he wield it as naturally as his own arm.
An hour later, Ye Qiu opened his eyes and began swinging the saber. Rumbles echoed across Mountain Peak.
The saber was too heavy. Even with his strength, it weighed down his hand, and his movements with it were still awkward.
He needed more practice!
The Cultivation Tower would be the best place for it.
But his injuries had not yet healed. Ointment covered the wound on his chest, and it was still split open.
Going to the Cultivation Tower might tear it open completely.
He would have to wait.
"Brother Ye!" Wu Xiaokai called from the foot of the mountain.
Ye Qiu put away the saber, walked to the edge, and said, "Come on up."
Wu Xiaokai ran up Mountain Peak. "Brother Ye, a lot of people have gone to the Ye Clan's Young Master investiture ceremony. Are you... really not going to take a look?"
He had learned a little about Ye Qiu's background.
The son of the Ye Clan's Clan Leader.
The Legitimate Son!
By rights, Ye Qiu should have been the Ye Clan's Young Master. And Wu Xiaokai thought Ye Qiu was more than capable of bearing the title!
After all, Brother Ye pulled out that Evil Saber!
He was incredible that day!
Even if he did get hurt pretty badly.
Still, it was a feat people would talk about for a long time!
Ye Qiu shook his head. "I don't want anything more to do with the Ye Clan."
Wu Xiaokai said, "But... your wife went too. I heard the Ye Clan wants to bring her and the new Young Master together. You..."
Ye Qiu waved a hand. "Let them."
Wu Xiaokai opened his mouth, but held back in the end. "All right... Mind if I go take a look?"
The Ye Family's new Young Master, who possessed a Heavenly King Body, had broken through a few days ago and caused quite a stir.
Wu Xiaokai wanted to see just how capable this person was. Why had the Ye Clan abandoned Ye Qiu and chosen him instead?
Ye Qiu nodded. "Go ahead."
As Wu Xiaokai turned to leave, Ye Qiu called him back. After hesitating for a long time, he asked, "Do you have any money on you?"
Wu Xiaokai asked, "How much do you need?"
Ye Qiu thought for a moment. "How much do you have?"
Wu Xiaokai said, "Not much left. Just a little over eight million..."
Ye Qiu stared at him.
He looked at Wu Xiaokai in disbelief. Wait, didn't you come from the Great Mountains?
Didn't you say you lived in a village?
And didn't you say life was terribly hard there?
Wu Xiaokai said, "Is that not enough? I could write to my grandpa and ask him to send me some more."
Ye Qiu stood stunned for a long while before asking, "What does your family do?"
Wu Xiaokai said, "We just get by in the village."
"Is your village big?"
Wu Xiaokai said, "Not at all. There are only a little over a hundred people... But our backyard is big."
"How big?"
Wu Xiaokai said, "A hundred and eight thousand li across... My grandpa grows a few hundred mu of medicinal herbs there and raises tens of thousands of Demon Beasts... We occasionally hunt a few wild animals to make money, too..."
Ye Qiu had nothing to say.
Sorry.
I shouldn't have asked.
After a pause, he said, "Just lend me a million."
Wu Xiaokai took out a Storage Ring. "What can you do with a million? Here, take two million for now. Tell me if you need more... No rush to pay me back."
He left the Storage Ring with Ye Qiu and headed off.
Ye Qiu stared blankly at the Storage Ring in his hand. After a long while, he sighed. "Look at him. Is a million even money?"
Is it?
Before you continue