Candlelight flickered, stretching Ye Yun's shadow long across the room. He gazed at the open jade box on the table. The two Vermilion Essence Fruits, red as blood, shimmered in the candlelight, trembling faintly as if they were alive.
Dense waves of Essence Qi radiated from the fruits, making the air throughout the room feel a little thicker.
"Uncle Fu..." Ye Yun called softly, turning toward the old man standing nearby. "I owe you so much for all these years."
Uncle Fu's stooped figure looked especially old in the candlelight. His wrinkled face bore the marks of time. At Ye Yun's call, his cloudy eyes trembled faintly, and his gaze settled on the two priceless Vermilion Essence Fruits.
"This... this is..." Uncle Fu's voice quavered. His withered fingers cautiously approached the jade box, but stopped just before touching it. "A parasitic Vermilion Essence Fruit? This old servant has never seen one in his life..."
Ye Yun's lips curled into a faint smile. He gently picked up one of the fruits. "Uncle Fu, this one is for you."
Uncle Fu shuddered and stumbled half a step backward, as if struck by lightning. Disbelief crossed his aged face, then gave way to deep emotion—before quickly turning into firm refusal.
"I can't! I can't accept this, Brother Ye!" Uncle Fu waved his hands again and again, his voice choked with emotion. "Such a treasure... how could this old servant possibly deserve it?"
"Uncle Fu!" Ye Yun's voice was gentle but firm. "If it weren't for you, I would have starved to death on the streets long ago. You taught me to read and trained me in martial arts. This kindness..."
Uncle Fu's eyes grew wet. He raised a trembling sleeve and wiped the corners of his eyes. "Brother Ye, there's something you don't know..." His voice sank, heavy with the weariness of years. "This old servant... was never meant for the martial path."
Ye Yun froze. In his memories, Uncle Fu had never displayed any profound martial arts, but his fundamentals were exceptionally solid. Every move carried the bearing of a master.
Uncle Fu slowly sat in a chair nearby, his gaze growing distant. "Sixty years ago, this old servant was a beggar drifting through the streets, starved until he was skin and bones. I was about to die in that winter..." His voice was steeped in nostalgia.
"It was your grandfather, Master, who found this old servant in the snow. He brought me back to the military camp, gave me food, and taught me to read and practice martial arts."
The candle crackled, illuminating the old man's face as he recalled the past.
"This old servant was dull-witted. I trained hard for ten years, yet still couldn't sense Essence Qi." Uncle Fu gave a bitter laugh and held out his hands, covered in calluses. "But Master never looked down on me. He always kept me by his side."
"Later, this old servant went to war with the army and earned a few meager merits. Along with all my savings, they were finally enough to get me a Vermilion Essence Fruit..."
Ye Yun held his breath, imagining the hopes young Uncle Fu must have carried as he swallowed that precious fruit.
"Unfortunately..." Uncle Fu shook his head, a trace of sorrow flashing through his eyes. "Even the Vermilion Essence Fruit couldn't help this old servant open the bridge between heaven and earth. After that, my heart for the martial path... gradually faded."
The room fell briefly silent. Ye Yun could feel the deep regret in the old man's words—the kind of obsession a martial artist could never let go of in a lifetime.
"One person can only take a Vermilion Essence Fruit once." Uncle Fu looked up at Ye Yun with affection. "The second one's effects would be greatly diminished. I appreciate your kindness, Brother Ye, but you should keep this treasure for yourself."
Ye Yun opened his mouth, but couldn't think of what to say. He remembered what it had felt like to take the Vermilion Essence Fruit—the pain and exhilaration as its surging torrent of Essence Qi swept through his meridians. He could hardly imagine Uncle Fu enduring that same pain all those years ago, only to have his hopes dashed.
"Uncle Fu..." In the end, Ye Yun simply took the old man's withered hand.
Uncle Fu suddenly smiled, his face full of relief. "You don't need to feel this way, Brother Ye. Today... today is the happiest day this old servant has had in ten years."
His voice caught. "Seeing you become a ranked martial artist, this old servant can finally... finally give Master an answer in the afterlife..."
In the candlelight, Ye Yun saw tears glimmering in the old man's cloudy eyes. In that moment, he suddenly understood Uncle Fu's persistence through all those years. It wasn't simple loyalty, but an almost obsessive desire to repay the man who had saved his life and recognized his worth.
"I'll go make you a bowl of hot soup." Uncle Fu suddenly stood, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "You just broke through. You need something nourishing." Without waiting for Ye Yun to answer, he hurried out of the room.
Ye Yun watched Uncle Fu's departing figure, his heart a tangle of emotions. He looked down at the two Vermilion Essence Fruits left in the jade box and frowned. "Would taking a second one really make its effects diminish so much?"
The question circled in his mind. He knew full well how precious a Vermilion Essence Fruit was—one alone could transform an ordinary martial artist from the inside out.
But the parasitic Vermilion Essence Fruit was even more unusual. It grew on thousand-year-old trees, absorbing the essence of the sun and moon, so its effects should be greater than those of an ordinary Vermilion Essence Fruit. Perhaps... perhaps the second one wouldn't be completely useless?
After thinking for a while, Ye Yun carefully put the jade box away. Now wasn't the time to dwell on it. His top priority was to consolidate his realm and improve his strength. He picked up the True Martial Secret Manual on the table instead, its weight filling him with reverence.
He opened the book, and the archaic characters came into view once more. This time, Ye Yun found that he understood them more deeply. After breaking through to the 8th Rank, his senses had become much sharper, allowing him to faintly grasp the martial meaning hidden behind the words.
Basic cultivation method... body-tempering technique... breathing method... Ye Yun turned through the pages. Each one opened his eyes to something new. The techniques seemed simple, yet contained exquisite martial truths, far beyond the common fare circulating on the market.
Suddenly, his gaze stopped on a technique called Turtle Breath Stillness. It was an art for concealing one's aura. According to the text, it originated from the natural state of ancient spirit turtles during hibernation, allowing a martial artist to draw in their aura until it was nearly nonexistent.
This was exactly what I needed! Ye Yun's eyes lit up. Though his strength had already reached the peak of the 8th Rank, a stronger enemy would see through him at a glance. Until he uncovered the truth behind the Ye Family's annihilation, concealing his strength was crucial.
Ye Yun eagerly began studying the technique. Unlike ordinary concealment arts, Turtle Breath Stillness didn't simply suppress one's aura. Instead, it imitated the life state of a hibernating spirit turtle, drawing the body's vital essence, energy, and spirit inward to a single point in the dantian. From the outside, the practitioner looked no different from an ordinary person and could even fool powerful experts several realms above them.
Breath as fine as silk, qi sinking into the dantian, spirit drawn inward, form like withered wood... Ye Yun silently recited the formula and began adjusting his breathing as the technique described.
At first, his breathing grew ragged. His chest felt tight, and fine beads of sweat broke out across his forehead. But as time passed, his breaths grew longer and fainter, until they were almost imperceptible.
At the same time, the Essence Qi in his body began to circulate in a strange way. It no longer surged through his meridians as it usually did. Instead, like a hibernating spirit turtle, it slowly gathered deep within his dantian, forming a nearly motionless vortex.
Three hours passed, and the sky beyond the window had begun to pale. Ye Yun slowly opened his eyes. A flash of light gleamed in them, then vanished, leaving them clear and ordinary.
He stood and walked to the bronze mirror to examine himself. The young man reflected there had a normal complexion and a calm gaze, without a martial artist's characteristic sharpness. At first glance, he looked no different from an ordinary person.
"Did I succeed?" Ye Yun could hardly believe it. He tried circulating his Essence Qi and found that, as long as he controlled it properly, its flow still revealed not the slightest trace of his aura. This ability to conceal and reveal it at will was the mark of Turtle Breath Stillness's first stage.
According to the manual, the technique had three stages. At the first, one could conceal their aura so that martial artists of the same realm would struggle to detect them.
At the second, one could fool powerful experts a whole major realm above them.
At the third, one would reach perfection, deceiving even the Essence Qi of heaven and earth and truly returning to the natural state.
Ye Yun had reached the first stage in a single night. If word of that speed got out, countless people would be left gaping in astonishment.
Still, he understood that this was most likely thanks to the Vermilion Essence Fruit's transformation of his body, along with the subtlety of the True Martial Secret Manual itself.
Even a 6th Rank martial artist probably couldn't see through me now... Ye Yun nodded with satisfaction.
With this technique, he could finally walk among people without worrying about exposing his strength.
Morning light filtered through the papered window, and only then did Ye Yun realize he had cultivated through the entire night. He stretched, and his joints gave a faint crackle.
Though he hadn't slept all night, his spirits were remarkably high. The body of an 8th Rank martial artist really was extraordinary.
Familiar footsteps sounded outside. Uncle Fu entered with a steaming breakfast. Seeing Ye Yun already up, the old man smiled fondly. "Brother Ye, why are you up so early? This old servant made ginseng chicken soup. Come, have it while it's hot..."
Before he could finish, Uncle Fu suddenly froze. His cloudy eyes widened slightly as he looked Ye Yun up and down. "Brother Ye, your... your aura..."
Ye Yun was delighted. It seemed Turtle Breath Stillness really worked. He deliberately asked, "What about my aura?"
Uncle Fu set down the tray and shook his head in confusion. "Strange... yesterday, I could clearly feel how powerful your aura was, but this morning... now you seem just like an ordinary person..." The old man suddenly grew anxious. "Could something have gone wrong with your breakthrough?"
Ye Yun couldn't help laughing. "Don't worry, Uncle Fu. This is a concealment technique I just learned." As he spoke, he released a trace of his aura, and the air throughout the room immediately seemed to freeze.
Only then did Uncle Fu relax. A relieved smile appeared on his face. "Brother Ye really is exceptionally gifted. This old servant has never seen such a profound concealment art."
As the two were talking, a sudden, urgent pounding came from outside the courtyard, interrupting the warm moment. Uncle Fu frowned. "Who could it be this early?"
Ye Yun quickly concealed his aura again, returning to the state of an ordinary person. "I'll go see."
He had only just stepped into the courtyard when he heard Yan Xiao Liu's anxious voice from outside the gate. "Brother Ye! Brother Ye, are you there? Something terrible has happened!"
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