Your flaws were everywhere. Ye Yun's voice was cold as ice. The throwing knife in his hand glinted with pale golden light. Uncle Fu would never call me that; he called me "Young Master Yun." He walked forward slowly, each step leaving a charred footprint on the floor—the mark of Essence Qi spilling out and scorching the ground.
The female ghost's borrowed form stiffened, and the black ooze leaking from her left eye suddenly froze. The temperature in the room plunged, and frost spread across the window lattice like a spiderweb.
And another thing. Ye Yun turned his wrist, and another throwing knife slid into his palm. Uncle Fu was adopted by my grandfather as a child and had never been to any Qingyun Temple. He aimed the blade at the fake Uncle Fu's throat. You don't even know that, and you still dare try to fool me?
Hehehe... Eerie laughter came from all directions, and dozens of twisted children's faces appeared on the walls. The fake Uncle Fu's skin began to peel away, revealing a blue-gray ghostly face underneath. "Kid, you've got a good eye... But you think..."
Your true form is still at the bottom of the well in the Wang Mansion. Ye Yun cut her off, golden light blazing in his eyes. You think this little bit of illusion is enough to kill me? He suddenly hurled the throwing knife. Pale golden Essence Qi coiled around its blade, leaving a searing trail through the air.
The female ghost shrieked and dispersed, turning into a cloud of black mist that slammed toward the window. Just as it was about to pass through the paper, the incense ash Uncle Fu had scattered earlier suddenly glowed red, forming an invisible net that caught the mist fast.
Ah—! The shrill scream shook dust from the rafters. The black mist thrashed about, and each time it touched the incense ash, a wisp of green smoke rose. "Just you wait... In three more days... I'll be able to..."
Ye Yun let out a thunderous roar. The Nine Nether Spirit Ginseng suddenly flew out of his Storage Bag, its roots stabbing into the black mist like living things. The female ghost gave a scream more terrible than any before. The mist roiled violently as it was torn apart, until at last only a wisp of black smoke slipped away through the crack beneath the door.
The room fell deathly silent. Ye Yun held his guard until he was sure nothing else was amiss, then finally let out a long breath. Only then did he realize that cold sweat had soaked through his clothes, and the hand gripping his throwing knife was trembling slightly.
Uncle Fu? Ye Yun called softly, warily pushing open the door to the inner room. Moonlight streamed through the paper window, revealing the old man lying peacefully on the bed, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. Looking closer, Ye Yun saw a faint black line between Uncle Fu's brows, slowly fading with each breath.
Uncle Fu? Wake up! Ye Yun lightly slapped the old man's cheek, but his skin felt colder than that of the living. Ye Yun hurriedly circulated his Essence Qi, pressed a palm to Uncle Fu's chest, and sent pure inner force into his meridians.
Cough, cough... Uncle Fu suddenly began coughing violently and opened his cloudy eyes. "Young Master Yun? This old servant...?" He looked around in confusion. "Why am I lying in bed?"
Ye Yun recounted what had happened. When he heard about the female ghost's disguise, Uncle Fu's withered hand suddenly clenched the corner of the blanket. When Ye Yun mentioned the flaw about the Qingyun Temple handyman, a strange glimmer passed through the old man's eyes.
"That fiend did speak one truth." Uncle Fu struggled to sit up, his voice hoarse. "Ordinary martial artists really are no match for strange creatures. When the Old General was alive, he often said that to deal with such things, you either need the astral energy of a sixth-grade expert or a cultivator's talismans."
An owl hooted outside, its cry especially jarring. Uncle Fu suddenly grabbed Ye Yun by the wrist. "Young Master Yun, what did that thing mean by 'in three more days'?"
Ye Yun shook his head without a word.
"No matter what, I have to break through as soon as possible." Ye Yun's voice was grave as he took the carved jade box from his robes. The moment he opened it, the Essence Qi in the room surged. Two vermilion fruits lay still on the velvet lining, their surfaces veined with golden lines like flickering flames.
Uncle Fu drew in a sharp breath. "Vermilion Essence Fruit? You mean to use it to break through..."
Ye Yun brushed past the question and lightly touched the fruit with his fingertip. A surging wave of Essence Qi flowed into him, making the meridians in his entire arm swell slightly. The book said the second fruit would only have half the effect, but there was no time to worry about that now.
Uncle Fu hesitated, then finally climbed out of bed with a trembling effort and took a packet of medicinal herbs from the bottom of a chest. "This old servant will brew a pot of tonic to strengthen your foundation and nourish your vitality."
At a quarter past midnight, Ye Yun sat cross-legged on the stone platform in the courtyard. The moon was bright and the stars sparse—an ideal night for a breakthrough. He held a Vermilion Essence Fruit in his left hand and rested his right hand on the True Martial Secret Manual. Its pages turned without a breeze, stopping at a diagram of meridian circulation.
A seventh-grade martial artist's Essence Qi was like quicksilver, cleansing the marrow and refining the body... Ye Yun silently recited the formula and placed the Vermilion Essence Fruit in his mouth. It melted instantly, becoming a searing torrent that rushed down his throat. The sensation was even more intense than when he had taken the first fruit, as if he had swallowed a mass of molten lava!
Boom—
It felt as if a barrier inside him had burst, and Essence Qi surged out like water through a breached dam. Every pore on Ye Yun's body opened, spraying a fine mist of blood that became a red glow around him as the Essence Qi steamed. His bones crackled like beans popping in a pan. His muscles swelled and contracted at a visible pace, growing denser with every cycle.
Uncle Fu stood beneath the veranda, holding a bowl of medicine as he watched in astonishment. The plants in the courtyard swayed without a breeze, leaning toward Ye Yun like subjects paying homage to their king. More wondrous still, strands of black energy were slowly forced from the wounds tainted by yin energy, turning to ash in the golden light.
Not enough... Ye Yun gritted his teeth, feeling the surging power within him. He had already broken through the seventh-grade threshold, but less than half of the Vermilion Essence Fruit's energy had been used. He simply activated the secret method in the True Martial Secret Manual, deliberately guiding the remaining Essence Qi to batter his meridians.
Crack!
A clear sound of breaking rang out inside him, as if some kind of shackle had shattered. His pale golden Essence Qi suddenly condensed, turning crimson-gold. As it flowed through his meridians, it sounded like quicksilver. This was the mark of the middle stage of the seventh grade—Essence Qi transformed into quicksilver!
Ye Yun snapped his eyes open. Golden light flashed in his pupils like lightning, leaving two afterimages in the darkness. With a casual wave of his hand, a blue stone three zhang away split apart, its broken surface smooth as a mirror. More wondrous still, he could clearly see specks of dust drifting through the air, hear Uncle Fu's rapid heartbeat ten zhang away, and even pick out the scent of every herb in the medicinal broth.
Congratulations on breaking through to the seventh grade, Young Master Yun. Uncle Fu approached with the bowl of medicine, his eyes full of relief. "This old servant brewed you a tonic to strengthen your foundation..."
Before he could finish, a shrill cat's cry rang out in the distance. Immediately afterward, a plume of black energy rose from the direction of the Wang family, gathering in the air into the shape of a girl in blue before some unseen force dragged it back. A venomous curse drifted faintly through the night wind:
"...Just you wait... Two days from now..."
Ye Yun and Uncle Fu exchanged a glance, both seeing the gravity in the other's eyes. Ye Yun took the bowl and drained it in one gulp, feeling the medicinal power mingle with his Essence Qi.
That's enough. Ye Yun clenched his fist, crimson-gold Essence Qi swirling between his fingers. "Tomorrow, I'll find a way to deal with the strange creatures. And as for that well..." He looked toward the Wang family, his gaze sharp as a blade. "It's time to put an end to this for good."
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