An Oath

At night, inside the cave.

Lin Ye began refining Qi Gathering Pills.

Qi Gathering Pills were mid-grade mortal pills, and far more difficult to refine than Body Tempering Pills.

"How many points would it take to deduce the method for refining Qi Gathering Pills?"

[Deducing the method for refining Qi Gathering Pills (mid-grade mortal pills) requires 100 Martial Arts Points]

[Would you like to proceed?]

"Yes."

The essentials of refining Qi Gathering Pills flooded into Lin Ye's mind.

Two hours later, the first batch of Qi Gathering Pills came out of the furnace.

Three pills, all mid-grade.

Lin Ye wasn't satisfied and continued deducing and refining the method.

The second batch yielded four high-grade pills.

The third batch yielded five top-grade pills.

By the time the sky began to pale, twenty top-grade Qi Gathering Pills were already laid out before Lin Ye.

Lin Ye put the pills away, a glint flashing in his eyes.

With these Qi Gathering Pills, he could increase his cultivation speed several times over.

The eighth level of Body Tempering was within reach.

He also had a steady source of income now.

His points were exhausted.

"I need to cultivate as soon as possible. The rate at which I gain points seems to be connected to my cultivation. If I break through to the True Qi Realm, will my points accumulate twice as fast?"

Lin Ye sat cross-legged and swallowed a top-grade Qi Gathering Pill.

The pill entered his belly and turned into a vast surge of medicinal power, coursing through every limb and bone.

The Azure Origin Technique surged into motion, converting the medicinal power into true qi and tempering his body.

Inside the cave, Lin Ye opened his eyes, their brilliance blazing.

He had finally broken through to the eighth level of Body Tempering!

Disguising himself as someone who had just broken through to the seventh level of Body Tempering, Lin Ye rose and left the cave.

When he returned to the Herb Repository, Chen Feng was already waiting at the storeroom entrance. His eyes shifted when he saw Lin Ye. "You broke through?"

"Mm." Lin Ye nodded.

"Congratulations," Chen Feng said. "I'm almost there myself."

The two exchanged a smile.

Just then, Zhou Bapi hurried over, his face dark with worry.

"Lin Ye, Chen Feng, come with me!"

The two exchanged a glance, then followed Zhou Bapi to a secret chamber.

Someone else was seated inside.

It was Zhao Liang.

"Senior Brother Zhao, I've brought them," Zhou Bapi said respectfully.

Zhao Liang sat in the seat of honor, looking at Lin Ye and Chen Feng with a cold gaze.

"It's been over a month, and you two seem to be doing quite well," Zhao Liang said, his tone icy. "Seventh level of Body Tempering? You even managed to break through in a place like the Herb Repository. Truly extraordinary talent."

"Thanks to you, Senior Brother Zhao," Lin Ye replied evenly.

Zhao Liang smiled, but his smile was cold. "Lin Ye, I really underestimated you. I thought sending you to the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall and the Herb Repository would let me cripple you without lifting a finger. But instead, you've made quite a name for yourself here."

"This disciple has only been doing his duty," Lin Ye said, lowering his head.

"Your duty?" Zhao Liang stood and walked up to Lin Ye, staring him down. "Your duty is to obediently be a good-for-nothing and let me trample you underfoot! Not to break through here, refine pills, and even collude with Zhou Bapi to embezzle medicinal herbs!"

Lin Ye's heart tightened, but his expression didn't change. "I don't understand what Senior Brother Zhao is talking about."

"Don't understand?" Zhao Liang sneered. He took a pill from his robes and tossed it onto the table.

It was the top-grade Qi Gathering Pill Lin Ye had sold on the black market.

"You refined this Qi Gathering Pill, didn't you?" Zhao Liang stared at Lin Ye. "There are no more than five people in the entire Outer Sect who can refine top-grade Qi Gathering Pills. And yet a menial disciple like you managed it. Tell me, should I praise you as a genius, or say you're asking for death?"

Lin Ye remained silent.

He hadn't expected Zhao Liang's reach to extend so far. He could even investigate the black market.

"What do you want, Senior Brother Zhao?" Lin Ye looked up.

"It's simple." Zhao Liang sat down again. "Hand over your alchemy techniques, cripple your own cultivation, and get out of Qingyun Sect. Then I can spare your life."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then you die." Zhao Liang's eyes turned icy. "A fire breaks out at the Herb Repository, and two menial disciples burn to death. Perfectly normal, don't you think, Steward Zhou?"

"Yes, yes, perfectly normal!" Zhou Bapi nodded frantically.

Lin Ye looked at Zhao Liang, then at Zhou Bapi, and suddenly laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" Zhao Liang frowned.

"I'm laughing at how you're clever enough to outsmart yourself, Senior Brother Zhao," Lin Ye said slowly. "You really think you've got me in the palm of your hand?"

"Oh, do you have some other trick up your sleeve?" Zhao Liang scoffed. "This is my territory. My people are all outside. What kind of waves can you make, a seventh-level Body Tempering cultivator?"

"A seventh-level cultivator can't," Lin Ye agreed.

Before the words had even left his mouth, Lin Ye's aura erupted.

He released his true cultivation—the eighth level of Body Tempering—with nothing held back.

Vast true qi surged through his body, roaring like a mighty river.

"Eighth level of Body Tempering?!" Zhao Liang's expression changed drastically. "You weren't at the seventh level?!"

"I never said I was at the seventh level," Lin Ye replied calmly.

"So what?" Zhao Liang quickly regained his composure. "I can still kill you at the eighth level!"

His aura burst forth. He, too, was at the eighth level of Body Tempering—and at its peak!

"What about me?" Chen Feng suddenly said, releasing his aura as well.

Early eighth level of Body Tempering!

"You?" Zhao Liang's pupils shrank.

These two had both been hiding their strength?!

"Zhou Bapi, attack!" Zhao Liang barked.

But Zhou Bapi didn't move.

He was slumped in his chair, face deathly pale, his whole body trembling.

A short blade was pressed against his throat.

When had it happened?

Zhao Liang hadn't seen.

"Senior Brother Zhao, can we talk now?" Lin Ye looked at Zhao Liang, his gaze calm but brimming with murderous intent.

Zhao Liang's expression shifted again and again. In the end, he gritted his teeth. "What do you want?"

"It's simple," Lin Ye said. "From now on, we stay out of each other's way. You take your broad road, and I'll cross my narrow bridge. If you provoke me again..."

He flicked his wrist, and the short blade drew a line of blood across Zhou Bapi's neck.

"Next time, it won't stop at drawing blood."

Zhou Bapi was so terrified he nearly wet himself.

Zhao Liang glared at Lin Ye. Finally, he drew a deep breath. "Fine. I agree."

"Swear it on your martial path," Lin Ye said.

"Don't push your luck!"

"Swear, or die." Lin Ye pressed the blade in a little farther.

Zhao Liang's face turned livid. In the end, he bit his finger and swore an oath in blood. "I, Zhao Liang, swear that from this day forward, I will never again take the initiative to provoke Lin Ye or Chen Feng. If I break this oath, may my martial path be crippled and may I die a horrible death!"

Only then did Lin Ye withdraw the blade.

"Get out."

Zhao Liang shot Lin Ye a fierce glare, then turned and left.

Zhou Bapi scrambled after him.

Only Lin Ye and Chen Feng remained in the secret chamber.

"He'll probably cause trouble again," Chen Feng said.

"I know." Lin Ye nodded. "But he won't for a while. We need time."

"What now?"

"Refine pills, cultivate, and break through," Lin Ye said. "Once we reach the True Qi Realm, Zhao Liang won't be a threat."

"But the Outer Sect Competition is only two months away," Chen Feng said. "Only the top fifty can enter the Inner Sect. Zhao Liang will definitely rig the competition."

"Then let him try." A cold glint flashed in Lin Ye's eyes. "We'll beat him fair and square in the competition and make sure he never gets back on his feet."

"Are you confident?"

"I am." Lin Ye looked outside the cave. The sun had risen, its rays blazing across the sky.