The Marquis Emerges from Seclusion

Ning Xiaochuan vaulted over the tall walls of the Marquis Mansion and landed on the ground. He returned to the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion without alerting anyone inside.

Ning Xiaochuan had originally wanted to flee at once, never to return to the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion, and escape this place of trouble and strife. In any case, he had never felt much attachment to the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion.

But if he fled, he would only startle the snake in the grass. With the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion's immense power, if they truly meant to deal with him, then even if he ran to the ends of the earth, he would still be walking a dead-end road.

Ning Xiaochuan steeled his heart and returned to the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion, continuing to play the sickly invalid! It was already noon. Ning Xiner had trained in the Martial Arena for the entire morning, and when she returned, her face was covered in fragrant sweat, her hair tips damp. "Brother, why are you sweating all over too? Where have you been?"

Naturally, Ning Xiaochuan had returned from the Golden Roc Heart Nourishing Hall. He had not expected to run straight into Ning Xiner. Wiping sweat from his forehead, he panted, "I just walked around Xiao Wan once... Hah... hah... I'm exhausted, utterly exhausted..."

Ning Xiaochuan braced himself against the wall, gasping continuously and pretending to be extremely weak, as though his last breath might catch in his throat! Knowing that her brother's health was poor, Ning Xiner hurriedly supported him. Her little hand gently stroked his chest, and only after Ning Xiaochuan's breathing had settled did she ask, "Brother, do you feel better?"

"Much better, much better. Thank you, Xin'er!" Ning Xiaochuan looked deeply at Ning Xiner. He could sense that this little sister truly cared about him.

Ning Xiaochuan took three hundred big coins from his bundle and handed them to Ning Xiner. "This is the money I owe you. Your brother keeps his word—if I borrow money, I will definitely repay it."

"This... Brother, where did you get this money?" Ning Xiner asked curiously, finding it unbelievable as she blinked at Ning Xiaochuan.

She had thought Ning Xiaochuan had long since spent all the money in the brothel.

Ning Xiaochuan had already prepared an excuse and made up a story. "Didn't I borrow thirty thousand Small Coins from you two days ago? I spent ten Small Coins of it to buy ten thousand sheets of paper."

"Brother, you bought so much paper. Were you planning to write letters for people to earn money?" Ning Xiner asked curiously.

"Writing letters only earns Small Coins, not big money." Ning Xiaochuan continued, "Then I spent one hundred Small Coins to hire someone to mark ten thousand numbers on those ten thousand sheets of paper. After that, I placed the ten thousand sheets in ten shops along Wending Avenue to sell. Each sheet sold for... twenty Small Coins."

"A sheet of paper with a number written on it can sell for twenty Small Coins?" Ning Xiner bit her adorable lip and gently shook her head, clearly unconvinced.

Ning Xiaochuan said, "A great many people really did buy them, and in the end, they were even fighting to buy them."

Ning Xiner was even more astonished. "What exactly happened, Brother? Tell me, tell me!"

Ning Xiaochuan smiled. "Because I told them that whoever bought the sheet bearing either 'one' or 'ten thousand' would receive a reward of ten thousand Small Coins. When someone drew 'one' and collected a huge bag of money from me, everyone else went mad. They began buying in great numbers, fighting to get them. Think about it—spend twenty Small Coins for a chance to win ten thousand Small Coins. What an enormous temptation!"

"This... this can make money too?" Ning Xiner stared wide-eyed, feeling that her brother's mind was truly godlike.

"It... should make money, I suppose!"

Ning Xiaochuan had initially considered using this method to make money. But in this world, where martial strength reigned supreme, power was still the true king. Such methods were merely side paths for scraping up profit. Besides, now that he was a Heart Nourisher, earning money would be easy. Why go to such trouble?

After lunch, Ning Xiaochuan shut himself in his room again. Only after confirming that Ning Xiner had gone to train did he take the Mysterious Medicine and Profound Stones from his bundle.

"Refining one first-grade Blood Accumulation Grass stimulated the Blood Aperture and Heart Aperture into chasing each other, allowing my cultivation to break through to the Profound Qi Sixth Level. I'll refine a second-grade Blood Accumulation Grass and see whether my cultivation can rise again."

Ning Xiaochuan refined a second-grade Blood Accumulation Grass into three drops of Blood Accumulation Elixir. Every drop gave off a faint red glow, like three drops of blood.

Boom!

Suddenly, the Demon Sword within the Blood Aperture emitted a faint layer of blood-red light. It actually tried to seize the three drops of Blood Accumulation Elixir within the Heart Aperture.

The Blood Aperture and Heart Aperture began chasing each other again, transforming into a red-and-white Taiji Pattern.

This time, Ning Xiaochuan deliberately observed them. He discovered that while the Blood Aperture and Heart Aperture chased each other, faint wisps of Earth Martial Essence Qi escaped from his blood and were absorbed by the Taiji Pattern. They then transformed into even more Martial Dao Profound Qi and merged into the Martial Heart Palace.

When the Blood Aperture and Heart Aperture finally calmed down, the three drops of second-grade Blood Accumulation Elixir within the Heart Nourishing Cauldron had indeed vanished again, absorbed by the Demon Sword.

Moreover, a special power flowed out from the Demon Sword and fed back into Ning Xiaochuan's blood, causing the grade of his blood to rise rapidly.

Ning Xiaochuan's cultivation increased by another step.

"I understand now. It's all because of this Demon Sword. The Demon Sword thirsts terribly for blood. Once I refine Blood Accumulation Elixir, it is stimulated and launches a frenzied assault on the Heart Aperture to seize it. During the struggle between the Blood Aperture and Heart Aperture, it draws out the Earth Martial Essence Qi hidden in my blood, causing my cultivation to advance by leaps and bounds. This Earth Martial Essence Qi must be power the Old Marquis of the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion left within my body."

Ordinary martial artists cultivated Martial Dao Profound Qi. Only upon reaching the realm of Martial Venerable could they transform the Martial Dao Profound Qi inside their bodies into Earth Martial Essence Qi.

Earth Martial Essence Qi was a far more terrifying force than Martial Dao Profound Qi.

If Martial Dao Profound Qi was compared to water, then Earth Martial Essence Qi was Aqua Regia.

A drop of water could drown, at most, an ant.

A drop of Aqua Regia, however, could bore through gold and stone.

The energy in one wisp of Earth Martial Essence Qi was equivalent to the energy in ten thousand wisps of Martial Dao Profound Qi.

That was why the power of a Martial Venerable stood above all martial artists. One punch could topple mountains; one palm strike could sever rivers; even a single breath could become a violent gale, uprooting great trees from the earth and sweeping them into the sky.

The Old Marquis of the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion was a Martial Venerable! The Old Marquis had loved Ning Xiaochuan dearly, using vast amounts of Earth Martial Essence Qi from his childhood to prolong his life. Although much of that Earth Martial Essence Qi had already dissipated, the Earth Martial Essence Qi hidden deep in his blood could still allow Ning Xiaochuan to reach the Divine Body Realm.

Now, Ning Xiaochuan felt an intense sense of crisis. What he lacked most was power. He did not care whether the Demon Sword was sinister or not. Since it could stimulate the Earth Martial Essence Qi in his blood to disperse faster and rapidly raise his cultivation, Ning Xiaochuan naturally would not leave it unused.

Ning Xiaochuan began refining the second Blood Accumulation Grass! "Only by reaching the Profound Qi Seventh Level can I be called a genius within the Marquis Mansion and be considered to have taken the first step into the ranks of the younger generation's experts."

Refining second-grade Blood Accumulation Grass required even more time. An entire afternoon passed, and Ning Xiaochuan only managed to refine two Blood Accumulation Grasses.

His cultivation had clearly improved, but reaching the Profound Qi Seventh Level would not be so easy.

To break through from the Profound Qi Sixth Level to the Profound Qi Seventh Level required more Heaven and Earth Profound Qi than the first six levels combined. Even with Earth Martial Essence Qi hidden in Ning Xiaochuan's blood, he could not reach the Profound Qi Seventh Level overnight.

The geniuses of the Marquis Mansion cultivated bitterly for ten years before reaching the Profound Qi Seventh Level. If he reached it after cultivating for only three days, those geniuses might as well stop living.

Over the next three days, Ning Xiaochuan did not leave the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion. Apart from discussing difficult martial cultivation questions with Ning Xiner, he went to the Scripture Pavilion to read, refined Mysterious Medicine, and cultivated Heaven and Earth Profound Qi.

Ning Xiner knew that her brother had always wanted to cultivate martial arts, but had been unable to because of his health. Thus, whenever Ning Xiaochuan asked her questions about cultivation, she did not suspect anything and answered every question without reserve. She believed this was her brother's yearning for martial arts, his dream.

Over those three days, Ning Xiaochuan's cultivation naturally advanced by leaps and bounds. He had already reached the peak of the Profound Qi Sixth Level, his cultivation speed as fast as riding a rocket.

Ning Xiaochuan had refined all ten second-grade Blood Accumulation Grasses and ten second-grade Nourishing Heart Grasses. He was considering going to the Golden Roc Heart Nourishing Hall to buy more Mysterious Medicine.

"Brother, where are you going?" Ning Xiner approached from ahead. She wore a white, tight-fitting martial robe cinched with a belt. Her bosom rose slightly, and her slender waist outlined a beautiful curve.

She was still a little too young. In a few more years, she would surely become another beauty capable of toppling kingdoms and ruining cities.

Ning Xiaochuan asked in return, "Xin'er, didn't you go to train at the Martial Arena?"

A smile hung on Ning Xiner's face. Her round eyes curved into crescents, and she looked delighted. "Grandfather has emerged from seclusion early!"

"Grandfather." Ning Xiaochuan murmured softly.

Ning Xiaochuan and Ning Xiner's grandfather was naturally the Old Marquis of the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion, a Martial Venerable whose name resounded throughout Yulan Imperial City.

The Sword Pavilion Marquis had four biological sons. Ning Xiaochuan's father was the third son, once the "Third Master" of the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion.

"Grandfather is summoning all the fourth-generation descendants of the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion to the Deliberation Hall. Even many outstanding talents cultivating outside have hurried back. I came to notify you. Come with me to the Deliberation Hall!" Ning Xiner said.

Ning Xiaochuan nodded and followed Ning Xiner toward the Deliberation Hall. It seemed he could only find time later to visit the Golden Roc Heart Nourishing Hall.