The Fifth Ray of Light

"Madam, there is one more thing."

Just as the one surnamed Guan was about to take Chen Ye away, Chen Ye suddenly spoke up.

The widow Zhou Clan raised her eyes to look at him and asked, "What is it?"

"I need some silver to make some preparations in secret," Chen Ye said directly.

In fact, he was not lying.

The silver was indeed to be used to redeem his lifespan and improve his cultivation to cope with the coming storm.

It was just that such matters were difficult to explain to others.

The Zhou Clan merely assumed he was trying to take advantage of the situation to line his own pockets, a practice she found commonplace.

Since she currently had a use for him, she asked, "How much do you need?"

"Twenty taels."

Chen Ye did not open his mouth like a lion asking for an exorbitant amount.

Over these past few days, he had been observing the Capital City.

In an ordinary minor noble family, the amount of reward money a master could casually produce was usually between a few taels to over a dozen.

This amount fell within a normal range for a prestigious family; as long as the Zhou Clan was willing to give it, she could produce it on the spot.

Any more, such as several tens or even hundreds of taels, would either require a personal maid or steward to withdraw it from the accounts office, or necessitate dipping into private savings.

If he had asked for more, the Zhou Clan might not have been so forthcoming.

The wealth of a noble family could not be squandered at will, and it was not as if they could easily produce hundreds or thousands of taels at a moment's notice.

All things considered, asking the Zhou Clan for twenty taels was a relatively reasonable request and the highest figure he estimated he could obtain.

The Zhou Clan pondered for a moment, then summoned her personal maid, took out five silver ingots, and handed them over.

Chen Ye accepted the silver, said nothing more, and silently followed behind the one surnamed Guan, to be locked inside a guest room.

Following the Zhou Clan's instructions, the one surnamed Guan assigned two reliable but mediocre-strength servants to stand guard.

Before leaving, he personally checked the doors and windows to ensure nothing had been overlooked, only then departing to lurk in the shadows and keep a silent watch.

At the same time Chen Ye was being sent to the guest room, the Zhou Clan had already quietly begun to act according to the plan.

Soon, news that she had taken a person from the dungeon and was in possession of physical evidence left by the murderer spread through the Feng Estate, gradually gaining traction.

However, Chen Ye, the instigator of all this, was completely unaware of these developments.

The bait had been cast; now he had to wait for the murderer to lose their composure and reveal themselves.

He would do his part and leave the rest to fate.

According to his estimation, a fierce battle would be unavoidable when the time came.

Before that, he needed at least some ability to protect himself.

Inside the guest room.

Chen Ye steadied his mind, closed his eyes while standing before the bed, assumed his stance once more, and circulated the Foundation Cultivation Technique.

This time, he was alone in the room.

He did not avoid the acupoints near his Dantian; instead, he gathered all his True Qi there, boldly stimulating the various acupoints of the Dantian.

Above the Guanyuan, Sea of Qi Acupoint, Shimen Acupoint, and Shenque, points of faint light emerged one after another.

In an instant, the warm current within his body surged, becoming even more majestic.

Waves of vigorous vitality were mobilized from every part of his flesh and blood.

His entire body grew hot and began to sweat.

The injuries sustained in the dungeon were, due to the appearance of the faint light, healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, all his injuries had vanished, leaving not even a half-inch scar behind.

This left Chen Ye feeling quite astonished.

He had inquired in secret and knew that no martial artist could be like him or achieve this level of recovery.

Chen Ye secretly guessed that this was, in all likelihood, due to his possession of True Yang, and he knew this trait could not be revealed casually.

Otherwise, it would only bring trouble upon himself.

Gurgle.

A sudden rumble came from his stomach.

At this moment, Chen Ye felt a strong sense of hunger and an urgent need to eat.

Since entering the dungeon, he had not touched a single grain of rice, having consumed nothing but a bowl of clear water.

Thus, after the faint light in his acupoints faded, he walked to the door and stated his needs to those outside.

The Zhou Clan was not a stingy person.

Soon, a servant walked in carrying a tray laden with food and set it upon the table.

The richness of the dishes exceeded Chen Ye's expectations.

With chicken, duck, fish, and meat all present, and a proper balance of vegetables, it was arguably the most sumptuous meal he had eaten since arriving here.

Chen Ye did not stand on ceremony; he swept through the food like a whirlwind, eating to his heart's content.

Once finished, he began a new round of cultivation.

Chen Ye opened the Pawn System, tossed in the twenty taels as usual, and redeemed eighty days of lifespan.

[Current remaining lifespan: 8 months and 15 days.]

After weighing his options and estimating the necessary buffer for his lifespan, he decisively pawned half a year of it in exchange for cultivation progress.

[Deducted half a year of lifespan, providing half a year of cultivation.]

The Foundation Cultivation Technique had already reached perfection.

This martial art was of low quality and had reached a point where it could no longer be improved.

Yet, with half a year of cultivation poured into it, some changes were inevitably triggered.

Chen Ye discovered that the meat he had just consumed was digested in an instant, and the vitality of his flesh and blood grew increasingly robust.

His blood and qi surged like boiling water, and his vitality roared; he felt as if he were sitting atop a volcano, feeling incredibly feverish.

Chen Ye realized this was likely a sign of overflowing essence, a precursor to further changes in his physical body.

Daring not to be negligent, he quickly gathered his focus, closed his eyes to look inward, gritted his teeth, tightened his muscles, and concentrated his intent to refine and guide this surge of essence.

Suddenly, a powerful warm current erupted from his dantian, abruptly breaking through obstacles, rushing straight up his spine, and piercing directly into the crown of his head!

It then branched out to his four limbs and circulated through his chest and abdomen.

Initially, this warmth was but a thin thread, but after circulating dozens of times, it suddenly flowed freely.

With every cycle, the warm current grew stronger, evolving from an imperceptible wisp into three, five, and eventually ten strands.

This warm current finally merged with the energy gained from his previous cultivation.

Chen Ye suddenly felt a trace of scorching heat in his lower abdomen, and all the warmth converged toward that single point.

He looked down and saw a fifth speck of light breaking through his flesh, stopping half an inch away from his body.

The fifth speck of light had appeared.

Seeing this speck of light, Chen Ye was stunned.

He did not know what the appearance of the fifth speck signified, but he recalled the expression on Zhang Tieyi's face when he first saw these specks.

If people were to learn of these five specks, he feared he would no longer be seen as human in the eyes of some.

Chen Ye suppressed this thought and silently observed the transformation.

This change lasted for a full incense stick's time before the feverish heat within his body completely subsided and the warmth ceased to grow.

Chen Ye tried moving his limbs, feeling his entire body brimming with vitality and his blood and qi full.

Although he had not yet undergone the third Mortal Shedding, he felt that day was not far off.

Chen Ye crouched on the ground, picked up a small pebble, and pinched it lightly with two fingers.

The pebble shattered into several pieces at the sound.

His strength did not seem to have increased significantly.

Judging by the fact that the Xie Family wanted to use True Yang as medicine, this True Yang transformation likely acted primarily upon the vitality of the physical body.

Chen Ye glanced at the Pawn System panel in his vision.

[Name: Chen Ye]

[Current Martial Art: Foundation Cultivation Technique (Perfected)]

[Realm: Mortal Shedding (Second Stage)]

[Current remaining lifespan: 2 months and 14 days.]

Once this matter was settled, it would be best to switch to a different cultivation technique.

The Foundation Cultivation Technique was beneficial for nurturing True Yang, but its overall ceiling was simply too low.

Setting these thoughts aside, Chen Ye resumed his practice.

In his view, every bit of strength he could gain right now was worth it.

Time slipped away, bit by bit.

Soon, night fell.

The Zhou Clan naturally released the second piece of news, summoning many of the Feng Family's apothecaries that evening.

Everything was proceeding exactly as expected.