Hearing Chen Ye's reminder, Zuo Dongxi and Su Guang instantly sat up straight. The ease vanished from their faces, replaced by solemnity.
Zuo Dongxi asked, "Brother Chen, what exactly is going on with the Feng Family? Su and I have both been locked up in jail, so we're completely in the dark about what's happening outside."
Chen Ye set down his wine bowl and said gravely, "Some things are inconvenient to talk about. Telling you would only harm you. But I can guarantee that, at the very least, we'll be safe for some time. As for what happens afterward... it's hard to say."
Zuo Dongxi and Su Guang exchanged a glance without speaking, but the string that had just relaxed had undoubtedly been drawn taut once more.
Neither of them was stupid. They understood the implication behind Chen Ye's words.
The person who had assassinated Feng Yanwu was someone from within the Feng Family, and his status was not low.
The three of them had escaped danger only because they had caught the murderer.
If the Feng Family settled accounts after the autumn harvest, they truly would have no strength to fight back at all.
They understood even better than Chen Ye just how powerful those Aristocratic Clans were.
For the time being, the lives of the two of them would probably still depend on this young man before them.
Zuo Dongxi was the first to nod. "Then we'll keep watch. When I go back, I'll arrange for two more brothers to keep an eye on the Feng Mansion's movements. If anything stirs, we'll at least have time to make preparations."
He quickly went over the matter in his mind, then filled all three bowls again. Raising his bowl, he said, "From now on, when one prospers, we all prosper; when one suffers, we all suffer."
"When one prospers, we all prosper; when one suffers, we all suffer!"
The three immediately tipped back their heads and drained the wine in their bowls.
Zuo Dongxi lifted the wine jug and found it empty.
He turned and shouted, "Waiter, bring more wine! Bring the strongest you've got!"
All three were Martial Masters. After downing several jugs of strong wine, the conversation naturally turned to martial arts.
When they learned that Chen Ye had been cultivating alone and had completed Mortal Shedding twice in only two or three months,
Zuo Dongxi and Su Guang nearly choked on their wine. They stared at him as if he were some kind of monster.
Chen Ye felt uncomfortable under their gazes and asked, "What is it? Isn't this perfectly normal?"
"Normal?" Zuo Dongxi said exaggeratedly. "With talent like yours, you're simply superior even to the direct descendants of the four great families in the Capital City."
Chen Ye knew that the four families he meant were the Yang, Xie, Wang, and Cui Families—the top Aristocratic Clans of Great Jing.
He had never expected that he could actually be mentioned in the same breath as the direct descendants of the four great Aristocratic Clans.
"Do you know how long it took me to complete Mortal Shedding twice?" Zuo Dongxi continued, holding up five fingers. "Five years! It took me a full five years!"
"Not to mention how many medicinal meals I consumed along the way. I've practiced martial arts for more than ten years, yet I've only completed Mortal Shedding three times. That's already pretty much the limit of what I can achieve in this life."
Su Guang nodded deeply in agreement. "I'm about the same as him. Three times is also my limit now. To break through to Dragon Elephant next, besides one's own efforts and daily nourishment, all that's left is to leave it to fate."
Zuo Dongxi was very talkative and continued, "When it comes to practicing martial arts, first you rely on talent, second on nourishment, and third on training. For a Martial Master to advance in the martial way, they can't do without nourishment from all kinds of essence-filled spiritual materials. So you can understand why we found it unbelievable that you reached this level through two months of hard training alone."
Only after hearing them did Chen Ye belatedly realize that his progress really was somewhat outrageous.
As they continued chatting, the topic turned to the intricacies of Mortal Shedding.
Su Guang had spent a long time among the Aristocratic Clans and was fairly knowledgeable. He said, "Generally speaking, before reaching Dragon Elephant, the more times one completes Mortal Shedding, the better. Nine is the ultimate number. For many children of Aristocratic Clans, completing Mortal Shedding five times already counts as exceptional talent. As for those who can complete it nine times, apart from His Highness the Crown Prince, there's only that heir of the Xie Family. Other than them, no one else in the entire Capital City has ever been known to accomplish it. At your age, completing Mortal Shedding twice is already exceedingly rare among ordinary Martial Masters."
After listening, Chen Ye took a sip of wine and continued asking, "When I completed Mortal Shedding for the second time, it felt somewhat different from the first. Is every instance of Mortal Shedding different for a Martial Master?"
"Naturally." Su Guang nodded. "The first Mortal Shedding adds strength and vitality on the foundation of the body's original qualities. By the second, the body's vitality is revived, bringing the possibility of extending one's lifespan. The third involves the consciousness in the head, enhancing the five senses and sharpening one's instincts. After the third, every instance of Mortal Shedding brings further changes to the body, though the specifics differ from person to person. Once nine instances are completed, the body reaches its peak. At that point, one can be called a 'Little Saint.' One can almost withstand a Dragon Elephant Martial Master's attacks with the physical body alone."
So that's how it was!
After the two men's explanations, Chen Ye finally felt that he had truly pushed open the gates to the martial world. The view before him suddenly opened wide.
After chatting for a while longer, Chen Ye learned about several essence-filled spiritual materials that could nourish the body and committed them all to memory.
Others might not know, but he had the Pawn System. As long as he used it properly, he might be able to attempt the ninth Mortal Shedding in the future.
They had chatted to their heart's content, and the wine was nearly finished as well, so the three rose to bid farewell.
When they parted, the three agreed to meet here for a light drink every seven days to strengthen their ties and tell Chen Ye whatever news they had each managed to find out.
Over the next two days, Chen Ye moved out of the carriage shop, then rented another quiet place in the Capital City to settle down.
At the same time, he visited a medicinal-materials shop and spent two taels of silver on one of the spiritual materials containing essence that Su Guang and the others had mentioned.
It was an old ginseng root more than a decade old.
According to Su Guang and the others, anyone wishing to undergo Mortal Shedding again could not do without the support of such essence.
The True Yang within his body also happened to need those essences to grow stronger.
Chen Ye picked up the old ginseng. Without using any special method of preparation, he simply washed it clean and ate it raw, gnawing on it like a radish.
He did not waste a shred of it.
The old ginseng was gentle in nature and, unlike other medicines, did not produce immediate results.
Only after waiting for roughly the time it took to drink a cup of tea did Chen Ye sense waves of change beginning to appear in his body.
It was as if he were standing beneath the warm sunlight of spring. His entire body felt suffused with warmth.
The vitality in his flesh was stirred into action. Heat began to rise deep within his dantian, and five motes of Radiance emerged from his flesh, flickering like stars.
Chen Ye settled into the Fixed Posture, adjusted his breathing, inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly. Using a unique rhythm, he mobilized the qi throughout his body, and layers of white mist began to billow from between his mouth and nose.
It was a phenomenon formed when heat circulated and spread through his meridians, the vitality of his flesh was roused, and his breath condensed in the air.
After an hour, Chen Ye finally refined and absorbed every last bit of the old ginseng's medicinal power.
When he withdrew from the posture, he felt that the qi within his body had become several degrees more solid than before, bringing him one step closer to his third Mortal Shedding.
Five days later, at Qingfeng Restaurant.
When Chen Ye arrived, Zuo Dongxi and Su Guang had already been waiting.
Zuo Dongxi and Su Guang sat near the door, while the wine and dishes on the table remained completely untouched.
When they saw him come upstairs, Zuo Dongxi did not stand. He merely pushed a bowl of wine that had already been poured toward the seat where Chen Ye was sitting.
When Su Guang saw him, however, he rose and said in a lowered voice, "Brother Chen, there's news from the Cui Family."
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