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"It's Xiao Yi! He broke through successfully and condensed a second-incense blood qi!"

"How long has it been? It's been less than a month since he refined his first-incense blood qi, right?"

"Good grief, his speed... is simply divine!"

"He truly had a sudden flash of insight, and his progress is as if aided by gods! Congratulations, Senior Brother Xiao! Congratulations..."

At the center of the crowd, Xiao Yi stood with his hands clasped behind his back.

He raised his chin slightly, narrowed his eyes, and swept his gaze across every face around him with undisguised arrogance.

Those disciples who usually walked close to him puffed out their chests, their faces beaming with reflected glory.

As for the majority of the disciples, they suppressed shock, envy, and even a trace of unnoticeable jealousy deep within their eyes, yet the flattery and congratulations tumbling from their mouths grew hotter and louder one after another.

"Damn it..."

In the distance, Qian Baolu spat fiercely, his face shifting between pale and ashen, his jaw clenched tight.

He wanted to curse something, his lips twitching a few times, but it was as if his throat had been blocked by something, and in the end not a single word popped out, leaving only a heavy, stifled snort full of pent-up resentment from deep within his nasal cavity.

In his view, when Xiao Yi had first entered the sect, he was obviously so ordinary, nothing more than a tag-along who spun around him and needed guidance and support everywhere.

Yet this kind of trash, devoid of morals and heartless in flipping faces, had instead received the favor of fate.

With a sudden flash of insight, he had unexpectedly become someone Qian Baolu needed to look up to, and even feared to curse a single word about behind his back.

This world... truly wasn't reasonable, damn it!

At this moment, in the northeast corner of the courtyard, that small vermilion-painted door, usually tightly closed, opened silently.

A cyan figure stepped out gracefully, with an upright figure and an outstanding aura, and it was none other than the sixth senior sister of the inner hall, Zhuang Zhuang.

Her eyes, clear as lake water, swept calmly across the crowd and finally landed on Xiao Yi.

Seeing her come out, the voices of the previously clamorous disciples lowered involuntarily, and they quickly restrained their expressions and bowed respectfully in greeting.

There was little expression on Zhuang Zhuang's face, yet she held no airs either, and wherever her gaze reached, she nodded slightly in return, her deportment composed and measured.

Chen Cheng had long since heard that among the many disciples of the inner hall, this Senior Sister Zhuang was by far the most approachable.

She was not high and mighty like the other senior brothers and senior sisters of the inner hall.

Coupled with her clear and pretty appearance, soft physique, and high cultivation, she had long since become like a white moonlight in the hearts of many young disciples within the sweat-and-competition-filled outer hall.

At this moment she fluttered over, walking straight toward Xiao Yi, who had just broken through the barrier, while the envious and jealous gazes around her grew fiercer like fire, restless and uneasy.

"Senior Sister Zhuang."

The layer of overt arrogance on Xiao Yi's face vanished instantly, replaced by utter deference.

He bowed in greeting, his posture exceedingly proper.

Zhuang Zhuang did not speak, only standing quietly. Her gaze lingered on Xiao Yi for a moment before she finally spoke unhurriedly, her voice clear, soft, and calm.

"To break two barriers within three months, with your blood qi showing no signs of hollowness or agitation, it looks like... you really have had a flash of insight."

The surroundings instantly fell deathly silent, and all the disciples held their breath, their gazes toward Xiao Yi growing increasingly complex... This fellow was truly about to soar into the skies, it seemed.

"Follow me."

Zhuang Zhuang said no more, turning and walking toward that small vermilion-painted door. Her cyan sleeves fluttered slightly with her pace, instantly pulling all gazes over once again.

"Thank you, Senior Sister! Thank you... Thank you, Master Ye!"

Wild joy flashed across Xiao Yi's face. He finally suppressed the corners of his mouth, which were about to split to his ears, bowed deeply to Zhuang Zhuang's departing graceful figure, then scrambled after her.

Just as he was about to step across the small inner hall door, Xiao Yi seemed to remember something suddenly.

He turned his head back abruptly, that pair of burning eyes carrying an undisguised sharpness and gratification as they slowly swept across the crowd, finally landing on Qian Baolu with his gaze suddenly turning cold.

For a split second, he seemed to intentionally or unintentionally glance at Chen Cheng, who stood not far beside Qian Baolu.

Afterward, he stepped into the inner hall, and the small door was slammed tightly shut once more.

"We're in trouble..."

Qian Baolu swallowed hard, his voice trembling slightly.

"Given Xiao Yi's temperament, having gained power all at once, I'll be the very first person he won't let off... Junior Brother Chen, you'll have to guard against him too from now on..."

"..."

Chen Cheng was noncommittal, turning to ask instead.

"Entering the inner hall, the benefits... are they really that great?"

"...Do you even need to ask?"

Qian Baolu said dejectedly.

"Once you become an inner hall disciple, you have Master Ye to personally guide you, beast essence meat to nourish you, Blood-Condensing Pills to strengthen your blood qi, and access to interpersonal resources and official positions outside disciples can't reach..."

"Add all those benefits together, and only then do you have a better chance of striving for martial guard official rank in the Zhao City Martial Selection and completely changing your destiny!"

He raised a hand to wipe his face, his gaze drifting as he muttered softly.

"Right now I'm just hoping that bastard's bone-touching results aren't good and he can't stay in the inner hall..."

"Otherwise, in this Longshan Middle Academy, where will there be any breathing room left for me, Qian Baolu, in the future? I'm afraid I'll really have to pack my bags and get lost..."

Chen Cheng did not pick up the thread, only silently looking at Qian Baolu.

The latter grew paler and trembled all over the more he thought about it, repeatedly muttering that he must have been blind back then... to have helped that ingrate Xiao Yi...

In the afternoon.

Chen Cheng went to duty at the mercantile warehouse as usual, hammering out Crouching Dragon Fist there for two hours.

The moment the time arrived, he turned directly toward the South Third Guard Patrol Office.

These past few days, he did this every day; by the time he arrived, the sun was slanting west, which happened to be the hour when the bailiffs finished their shift and headed home.

The thorn that was Zhao Chuan remained stuck in his heart, and Chen Cheng had been waiting for an opportunity to pull it out completely.

It was just that Zhao Shan's strength was laid out there, and in a head-on clash Chen Cheng held no chance of winning.

Furthermore, Zhao Chuan had two trusted aides, Wu Dong and Liu San. Their living quarters were close to each other, and they stuck together like shadow and form every day, which made Chen Cheng unable to see the slightest bit of hope.

However, tonight's situation was slightly different.

Zhao Chuan left the yamen a step ahead, and after quite a while, Wu Dong and Liu San walked out.

The two chatted and whispered the entire time, as if discussing some shady business.

The crucial part was that the direction the two were heading was not home, but Bitter Locust Village!

Chen Cheng's heart tightened, and he decisively trailed after them.

The bitter training of these past days completely manifested its value at this moment.

His blood qi steadily grew, nourishing and strengthening his physique, and even his six faculties of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and mind were noticeably sharper and clearer than before.

Coupled with hammering Health-Preserving Taiji to spark health-preserving traits and nurture his spiritual marrow, it further enhanced and elevated his six faculties, far surpassing ordinary people.

At this moment, Chen Cheng lingered far behind in the distance, separated from the two men ahead by a considerable stretch, with quite a few sparse pedestrians returning home in between.

Yet the sound of those two men's footsteps, the occasional fragments of whispered conversation, and even the rustle of their robes rubbing together were as if close to his ears, captured and locked onto sharply by Chen Cheng.

And they remained utterly oblivious to the figure behind them, who seemed to carry no weight at all.