Golden Dragon Locking the Jade Pillar

Seeing Wencai and Tingting walk up to him, Qiusheng smiled.

"Wencai, Tingting, don't worry. What could possibly happen to me?"

"I knew it. Good people don't live long, but troublemakers live to a hundred. A big villain like Qiusheng would never get into trouble that easily."

"Pah, pah, pah! You're the big villain, Wencai!"

Seeing Wencai spout such nonsense the moment he opened his mouth, Tingting immediately pouted in displeasure and snapped at him.

Wencai merely rubbed his head and didn't talk back.

What could he do? With such a pretty young girl, even being scolded felt like a pretty good deal to him.

The group chattered and bickered their way into the Public Mortuary.

"Ninth Uncle, if there's nothing else, I'll take my men and head back."

As soon as they entered the Public Mortuary, Ren Wei spoke to Uncle Nine.

"Mm. It's almost dark, so if you're going back, you'd better get moving."

At Uncle Nine's instruction, Ren Wei led his men away.

"Ninth Uncle, the food's ready. I'll go heat it up, and then we can have dinner."

Watching her cousin walk away, Ren Tingting spoke to Uncle Nine.

"Mm. Sorry for the trouble, Tingting."

As they spoke, Ren Tingting went to take care of things in the kitchen.

Soon, only Uncle Nine and his two apprentices remained in the main hall of the Public Mortuary.

"Qiusheng, can you tell me what's going on with this Mystic Dao Seal?"

Seeing that there was no one else around, Uncle Nine took the Mystic Dao Seal from inside his robes and fixed his gaze on Qiusheng as he asked.

Qiusheng's expression didn't change. He simply held out his right hand in front of his master.

"Please examine me, Master, and see if there's anything different about my body compared to before."

Seeing that Qiusheng had answered a different question, Uncle Nine frowned slightly. But he wasn't in a hurry, and simply placed his fingers on Qiusheng's pulse.

"Hss!"

The moment Uncle Nine checked Qiusheng's pulse, he sucked in a sharp breath.

He looked at his apprentice in alarm and asked in a grave voice,

"What's going on?"

He had already suspected that something was different about Qiusheng's constitution. But a suspicion was only a suspicion, and now that it had been confirmed, he was still shaken to the core.

"Heh, Master, I don't know either."

"It was just that when I got back to Ren Mansion this morning, I was playing around with the Mystic Dao Seal."

"But suddenly, a ray of yellow light shot out of the Mystic Dao Seal and into the center of my forehead, and I passed out."

"When I opened my eyes, my body had already become like this."

Listening to Qiusheng's explanation, Uncle Nine's thick eyebrow furrowed slightly as he pondered.

Then he suddenly sighed and tossed the Mystic Dao Seal back to Qiusheng.

"Never mind. Since this object is so closely connected to you, I'll leave it in your care."

"Remember, it's the treasured relic that protects our Maoshan Sect. I hope you can restore its former power soon."

Uncle Nine knew that Qiusheng probably hadn't told him everything. But he didn't want to pressure him too much, so he said nothing more.

Qiusheng took the Mystic Dao Seal, then prepared to return the Jingzhen Sword to his master.

Uncle Nine shook his hand and spoke up.

"This sword is extremely powerful. Keep it with you for now, to protect yourself."

"Once things here are settled, go with Wencai to escort your martial uncle home. After that, make a trip to Longhu Mountain and return the sword to the new Heavenly Master there."

"Yes, Master. I understand."

Qiusheng readily agreed to his master's instructions.

Just then, Tingting brought the heated dishes to the table. Uncle Nine told Wencai to fetch Taoist Four Eyes, who was still recovering in the guest room, and everyone enjoyed dinner together.

After the meal, Tingting cleaned up as usual.

Wencai tried to help, but Qiusheng brushed him off, saying that he needed to focus on his cultivation.

Meanwhile, Qiusheng himself helped Tingting with everything.

When they'd finished, Qiusheng looked up at the bright full moon hanging in the sky and thought about taking Ren Tingting up to the roof to admire it.

Tingting had no reason to refuse.

Holding Ren Tingting's warm, soft body in his arms, the two of them leaped onto the roof of the Public Mortuary. As Qiusheng gazed at the moon above, his mind gradually settled into a peaceful calm.

Tingting was quiet beside him, as gentle as a kitten. She leaned against Qiusheng and gazed up at the sky.

"Tingting, would you be my girlfriend?"

Admiring the rare moonlight and basking in the warm atmosphere around them, Qiusheng asked softly.

His words had barely left his mouth when Ren Tingting's face turned bright red.

But after hesitating for a while, she finally nodded.

"Mm. Brother Sheng, I will."

Hearing the girl beside him answer in a whisper, Qiusheng felt as refreshed as if he'd just downed a bucket of cold water on a scorching summer day.

He pulled Ren Tingting into his arms and gave her a light kiss on the cheek. Delighting in her flushed, bashful expression, he felt on top of the world.

The two of them cuddled close on the roof for a while. When it grew late, Qiusheng walked Ren Tingting back to her room.

He fought the urge to spend the night in Tingting's room, then went to the Public Mortuary's washroom and took a cold shower, finally managing to calm down.

Uncle Nine, a man of great insight, naturally knew what had happened. No one knew what was going through his mind, but when Qiusheng came out of the washroom, Uncle Nine casually tossed a book in front of him.

"Golden Dragon Locking the Jade Pillar?"

Back in his room, Qiusheng looked at the manual in his hands, the corner of his mouth twitching.

What on earth did his master mean by giving him a book like this?

There was nothing wrong with the book itself. It was a standard Daoist cultivation method, and a rare body-tempering technique at that.

The problem was that after practicing it, the cultivator's vital essence would be locked away, which could affect certain aspects of married life.

It could lead to problems such as not being able to rise to the occasion, being unable to perform once aroused, not lasting long, or not being able to stop once started.

With consequences that serious, how could Qiusheng possibly practice it? That would just be asking for trouble.

So he simply tossed the Golden Dragon Locking the Jade Pillar onto Wencai's bedside, leaving his junior brother to enjoy it instead.

After all, they were fellow apprentices. Such a fine technique had to be generously offered to his junior brother.