Seeds of Jealousy!

Three days later, in Fei Luo's small courtyard.

Whoosh!

Fei Luo held the Flowing Cloud Sword. A flourish of his blade sent dozens of sword-shadows rippling through the air, seeming both real and illusory, their power imposing.

If an outsider had been watching, they would have seen that Fei Luo hadn't used any magic power to enhance the strike. It had been nothing more than an ordinary sword swing.

And yet the sword had moved so fast that the naked eye could barely follow it. It seemed as though ten sword-lights had merged into one, or as though he had thrust ten times in the span of a single strike.

"Ding! After a day of arduous cultivation, you have mastered the second form of the Void-Breaking Sword Art."

"Ding! With your human-grade, ninth-tier spiritual root boosted ten thousandfold, your cultivation progress in the Nine Heavens Thunder Invocation Art has reached 100%!"

Hearing the system's two notifications, Fei Luo smiled and stood with his sword in hand.

"Not bad. I didn't expect it would be this easy to master with my own arduous cultivation and the system cultivating automatically. And with the ten-thousandfold amplification, I've mastered the Nine Heavens Thunder Invocation Art too."

He murmured to himself, his eyes bright and clear as water. Something came to mind.

Three days ago, after killing Dong Xiaoyu, he'd gained a huge windfall, which had brought him into the False Core Realm and made him a Golden Core Realm cultivator.

For the past three days, Fei Luo hadn't even left the house.

Uncle Nine seemed to still be refining the power of the pills, and nobody had come to see him either.

For three days and nights, Fei Luo had neither eaten nor drunk. He'd practiced the Void-Breaking Sword Art like a man possessed, and at last, thanks to the combined efforts of its wielder and the system, he'd mastered the second form—the limit of what someone in the False Core Realm could achieve.

The first form of the Void-Breaking Sword Art was called Wind Chaser, while the second was called Moon Embracer.

They sounded rather poetic, but the sword art was far from easy to master.

It demanded that, without using any magic power, he rely solely on his physical strength to draw his sword and strike ten times.

In other words, he had to thrust ten times in a single instant to complete the first two forms. Only after mastering the third form, Flying Flower, would he truly have crossed the threshold.

The third form was the Hundred-Sword Realm.

Once the forms were mastered, he could channel magic power through the sword techniques, combining them in endlessly varied ways.

If the Void-Breaking Sword Art had been only that, Fei Luo wouldn't have trained so hard.

It was a brief description that had driven him to the brink of obsession over the past three days: "When this sword art is mastered to its peak, ten thousand swords will return to their source; a jade rainbow will pierce the sun at dawn, and sword qi will light the heavens at night, shattering the void and breaking through the dimensional barrier!"

That one short, powerful description had filled Fei Luo with wild joy.

"The Ten-Sword Realm is my limit for now. I'm afraid I'll have to reach the Solid Core Realm before I can properly grasp the Hundred-Sword Realm of the third form." Looking at the Flowing Cloud Sword in his hand, Fei Luo felt his spirits soar.

The days of carrying a sword to subdue demons and vanquish evil were not far off.

One day, he would become an invincible presence, drawing his sword to bring peace to the four seas and raising his spear to face ten thousand foes.

"That girl Ren Tingting has knocked on my door several times, and I ignored her every time. She must be getting anxious, right?" Fei Luo put away the Flowing Cloud Sword and glanced at the tightly shut door, thinking to himself.

"Forget it. I should go see the girl. The mastermind behind the plot against her and her father is still at large. I wonder if I'll get a reward for dealing with him?"

Once he'd made up his mind, Fei Luo tidied his appearance and headed out of the courtyard.

Meanwhile, at the Ren Family Villa, Ren Tingting sat in the living room, staring blankly into space.

Over the past three days, Ren Tingting had often found herself staring longingly toward the bedroom where Fei Luo had stayed.

For three days, Fei Luo had been nowhere to be found. After Qiusheng returned, he told her that Fei Luo had gone home. The next day, he and Uncle Nine's group had all returned to Justice Manor.

She had gone to Fei Luo's home, but the gate was locked tight, and she had no idea where he'd gone.

Ren Tingting wasn't the only one. Master Ren asked her every day whether she'd seen Fei Luo.

Fei Luo had saved the two of them, and they hadn't even had the chance to properly thank him. Besides, by every measure, he fit Master Ren's criteria for a son-in-law. The more Master Ren saw of him, the more satisfied he was. If he had such a heroic son-in-law, wouldn't that secure the future of the Ren family fortune?

Just as Ren Tingting sat lost in thought in the living room, an unwelcome guest arrived.

"Cousin, something on your mind?" A-Wei strolled through the Ren family's gate with both hands in his pockets, looking like a street loafer.

"Go away. What's it to you?" Ren Tingting wore a qipao that day. Her curvaceous figure held A-Wei's gaze, and he couldn't look away.

"Cousin, two new snack shops have opened on the street. How about your cousin—"

"Get lost, get lost, get lost! Can't you see I'm upset?"

Before A-Wei could finish, Ren Tingting snapped at him, her face full of anger.

"Heh." A-Wei gave a cold laugh. His murky eyes greedily swept over Ren Tingting before he turned and left.

"Snapping at me every day? Just you wait, little girl. In this chaotic world, in a few years your old man will be getting on in years, and you'll be mine. Everything the Ren family owns will be mine. Once I inherit the Ren family fortune and get tired of you, I'll make sure you regret it."

A-Wei turned away, his face so dark it seemed water might drip from it, and viciously plotted in his heart.

Before long, A-Wei raised an eyebrow when he spotted a familiar figure heading toward Ren Mansion.

"Is that the kid?" A-Wei adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose. Looking closely, he saw Fei Luo stepping through the gate, while Ren Tingting came out to welcome him, her face alight with joy.

"You bastard! I've treated you so well, and you still cling to that pretty-boy. What's so great about him, besides his looks and his ability to spout nonsense about yin, yang, and the eight trigrams?"

Watching Ren Tingting's smiling face, A-Wei was consumed by jealousy.

As for family background, he was better than Fei Luo, and he was related to Ren Tingting to boot. If they married, their families would be even closer. Fei Luo, on the other hand, was nothing but one of the riffraff from the back alleys.

As for strength, he was the head of the Police Station, responsible for the safety of an entire town. He had dozens of underlings at his beck and call. How could he lose to a pretty-boy?

He's only better than me because he looks a little better and can spout a few spooky words. What else has he got over me?

The jealousy in A-Wei's heart burned like a fire, impossible to contain. Then his eyes widened.

Ren Tingting had actually taken Fei Luo's arm like a newlywed bride and was walking with him into the Ren Family Villa?

"Fine! Very good! Since you're trying to steal my woman, kid, don't blame me for showing no mercy." A-Wei's mouth twitched and his face contorted. His jealousy had just burst into flames.

"Just you wait."

A-Wei quickened his pace and headed toward the Police Station.

Meanwhile, "Miss Ren, don't do that. We're just good friends."

Ren Tingting had taken his arm without a second thought. The soft sensation of her ample chest pressed against him, and Fei Luo couldn't help blushing.

"Fei Luo, you saved my life. I'm a girl, and I'm not embarrassed. What are you embarrassed about?"

Just then, a flurry of footsteps sounded outside Ren Mansion.

"Hm?" Fei Luo turned toward the sound, a smile appearing on his face.

Ren Tingting, however, paled, her face filled with anger.