Minor Accomplishment in the Fourth Stage of the Wheel-Nourishing Realm

"What was his name?" The short, thin man watched Kong Jiao and the other two disappear into the howling wind and snow, then turned to look gravely at his companion, Zheng Gang.

Having witnessed the strike that killed Jiang Xingtian with his own eyes, the man had felt threatened and could no longer afford to take that youth lightly.

Zheng Gang searched his memories, then answered uncertainly, "Kong Jiao?"

"You were actually this careless about someone like him. Your instincts have dulled." The short, thin man shook his head slightly, clearly quite dissatisfied with his companion's performance.

"His reputation was never notable before. He only kept close to an outer sect genius named Shangguan Yuzhou, and he hid himself deeply." Zheng Gang did not take offense and slowly explained, "Come to think of it, without some real ability, how could Shangguan Yuzhou possibly keep company with him? I really was careless."

As he spoke, Zheng Gang glanced at his companion and asked, "Could you have taken that strike?"

At the question, the short, thin man immediately furrowed his brow. He did not answer at once, but pondered for a moment before replying, "If I had not been prepared beforehand, there was an eighty percent chance I couldn't have taken it. Now that I'm on guard, though, it isn't impossible to defend against."

"Oh?" Zheng Gang clearly did not quite believe him, raising an eyebrow.

The short, thin man could only force himself to say, "Don't look at me like that! If I fought with everything I had, I would definitely survive."

The short, thin man's answer was within Zheng Gang's expectations. In truth, that was how he judged his own chances as well.

Though they already knew Kong Jiao's trump card, that move had simply been too fast.

Even if they were mentally prepared, when the moment came, they might not necessarily react in time.

All they could do was make preparations in advance and withstand that strike head-on.

"He's a troublesome fellow. It seems there's no need to dig into his reasons for fighting Jiang Xingtian." Zheng Gang gazed leisurely in the direction where Kong Jiao's group had vanished.

"Forget it. Though the two of us joining forces against Kong Jiao would surely be enough, there's no need to risk our lives over a little Moonfrost Ice Lingzhi." The short, thin man hurriedly shook his head.

It was not that he feared fighting; he feared meaningless fighting. Risking danger for a little Moonfrost Ice Lingzhi simply was not worth it.

In his view, Jiang Xingtian had most likely seen that the youth named Kong Jiao had low cultivation and looked easy to bully, which was why he had acted. Who would have thought he would run into a hard bone?

As for Twin-Stem Ice Lingzhi, it had not appeared in Frostmoon Altar for over a decade. The thought had never even crossed his mind.

A bonfire burned within the dry, frigid cave.

The bright flames danced, driving away the darkness and chill in the cave and bringing a trace of warmth.

Kong Jiao sat cross-legged at the edge of the fire.

Zhou Tingyu leaned beside him, her delicate palm pressed against his chest. The spiritual power of the Spring Renewal Formula continuously flowed into him, repairing the meridians damaged by his consumption of the Qi-Bursting Pill.

As time passed, the paper-white pallor on Kong Jiao's face gradually returned to a healthy flush.

Treating Kong Jiao's injuries was no easy matter for Zhou Tingyu either.

By the time she withdrew her hand, her pretty face was already beaded with fragrant sweat.

"Fortunately, when you took the Qi-Bursting Pill, you swallowed it together with the Moonfrost Ice Lingzhi. The damage to your meridians isn't too severe. You'll recover after resting for some time."

Zhou Tingyu casually wiped the sweat from her forehead and smiled brightly at Kong Jiao, who had just awakened from meditation.

"Thank you for your hard work." Kong Jiao returned her smile.

After the many upheavals at Frostmoon Altar, the girl had grown far more than she had in the Cangwu Sect.

"What does my little contribution amount to compared to Senior Brother Kong and Senior Brother Feng?" Zhou Tingyu pouted.

As she spoke, she looked to the other side of the bonfire.

Kong Jiao followed the girl's gaze.

There, Feng An had curled up his aged body in a crack between the rocks. His body twitched from time to time, and painful groans escaped his lips.

He looked to be in even worse shape than Kong Jiao.

Kong Jiao did not wish for anything to happen to this old man who had helped him so much along the way, so he immediately asked, "How is he?"

"Not good. The side effects of that secret art he used to forcibly raise his strength are too severe. I examined him just now, and more than half of his vital blood has been depleted." Zhou Tingyu shook her head, her tone rather complicated.

"On top of the injuries he suffered in battle, fire poison has entered his body. With both ailments piling atop one another, his mind is no longer clear."

"I can find a way to keep the vital blood issue from worsening, but he'll have to endure the fire poison himself."

Clearly, she was fond of the old man as well, but the situation truly did not look optimistic.

"That secret art of his for raising his strength really is too overbearing. If he hadn't been fighting for his life, Senior Brother Feng probably never would have dared to use it." Kong Jiao still vividly remembered Feng An's state at the time.

Feng An had rendered great service in that battle as well. If he had not held that young man back and forced out all his methods,

Kong Jiao could not have succeeded with the Frostfall Fragmentary Scripture at the final critical moment.

"Can he be cured?" Kong Jiao looked into Zhou Tingyu's eyes, his expression deeply serious.

"Tomorrow, I can only search the gorge for medicinal herbs that replenish blood, gather them for him, and nourish him a little to stabilize his injuries."

"As for completely recovering from the fire poison, we'll probably have to return to the sect." Zhou Tingyu shook her head. She had only just entered the path of alchemy and could at most stabilize Feng An's injuries.

After hesitating for a while, Zhou Tingyu added, "When I examined Senior Brother Feng's injuries just now, I found that he also has quite a few old wounds. His bone age isn't as advanced as he looks."

Kong Jiao was not particularly surprised by that. With a sigh, he said, "The path of cultivation is peril at every step. We merely came to Frostmoon Altar to gather medicine, yet we nearly left our lives here."

"Senior Brother Feng must have gone through countless crises over the years."

"Mm!" Zhou Tingyu nodded in strong agreement.

She likely would never forget what happened today for the rest of her life.

Then she instructed Kong Jiao, "You shouldn't overthink things either. Focus on recovering. Leave what comes next to your junior sister."

Kong Jiao grinned and nodded, acknowledging Zhou Tingyu.

That made the smile on Zhou Tingyu's face grow even brighter.

Kong Jiao closed his eyes again and circulated the Frostfall Wheel-Nourishing Scripture, slowly using spiritual power to nourish his injured meridians.

Zhou Tingyu had already healed most of his injuries. He needed to slowly recuperate from the rest himself.

This cultivation session lasted a full two days.

As he continuously nourished his meridians with spiritual power, his injuries recovered at an exceedingly gratifying pace.

Just as Zhou Tingyu had said, it was fortunate that he had taken the Moonfrost Ice Lingzhi together with the Qi-Bursting Pill.

The Qi-Bursting Pill's side effects had been suppressed to nearly the lowest possible level.

With Zhou Tingyu's Spring Renewal Formula nurturing him as well,

in just two days, he had recovered seven or eight parts out of ten.

When Kong Jiao opened his eyes again, his meridians no longer hurt.

Instead, the rapidly circulating spiritual power within him filled him with an unprecedented sense of abundance.

It was far more robust than before he had come to Frostmoon Altar, roughly reaching the level of minor accomplishment in the fourth stage of the Wheel-Nourishing Realm.

Kong Jiao had only broken through to the fourth stage of the Wheel-Nourishing Realm less than two months ago.

At such a pace, even the foremost geniuses of the Cangwu Sect's outer sect could never achieve it.

"So there really is a reason Shangguan Yuzhou's cultivation has grown so quickly." Kong Jiao could only smile bitterly.

How could steady, step-by-step cultivation compare to fighting and killing in battle, or sudden enlightenment between life and death, when it came to raising one's cultivation?

But Shangguan Yuzhou's opponents were within the sect, where no one dared truly strike to kill.

Thus, the benefits to cultivation were limited.

What Kong Jiao had experienced before, however, had been a genuine battle of life and death.

His opponent had been two minor realms above him in cultivation. A single mistake could have meant dying on the spot.

It had been an immense trial for both his mind and body.