Unwilling

Zhi Lianshan coughed softly and swallowed the metallic taste in his throat with practiced ease. "I..."

"Forget it. Stay on Yonglu Mountain and take care of yourself." Zhi Lianshui backed away quickly. "Just wait. I'll surpass you." Then the Zhi Household won't come looking for you anymore.

Before Zhi Lianshan could say another word, his younger brother had vanished.

"Look at you. I told you to take two more bottles of pills before coming! You brothers meet, your bloodlines pull at each other, and now your blood is surging so fiercely that if we tossed you into a ghost den, you'd attract every last fierce ghost, vengeful ghost, and unlucky ghost in there!" Zheng Jin tossed him a bottle of pills. Zhi Lianshan swallowed them with practiced ease. "I did take more."

"Then you two should meet less often." Not that you ever manage more than five sentences when you do.

Zhi Lianshan's eyes dimmed. He's right. I should listen to my brother. "You're right, Junior Brother Zheng. With all those bags, are you planning to..."

"Have hot pot. Isn't it obvious? Everyone who sees it gets a share, so you're coming too. Junior Brother Bian said he'll cook. Though you... never mind, with your health, you can just enjoy the smell. Junior Brother Wen made a breakthrough..."

Zheng Jin pulled Zhi Lianshan along, and they soon reached the mountain.

After his brief seclusion, Wen Xu felt much more at ease. His cultivation had leapt from Qi Refining Ninth-Layer Peak to Qi Refining Peak. Not only had most of his injuries healed, he had gained fresh insight into the sword.

As for Bian Chunchou, a blessing had come from his misfortune: he had learned to draw talismans in midair and gained much finer control over Waterborne Flame. His cultivation had