What Was Hidden Came to Light

At the Su Household Manor.

In Chen Haoyan's study, Wang Ping read by lamplight. Three thick books lay before him, and joy he could barely contain showed on his face.

[Dragon's Roar Iron-Cloth Shirt].

[Tiger's Roar Golden Bell Shield].

[Dragon-Tiger Elixir Embrace Secret Art].

All three manuals bore signs of having been read many times, along with numerous annotations, but they had been well cared for overall. Their former owner had clearly treasured them.

"But now they're all mine."

With that thought, Wang Ping picked up one of the manuals Chen Haoyan had cherished so dearly in life and opened it without a trace of reverence.

As expected, the three manuals contained martial arts for tempering the skin, flesh, and marrow. They perfectly complemented Yama's Three Demon Blades, which tempered the sinews, and the Cloud-Piercing Heaven-Shaking Bow, which tempered the bones and blood. If he mastered them all, he would immediately reach External Arts Perfection!

Of course.

Chen Haoyan must have been in the same position I'm in now. The martial arts he collected fill precisely the gaps I have.

Wang Ping flipped rapidly through the manuals.

Only after he had left their once-smooth, carefully tended pages creased and disheveled did he set them down in satisfaction.

"Perfect!"

None of the three arts was remarkable on its own. They were no common wares, but neither were they treasures. Together, however, they were another matter.

"Dragon's Roar Iron-Cloth Shirt tempers the skin with dragon sinews, while Tiger's Roar Golden Bell Shield tempers the flesh with tiger bones. Once both are mastered, the skin, flesh, sinews, and bones can be perfectly integrated. Practicing the Dragon-Tiger Elixir Embrace Secret Art afterward greatly enhances marrow tempering and brings one's potential to its fullest."

Chen Haoyan had plainly put a great deal of thought into this.

"After all, he had True Dragon Sinew too, just like me, and was said to possess godlike strength from birth. He chose this set of arts specifically to make the most of that advantage."

Wang Ping brushed his fingers over a manual's cover and considered the matter.

That works out nicely. The Su Household should have the weapons these arts require in stock. I won't need to forge anything; I can simply take what I need.

A confident look crossed Wang Ping's face.

"With my aptitude, Spirit Sense to help me, and pills on top of that, one day's practice is worth a hundred. I'll reach perfection in a single night!"

The next morning.

Madam Su opened the door to her chamber. A cold breeze brushed her exquisite face, and as her red lips parted, her warm breath drifted away in a white plume.

Before this, the young constable would already have come to teach her martial arts.

Her limpid eyes turned straight toward the guest room nearby.

Its door was shut tight.

...Of course. He's got the martial arts he wanted. He must be making the most of every moment to practice. Why would he spare any thought for me now?

The light in Madam Su's eyes quickly faded. The flicker of excitement and expectation she had felt settled into stillness, as though she had returned to her former numbness...

Creak!

The door opened the next moment.

Wang Ping strode out, brimming with energy. Boiling white vapor swirled within three feet of him, making him look like a blazing furnace.

Standing before him, Madam Su felt a wave of heat wash over her, sweeping away every trace of the morning chill. It was vapor rising from a man's sweat after strenuous exercise, yet it carried no unpleasant odor. Instead, it had a faint, inexplicable fragrance that left her briefly dizzy.

"Sorry for the wait, Madam."

Wang Ping looked at Madam Su and smiled easily, in excellent spirits. His training had gone exactly as he expected: he had been remade from the inside out!

He no longer even needed Spirit Sense.

By concentrating, he could naturally "hear" his heart beating, his blood flowing, and his organs working. He could sense the condition of his skin, flesh, sinews, and bones.

External Arts Perfection!

It gave him perfect command of his body, from his limbs and every bone down to each pore and strand of hair. Everything answered his will at a thought.

[Kui Ox Hide], [Dragon-Elephant Flesh], [True Dragon Sinew], [Mountain Lord Bone], [Supreme Yang Blood], [Snow-Tempered Marrow].

Skin, flesh, sinews, bones, blood, and marrow.

He had broken through all six stages of the external arts. Each breakthrough had transformed him, and when all six came together at perfection, they brought about yet another transformation.

After seven such transformations, his body could hardly be called the same species as an ordinary person's. What was more, his skin, flesh, sinews, bones, blood, and marrow were all of the highest quality. Feeling the tremendous power surging through him, Wang Ping recalled the scene from when he had first crossed over.

He had been a newcomer then.

So when that old bastard Shouchong shattered a rockery with a throwing knife before his eyes, Wang Ping had been awestruck by his strength.

But now—

"I think I could do that too."

Wang Ping quietly took stock of his strength and reached a conclusion. I couldn't do it as casually as that old bastard did, but I could definitely do it.

If he had possessed his current strength on that rainy night, he likely could have fought Chen Haoyan head-on without Perish with the Sun!

Satisfaction welled up in Wang Ping.

Nothing intoxicated him more than the sense of security that came with growing stronger. Only Madam Su's voice brought him back to himself.

"Madam?"

Wang Ping blinked. Only then did he realize he had lost himself in thought and stared at Madam Su for so long that her lovely face had turned bright red.

"Wh-what are you looking at me for?"

"You shameless man!"

Yesterday's panic surged back, mingled with a strange hint of delight. Her tangled emotions made Madam Su change the subject almost instinctively.

"I—I gave you the martial arts yesterday. As we agreed, you should continue teaching me today..."

Her voice gradually dropped away. Wang Ping was looking at her with an utterly peculiar expression.

"...Wh-what's wrong?"

Madam Su was bewildered.

"Have you forgotten, Madam?" Wang Ping kindly reminded her. "Today is the seventh day after Lord Chen's death. He must be buried tonight, so it's hardly convenient to practice martial arts."

Is that all?

Madam Su's first thought was that it did not matter. That bastard Chen could be buried a few days later. Surely they should attend to more important business first...

...Then she realized what she had just thought.

In an instant, every emotion she could neither name nor explain became a fierce rush of shame, flushing her cheeks a visible, burning red.

Never had she been so keenly aware that she had changed.

But whom could she blame?

The young constable before her? Since moving into her home, he had treated her with courtesy and had never crossed a line. He had even helped her through so many troubles.

How could she blame him?

The more she thought about it, the more she could only blame herself. She was a fickle, shameless woman whose heart, barren for years, had been swayed so easily.

Madam Su nearly sank into an abyss of self-loathing. She tucked her head down like an ostrich, unable to face anyone. But the next moment, a firm hand lifted her chin, pulling her bodily out of those dark thoughts.

Wang Ping held her chin.

Madam Su tried to look away, but he held her in place. Tears shimmered in her beautiful eyes, and she twisted uneasily.

"Don't..."

Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's hum.

As Wang Ping drew closer, she tried to put distance between them. When she could retreat no farther, she caught sight of Chen Haoyan's coffin from the corner of her eye and abruptly came to her senses.

For some reason, a thrill of revenge stirred within her.

"Madam..."

Wang Ping lowered his gaze to the woman before him. She was like a startled rabbit, yet strangely yielding; from beginning to end, she had done nothing but step back.

At this point, I can't possibly ask where Chen Haoyan hid the Inner-Force Cultivation-Body Diagram.

Wang Ping sighed inwardly.

With the mood as it was, asking that question would surely turn her against him. He could forget about getting the diagram then.

He could only go with the flow.

At the thought, Wang Ping could not help lamenting, I have no taste for women, and I don't want to trade my looks for gain, but heaven refuses to grant my wish.

He would just have to make this small sacrifice.

The next moment, Wang Ping reached out and wrapped an arm around Madam Su's waist. He released her chin and took her hand instead.

"Rest assured, Madam. I will protect you for the rest of my life." His expression was solemn.

As soon as he spoke, he felt the tense body in his arms soften. Tempered steel turned pliant enough to coil around a finger, and a river of spring water seemed to fill her eyes.

At that moment, Madam Su no longer knew what she was thinking.

She had long been prepared to give herself up to preserve the family estate, but she had never imagined she would end up like this, throwing down her helmet and shedding her armor.

More humiliating still, beneath the panic, confusion, and stirring of her heart was another feeling she could neither deny nor bear to face—

Secret delight.

So he does have feelings for me. That upright gentleman act must have been deliberate. Now he's finally showing his true colors.

I knew it. He must have been plotting this for days, waiting for just this moment. So I'm not shameless; he's simply too cunning. What can a defenseless woman like me do against him? I can only yield to circumstances. Whatever he wants to do, I can't stop him...

In a daze, she thought of Chen Haoyan again.

She thought of the past several years of her life: trusting a villain, living like a canary shut in a cage, forever unable to fly into the clear blue sky.

What would happen this time?

She had made her choice so hastily. In just a few days, it was as if her wits had been bewitched. Who could say she was not merely moving from one cage to another?

She dared not look at the young constable before her or answer what he had said. She could only keep her body tense and continue thinking about the canary and its cage, using those thoughts to escape reality. Yet the harder she tried to think, the hazier and more confused her thoughts became.

Before she knew it, even the scene in her mind had changed.

The canary once trapped in its cage had somehow flown free. It soared into the sky, then swooped downward, flying wherever it pleased...

She gave up thinking entirely.

At that moment, she would likely have told Wang Ping anything he asked.

Her beautiful eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. Only when Wang Ping lifted her, intending to take her back, did she suddenly react.

"W-wait!"

The canary soaring through the sky hurried back to earth and pecked anxiously at Wang Ping's ear. "N-no, don't go back to the room. I want to stay right here!"

For a time, the only sound around them was the frantic flutter of the canary's wings.

The following day, at noon.

Wang Ping's Iron Ox Skill was no empty boast, and Madam Su, who had practiced martial arts before, had a constitution far stronger than an ordinary person's. Each had found a worthy match in the other; they were evenly matched across the chessboard.

And so, without noticing, they had flown from early morning until midday.

The canary had flown until she had no strength left. Reluctant to leave the young constable's embrace, she curled up obediently against him.

"D-don't move."

Perhaps because the previous night's bout had been so fierce, Madam Su's voice was a little hoarse. That only made it sound richer and more enticing.

"This is all your fault..."

Madam Su touched her stomach, feeling an inexplicable satisfaction. The mournful beauty in her features had vanished. Like winter giving way to spring, she looked lovelier than ever.

"Madam..." Wang Ping spoke softly.

"Are you still calling me that?"

Madam Su shot him a sidelong glance. She shifted into a more comfortable position, then traced a slender finger lightly across his palm.

"My name is Su Ya." Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's hum.

Wang Ping knew this meant the woman in his arms had entrusted herself to him completely. He asked nothing, merely held her tighter.

After a while longer, they finally recovered enough to stand.

Only then did Madam Su seem to remember something. She gathered up her loose hair again, looked around, and finally turned toward a corner.

A hairpin lay there, fashioned entirely from fine jade. It was the one Chen Haoyan had given her. She had taken it off while the canary soared through the sky and tossed it aside when it got in her way. Now a crack ran through it.

"Hm?"

Wang Ping followed her gaze and gave a soft exclamation. Beneath the broken hairpin, he could see a tiny piece of coarse paper that appeared to bear writing.

It seemed to be... a drawing?

Wang Ping, languid only a moment before, sat bolt upright. He reached out and picked up the fallen hairpin.

"What is this?"

Madam Su pressed her lips together, seemingly too embarrassed to answer. Seeing her expression, Wang Ping had a good idea, and delight surged within him.

How did I miss this before?

What is this hairpin made of? It's so fragile, yet it blocked my Spirit Sense. If it hadn't broken by accident, I would have missed it!

Wang Ping's Spirit Sense flooded through the crack in the hairpin.

A diagram sprang into view, like a landscape painting dashed off in ink. Across its top were seven bold, flowing characters:

[Sky Roc Dragon-Seizing Physique Diagram]!