What He Confessed

Su Household Manor.

Inside Chen Haoyan's study, Wang Ping read by lamplight through the night. Three thick volumes lay before him, and irrepressible delight appeared 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 the marks of having been read many times, along with numerous annotations. Yet they had been well maintained overall, showing how dearly their former owner had cherished them.

"But now, they're all mine."

With that thought, Wang Ping immediately picked up one of the manuals. The secret art Chen Haoyan had treasured beyond measure in life was now ruthlessly opened by him.

The result was exactly as he had expected. The three manuals covered skin tempering, flesh tempering, and marrow tempering respectively. They perfectly complemented the sinew-tempering [Yama's Three Demon Blades] and the bone-and-blood-tempering [Cloud-Piercing Heaven-Shaking Bow]. As long as he mastered them all, he would immediately become a martial artist at External Arts Perfection!

"That made sense."

"After all, my current circumstances were probably the same as Chen Haoyan's back then. The martial arts he collected just happened to fill in my shortcomings."

Wang Ping rapidly flipped through the manuals.

Not until the pages, once so neatly preserved and smooth beneath Chen Haoyan's care, had been turned wrinkled and disorderly did he finally set them down with satisfaction.

"This is simply perfect!"

Taken separately, the three martial arts were nothing special. Though they were not ordinary goods, neither were they treasured rarities. But placed together, they were entirely different.

"[Dragon's Roar Iron-Cloth Shirt] uses dragon sinews to temper the skin, while [Tiger's Roar Golden Bell Shield] uses tiger bones to temper the flesh. Once both are perfected, they can seamlessly integrate skin, flesh, sinews, and bones. Then, cultivating the [Dragon-Tiger Elixir Embrace Secret Art] upon that foundation can greatly improve the effects of marrow tempering and maximize one's potential."

This showed just how much thought Chen Haoyan had put into it.

"After all, like me, he possessed [True Dragon Sinew] and was said to have been born with divine strength. That was why he specifically chose this set of martial arts to make use of his advantage."

Wang Ping gently stroked the covers of the manuals and pondered inwardly.

"That worked out nicely. The materials required for these martial arts should all be in the Su Household's stores. I won't need to refine them myself—I can use them directly."

At that thought, confidence appeared on Wang Ping's face.

"With my current aptitude, Spirit Sense assistance, and the boost from pills, one day can be used as a hundred. Perfecting these martial arts is no more than a matter of one night!"

The next day, dawn.

Madam Su pushed open the doors to her chambers. A cold wind brushed across her exquisite, flawless cheeks. Her vermilion lips parted slightly, and the warm breath she exhaled turned into drifting white mist.

Before this, that young constable would already have come to teach her martial arts by now.

With that thought, her watery eyes looked directly toward the guest room not far away.

The doors were tightly shut.

"...That made sense. He had already obtained the martial arts and gotten what he wanted. He was probably seizing every moment to cultivate now. How could he still have the mind to accommodate me..."

The light in Madam Su's eyes swiftly faded. The faint excitement and anticipation on her face also settled into calm, as if she had returned to her previous numbness...

Creak!

The next moment, the door was pushed open.

Wang Ping then emerged in high spirits. Within three feet of his body, a rolling cloud of white vapor swirled, as though he were a blazing furnace.

Standing before him, Madam Su felt a hot gust strike her face, instantly erasing all the morning chill. It was clearly steam from a man's sweat after intense exertion, yet it carried not the slightest foul odor. Instead, it held an inexplicable fragrance that even left her dizzy for a moment.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Madam."

Wang Ping looked at Madam Su in an excellent mood and smiled easily. The results of his cultivation had been just as he expected. At this moment, he had already shed his mortal frame and exchanged his bones!

He did not even need Spirit Sense anymore.

As long as he focused, he could naturally "hear" the beating of his heart, the flow of his blood, the workings of his organs, and the condition of his skin, flesh, sinews, and bones.

External Arts Perfection!

This was perfect control over the body. At its greatest, it extended through every limb and bone; at its smallest, to every pore and hair. Everything moved as he wished, all within a single thought.

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

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

The six stages of external arts—he had now broken through every one of them. Each breakthrough was a transformation in quality, and once perfected, the six stages connected together and triggered another transformation.

His body had undergone seven transformations. Compared to ordinary people, it could not even be called the same species anymore. Not to mention that his skin, flesh, sinews, bones, blood, and marrow were all of the highest quality. Feeling the surging, boundless power within him, Wang Ping instinctively recalled the scene from when he had first crossed over.

At that time, he had just arrived in this world.

So when that old bastard Shouchong had used a throwing knife to blow apart an artificial hill before him, he had been utterly awestruck and deeply felt the other man's power.

But now—

"I should be able to do that too."

Wang Ping quietly sensed his own strength and came to a conclusion. "I can't do it as casually as that old bastard did back then, but I really can do it."

If he had possessed his current strength on that rainy night before, he likely would not have needed [Perish with the Sun] at all. He could have fought Chen Haoyan head-on and killed him himself!

At that thought, Wang Ping was immediately filled with satisfaction.

The sense of security brought by an increase in power intoxicated him more than anything else. Only when Madam Su's voice reached him did he come back to himself.

"Madam?"

Wang Ping blinked, only then realizing that he had become distracted and had stared at Madam Su for quite some time, until her pretty face had flushed scarlet.

"Y-you, why are you looking at me?"

"You shameless man!"

Yesterday's flustered panic surged into her heart again, mixed with a few traces of inexplicable delight. The tangled emotions made Madam Su almost instinctively change the subject.

"I-I gave you the martial arts yesterday. According to our agreement, today you should continue teaching me martial arts..."

As she spoke, Madam Su's voice gradually lowered, because Wang Ping revealed an extremely strange expression after hearing her words.

"...W-what is it?"

Madam Su was somewhat bewildered.

"Has Madam forgotten?" Wang Ping kindly reminded her. "Today is Lord Chen's seventh day after death. He must be buried tonight, so it really isn't convenient to practice martial arts."

That was all?

Madam Su's first reaction was that there was no need. It did not matter if that bastard surnamed Chen was buried a few days later. Better to handle our important business first...

...But she quickly realized what she had been thinking.

In an instant, every indescribable emotion turned into intense shame, rising visibly onto her cheeks in a blazing flush.

Never before had she understood so clearly that she had changed.

But who could she blame?

Blame the young constable before her? Since he had moved into her home, he had always treated her with courtesy, never crossing the slightest line, and had even helped her resolve many troubles.

How could she blame him?

After thinking it over, she could only blame herself for being a fickle, shameless woman. Her heart, desolate for years, had been so easily shaken by another.

At that thought, Madam Su nearly fell into the abyss of self-loathing. Like an ostrich, she buried her head deeply in her chest, looking utterly unable to face anyone. But in the next moment, a tyrannical force lifted her chin, forcibly dragging her out of her negative emotions.

Wang Ping pinched her chin.

Madam Su wanted to turn her gaze away, but he held her in place, making it difficult for her to move. Tears immediately welled in her beautiful eyes, and her body began twisting restlessly.

"Don't..."

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

Faced with Wang Ping's step-by-step advance, she tried to pull away. Only when she had nowhere left to retreat did she catch sight of Chen Haoyan's coffin from the corner of her eye and suddenly awaken.

For some reason, she felt a faint, vengeful thrill at that moment.

"Madam..."

Wang Ping lowered his eyes and looked at the woman before him, like a startled little rabbit yet inexplicably docile, who from beginning to end had done nothing but retreat.

"At this point, I can no longer ask where Chen Haoyan hid the Inner-Force Cultivation-Body Diagram..."

Wang Ping sighed inwardly.

The atmosphere had been built up to this point. If he asked that question now, they would surely turn against each other, and then he could forget about obtaining the Cultivation-Body Diagram.

He could only go with the flow.

At that thought, Wang Ping could not help sighing. "Though I am not fond of women and do not wish to sell my looks for profit, heaven refuses to grant one's wishes."

He could only wrong himself a little.

The next moment, Wang Ping stretched out a hand and directly wrapped an arm around Madam Su's waist. At the same time, he released her chin and instead took hold of her hand.

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

The moment his words fell, he immediately felt the originally taut, delicate body in his arms soften. Tempered steel became soft around his fingers, and her eyes seemed to hold a river of spring water.

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

Though she had long prepared herself to sacrifice her body in order to preserve the Household estate, she had never imagined it would end with her so thoroughly stripped of armor and weapons.

What made her feel even more ashamed was that besides panic, confusion, and heart-fluttering affection, there was another emotion she could not deny yet did not wish to face—

Secret delight.

So he still had feelings for me. That righteous gentleman act from before must have been deliberately put on. Now he has finally shown his true face.

I knew it. These past few days, he must have been plotting every step, waiting for this moment. So it is not that I am shameless—it is that his schemes run too deep. I am only a helpless woman with no strength to truss a chicken. What can I do against him? I can only bend and accommodate him. Whatever he wants to do, I cannot stop him...

In a daze, she thought of Chen Haoyan again.

She remembered her life over the past several years. She had trusted a wicked thief by mistake, like a golden canary trapped inside a cage, forever unable to fly into the azure sky.

What would happen this time?

Her choice had been far too hasty. In only a few days, it was as though her mind had been bewitched. How did she know she had not simply been shut in another cage after escaping the first...

She did not dare look at the young constable before her, nor did she dare respond to what he had said. She could only tense her body while continuing to think about the golden canary and its cage, using this method to escape reality. Yet the harder she tried to think, the more blurred and chaotic her thoughts became.

Before she knew it, what she imagined had changed.

The golden canary once trapped in the cage had somehow escaped, flown into the sky, then descended again, soaring freely...

She completely gave up thinking.

At this moment, no matter what Wang Ping asked her, she would probably confess everything.

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

"W-wait!"

The golden canary soaring in the sky hurriedly landed back on the ground and anxiously pecked at Wang Ping's ear. "N-no going back to the room. I want it right here!"

For a time, the only sound remaining around them was the golden canary desperately flapping its wings.

The next day, noon.

Wang Ping's Iron Ox Skill was by no means an empty reputation. Madam Su, who had once practiced martial arts, also possessed a constitution far beyond ordinary people. When the two met, they had encountered worthy opponents, like evenly matched chess masters.

Thus, without realizing it, they flew from dawn all the way to midday.

The golden canary had flown until she had no strength left in her entire body. Still yearning for the young constable's embrace, she obediently curled up and nestled in his arms.

"D-don't move."

Perhaps because they had fought too fiercely last night, Madam Su's voice was slightly hoarse. Yet because of that, it became even more magnetic and alluring.

"It's all your fault..."

Madam Su touched her belly, feeling an inexplicable satisfaction. The mournful beauty between her brows had been wiped away completely. Like winter departing and spring arriving, she appeared increasingly radiant.

"Madam..." Wang Ping spoke softly.

"You're still calling me that?"

Madam Su rolled her eyes at him. She first shifted into a more comfortable position, then lightly traced her slender finger across the man's palm.

"My name is Su Ya." Madam Su's voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz.

Wang Ping knew this was a sign that the woman in his arms had completely entrusted her body and heart to him. Thus, he asked nothing and merely held her more tightly.

After a while, the two finally recovered enough to stand.

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

A hairpin lay in that corner. It was entirely crafted from fine jade, the very hairpin Chen Haoyan had given her. She had removed it when the golden canary flew into the sky just now, and because she found it troublesome, she had casually tossed it aside. A crack had now appeared on it.

"Hm?"

Wang Ping followed her gaze and suddenly gave a soft cry. Beneath the shattered hairpin, he saw a small piece of rough paper that seemed to have writing on it.

That appeared to be... a diagram?

In an instant, the previously languid Wang Ping suddenly sat upright. He then stretched out his hand and retrieved the fallen hairpin.

"What is this?"

Madam Su immediately pressed her red lips together, seemingly too embarrassed to speak. Seeing her reaction, Wang Ping understood, and delight instantly rose in his heart.

"I actually never noticed before!"

"What material was this hairpin made from? It was clearly so fragile, yet it could block my Spirit Sense from probing it. If it had not been accidentally broken this time, I would have missed it!"

Following the crack in the hairpin, Wang Ping's Spirit Sense surged inside.

Immediately afterward, a diagram like an ink-wash landscape painting sprang vividly into view before his eyes. At the top of it were seven sweeping characters, dancing like dragons and phoenixes:

[Sky Roc Dragon-Seizing Physique Diagram]!