Gains

With his curiosity satisfied, Chu Liuxiang was in excellent spirits. Given his temperament, he would ordinarily have stayed to chat with Fang Yunhua for another three days and nights.

But the deadline he had agreed upon with Gong Nanyan for uncovering the truth forced him to bid Fang Yunhua farewell.

Although he seemed to have gained nothing from this visit, he felt he had gained a great deal. A new friend who shared his interests was alone worth a thousand pieces of gold.

Nor was he particularly worried that this new friend still faced the threat of Xue Yiren's assessments.

During their earlier fight in the reception hall, he had quietly held back at first, but once Fang Yunhua grasped the true essence of the Thirteen Forms of the Clear Wind, their final clash had forced him to respond with every ounce of his strength.

If he fought Fang Yunhua again now, he hardly thought it would be as easy as before.

Such obvious progress should be enough to meet Xue Yiren's expectations at the next assessment. As for the one after that, and the one after that, and the one after that, once he had resolved the matters at hand, Chu Liuxiang would find a way to tackle them together with his new friend.

After seeing Chu Liuxiang off from Mount Hua, Fang Yunhua felt that he, too, had gained a great deal.

The other man's assistance had helped him break through the bottleneck in his Thirteen Forms of the Clear Wind.

Their sparring match ending in a draw would also further boost his reputation as the Amorous Young Master for martial prowess in the jianghu. Even if he did nothing else, riding those coattails alone would send him rocketing upward!

After all, Chu Liuxiang would go on to defeat Red One Point in the Central Plains, Beggar Gang chief Nangong Ling, Wuhua, Stone Guanyin, Shuai Yifan, Demoness of the Emerald Sea...

The original story explicitly stated that thirteen people surpassed Chu Liuxiang in martial arts, yet Commander Chu had never lost. With a little creative rounding, that meant the Amorous Young Master's own standing would keep climbing as well.

Then there was Commander Chu's approval. Although trouble always seemed to surround protagonists like him, having a protagonist's approval was far better than his hostility. Besides, Commander Chu made a fine friend.

By comparison, the White Jade Beauty was merely an insignificant extra.

And of everything he had gained from this conversation with Chu Liuxiang, Fang Yunhua considered the greatest to be the enormous pit he had dug for that wondrous monk.

If a man did not find himself a little amusement in life, how else was he supposed to entertain himself?

As for the "Fragrance over a Sea of Blood" storyline, Fang Yunhua had no interest in getting involved. He could tell that Chu Liuxiang had nearly spoken several times before leaving. Had he not been a friend Chu Liuxiang had only just met, the man might have invited him to take part outright.

But Fang Yunhua truly had not the slightest interest in that.

All he needed was to confirm that Nangong Ling would die, Wuhua would die, and the Beggar Gang, the largest gang under heaven, would be thrown into turmoil for a while by its various scandals. That was enough.

And just as Fang Yunhua was humming a little tune, about to return to his room and properly organize all the information he had gathered since his memories awakened-

Another disciple stopped him, saying that the sect leader had sent word for him to come to the main hall.

Two hours later.

Fang Yunhua emerged from the main hall looking utterly resigned. Gazing at the night sky, already studded with stars, he really wanted to say that this one was not his fault.

Chu Liuxiang visiting him disguised as someone else still required an explanation to the sect's elders.

Fang Yunhua concealed nothing, telling them plainly that a disciple of the Divine Water Palace had become pregnant, committed suicide, and stolen the Heavenly One Divine Water. This shocked the elders so badly that they began to tremble. Even the usually expressionless Withered Plum knitted her brows.

Fang Yunhua repeatedly insisted that he was not so tasteless. Besides, after awakening his memories, he would never be foolish enough to meddle with Demoness of the Emerald Sea's private harem. Yet perhaps his past exploits had been a little too dazzling, because several elders went on nagging him.

His own master also chimed in now and then, bringing up past incidents to sternly remind him to keep what was in his trousers under control.

By the time all that fuss was over, it was already time for bed.

Over the next few days, Fang Yunhua organized his information while making adjustments to his original grand plan for development. He also sent messages to Jin Ban Hua and Jin Lingzhi in turn, arranging to meet them in the capital, and spent his spare time sparring with Hua Zhenzhen.

It was during this time that he truly confirmed one thing.

His current point in the timeline was still several years before Mount Hua's scandals would blow up. At the very least, he could be certain that Withered Plum had not yet been seduced by that wretched pretty boy.

Meanwhile, Hua Zhenzhen's strength was not yet as monstrous as it would be during the Bat Island storyline. In terms of her understanding of the moves of the Thirteen Forms of the Clear Wind alone, she fell short of him, now that he had transcended the constraints of individual moves. Still, she had plenty of other means at her disposal.

For instance, some of the higher-level arts she had been taught in private as the overseer.

These included lightness skills superior to his, the vicious Heart-Plucking Hand, the Demon-Subduing Heart Method, which surpassed his own internal cultivation method in quality, and a more practiced acupoint-striking technique performed by reversing the Thirteen Forms of the Clear Wind.

Perhaps because of the understanding he had previously reached with Hua Zhenzhen, she no longer hid her martial abilities. In particular, after she first revealed the Heart-Plucking Hand and Fang Yunhua showed no inclination whatsoever to question her about it, she stopped concealing her true strength altogether.

Naturally, crossing hands with a genius benefited Fang Yunhua even more. Hua Zhenzhen's panel attributes might have outclassed his across the board.

But in practice, as he countered with the thirteen forms that increasingly followed his own path of the clear wind, he could already ensure that he remained undefeated.

Yes, just like Chu Liuxiang, who had never lost.

And today, after their bout once again ended in a draw, Fang Yunhua invited Hua Zhenzhen to his room to discuss something.

But seeing Hua Zhenzhen's crimson cheeks and the way her quickened breathing accentuated her increasingly graceful curves, Fang Yunhua helplessly brought this young senior sister back to her senses, with no idea what she was fantasizing about.

"I'll be away for a while soon. I'd like you to help me handle some official arrangements."

The moment he turned to serious business, the bashful girl returned to normal in a single second. In his previous understanding, this girl had seemed as soft as marshmallow and just as easy to push around.

In truth, both her ability to get things done and her decisiveness were at max level.

In the original story, when her master had let everyone down, her scummy senior sister had let everyone down, and she alone was left to carry Mount Hua's banner, she had still forcibly turned back the raging tide. She had performed brilliantly during the Bat Island incident and dealt tons of damage to the big boss, Yuan Suiyun.

With everyone else in Mount Hua falling flat, she had salvaged its last shred of dignity.

She was unquestionably an exceptionally capable second-in-command.

Previously, Fang Yunhua had overlooked this hidden side of his young senior sister, thinking only of letting her live happily within the sect. That had clearly been wrong. Now he could sense that, perhaps because this was the first time he had entrusted her with serious business-

Those large eyes of Hua Zhenzhen's, always filled with a sweet smile, were brimming with an excitement and anticipation that felt somewhat unfamiliar to Fang Yunhua.