She couldn't fight another round...
Even after the sun was high, Jin Lingzhi was still curled lazily under the covers. She declared that she wasn't going out on a date today, told Fang Yunhua to bring whatever food there was to her room, then kicked him out.
The kick was feeble, nothing like her fierce determination to fight to the bloody end last night.
With nothing else to do for the moment, Fang Yunhua could only continue cultivating his internal energy while sorting through his plans.
For the Blood Sea Fragrance storyline, Fang Yunhua only needed to let Fragrant Marshal Chu risk his life on the front lines, taking the hits and dealing the damage. With the plan he had laid out, he could emerge as the biggest winner of the affair.
The Great Desert storyline, however, gave him a reason he had no choice but to get involved.
After all, Mount Hua had only survived Stone Guanyin's revenge because Huangfu Gao, the former leader of the Huashan Seven Swords, had sacrificed himself to win that breathing room.
Without Mount Hua, never mind living a second life-Fang Yunhua would have starved to death in that little mountain village long ago.
There were some things in this world that one had to charge into and do everything possible to accomplish, even knowing how difficult they would be.
After recalling the information about Huangfu Gao and Liu Yanfei, he had mobilized all of Mount Hua's resources to investigate. The former was easy enough: once they located Ji Bingyan, who had reinvented himself as a filthy rich tycoon, finding Huangfu Gao would be simple.
But Huangfu Gao's condition was far from promising. He was now deaf, mute, and blind, and trusted no one. To persuade him to return to Mount Hua, they first had to find Liu Yanfei, someone he knew well.
Yet Liu Yanfei used all sorts of aliases, making his whereabouts even harder to trace. Only through the original storyline could Fang Yunhua confirm that he had once taken shelter with the King of Kucha, who had been driven out of the Royal City. After circling around, there was still no avoiding a trip to the Great Desert and a confrontation with Stone Guanyin.
For that reason, Fang Yunhua needed to prepare every possible contingency as thoroughly as he could.
Of course, he could also wait for Chu Liuxiang to risk his neck on the front lines, then simply bring the two martial brothers home at the end.
But while he could ensure that the Blood Sea Fragrance storyline wouldn't stray too far, the Great Desert storyline was certain to go off course!
Wuhua, a key figure, was bound to discover some of Fang Yunhua's actions through Mount Hua's subsequent movements.
And faced with such a troublesome enemy, Fang Yunhua had no intention of letting him live long enough to reach the Great Desert storyline.
Their respective positions had long since doomed them to fight until one of them died.
As for the trouble that disrupting the storyline might cause, his very arrival was certain to set changes in motion. Besides, the Great Desert storyline contained far too many coincidences. He could shrug off the destined protagonist getting by on his reputation and absurd good luck, but he couldn't ignore the possibility of those two elders of his sect being dragged along and ground into cannon fodder.
"Young sect leader, Young Master Jin has sent someone."
After a member of the Merchant Association announced the visitor, Fang Yunhua told them to show him into the front hall.
When he reached the front hall, Fang Yunhua once again saw Liao Gang, one of Young Master Jin's two trusty henchmen.
And in his hands was a Jade Box that looked exceptionally familiar.
"Is that... the White Jade Beauty?" Fang Yunhua looked at him in confusion.
Liao Gang nodded. When he opened the box, a standing female figure carved entirely from white jade came into view. Its lifelike grace alone was beyond the ability of an ordinary craftsman to reproduce.
"What's Old Jin getting at?"
"My young master said that since Young Hero Fang retrieved this beauty, it naturally belongs to Young Hero Fang."
"Wait... he's done using it, so he doesn't care about it anymore?"
Liao Gang nodded again with blunt honesty.
"My young master has already proved to everyone that after the Thief Marshal stole the White Jade Beauty, he had the ability to get it back.
"So this thing no longer has much value to him. Besides, looking at it all the time only irritates him.
"After all, this is the first time since birth that my young master has lost face over a plaything.
"If Young Hero Fang refuses to accept it, my young master told me to smash the White Jade Beauty right in front of you."
At that moment, Fang Yunhua's mind was filled with every variation of what the fuck.
Somewhat helplessly, he accepted the White Jade Beauty. He didn't doubt Jin Ban Hua's resolve to smash this piece of the Capital City Four Treasures in the slightest. That was simply his personality; otherwise, Chu Liuxiang would never have chosen him as a target.
"Then I'll... accept it."
For a moment, Fang Yunhua had no idea what to do with the thing. Sell it? It was a gift from Jin Ban Hua, after all. Though it belonged to him once it had been given, if Jin Ban Hua learned that he had sold the gift for no reason, he might well feel that he had lost face again.
Dealing with this particular fellow required a little tolerance. He might as well treat it as coaxing a child.
But keeping it like this really did make it a chicken rib-too little meat to enjoy, too much to throw away.
At this point, Liao Gang still hadn't left. He relayed another message from Jin Ban Hua.
"Young Hero Fang, my young master also said that as one of the Capital City Four Treasures, the White Jade Beauty holds a secret. Otherwise, with so many treasures in the Jin Family that rival or even surpass it, why would the White Jade Beauty alone enjoy that distinction?"
Fang Yunhua looked at him speechlessly.
"Your young master said before that he could pick out anything at random and have it take a place among the Capital City Four Treasures..."
"But the White Jade Beauty truly didn't gain its reputation through my young master's efforts."
Having delivered all of Jin Ban Hua's messages, Liao Gang departed.
Fang Yunhua, meanwhile, felt a headache coming on as he examined the White Jade Beauty.
He was certain that Jin Ban Hua had already tried plenty of ways to uncover its secret. On top of that, the thing had passed through Chu Liuxiang's hands. As the illustrious Thief Marshal, if he didn't possess one of the finest eyes for treasure in the world, he might as well quit.
So the methods Fang Yunhua could think of would certainly be no more numerous than theirs.
"Smash it." Jin Lingzhi, who had gotten out of bed, had overheard part of their conversation. Her suggestion earned her an enormous eye roll from Fang Yunhua.
"I'm serious. Any method other people might use would first have to ensure that the White Jade Beauty wasn't damaged. So smashing it apart might actually reveal its secret. Maybe there's a note or a treasure map hidden inside!"
Jin Lingzhi's words sounded reckless, but they also made a great deal of sense.
Fang Yunhua hefted the White Jade Beauty, then shook his head.
"This was carved from a single solid piece of white jade. There are no joined sections. And if it contained a note or treasure map like you said, its weight would necessarily be a little short. Anything you can think of along those lines must already have been examined far more carefully by someone else.
"But your line of thinking is right."
"Smash it apart?" Jin Lingzhi's eyes shone. After all, smashing a priceless treasure would be a novel experience for her too.
"No. I mean we can try methods of examination that might damage the White Jade Beauty, such as channeling internal energy into it."
As he spoke, Fang Yunhua began pouring his internal energy into it.
The energy entered the White Jade Beauty like a clay ox sinking into the sea. Not only did the jade fail to crack, it absorbed every bit of energy he released. Yet Fang Yunhua didn't immediately let go.
After passing through a circuit within the White Jade Beauty, the energy flowed back into his body and completed a full circulation along a particular route!
During this circulation, the Demon-Subduing Heart Method he had only just successfully switched to began transforming once again, this time into another, higher-grade cultivation method!
The harmonizing properties of the Demon-Subduing Heart Method made the process exceptionally smooth.
Anyone else might have felt fear and unease over this unfamiliar cultivation method. After all, some methods carried extremely stringent requirements and hidden dangers.
But Fang Yunhua had already detected its intensely cold nature. Through his extraordinarily precise control over his own body, he also noticed the changes brought about by this second transformation of his internal cultivation. It was a nourishing process that kept all his bodily functions at their peak, which vaguely brought to mind a certain cultivation method capable of preserving youth and warding off age!
If I'm not mistaken, the secret hidden deep within the White Jade Beauty must be the Mingyu Skill, reputed to be one of the martial world's four great divine arts!
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