The Secret of the Treasure

"Mother, which of us is actually your child?"

Yue Lingshan glared indignantly at her mother, suspecting that bastard might well be her mother's illegitimate son.

Though she was a woman, she still kept her word. After returning, she had taken out the treasured century-old notoginseng and handed it to her mother, who immediately grabbed a Medicinal Chicken to make Eight-Treasure Precious Soup for that fellow.

Such blatant favoritism!

"Hao has brought our Mount Hua Sect far more. Stop picking fights with him."

Ning Zhongze tenderly stroked the dark circles beneath her daughter's eyes, then continued carefully slicing a thin piece off the century-old notoginseng.

Notoginseng was one of the ingredients in Eight-Treasure Precious Soup. Using it as the principal medicinal ingredient would surely make the soup much more potent.

This was also one of the few methods the Mount Hua Sect currently had for drawing out the medicinal potency of century-old notoginseng.

"He's just a blacksmith!"

Muttering discontentedly, Yue Lingshan could not understand why her parents favored that fellow so much. They treated him even better than their own daughter.

Even her eldest senior brother had only drunk Eight-Treasure Precious Soup once, and that had been to help him break through to the Inner Qi Realm.

Such favoritism made even her, their daughter, jealous.

"Oh, you. I'll give you a bowl once it's ready."

Ning Zhongze rolled her eyes in amusement without explaining the reasons behind it.

The benefits Tian Hao had brought their Mount Hua Sect were not limited to the future prospect of forging black iron. There was also a treasure, though it was not yet suitable to retrieve it.

Compared with that treasure, these medicinal ingredients and this Medicinal Chicken were truly nothing.

But none of this could be spoken of. After all, it could not bear the light of day.

"You're just playing favorites, Mother."

Yue Lingshan remained full of jealousy, feeling that the little rat had stolen the maternal love that belonged to her.

"What sort of behavior is that for a young lady?"

Just then, Yue Buqun walked in and rebuked her, deeply displeased with his daughter's prejudice against Tian Hao.

Tian Hao was crucial to Mount Hua's revival. His eldest disciple, Linghu Chong, already harbored prejudice against him, and they had even come into conflict. If his daughter was prejudiced against him too, how was Mount Hua supposed to rise again?

Were they really going to stage another Sword-Qi Conflict?

"Father!"

Seeing her father angry, the girl quickly lowered her head obediently.

She could act spoiled in front of her mother, but her father would not fall for that. If she pushed him too far, he would smack her palms.

"Don't follow your eldest senior brother's example. Hao is also one of us at Mount Hua, and he is your junior brother. Never let jealousy arise between fellow disciples, or don't blame me for sending you to Reflection Cliff to reflect on your mistakes.

Do you hear me?"

After scolding her in exasperation for failing to live up to his expectations, Old Yue felt quite a headache himself.

He had spent the past few years traveling about and had no time to manage his disciples. He had thought his eldest disciple could handle it, but who could have expected Chong'er to be so immature, even joining forces with his junior brothers to ostracize Tian Hao?

He had even begun investigating Hao's identity behind his back. Although there was only speculation at present, without any concrete evidence, it was still dangerous.

What are you all trying to do?

"Yes, Father!"

Yue Lingshan hurriedly answered obediently. She could tell her father was truly angry, and she absolutely could not talk back now, or things would end very badly.

At the same time, she grew even more puzzled. What exactly was the little rat's relationship with her parents? Why were both of them so protective of him?

"Master, you wanted to see me?"

When the Eight-Treasure Precious Soup was almost ready, Tian Hao came over and greeted Old Yue and his wife.

His second senior brother had passed along a message earlier, saying that Old Yue wanted him to come at this hour.

"Denuo said you've reached the Entry-Level Realm of the Horizontal Crab Iron Shirt. Take off your shirt and let me see whether you've left any hidden injuries."

Rolling up his sleeves, Yue Buqun motioned for Tian Hao to remove his shirt.

He had been cultivating in seclusion lately, but today Lao Denuo had come to report that Tian Hao had reached the Entry-Level Realm of the Horizontal Crab Iron Shirt, giving him quite a shock.

Although he had never practiced the Horizontal Crab Iron Shirt, he had thoroughly studied it and knew very well how difficult that external body-hardening art was to cultivate.

The introductory stage was relatively simple, but with Tian Hao's aptitude, he should have needed at least a year of grueling training. He could not possibly have accomplished it in just one month.

He feared this disciple had rushed ahead in pursuit of results, forcing himself to train far beyond his limits.

Although that could indeed produce quick results, it would leave many hidden injuries that were difficult to heal, affecting his future cultivation.

The gains would not outweigh the losses!

"Thank you for your concern, Master. I'm fine. I know my limits when it comes to training, and besides, Second Senior Brother has been looking after me!"

Tian Hao gratefully explained as he removed his shirt.

Although he understood that he should be fine with the help of his little senior sister-powered cheat, it was better to guard against the one chance in ten thousand. Having Old Yue examine him would do no harm.

Ning Zhongze and her daughter paid little mind to it. As women of the Jianghu, they were not particularly strict about such matters.

Yue Lingshan was somewhat shy, but her gaze was soon drawn to Tian Hao's back.

His broad back was covered in countless hideous scars. They all looked like lash marks, overlapping so densely that there was no way to count them.

She was deeply shaken, unable to imagine what sort of past that man had endured or how he had survived it.

At that moment, Yue Lingshan began to understand a little why her parents favored that fellow so much.

Although she did not know what he had experienced before, those scars alone offered a glimpse. It must have been terrible.

For a moment, sympathy involuntarily welled up in the girl.

"Strange. By rights, you shouldn't have progressed this quickly."

After using the Violet Mist Divine Skill to examine Tian Hao's entire upper body and confirming that there were no significant hidden injuries, Yue Buqun felt deeply puzzled.

Three years ago, he had carefully examined Tian Hao's physical aptitude and found it quite ordinary. Though better than the average person's, it was not much better, and he was not particularly suited to practicing martial arts.

Some things could not be changed through diligence alone, especially in martial arts.

Yet this disciple had reached the Entry-Level Realm of the Horizontal Crab Iron Shirt in just one month. Even with the Embrace Origin Force as his foundation, that was far too fast.

"As long as he's fine. Perhaps the Horizontal Crab Iron Shirt is highly compatible with our Mount Hua Sect's Embrace Origin Force, allowing them to complement each other and produce such rapid progress. Or perhaps Hao's long accumulation has finally borne fruit."

Unlike her puzzled husband, Ning Zhongze took a more open-minded view. All that mattered was that Tian Hao was unharmed.

"That's true!"

Realizing he had backed himself into a dead end, Yue Buqun stopped dwelling on the oddity. So long as Tian Hao had no serious hidden injuries, that was enough.

"Hao, come drink this basin of Eight-Treasure Precious Soup. I made it for you with century-old notoginseng."

Ning Zhongze brought over the basin of Eight-Treasure Precious Soup, which had cooled sufficiently, and smiled as she urged Tian Hao to drink it.

"Thank you, Master's wife!"

Delighted, Tian Hao accepted the basin of Eight-Treasure Precious Soup and sat down without ceremony to eat and drink. Before long, he had finished the small basin, even swallowing all the Medicinal Chicken and medicinal dregs inside.

These were all good things. None of them could be wasted.

Yue Lingshan, who had just drunk a bowl herself, watched from the side with a fierce craving. But having learned her lesson last time, she did not speak up again and could only stare.

"Master, is there any way to improve one's innate aptitude?"

After finishing the Eight-Treasure Precious Soup, Tian Hao voiced a question that had weighed on his mind for a long time.

Although the Heaven-Defying Mirror could superimpose other women's innate attributes onto him, it did not directly merge them into him. It seemed only to superimpose their effects.

For instance, his own innate qi had not increased. Even when he had asked Lao Denuo to examine him earlier, the latter had found nothing unusual, and Old Yue had clearly noticed nothing unusual this time either.

That meant he could only enjoy the enhancement provided by other women's innate attributes, while remaining fundamentally unchanged.

He desperately hoped to improve his own aptitude. It did not have to become extraordinarily impressive, but at least it should not hold him back.