True Origin Temple

After leaving White Horse River, the two hurried back to the capital. They agreed on a time to meet again, then each sought a secluded place to enter seclusion and absorb their jade flat peaches.

Cao Jinxing chose his own little courtyard. There was a cellar beneath it, originally used to store grain and wine. The body's original owner had been dirt-poor, so it had long stood empty. Now it was the perfect place for secluded cultivation.

As soon as he entered, he took Xuan Yuan Fourteen down into the cellar and sealed the iron door-even if he turned the place upside down, little would change outside.

Xuan Yuan Fourteen could wait no longer.

The little cat was greedy. No sooner had Cao Jinxing sealed the door than he returned to his original form, gulped down the jade flat peach, and swallowed it whole.

Almost instantly.

Fiery red energy blazed around Xuan Yuan Fourteen's entire body. His internal cultivation art, Tummo, began circulating on its own, frantically absorbing the peach's energy and converting it into true qi!

His body was growing!

His internal power was increasing!

Up, up, up!

In the blink of an eye, Xuan Yuan Fourteen shot from sixty centimeters long to ninety! He grew from the size of a house cat to that of a lynx!

From a distance, he truly looked like a young white lion, with a powerful body and long limbs. His killing power had soared!

Heat spread outward.

Flames surged!

He had already been capable of fighting wolves and tigers. Now, with his strength, speed, and internal power greatly increased, he could hold his own against martial experts.

Cao Jinxing was deeply pleased. He had always forbidden the cat from joining previous battles for fear he would be injured, forcing Cao Jinxing to divide his attention to protect him.

But now, Fourteen was no longer so fragile. With Tummo's internal power protecting his body and his lightning-fast speed, even an ordinary xiantian practitioner would struggle to pose a threat.

"Very good."

Xuan Yuan Fourteen's surge in strength showed Cao Jinxing just how potent the jade flat peach was. He immediately sat cross-legged on the ground, took out his peach, and ate it.

A rush of heat suddenly erupted inside him!

It felt as though a ball of fire was burning fiercely within him. Like boiling water, it surged from his abdomen and spread through every limb and bone, scorching his skin until it threatened to crack!

"Such powerful energy!"

Even though Cao Jinxing had expected this, he was still startled. He immediately activated the Cold Toad Art, setting all his true qi in motion and drawing that fiery energy through a full circulation, along the eight extraordinary meridians, and into his dantian.

The jade flat peach's primary effect was actually to cleanse the meridians and marrow, improving one's constitution.

It could make a frail, sickly body brim with vitality and open meridians that had been blocked since birth! It was a treasure coveted by anyone whose meridians had become obstructed through cultivation deviation.

But for Cao Jinxing, this effect was of little use-his aptitude was too high, his body too healthy. All eight meridians were open, and the Cold Toad Art maintained them. His body contained almost no impurities, leaving nothing to improve.

So he simply treated it as an all-purpose tonic, trapping all its energy and converting it into true qi!

His internal power climbed at tremendous speed!

Xiantian, first level!

Xiantian, second level!

Xiantian, third level!

After reaching xiantian, the amount of true qi needed to break through each level was unimaginable to a houtian practitioner.

Even with Cao Jinxing's exceptional aptitude and uninterrupted internal cultivation day and night, a normal breakthrough to the second level would still take around half a month.

The higher the realm, the harder the breakthrough, and the longer it took.

But now, he broke through level after level without obstruction!

Only when he reached the fourth level of xiantian had he completely absorbed and converted all the energy. The true qi within him had increased fourfold!

The instant he finished, terrifying cold burst outward. Frost spread across the floor, turning the cellar into an ice cavern!

Meanwhile.

True Origin Temple in Jizhou Town, where White Horse River lay, received an unexpected visitor.

Hearing a knock, a young Daoist came out to investigate and found a woman in red collapsed before the gate, covered in blood and barely breathing.

Startled, the young Daoist hurriedly turned and shouted, "Master! A female patron has collapsed outside the gate! She's covered in blood!"

The next moment, an elderly Daoist in black robes appeared behind him. He had the bearing of an immortal, white hair, a youthful face, and bright, vigorous eyes.

-Zhang Yunqing, the head of True Origin Temple.

Seeing the injured woman, he quickly bent down to take her pulse.

The young Daoist gazed enviously at his master's hand. Master's cultivation keeps getting stronger. He's sixty or seventy, yet there isn't a single wrinkle on his hands. They're even fairer than mine...

His master ignored him. With his fingers resting on the woman's wrist, his brow furrowed more and more deeply.

Then he took a fiery red porcelain bottle from his robes, poured out a pill, and fed it to the woman.

The moment the pill was exposed to the air, the young Daoist caught a refreshing medicinal fragrance and was startled.

Master has miraculous medicine like this? Then why did he make me go to the pharmacy for a dogskin plaster the last time his rheumatism flared up...?

Zhang Yunqing's expression was grave. A flash of murderous intent crossed his eyes as he said, "Take her to my room."

"T-take her to your room?"

The young Daoist was dumbfounded. Shouldn't she be taken to a guest room?

Isn't this a little improper...?

Even if she's injured, she's still a woman. Besides, there are other fellow disciples in the temple, and worshippers will come tomorrow. If they find out...

"What are you standing there for?"

Zhang Yunqing glared at him. The young Daoist dared not say another word. He carefully carried the woman on his back to his master's room and laid her on the only bed.

"Leave."

"Yes."

Inwardly, the young Daoist grumbled, cursing his master for being a shameless old man who took advantage of the injured, but he dared not disobey.

Once he was far away, Zhang Yunqing approached the bed and tapped several points along Su Miaoyun's heart meridian. Then he pressed a palm against her abdomen. His true qi glowed crimson like fire, helping her absorb the Life-Sustaining Elixir and reconnect her heart meridian.

Su Miaoyun slowly regained consciousness, her face deathly pale. At the sight of Zhang Yunqing, she tried to rise and offer a salute. "Holy Maiden..."

"You're badly injured, senior sister. There's no need for formalities."

"Zhang Yunqing's" voice was soft and alluring. Her features blurred, and the muscles of her face shifted subtly, transforming her into a peerless beauty. She was none other than Jiang Lvxia, the Holy Maiden of the Bright Sect!

"What happened?"

Jiang Lvxia asked, "Weren't you going to retrieve the jade flat peaches? How did you end up so badly injured? What powerful technique was that man from Starry Sea hiding?"

"It wasn't him..."

Grief filled Su Miaoyun's face as she recounted what had happened with the pursuers. Six of them had set out, only to be wiped out... Had her mastery of the Sacred Fire Canon not been profound enough to sustain her last breath with a secret technique, she too would have died in Peach Blossom Spring.

"He knows the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms, he's very young, and he's that powerful. He must be Lu Kunlun, the Beggar Gang's young leader. As for the other one..."

Jiang Lvxia clenched her teeth. "I remember that Shocking Tide Slash from the Tyrant Saber all too well! He merely used a sword in place of a saber to disguise himself!"

Su Miaoyun froze. "Holy Maiden, you know who he is?"

"Cao Jinxing, a Baihu of the Pacification Commission... no, he's a Deputy Qianhu now. He's the one who ambushed me with the Heavenly Sword-Linked Finger last time!"

She was so furious she felt her lungs would burst. "That damned official keeps haunting me! Why does he always have to get in my way?"

Jiang Lvxia snarled through gritted teeth, her face twisted with rage.

It was the first time Su Miaoyun had ever seen her junior sister like this. Whatever happened, she had always worn a charming smile and handled everything with ease. Never before had she become as hysterical as she was today.

Jiang Lvxia was beside herself with fury.

Feng Bao had been the one to see through her disguise last time, but Cao Jinxing had been the one to launch that surprise attack!

Had he not caught her off guard with that supremely cold, yin-aspected Formless Sword Qi, she could have escaped even after being recognized. She could never have been captured!

Then there would have been no rescue attempt, nor the deaths and injuries that followed.

Thinking of the Bright Sect's senior members who had died because of her, Jiang Lvxia's hatred for Cao Jinxing grew even deeper.

"Sooner or later, I'll chop him to pieces!"

After that curse, Jiang Lvxia took a deep breath and regained her composure. "Red Sleeve House has been exposed. Tell Madam Feng and the others to withdraw immediately! As for that Embroidered Uniform Guard..."

Her gaze turned cold and sinister. "Just now, someone delivered a saber... As long as we seize this opportunity, we can rescue Uncle Xiang and settle all our old and new scores at once... Kill that bastard! I'll make him die a horrible death!!!"