Taking Her Own Life

Li Xian made his way back to the Dragon Spring Martial Arts Hall at an unhurried pace.

But when he arrived, he found Hongyu and several capable members of the Zhou Family, including Tang Zhou and Qin Wangchuan, whom he had met before, staring at him with intensely fervent eyes.

Their burning gazes seemed almost to shine.

So Li Xian offered a polite greeting. "Good evening."

"Young Master Li... Hero Li, did you... really kill all the Thirteen Eagles of Luoyang, including Blood Eagle? And slay Zhang Shuheng, the commander from the Prince's Mansion, in battle on the main street?"

The moment he spoke, Hongyu could not resist asking.

After the words left her mouth, she felt her question had been too presumptuous and hurried to make amends. "I certainly don't mean to doubt you. It's just... this is truly... so unbelievable! How exactly did you do it?"

"By pitting strength against weakness. That's all."

Li Xian said, "Once you achieve an impervious body, you'll be able to defeat them easily too."

"An impervious body..."

Having already experienced his earlier blood exchange and marrow washing, Hongyu accepted this quite quickly.

As for the Zhou Family members...

They did not know Li Xian well.

By the time they learned of him, rumors were already circulating that he possessed the combat strength of blood exchange and marrow washing.

Tang Zhou and Qin Wangchuan, on the other hand, had watched with their own eyes as Li Xian first practiced his punches under Hongyu's guidance. From a novice whose sinews and bones were still undeveloped, he had built his foundation at an unbelievable speed, then refined his internal organs, exchanged his blood and washed his marrow, and finally achieved an impervious body, becoming a first-rate expert renowned throughout the province.

The entire process...

Had been nothing short of a dream!

"All right, I'll go take a bath and change first."

Li Xian excused himself.

"Please, go ahead."

Hongyu hurriedly replied.

Li Xian nodded and headed toward the West Courtyard.

Watching him leave...

Tang Zhou could not help murmuring, "It's truly unbelievable."

"Blood exchange and marrow washing was astonishing enough. Who could have imagined that Young Master Li would also comprehend primordial unity and advance to an impervious body in such a short time?"

Qin Wangchuan sighed in wonder as well. "If I could achieve an impervious body in this lifetime, I could die without regrets."

An impervious body?

Several Zhou Family "geniuses" glanced at Tang Zhou and Qin Wangchuan.

They were rather surprised.

Were their ambitions really that high?

The lineages these two belonged to had been friends with the Zhou Family for generations. Otherwise, how could they have sent their juniors to the Dragon Spring Martial Arts Hall so early to study under a martial master at the blood exchange and marrow washing stage?

Yet even now, neither had fully developed his sinews and bones, and they already dared to look toward an impervious body. Wasn't that a little...

"Reaching far beyond your grasp!"

Hongyu scolded them mercilessly.

"Among the millions of people in Jiangzhou, how many have achieved an impervious body? To become leakless, your heart and will must be one. Do you think that barrier is so easy to comprehend? You lot should count yourselves lucky if you manage to refine your internal organs after getting through the sinew and bone stages. Even blood exchange and marrow washing will depend on your own fortune, yet you're talking about an impervious body?"

Assuming the air of a senior disciple, she waved a hand. "Go practice."

"Yes."

Tang Zhou and Qin Wangchuan hurriedly answered and went off to practice.

After scolding the two, Hongyu could not help stealing a glance in the direction Li Xian had gone, her pretty face reddening.

She remembered reprimanding Li Xian for reaching beyond his grasp not long ago too...

But looking at it now, how had he been reaching beyond his grasp? He had clearly had a plan all along.

She alone had been shortsighted, failing to recognize a true dragon standing before her and mistaking cloud-piercing ambition for lofty aims without the ability to match.

Just then, an elderly servant of the hall approached. "Miss Yu, the person locked in the woodshed is making a fuss, demanding to see you."

"The woodshed?"

Hongyu frowned.

Still, she gave a cold snort. "Then I'll see her. Let's hear what she has to say."

With that, she headed straight for the locked woodshed.

The door opened, revealing Xu Yu Niang, who looked weak and haggard after several days of confinement.

Despite her haggard appearance, however, she seemed remarkably spirited. When Hongyu entered, she stared at her with eyes full of longing and anticipation. "Miss Hongyu, I just saw you leading some horses in through the window. I recognize those horses. One of them was taken from my Xu Family by Vulture... Did you defeat the Thirteen Eagles of Luoyang?"

"Defeat them? You underestimate my master and Young Master Li."

Hongyu's lips curved. "The Thirteen Eagles of Luoyang, including Blood Eagle with his impervious body, were all killed by Young Master Li and my master! Not one escaped! Blood Eagle in particular had his arm broken and his Adam's apple crushed by Young Master Li. He died a miserable death."

"Dead?!"

Xu Yu Niang's eyes flew wide. "They're really dead? All of them?"

"Of course."

Hongyu glanced at Xu Yu Niang. As a fellow woman, she found her rather pitiable, but remembering what she had done, her tone remained harsh. "All thirteen of them, dead together. Now you're happy."

"Good! Good! Good! Good that they're dead! Wonderful that they're dead!"

Xu Yu Niang cried out. After shouting for a while, she could no longer hold back her wild laughter. "They're all dead, hahaha..."

As she laughed, tears began to flow.

"Hahaha, they're all dead. Father, Mother, little sister, little brother, did you see? They're all dead... They've all received their retribution. They're all dead, sob..."

Watching her laugh and cry, Hongyu frowned, but ultimately said nothing more.

She could not bear such scenes.

She turned to leave.

At that moment, Xu Yu Niang suddenly reined in her somewhat uncontrollable emotions and called out to stop her. "Miss Hongyu, could you let me see Young Master Li and Master Zhou? I want to thank them in person."

"Thank them?"

Hongyu snorted coldly. "This is how you thank Young Master Li and my master?"

Xu Yu Niang merely smiled and said nothing more.

Instead, she knelt and bowed three times toward the main courtyard.

Then she turned toward the West Courtyard and knocked her head against the ground.

She bowed until her forehead reddened.

Only after doing this did she say to Hongyu, "Beneath a locust tree six li outside the north gate is the last of what my Xu Family's ancestors left behind. I hope it will help my two benefactors in their cultivation."

Then she smiled again. "I was once the young lady of the Xu Family too. My grandmother was kind, my parents loved me, and my younger siblings lived in harmony. But these past two months... people have called me a bitch, a venomous woman, a snake and scorpion, a whore... Others have bullied me, humiliated me, abused me, trampled on me... But I endured it all, just to wait for the day the Thirteen Eagles of Luoyang died..."

A trace of pain crossed her face. "Now, that day has finally come..."

For a moment, Hongyu did not know what to say.

"I'm truly sorry for bringing such danger upon Young Master Li and Master Zhou..."

Xu Yu Niang spoke.

A thin trickle of black blood was already seeping from the corner of her mouth.

At this abnormal sight, Hongyu could not help stepping forward. "You? You took poison?"

"Young Master Li and Master Zhou are my benefactors. Only this way can I atone to them..."

Xu Yu Niang doubled over in pain. "Miss Hongyu... I... I'm tired... Could you let me sleep for a while?"

Hongyu was at a loss.

"Please..."

The Xu Family had once been a great lineage that produced an expert in the Body Without Leaks Realm. She wanted to preserve some dignity in her final moments.

Hongyu looked at her and ultimately said nothing more.

She left the woodshed.

Taking her own life with poison was not as easy as imagined.

Only after more than ten minutes of suffering did Xu Yu Niang finally stop breathing.

Hongyu remained silent for a while, then ultimately informed her master, Zhou Juechen.

Zhou Juechen came to the woodshed and took a look. He said nothing either, merely giving an instruction. "Order a coffin and bury her."

"Yes."

Hongyu answered, then told him about what had been left beneath the locust tree outside the city.

Zhou Juechen nodded.

Although the Xu Family's ancestors had produced an expert with an impervious body, each generation had declined from the last. What they left behind might not amount to much.

The night was already deep.

He merely summoned a Zhou Family member and told him to make the trip tomorrow.

He himself still had to deal with the aftermath.

The commander of the Prince's Residence Guards was dead, along with an Attendant and the master of a renowned martial arts hall. All of this had to be classified as martial-world vendettas as quickly as possible, lest someone twist the facts and seize the chance to stir up trouble.

Everyone was busy.

Li Xian was no exception.

He was carefully reviewing what he had gained from today's battle and laying the groundwork for optimizing the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique and his limit-breaking state.

The next day, after taking a serving of Precious Jade Soup, Li Xian circulated the Myriad Forms Limitless Art, gradually repairing the damage to his body's qi and blood.

He stimulated his stomach and intestines with the Whale Swallowing Technique. After several circulation cycles, he had consumed most of the medicinal potency of the Precious Jade Soup.

"A medicinal soup costing three hundred taels of silver per dose still falls quite a bit short of Blood Spirit Powder."

Li Xian made a rough assessment.

With careful recuperation, he would probably recover in five or six days.

And after recovering, his physical resilience would be significantly strengthened.

The next time he used the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique and his limit-breaking state, not only would their duration be effectively extended, but the damage to his body would also be significantly reduced.

This was the advantage his talents gave him.

Never regressing forged his foundation.

From here on...

As long as he trained, he would reap positive gains.

It was merely a matter of how much.

With Blood Spirit Powder, I could cut the recovery time to three or four days... But that would be the limit. It's not as though I have an undying body that can instantly recover from even the gravest wounds. Physical recuperation still has to follow basic biological laws...

As Li Xian pondered this, he recalled Zhou Juechen saying they had obtained quite a bit of silver from the Thirteen Eagles of Luoyang. Perhaps he could find a way to spend a hefty sum on some Blood Spirit Powder.

Banknotes only had value when spent.

Left in his hands, they were just a pile of wastepaper that would grow mold sooner or later.

As Li Xian left the West Courtyard, Zhou Juechen happened to come looking for him.

Seeing Li Xian, he went straight to the point. "We may need to make a trip to the Royal Capital."

"The Royal Capital?"

Something quickly occurred to Li Xian. "Leaping Over the Dragon Gate?"

"Yes."

Zhou Juechen nodded firmly. "If you had only reached blood exchange and marrow washing, Leaping Over the Dragon Gate would mean nine chances of death and one of survival. With an impervious body, hope is already beckoning to you. And the strength you displayed in yesterday's battle was no less than that of someone with a fully developed leakless body... I think you can certainly give it a try!"

He continued, "Even if you fail, the experience you gain will help prepare you for the next Leaping Over the Dragon Gate five years from now!"

"All right."

Li Xian agreed at once.

The Dingfeng Marquis, Yan Kaigui, and even the Prince of Yueyang had actually gone to the Royal Capital long ago.

The reason was Leaping Over the Dragon Gate.

Ultimately, only a tiny minority could leap over the Dragon Gate and ascend to the heavens in a single step.

Among those who failed, some could still perform outstandingly during Leaping Over the Dragon Gate, catching the eye of great sects, established lineages, or powerful nobles and being taken into their ranks.

This grand event held once every five years was also a grand gathering for all martial artists.

This was their chance to rise above the crowd.

The Dingfeng Marquis and the Prince of Yueyang had gone with precisely such intentions.

"We leave in six days at the latest!"

(End of chapter)