On the water.
Duan Xiao stared fixedly in the direction where Zuo Muxian had disappeared, his back drenched in cold sweat at some point.
The Three Refinements of the Huajin Rank!
Qi Tempering, Essence Tempering, and Spirit Tempering!
This man had actually stepped into the late-stage Huajin Rank!
No wonder... he had the courage to come to my Chenjian Dock all by himself...
Just how old is he? At most around thirty, yet he already possesses such cultivation! With this kind of talent... looking across the younger generation of the four sects of Nanxiang, how many could possibly be his match?
Duan Xiao took a deep breath, suppressing the tremor in his heart.
In the Huajin Rank, the gap between the early stage and the late stage was nothing short of the difference between heaven and earth.
One was still in the stage of refining their qi force, while the other had already touched upon the profound realm of the spiritual level. An insurmountable chasm lay between the two.
Although Duan Xiao still had trump cards he had not yet revealed, as the chief of a major sect like the 『Star-Plucking Sect』, how could his opponent possibly lack a deadly trump card of his own?
If they were truly pushed to a life-and-death struggle where all pretenses were shed, he, Duan Xiao, would probably have met his end on Cloudwater Lake today.
“Fortunately... this man only came for Gao Fu and has no blood feud with my Chenjian Dock. Otherwise, the outcome would have been truly unpredictable.”
Duan Xiao sighed softly.
But soon, his brow furrowed again as a seed of doubt sprouted in his mind:
Gao Fu is one thing, but why did Jia Pingxiu suddenly turn traitor?
He spent seven or eight years of painstaking effort managing the island, making him a fairly obedient dog. I originally planned to keep him suppressed for another two years to temper his temperament before imparting the Huajin mental cultivation method to him...
His brow furrowed tightly as various thoughts raced through his mind.
Of course... he asked me for the technique several times, both openly and covertly, but I always brushed him off, claiming his cultivation was insufficient... He must have harbored resentment because of that. Zuo Muxian must have seized this opportunity and used a Huajin technique as bait to turn this fool against me!
Hmph!
Duan Xiao snorted coldly to himself, but his emotions gradually calmed down:
Losing a restless mutt and purging a parasite from the dock might not necessarily be a bad thing. The loyalty of Juncheng and the Blood Dhuta is guaranteed. With them keeping order, Dongyi Island won't fall into chaos, and I can focus on my own affairs.
At this thought, a fanatical glint flashed in Duan Xiao's eyes. He turned and sped toward Dongyi Island, leaving only a low murmur to disperse in the night wind:
“I hope that old ghost Bai doesn't break his word... Once he merges into the Yinsha Sect, that demonic technique from ancient times should fall into my hands.”
...
By the shore of Yunyi Island.
The moonlight, like a sheet of white silk, spilled over the silent, rocky beach.
Shen Xiuhan stood by the water's edge, the bones throughout his body emitting a series of dense, popping sounds like roasting beans.
As he deactivated the 『Turtle-Breathing Face-Altering Formula』, his bloated and swollen facial features faded away, and within a few breaths, he returned to his original sharp, cold, and handsome appearance.
He let out a long breath and stretched his slightly stiff neck and shoulders.
A gentle breeze rustled the reeds along the lake.
Zuo Muxian, in his moon-white robes, landed silently about ten feet in front of him.
The hem of his robes fell smoothly without a single drop of water on them, as if he had been standing there all along.
Shen Xiuhan cupped his hands in a polite bow and said sincerely,
“Brother Zuo, thank you for your help this time.”
“No need for thanks, we both got what we wanted.”
Zuo Muxian waved his hand dismissively and took Gao Fu from Shen Xiuhan's hands.
The latter's eyes were wide, filled with terror and a silent plea for mercy, but his entire body remained as stiff as wood, unable to move even a single finger.
Zuo Muxian looked down, the gentle smile on his lips chilling to the bone.
He reached out and lightly patted Gao Fu's cold-sweat-drenched face, his tone as gentle as if he were coaxing a child:
“Scared?”
“Don't be! Don't be!”
“My Star-Plucking Sect's martial techniques are excellent for torturing people... You will have plenty to look forward to over the next few days.”
Gao Fu's despair deepened visibly, and fear almost overflowed from his eyes. His throat trembled, producing a series of airy, hissing sounds.
Zuo Muxian smiled with satisfaction and looked up at Shen Xiuhan:
“Now that this matter is settled, I must rush back to Shitan County overnight. I will use this bastard's head as an offering to my late sister's soul... so I won't stay any longer.”
“Of course. Safe travels, Brother Zuo,” Shen Xiuhan quickly replied.
Zuo Muxian nodded slightly:
“As for the grand plan in early August that you mentioned, I will arrive ahead of schedule and send you a letter. If there are no complications, we will proceed as planned.”
With that, he lightly tapped the ground with his toes.
Whoosh!
The air tore open.
Zuo Muxian's figure soared like a giant roc spreading its wings, shooting straight into the sky dozens of yards high!
Shen Xiuhan looked up and saw the moon-white figure trace a parabolic arc across the night sky. By the time he descended again, he had already crossed hundreds of paces of open water.
With a light tap of his toes on the lake's surface, he propelled himself upward once more. In just two or three bounds, he vanished completely into the vast night.
“Hiss...”
Shen Xiuhan stared at the disappearing figure, his eyebrows raised high, his eyes filled with shock.
Is this the true power of a Huajin Rank expert?
Leaping dozens of yards high and covering hundreds of paces in a single bound!
With this kind of explosive power, taking someone's head would take no more than a breath.
He took a deep breath, suppressed the shock in his heart, and turned to walk toward the distant boatman's mooring spot.
...
Three days after the fourth chief of Chenjian Dock, Jia Pingxiu, was shredded to pieces.
Changyun County.
The Shen family's small courtyard in Apricot Blossom Lane.
Shen Xiuhan sat cross-legged in his wing room, breathing and regulating his breath.
Over the past three days, he had kept a low profile.
Practicing his stance work in the morning and going to the martial arts hall in the afternoon to guide the disciples, his days were monotonous yet highly disciplined.
His relentless day-and-night cultivation, supplemented by precious pills, brought him closer and closer to opening his fifth acupoint, the ‘Huiyin acupoint’.
More importantly, the points accumulated on his intelligence panel had finally broken past the thirty mark once again!
Now that his cultivation techniques had reached the Huajin Rank, the intelligence points consumed for them had increased exponentially.
Shen Xiuhan had a faint suspicion that once he reached the Gangjin Rank, the cost would likely skyrocket to a whole new level!
At that point, the deduction of any single technique would cost an astronomical sum.
Currently, he had many techniques waiting to be deduced: movement techniques, body-tempering methods, the newly acquired 『Mystic Dark Ice Fiend Sea-Overturning Scripture』, and the 『Ice Soul Misty Rain Sword』.
After much consideration, Shen Xiuhan decided to use his resources where they mattered most and first deduce the newly acquired low-tier divine ability technique... the 『Mystic Ice Force』!
Although 『Swift Swan, Swimming Dragon』 had not been deduced further, he had never stopped practicing it himself. He had already reached Minor Accomplishment in it, and it had repeatedly proved useful in actual combat, making it sufficient for the short term.
The 『Iron Bone Technique』 could still keep up with his current progress. Furthermore, ever since he obtained the 『Lion Lock Armor』, he had been wearing it as an undergarment.
With the two combined, ordinary martial artists could not harm him in the slightest!
As for the 『Ice Soul Misty Rain Sword』, there was even less of a rush.
No matter how excellent a sword technique was, it ultimately depended on one's cultivation level. If one's cultivation did not improve, even the best sword technique would be useless.
And he had already experienced the miraculous nature of divine ability techniques firsthand.
Whether it was the weakness-detection of the 『Muxu Eye』 or the remote-retrieval of 『Thousand Lakes Fishing』, they were supreme weapons for defeating opponents above his own rank.
As an offensive-focused technique, this 『Mystic Ice Force』 would undoubtedly have its own unique strengths.
Shen Xiuhan sat in his room, cleared his mind of stray thoughts, and murmured internally:
“Deduction!”
【Deductible martial art 『Mystic Ice Force』 detected. Begin Deduction?】
“Yes!”
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