"I didn't expect that in just one night, I reached the 3rd Realm: Ascension."
Su Que estimated it was already night, so he took a piece of burlap from the cave's supplies and wiped the sweat off his body.
He put on his shirt, glanced at the cave.
Previously, he had put the head of the hidden drug den, Zhao Tashan, in the cave, and since he was useless, he killed him and buried the body underground.
Now there were no living people in the cave, only a few boxes of herbs and some supplies, such as lime powder, beast traps, and disguise clothes.
Just now, he had used Red Fiend True Qi to burn the dry branches in the cave.
Then he walked out of the cave, picked up some more dry branches, covered the beast trap, and left Cyan Flower Mountain, heading back to Jade Water City.
After returning home, Su Que washed up and went straight to sleep.
Early the next morning, Su Que got up, sat cross-legged on the bed, and began cultivating the Red Fiend Technique.
After training to 3rd Realm: Ascension 31%, he wiped off his sweat, dressed up, and went to the school to teach.
He had acquired quite a lot of Silver Coins from the White Lotus Sect Members, so the school salary didn't matter much to him.
However, firstly, the identity of a teacher was an excellent disguise for his true identity.
Secondly, he also enjoyed the peaceful life of teaching during the day and practicing martial arts at night.
Therefore, he still went to the school as usual.
In the afternoon, after class ended, Su Que headed to the pharmacy.
The medicinal materials required by the few medicinal formulas he obtained from Jing You were not all among the sixteen types of herbs he had seized.
So, he planned to buy the missing herbs from several pharmacies.
Then he would brew all the recipes to see if there was any potion with better effects than the "Blood-Shocking Soup."
If there was a better one, he would then find a way to get the herbs for that formula.
After buying all the herbs, Su Que left the city, and when he reached a deserted area, he increased his pace and went to the cave at Cyan Flower Mountain to place the herbs there.
After practicing the Red Fiend Technique for a while, Su Que noticed it was getting late and returned home to prepare for dinner.
When he got home, he found his sister, Su Jing, dressed in thick, old clothes, covering her originally slim and curvaceous figure.
Her originally neat and distinct hair now appeared messy and split.
Her originally fair and delicate face now had some dirt and soot on it.
"Sister, what's wrong?" Su Que asked.
Su Jing glanced at Su Que and explained, "Today when I went to the market, I heard something, the White Lotus Sect Members were searching each household during the day, not sure what they're looking for."
"I was afraid they might do... that kind of thing to me, so I disguised myself a bit."
"I'll wash off this grime after nightfall."
Hearing this, Su Que pondered in his heart.
'White Lotus Sect is looking for someone... they are probably looking for me, fortunately, I had already moved all the supplies stored at home to the cave, even if the White Lotus Sect comes to our home, they won't discover my identity.'
Thinking this, suddenly, Su Que glanced at Su Jing again.
'This sister, no wonder she managed to support this family alone for several years before I became a scholar, she's indeed quite wise.'
'With this disguise, the White Lotus Sect Members will hardly be interested.'
'After all, the White Lotus Sect Members carry plenty of Silver Coins in their pockets, going to brothels is surely better than targeting a dirty and shabby woman.'
"I've made dinner, you go ahead and eat, I'll wash up for a bit," Su Jing said and then walked away.
Su Que immediately served himself some food, ate his meal, and then, under the pretext of digesting the food, went out again.
He exited the city, headed straight to Cyan Flower Mountain, hunted a deer for an extra meal, and then started brewing potions.
He spent more than an hour brewing all five medicinal formulas he had gotten from Jing You.
He found the process of brewing the potions to be intricate and time-consuming, and at this time, he realized why some martial arts experts, who could be free and unrestrained, still needed to establish sects and organizations.
Because these martial arts experts indeed needed some people to help them with some meaningless labors.
After drinking the five types of potions, he found that only one had effects comparable to "Blood-Shocking Soup," while the others fell short of it.
"These formulas might be worth quite a bit, I should copy them down at some time and sell them," Su Que thought while going on to brew "Blood-Shocking Soup."
Even though he took the five potions, the medicinal power in his body was not enough for him to consume tonight.
After drinking the "Blood-Shocking Soup," Su Que cleaned up all traces of his barbecue and potion brewing, then entered the cave, took off his shirt, and began cultivating the Red Fiend Technique.
He sat cross-legged on the ground, concentrating on moving that strand of Red Fiend True Qi within his body.
The Red Fiend True Qi moved around in circles inside his body like a little mouse.
His heart felt an extremely comforting sensation.
And his flesh and skin gradually became scorching hot.
Soon, his skin turned red, with steam faintly rising from it.
...
Unconsciously, another day passed, and it was the next evening. After having dinner, Su Que went to the forest to hunt and have an extra meal, then came to the cave at Cyan Flower Mountain to continue cultivating the Red Fiend Technique.
After practicing for about the time it takes a stick of incense to burn, Su Que suddenly felt a simmering hot sensation brewing in his heart.
His spirit stirred, and he summoned forth the attributes.
Name: Su Que (18 years old)
Lifespan: 148
Talent Value: 27
Martial Arts: Seven Injuries Fist (6th Realm Divine Skill 36%), Five Animals Qigong (1st Realm Initial Insight 1%)
Inner Strength: Marriage Robe Divine Skill (4th Realm Elite 30%), Red Fiend Technique (3rd Realm Ascension 99%)
"Sure enough, I'm about to break through again!"
Su Que focused his heart spirit, continuing to move the Red Fiend True Qi.
Suddenly.
The simmering heat in his heart expanded, spreading throughout his entire heart in the blink of an eye.
Soon after, he heard an explosion sound in his ears.
The scorching heat completely emanated from his heart, then merged with the Red Fiend True Qi originally circulating in his meridians.
"The Red Fiend True Qi has grown stronger!"
Su Que felt the Red Fiend True Qi, now almost the size of a fist.
He looked at the attributes, confirming the Red Fiend Technique had indeed advanced to 4th Realm Elite 1%.
Then he checked his lifespan and talent value.
Lifespan: 151
Talent Value: 28
The lifespan increased by six years from the previous realm, talent value increased by one point.
'I wonder what changes the 4th Realm Red Fiend Technique will bring to the Red Fiend True Qi?'
Su Que walked out of the cave, approached a pile of stacked dried branches, infused the Red Fiend True Qi into his arm, then punched the air.
The Red Fiend True Qi erupted, and the pile of branches on the ground immediately caught fire.
As Su Que stomped out the fire with his foot, he pondered.
Previously, when he first entered the 3rd Realm Ascension, he had to strike five consecutive punches for the temperature buildup of the Red Fiend True Qi to ignite the branches.
But now that he had reached the 4th Realm Elite, it only took one punch.
'I wonder what effect stacking the Red Fiend True Qi might achieve now?'
Thinking of this, Su Que approached a bare tree.
Suddenly, he activated the Red Fiend True Qi, infusing it into his arm, and without using force, simply used the True Qi to punch the tree.
The tree trunk shook, revealing a charred fist mark on it.
'I wonder what effect the combination of Red Fiend True Qi with Seven Injuries Fist Force might have?'
Thinking of this, Su Que began practicing the Seven Injuries Fist, simultaneously activating the Red Fiend True Qi, channeling it into his fists.
He performed the Lung Injury Technique of the Seven Injuries Fist, its force primarily gentle and flexible, able to channel the fist force into the struck object inside.
Su Que continuously punched the tree trunk, embedding the Red Fiend True Qi completely into the depths of the trunk through Seven Injuries Fist Force.
Soon, the trunk crackled from inside, indicating the fire was burning the moisture inside the trunk.
After reaching the tenth punch, a burnt smell wafted out from the trunk.
Then, blazing fire burst from within the trunk, spreading throughout the entire trunk.
Seeing the whole tree about to catch fire, Su Que, worried about attracting attention, punched again!
Seven Techniques of the Seven Injuries Fist unleashed simultaneously, seven different fist forces erupted from the overwhelming flurry of punches, surrounding the flames spreading upward.
In less than a moment, the spreading flames were extinguished by Su Que's Seven Injuries Fist Force.
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