Chapter 170 - 169: Chase the Wind and Moon, Do Not Linger
Chapter 170: Chapter 169: Chase the Wind and Moon, Do Not Linger
「Refining Peak Valley.」
Halfway up one of its mountains.
Nestled among lush green trees was a quiet, elegant courtyard home.
This wasn’t the residence Wu Chen had stayed in before, but the highest-grade home in the valley—a dwelling reserved for the sect’s Elders.
The home wasn’t large, consisting of only five quaint, antique-style rooms, and it lacked any extravagant rockery or decorations.
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH—
The sound of a broom sweeping across the ground echoed through the courtyard.
Wu Chen pushed the gate open and walked in.
His eyes fell upon the figure of a young woman meticulously cleaning every nook and cranny of the courtyard.
It was Xue Hongling.
"We had arranged for a handmaiden to clean, but Miss Hongling insisted she didn’t need one and wanted to do it herself. We couldn’t persuade her otherwise..."
The one guiding him was Pang Lei. The Sect Leader’s son stooped his large frame before Wu Chen, his expression serious and his attitude polite.
As he looked at the handsome young man beside him, an unconscious flicker of fear showed in his eyes.
He couldn’t help it.
The other disciples of the four sects might not know, but as the Sect Leader’s son, he was privy to a great deal of inside information.
From his own father, the Sect Leader, he had learned that Wu Chen had single-handedly slaughtered more than half of the Blood Slaughter Sect’s Elders and disciples.
The body count was well into the tens of thousands.
He had previously thought Wu Chen had returned to the Blood Slaughter Sect from the mystic realm just to kill a few disciples, plunder some medicinal herbs and heads, and exchange them for ten thousand or so Contribution Points, and that would be the end of it.
But he had heard from his father that if it weren’t for Wu Chen, the four sects’ surprise attack on the Blood Slaughter Sect via the mystic realm would have at best ended in mutual destruction. There would have been no way to completely eradicate them!
In other words, Wu Chen deserved the highest merit for his role in annihilating the Blood Slaughter Sect!
Because of this, Pang Lei also learned Wu Chen’s true realm from his father.
The Blood Coagulation Realm.
’Blood Coagulation Realm!’
Pang Lei stared at Wu Chen, his throat feeling as if it were blocked. He clenched his jaw so tightly that the muscles in his face trembled.
He recalled the time he had provoked Wu Chen, only to be beaten so badly he couldn’t even fight back.
At first, he thought Wu Chen was just holding back. Now, it was clear he wasn’t just holding back; he was holding back an entire ocean!
If Wu Chen had wanted to, he could have leaked just a sliver of his primal aura. At that moment, Pang Lei would have likely dropped to his knees, his fighting spirit utterly extinguished.
The wisps of killing intent he had cultivated would have been completely annihilated in that one encounter.
"Senior Brother Pang, thank you for your trouble."
Wu Chen said politely, looking at the quiet courtyard with great satisfaction.
"I don’t deserve to be called Senior Brother!"
Pang Lei was so scared his legs went soft.
His own father had to address Wu Chen as ’little friend’, and that was only because his age gave him a slight advantage in seniority.
If he accepted being called Senior Brother, wouldn’t that mean he could call his own father ’brother’?
Pang Lei glanced again at the young woman sweeping in the courtyard. She didn’t seem happy at all that the gate had opened, nor at Wu Chen’s arrival.
She made no move to come forward and greet him.
Instead, the atmosphere grew even colder.
Pang Lei shrank back, naturally understanding why.
The mystic realm had closed three days ago, and the four Sect Leaders and their Elders had long since returned.
But Wu Chen had only returned today.
He had stayed behind to kill every last remnant of the Blood Slaughter Sect emerging from the mystic realm.
Making a girl wait at home, worried sick, for an extra three days—how could she not be resentful!
Pang Lei shrank back again. "I have some other matters to attend to, so I’ll be leaving now."
"..."
Wu Chen watched Pang Lei run off, then looked at Xue Hongling, who was silently absorbed in her sweeping. He scratched his head in embarrassment.
"Do you need help cleaning?"
He walked into the courtyard, approached her, and asked softly.
But Xue Hongling acted as if she hadn’t heard him, simply keeping her head down and continuing to sweep.
The atmosphere was not exactly harmonious.
After a moment’s thought, Wu Chen had no choice but to add, "I brought you a gift."
This time, Xue Hongling’s movements paused, and she looked up at Wu Chen.
Only then did Wu Chen notice her eyes were red-rimmed.
’She must have been worried sick,’ he thought.
The feeling of being cared for stirred something in Wu Chen’s heart.
He swiped his hand over the storage pouch at his waist, quickly took out the gift, and handed it to her.
And then...
The already tense atmosphere became so suffocating it was hard to breathe after the gift appeared.
"What, you don’t like it?"
He glanced at Xue Hanyan’s head in his hand, then back at the girl. "I went through great trouble to bring this back for you!"
Xue Hongling: "..."
"Get out!"
She swung the broom in her hands, shooing Wu Chen away as if he were a pest.
After all, what kind of decent person gives a severed head as a gift!
...
In the blink of an eye, five days passed.
「By the cliff’s edge.」
Wu Chen lay lazily in a rocking chair, his eyes focused on the panel before him:
[Deep Red Host] Wu Chen
[Martial Arts Realm] Third Layer Blood Coagulation Realm
(Qi Power: Earth-Shaking Wild Bull) (Vitality: Endless Qi Power) (Physique: Disguise Skill) (Constitution: Body Like Adamant Rock)
[Martial Arts & Cultivation Techniques] ’Bone-Eroding Wind Blade: Force’, ’Spirit Swallow Plucking Leaf Step: Force’, ’Noble Spirit Qi-Nourishing Art: Intent’, ’Blood-Absorbing Demon Skill’, ’Body Refining and Essence Nourishing Skill’
The panel had undergone a heaven-and-earth-shaking transformation.
With the conclusion of his journey to the Blood Slaughter Sect, Wu Chen’s realm was on a completely different level than before.
He had interrogated a black-robed Elder and extracted the ’Blood-Absorbing Demon Skill,’ a technique that allowed for infinite energy storage. In addition to using one’s own essence to absorb that of others and heal injuries, it was also a method for condensing one’s own essence.
As for the ’Body Refining and Essence Nourishing Skill’, it was a Blood Coagulation technique shared by the four sects.
Therefore, with these two Cultivation Techniques, Wu Chen’s realm had advanced from the First Layer of the Blood Coagulation Realm to the Third Layer.
Of course, that wasn’t all.
After slaughtering the Blood Slaughter Sect to the last man, his Contribution Points had reached an immeasurable amount.
In addition to this Martial Art, Wu Chen now had the authority to freely enter and exit the Arsenals of the four sects.
Combined with the Martial Arts he had plundered from the Blood Slaughter Sect...
Wu Chen had gained two more entries on his panel.
Disguise Skill.
Body Like Adamant Rock.
The first was easy to understand, and the second was even easier.
Simply put, it meant he was tough.
Wu Chen tore his gaze away from the panel and looked toward the cliff’s edge, where Hong Ling was practicing her blade techniques.
With the Blood Slaughter Sect destroyed, she had changed her name to Hong Ling, finally drawing a clear line between herself and her past.
Moreover, her long hair was now coiled up in a double-looped bun, revealing a fair neck and adding a hint of gentle grace to her capable demeanor.
Her clothes were also a bit looser, giving her a poised and elegant appearance.
Wu Chen watched the figure by the cliff, his face haggard, and muttered speechlessly:
"Practicing day and night without stopping... where does she get all that energy!"
As he spoke, he raised his wine cup and took a long drink, feeling much more relaxed.
His exhausted expression wasn’t due to a lack of restraint, but from spending his days studying Martial Arts and his nights accompanying Hong Ling for entertainment.
The markets between the four sects, the theaters and music halls in Mountain Mist City—Wu Chen had taken her to all of them at night over the past few days, helping her gradually escape the shadow of the Blood Slaughter Sect.
But this nonstop activity, day and night, had thoroughly exhausted Wu Chen, despite his ’Body Like Adamant Rock’.
He felt the weariness in his bones and the heavy droop of his sleepy eyelids.
He knew he couldn’t continue being so lazy.
’Wine and women have actually made me this haggard.’
Wu Chen wiped his face and threw the wine cup down forcefully.
"Starting today, I’m quitting drinking!"
[End of Volume Two]