Chapter 31 Part 1

Song Yuzhi was a tall and handsome young man, while Cai Zhao was delicate, slender, and not yet fully grown. With one hand clutching his chest and the other resting on her, the scene had the poetic charm of a lofty, perilous cliff leaning against a slender willow. Although Wu Gang had just died and their senior brother was injured, it didn't stop the other disciples from exchanging glances, their eyes filled with shared thoughts on the hot gossip of the past few days.

Chang Ning: '...I also detest the so-called righteous sects.'

He walked to Cai Zhao’s side and said in a low voice, "If you keep supporting him like this, you might as well really switch fiancés."

Cai Zhao shuddered and quickly handed Song Yuzhi over to two disciples standing nearby. With a righteous tone, she declared that she had to go check on her master, see how severe his injuries were, how much blood he had lost, and whether he needed a bowl of angelica, red date, and black chicken soup to replenish his blood.

Of course, Song Yuzhi heard Chang Ning’s 'slanderous words'. He couldn't bear it any longer. "Is Brother Chang this happy?"

"With the Demonic Cult villains completely annihilated, I am naturally happy." Chang Ning thought Song Yuzhi was a fool through and through, still asking such a stupid question at a time like this.

"Are you also happy that Junior Sister Zhaozhao is so devoted to Young Manor Master Zhou?" Song Yuzhi thought Chang Ning was the one with a clever face but a fool's mind. They were all men; who couldn't see his feelings for Cai Zhao? But didn't he know that the biggest problem's surname wasn't Song, but Zhou?

Sure enough, Chang Ning could no longer smile.

A count after the ordeal revealed that the inner sect had lost thirty-two disciples and twenty-five servants, while the outer sect had lost eight disciples and sixteen servants. Most were intercepted and brutally killed by the Demonic Cult villains while fleeing and hiding. The losses were undeniably severe. But on the other hand, if they had just stayed put, there was a high probability that nothing would have happened. Therefore—

In the Apothecary, Lei Xiuming and Fan Xingjia waited anxiously all afternoon. From lunchtime until the sun slanted west, their stomachs were empty, but not a single Demonic Cult member appeared.

In the outer sect, Li Wenxun and the others went from feeling immense relief upon seeing Ding Zhuo arrive as reinforcements to emotionlessly saying, 'Junior Nephew, thank you for your hard work. We won't see you off. When is dinner?' This transition took only two hours.

Not to mention Yin Sulian and her daughter hiding in Hot Spring Pass. Apart from getting their new gold-dusted skirts dirty from running too hastily, they suffered no other losses. Oh, except for the tragic death of the young Miss Qi's maidservant.

To summarize, a total of thirty-five people from the Demonic Cult had attacked, and Chang Ning and Cai Zhao had killed ten of them. At least seventy percent of these thirty-five were experts, with cultivation levels somewhere between the sect masters of the various sects and their strongest disciples. After ascending the cliff, they split off more than ten people to harass and kill anyone they saw, creating an atmosphere of panic within the sect and causing disciples everywhere to not dare act rashly, merely guarding their posts and not venturing out.

The true target of the Demonic Cult villains this time was only Twilight Palace.

Inside Sky-Hanging Cove.

Qi Yunke's family and all his personal disciples gathered in Song Yuzhi's room, plus Chang Ning, who followed them like a shadow.

As the first target of the Wu brothers' assassination attempt, the poison Wu Xiong had applied to the dagger was exceptionally potent, deadly upon drawing blood.

Fortunately, Cai Zhao's warning was timely, and the poisoned blade only struck Qi Yunke's arm. Chang Ning immediately sealed the surrounding acupoints, and Qi Yunke quickly used his internal energy to force out most of the poison. With proper rest afterward, the small amount of poison that had seeped in could also be slowly cleared.

Song Yuzhi's injury, however, was troublesome.

Lei Xiuming had Song Yuzhi lie on the couch and repeatedly examined the true qi in his body. As he checked, he kept shaking his head. After shaking his head, he would sigh, building up the atmosphere.

Fan Xingjia urged, "Martial Uncle Lei, just say something. Don't just keep shaking your head."

Only then did Lei Xiuming lower his hand and sigh, "Yuzhi was struck by the Demonic Cult's Netherworld Cold Qi, which has injured his Dantian Yuan. Even if he recovers, his martial prowess will be greatly reduced."

"Netherworld Cold Qi?" Qi Yunke cried out. "Wu Gang actually practiced that!"

Netherworld Cold Qi was a Demonic Cult technique, incomparably yin and cold, specializing in injuring one's internal core. It was a technique that advocated injuring the enemy by a thousand while losing eight hundred oneself.

The one struck would certainly suffer a ruptured Dantian Yuan and have cold poison enter their meridians, leading to a complete loss of martial skill. But the practitioner of this art would also have their internal organs ravaged by the yin poison, and would certainly die within a few years. Thus, not even many in the Demonic Cult practiced this evil art.

"Wu Gang was determined to throw his life away," Cai Zhao murmured to herself.

Song Yuzhi tried to circulate his true qi and found his meridians completely empty, unable to gather even a sliver of true qi. His Dantian Yuan was like a leaky teacup; no matter how much water was poured in, it would all leak out.

"Doesn't that mean Third Junior Brother will lose all his martial arts?" Dai Fengchi blurted out.

This earned him a glare from Lei Xiuming. "Didn't you hear what I just said? It will be reduced, not completely gone!"

Dai Fengchi shrank back.

Lei Xiuming continued, "Fortunately, when Yuzhi was struck by the palm, he circulated his qi to resist. Plus, Zhaozhao's throwing knife happened to hit Wu Gang, causing him to hesitate for a moment when he struck—Yuzhi won't lose all of his power."

Yin Sulian hurriedly asked, "Once Yuzhi has recovered, how much of his power will be left?"

"That's hard to say." Lei Xiuming looked grave. "At least twenty to thirty percent, at most forty to fifty percent."

Everyone in the room had different expressions—pity, sorrow, disappointment, anxiety, and even hidden joy. All sorts of gazes swept over Song Yuzhi. He had been a favored son of heaven since childhood; when had he ever been subjected to such looks? He couldn't help but feel gloomy and irritable.

"Martial Uncle Lei, is there no way for Third Senior Brother to recover?" Qi Lingbo twisted her handkerchief and asked anxiously.

Lei Xiuming continued to shake his head. "If supplemented with rare and precious medicines, in addition to a master of the Sect Master's caliber clearing his meridians, perhaps he could recover to sixty or seventy percent."

A regretful silence filled the room.

"Wait a moment," Yin Sulian suddenly spoke up. "I remember my brother-in-law has a cousin named Song Shiye. It seems he was also struck by Netherworld Cold Qi back then, but didn't he recover later? Is that right, Yunke, do you remember?"

Song Yuzhi's eyes lit up at once.

Qi Yunke thought for a moment. "That's right, there was such a thing. However..."

He looked at the people in the room. "But not long after he recovered, he suffered a cultivation deviation and passed away."

Song Yuzhi raised his voice. "Did my cousin-uncle suffer a cultivation deviation because he recovered his power, or was it because he was careless in his subsequent training?"

Qi Yunke looked troubled. "Your father didn't go into detail about that back then, so I'm not clear on it either."

"That's it then." Lei Xiuming clapped his hands. "We'll have Yuzhi's father come to the sect for a visit, and then everything will be clear."

The matter came to a close in a seemingly relaxed atmosphere. Everyone offered a word or two of comfort to Song Yuzhi before taking their leave.

Yin Sulian was clearly distraught. Qi Lingbo was crying her eyes out, even clamoring to stay behind to take care of Song Yuzhi. With a look from Yin Sulian, Dai Fengchi coaxed and persuaded Qi Lingbo away.

Qi Yunke was heavy-hearted. He placed a hand on Song Yuzhi's shoulder and sighed for a long time before finally being helped away by Fan Xingjia. Song Yuzhi had entered the sect at the age of seven and was the disciple Qi Yunke had taught with the most care. If Song Yuzhi couldn't recover, his years of effort would be ruined.

Though she had only known him for a little over ten days, Cai Zhao also felt pity for Song Yuzhi.

Only Chang Ning was calm and composed. As he stepped out of the gate of Sky-Hanging Cove, he even said leisurely, "The Qingque Sect is about to see a change in the heavens."

"You shut your mouth! Save your outrageous words for when we get back!" Cai Zhao hissed, knowing that nothing good ever came out of Chang Ning's mouth. She quickly grabbed his sleeve and headed straight for Qingjing Study.

Returning to her room and closing the door, she made sure no one was around before turning around to say, "Do you think you're the only one who sees the trouble in today's events? Everyone sees it; they just have the grace to keep it to themselves! Not like you, who can't hold anything back and has to say whatever's on your mind right away to feel satisfied!"

Chang Ning elegantly flicked his sleeve and sat down at the table. "Since even the young Heroine Cai has seen it, I am willing to hear the details."

Cai Zhao also sat at the table. "If Third Senior Brother cannot recover, the next Sect Master will have to be someone else. Alas, it's such a pity for Third Senior Brother. He has an upright character and profound cultivation. How did he run into such a mess?"

Chang Ning no longer wanted to be elegant. He put on a stern face. "Song Yuzhi is indeed unlucky. Not only might his position as Sect Master fly away, but his fiancée might fly away too. What, are you thinking of filling the spot of the Cai Clan of Falling Blossoms Valley?"

"If you're not going to speak like a human being, I'm leaving." Cai Zhao's expression turned hostile.

Chang Ning was furious. "I haven't even settled the score with you for sending soup to Song Yuzhi these past two days, and you have the nerve to get angry at me!"

Cai Zhao stood up and turned away. Chang Ning grabbed her to stop her from leaving. "Don't go, I'm not done talking."

"I'd be long dead from anger if I listened to you! Let go of me!" Cai Zhao struggled to pull her sleeve free.

As the two stubbornly pulled against each other, the fabric of the sleeve couldn't withstand the tearing. With a 'rip', it tore open from the elbow.

Cai Zhao was so angry she could have fallen over backward. "You, you surnamed Chang! It hasn't even been a full month since you recovered and you're already repaying kindness with enmity!" Saying so, she threw herself forward with a palm strike, the wind from her palm carrying force, determined to give him a black and blue face.

Chang Ning spun to evade. Cai Zhao leaped up and kicked out. Chang Ning blocked her calf with a palm and laughed loudly. "Resorting to violence when you can't win with words?"

Cai Zhao slammed her palm on the table, and the teapot shot high into the air. She swept her palm horizontally, and the teapot flew toward Chang Ning like an arrow.

Chang Ning swung his palm to block it as usual, but to his surprise, the teapot was full of tea. Although the shattered pieces of the teapot were blown away by the force of his palm, he couldn't avoid getting half his face splashed with tea.

This time it was Cai Zhao's turn to laugh heartily.

Chang Ning's face darkened as he lunged at Cai Zhao, and the two became entangled in close combat.

After more than ten moves, Chang Ning's chest was struck hard by Cai Zhao's back elbow, and he staggered back several steps. He said angrily, "I'm holding back, don't be ungrateful!"

Cai Zhao gritted her teeth. "Hold back your ancestors!"

Chang Ning was half-dead with anger. The girl's skills were not weak, and he couldn't use any real killing moves, so he was bound to get hit every now and then.

As the two were inextricably locked in a flurry of flashy but harmless blows, the door was suddenly pushed open with a whoosh. Chang Ning and Cai Zhao stopped fighting and looked—Ding Zhuo stood coldly at the door, holding a tray of medicine.

"Martial Uncle Lei asked me to deliver some wound medicine," he said stiffly.

Cai Zhao remembered that she had broken her promise to him. She went forward to take the tray, chuckling apologetically. "So it's Fourth Senior Brother. Please come in, Fourth Senior Brother. Please sit, Fourth Senior Brother. Please have some tea... uh..."

She saw the shattered porcelain of the teapot on the floor and smiled awkwardly. "I'll have someone bring another pot of tea."

"I never drink tea." Ding Zhuo's face was cold, his voice even colder. "A martial artist should not indulge in any pleasures of food, clothing, or shelter. Why drink tea? Plain water is sufficient. Junior Sister has exceptional talent. It would be best to indulge less in the desires of the palate. Your future will surely be limitless."

Cai Zhao: '...If I could give up delicious food, I would have reached enlightenment on the spot.'

Chang Ning wanted to laugh.

Cai Zhao knew Ding Zhuo was unhappy and tried her best to make up for it. "Now that today's major event is over, if Fourth Senior Brother is still in the mood for a duel, your junior sister will definitely accompany you!"

Ding Zhuo rolled his eyes. "Were you injured today?"

"Injured? No, I wasn't." Cai Zhao chuckled. "I was pretty lucky today, didn't even get a scratch..."

"—But I was injured," Ding Zhuo snorted.

Cai Zhao's laughter died abruptly.

Chang Ning tried hard to suppress his laughter.

Only then did Cai Zhao notice that Ding Zhuo's left arm and neck were wrapped in bandages. She said sheepishly, "I thought the outer sect was safe and sound."

Ding Zhuo: "The outer sect was indeed fine, but on the way there, I encountered two Demonic Cult villains. I was careless for a moment and suffered some flesh wounds."

"That's good, that's good." Cai Zhao was relieved. "It won't affect our duel."

"How could it not?!" Ding Zhuo twisted his eyebrows into a vise grip and said resentfully, "A duel between experts must be free of all complicated factors. Dueling while injured is a great humiliation to a martial artist!"

"It's, it's not that serious, is it?" Cai Zhao was a bit dumbfounded.

"If I fight while injured and win, people will say you went easy on me. If I lose, people will say your victory was unearned—can that still be called a duel?!"

Cai Zhao's head felt as big as a bushel. "Then, what does Senior Brother want to do?"

"Wait until my injuries have healed." Ding Zhuo said, "At most six or seven days. I will send Junior Sister a challenge letter then." He had learned his lesson this time.

Cai Zhao agreed profusely.