In one leap, Ning Xiaochuan jumped over the towering buildings of the Marquis’s Residence. He had returned to Marquis Jiange’s Residence without altering anyone in the place.

At first, Ning Xiaochuan wanted to flee immediately and no longer return to Marquis Jiange’s Residence, which had become a risky place. In any case, he did not feel any sense of belonging in Marquis Jiange’s Residence.

However, if he fled, it would only alert the others. Considering Marquis Jiange’s Residence’s immense influence, if it wanted to hunt him down, he would only come to a dead-end even if he fled to the ends of the earth.

Ning Xiaochuan steeled his nerves. Fortunately, he had returned to Marquis Jiange’s Residence, maintaining his pretense of being an invalid!

It was already noon. Ning Xiner had been training in the arena for the entire morning. By the time she returned, her face was full of sweat and her hair was clammy. “Elder Brother, why are you sweating all over as well? Where did you return from?

Obviously, Ning Xiaochuan had just returned from Jinpeng Heart-nourishing Hall and had not expected to bump into Ning Xiner. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said, panting, “I just took a walk around the pathways… Huff… Huff… Too tiring, too tiring…”

Ning Xiaochuan braced himself against the wall with one hand, panting incessantly. He pretended to look very weak, as if his breath was caught in his throat!

Ning Xiner knew that her brother had a weak constitution and rushed forward to support him. Her small hand stroked his chest gently until Ning Xiaochuan’s breath stabilized, then she asked, “Elder Brother, is that better?”

“Much better, much better. Thank you, Xiner!” Ning Xiaochuan looked deeply at Ning Xiner. He could feel how sincerely his younger sister cared for him.

From his bundle, Ning Xiaochuan took out three hundred silver coins and handed them to Ning Xiner. “This is the money I owe you. I keep my promises. What I borrow, I’ll surely return.”

“This is…Elder Brother, where did you get this money?” Ning Xiner asked curiously, feeling incredulous. She blinked, confused, as she stared at Ning Xiaochuan.

She thought that Ning Xiaochuan had spent all the money at the brothel.

Ning Xiaochuan had already come up with his reason long ago, complete with a story. “Two days ago, didn’t I borrow thirty thousand copper coins from you? I spent ten of those coins to buy ten thousand sheets of paper.”

“You bought so much paper. Were you going to earn money by writing letters for people?” Ning Xiner asked curiously.

“Writing letters only earns you a little money, not a lot.” Ning Xiaochuan continued, “I spent another hundred copper coins to hire someone to write ten thousand numbers on those ten thousand sheets of paper. After that, I asked ten shops on Wending Street to sell these ten thousand sheets of paper, selling each one for… Twenty copper coins.”

“A piece of paper with a number written on it can be sold for twenty copper coins?” Ning Xiner bit her adorable lips and shook her head slightly, indicating her bewilderment.

Ning Xiaochuan explained, “And there were many who bought them, who were fighting to buy them in the end.”

Ning Xiner was even more shocked. “Why is that? Elder Brother, tell me, tell me!”

Ning Xiaochuan smiled. “Because I told them that those who bought the piece of paper with the number ‘one’ or ‘ten thousand’ will be rewarded with ten thousand copper coins. When the number ‘one’ was picked up by someone, and they took a huge bag of money from me, the others went insane. Each of them purchased wantonly, fighting over it. Think about it – by spending twenty copper coins, you might get back ten thousand copper coins. What massive temptation that is!”

“This… You can profit from this?” Ning Xiner was flabbergasted, thinking that her brother had a godlike mind.

“Should be… Able to profit!”

Initially, Ning Xiaochuan had devised such a method to make money, but this was a world that honored martial arts. It was one’s capability which carried weight. Methods like this would only be a side income. Moreover, he was a Heart-nourishing Master now. Was making money not easy? There was no need for all that trouble.

After having lunch, Ning Xiaochuan shut himself away inside his room. After making sure that Ning Xiner had gone off for cultivation, he took out the Mystical Medicine and Magnetite from his bundle.

“Refining one stalk of Grade One Blood-increasing Herb would stimulate the blood and heart orifices into chasing each other, causing my Cultivation to break through to Stage Six Qi. I’ll try refining one stalk of Grade Two Blood-increasing Herb and see if I can improve my Cultivation once more.”

Ning Xiaochuan refined one stalk of Blood-increasing Herb into three drops of Blood-increasing Liquid. Each drop glowed with a faint red light, looking like three drops of blood.

“Rumble!”

Suddenly, the Devil Sword within his blood orifice emitted a faint blood-red glow. It was actually trying to seize the three Blood-increasing Liquid in the heart orifice.

The blood and heart orifices began to chase each other once more, turning into a red and white Taiji pattern.

This time, Ning Xiaochuan was observing closely. He saw that when the blood and heart orifices chased each other, his blood would emanate traces of faint Earthly Martial Qi, which were absorbed by the Taiji pattern. After that, it was turned into more Combat Qi that merged into the Combat Atrium.

When the blood and heart orifices came to a stop, the three drops of Grade Two Blood-increasing Liquid within the Heart-nourishing Cauldron had vanished, having been absorbed by the Devil Sword.

Furthermore, the Devil Sword was giving off special energy which was reflected in Ning Xiaochuan’s blood, causing his blood’s grade to increase.

Ning Xiaochuan’s cultivation had grown by another stretch.

“I’ve got it. It’s because of this Devil Sword. The Devil Sword is greedy for blood. Once I refine the Blood-increasing Liquid, it becomes stimulated and frantically bombards the heart orifice, seizing the Blood-increasing Liquid. While the blood and heart orifices chased each other around, the Earthly Martial Qi buried within my blood is aroused and my Cultivation advances tremendously. This Earthly Martial Qi must have been the energy left in my body by Marquis Jiange’s Residence’s Old Marquis.”

Most martial artists cultivated Combat Qi. Only when one’s cultivation had reached the realm of a Martial Supreme, could one transform the Combat Qi within one’s body into Earthly Martial Qi.

Earthly Martial Qi was a power more fearsome than Combat Qi.

If Combat Qi was compared to “water”, then Earthly Martial Qi would be “aqua regia”¹.

A drop of water could drown an ant at most.

A drop of aqua regia, however, could penetrate metal and stone.

The energy from one strand of Earthly Martial Qi was equivalent to the energy from ten thousand strands of Combat Qi.

Thus, it was said that the strength of a Martial Supreme transcended all martial artists. A fist could topple a mountain; a palm could sever a river; a breath could turn into a gale that uprooted huge trees from the soil, tossing them in the air.

The Old Marquis of Marquis Jiange’s Residence was one such Martial Supreme!

The Old Marquis loved Ning Xiaochuan dearly. Ever since Ning Xiaochuan’s birth, the Old Marquis had used an enormous amount of Earthly Martial Qi to sustain his life. Although most of this Earthly Martial Qi had drained away, the remaining amount hidden in Ning Xiaochuan’s blood was still able to help him reach the Divine Body Realm.

Currently, Ning Xiaochuan was in an intense crisis. What he lacked the most was power. He did not care whether the Devil Sword was abnormal. Since it could stimulate the Earthly Martial Qi in his blood into being released, quickly improving his Cultivation, of course, Ning Xiaochuan would not avoid using it.

Ning Xiaochuan began to refine the second stalk of Blood-increasing Herb!

“Only by reaching Stage Seven Qi can I be called a genius of Marquis Jiange’s Residence. Only then will I take my first step into the rank of experts amongst the young generation.”

Refining the Grade Two Blood-increasing Herb took even more time. Throughout the entire afternoon, Ning Xiaochuan only refined two stalks of Blood-increasing Herb.

His Cultivation was clearly upgraded, but it was not that easy to attain Stage Seven Qi.

To break through to Stage Seven Qi from Stage Six Qi, the required amount of Earthly Martial Qi was more than the previous six Stages combined. Even if Earthly Martial Qi was buried within Ning Xiaochuan’s blood, he could not reach Stage Seven Qi in just one day.

Those geniuses in the Marquis’s Residence had cultivated strenuously for ten years before reaching Stage Seven Qi. If he could attain Stage Seven Qi in just three days of cultivation, those geniuses might as well give up and die.

In the next three days, Ning Xiaochuan did not leave Marquis Jiange’s Residence. Other than talking to Ning Xiner about the difficulties of Martial Art Cultivation, he went to the book chamber to read, then refined Mystical Medicine and cultivated Earthly Martial Qi.

Ning Xiner knew that her elder brother had always greatly wanted to cultivate martial arts, only he could not due to his body’s limitations. Therefore, each time Ning Xiaochuan inquired about the complications or problems she faced during cultivation, she did not suspect anything and answered all his queries, believing that this was her brother’s yearning and ambition towards martial arts.

Naturally, in these three days, Ning Xiaochuan’s Cultivation improved by leaps and bounds. He had reached the peak of Stage Seven Qi. His speed of Cultivation was as swift as a rocket.

The ten stalks of Grade Two Blood-increasing Herb and the ten stalks of Grade Two Heart-nourishing Herb were all completely refined by Ning Xiaochuan, and he was considering heading to Jinpeng Heart-nourishing Hall to buy more Mystical Medicine.

“Elder Brother, where are you going?” Ning Xiner walked up to him, wearing a white, skintight martial robe, completed by a belt. Her soft bosom was subtly lifted up, and her waist was slim, outlining a beautiful curve.

She was still rather young. After a few years, she was sure to be a beauty who could cause calamity to an entire nation.

Ning Xiaochuan returned the question. “Xiner, haven’t you gone to the arena to practice?”

Ning Xiner’s face bloomed with a smile, and her round, shiny eyes curved into crescents. She appeared to be overjoyed and said, “Grandfather has come out of his seclusion earlier than expected!”

“Grandfather.” Ning Xiaochuan gently uttered this word.

Ning Xiaochuan and Ning Xiner’s grandfather was, of course, the Old Marquis of Marquis Jiange’s Residence. A figure at the level of a Martial Supreme who was an outstanding, renowned existence throughout the entire Yulan Empire.

Marquis Jiange had four sons in total. Ning Xiaochuan’s father was the third son, previously known as Marquis Jiange’s Residence’s Third Master.

“Grandfather has summoned all fourth-generation descendants of Marquis Jiange’s Residence in the Conference Hall. Plenty of elite talents who were cultivating out there have hurried back as well. I came to inform you. Come with me to the Conference Hall!” Ning Xiner said.

Ning Xiaochuan nodded and followed Ning Xiner to the Conference Hall. It looked like he would have to find some other time to visit Jinpeng Heart-nourishing Hall.