[Heavy Body Technique — Minor Achievement: 23/100]
A day of rushing had already pushed the Heavy Body Technique into a Minor Achievement!
He pressed a hand against his back muscles, feeling they had become thicker since the morning.
The shoulder blades were no longer like two nearly broken plowshares, instead, they stood up sturdily.
This decaying body had, in just one day, grown defined muscles!
The mountain wind swept through the pine forest, carrying a whiff of blood.
Chen Ye instinctively grasped the hilt of his sword, noticing a grey shadow twitching on the snowy ground in the distance — it was a fawn gutted by a grey wolf.
The grey wolf seemed to sense something, turning its green eyes back to glance at him, its mouth dripping with fresh blood.
This grey wolf was even larger than Granny Li's home-raised Yuanyuan, looking even more ferocious!
If it were the him from a day ago, his legs would be trembling by now.
"Shoo!"
The Geng Metal Qi cut through the air with a sharp whistle, the startled grey wolf leapt up, only to have half of its skull sheared off by the Geng Metal Qi in an instant, blood dyeing the snow red.
Chen Ye's blood faintly quickened, his fists clenching excitedly.
The perfected Geng Metal Technique could already kill such a medium-sized animal in a single strike!
"Boom!"
A blaze suddenly burst forth from the distant ravine, faint sounds of Magical Artifact clashing followed.
The east surged with numerous black shadows, and upon closer inspection, it was countless startled birds scattering in all directions.
Looking again at the origin of the birds' flight, the imposing roar of Magic clashing exploded like fireworks.
This level of disturbance, it must be a late-stage Qi Cultivation practitioner at work!
"Earlier, the two masked cultivators rushed hurriedly towards the east. No sign of action for so long, and now they are fighting?"
"A fire at the city gates can incinerate the pond fish." (Meaning: Unrelated parties may suffer in others' conflict.)
Chen Ye's heart sank, hastening his pace, almost running to return home.
Afraid of running into their conflict.
But the more you worry about something, the more likely it is to happen.
A dozen or so shadows darted through the forest from all directions, heading swiftly toward the east.
As fast as a thunderbolt, with nimble movements, they were seasoned mid-stage Qi Cultivation warriors.
"Quick! The people from the Stone Mirror Association have indeed infiltrated!"
"This bunch is too unruly, acting as if the Jade Lizard Association doesn't exist!"
They conversed among themselves in short exchanges.
Chen Ye roughly understood what was happening.
Wherever there were people, there were disputes, especially in the competitive Cultivation Realm, forming associations was quite common.
The Stone Mirror Association was a group formed by local Loose Cultivators banding together in Yunxi District.
While the Jade Lizard Association was a local group of Demon Hunter Cultivators in Yunxi District.
Conflicts between the two were frequent.
Recently, people from the Jade Lizard Association discovered a valley in the Three Thousand Great Mountains which harbored a lot of Spiritual Medicine.
But unfortunately, the news leaked, reaching the ears of the Stone Mirror Association.
The Stone Mirror Association stealthily stole a lot of Spiritual Medicine during the night, and now once more employed the same tactic.
Chen Ye was almost about to break his perception of the Cultivation Realm.
He initially thought the two associations would engage in an honest battle for the ownership of Spiritual Medicine.
But who would have thought it would turn into sneaky thefts in the night!
However, none of this had anything to do with him!
With the proficiency panel, Chen Ye only wished to live a peaceful life with his disciple.
Chen Ye hoisted up the grey wolf, cautiously distancing himself from these people.
...
A year ago on a snowy night, it was just like this one.
The heavy snow buried the filth of the slums.
In his view, there were only hazy snowflakes, no sight of buildings.
Only the candle in his palm emitted a dim glow.
She held the candle with both hands, kneeling on the ground.
Tears froze into ice crystals on her cheeks.
The door of the ramshackle house stood wide open, cold wind sweeping straw across the messy room.
"Hic——"
In the blizzard, a man staggered out of the snow.
Carrying a wine pot, his face was flushed from drinking.
"Zhiwei, you're so obedient."
The man stomped at the doorway, wiping the mud from his boots onto the snow, looking drunkenly at her.
She was oblivious, stiffly kneeling on the ground.
"Asleep?"
The man spoke with inexplicable concern, suddenly grabbing her frostbitten ear and giving it a harsh twist.
"Master, where is Qing Jun?"
A hoarse sob leaked from her cracked lips.
"Qing Jun?"
The man smiled with interest, pointing towards the door,
"Go to the cassia tree across and pick a leaf for your master."
With that, he collapsed drunkenly onto the earthen bed, letting the wine seep from his mouth into the straw mat.
Upon hearing this, she wobbled and stood up from the ground.
Desperately rushing into the snowy rain.
The cold wind almost lifted her frail, short body off the ground.
But her feelings for her junior sister drove her to struggle through the snow to pick a leaf from the muddy snowy path.
"Master…"
Before she could speak, the man bellowed without opening his eyes:
"Stop! Don't dirty the house."
Zhiwei imitated the man's action numbly, stamping her feet in the snow at the door.
Perhaps because she had turned numb from the cold, her body had lost sensation.
Even her legs felt like they weren't hers.
But this too was a good thing.
At least she wouldn't feel the cold.
"Master, the leaf, I picked it."
The world before her was pitch black, she couldn't even see the man's expression clearly.
But he must be sneering:
"Haven't you realized your master's intention yet? Go pick another leaf."
Intention?
Could it be, Qing Jun was on the way to the cassia tree?
She was near losing consciousness, struggling to rush back.
Yet there was absolutely nothing on the way.
She picked another leaf again, this time without the man needing to speak.
She adeptly stomped her feet to shed the mud, respectfully handing it to the man.
"Go again…"
Hearing this, she wasn't surprised.
And so, it was repeated countless times.
When she once more handed the leaf to the man, he sighed faintly:
"Zhiwei, haven't you noticed?"
"Then take a look at your soles."
Soles…
She stared dumbly at her tattered straw sandals.
She found Qing Jun.
This man deliberately made her step on… Qing Jun.
...
After that day, Qing Jun didn't die.
But due to long-term exposure to the cold, she… developed mental issues.
As for herself, she also bore an indelible psychological scar for what she did to her junior sister…
Zhiwei hugged her knees, silently watching the snowstorm outside the courtyard.
Her eyes, lifeless and unperturbed, gazing into the night.
Reflected in her pupils was the figure of a man wearing a straw raincoat, carrying a grey wolf and holding a rabbit, appearing amidst the snowstorm.
His face was rosy, just like when he'd been drunken.
"Zhiwei! Master is back!"
Chen Ye waved at his eldest disciple, beaming with joy.
Seeing his eldest disciple waiting for him at the doorway in such cold weather.
Chen Ye felt an indescribable emotion.
"Master."
Chen Ye couldn't tell if it was his illusion, but the older girl's voice seemed a bit colder.
But as the saying goes.
People reveal their hearts through their actions.
Seeing her standing at the door waiting for him to return, this indicated that his efforts over the past few days had paid off!
Chen Ye looked at her frostbitten red face with heartache.
"It's so cold; why don't you come inside?"
The eyes peeking from under her frozen bangs seemed to gaze steadily at him:
"Master, Zhiwei is tough; I'm not afraid of the cold."
Chen Ye felt his heart ache as he looked at her frostbitten red cheeks:
He wanted to take her hand as before, forcefully if he had to.
But unless absolutely necessary, he didn't want to go against Zhiwei's wishes, so he decided to take things slowly…