Just behind the inn, where they were staying at was the stone shed for guests' mounts.
The innkeeper looked at Yang Ze with a weird gaze before shaking his head and leaving him alone there. Though from his expression, it was clear that he pitied him.
"..." Yang Ze, on the other hand, couldn't have been happier to be finally alone. Only he knows the pain of being bossed around constantly. And now that he was finally alone...
Yang Ze first looked around, making sure that no one else was present there. After finding a rather hidden place that was inside the shed, he sat there for a while. He didn't immediately start to practice; he wanted to see if those two would change their minds and call him back.
Fortunately, that didn't happen. After sitting there for an hour, Yang Ze finally took a deep breath, opened his system space and took out the first bottle of Pulse Opening Pills. Even though he didn't know just how effective these things were, he could only give them a try.
Every bottle only had a single pill, and the moment he took out the pill, the bottle in his hand disappeared.
"That's convenient." With a nod, he focused on the pill in his hand. It was the size of a soybean with no other distinctive feature. If this thing were thrown on the ground, no one would consider it to be a pill.
Taking a deep breath, Yang Ze entered the state of Enlightenment before throwing it in his mouth.
The moment the pill hit his tongue, it melted like snow coming in contact with a hot metal.
*Gulp
Swallowing the liquid that didn't have any taste or smell, Yang Ze didn't have to wait for much longer before he felt a burst of heat in his abdomen.
In a trance-like state, Yang Ze felt his mind connecting to an extra space in his body. It seemed inside his body, yet at the same time, it wasn't. It was difficult to explain in words for Yang Ze. He only felt that he was inside a vast, empty area of nothingness.
The liquid that he swallowed seemed to have somehow found its way here, as it gave off a dim glow. It was in this dim glow that Yang Ze saw the true appearance of the place he was in. It wasn't as empty as he considered it to be. Instead, the entire place was filled with grey fog. He tried to see in the distance, but couldn't see anything.
Instead of focusing on what was there, he focused on the liquid in front of him and began to refine it according to the 'Thousand Layer Art'.
Moments passed, and under the influence of the Enlightenment, the process that should have taken months or perhaps years was being completed at a rapid pace.
It wasn't until almost five minutes had passed that he managed to refine the liquid.
In the middle of the empty foggy dantian was a thin ray of light.
Just a glance, and Yang Ze knew what it was.
"Internal Energy." Looking at the thin hair-like strand of internal energy, Yang Ze was beaming with smiles. He had finally managed to step into the realm of Pulse opening.
But it wasn't the end. There were still two more pills.
Without any hesitation, he took both out and began to refine them.
With the help of one strand and the previous experience, the process was rather smooth. In less than five minutes, he managed to refine both the pills.
In his dantian, there were now nine strands of internal energy deeply woven together, constantly squirming like worms. At a glance, they seemed alive.
"Just one more..." One strand means Early Stage Pulse Opening, while ten strands means Mid Stage. Even though Yang Ze have yet to test his strength after stepping into the Pulse Opening realm, he wanted to use the remaining Enlightenment time to condense one more strand.
Without any hesitation, he immediately began to practice.
If anyone else were to see his situation, they would have been shocked to death.
Usually, one needs to use innumerable resources to temper their body. Even in the body refining stage, one needs numerous herbs and meat. Without them, practising would only drain one's body. After all, without any energy, how could one even refine the body or internal energy?
But for Yang Ze, it was completely different.
Enlightenment was a state where the world itself provides energy for practice. Even Lin Wan, who had this talent, never once entered the state of Enlightenment in her life.
Yang Ze didn't know any of this and had no intention of paying attention to this matter. He needed to increase his strength first. The rest of the things could wait.
With every passing moment, his breathing got calmer. And just when the Enlightenment state was about to end, he finally managed to condense the last strand of internal energy.
And the moment he did, he felt the space inside his dantian tremble for a moment.
The strands which were squirming together, suddenly began to form a structure, and within a moment, they had formed the outline of a structure. But it was still incomplete, and Yang Ze wasn't able to make much of it.
"Phew..."
Exhaling a mouthful of turbid air, Yang Ze finally opened his eyes, and the moment he did, he felt his entire body brimming with strength.
If earlier, he only felt raw power, then right now, he feels energetic. It was as if no matter what he wanted to do, he was never going to run out of energy.
Pulse Opening... The realm where one condenses internal energy, which then, in turn, nourishes one's internal organs.
Yang Ze knew it was his organs getting strengthened. Perhaps it was because of how fast he stepped into this realm, the process of his organs being nourished was fastened too.
Clenching his fists, though the strength hadn't increased, he could feel endless energy in his body and coupled with the necklace, he could keep on fighting till the end of time without getting tired.
---------
As a new day dawned, Yang Ze was woken up by the gradually increasing noise around him.
"Aaaah!" With a yawn, he stretched his body, walked out of the shed and began to walk around. There was still time for the sunrise, so there weren't that many people roaming the streets. The majority of the people he saw were men who were doing odd jobs like cleaning, polishing the stones and many other miscellaneous things.
After roaming around aimlessly, he headed back to the inn and saw the innkeeper waiting for him.
"The young ladies have asked for you." Without waiting for him to respond, the man just got busy with other things.
*Sigh
Shaking his head, Yang Ze slowly made his way towards the room where the two of them were staying.
"You are here!" The moment he opened the door, Lin Yue spoke with a nod before signalling him to take a seat.
Compared to yesterday, her face was rather calm.
Sitting beside her was the figure of Xiao Ruolan, who was wiping a thin sword with a cloth, completely oblivious to his presence.
"Did you come up with a plan?" Yang Ze finally asked the most important question. Even if they wanted to enter the Duality sect in the absence of their top force, they still need to come up with a suitable plan. They can not just barge in directly.
"About that..." Lin Yue took a deep breath before whispering softly.
"I got the news that they have found some extraordinary things in the Ruins. The majority of the elders of the sect, as well as their leader, are headed there.
The only people in the sect right now are a handful of greenhorns who have just joined the sect."
"So...." Taking out a piece of paper from her robe, she laid it out in the open.
Surprisingly, it was a map.
"These are all the hidden entrances to the sect that we can take."
"And this..." Pointing towards one thin line amidst the dense array of lines, Lin Yue tapped on it. "This is the path that we will take."
Speaking till here, she turned around and took out a few clothes from a new leather bag and handed one to both Xiao Ruolen and Yang Ze.
"These are the clothes of the formal disciples of the Duality Sect. We will change into them when we are in the tunnel."
After explaining a few more things to both Yang Ze and Xiao Ruolan, Lin Yue finally clenched her fists in nervousness. Even though her plan was perfect, she was still nervous. After all, till now, she had only caused some small mischiefs in the family. But now... What she was going to do now was akin to putting her hand in the mouth of a hungry tiger.
"Where did you even get all this?" Holding the robe, Yang Ze couldn't help but ask her. He was truly surprised that she could come up with such a plan in the span of a single day.
"I have my own sources." Lin Yue wasn't in the mood to explain it, so she just shook it off.
"Now we wait..." Xiao Ruolan muttered softly as she gently stroked the sword.
Yang Ze, on the other hand, quickly signed in to her new talent.
[Congratulations on getting Escape Master(Blue)]
[Escape Master(Blue): Have a chance of randomly teleporting into a radius of one hundred meters. Can be used once a month.]
"Eh!?" Looking at the description, Yang Ze didn't know if he should be happy or sad.
If not for the fact that it was an RNG-type skill, this skill would have been incredibly useful even with such a short distance of teleportation.
"Forget it... It's better than nothing." Shaking his head, he quietly sat down.
----------------
Seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours as the time for their departure finally arrived.
The three of them looked at each other before standing up and leaving the room.
Though Yang Ze didn't want to go, he couldn't voice opposition under the murderous gaze of those two. He could only pray in his heart for everything to go smoothly.
Even though he wasn't fond of Lin Wan, he could now only pray for her escape. As for her taking advantage of him... with him taking such a risk for her, perhaps her opinion of him would improve, and she wouldn't treat him like trash.
After getting on their horses, the three of them left the city and, after two hours, under the darkness of the night, finally arrived at their destination.
It was a place on a cliff, surrounded by dense green vegetation. If not for the map, they would have never found this place.
Without wasting another moment, Xiao Ruolan handed Yang Ze a torch before kicking him in.
"Get changed into the dress." Lin Yue's voice came from behind him before Yang Ze heard the sound of rustling clothes.
"Tch..." Shaking his head, Yang Ze placed the torch on the ground, changed into the new robes and waited for a moment before both Lin Yue and Xiao Ruolan stepped in.
The three of them didn't waste another second before slowly making their way towards their destination.