A wide grin spread across Li Xinran’s face. She was ecstatic. Zhao Rui was the absolute best.
’If another chance like this cos up, how could they possibly leave out?’
"That was incredible, Zhao Rui!"
Everyone gave him a thumbs-up.
"Alright, it’s no big deal. Don’t forget we’re Martial Arts Students. Becoming a Grandmaster is our true dream."
Zhao Rui said with a smile.
"I don’t care about becoming a Grandmaster. I just want to be an actress."
Li Xinran chuckled.
"You’re the one holding us back. You want to be an actress? Fine. When you reach Level 9, I’ll keep an eye out for opportunities for you."
"What? Level 9?"
Li Xinran instantly deflated. Since leaving the Martial Arts Team, she hadn’t even broken through to Level 8 yet.
She had already fallen far behind the others.
"Alright, to beco an actress, I’ll give it my all!"
Li Xinran clenched her fists, suddenly full of drive.
Soon, the group arrived at the restaurant, and a lively bout of eating and drinking naturally ensued.
...
The night air in Dongqi Province was just right, neither cold nor hot.
Inside a modified secret chamber within a two-story Western-style house.
Shen Xinzhu sat primly on a ditation cushion. Before her, several small incense burners emitted wisps of fragrant smoke.
The secret chamber was lined with all sorts of oddly shaped talismans, their patterns bizarre and hastily scrawled, their forms utterly indecipherable.
The entire chamber was unlit, yet the swirling smoke and strange patterns combined to form a bizarre and colorful spectacle.
"Saintess!"
Soone called out softly from outside the chamber.
"Co in!"
Shen Xinzhu’s eyes remained closed as her rosy lips parted slightly.
The words had barely left her lips when the chamber door swung open on its own, revealing a strikingly beautiful woman who stepped inside.
Had Zhao Rui been present, he would have recognized her at once. It was none other than Youyou, who had not been seen for a very long ti.
"I am not yet the Saintess. When we are out in public, you may simply call Xinzhu."
Shen Xinzhu opened her eyes slightly, a sharp glint flashing within them before vanishing.
"Yes!"
Youyou answered respectfully before continuing, "According to feedback from our personnel across the provinces, there has been a suspected sighting of otherworldly individuals in Sichuan Province. The specifics are unclear."
"Mm. Master’s words are coming to pass. The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi grows more pervasive by the day, and more Spiritual Abysses are appearing. I fear that in less than five years, the world of the Martial Dao will face a drastic change."
"Saintess, what should we..."
"The great tide is irreversible. This is our chance to reshape the world. The world’s resources are finite. It’s ti they were redistributed."
"You speak wisely, Saintess."
"That is all. You may go. As for Zhao Rui, you should increase your contact with him. I’m afraid I won’t be making any progress on my end anyti soon."
"Yes, Saintess!"
Youyou acknowledged the order, bowed, and retreated from the secret chamber.
’Master said that during the clash between the nurous orthodox and demonic experts, this Zhao Rui not only survived against all odds but even managed to turn the tide. He must be a person blessed with great destiny.’
’He told to stay by his side, to bide my ti and assess the situation, and to borrow his destiny to advance my own cultivation.’
’But he is only at the True Transformation Realm. How could he possibly help ?’
When the chamber door closed again, Shen Xinzhu mused for a mont before closing her eyes once more. Her hands ford a spell, and the True Qi around her body imdiately began to flow.
Wisps of smoke rose from the censers before her, suddenly coalescing into sharp swords of ash that shot toward the talismans hanging on the walls.
In an instant, they left a series of tiny, stippled marks upon the talismans.
Then, without dissipating, the ashen marks shifted downward by an inch.
It turned out she was drawing the characters on these talismans by projecting her True Qi.
The deep night was as still as water, filled with the chirping of insects.
At dawn, a faint ray of light pierced through a crack into the Wall-Facing Chamber, falling upon Zhao Rui’s still-youthful face.
He let out a long, turbid breath, rousing himself from his ditative state.
After another long session of contemplation, Zhao Rui felt as though he had touched a thin barrier. It seed that with the right catalyst, he could break through at any mont.
But what that catalyst might be, he did not know.
Through allocating points, his Inner Strength had long surpassed the peak level achievable through the Transformation Scripture.
He had opened twenty-eight Acupoints, and the rate at which True Qi from the outside world poured into his body already allowed him to wield Grandmaster-Level True Qi without actually being in the Grandmaster Realm.
With this level of power, he was likely not the least bit inferior to Captain Gu, who had already left the team.
’So what is the catalyst?’
Zhao Rui frowned, lost in thought.
After pondering for a long while, he stood up with a solemn expression and pushed open the door to the Wall-Facing Chamber.
He faced the rising sun and gazed into the distance.
’Having been reborn into this life, what shackles still bind my heart?’
’The path of the Martial Dao stretches on, boundless. What is the purpose of this climb?’
Zhao Rui remained silent, simply walking straight ahead. He had no destination, no reason.
Following his heart, letting go of his worries, he just kept walking forward.
He passed through Mingcan Courtyard, left the Dongqi University campus, and walked along a wide, empty suburban road.
The sun climbed higher, its warmth blanketing him like a pair of large hands caressing his delicate form.
It was as if a Red Infant Nascent Soul had just erged from its cocoon, greedily soaking in the warmth of the world.
Zhao Rui walked on.
The number of pedestrians on the street gradually increased. There were parents taking their children to school, people heading off to work, and others eating breakfast by the roadside.
The bustling, lively morning was filled with the vibrant energy of the mortal world.
In his past life, he had lived in diocrity. For honor, for survival, for his family, he had striven for over a decade, only to fail in the end due to his lack of talent.
’Now, reborn in this life, I can feel the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and comprehend the true aning of the Martial Dao. Compared to my past life, how much more free and unrestrained I am.’
’Unrestrained!’
A light sparked in Zhao Rui’s eyes. ’Free and at ease!’
’The path forward is wherever my heart takes .’
’What does the True Transformation Realm matter? What does the Grandmaster Realm matter?’
Zhao Rui’s Inner Strength surged without end. His twenty-eight Acupoints connected with heaven and earth, and an inexhaustible stream of True Qi poured into his body.
It gradually dispersed throughout his limbs and bones, churning ceaselessly along with his Inner Strength.
The various Martial Arts he had learned surfaced in Zhao Rui’s mind. A move would manifest the instant he thought of it.
The Inner Strength in his body began to shift, cycling from the Carefree Divine Skill to the Seven-Star Divine Skill, and then from the Seven-Star Divine Skill into the Heavenly Demon Illusionary Sound Technique.
Afterward, it transford from the Illusionary Sound Technique into the Six Yi Charm Immortal True Qi.
As he walked, the aura around his body flickered in and out of existence, and his pace grew ever faster.
To the passersby, he was just a montary blur, and then no one noticed his presence at all.
He walked on like this for an unknown length of ti, until all he could see before him were fields of tender green.
The surging True Qi around him suddenly dissipated. Even the True Qi being absorbed through his Acupoints vanished the instant it entered his body.
However, Zhao Rui was still lost in his mont of insight and didn’t notice the True Qi had vanished.
He was still churning his Inner Breath.
"Make way, make way! The ox is loose!"
Just then, a voice suddenly shouted from behind him.
A large yellow ox was charging wildly in Zhao Rui’s direction.
Fifty ters, twenty ters, ten ters!
"Look out!"
The person behind him yelled out an anxious warning, but Zhao Rui paid it no mind.
Eight ters, five ters! Three ters, one ter!
The instant the ox’s head reached him, Zhao Rui’s figure flickered. He dodged its body and, with a swift motion of his right hand, seized one of its horns.
Releasing a slight burst of Force from his hand, he wrestled the charging beast to the ground.
"MOO... OOO..."
The yellow ox let out a helpless, mournful cry.
The man behind him watched this scene, dumbfounded. It took him a long mont before he scrambled to secure the rope to the ox’s head.
"I’m so sorry, so sorry!"
After securing the rope, he hurriedly began to apologize, but after only a few words, he looked up to find the man was already gone.
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