2: Chapter 2 Su Qinghan's Demonic Assault

Over the next half month, the Outer Sect Herb Garden was unusually peaceful.

Su Qinghan kept her doors closed and cultivated bitterly day and night, attempting to Cultivate to numb the humiliation.

As for Qi Yang, he weeded and watered daily as usual, acting like a true old farmer.

Su Qinghan occasionally observed him through the window crack, discovering that this old man truly was only at the Qi Condensation Third Layer, panting heavily for a long while after working for a short time.

The vigilance in her eyes gradually turned into complete indifference.

Late at night, in the underground secret chamber.

Qi Yang sat cross-legged on the bronze stone platform, with a half-person-tall purple copper alchemical furnace placed before him.

"Almost done."

He patted his Storage Pouch, and over a dozen stalks of Spirit Medicine exuding rich Spiritual Qi flew out.

Century-old Purple Gold Grass, century-old Blood Ginseng, century-old Polygonatum... All were top-grade Spirit Medicine ripened by the black gourd!

The Qi Refining Stage is divided into twelve layers, with every three layers acting as a watershed.

With Mixed Spiritual Roots, absorbing Spiritual Qi is extremely slow, and cultivating normally to the Qi Condensation Third Layer is the limit.

But Qi Yang intended to rely on eating top-grade Spirit Medicine like meals to break through those shackles!

He formed hand seals with both hands, and a cluster of crimson pill fire ignited at the bottom of the Pill Furnace.

The Spirit Medicine was thrown into the Pill Furnace one by one.

Half an hour later, the furnace lid was lifted, and three round, plump Medicinal Pills exuding a peculiar fragrance fell into his palm.

First-grade peerless Breakthrough Pill!

"At the Peak of the Qi Condensation Third Layer, stuck for a full fifteen years, it is time to advance further."

Qi Yang swallowed a Medicinal Pill without hesitation.

Violent spiritual power exploded with a boom within his body.

He tightly closed his eyes, guiding the spiritual power to impact his extraordinary Meridians.

Spiritual Qi circulated frantically inside his body, and his bones emitted bursts of dull popping sounds.

Beneath Qi Yang's originally shriveled skin and flesh, blood and Qi were faintly churning.

He clenched his teeth tightly, not allowing himself to make the slightest sound.

After an unknown amount of time.

Boom!

A muffled sound came from within his body, and his Dantian Qi Sea suddenly expanded by more than double!

Qi Condensation Fourth Layer!

Feeling the surging power within his body, Qi Yang felt incomparably excited!

Stuck for fifteen years, he had finally achieved a Breakthrough.

He did not get up immediately, but instead continued to circulate his Cultivation Technique to stabilize the Dantian that had just been widened.

The Meridians of Mixed Spiritual Roots are very fragile, and he had to be extremely careful; the slightest carelessness would result in all previous efforts going to waste.

Just as Qi Yang was about to take out newly ripened Spirit Medicine to continue refining foundation-consolidating pills to solidify his Realm, his brows suddenly furrowed.

Powerful perception spread outward along the underground secret chamber.

On the ground, a wave of violent Spiritual Qi fluctuations came from the direction of the West Wing Room.

That Spiritual Qi was like a wild horse with broken reins, frantically colliding with the surrounding air, even causing the Spiritual Qi flow of the entire Outer Sect Herb Garden to become thoroughly chaotic.

"This lass, is she asking for death?"

Qi Yang opened his eyes, a trace of astonishment surfacing in them.

Su Qinghan was forcibly attempting a Breakthrough to the Qi Condensation 6th Layer!

Crossing each layer of the Qi Refining Stage requires massive Spiritual Qi support and absolute stability of the state of mind.

She had just suffered a great humiliation and her mind was in utter turmoil; attempting a Breakthrough forcefully at this time was simply courting death!

Qi Yang originally did not want to bother; what did this woman's life or death have to do with him?

But he quickly realized something was wrong.

This trend of Spiritual Qi berserk ran increasingly fierce; if she were allowed to explode, the defensive Formation of the entire Outer Sect Herb Garden would be torn apart.

By then, the people from the Law Enforcement Hall would definitely come to thoroughly investigate.

Those people from the Law Enforcement Hall had noses as sharp as dogs; in case they dug up any clues, discovered the underground secret chamber, or found the black gourd...

Absolutely not!

Having kept a low profile for so many years, he could not capsize at this point.

Qi Yang quickly stood up and returned to the ground along the stone steps.

The night was deep, and frantic spiritual light seeped through the window cracks of the West Wing Room, the wooden door trembling violently.

Qi Yang felt his way outside the window, and through the crack, he saw Su Qinghan sitting cross-legged on the bed, her complexion as pale as paper.

Her entire body was enveloped by violent Spiritual Qi, fine beads of blood even seeping from the surface of her skin, and her whole person was trembling violently.

Qi Deviation.

In another half-joss stick of time, her Meridians would shatter completely, and she would die from her body bursting.

Qi Yang felt out a small jade bottle from his Storage Pouch, inside of which were a few drops of juice from century-old bingxin grass.

This was the remaining material from when he previously refined calming pills.

He flicked his finger, and a drop of emerald-green juice flew out. At the same time, he mobilized the pure spiritual power of the newly broken-through Qi Condensation Fourth Layer within his body, wrapping around this drop of juice to turn it into an imperceptible breeze that drilled through the window crack.

The breeze accurately drilled into Su Qinghan's mouth and nose.

The extreme cold medicinal power of the century-old bingxin grass, mixed with Qi Yang's upright and peaceful spiritual power, instantly melted away inside Su Qinghan's body.

The manic Spiritual Qi was like being poured with a basin of ice water, abruptly stagnating.

Su Qinghan trembled all over, vomiting a large mouthful of black blood with a gasp, her whole body collapsing limply onto the bed and completely fainting away.

The Spiritual Qi fluctuations in the room rapidly subsided.

Qi Yang stood outside the window, carefully perceiving for a moment and confirming that she was only unconscious and her Meridians were preserved, before letting out a breath of relief.

With a wave of his hand, he swept away the footprints outside the window, erasing even the residual spiritual power aura lingering in the air, before turning around and returning to his own room.

The next morning, Su Qinghan opened her eyes with difficulty.

Her whole body's bones hurt as if they had fallen apart, but within her Meridians, there was a sense of fluency akin to surviving a catastrophe.

She looked at the pool of black blood on the bedsheet, her gaze somewhat dazed.

Last night, being impatient for success, she wanted to break through to the Qi Condensation 6th Layer, but the Heart Demon acted up, causing her Spiritual Qi to completely spiral out of control. She had thought she was dead for sure.

The agony of her Meridians being on the verge of bursting made her feel lingering fear even now when she thought about it.

Yet, she had actually survived?

Su Qinghan closed her eyes and introspected her body.

Although her Meridians were damaged, they were not severed.

What shocked her even more was that a trace of faint, cool medicinal power unexpectedly lingered deep within her Dantian.

This medicinal power was incomparably pure; it was definitely not her own!

"Someone saved me?"

Su Qinghan abruptly sat up, her gaze sweeping across her surroundings.

The doors and windows were tightly shut, with no trace of anyone having come.

Aside from her, the only person in this Outer Sect Herb Garden was that hundred-year-old man at the Qi Condensation Third Layer!

Qi Yang's face full of wrinkles and his hunched figure flashed through her mind.

Immediately, she shook her head, throwing this absurd thought out of her mind.

Impossible.

That old man could not even walk steadily; how could he possibly have the ability to pacify her berserk Spiritual Qi?

Moreover, the grade of that lingering trace of medicinal power was extremely high, something an outer Sect handyman could never produce.

"Could it be that some passing Elder in the Sect saw how pitiful I was and lent a hand along the way?"

Su Qinghan bit her lips, her gaze complicated.

Whoever it was, she would remember this favor.

She took a deep breath and began to sit cross-legged in meditation, slowly repairing her damaged Meridians.

Her injuries were very heavy; without half a month of recuperation, she could not possibly recover to her Peak.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

The Outer Sect Herb Garden remained lifeless.

At noon, the withered wooden door was kicked open by someone.

"Old thing, get out here!"

Outer Sect Deacon Wang Hu strutted in, his full face of flesh twitching, holding a wine gourd in his hand.

Qi Yang was watering the spirit rice. Hearing this, he slowly put down the water scoop, hunched his waist, and went to welcome him.

"Deacon Wang, why are you here? Weren't this month's Spirit Stones just handed in a few days ago?"

Qi Yang accompanied him with a smiling face, his full face of wrinkles bunching together.

"Cut the crap!"

Wang Hu impatiently interrupted him.

"That was last month's. This month the Sect's rules have changed, and the tribute from the Outer Sect Herb Garden is doubled!"

He looked at Qi Yang sideways, sneering repeatedly.

"What? Do you have an opinion?"

Qi Yang waved his hands repeatedly, looking panic-stricken and fearful.

"I dare not, I dare not. This old man will go fetch them right now."

Dawdling, he untied the Storage Pouch from his waist, poured out a few Low-Grade Spirit Stones, and handed them to Wang Hu.

Wang Hu grabbed the Spirit Stones, weighed them twice, and snorted coldly.

"Just this little? Are you trying to brush off a beggar?"

His eyeballs rolled, and his gaze fell upon the tightly shut wooden door of the West Wing Room.

"I heard that when that little girl from the Luoxia Sect married over, she brought quite a lot of dowry?"

Wang Hu licked his lips, a trace of greed and lust flashing in his eyes.

"Old thing, you trash with one foot in the grave, keeping those good things is also a waste. Why not take them out to honor this deacon? From now on in this outer Sect, I'll cover you!"

Saying this, he strode towards the West Wing Room.

Qi Yang's gaze turned cold, but his body immediately rushed forward, hugging Wang Hu's arm.

"You mustn't, Deacon Wang! That is the Sect Master's daughter; how would this old man dare to touch her things!"

"Get lost!"

Wang Hu shoved Qi Yang away with a single push.

The strength of the Qi Condensation 6th Layer was immense; Qi Yang took advantage of the momentum to step back more than ten paces, covering his chest and coughing violently.

Wang Hu walked up to the door of the West Wing Room and raised his foot to kick it.