31: Junior Brother Changge! Save me!

As Shen Jinghong placed her hand on it, this time, the spiritual testing jade erupted with an even more intense light than before.

Like a small azure sun, a sword-like hum emanated from the jade, and the characters that appeared on it were: Saint-Grade Medium Grade!

"Boom!"

Xuan Yangzi felt as if a thunderclap had exploded in his mind. He staggered back three steps, collapsing onto the ground, and the spiritual testing jade once again flew from his hand, rolling a few times on the ground.

He opened his mouth, making "ho ho" sounds in his throat. It took a full stick of incense before he suddenly let out a deafening roar:

"Saint-Grade! It's Saint-Grade! Two! My Azure Profound Sect's two Heaven-Grade Aptitude have actually both become Saint-Grade!"

He gesticulated wildly on the ground like a child, tears and snot smearing his face, then hugged his head and laughed maniacally.

"Heaven-Grade High Grade is already rare in a hundred years. Saint-Grade... this is going to infuriate the old monsters of other Sects to death!"

He suddenly pounced in front of Li Xuanfeng, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him vigorously, with enough force to almost crush his bones.

"You brat! You've actually leaped from King-Grade directly to Saint-Grade! You're going to overturn the heavens!"

Then he turned and pounced towards Shen Jinghong, looking at the faint Innate Sword Body radiance on her, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

"Girl! You were Heaven-Grade High Grade! Jinghong Sword Body, already a Sword Dao Genius, and then you just turn around and give me a Saint-Grade Medium Grade? And with an Innate Sword Body?!"

Li Xuanfeng was dizzy from Xuan Yangzi's shaking, but he stared intently at the characters on the spiritual testing jade, his heart pounding as if it would shatter his ribs.

Now, both of them actually possessed Saint-Grade Aptitude!!!

The legendary Saint-Grade Aptitude that, if one didn't die prematurely, would surely lead to becoming a Saint!!!

Immense ecstasy engulfed him like a tide, making him clench his fists uncontrollably, his knuckles turning white.

Shen Jinghong stood quietly in place, the Sword Qi at her fingertips trembling slightly due to her surging emotions.

Saint-Grade Medium Grade, Innate Sword Body... these terms, only seen in ancient texts, had now become her labels.

She lowered her head, looking at her palms, and for the first time, a fervent flame ignited in her clear, cold eyes.

It was an infinite yearning for the future, and an indescribable gratitude towards Gu Changge.

Xuan Yangzi suddenly stopped his excitement. He abruptly stood up, straightened his disheveled robes, and respectfully bowed three times towards Zizhu Peak.

After bowing, he turned and grabbed the two, his expression as serious as if he were revealing some earth-shattering secret.

"Remember! Your Aptitude, besides me and your Martial Uncle Gu, must never be known by a fifth person!"

After saying that, he couldn't help but rub his hands and chuckle foolishly, circling around the two, muttering repeatedly.

Inside the main hall, the lingering glow of the spiritual testing jade had not yet dissipated, illuminating the excited, shocked, or yearning faces of the three.

Xuan Yangzi suddenly slapped the table.

"No! Tomorrow, I must personally go to Zizhu Peak!"

Xuan Yangzi suddenly slapped his thigh, his eyes shining astonishingly, as if he had already seen some immense Opportunity.

"Ah?"

Li Xuanfeng was startled.

"What are you going to do?"

"What do you know!"

Xuan Yangzi glared at him, but his face was filled with uncontrollable excitement,

"Martial Uncle Gu has bestowed such a great Opportunity upon you all; how can I, as your Master, not even offer a proper thank you?"

"Besides, your Martial Uncle Gu is deeply hidden; who knows what other treasures he might have that we don't know about!"

As he spoke, he turned and rushed towards the inner hall, his steps stumbling but swift,

Muttering to himself: "I need to find something presentable... I can't go empty-handed!"

Li Xuanfeng and Shen Jinghong exchanged glances, both seeing helplessness in the other's eyes.

Xuan Yangzi rummaged through the mountain of storage rings, first pulling out a palm-sized warm jade, weighing it twice, then throwing it back.

"No, no, although this jade can nourish Spiritual Qi, in Changge's eyes, it's probably no different from a roadside pebble."

Next, he pulled out a Flying Sword shimmering with cold light, its blade engraved with intricate runes.

"This 'Azure Edge' was something I obtained by slaying a three-headed Purple Lightning Python back then, and in terms of grade, it's also a Heaven-Grade treasure..."

Before he finished speaking, he shook his head and sighed, "Forget it, forget it. The Medicinal Pills and spiritual liquid Changge casually gave you can defy fate and change destiny; taking out this Flying Sword would probably be a joke."

The more he searched, the more anxious he became, even breaking a sweat on his forehead. Finally, he squatted on the ground and tapped an unremarkable bluestone floor tile three times.

The floor tile "clicked" open, revealing a deep secret compartment where a black pottery wine jar lay quietly. The mouth of the jar was tightly bound with red cloth, and a yellowed talisman was affixed to it, faintly showing the words "Thousand Day Drunk."

"This is it!"

Xuan Yangzi's eyes suddenly lit up. He carefully embraced the wine jar, his wrinkles spreading with a smile.

"This jar of 'Thousand Day Drunk' was something I acquired from a brewing immortal Master on the border of the Demon Continent when I was young!

Back then, to get this jar of wine, I fought three demon cultivators for three days and three nights, almost losing my life there!"

He held the wine jar as if it were a rare treasure, his fingertips gently caressing its body.

"This wine is fermented with a thousand types of Spiritual Plants and has been aged for three hundred years. When opened, it can cause the Spiritual Qi within a hundred-mile radius to resonate!

I've kept it hidden for fifty years, unwilling to touch a single drop. When the Sect Grand Competition was held back then, so many people begged me to open it, but I still couldn't bear to!"

Li Xuanfeng was astonished. He had long heard that his Master had a jar of peerless fine wine, but he never expected such a history.

Xuan Yangzi re-affixed the talisman and then wrapped the wine jar with three layers of Restriction using Spiritual Qi before carefully putting it away as if it were a treasure.

Looking at his Master's happy and expectant expression, he suddenly had a feeling.

His Master wasn't going to give thanks; he clearly wanted to use this jar of peerless fine wine to "exchange" for more Opportunity from Martial Uncle Gu!

...The thin morning mist had not yet fully dispersed when a subtle sound came from in front of the bamboo house on Zizhu Peak.

Gu Changge had checked on Xiao Ruobai's progress in the back mountain and was preparing to return to the bamboo house for a nap.

He had just taken a step when he paused—he saw three pieces of cured meat hanging on the two Purple Bamboo at the entrance of Zizhu Peak.

No, it seemed to be people.

To be precise, it was Shi Wanshan and his two apprentices, tied up like zongzi and hanging from the old bamboo branches. As the morning breeze blew, the three swayed like grasshoppers strung on a rope.

Shi Wanshan's grey robe was wet with dew, clinging to his body and revealing his round belly.

His usually well-groomed, shiny beard was now messy, stained with a few bamboo leaves, making him look like a disheveled old man just pulled out of a mud pit.

"Junior Brother Changge! Save me!"

Shi Wanshan saw Gu Changge as if he had seen a savior, struggling to twist his body. As a result, the rope tightened even more, making him grimace in pain.

"This unreasonable barrier! I just wanted to visit, and it actually tied people up by itself!"

His two apprentices were even worse off; one was hanging face down, his head less than three feet from the ground, his nose almost touching the moss on the stones.

The other was hanging upside down, his face flushed, his tongue almost hanging out, and a bamboo leaf stuffed in his mouth.