Hu Zhongxuan's expression was excited as he quickly walked over.

He immediately took the two eighth-grade pills from your hand and carefully examined them.

Feeling the faint residual heat of the pills burning slightly in his hand, Hu Zhongxuan laughed loudly while looking up at the sky.

"Excellent! Excellent, my good junior nephew, it’s not far now, finally not far!!"

After a burst of laughter, Hu Zhongxuan soared into the sky and flew toward the capital city.

You stared at your empty hands, stunned for a moment: "Hey? Wait a minute, give me back the pills, Old Deng! Those are eighth-grade pills!!"

Hu Zhongxuan was so excited he didn’t hear a thing.

Within a few breaths, he had flown far away; you couldn’t even catch up if you wanted to.

You were extremely annoyed: "I’ve always been the one sneaking things from others, but today someone sneaked something from me—what a humiliation, an absolute disgrace!"

Watching Hu Zhongxuan’s figure grow smaller and smaller, you gradually calmed down.

A thoughtful glint flickered in your eyes.

Hu Zhongxuan had sounded very happy when he said he could get Earth Source, but you knew he must be paying a huge price.

He didn’t say where the Earth Source came from, but you could roughly guess it was provided by Li Anlong.

Because Hu Zhongxuan had few connections among the martial world sects, the only way to obtain Earth Source was to ask from imperial relatives and high-ranking officials.

Given the rarity of Earth Source, the only one who could spare extra Earth Source was Li Anlong.

You stroked your chin: "Li Anlong provides the Earth Source... so what’s the price?"

"As your senior uncle is a key official in the court, unless Li Anlong asks him to commit suicide on the spot, Li Anlong can basically make your senior uncle do anything."

"But Li Anlong gave your senior uncle a piece of Earth Source..."

"What kind of matter requires Li Anlong to additionally give your senior uncle Earth Source for him to devote himself fully?"

You couldn’t think of an answer for now, but you believed the answer would come soon.

Because the thing Hu Zhongxuan is going to do definitely isn’t small, whether it succeeds or fails, you should know about it.

You went back to focus on your own cultivation.

Seven months later.

Relying on your world-rare comprehension ability, you finally grasped a whole Earth Source sword qi without Lin Mo’s guidance.

You somewhat missed Lin Mo’s rapid pace of leading you to comprehend four pieces of Earth Source in five months, but unfortunately, his enlightenment no longer had much effect on you.

You had currently comprehended twenty-one of the twenty-four Earth Source sword qis, with only three remaining to unlock.

Your Nine Condensations Profound Skill had completed eight rounds of true qi condensation, with only the last one left to complete the entire true qi condensation of the Essence Refining realm.

Now the bone quality improvement brought by the Nine Condensations Profound Skill became very obvious; your martial talent was comparable to the direct disciples of the five major sects.

Your talent was soon validated.

One month later.

Boom—

Centered on you, a circle of transparent shockwaves rippled outward.

Your dark green robe fluttered wildly.

The small courtyard’s houses shook several times before finally standing crooked and unstable; your house instantly became a dangerous building.

Your martial realm directly advanced into the late Essence Refining stage!

"Awesome! Totally awesome!!"

Now even without unleashing Earth Source sword qi, late-stage Grandmaster warriors couldn’t withstand your single strike.

You didn’t stop and further cultivated the Heavenly Desire Formless Technique to the late Essence Refining stage.

Now you could fight, run, and had a deadly trump card—you were strong in all aspects.

You had never been this confident before.

With abnormal confidence, you recalled your minor friction with Li Yu and Duan Qian.

You clenched your fist and said in a low voice: "Prince Yongning Li Yu, huh? Today I... uh... maybe tomorrow, or the day after... well, maybe in a few years, I will definitely make you pay!"

The more you spoke, the more hesitant your expression became because you realized Li Yu was at the peak of Grandmaster realm and couldn’t be defeated without injury for now.

"Today, I’ll just let you off the hook!" you muttered viciously to yourself.

"Yu He, who are you letting off the hook?" A cool and lively voice came.

Wan Qingluan appeared in the courtyard, her brows and eyes smiling at you.

You looked up calmly: "You’re here, my ordinary friend."

Wan Qingluan’s mouth twitched slightly as she pulled a book from her arms: "Sect-level martial skill, Guarding Gate Body Technique!"

Your expression instantly brightened as you quickly walked over with a flattering smile: "You’re too kind, my good friend!"

You reached out and took the martial skill, flipping through it excitedly.

Your eyes held only a thirst for the sect martial skill, without any other emotions.

Wan Qingluan’s face was cool and calm as she slightly raised her head to look at you; her eyes glittered with a mysterious light.

After a brief look, you understood the Guarding Gate Body Technique was a body strengthening martial skill that required collecting blood from fierce beasts to integrate into your own body to enhance physique.

The stronger the physique of the beast, the better the strengthening effect for the practitioner.

Wan Qingluan told you there was once a martial artist with very poor talent who gave up martial arts and focused on collecting various fierce beast bloods to integrate into himself.

Eventually, that martial artist’s physical body strength reached a level second only to the Ultimate Grandmaster.

If that martial artist hadn’t reached the end of his lifespan, his limit could have increased further, possibly reaching the level comparable to the Ultimate Grandmaster’s physical body.

Therefore, the Guarding Gate Body Technique’s upper limit was very high, but it required collecting a huge variety of blood to be effective—it was a martial skill relying not only on strength but also on luck.

"Can it really make the body comparable to an Ultimate Grandmaster?" you asked excitedly.

Wan Qingluan lightly laughed: "Yes."

You were thrilled: "Great! Little Wan, I hereby declare that from today, our good friend relationship is upgraded; you are promoted to my sworn friend. Congratulations!"

Wan Qingluan smiled intoxicatedly, her voice like a clear mountain stream: "Alright~"

You sincerely smiled back.

You smiled because the Guarding Gate Body Technique was tailor-made for you; since you could simulate endlessly, you had no worry about lifespan exhaustion.

Theoretically, you could collect the blood of every fierce beast in the world.

Moreover, the upper limit of the Guarding Gate Body Technique was unknown. If the limit was the Ultimate Grandmaster, you had already gained a lot; if the limit was even higher, you would profit immensely.

You would become an Ultimate Grandmaster sooner or later, and with the Guarding Gate Body Technique, your physical body would be a super-enhanced version even among Ultimate Grandmasters!

"And..." you thought quietly, "if I capture fierce beasts and raise them in captivity, feeding them pills daily, their physique will surely become stronger. Then if I bleed them one by one, wouldn’t I get super beast blood!!"

The more you thought about it, the more feasible it seemed, and you couldn’t help laughing out loud: "Hahaha, I’m a genius!!"

Wan Qingluan tilted her head slightly in puzzlement: "In what way?"

"Every way!"

Wan Qingluan smiled faintly: "Then why is your cultivation realm still below mine..."

You hurriedly interrupted: "Shut your fragrant mouth! Don’t say things that hurt feelings!"

"How do you know it’s fragrant?"

"I knew it!"

"You’ve tasted it?"

"None of your business!"

Wan Qingluan fell silent, pursed her moist, red lips, and a small arc appeared at the corner of her mouth.

You felt your mouth go a bit dry as well.

"Thirsty?" you asked.

"What?"

"Mm~"

You suddenly hugged Wan Qingluan tightly and pressed your lips against hers.

Soft and fragrant, she melted into your embrace as you indulged yourself.

Little Wan was caught off guard and responded clumsily.

After a long while, the lips parted.

In Wan Qingluan’s eyes, ripples of water flowed; her cool, pale cheeks added a few more charms.

You suddenly lifted Wan Qingluan in a horizontal embrace; she laughed lightly and wrapped her arms around your neck.

You smiled faintly: "Since the atmosphere is set, let me take you to see my special bed!"

"What’s so special about it?"

"It has four bedposts!"

"Hehe, that’s so special, I have to see it!"

…Here omitted one hundred thousand words.