Wun Fan successfully pushed his knight past the plain after a series of moves. Wun Ching Yeung smiled and moved his chariot slightly, putting it in front of the knight. He said enigmatically, “Knights that wander too deep into enemy territory often find themselves dead or injured. Sometimes, you have to watch where you step.”
“Mm, that might be true. It is frustrating to have a castle pointed at your knight. However, there is no retreat for a knight that has crossed into enemy territory.”
Wun Fan slammed his piece forward, determination gleaming in his eyes. Wun Ching Yeung couldn’t be prouder of his son. He had always admired Wun Fan’s personality. It was a shame that his actual power was so weak. He couldn’t understand why someone with such an excellent personality would be burdened with such a strange disease.
Was it really true that the heavens were often jealous of prodigies?
Wun Ching Yeung had hired countless famous medical practitioners to cure Wun Fan over the years, but no one could even identify the disease. A lot of money was spent and the cause remained unknown. This resulted in dissatisfaction and gossip about the whole situation. Rather than spending so many resources on a useless cripple, why not spend it on actually talented clan members? Wun Siu Lan, for instance. She might not be a descendant of the Wun Clan, but this incredibly talented girl still carried the hopes of many clan members on her back.
Wun Ching Yeung finally let Wun Fan go after a few more games of chess. The father and daughter left Wun Fan’s dwelling and went back to their own rooms.
Wun Fan lay on the bed, carefully reflecting on what Wun Ching Yeung had said earlier. He knew what his adoptive father was trying to say. He was warning him that he would probably be facing a lot of trouble in the upcoming days. Wun Fan must not let the second elder find an opportunity to exact his revenge. If he did find an opportunity, Wun Fan might not be able to survive whatever he had planned.
The reason for that was simple and yet completely unsolvable— he was too weak! The Wun Clan might put on a united front against outsiders, but there were plenty of conflicts and tension within. In fact, every large clan had the same problem.
From what Wun Fan understood, even Wun Ching Yeung could not remove the second elder from his position without good reason. It seemed to have something to do with the politics of the origin house of the Wun Clan, located in the capital…
At the moment, Wun Fan was like a horse that had crossed the plain into enemy territory. He wasn’t in immediate danger, but since he had offended the opponent, there was no more path of retreat left to him. He might as well charge forward and resist with all he had.
However, even an experienced housewife cannot cook without rice, nor can an excellent general fight with no troops. He had all the smarts and plans, but no power at all and that meant he was still in danger. As expected, power was the most important thing of all.
“Power? Right! I have that Soul Revival Pill!”
Wun Fan suddenly remembered the pill he got from Wah Ling Yi this afternoon. That was a pill that could help the soul recover completely and was Grade Eight. Its effects had to be marvellous. More importantly, it was a pill that even a Martial Disciple could use!
His father had hired many famous medical practitioners to examine his body and all of them had said that there was nothing wrong with him. However, none of them had ever examined his soul! This meant that it was very likely that the source of the condition was very likely his soul.
Wah Ling Yi also emphasised earlier that someone had asked her to deliver the pill to him. She was an incredibly powerful individual; someone whom she would listen to had to be equally incredible. If that mysterious person was certain that Wun Fan needed this pill, something might actually be wrong with his soul. Moreover, Wah Ling Yi said that it was a “charlatan” that asked her to give him the pill. Wun Fan couldn’t help but wonder if that “charlatan” was one of those mysterious soothsayers who could see the past and predict the future through astrology and divination.
Wun Fan took out the pill bottle at the thought of this. He looked at the bottle passionately and his hands couldn’t help but tremble. His power might finally improve today. He would forever leave behind the humiliating title of “Mr Level Six”.
Wun Fan could hardly repress his excitement at being able to move past the sixth level of Martial Disciple. He took a deep breath and regulated his breathing.
He had to calm down first!
His dwelling didn’t have the highest concentration of aether. The mountain in the back of the mansion was a better place for that. Moreover, no one entered the mountain at night. It shouldn’t be a problem if he consumed the pill there.
There was no point in waiting around. Wun Fan brought a dagger in case of an emergency and snuck onto the mountain in the dark of night.
A short while later, he arrived at the mountain. He saw no one around the lake and only the bullfrogs’ croaking could be heard echoing in the woods. Wun Fan was not in a hurry to swallow the Soul Revival Pill. First, he approached the lake and sat cross-legged on the ground. He relaxed, let his focus reach its peak, let his spirit recover and let his body regain the aether it had used today.
Wun Fan felt the aether dissolve in his lungs with every breath. He felt it flow with his blood and felt it fill his first six vital pressure points: the Kunlun Point, the Yangling Spring Point, the Three-Mile Point, the Yinmen Point, the Loop-Jump Point and the Backcreek Point.
Every vital point filled was another level progressed on the path of a Martial Disciple; six vital points filled made Wun Fan a sixth-level Martial Disciple. The Point of Joining Valleys in Wun Fan’s left hand was filled. This meant that he was halfway to becoming a seventh-level Martial Disciple. However, he didn’t dare feed even a single strand of aether to the Point of Joining Valleys in his right hand. He could already feel an invisible pulling force emanating from his right hand; a force like a whirlpool, drawing on the aether in his other six vital points.
“It’s time!”
Wun Fan’s sixth sense told him that the time had come! He opened his eyes, his black eyes gleaming brightly. He took out the jade bottle and decisively opened the cork. He tipped the pill out of the bottle and caught it between two fingers. He admired the pill’s round, flawless appearance. Elaborate patterns wound around the round pill as its fragrance filled the air. Just a sniff of the fragrance alone was enough to make Wun Fan’s fatigue vanish entirely. He felt the overwhelming power contained inside the pill. The energy it contained was probably enough to cause him to blow up several times over.
Could he really swallow something like this?
However, he thought about what Wah Ling Yi said earlier. Someone as powerful as her wouldn’t lie to him, would she? Wun Fan gritted his teeth. Cowards die with empty bellies, daredevils die from overeating. What was the worse to come? Dying again?
He had already lived a dozen more years than he should have. It was more than worth it already. Who knows? Maybe he might get another life if he died again this time.
At that thought, Wun Fan tossed the pill into his mouth fearlessly.
“It’s bitter!”
He had wanted to chew the pill, but it melted immediately upon entering his mouth. The medicinal liquid poured down his throat and into his stomach. The terrifying power of the pill erupted in his stomach; it passed through his stomach and flowed through his veins, surging past his six vital points and breaking through the Points of Joining Valleys, the Inner Pass Point and the Curved Pond Point. The surge of aether was overwhelming and unstoppable! Its goal was simple— to reach the Wind Pond Point and fill it entirely!
Wun Fan was overjoyed to see this. He didn’t expect the pill to have such a targeted effect, like an arrow aimed at the bull’s eye.
The fearsome and immense power of the pill excavated and expanded the three pressure points, tempering and strengthening the meridians through which it travelled. Wun Fan was elated when he felt the full effects of the pill. Ninth-level Martial Disciple, he had finally achieved it! He could feel all nine of his vital pressure points being tempered by the power of the pill. He closed his eyes and drew on the aether within his body. He was prepared to keep breaking through!
As long as the pill can help him break through ten vital points, all he needed was time. All he had to do was fill the excavated vital points with aether and he would be one step away from becoming a Martial Mortal!
What better time was there to break through? The tenth vital point, the Wind Pond Point, was his!
The Wind Pond Point was next to the Wind Mansion Point. Each was located on one side of the cervical spine, where connections to the brain were made. Once the Wind Pond Point was open, he would be able to use it as a connecting node to mix his mental energy with his aether. In doing so, he would be able to manifest soul energy and become a Martial Mortal!
Moreover, the pill’s power was primarily beneficial to the soul. Naturally, it was aimed at the brain where the mental energy was stored. Thus, Wun Fan’s aether functioned like a catalyst. It merged with the pill’s power and charged rapidly at the Wind Pond Point!
“I, Wun Fan, am finally a Martial Mortal!”
Wun Fan felt his heart burn with passion. Very few things had made him so excited ever since he arrived in this other world. However, this current situation had made him so exhilarated, he was almost on the verge of losing his rationality. He forced himself to calm down and suppressed his emotions. He had to focus on controlling his aether first.
However, something unexpected happened. The Point of Joining Valleys in his right hand, which had remained silent so far, was finally stirring. A whirlpool of energy formed, halting the momentum of the pill’s power. All the aether and pill power in Wun Fan’s body was once again being dragged into the whirlpool that was located at the Point of Joining Valleys. The pill’s power had just arrived at the entrance of the Wind Pond Point, but it was starting to recede now.
What the fuck! What is going on?
Wun Fan was stunned. Wasn’t this whole situation a problem with his soul?
He could feel the pill’s power receding to the Inner Pass Point. He had been a hair away from breaking through the Wind Pond Point and now his dreams of becoming a Martial Mortal had popped like a bubble. Wun Fan refused to let things be. He breathed faster, replenishing the aether in his body, but it was pointless. The whirlpool only grew faster and faster, absorbing all his aether and the pill’s power into the Point of Joining Valleys. Even the aether that had come to rest in the other Point of Joining Valleys, the Inner Pass Point and the Curved Pond Point were drawn away, leaving the three vital points empty and withered.
The whirlpool seemed to have no intention of leaving the slightest aether for Wun Fan.
The overwhelming power of the pill appeared helpless in the face of the Point of Joining Valleys. Wun Fan was now at the mercy of his right hand. He continued trying to control his aether with all he had.
“Why…aaagh!”
Wun Fan’s eyes turned red. Veins protruded on his head. Unending fury and resentment burned in his heart. Specks of blood seeped out of his eyes, even staining his lashes.
Wun Fan looked at his right hand. An impulse overtook him. He should cut it off! Let’s see how it will absorb my aether now!
He drew the dagger from his belt and looked on as the right hand continue to take ever more of the pill’s power away from him. He smiled coldly. He had made up his mind. He would cut off this useless hand!542Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZYqDaDr1yp
