Chapter 20

"How is this possible?"

After confirming the faint but truly existing true qi within her body several times, Su Qingzhi was completely stunned.

The Su family, from which she came, was also an old established family in Bazhou. For a family in such a small place, internal competition was severe. If a talented descendant appeared, it could make the family flourish for decades.

Conversely, if there were no outstanding figures in one or two generations, the family would quickly decline.

The Liu family was a positive example; one Liu Zhe made the Liu family leap to become the most prominent family in Jiangzhou.

The negative example was the Su family. The Su family had once been glorious, but after several generations without any outstanding figures, it declined.

In this generation, there was only one fifth-rank member left to uphold the family's reputation.

There were no rules about passing down only to males in the family. Regardless of gender, everyone had to practice martial arts from a young age.

Su Qingzhi's father was the current family head, and she had received guidance from him since childhood.

However, no matter how hard she tried, she could not cultivate even a trace of true qi.

All along, she had thought she was a useless person who could not practice martial arts.

Until two months ago, when she went to a temple outside the city to offer incense, she encountered an old Taoist. The old Taoist was greatly alarmed upon seeing her and said she possessed the legendary Ice Muscle Jade Bone.

This news quickly spread.

Then, she inexplicably made it onto the Red Beauty List, ranking thirteenth.

And this brought a clan-destroying disaster to the Su family.

This so-called Ice Muscle Jade Bone had brought too much misfortune to Su Qingzhi. Because of this, she could not cultivate from a young age and was seen as a useless person by others.

And because of this, she made it onto the Red Beauty List, causing her family to be destroyed.

Now, she could actually cultivate and had truly condensed a thread of true qi.

The physical problem that had plagued her for over a decade was mysteriously solved?

Su Qingzhi was almost overwhelmed with joy.

...

"This talent—"

While Su Qingzhi was circulating her qi, Gu Yang noticed it. After she completed one cycle, a subtle light flashed in his eyes, and he couldn't help but sigh.

He had probed her and knew that there was an extremely yin aura in her meridians. In her condition, it was impossible to condense true qi.

Unless a third-rank expert or higher used true qi to help her dispel the yin aura in her meridians, she could not practice martial arts like a normal person.

Last night, he accidentally used the Red Sun True Qi to neutralize the yin aura in her body.

So, this was probably her first formal cultivation. In less than a quarter of an hour, she had a sense of qi and condensed her first thread of true qi.

Such talent was absolutely top-notch.

If he had such talent, he would have probably broken through to the first rank long ago.

Thinking of this, Gu Yang felt a bit choked up.

He had undergone so many life simulations, practicing for over a hundred years in total, and had only just broken through to the sixth rank. The difference in talent was truly incomparable.

...

An hour later, Gu Yang and the others continued their journey. This time, he decisively released the extra horses, keeping only four, and also abandoned the weapons with the Liu family's emblem.

They traveled during the day and camped at night. Ten days later, they finally left the mountains.

Before descending the mountain, Gu Yang released the four horses and discarded the tents and other items left by the Liu family.

At this point, Gu Yang and the others were left with only their personal belongings.

After descending the mountain, Gu Yang did not choose to stay in a village or market that night. Instead, he found a dilapidated temple in the wilderness to spend the night.

Zhang Xiaohai was very efficient. He started a fire, cleaned the temple, and laid some dry grass in the corner.

The four of them sat by the fire, and Gu Yang continued to teach them martial arts.

Zhang Xiaohai and Zhixing both had good talent.

Zhixing had some foundation and quickly entered the gate with guidance.

Zhang Xiaohai excelled in diligence, knowing that martial arts were the only chance to change his fate, and practiced extremely hard.

However, the most talented Su Qingzhi encountered trouble.

Since she discovered she could cultivate, she was overjoyed, finally seeing hope for revenge.

But in the following days, her progress slowed. More terrifyingly, the true qi she had painstakingly cultivated gradually disappeared.

By the day before yesterday, the last thread of true qi in her body had dissipated.

It was as if she had returned to the beginning.

Su Qingzhi was extremely anxious but had no solution, once again experiencing the despair of being unable to cultivate.

Over the past two days, she had thought about it and guessed the truth behind her sudden ability to cultivate.

It must have been related to the night Gu Yang helped her drive out the cold.

She sat in the corner, watching Gu Yang's large shadow on the wall, listening to him explain the essentials of the *Xuan Yuan Gong* sentence by sentence, biting her lips, and finally made up her mind.

...

Night fell.

Zhang Xiaohai was meditating alone in the corner.

Gu Yang was meditating with his eyes closed. Suddenly, he heard a series of "ge ge..." sounds of teeth chattering, slightly startled, then a smile appeared on his lips.

For so many days, this young lady had not spoken a single word to him. Her personality was truly stubborn.

Now, she finally couldn't hold it in anymore.

These past few days, he had never hidden from Su Qingzhi while teaching Zhang Xiaohai and Zhixing the *Xuan Yuan Gong*. He had been waiting for this moment.

"Miss, are you okay?"

The young servant Zhixing asked worriedly, then exclaimed, "Brother Gu, it's bad! Miss's body is so cold, like an ice block. You must come and see."

Gu Yang got up and walked over. Seeing Su Qingzhi huddled there, he touched her forehead, which was icy cold.

With a serious expression, he said, "This is bad. The yin cold has entered her body. If this continues, she will soon die from hypothermia."

Zhixing panicked and said, "What should we do?"

"To save her, there is only one way. Remove her clothes, and I will hold her in my arms, skin-to-skin, and circulate the *Xuan Yuan Gong* to warm her up. Perhaps this can save her life."

"Ah? This... this..."

Zhixing was dumbfounded by this method of rescue.

"At this moment, why are you concerned about such trivialities? Do you want her to freeze to death?"

Zhixing, hearing the word "death," gritted her teeth and said, "Alright." She reached out to untie the miss's waistband.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed hers.

Zhixing looked and saw that it was her miss, who had opened her eyes. She exclaimed in surprise, "Miss, you're finally awake!"

Su Qingzhi ignored her and glared at Gu Yang with gritted teeth.

She knew he was doing this on purpose.

Gu Yang didn't look at her and said, "Since she's awake, it means she's fine." He returned to his original position and sat down.

Su Qingzhi's eyes reddened, her chest heaving rapidly. She could no longer hold back and demanded, "Why are you doing this to me?"