Chapter 62

Wei He had already run halfway up the mountain.

He had deduced from the newness of the bronze furnace, the tables and chairs, the torches, and the inner walls that the earth fort must have been newly built.

Moreover, even the tables and chairs were new, and there were no footprints on the surrounding ground.

There was also a pitch-black tunnel under the cage, and a strange beastly smell at the tunnel entrance.

All these arrangements made him think of a special structure: a trap cage.

He made a quick decision and swiftly moved away.

"Stop!"

Suddenly, a group of white-robed fat men emerged from the dark forest ahead.

Two nearly three-meter-tall huge fat men led the group, each followed by two of the white-robed fat men that Wei He had killed before.

They met on a narrow path, with pairs of green-eyed wolves on both sides.

Wei He's sharp senses immediately detected that the two large fat men in front had blood and qi surging like a flood, making a loud sound, which was extremely exaggerated.

That level of strength... far exceeded the second stage of blood and qi.

The eyes of each fat man focused on Wei He.

Especially the two large fat men in front, their gaze alone made Wei He feel his skin tighten and sting.

These two must be at the third stage of blood and qi!

His heart raced, knowing it was not good. The back of Shaoyang Mountain was indeed extremely dangerous. Fortunately, he had not dared to take the risk before, or he would have been in trouble long ago.

"Why are you coming down the mountain alone?" The large fat man on the left asked, looking at the white-robed, ball-like figure in front of him.

Although it was dark, he could still tell that the person was wearing the clothes of their sect and was very fat, so it must be one of their own.

"I lost something while patrolling just now, so I came back to look for it carefully," Wei He quickly replied, suppressing his voice.

"You..." The three-meter-tall fat man on the right was a bit puzzled. They were fat, but few were as round as the person in front of them.

"Why are you so round?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Reporting to the master, I was born with this constitution..." Wei He said, feigning helplessness.

"Being so round, won't you just roll down the mountain instead of walking in the future?" The large fat man on the right couldn't help but laugh.

The surrounding fat men burst into laughter.

"Go ahead, go ahead. The signal was just sent from the mountain. Come back quickly if you find anything. This old dog Chen never lets us rest."

The two large fat men led their group up the mountain quickly.

Wei He continued down the mountain, gradually accelerating, faster and faster.

Finally, he started running.

He tore off his white robe and threw it away, revealing a circle of inflatable leather waist bag underneath.

He opened the waist bag, and a burst of air escaped.

This was a special device he had designed specifically for the Shaoyang Sect, to facilitate disguise in emergencies. It was a bit too round, so he would need to modify it next time.

After all, the Shaoyang Sect was very distinctive, with all its members extremely fat, making it hard for anyone to perfectly impersonate them.

But Wei He had encountered them many times on the mountain and observed them closely, so he could mimic them well.

Unfortunately, he couldn't capture any live captives this time. It seemed he had stumbled upon the Shaoyang Sect setting up an ambush for someone, almost falling into their trap.

However, this trip wasn't entirely fruitless.

Wei He reached out and touched his waist, where he had taken most of the items from the fat men he had killed.

"I can only wait for the next time. Too bad, my luck wasn't good."

However, this trip also helped him identify his own issues.

That is, his foundation was still the Five Ridge Palm, not the Return Mountain Fist.

His blood and qi foundation had not been fully complemented by the Nine Dawn Flowers of the Return Mountain Fist, but remained the Five Ridge Palm.

In other words, he was now a third-stage blood and qi expert of the Five Ridge Palm, disguised as a third-stage blood and qi expert of the Return Mountain Fist.

When he used the Five Ridge Palm, he felt his blood and qi flow smoothly, but with the Return Mountain Fist, it always felt less fluid, somewhat sluggish, and lacking in power.

He speculated that the impact during the third-stage blood and qi breakthrough might have been different, leading to different bodily transformations.

In other words, the Nine Dawn Flowers he had condensed might be fake?

Would he need to use a Breakthrough Pearl to break through again to complete it?

Wei He guessed that this might be the most likely possibility. After reaching the Nine Dawn Flowers, he couldn't advance further with the Return Mountain Fist, unlike Master Zheng, who could continue to explore the essence of power.

After the third-stage blood and qi reached perfection, one could simulate the fundamental diagram's intent by fully vibrating the blood and qi, exploring the essence of power. Then, one could gradually familiarize, master, and perfect it, eventually achieving great success.

In other words, after the third-stage blood and qi, there was no specific technique that Master Zheng could teach. Each person's entry into the essence of power was different, depending on their constitution, state, and mindset.

According to Master Zheng, even if both used the Return Mountain Fist, the power of two martial artists who had entered the essence of power would differ in strength, range, and clarity.

From this, it seemed that his Nine Dawn Flowers had only increased his total blood and qi, but the fundamental diagram's intent was not fully realized, and his realm was incomplete. He needed more refinement.

Returning to Feiye City, Wei He waited in the shadows outside the city wall for half the night until dawn.

The city gates opened.

He tore off his night clothes, put on a mask, and entered the city gate with his head down.

Back home, he had a good sleep, then sorted his loot. Indeed, the fat men were hidden rich.

From the two fat men, he found two bags of poison powder, two vials of poison water, nearly six hundred taels of gold notes, and some gold leaves and gold beans.

One of them also carried a partial secret manual called the Heart Crossing Technique, a palm technique. It could only be practiced up to the second stage of blood and qi, so it had little value.

Wei He kept it as a collection and threw it into a hidden compartment.

After a short rest, he went to the Return Mountain Fist Academy, practicing as usual, pretending nothing had happened.

After the third stage of blood and qi, he didn't dare to use his full blood and qi and strength, fearing that Old Master Zheng would notice.

Unfortunately, Old Master Zheng didn't appear in the academy all day.

Wei He relaxed and began to ponder the problem with the Nine Dawn Flowers of the Return Mountain Fist.

As he had analyzed before, the foundation of any technique was primarily based on that technique.

Practicing other techniques later would significantly weaken their effects.

This meant that once a poor technique was used as a foundation, it would be difficult to make up for it later, always lagging behind others.

If he couldn't replace the foundation with other techniques, it meant he could only follow the main technique to the end.

Otherwise, the foundation of other techniques would be incomplete, making breakthroughs even harder.

While practicing the techniques and adapting to his current strength and blood and qi, he continuously thought and analyzed.

'Unless I abandon the foundation and start over, there's no way to reshape it.'

Wei He realized the power of the Breakthrough Pearl.

He didn't need to care about the completeness of the foundation, as long as his blood and qi were full and his accumulation reached the critical point, he could break through directly.

This meant he could replace his foundation at any time.

Everything was focused on breaking through. As long as he could break through, any technique could be used to speed up the process.

He couldn't help but feel that this world was too unfair to others.

He calmed down, gradually recovering from the turmoil of his return from Shaoyang Mountain.

He also pointed out some mistakes in Ouyang Zhuang's practice.

After finishing his afternoon practice, he changed clothes and left the academy. Suddenly, he saw a black-robed servant waiting outside the gate.

Seeing him come out, the servant hurried forward.

"Is this Wei He, sir?"

"Yes, what is it?" Wei He, now full of confidence, spoke firmly.

"My master is from the Guan family. The young miss invites you to a dinner at her home. Please give a response so I can report back." The servant bowed respectfully.

The Guan family? Guan Ye?

Wei He's heart stirred, and he immediately agreed.

"Lead the way."

The servant led him to a carriage waiting nearby.

The carriage was much newer than the old one Cheng Shaoyou had used, indicating that the Guan family was much wealthier.

The fact that they could still afford a carriage at this time showed their substantial wealth.

The carriage moved quickly, and they soon arrived at Hongshi Town.

In the depths of the town, they stopped at a large, white-walled mansion that occupied half a street, with the character "Guan" hanging everywhere.

At the gate, there were two soup stands where people were giving out soup. Long queues formed in front of the stands.

Wei He glanced at them and followed the servant through the gate, passing through the garden paths, winding around, and finally arriving at a pavilion in a rock garden, where he met Guan Ye.

Guan Ye was boiling something in a delicate porcelain pot, the medicinal aroma filling the air, with a hint of mint, invigorating the spirit.

"Come, come." She looked up at Wei He and waved him over.

It was hot, and she was wearing a light green dress, her arms exposed, her hair styled into two large buns with various hair accessories.

From a distance, she looked rosy-lipped and white-toothed, her face like peach blossoms, her skin like jade, truly beautiful.

Wei He was slightly stunned, feeling the sunlight reflecting off her arms, making them almost blindingly white.

He lowered his eyes slightly, walked forward, and sat down opposite the porcelain pot without hesitation.

"I have something good to share with you. It's rare to get this kind of thing," Guan Ye said casually.

She carefully boiled it for a while, first on medium heat, then low heat, and finally with the residual heat of red charcoal.

Soon, a servant brought a basin of cool well water.

The porcelain pot was placed in the basin to cool.

"Do you know how much this pot costs?" Guan Ye asked, pointing at the pot proudly.

"I don't know."

"Ten thousand gold!" Guan Ye held up one finger.

"So expensive?!" Wei He was also startled. How many people would he have to rob to gather that much?

Recently, bandits were fewer and poorer. He had only been lucky today, earning a few hundred gold, truly...

"Good things should be shared with friends. To be honest, in your courtyard, only Jiang Yan stands out, mainly because of his family. As for Cheng Shaoyou and Jiang Su, I don't look at them."

Guan Ye stood up, took a fan from a nearby servant, and personally fanned the porcelain pot.