Chapter 42

Li Yunxiao secluded himself for five days, not stepping out once, so he naturally knew nothing about these matters.

Five days later, he finally emerged from his guest room, his aura having risen to a new level, successfully breaking through to the Fourth Rank Warrior.

The moment he stepped back into Meng Wu's home, he immediately heard Meng Bai's cries of pain and Meng Wu's sobs.

"Brother, brother, stop practicing, stop now!"

"No, I feel I'm just one step away from breaking through!"

"The poison in your body is acting up terribly, you'll die if you keep this up!"

"Even if I die, I have to break through, ah!~"

A painful cry echoed as green spots appeared on Meng Bai's body, making him look like a moldy radish. His skin began to rot, but the yuan qi around him grew stronger. Vortexes formed outside his body, spinning and converging into his dantian.

"Ah!~"

He roared to the sky, a massive force instantly blooming from his seven chakras, converging into a single line and rushing into his dantian. A loud "boom" resounded inside his body as his dantian was breached, forming a swirling nebula, and the qi sea was born.

"Success, success! Ha ha, Sister, I succeeded!~" Meng Bai was overjoyed.

Tears streamed down Meng Wu's face as she said, "Look at the poison all over your body. I'll go find Young Master Yun! Only he can cure the poison in your body!" Just as she turned, she saw Li Yunxiao standing at the door.

"Tsk tsk, more poison has developed. Not bad, not bad, I can have a good feast again." Li Yunxiao smacked his lips and walked over with a smile.

"Master, I broke through, I really broke through to the Warrior rank in just five days!~" Meng Bai was still extremely excited.

"Hmm, not bad. I saw it all. Sit down cross-legged right now, let me absorb the poison from your body." Li Yunxiao pressed his five fingers on Meng Bai's shoulders, forcing him down. Then he used the Creation One Qi Divine Skill to absorb the poison from his body.

After a while, Meng Bai's painful expression completely eased, and the green spots on his body disappeared, leaving his skin smooth and jade-like.

Meng Bai asked in surprise, "Master, why do I feel the pain is gone, but my strength has also diminished after you absorbed the poison from my body?"

Li Yunxiao smiled and said, "That's because your constitution is the Heaven and Earth Poison Body. The poison in your body is the essence of poison, containing innate qi. The stronger the poison, the stronger your strength. But your current cultivation can't withstand this toxicity. As your cultivation advances, your ability to withstand it will grow, and the toxicity will also increase. When a balance is reached, you won't be eroded by the toxicity, and you can even use this essence poison."

Li Yunxiao narrowed his eyes and said seriously, "When you can utilize the essence poison in your body, unless you encounter another person with an extremely strong innate constitution, you will be invincible at the same rank!"

"Other extremely strong constitutions?" Meng Bai asked in surprise. "So the poison in my body is actually a good thing?"

Li Yunxiao smiled and said, "Of course it's a good thing, otherwise why would I absorb it? There are many special constitutions in this world, each with remarkable power. As long as you keep walking the path of martial arts, you will naturally encounter them in the future."

Meng Bai's eyes widened, and he said, "So Master has been taking advantage of me all along..."

Li Yunxiao's face turned red as he took out ten detoxification pills from his ring and gave them to Meng Bai. "Each of these detoxification pills can suppress the toxicity in your body for three days. When I'm not around, you can use them to suppress the toxicity. But the fundamental solution is to improve your own strength and rely on your cultivation to suppress it."

Meng Wu was overjoyed and said, "Hurry up and thank Master."

Li Yunxiao took out a Chongyuan Pill and gave it to Meng Wu. "Your talent is also good, but you've been busy working to earn money and haven't practiced. That's why you've been stuck at the Martial Disciple rank. After taking this Chongyuan Pill, you can immediately advance to the Warrior rank."

"Chongyuan Pill?" Meng Wu was surprised, then happily accepted it, saying, "This is very valuable, the cheapest one on the market costs over a thousand gold coins."

Li Yunxiao thought to himself that the pills he refined in his previous life might not even be worth ten million high-quality yuan stones.

"Meng Bai, Meng Bai, are you going to the mine today?" A familiar voice came from outside the door, and Uncle Li walked in. Seeing Li Yunxiao, his face turned pale, and he froze at the door.

"Uncle Li, look, I broke through to the Warrior rank!" Meng Bai said excitedly.

Uncle Li was stunned, a look of shock flashing in his eyes. He smiled bitterly and muttered, "You're a little monster." He whispered, "Your master is even more of a monster."

Li Yunxiao said coldly, "You, come here."

Uncle Li's body trembled, fear in his eyes. He didn't dare to disobey and walked over obediently. The atmosphere in the room became tense.

Meng Bai said nervously, "Master, don't make it hard for Uncle Li."

Li Yunxiao asked, "What's your name?"

Uncle Li was uneasy and quickly said, "Everyone calls me Uncle Li, you can call me Uncle Li too."

Li Yunxiao's face darkened, and he said angrily, "No one dares to call me 'uncle' in my presence. Do you want to die?"

Uncle Li was startled and stammered, "Li... Li Dachuan, my name is Li Dachuan."

Li Yunxiao nodded and asked, "Where do you usually mine?"

Li Dachuan answered honestly, "We used to mine in the Five Peaks Vein, but it was taken over by the government. Now we mine in some small veins near the Five Peaks Vein because they have less ore, so the government doesn't manage them. But because the government doesn't manage them, the competition is still intense. But I'm a Fifth Rank Warrior, so no one dares to compete with me."

A Fifth Rank Warrior still mining was indeed unusual. Li Yunxiao asked again, "Have you ever encountered Purple Yang Ore in all these years?"

Meng Bai quickly described the shape and characteristics of the Purple Yang Ore. After Li Yunxiao said it was valuable, he had been paying attention to this ore but hadn't found any.

Li Dachuan thought for a moment and said, "I seem to have seen it in the Five Peaks Vein before, but it's been sealed off now."

Li Yunxiao frowned and asked, "By the government? By the king?"

Li Dachuan shook his head and said, "No, by the Jingguo Duke's residence, the Li family. They sent people to seal it off, saying it's a strategic reserve vein and no private mining is allowed."

Meng Wu looked at Li Yunxiao in surprise. Li Yunxiao said, "Li Dachuan, you don't need to go mining anymore. I have a task for you. Infiltrate the Li family's mining team and find this Purple Yang Ore for me. Just provide the clues. Five hundred gold coins a month, regardless of the outcome."

"Five hundred gold coins a month!" Li Dachuan and Meng Bai were both shocked. If not for knowing his formidable strength, Li Dachuan would have thought he was joking. He was immediately delighted and patted his chest, saying, "Little Master, rest assured. Many of the people in their mining team are old acquaintances of mine. They've invited me several times, but I didn't go because it's only ten gold coins a month. Rest assured, if there's this kind of stone in the vein, I'll definitely find it for you!"

Li Yunxiao nodded and said, "Go about your business. I have something to discuss with them."

Li Dachuan left happily.

Li Yunxiao looked at the siblings and said, "Both of you, change into some clean clothes and come with me to a banquet."

"Banquet?" Meng Wu asked in surprise. "Whose banquet?"

Li Yunxiao said calmly, "The palace."

The siblings were speechless.

Women are troublesome.

Meng Bai changed into a clean set of clothes casually. Meng Wu tried on all her clothes but was still unsatisfied, dragging Li Yunxiao and Meng Bai to the street to shop for a long time before finally buying a pink long dress.

Just as Li Yunxiao and Meng Bai were relieved, she dragged them to buy makeup, earrings, hairpins, and embroidered shoes...

Li Yunxiao's forehead broke out in a cold sweat. "I suddenly remembered I have something important to do. Meet you at the palace gate in the evening."

He ran off, escaping several streets before he could relax. He bought a skewer of grilled beef balls from a roadside vendor, eating them leisurely as he walked down the street, thinking, "It's better to be alone."

Suddenly, a black-clad figure appeared behind him and called out, "Li Yunxiao."

As Li Yunxiao turned around, the black-clad figure quickly disappeared into the crowd.

"Hmph, playing tricks!"

Li Yunxiao finished the last beef ball and flicked the bamboo skewer, which whizzed through the air. Despite the crowd, the skewer seemed to have eyes, chasing the black-clad figure.

The black-clad figure's eyes widened in shock. How could a needle fly so accurately among thousands of people! He quickly turned and channeled his qi, striking out with a palm to break the skewer.

"Ouch!"

A muffled cry of pain. The black-clad figure was horrified to find the skewer piercing through his palm, breaking through his palm wind!

"How is this possible?" He stared at his palm, where a simple bamboo skewer still emitted a faint aroma of grilled beef balls...

"Ah!"

He suddenly felt a breeze on his face, looked up, and saw Li Yunxiao's face close to his, scaring him into a scream and retreating quickly.

"Hmph!"

Li Yunxiao coldly snorted, lightly stepping forward, and clung to the black-clawed figure, like a bone-removing worm, impossible to shake off. In the black-clad figure's shock, Li Yunxiao's fingers clawed into the man's shoulder, lifting him up and floating away.

The black-clad figure felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, and his entire body's yuan qi seemed to be forcibly interrupted, leaving him powerless. He was carried away by Li Yunxiao like a chicken.

"Bang!"

In an empty alley, Li Yunxiao threw the black-clad figure to the ground like trash and said coldly, "Who are you? What do you want? Speak."

The moment the black-clad figure landed, the pressure on his shoulder was released, and his yuan qi flowed freely again. He was shocked and disbelieving.

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(End of the chapter)