Chapter 11

In the dead of night, inside the secret cave on the cliff.

Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Ye Zhen suddenly stood up, his eyes flashing with a startling brilliance. Clenching his fists, the blood qi coursing through his body undulated like writhing snakes. Suddenly, he exerted his strength, delivering a powerful punch. As the blood qi surged rapidly within his body, it instantly condensed into a blood bead. At first glance, it looked like an egg moving under Ye Zhen's skin, dispersing with his punch.

Blood qi condensed into a bead!

Thanks to the stone marrow spirit liquid he had consumed over the past few days and the three blood essence pills he had exchanged for at the sect's main hall today, Ye Zhen's cultivation had advanced to the third level of Blood Qi Condensation in one night.

Excited, Ye Zhen began practicing the Bear King Mountain-Bearing Fist on the spot. The explosive power in each punch gave him an exhilarating sensation, making him want to roar and shout.

"Roar!"

Pulling back his fists, Ye Zhen leaped up and hammered the ground, executing the final move of the Bear King Mountain-Bearing Fist—Old Bear Hammering the Ground!

Bang!

The terrifying power contained in Ye Zhen's fists made the entire secret cave tremble slightly, and some loose stones on the cave walls fell off.

This scene filled Ye Zhen with joy.

In the past month, Ye Zhen had practiced the Bear King Mountain-Bearing Fist countless times in the secret cave, and he had performed the Old Bear Hammering the Ground move countless times, but it had never been as powerful as it was now.

The confidence brought by his strength made Ye Zhen eager for dawn so he could defeat Ma Yuanwu and vent his anger!

Crack!

A light sound caused Ye Zhen's joyful expression to change dramatically, turning into one of utter shock.

The stalactite on the cave wall, which dripped two drops of stone marrow spirit liquid every midnight, suddenly broke off at the base and fell to the ground.

The vibration from his punch had actually broken the stalactite!

Holding the broken stalactite, which was still slightly damp, and looking at the broken spot on the cave wall, Ye Zhen's brows furrowed deeply.

Ye Zhen didn't know if this was a case of extreme joy turning into sorrow, but one thing that troubled him greatly was whether the stalactite breaking meant that the stone marrow spirit liquid would no longer drip at midnight tomorrow.

Currently, the stone marrow spirit liquid was of great use to Ye Zhen.

Not only now, but for a long time to come, the stone marrow spirit liquid would be of great benefit to Ye Zhen. Even if he became an outer sect disciple in the future, the blood essence pills provided to outer sect disciples would have a similar effect to the stone marrow spirit liquid.

And they only received one blood essence pill every five days.

If the stalactite breaking meant that the stone marrow spirit liquid would no longer drip, Ye Zhen would be in a dire situation.

"Where does this stone marrow spirit liquid come from, or how is it produced?" As he pondered, Ye Zhen looked at the broken base of the stalactite on the cave wall, deep in thought.

The broken stalactite in his hand, apart from having some extremely fine, web-like hollows, had no other peculiarities. He could easily pinch off a piece and crush it into stone powder, with nothing extraordinary about it.

If the stone marrow spirit liquid was produced inside the stalactite, Ye Zhen wouldn't believe it.

"Could it be?" Looking at the broken spot, Ye Zhen's eyes suddenly lit up. "Could there be something behind this stalactite?"

After careful consideration, Ye Zhen decided to hold back his urge to dig into the broken stalactite. Who knew what was behind it?

Could it be a treasure or nothing at all?

"At the very least, I should wait until midnight tomorrow to see if the stone marrow spirit liquid still drips!"

As usual, Ye Zhen left the secret cave, washed his body in the nearby stream, and prepared to return to his room to rest.

During this period, as long as Ye Zhen consumed the stone marrow spirit liquid every night, a layer of dirt would seep out of his body. This seeping dirt, which initially was black and foul-smelling, had now turned into a grayish-white sweat, with the amount decreasing over time.

It seemed that the stone marrow spirit liquid was helping to expel impurities from his body, bringing Ye Zhen great benefits.

On his way back, Ye Zhen cautiously observed his surroundings, trying to stay in the dark to avoid being discovered and exposing the secret cave.

When he reached his room, Ye Zhen was taken aback. His door, which had been smashed by Ma Yuanwu and his group in the afternoon, had been repaired by Ye Zhen and Sha Fei in the evening, but it was now broken again.

Looking inside, the room was in a mess.

"Oh no!"

Shouting in alarm, Ye Zhen rushed in and saw Sha Fei, covered in blood, tightly bound and thrown on the ground, with a dirty sock stuffed in his mouth.

Seeing Ye Zhen enter, the barely conscious Sha Fei struggled fiercely.

"Sha Fei, who did this? Who did this?" Without hesitation, Ye Zhen rushed forward to untie Sha Fei.

"Ugh, ugh, ugh..."

To his surprise, Sha Fei struggled fiercely, kicking Ye Zhen away with his feet, his eyes wide open, and signaling frantically to Ye Zhen, as if trying to signal something important.

"There's an ambush!" As soon as Ye Zhen removed the dirty sock from Sha Fei's mouth, Sha Fei shouted.

Almost simultaneously, two pieces of the bed board in the room suddenly flew up, aiming at Ye Zhen, and two black figures burst out from under the bed, attacking him with powerful punches.

"Yu Ping, Chen An, you have some nerve!" Recognizing the attackers, everything became clear.

Yu Ping and Chen An were well-known lackeys of Ma Yuanwu. These two, relying on Ma Yuanwu's power, had bullied many people. With these two lackeys here, Ma Yuanwu, their leader, was likely nearby.

With a quick thought, Ye Zhen was on guard.

Dodging Chen An on the right, Ye Zhen didn't even look as he punched the bed board that was smashing down on him. In the darkness, the blood qi bead in Ye Zhen's body rapidly moved to his fist and exploded.

Bang!

Crack!

The sounds of the bed board and bones breaking were almost simultaneous.

Ye Zhen's punch accurately penetrated the bed board, colliding with Yu Ping's punch in a hard clash.

"Ah, my hand!"

As Yu Ping's scream of pain echoed, Ye Zhen had already extended his arm in a lazy bear stretch towards Chen An, who was rushing from the right.

"Watch out above!"

As Sha Fei's warning sounded, a fierce wind suddenly roared above Ye Zhen's head.

"Ye Zhen, you're finished!"

With a sinister laugh, Ma Yuanwu, like a large bird, swooped down from the roof, his fists swelling with blood qi, the wind from his punches scattering Ye Zhen's hair.

"Who's finished is yet to be seen!"

Prepared, Ye Zhen met the attack with the Bear King Mountain-Bearing Fist.

Bang!

As their fists met, Ye Zhen hardily withstood Ma Yuanwu's sneak attack, only retreating half a step, his expression unchanged.

Seeing Ye Zhen retreat only half a step, Ma Yuanwu, who had leaped out of the room, looked extremely displeased.

In the afternoon, when they had clashed, Ye Zhen had retreated three steps. Now, despite the advantage of height and a powerful attack, Ye Zhen had only retreated half a step.

Even if Ma Yuanwu himself had to receive such an attack, it wouldn't have been easy, but Ye Zhen seemed unaffected.

What shocked Ma Yuanwu the most was that, with his cultivation, he couldn't seriously injure Yu Ping and Chen An, who were both at the third level of Blood Qi Condensation, in one move.

But Ye Zhen had instantly broken Yu Ping's right hand and left Chen An's left leg trembling after their clash.

Instantly, Ma Yuanwu lost his confidence.

"Ma Yuanwu, it's really you!" Ye Zhen shouted, standing firm.

"Hmph, so what?"

Ma Yuanwu and his group had originally planned to ambush Ye Zhen, seriously injure him, and then steal some cultivation pills from him. Now that their goal was unachievable, especially with Ye Zhen's strength being unpredictable, Ma Yuanwu had no intention of continuing the fight.

"We're leaving!" With a cold snort, Ma Yuanwu wanted to retreat, not bothering to give Ye Zhen any explanation.

It wasn't that Ma Yuanwu had a problem; he was just used to bullying people on Bai Song Peak and leaving after he was done. If he beat you, he beat you; if he stole from you, he stole from you. Who cared if you were happy or not?

Ye Zhen, however, was furious, truly enraged.

"Can't win, so you want to run?" Ye Zhen couldn't help but laugh coldly and pounced forward. "Ma, leave me something!"

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