Walking out of Huang Yichen’s cultivation mansion, Zhang Ruochen exhaled a long breath and glanced back, his mood still unable to calm down.
In the darkness, a petite and pretty young girl walked out, bare a pair of white jade feet, stepping in the half-air three inches off the ground, not making a single sound as she walked behind Zhang Ruochen, saying, “Zhang Ruochen, you didn’t just reject Sister Dust, and after you came out, you regretted it again, right?”
Zhang Ruochen seemed to have known that Duanmu Xingling was nearby and was not surprised in the slightest, saying, “You’ve been eavesdropping all along?”
“How could I? I was just passing by and accidentally heard your dialogue. Honestly speaking, I never thought that Sister Dust would actually reveal her heart to you in such a low voice, and the key is that you rejected it ruthlessly! What should I say about you?”
“There are some things that you simply don’t understand.” Zhang Ruochen said.
“Cut! You just pretend! Which one of you men doesn’t wish to have a bunch of dainty wives and beautiful concubines? With Sister Dust’s beauty, family history and talent, is there any point that you are not worthy of? I think you have another purpose, you know that Sister Dust has a strong character, the more she can’t get something, the more she wants it. You can’t be lusting after her, can you?”
“You think too much!” Zhang Ruochen said.
However, Duanmu Xingling had reminded Zhang Ruochen that Huang Yichen did have a strong character and was afraid that he wouldn’t give up that easily.
Most of all, Zhang Ruochen had promised at the end of the day that he would not bring up the matter of withdrawing from the marriage again, wouldn’t that be giving her hope?
Oops.
Wrong words again!
With a pair of small hands behind her back and a flirtatious smile on her face, she came over, “I’m curious to know who the woman who dominated your heart really is? It can’t really be me, right?”
“Do you think it’s possible?”
Zhang Ruochen slapped on Duanmu Xingling’s shoulder and said very mercilessly, “Don’t think too much, it’s not you.”
Duanmu Xingling was very deflated as if she had been splashed with cold water and sighed, “I knew it couldn’t be me. Your eyes are too high, you wouldn’t be looking at Senior Sister Luo, would you?”
“Don’t make any wild guesses, if Senior Sister Luo knew about it, wouldn’t the misunderstanding be a big deal?” Zhang Ruochen said.
“I’m still too lazy to guess!”
Duanmu Xingling clasped her hands in front of her chest and snorted coldly, saying, “Zhang Ruochen, do you know that you’re really quite a rookie eh! If I were you, I should take this opportunity to pounce Sister Dust to the ground, let the raw rice cook, and do her first. In the future, she will naturally listen to you. With the state of Sister Dust just now, she definitely won’t resist. It’s a pity! The Sister Dust that was sent to the door was let go by you!”
Zhang Ruochen was somewhat speechless and said, “Am I that kind of person?”
“What’s wrong with that? She’s your fiancée anyway, and sooner or later, she’ll be yours.”
Duanmu Xingling laughed, “You have to know that an iceberg beauty like Sister Dust doesn’t reveal the shyness of a small woman at all times. If you miss this opportunity, it will be more than ten times more difficult for you to pounce on her in the future.”
“Whether or not she and I can get together in the future is still an unknown.” Zhang Ruochen didn’t want to continue discussing this topic with Duanmu Xingling and asked, “That one little girl I had sent to me is now living in your mansion, isn’t she?”
Duanmu Xingling whispered, “Your illegitimate daughter?”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Where did you think of? She’s a disciple I took in, and she’s very talented, a wizard in martial arts practice.”
“Of course I know that she is a martial arts practicing wizard, a Thousand Bone Physique, a rarity in ancient times, and I don’t know what kind of great luck you have struck to be discovered by you.” Duanmu Xingling said.
Zhang Ruochen smiled and said, “So you found out as well! Where is she now?”
“How would I know?” Duanmu Xingling didn’t have the good sense to say.
“How could you not know?”
Duanmu Xingling said, “That one little girl, just after being sent to the cultivation mansion, was targeted by Little Black. That one cat also didn’t know what kind of medicine it had taken, and it was obedient and loving towards that one little girl. Not long ago, Little Black left the Heavenly Demon Martial City with that one little girl, only leaving behind a letter saying that he was going to take that one little girl to a special sacrifice to help her open the Divine Martial Seal.”
“You just watched as Cold Snow was taken away by a cat?” Zhang Ruochen said, “Senior Sister Duanmu, I’ve always thought that you are a very meticulous person, how could you let a cat just mess around?”
“Blame me?”
Duanmu Xingling said somewhat angrily, “You should know better than me how cunning that one cat is. Besides! After you came back, you only knew how to care about Sister Dust and Cold Snow, but you didn’t even care about me as your senior sister.”
“Could it be that Senior Sister has encountered something unpleasant?” Zhang Ruochen said.
Duanmu Xingling sighed and said, “Yeah! My boyfriend is engaged to my best sister, can I be smooth?”
Zhang Ruochen knew that Duanmu Xingling wasn’t really angry, she was just joking and said, “Senior Sister Duanmu is referring to Chen Ruo, so it’s all because he’s messed with you. Why don’t Senior Sister Duanmu go to my cultivation mansion, I have recently obtained a treasure, seeing this treasure might make Senior Sister feel better.”
“What treasure?”
“Go, and you’ll know!”
Zhang Ruochen brought Duanmu Xingling back to the cultivation mansion and entered the retreat chamber, so he took out a cylindrical metal box from inside his storage ring.
The box opened and Zhang Ruochen took out a scroll from inside.
Duanmu Xingling waited curiously at the side, and when she saw Zhang Ruochen slowly open the scroll, her eyes immediately lit up.
A powerful martial aura emanated from the scroll, giving the impression that it was like a world had presented itself, or like a Half-Saint had descended from the sky.
“Half-Saint Holy Intent.”
Duanmu Xingling immediately rushed up, a pair of big beautiful eyes, staring tightly at the world on the scroll, saying, “Authentic! Surprisingly, it’s an authentic trace! Only a Half-Saint Family could possibly possess an authentic copy of the Half-Saint Sacred Intent, Zhang Ruochen, how come you also possess one?”
Zhang Ruochen stared at Duanmu Xingling with some curiosity and said, “I heard that you were sent to the Martial City School Palace by a Half-Saint, so you should be a junior of a Half-Saint family, and you must have definitely seen the authentic handwriting of the Half-Saint Holy Intent. Do you need to be so surprised?”
“How do you know that I was sent by a Half-Saint to the Martial City School Palace to cultivate?” Duanmu Xingling asked.
“I heard about it.” Zhang Ruochen knew that he had spoken out of turn and casually covered it up.
Of course, Duanmu Xingling was not a junior member of any Half-Saint Family, and since Zhang Ruochen thought so, she admitted it as well, sighing, “The true relics of a Half-Saint’s Holy Intentions, which represent a Half-Saint’s martial inheritance, is a top-tier treasure even in a Half-Saint Family, so how could one just see it?”
“That’s right!” Zhang Ruochen said.
Fearing that Zhang Ruochen would continue to ask, Duanmu Xingling revealed a quirky smile and said, “You have obtained a true trace of a Half Saint’s Sacred Intent, and instead of comprehending it with Sister Dust, you are comprehending it with me first, what exactly do you mean?”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Senior Sister Huang is the County Lord of the Thousand Waters County Kingdom and the niece of the Palace Master of the Martial City Academy Palace, so if she is willing, she can comprehend the True Trace of the Semi-Saint’s Sacred Intent at any time. But we don’t have that kind of advantage, so it’s all the more reason to help and support each other.”
Hearing Zhang Ruochen’s words, Duanmu Xingling’s heart was very touched and somewhat guilty.
In fact, if Duanmu Starling wanted to participate in the Half-Saint Sacred Intent, with her status, she could also get a true painting anytime.
Zhang Ruochen, however, did not know this, and that was why, after he obtained the Half-Saint Holy Intent, he invited her to participate in the enlightenment together, not in the slightest bit hiding the Half-Saint Holy Intent to cultivate alone because of its preciousness.
From this, it could be seen that Zhang Ruochen truly regarded her as a friend and trusted her greatly.
Duanmu Xingling felt an urge to tell Zhang Ruochen her identity, but she was afraid of scaring Zhang Ruochen, so she eventually held back.
When Zhang Ruochen saw Duanmu Xingling’s expression, he knew that Duanmu Xingling must have something on her mind, perhaps because she was hiding some secret from him.
“I reckon that Senior Sister Duanmu’s background isn’t just as simple as being a late bloomer of a Half-Saint Family.”
Zhang Ruochen didn’t ask even though he had some doubts.
Duanmu Xingling definitely had her reasons for not revealing her secret. Just like Zhang Ruochen couldn’t possibly reveal the secret that he was the son of the Ming Emperor from 800 years ago.
Everyone had some bitterness, and all would definitely hide some secrets that only they could know.
Zhang Ruochen took the Half-Saint Sacred Intent and hung it on the stone wall.
On the scroll, a star, a bright moon, and a blazing sun were drawn, suspended in three different directions in the sky.
In the lower left corner, there was a line of small words, “The Sun, Moon, and Stars Picture – Bright Light Half-Saint, leave the picture.”
What seemed to be a very simple pattern had a very powerful spiritual will and martial arts subtlety embedded in it.
Zhang Ruochen just casually glanced at it, and it was as if he had already merged into that one scroll world.
According to Zhang Ruochen’s analysis, as long as one comprehended the “Star Pattern”, one’s spiritual power could reach the 18th rank; if one comprehended the “Bright Moon Pattern”, one’s spiritual power could reach the 28th rank. If one comprehended the “Blazing Sun Pattern”, one’s spiritual power could reach the thirty-eighth rank.
“Borrowing the “Sun, Moon, and Stars Diagram” is enough to allow me to cultivate my spiritual power to the thirty-eighth rank.”
Zhang Ruochen sat down on the ground and released his spiritual energy into the Half-Saint Holy Intent.
For three days in a row, Zhang Ruochen and Duanmu Xingling stayed inside the Cultivation Chamber to cultivate, their spiritual energy gradually increasing.
After three days, the two of them exited the Semi-Sacred Sacred Intent, each gaining their own insights, and began to digest the results of their enlightenment.
Duanmu Xingling left Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation mansion to go back to seclusion, seemingly having learnt some martial essence from the Sun, Moon and Stars Diagram.
The true relics of the Half-Saint Holy Intent did not only contain only the spiritual will of a Half-Saint, but also the essence of a Half-Saint’s martial dao.
Zhang Ruochen had learnt some martial dao from the Sun, Moon, and Stars Diagram and spent half a month digesting that wave of martial dao power, causing his martial dao cultivation, to rise by a large margin.
Of course, after Duanmu Xingling left, Zhang Ruochen entered the inner space of the Space-Time Crystal Stone and cultivated for half a month, and only five days had passed in the outside world.
