At this moment, Leng Mei knew full well that Young Master Ling Xiao was in the spotlight, and there’d definitely be people itching to挑衅 him out of envy.
That would inevitably disrupt his cultivation, which wouldn’t do.
Sure enough, on the fourth day, trouble came knocking.
A genius at early sixth vein showed up to challenge Ling Xiao.
Clearly outmatched yet still picking a fight—it was obvious he was just here to annoy Ling Xiao.
But before the guy could even open his mouth, Leng Mei sent him flying with a single palm strike.
She wasn’t about to let anyone disturb Ling Xiao at a time like this.
On the fifth day, another troublemaker arrived.
This one was stronger, having just broken through to peak sixth vein.
Leng Mei’s face darkened, and for the first time in combat, she unleashed the Shadow Assassination Technique.
The opponent didn’t stand a chance—her sharp dagger sliced his arm, and he fled in a panic.
If not for the camp’s rules against killing or severe maiming, Leng Mei was confident she could’ve taken him out.
On the sixth day, inside the room behind Leng Mei, four clones merged back into Ling Xiao’s body.
He could feel four streams of pure true essence flood into him, filling all six of his martial veins to the brim.
At the same time, he began his attempt to break through to the seventh vein.
This breakthrough was tougher than any before.
But Ling Xiao was brimming with confidence.
With his main body plus the true essence from four clones, the power was both strong and abundant—enough to crack even the seventh vein, which was harder than the first six combined.
He’d still succeed.
True essence flowed through his meridians, roaring like a rushing river. Each surge loosened the seventh vein a bit more.
And each surge grew stronger than the last.
Boom!
After forty-nine cycles, the seventh vein couldn’t hold back the surging true essence any longer—a crack split open.
After sixty-four cycles, that crack widened into a broad path, fully connecting the seventh vein to the other six.
True essence cycled freely through all seven veins.
After eighty-one cycles, the last traces of gang qi in his body had transformed into true essence.
Seventh vein, early stage!
He’d finally broken through!
Ling Xiao opened his eyes, exhaling deeply. The silvery-white true essence in his hand was noticeably denser than gang qi, almost liquid-like.
It was worlds apart from the qi or gang qi he’d had before.
No wonder martial masters could burn true essence so casually—when it burned, it just turned from liquid to gas, not fully depleting. For a martial master, it was no big deal, with no side effects.
You’d never know how strong a martial master was until you became one.
Ling Xiao could clearly feel his strength had undergone a qualitative leap.
Back at peak sixth vein, even with nearly as much energy as now, he couldn’t guarantee more than a fifty percent win rate against an early seventh-vein martial master.
Now, facing the same opponent, he could win with one move, effortlessly.
It was a shift from quantity to quality.
The difference was massive.
And that wasn’t all—the moment he hit early seventh vein, his Nine-Turn Golden Body Technique broke through to the eighth turn.
Back at peak sixth vein, he’d already used up all the gold he’d looted from the Black Scarf Thieves’ den.
Every bit went into boosting the Nine-Turn Golden Body Technique.
But despite being a hair’s breadth from breaking through, he just couldn’t manage it.
Now he understood.
The eighth turn of the Nine-Turn Golden Body Technique was impossible below martial master level—it was all about piling up quantity until the qualitative shift of becoming a martial master kicked in.
At the seventh turn, this defensive art let him form a golden body. When activated, his skin took on a golden sheen, coated in a thin film that could even deflect enemy attacks.
The eighth turn was even better—same-level martial artists could barely scratch him, while those one level higher had their damage halved, and those two levels up only dealt thirty percent of their full power!
Now at this stage, Ling Xiao had little to fear from peers. Unless they had godly weapons or special techniques, they couldn’t touch him.
Even a mid seventh-vein martial artist—one level up—could only deal half damage.
And a late seventh-vein martial artist—two levels up—would only hit for seventy percent.
In a fight, Ling Xiao’s edge was obvious.
But what he really craved now was the ninth turn!
The ninth turn, dubbed the Nine-Turn Golden Body, could heal anything short of fatal wounds—even regrow limbs—as long as he had gold.
Gold!
He needed heaps of it!
Just as he was about to consolidate his cultivation and head to General September for his special reward, a sky-high aura burst in from outside.
“Murong Shao broke through?”
Ling Xiao frowned slightly but quickly shrugged it off, “With a near-mortal martial art, a True Essence Pill, and the spiritual herbs from his merit points, if he still couldn’t break through, he wouldn’t deserve to be called a genius.”
Good—he’d make a perfect first sparring partner.
Ling Xiao was eager to test his new early seventh-vein combat strength, figuring all his techniques would’ve gotten a boost too.
Murong Shao’s breakthrough wasn’t exactly subtle—pretty much everyone knew.
Unlike Ling Xiao, who broke through quietly without fanfare.
Murong Shao, on the other hand, blasted his true essence out like he wanted the whole camp to notice, which didn’t sit well with the other captain-level martial artists.
Ling Xiao was only mildly surprised before focusing back on consolidating his cultivation.
Murong Shao, though, didn’t bother with that—fresh off his breakthrough, he burst out of seclusion without stabilizing his realm.
The moment he emerged, practically every Hidden Dragon Camp disciple—except Dai Yuling, Shi Lei, Ling Yixue, and Yin Ran—flocked to congratulate him.
“Hahaha, congrats, Captain Murong! A martial master at sixteen—truly enviable! From now on, we’ve got another big shot in the camp!”
“Exactly, Captain Murong can start eyeing a commander’s spot now.”
The first thing on Murong Shao’s mind as he stepped out was Ling Xiao.
Talk about a twisted fate.
Amid the chorus of praise, he marched straight to Ling Xiao’s room.
He arrived just in time to see Leng Mei take down a peak sixth-vein martial artist.
Murong Shao’s jaw dropped for a second before he grinned, “You’re Leng Mei, right? Follow me from now on.”
“Captain Murong, this servant only answers to Captain Ling,” Leng Mei replied coolly.
“I said follow me, so follow me. Enough nonsense—I’m doing you a favour by taking you in. One more word, and I’ll have you dead on the spot,” Murong Shao snapped.
He absolutely meant it—Leng Mei was just a servant, not a camp disciple.
Leng Mei shook her head, saying nothing, her stance clear as day.
