His expression, however, remained unchanged as he calmly said, “When traveling, safety and comfort are paramount. As long as the value matches the price, it’s nothing worth mentioning. Fellow Daoist Fu, you flatter me.”

Fu Sheng’s smile widened as he gestured towards the two men behind him. “Come, Fellow Daoist Han, let me introduce you to two fellow cultivators.”

He first pointed at the tall, thin man. “This is Fellow Daoist Wu Yong.”

Wu Yong twitched the corner of his mouth in a semblance of a greeting. The crow on his shoulder let out a sharp “Caw!”

Fu Sheng then pointed at the burly man. “This is Fellow Daoist Xiong Gang.”

Xiong Gang grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth. “Brother Han, pleased to meet you!” He clasped his fists in salute, his knuckles cracking audibly.

“Fellow Daoist Wu, Fellow Daoist Xiong.” Zhou Kai also clasped his fists in return, his gaze sweeping over them briefly.

Internally, he pondered: Two at the fourth layer of the first realm. One gloomy and skilled in manipulation, the other fierce and focused on attack. Yet this Fu Sheng, only at the second layer of Qi Condensation, seems to be their core… Interesting. It seems this person has some tricks up his sleeve.

With this thought, Zhou Kai didn’t wish to linger further. He spoke up, “The night is deep, and I am somewhat weary. I shall retire to my room first. If there is an opportunity another day, I will converse with you all again.”

“Fellow Daoist Han, please do as you wish,” Fu Sheng replied with his ever-present smile, watching as Zhou Kai went upstairs.

Once Zhou Kai’s figure disappeared around the staircase corner, Xiong Gang scratched his shiny bald head and asked Fu Sheng, “Brother Fu, that kid surnamed Han doesn’t seem particularly special?”

The crow on Wu Yong’s shoulder flapped its wings once. Wu Yong himself narrowed his eyes, his voice raspy. “Boss Fu, my Dark Spirit says it can’t see through him. It’s like there’s a layer of fog around that kid.”

The smile slowly faded from Fu Sheng’s face, his eyes turning sharp. “Bad luck that he ran into us. He and his sister are bound to be on alert now.”

He paused, looking at the two men. “Remember that sister of his I mentioned? Han Lan?”

Xiong Gang and Wu Yong exchanged a glance and nodded.

“When I first saw her at the market back then, I sensed that Miss Han Lan’s Vitality fluctuations were extremely peculiar—suddenly strong, suddenly weak, highly unstable.”

A glint flashed in Fu Sheng’s eyes. “This is definitely not due to unstable cultivation or injury!”

Wu Yong seemed thoughtful. “Boss Fu means that Han Lan cultivates an extraordinary technique?”

“More than just extraordinary!” Fu Sheng snorted coldly. “My ‘Truth-Seeking Jade’ was somewhat sensitive to Han Lan and only showed a slight anomaly with Han Cheng. If I hadn’t investigated carefully, I wouldn’t have noticed it either.”

“I suspect it might be a top-tier secret art capable of drastically altering one’s own aura! Such an art—even among the core disciples of major sects—might not be accessible to everyone.”

“And this Han Cheng,” Fu Sheng’s gaze turned towards the staircase direction, his voice lowering further. “Do you really think he’s only at the second layer of Qi Condensation? If his sister is already this bizarre, would her older brother be a simple character?”

Having said that, Fu Sheng turned first and walked towards the ordinary guest room area on the other side of the inn. Wu Yong and Xiong Gang exchanged another look and promptly followed.

Zhou Kai returned to his room to find Chen Ziyi sitting cross-legged on the bedstead, clearly cultivating the Cicada Raiment Art.

He didn’t disturb her and quietly walked over to sit at the table.

Just one night in Broken Wood Bay and so much has happened.

It’s far more complicated than I imagined.

As these thoughts flowed through Zhou Kai’s mind, he willed it and opened the system panel.

[Zhou Kai] [Cultivation: Qi Condensation Fourth Layer (76/400)] [Vitality: Meridian Opening Second Layer (101/200)] [Spirit Root: Metal (Low Grade 12/100), Wood (High Grade 0/900), Water (Low Grade 17/100), Fire (Low Grade 23/100)] [Omni-Points: 130] [Vitality Points: 750]

[Beauty: Chen Ziyi] [Vitality: Meridian Opening Second Layer (35/200)]

The numbers on the panel were clear. From the Crouching Tiger Mountain market all the way here to Broken Wood Bay—a month of diligent effort—he had only managed to accumulate 750 points.

If we hadn’t run into Fang Lizhe later, who insisted on traveling with us for half a month, these points would have been at least two or three hundred more.

A journey meant for one day was forcibly stretched into half a month using mortal foot speed. Moreover, traveling as a trio not only made cultivating the Cicada Raiment Art inconvenient but also naturally affected his interactions with Ziyi.

Fortunately, Ziyi happened to be in her special period back then; otherwise, the loss would have been huge. He felt relieved again before a faint smirk only he understood curled at the corner of his mouth.

Chen Ziyi possessed a low-grade Fire Spirit Root; her aptitude was among the lowest among cultivators. According to Calamity Abyss Valley’s stringent standards, she had almost no chance of passing their assessment. Zhou Kai was well aware of this.

But so what if it’s a low-grade Spirit Root? As long as her realm advances enough, I refuse to believe Calamity Abyss Valley would turn away a body cultivation genius who is only nineteen years old yet has already reached the mid-stage of Meridian Opening!

As for myself… Zhou Kai’s thoughts returned to himself.

Although the panel showed a high-grade Wood Spirit Root, it was currently only at a threshold level—not stable enough. He frowned slightly. If during Calamity Abyss Valley’s test later this high-grade Wood Spirit Root characteristic isn’t prominent enough and only manifests as mid-grade… that would be a huge loss.

To be safe, it’s better to use Omni-Points first to solidify the quality of my Wood Spirit Root further.

With this thought in mind and without hesitation, Zhou Kai directly added 30 Omni-Points to his Wood Spirit Root.

[Ding! Consumed 30 Omni-Points. Wood Spirit Root +30]

[Spirit Root: Wood (High Grade 30/900)]

[Omni-Points: 100]

Zhou Kai calculated the points needed: A total of 465 points were required for Chen Ziyi to break through to the fourth layer of Meridian Opening; he also needed to improve his own strength—399 points.

Total: 864 points. Still short by over a hundred points.

His gaze fell upon Chen Ziyi again; he couldn’t help but reveal a mischievous grin: There are still five days left—plenty of time!

Besides the two of us getting in… we still need two more spots. Zhou Kai rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Forget it… I’ll go gather more information after daybreak.

After planning things out mentally for now… Zhou Kai shifted focus onto Chen Ziqing’s panel instead:

[Beauty: Chen Ziqing] [Cultivation: Qi Condensation Second Layer (5/200)]

Huh? Little Green Tea broke through into the second layer of Qi Condensation?

When we get back… I’ll have to give her proper rewards indeed!

While happily scheming about how exactly he would “reward” Chen Ziqing later… Chen Ziyi on the bedstead slowly opened her eyes.

Clearly, she had finished cultivating now.

“Husband… you’re back? Any gains from your trip?”

All those inappropriate thoughts instantly shattered; quickly collecting himself mentally while adopting a gentle smile instead.

“Mhm… how’s your progress with the Cicada Raiment Art?” he asked softly while approaching the bedside closer now too.

“Today, not being outdoors anymore allowed me to settle my mind down properly; circulation feels much smoother now indeed…”

He had her circulate once more under personal inspection before discussing trade fair and formation master matters.

Listening made Chen Ziyi’s eyes sparkle brightly, filled entirely with admiration instead.

Then he took out twenty talismans, precisely ten each of the Fiend Gold Sword Talisman and Green Wood Barrier Talisman types.

“These are second-grade talismans; keep them safe yourself. However, note their power is formidable indeed, so activating them currently at the second layer of Meridian Opening cultivation may prove difficult. It’s best to wait until reaching the fourth layer before being able to wield them freely…”

He made up a random explanation for the next part, too.

“This trade fair also yielded many precious medicinal herbs actually… During your cultivation period earlier, your husband took great pains refining them into one furnace of divine pills!”

“This pill is named ‘Dragon Blood Marrow Cleansing Pill’, recorded in ancient texts combining several rare materials refined nine times over a steam process! After consuming its medicinal efficacy can cleanse marrow aiding breakthrough shackles directly reaching the fourth layer of Meridian Opening!”

He said this without waiting for a reaction from Chen Ziyi, flicking a finger sending the pill transforming into red light flying into her mouth, sliding down her throat immediately…

Since Chen Ziyi had already stepped onto the immortal path, she could sense somewhat whether the quality of pills was good or bad generally speaking.

If she discovered it was merely an ordinary pill yet he claimed miraculous effects, he wouldn’t be able to explain it well either…

His mind raced quickly as he secretly ordered the system internally instead:

“System! Transfer all 470 Vitality Points onto Chen Ziyi’s Vitality stat immediately!”

[Ding! Consumed 470 Vitality Points added onto Beauty Chen Ziyi’s Vitality +470]

“Breakthrough!”

“Mmph…”

She groaned softly, her face instantly flushing crimson red entirely…

She felt her body inflating rapidly like a balloon being blown up suddenly—

Followed by skin feeling tearing pain everywhere, muscles visibly bulging, swelling, and rising rapidly too!

Her well-fitting dress, under the terrifying muscle expansion, actually tore apart inch by inch, turning into mere rags instead!

Watching nearby almost made Zhou Kai’s eyeballs pop out completely, seeing the originally delicate graceful figure turning burly and robust now instead…

Originally slender arms were now thicker than Zhou Kai’s calves several times over, bulging muscles coiled with veins like small snakes covering them, full of explosive power…

Legs even more like jade pillars holding the sky steady, standing firmly atop the bedstead making bed boards creak and groan under the weight…

Height didn’t increase much, but the overall “thickness” and “width” increased more than double instead…

Skin tone still fair complexion, features still same features, just paired alongside a physique comparable to a champion bodybuilder… it seemed extremely jarring, even a somewhat comical appearance overall…

The corner of his mouth twitched internally as ten thousand grass-mud horses galloped past mentally screaming:

Holy crap! I need to get a top-tier body refining technique fast; otherwise, this appearance—I can’t handle it myself either!

Chen Ziyi snapped out of shock seeing her own palm-sized hands covered in sinewy muscle, touching biceps harder than stone, completely stunned speechless…

The air seemed to freeze for several seconds of silence, then—

“Ah——!!!”

Chen Ziyi burst out crying loudly, waving arms and crying breathlessly between sobs.

“I don’t want this! I don’t want to become like this! Wuwuwu…” she wailed, pointing at her own arm then legs, crying uncontrollably.

“I told you before I didn’t want to become like Zhao Tieshan! Wuwuwu… I don’t want to become a big bulky person either!”

“Husband lied to me! Give me back my original appearance now!”

Watching his wife crying like pear blossoms in rain—oh wait, rather a “muscular amazon weeping bitterly”—Zhou Kai was momentarily flustered, internally lamenting too.

“Ziyi… calm down first, listen to my explanation please. This… is a symbol of realm advancement. actually, I promise to acquire a high-level technique later, maybe… maybe restore your original form…” his voice growing increasingly guilty sounding though…

“I don’t want to cultivate the body anymore!” she cried while waving her arms wildly around randomly too—

Zhou Kai only saw a blur before immense force struck him. Completely unprepared and caught off guard entirely—

Thump!

A muffled thud was heard as his entire person was slapped flying hard by Chen Ziyi’s palm strike!

Mid-air, a thought flashed in his mind, the solely remaining thought left:

Later interactions might prove fatal perhaps…