Zhou Kai slammed heavily into the opposite wall, then slid down like a piece of paper. He felt as if all his internal organs had been displaced; stars danced before his eyes, and a sweet taste rose in his throat. He nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood.

“Cough, cough, cough…”

Clutching his chest, Zhou Kai struggled to get up from the ground. With great difficulty, he propped himself against the corner of the wall, finally managing to stand. He shook his head, which was still swimming with dizziness.

That hit really packed a punch!

Meanwhile, Chen Ziyi on the bed seemed stunned after sending Zhou Kai flying.

She looked at her own arm, still held in the striking pose with bulging muscles, then at Zhou Kai, who was now grimacing as he got to his feet. Her crying abruptly stopped, replaced by utter confusion and bewilderment.

“Hus… husband…” she stammered timidly, her voice choked with sobs. “I… I didn’t mean to… I…”

By the end, large tears were rolling down her cheeks again. Paired with that muscular physique, it created a strangely fragile image.

Zhou Kai forced himself to endure the intense pain radiating all over his body and squeezed out a smile uglier than crying.

“It’s… it’s fine. Your husband is thick-skinned and tough. I can take it, I can take it… just got the wind knocked out of me a bit.”

But inwardly, he was screaming: Take it, my ass! One more hit and I’ll fall apart! This woman is practically a human-shaped beast now!

Chen Ziyi sniffled. “But… but I look so ugly like this… Wuwuwu… Husband, I don’t want to be like this…”

The sun was high in the sky.

Zhou Kai emerged from the inn, supporting his nearly broken old back and sporting two huge dark circles under his eyes.

Last night, he had expended Herculean effort to comfort Ziyi.

First, he declared he would never disdain her current “imposing and heroic stature.” After all, she was his wife; he had to love her no matter what she looked like. He repeatedly promised that even if he had to traverse countless mountains and rivers, he would definitely find a top-tier body refining technique to help her regain her former delicate and graceful figure.

Chen Ziyi was somewhat soothed by his coaxing, but looking at her own muscular body, she still felt a lingering resentment.

Perhaps it was a self-destructive retaliatory mindset or simply due to her newly advanced fourth layer of Meridian Opening—regardless, during the subsequent “Deep Interaction,” she went all out. It seemed she wanted to completely drain Zhou Kai dry to vent the “resentment” in her heart.

That storm-like, earth-shaking assault…

Zhou Kai felt like a small boat tossed in raging waves, constantly on the verge of capsizing and sinking. His soul was practically shaken loose.

If he hadn’t decisively acted when he was utterly dazed by the first wave of impact—by dumping all the Vitality points he had accumulated (which hadn’t even warmed up yet) into himself—forcing his cultivation from the second layer of Meridian Opening straight to the third layer and giving his physique and strength a massive boost—he probably would have been completely finished off on that bed last night. He would have become the first transmigrator to be “interacted” to death by his Dao Companion.

Even so, as an early-stage Meridian Opening cultivator facing a determined mid-stage Meridian Opening opponent, he was still thoroughly suppressed.

In the end, he barely managed to maintain the dignity of a “husband” and avoid complete collapse only by relying on two Yang Locking Pills.

“Husband, until I cultivate the ‘Cicada Shell’ from this Cicada Raiment Art and can slightly conceal my figure, Ziyi will not step one foot outside this room! Otherwise… otherwise I’ll ignore you!”

That was Chen Ziyi’s final threat, delivered with a thick nasal tone.

Hearing this, Zhou Kai naturally knew she was just being stubborn.

Cicada Shell Shadow Hiding—he himself hadn’t even grasped the basics yet. How incredibly difficult would it be to cultivate that Cicada Shell capable of altering one’s physique? Wouldn’t that take forever?

Chen Ziyi was ultimately reasonable. Her Affection was unwavering; she definitely wouldn’t cause real trouble for him at such a critical juncture as the Dragon Gate Assembly.

Just as he reached the inn’s main hall downstairs, he ran into an acquaintance.

“Aiya! Brother Han! What a coincidence!” Hu Yongyu’s face blossomed into a chrysanthemum-like smile as he warmly approached.

Seeing this, Zhou Kai’s mind stirred slightly. On the surface, he immediately adopted a simple and honest expression. “Fellow Daoist Hu! Good morning.”

“Where is Brother Han off to?” Hu Yongyu took a few steps closer and lowered his voice. “Your extravagant spending yesterday truly opened my eyes! Are you really… not well-off anymore?”

Zhou Kai pretended to be taken aback for a moment before slapping his forehead as if suddenly realizing something. He laughed and said, “Fellow Daoist Hu must be joking. Do I, Han Cheng, look like such a fool?”

A flicker passed through Hu Yongyu’s eyes. He thought inwardly: Could this kid have seen through my intention?

But then he heard Zhou Kai continue: “Of course I kept enough for participating in the Dragon Gate Assembly—one hundred Spirit Stones!”

“Oh?” Hu Yongyu’s eyes lit up. “Right, right, right! Brother is absolutely correct. I forgot about that.”

“Come on! An invitation isn’t as good as a chance encounter! There’s a tavern right next door. Let me treat you to a couple of drinks!”

Zhou Kai wanted to gather information anyway, so he went along with it. “In that case, I’ll trouble Fellow Daoist Hu.”

The two found a private booth by the street and sat down. Hu Yongyu raised his wine cup and began probing indirectly:

“Brother Han, I see you have some resources. I wonder… what are your plans regarding this Dragon Gate Assembly?”

Zhou Kai took a sip of wine and asked casually:

“Fellow Daoist Hu, to be honest with you, this is my first time participating in such a grand event. There are many rules I don’t understand. If one is fortunate enough to pass the assessment and catches Calamity Abyss Valley’s eye… how exactly are placements granted?”

Hu Yongyu smiled. “If one passes the assessment and is favored by Calamity Abyss Valley? That’s naturally an immense honor! Generally speaking, someone will come to receive you on the spot and take you directly to Calamity Abyss Valley! From then on, it’s like a carp leaping over the Dragon Gate—a meteoric rise!”

Zhou Kai frowned slightly. “What if… I have some personal matters left unfinished and wish to return home to handle them? How would that work?”

Hu Yongyu replied: “That’s easy enough too. If there are matters causing delay—like perhaps Brother Han needs to report back home for peace of mind—the sect will issue a token. With this token, you can report to Calamity Abyss Valley anytime within half a year; your treatment will generally be the same.”

“I see.” Zhou Kai nodded in understanding.

The two chatted about various other things for a while longer. Through indirect questioning, Zhou Kai managed to extract quite a bit of scattered information about Broken Wood Bay and Calamity Abyss Valley from Hu Yongyu’s words.

After three rounds of drinks, Zhou Kai stood up to take his leave.

Not long after walking away from the tavern, he saw a familiar figure approaching head-on.

Fang Lizhe.

However, at this moment, none of the high spirits from their first meeting remained. Leading his horse “Windchaser,” his head hung low.

His entire face seemed plastered with big characters reading: “I’m unhappy,” “I’m wronged,” “The world has deceived me.”

“Young Brother Fang!” Zhou Kai called out loudly and quickly walked over.

Hearing his voice, Fang Lizhe looked up. Seeing it was Zhou Kai, he first froze for a moment, then looked at him with complex emotions, opening his mouth as if wanting to say something but swallowing it back, only letting out a sullen “Hmm.”

“What’s wrong? Did seeking immortals and finding a master not go smoothly?” Zhou Kai probed tentatively.

Fang Lizhe suddenly raised his head, his eyes fixed intently on Zhou Kai, as if having made some kind of resolution.

“Brother Zhou! You… did you lie to me?”

Zhou Kai’s expression remained unchanged on the surface, showing an appearance of surprise. “Young Brother Fang, why do you say that? When have I ever lied to you?”

“You still say you didn’t!” Fang Lizhe instantly exploded. “You said you were a great hero, but everyone here is an immortal! You’re an immortal too, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am an immortal cultivator,” Zhou Kai admitted directly.

Seeing him admit it so straightforwardly made Fang Lizhe even angrier. “Then tell me! Did you steal my Cicada Raiment Art?”

He grew more agitated as he spoke, his eyes turning red. “It was you! I retraced my steps last night, searching carefully all along the way! I even turned over every single leaf! I definitely didn’t lose it on the road! At that time, did you take advantage of patting my pack and steal my technique?!”

“Young Brother Fang, you can eat random food, but you can’t speak random words.” Zhou Kai’s expression darkened slightly, his tone carrying a hint of a barely perceptible warning. “I, Zhou Kai, act openly and aboveboard. When have I ever taken anything from you?”

“It was you! And you still want to quibble!” Fang Lizhe suddenly jumped up, his face flushing crimson. His voice abruptly rose sharply as he pointed at Zhou Kai, actually shouting right there on the street:

“Everyone come judge this! This person… he stole my supreme immortal—”

Zhou Kai’s eyelids twitched. He thought inwardly: This is bad.

This kid really is like a newborn calf unafraid of tigers. In this mixed bag place like Broken Wood Bay, shouting about some “supreme immortal technique”… isn’t that like lighting a lamp in an outhouse—looking for death?

Before Fang Lizhe could fully utter that final word “technique,” Zhou Kai’s figure blurred. His fingertip tapped lightly on Fang Lizhe’s body.

The stunned youth’s eyes rolled back, and he slumped softly.

Zhou Kai reacted swiftly, catching him smoothly.

He turned toward the few scattered glances drawn by the commotion, revealing an expression of a helpless yet indulgent bitter smile.

“Fellow Daoists, please excuse us. This is my useless little nephew. He just got hold of a Qi Induction Art and thinks it’s some supreme immortal technique, treasuring it dearly. He saw that stall over there earlier… and just made himself look foolish.”

As he spoke, he pointed toward a nearby stall. On its counter lay several booklets clearly labeled “Qi Induction Art,” “Body Forging Art,” etc.

Seeing Fang Lizhe was merely Mortal, young in age, and hearing Zhou Kai’s explanation, the onlookers immediately understood.

They had seen plenty of these greenhorns who had just come into contact with immortal cultivation treating some common entry-level technique like a priceless treasure. So they all dispersed without further interest in this “misunderstanding.”

Zhou Kai cursed inwardly: You little brat! You almost got me killed!