Chapter Seventy-Two

Chapter Seventy-Two

“Ah! Kun Kun, you’re awake!” Wu Hong’s face was lit with delight. Ever since Kun Kun had left the Celestial Book Grotto, he had struggled to adjust to the air of the outside world. Perhaps it was because he had lived so long in the grotto, where the spiritual energy was so abundant. Out here, everything felt unnatural. At first, he could still eat and drink with Wu Hong, but soon after, he spent his days sleeping.

Wu Hong had worried for quite some time, never expecting that a single Xuan Yin Fruit would rouse the little creature. Had he known, he would have brought out the fruit sooner. The Old Master of Ten Thousand Poisons inspected Kun Kun carefully. Although the creature closely resembled a vulture, on closer look there were subtle differences—a small fleshy bump on the crown of its head.

The more he looked, the stranger the Old Master’s expression became. He muttered, “Young man, your pet is no ordinary creature. You’d best take good care of it!”

Wu Hong merely smiled, offering no explanation. If the old man knew that this tiny bird was a Kunpeng Beast, what would his reaction be?

“Elder, here, this one is for you.” Wu Hong produced another Xuan Yin Fruit from his spatial ring.

“Heavens! When did such a rare spiritual fruit become so commonplace?” The Old Master could no longer maintain his composure. He jumped up, fearing Kun Kun would snatch it away, and quickly took the fruit from Wu Hong, storing it in his own spatial ring.

Yet what followed left the old man dumbfounded. Wu Hong took out another Xuan Yin Fruit and handed it to the little beast.

Kun Kun devoured the fruit in a few bites, then gazed at Wu Hong with eager, expectant eyes.

“Haha, you little glutton! If I’d known you liked these so much, you should have told me sooner! I thought you’d become picky after eating those fruits from Zhou Ling’er.” Kun Kun’s almost human mannerisms set Wu Hong roaring with laughter.

The Old Master of Ten Thousand Poisons watched, his face cycling through disbelief before he was left utterly stupefied. In his mind, he shouted, “Who on earth is this Wu Hong? How can he feed such treasures to his pet as if they were mere morsels?”

Though the pet had the bloodline of a great roc, wasn’t this extravagance a bit much?

But Wu Hong was oblivious to the old man’s thoughts. He had acquired hundreds of Xuan Yin Fruits in the Celestial Book Grotto. At first, Kun Kun, when with Zhou Ling’er, had ignored these fruits in favor of stranger ones. Now, with Zhou Ling’er absent and nothing else of such miraculous nature at hand, Kun Kun’s tastes had become more modest, and he regarded Wu Hong’s Xuan Yin Fruit as a delicacy, eating one after another, insatiable.

Wu Hong brought out dozens in succession, until Kun Kun’s belly was distended and finally sated. The little beast leapt onto Wu Hong’s shoulder, standing proudly and surveying the surroundings, treating the Old Master as if he were air.

The old man was completely petrified, standing silent for a long while.

“Elder, do you have any more fine wine? My little beast can drink, too,” Wu Hong said, seeing the old man lost in thought.

“Ah! You rascal! Did you empty out the whole Celestial Book Grotto? How do you have so many of these spiritual fruits?” The Old Master shed the pretense of a sage, leaping before Wu Hong and shaking him by the shoulders.

“It’s just a few Xuan Yin Fruits. What’s the big deal?” Wu Hong replied casually.

“What? Just a few? Do you know, if this fruit is refined into medicine, a single one can produce a pill potent enough for an ordinary person to ascend instantly to the Bone Refinement Realm? And you act as if it’s nothing! Heavens!” The old man howled to the sky, as if it were he who had wasted the precious fruit.

Wu Hong was well aware of the fruit’s effects. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, but for someone at his current level, the Xuan Yin Fruit was of little use.

For others, a single fruit, properly used, could help them break through to the Bone Refinement Realm. But his cultivation, the Supreme Sun Tathagata Sutra, was so mystical that only through personal breakthrough could he reach that realm.

Fortunately, Wu Hong already knew the method to advance: he needed to accumulate, refine, and compress his true energy until it liquefied or even solidified within him—only then could he break through.

This differed from ordinary martial artists. For them, once their inner energy fully vaporized, it could cleanse their marrow and allow them to enter the Bone Refinement Realm.

A single Xuan Yin Fruit, fully absorbed, provided enough energy for an ordinary martial artist to vaporize their true energy.

Generally, before reaching Bone Refinement, true energy lingered throughout the flesh and bones, unbound. Afterward, it became gaseous, circulating endlessly within.

Wu Hong’s inner energy was in a vaporized state, but unlike true masters of the Bone Refinement Realm, he could not project his true energy beyond his body without aid. His vaporized energy had yet to merge with his marrow!

Whether using the Supreme Sun Tathagata Vajra Palm or other methods, his true energy could not fully detach from his body. Enlarged palms remained connected to his own hands, and even transformed hammers were extensions of himself.

The martial world already whispered that Wu Hong, the demon, had achieved postnatal perfection. They didn’t know that the real Wu Hong, fiercer than the impostor, had yet to attain even the Bone Refinement Realm.

“Elder, you roam the world alone, and indeed you need to strengthen yourself. I have a few more Xuan Yin Fruits here—these are for you.” Seeing how much the old man treasured the fruit, Wu Hong generously offered several more.

The old man trembled before finally accepting them. “Good! Good! My disciple judged you well. You’re a fine young man.” He was overjoyed, pleased that Li Ruolan had found such a companion.

“Your disciple? Who is it?” Wu Hong sensed something off and asked.

The old man paused, slapped his forehead, and said, “Look at me, such a muddle. My disciple Ruolan must have told you about her master, the Old Master of Ten Thousand Poisons. That’s me!”

“What? You’re Sister Ruolan’s master? The Old Master of Ten Thousand Poisons?”

Wu Hong was shocked by the coincidence. He had long heard of the old man’s reputation, but his whereabouts were always mysterious, never seen, only rumored. Who would have thought fate would bring them together today?

“Rascal, who else could match my handsomeness?” Despite his age, the old man was shamelessly vain.

“The tales about you, Wu Hong, are far from flattering. They call you a villain, a scourge of the martial world, but what does that matter to me? As long as you suit me, you’ll be my disciple’s husband! Didn’t you come to Blackwood Cliff to save her? You and she, in the cave…” The old man’s words wandered off; Wu Hong’s face flushed red.

“Elder, I am Ruolan’s companion, nothing more! We’re just friends!” Wu Hong protested.

“Hmph—boy, don’t be so proud. Just because you have some skill, does that mean you look down on my disciple?” the old man retorted, feigning anger.

“Ah—Elder, you really misunderstand. Ruolan once saved me, so I am honor-bound to return the favor,” Wu Hong explained helplessly.

“Tsk, tsk—what have I witnessed today? The infamous Wu Hong, scourge of the martial world, speaking of honor and friendship! Strange! Strange!” The old man repeated himself in amazement. In his mind, Wu Hong was a ruthless, immoral fiend who knew nothing of loyalty, reputed to be a notorious womanizer, with Li Ruolan among his many supposed victims.

Wu Hong himself knew less of his own legend than the old man did.

“Haha! Elder, I truly have no idea how people say I’m such a philanderer…”