Shou Xin entered the lord's manor which was right beside the arena, much of the fanfare which had been prepared was directly skipped over.
The moment he entered, Wo Yiyu grabbed the swords stuck in him, and pulled them out!
Without a word Yui Luo's aura changed and her hands shot forward, her nails aiming to claw out Wo Yiyu's eyes.
However, she was stopped.
At the same time, Liu Gang's sword had arrived a millimeter from Wo Yiyu's spine, but was directly turned to dust by her strength.
Both of them passed out.
Shou Xin didn't make a noise as he bled, all over the floor, soon falling onto a beautiful chair, staining it with blood he slouched ever so slightly.
"Is this the part where you offer to save my life, in exchange for it?" Shou Xin closed his eyes, focusing on recovery as he spoke.
"...That is why I can't let you go, you know?" Wo Yiyu said slyly, a single finger tracing his cheek, "No matter the cost, right?"
He paused for a moment.
"You are quite the nosy person." Shou Xin controlled his Sanguine Sword Qi to circulate and ease the pains, "What is your ambition, leaf?"
"Leaf?" She smirked, "I am no leaf. I am the wind."
"Ah-, pardon, of course. So what does the wind seek, which it cannot get itself?"
"The throne."
Shou Xin froze and his one eye opened.
"...No."
"It is exactly as your thinking."
"Ahhhh," Shou Xin shook his head and this time truly sank into the chair slouching as though he were some random laborer who didn't care of his image, "Nope. I'm blind and deaf. Can't help."
"Oho? Even guessing my position, you still dare refuse!" Wo Yiyu's nostrils flared as she frowned, "I could have this entire place become yours! Yan Clan or Feng Clan, they are nothing in the face of my lineage."
"...I take it back. You are a leaf." He smiled wryly, "And the fact you don't understand why, is the reason I will not help you."
"Bastard." Wo Yiyu glared at him, "Do you think I cannot force you? Your two assistants just tried to kill me, if I were to say anything, your whole clan would be wiped out."
"They would die if I helped a child like you anyway." Shou Xin shook his head, "The only difference is the timing. Unlike the wind which seems to have been kind to you, I will not bend."
"Then, what will make you bend? Her life? You want her don't you?" Wo Yiyu said coldly, "I can give you her, and the whole region."
He sighed lightly.
"It's tempting but," Shou Xin's eyes opened to a starry night, "I do not want to achieve these things this way, and that is my own childishness."
Seeing his immovable eyes, Wo Yiyu felt incredibly frustrated.
"You will bend."
"I will break, first."
Wo Yiyu's gaze stormed.
"Then, I will take away my support!"
"That is fine." Shou Xin finished closing his bleeding wounds, though his internal organs and Inner Sea was in disarray, "Princess Yiyu, you are beautiful and strong like a phoenix, your intellect and resolve to execute it at all costs."
She listened to his words, but unlike those compliments she had heard a thousand times, these did not ring the same, sounding like an insult.
"Your support would be more a burden, then a blessing and I am already cursed enough." Shou Xin revealed a small amount of his essence, within it one could vaguely see the Flood Dragon Chains.
Her eyes widened.
"Cursed Physique, a locked away soul," She seemed to do the calculation in her mind, "You… how are you still alive?"
"Pure luck," Shou Xin smiled bitterly, "Doesn't seem like a good bet now, does it? I will forget everything, just, leave this dying person to their own."
She stared at him and bit her lip.
In a moment, she took something out from her inner robe, a pill of sorts.
"It is a Reconstruction Pill. It can greatly help one break through their physical cultivation. In this case, it will be able to heal you much faster." Wo Yiyu said as she tossed it to him with a pained face.
Shou Xin caught the pill and directly ate it without a second thought, if it was poison he woul die, if he wanted him dead, he would die.
So why hesitate?
The instant it arrived in his core, he sensed an incredible vitality spread out in all directions!
His internal organs were healed and his physique began to soar as his body absorbed the medical essence of the pill at breakneck speeds, his Primeval Body Art like a hungry ghost!
At the same time, he felt his eyes burning and his scalp go numb!
The cloudiness in his pupils cleared and vanished revealing instead of cloudiness, white pupils, and his hair turned from an old man's white hair to a shimmering silver glow as though each strand were made of metal.
His skin tightened and then loosened and then tightened again.
His physical cultivation had directly passed underneath the eyes of heaven, and reached the Third Stage Primeval Body!
Regular weapons could no longer pierce his flesh. Only those suffused in Qi could pierce his skin now, his healing ability also increased by leaps and bounds.
Yet, he also sensed a great amount of impurity now within his muscles and physique, a downside of eating pills instead of cultivating for it.
When he opened his eyes, Wo Yiyu was gone, and Liu Gang as well as Yui Luo were also gone.
He looked around and found himself within the Heart Mind Pagoda's top floor, the sunlight cast along the floor.
As he stood up, he felt incredibly stable.
When he looked within, he found that his body had become almost completely balanced.
Between his soul which had now absorbed three chains worth of pure qi and strengthened despite not growing.
His Physical and Qi cultivation now both sit at the same realm.
And his Sword Aura at Second Stage.
He felt almost perfectly aligned.
"My body is imperfect." He felt a bit irritated at the fact that he had entered the third stage of Primeval Body for free especially with the impurities which felt like slim clogging him.
As such, he stepped out from the Heart Mind Pagoda and stood within the courtyard, looking at the sky with his pure white pupils clear of any clouds.
In a moment, he had sat down.
"Uncle Yu."
"Young Master Shou, ah, well, is it Lord Shouai? Or perhaps…"
"Casually."
"Then, Young Master. You've been out for nearly four days without a single move. What are you planning now?"
"Indeed. That is the question on everyone's mind." Guo Long appeared from the balcony with a great smile, "My Sea Spring-, ah, Shouai Merchant Armada, is at your service, Lord Shouai."
Shou Xin silently nodded, his lips slowly moving.
"Sea Spring Province is no more. Shouai is now on the stage and many will look to gauge our strength in the months to come. I am seen as it's representative risen through bloodshed, no doubt many will think me a tyrant. For this reason, I need strength before the true warlords turn their eyes here to try and take it over by taking my head."
"Then, I will get as many Qi Gathering Pills as possible to help fill your Inner Sea-"
"No." Shou Xin said evenly, "What I am about to say, you two must swear beneath the Endless Path to take to your graves and beyond the river styx."
The room grew cold.
Such an oath was not to be trifled with.
"I will swear by the Endless Path, that never will I speak of this in life, nor beyond the river styx."
Yet, they did not mind.
They were both old, and neither were interested in betrayal, as a merchant Guo Long valued integrity and trust above his own life and as a warrior, Tai Yu would rather be burnt in an eternal hell fire than turn his blade up at an ally.
"...I have an innate ability which allows me to turn killing intent into Qi through my Law."
His words fell like bombshells.
"Such an ability… it is strong but dangerous." Elder Yu's eyes were sharp, "Is this why you did not move as you absorbed it that day?"
"So that is why!" Guo Long was convinced without needing to look at Shou Xin's reaction, "I thought it might be something connected to that ability."
Shou XIn slightly nodded.
"Do you two not believe it is… strange?"
"Hm? No, of course not." Elder Yu shrugged, "Such abilities are many and yours are not so great though useful. For example, a regular cultivator increases their Qi by gathering the pure strands in the day and night. Some others gather it from nature or the sea, or the earth or sky depending on the elements of their Law. If anything, the fact that you cannot move whilst absorbing killing intent is a crippling factor, as well as how limited it is, unlike a law which allows one to absorb Qi from all of nature."
"However," Guo Long cut in, "It seems the rate at which he gathers Qi is at least two fold higher than the average with this ability."
Elder Yu nodded, "That is the case, but it is still a crippling flaw, albeit a unique ability."
"Well, I cannot help him, my killing intent would shatter his mind, same with yours. I also cannot imagine that his clansmen would be able to release their killing intent before him either. Which creates a problem, where do we seek out the killing intent needed?"
"...a gate?" Elder Yu offered cautiously.
"A gate?" Shou Xin asked.