Chapter 121: A Joint Breakthrough

"Adoptive Father." A strikingly handsome man stood respectfully before Zhu Wusi, the Iron-Hearted Divine Marquis.

"Haitang, how's the investigation going?" Zhu Wusi's tone seemed calm, but a hint of urgency lingered in his eyes.

"Reporting to Adoptive Father, Haitang's investigation revealed that Jiang Biehe and his wife were killed by Yaoyue of the Yihua Palace. As for why Yaoyue targeted them, it seems Jiang Biehe hid the Yihua Palace's lost secret treasure, the Liuren Divine Sieve, and so Yaoyue came after him." Shangguan Haitang relayed the intelligence she had gathered.

"Liuren Divine Sieve!" Tiedan Shenhou's eyes suddenly lit up.

Tiedan Shenhou practiced the Qi-Absorbing Technique, which allowed him to absorb the vital energy of others and make it his own. He even used it to absorb the vital energy of countless masters in the martial arts world, and it also allowed him to acquire the unique skills of countless other martial arts schools.

However, the Qi-Absorbing Technique ultimately had its limits.

Absorbing the Qi of others, no matter how miraculous one's Qi-absorbing technique, will ultimately lead to the disorganization of one's own Qi after absorbing the Qi of so many people, even if it can merge their Qi into one.

Therefore, Tiedan Shenhou's cultivation level was stuck at the ninth level of the Grandmaster Realm due to the impurity of his Qi, unable to break through to the Grandmaster Realm.

Of course, although Tiedan Shenhou couldn't break through to the Grandmaster Realm, because he had absorbed the Qi of so many people, his Qi within him was incredibly vast. This vast amount of Qi even allowed Tiedan Shenhou to rival the Grandmaster Realm in combat power.

However, possessing the combat power of a Grandmaster ultimately meant not having the realm of a Grandmaster, and thus being unable to reap the benefits of that realm.

The most obvious manifestation of this is in lifespan.

The Grandmaster Realm's lifespan is two hundred years, while the Grandmaster Realm's is eight hundred, a full six hundred year difference.

This alone was the reason Tiedan Shenhou aspired to break through to the Grandmaster Realm.

However, the Qi-Absorbing Art only reached the ninth level of the Grandmaster Realm. Therefore, Tiedan Shenhou sought a martial art similar to it, hoping it could help him achieve Grandmaster status.

Tiedan Shenhou had already mastered the Star-Absorbing Art, and with some inspiration, he even combined it with the Qi-Absorbing Art to create a new form capable of absorbing Qi from others. He then passed it off as the Qi-Absorbing Art and presented it to Liu Xi, the Second Inspector of the Western Factory.

However, this version of the Qi-Absorbing Art was significantly inferior to the original. Not only did it have various requirements for cultivation, it also required the Qi of a martial artist at a specific time. Even at the highest level, it could only absorb Qi through the air.

Of course, even at this level, it was still superior to the Star-Absorbing Art, as practitioners of the Qi-Absorbing Art did not have to worry about their Qi colliding and escaping.

As for the martial arts that can absorb the true energy of others, apart from the Qi Absorption Art and the Star Absorption Art, the only martial arts in the Ming Dynasty that has lost the last level of the Wedding Dress Magic Art, the Flower-Transferring Art.

It's a pity that the Flower-Transferring Art has long been lost, so Tiedan Shenhou has never made a move on the Yihua Palace.

But Tiedan Shenhou still keeps an eye on the Yihua Palace. Now that Yaoyue has found the Liuren Divine Sieve, Tiedan Shenhou will definitely make a move on the Yihua Palace. To be more precise, he wants to take back the Liuren Divine Sieve and get the Flower-Transferring Art inside. Tiedan Shenhou even wants to make the true energy of Yaoyue and Lianxing his own. As for Yaoyue and Lianxing being famous beauties in the martial arts world, sorry, Tiedan Shenhou has always been indifferent to other women except Suxin. For Tiedan Shenhou, being ruthless is a very common thing. 

Of course, Tiedan Shenhou's goal was to perform the "Yihua Jiemu" technique in the Six-Ren Divine Sieve. He couldn't let anyone else know about this, not even his adopted sons and daughters. After all, Tiedan Shenhou only trusted himself, and no one else. 

So, under the pretext of retreating to practice, Tiedan Shenhou hid himself and quietly headed towards Yihua Palace. 

... 

"Boring, boring, boring, and still boring." 

"It's really super boring. I can only stay in such a place every day and can't walk around casually. After all, I don't know where the forbidden area of Yihua Palace is." 

"And no one will talk to me. It's been a few days, and even Yaoyue hasn't come to see me again. It's so boring." 

"They won't let me leave, and they won't communicate with me. Although if I have any requests, such as what I want to eat, they will send it to me. If I want to fish, they will also send me fishing rods and bait." 

"But how can people not communicate at all?" 

"There is no Internet here, and no mobile phones to play games or read novels - uh, read novels? Okay, let's see the situation tomorrow and ask the girl who delivers food if she can send some novels to relieve boredom." 

"Alas, after all, it's all because of the plug-in." 

"Before I had the cheat, I spent most of my time practicing, practicing internal skills, light skills, and swordsmanship. But with the cheat, it's so easy for me. I just need to write a diary, and my internal skills will grow rapidly. I don't need to practice swordsmanship and light skills, and they can also be improved. I practiced hard all day, and it would take me thirty days to be equivalent to writing a diary." 

" In this case, how can I still have the motivation to practice?" "But if I don't practice, what can I do? Boring, terribly boring, extremely boring." 

"Especially since I have just become a real man, even though I am always being pointed at and can't take the initiative. But apart from this, everything else is pretty good." 

"Now look what happened. I just tasted the meat, but now I am imprisoned here. It's uncomfortable!" 

"I suddenly started to miss Dongfang." 

"Dongfang-I don't know how Dongfang's strength compares to Yaoyue's. Can she rescue me from Yihua Palace?" 

"Well, Dongfang should know now that I was taken away by Yaoyue. After all, the Sun Moon Divine Sect is still quite powerful no matter what. They should be able to find out that I was taken away by Yaoyue." 

"So, will Dongfang come to save me? According to Dongfang's character, she should. So, the only question now should be Dongfang's strength." 

"Who is stronger, Dongfang or Yaoyue?" 

"Sunflower Manual, Mingyu Gong and Yihua Jieyu." 

"Who is stronger and who is weaker?" 

"Ahhh! Boring, boring!" 

"I'm going to see if there are any interesting novels or stories tomorrow. But I have a feeling that there shouldn't be any. After all, there are definitely not many people who write storybooks in this world. Even if there are some, nine out of ten are some very clichéd stories." 

"God, please give me a mobile phone that can access the Internet." 

"Okay, I know this is impossible. But what can I do next? Yaoyue brought me here, and I gave her the Shenzhaojing when she asked for it. Now you just leave me here and ignore me? No way? What on earth is going on?" " 

At least tell me the arrangements. Whether you want to kill me or cut me up, at least say a word. Just leaving me here like this, what's the matter!" 

"I don't know how strong Yao Yue's cultivation is right now. She should be a Grandmaster, yes, or possibly a Grandmaster. Alas, Huashan is too small. There are no Grandmasters or Grandmasters above them. Yes, not openly, so there's no way to tell the difference between a Grandmaster and a Grandmaster."

"If it's a Grandmaster, it's easy. Even if Dongfang might not be Yaoyue's match, I can still improve my strength by writing in my diary every day. Then, I'll be able to leave Yihua Palace with my strength. If Yaoyue is a Grandmaster, I'll have to wait even longer."

After finishing his diary, Ye Xiu waited with anticipation for his monthly reward.

A surge of true energy suddenly flowed into his body, and Ye Xiu discovered that this amount wasn't the equivalent of a year's cultivation as in the previous two influxes, but five years' worth, multiplying it several times.

With this influx of true energy, Ye Xiu's cultivation began to rapidly increase, and soon, he was making breakthroughs.

Once everything stabilized, Ye Xiu discovered that his cultivation had reached the ninth level of the Xiantian realm!

This surprised Ye Xiu immensely. Even with his ninth level cultivation, combined with the Wind God Leg, Ye Xiu was confident he could hold his own against even a Grandmaster.

Of course, he was only a master who had just entered the Grandmaster realm.

Just like the first Grandmaster-level expert Ye Xiu had encountered, the Whiteboard Evil Star, Ye Xiu felt that if he faced him again now, even if he couldn't defeat him, he would definitely be able to escape unscathed.

Besides his increased cultivation, Ye Xiu also had in mind a sword technique called the "Thirteen Deadly Swords."

While these "Thirteen Deadly Swords" consisted of only thirteen swords, lacking the fourteenth or fifteenth swords later created by Yan Shisan, the "Thirteen Deadly Swords" alone was a profound sword technique.

Furthermore, as Yan Shisan's family sword technique, each strike was fatal, with incredibly ruthless sword moves. Each strike aimed for the opponent's vital points, such as the center of the eyebrows, throat, heart, dantian, and groin. It could be said that this sword technique was created entirely for the purpose of killing.

The Huashan School's sword techniques, even the Exorcist Sword Technique, paled in comparison to the "Thirteen Deadly Swords."

Ye Xiu even felt that the "Thirteen Deadly Swords" were as powerful as the "Nine Swords of Dugu. "

Having achieved a breakthrough in his cultivation and acquired such a powerful sword technique, Ye Xiu's mood couldn't have been better.

...

After Ye Xiu finished writing his diary, Yao Yue, who was in Yihua Palace, also read it.

Seeing Ye Xiu's complaints about boredom, Yao Yue frowned slightly.

In reality, Yao Yue hadn't gone to Ye Xiu's place because, on the one hand, she wasn't sure how to face a man. On the other hand, she had left Yihua Palace earlier, and without him, she naturally couldn't find Ye Xiu.

When Yao Yue saw that Ye Xiu was actually counting on Dongfang Bubai to rescue him, she couldn't help but sneer. Dongfang Bubai's strength was certainly not inferior, but compared to her, he was still far behind. As long as she stayed at Yihua Palace, Dongfang Bubai would be unable to take Ye Xiu away.

Furthermore, Yao Yue was somewhat displeased that Ye Xiu was actually thinking about Dongfang Bubai.

Ye Xiu was actually thinking about other women? This reminded Yao Yue of Jiang Feng and Hua Yuenu.

Just as Yao Yue was simmering with inexplicable anger, she suddenly sensed something else.

First of all, there is the favorability.

In the diary, there is actually a record of Ye Xiu's favorability towards her.

What Yao Yue didn't expect was that Ye Xiu's favorability towards her was only 30, not more, not less, just a whole number.

And a favorability of 30 does not come with any additional bonus.

In fact, although Ye Xiu's favorability towards Yao Yue was not very high, it was not so low either. It was just that Yao Yue forcibly abducted Ye Xiu and imprisoned him in the Yihua Palace.

Fortunately, Yao Yue did not do anything more extreme, so Ye Xiu's favorability towards her only dropped to 30, otherwise it would be even lower.

After the favorability.

Secondly, there is the reward for the monthly summary.

[Monthly summary, you were mentioned 59 times in the diary this month, and you gained six months of Qi cultivation. The diary owner's favorability towards you is 30, and there is no additional reward. In the end, you gained six months of Qi cultivation. Just as Yao

Yue was baffled by the so-called monthly bonus, a surge of Qi rushed into her body, rapidly merging with her Mingyu Qi and transforming into Mingyu Qi at an incredibly fast speed. It was also incredibly pure, identical to her own Qi cultivation.

With these six months of additional Qi cultivation, Yao Yue found herself stuck at the bottleneck of the Half-Step Grandmaster realm, but with a snap, it was broken.

The Qi within her body circulated rapidly, becoming even more refined.

Yao Yue, whose complexion was already like jade, now became even more refined and beautiful. It was as if her entire body had transformed into jade, not just her skin.

At the same time, a powerful aura erupted from her body, resembling a cold moon, emanating a chilling chill. A layer of white frost formed around Yao Yue, and a cold moon loomed faintly behind her head.

At this moment, Yao Yue was incredibly beautiful, even resembling a fairy from Guanghan Palace.

After the Mingyu Qi circulated through her body for 9981 cycles, Yao Yue opened her eyes, her face awash with laughter.

"Hahahaha!" Yao Yue even burst out laughing, a hearty, unbridled laugh.

In fact, fourteen years ago, Yao Yue had the potential to achieve Grandmaster status. At that time, Yao Yue was only twenty-two or twenty-three years old, even younger than Dongfang Bubai today.

Unfortunately, due to Jiang Feng, the once pure and clear moon within Yao Yue's heart had been tainted, becoming less than perfect. As a result, Yao Yue's discontented state of mind prevented her from achieving Grandmaster status.

Despite fourteen years of continuous cultivation and accumulation, the Mingyu Qi within her body had grown immensely, propelling her to the Half-Step Grandmaster realm. However, her state of mind still prevented her from achieving Grandmaster status.

Yao Yue's situation was like playing a game where her experience points had reached 9999/10000. She was just one point away from reaching the Grandmaster level, but because of her state of mind, she couldn't earn that final point of experience, preventing

her from advancing to the Grandmaster realm. Now, after obtaining the diary, the monthly summary reward completely ignored the need for state of mind, forcing her to complete the final point of experience. Thus, Yaoyue had naturally broken through to the Grandmaster level, becoming a Grandmaster.

After calming down a bit, Yaoyue looked back at the diary with a look of shock and enthusiasm.

She hadn't expected her bottleneck to be broken so easily.

You know, Yaoyue had little confidence in herself.

After all, she knew that the breakthrough from Grandmaster to Grandmaster required not only internal cultivation but also state of mind.

And because of Jiang Feng, her state of mind had been impaired. Unless she found a way to remedy this, she would never be able to reach the Grandmaster level.

To restore her own state of mind to perfection, Yao Yue even deliberately had Lian Xing train Hua Wu Que, attempting to have Hua Wu Que and Xiao Yu Er kill each other, thus achieving a perfect state of mind and ultimately advancing to Grandmaster status.

However, Yao Yue herself wasn't entirely convinced that this so-called plan of forcing brothers to kill each other would actually achieve a perfect state of mind. She simply pushed forward with the idea that it might just give it a try and perhaps succeed.

But now, having broken through to the Grandmaster realm, Mingyue Ranxia's original state of mind had surprisingly softened, becoming more complete.

Yaoyue even felt that she only needed some time for Ranxia's mind to return to its perfect state.

Therefore, the plan of brothers killing each other was of little use to Yaoyue. At most, watching them kill each other would make her feel a little better.

At this moment, Hua Wuque and Xiaoyuer no longer mattered to her.

Of course, the plan had to continue, after all, she had supported Hua Wuque for over a decade because of it. Her

enthusiastic eyes faded slightly, and Yaoyue couldn't help but ponder.

This diary, and the so-called favorability system.

Ye Xiu's favorability rating for her was a mere 30. So, what was Ye Xiu's favorability rating for his sister Lianxing?

Furthermore, Ye Xiu wrote in his diary about Huang Rong, who suddenly appeared beside him, and Dongfang Bubai, who forcibly possessed him. Did these two people, like Lianxing, possess the same diary?

Did Huang Rong deliberately approach Ye Xiu because of the diary? Did Dongfang Bubai forcefully possess Ye Xiu because of the diary?

She received a reward and reached the Grandmaster realm, but what about Dongfang Bubai? If she also had a diary, how high would the monthly summary reward have boosted her cultivation?

Dongfang Bubai was already at the ninth level of the Grandmaster realm, so would this monthly summary also see her become a Grandmaster like her?

Yao Yue's eyes grew slightly colder.

Meanwhile, her younger sister, Lianxing, had also finished reading today's diary and received the same hint.

Lianxing then discovered that Ye Xiu's favorability rating for her was 47, just enough to receive an additional 10% bonus.

In reality, Ye Xiu's favorability ratings for both Yaoyue and Lianxing were similar. In fact, as the Grand Palace Master, Yaoyue's initial favorability rating should have been a few points higher than Lianxing's.

It was just that Yaoyue's actions had significantly lowered Ye Xiu's favorability rating for her.

[Monthly Summary: You have been mentioned thirty-two times in your diary this month. You have gained three months of Qi cultivation. The diary owner's favorability towards you is now 47. You receive an additional 10% bonus and a slight increase in your Shenzhaojing proficiency. Finally, you have gained three months and nine days of Qi cultivation, and your Shenzhaojing proficiency has improved slightly.]

Similarly, after these three months and nine days of Qi were infused into Lianxing's body, the bottleneck that had previously stuck her at the eighth level of the Mingyu Gong was broken, and she broke through to the ninth level.

Simultaneously, some of her experiences with Shenzhaojing cultivation also entered Lianxing's mind. Lianxing even noticed a slight abnormality in her left hand and foot. Her deformed left hand and foot were showing signs of healing.

Lianxing was overwhelmed with surprise.

Whether it was the breakthrough to the ninth level of the Mingyu Gong or the slight improvement in the Shenzhaojing that allowed her hands and feet to heal, it was a huge surprise for Lianxing, especially the latter reward.

Lianxing's eyes filled with gratitude as she looked at the diary. She felt a similar sense of gratitude towards its owner, Ye Xiu.

After all, the changes in her were all due to Ye Xiu.

Recalling Ye Xiu's diary entry about how bored he was at Yihua Palace, Lianxing didn't dare let Ye Xiu go. However, she decided to have someone find him some good storybooks to read. She also decided to visit him frequently to chat with him, to keep him from getting so bored.

This was partly out of gratitude and a way to alleviate his boredom. Partly, Lianxing hoped to improve Ye Xiu's favorability. After all, the higher his favorability, the more rewards she would receive.

Lianxing also thought of her sister, Yaoyue.

She knew she must have received a reward from the diary.

However, Lianxing felt that with Yaoyue's domineering personality, she'd even gone so far as to kidnap Ye Xiu and imprison him at Yihua Palace. Ye Xiu would undoubtedly lose favor with Yao Yue, and as a result, the rewards she would receive would be reduced.

Her favorability with Yao Yue would increase, while hers would decrease, resulting

in a corresponding increase and decrease in rewards. Leveraging this gap, perhaps Lian Xing could one day surpass Yao Yue in strength.

The thought of surpassing Yao Yue, or even embarrass her, filled Lian Xing with excitement.

Consequently, Lian Xing became increasingly determined, striving to meet Ye Xiu's demands and increase his favorability.

[

Monthly Summary: You were mentioned 321 times in your diary this month, gaining three years and two months of Qi cultivation. The diary owner's favorability towards you is 89, granting you an additional fivefold bonus. Ultimately, you achieved fifteen years and ten months of Qi cultivation.]

A massive surge of Qi flowed into Dongfang Bubai's body.

Dongfang Bubai felt a dull pain in her meridians.

This immense Qi quickly merged with her Sunflower Qi, swiftly breaking through the bottleneck of the ninth level of Grandmaster. With a snap—Dongfang Bubai's cultivation reached the Grandmaster realm.

A faint red tinge adorned Dongfang Bubai's once-fair complexion, and even the temperature around her body showed signs of rising. Meanwhile, the faint outline of a large sun appeared behind Dongfang Bubai's head. And this was Sunflower Facing the Sun!

Dongfang Bubai had successfully reached the Grandmaster realm. Even with the fifteen years of extra cultivation, her Grandmaster realm wasn't even close to the beginner's level.

The only regret for Dongfang Bubai was that the Sunflower Manual was incomplete; its ultimate limit was, after all, the Grandmaster realm. Therefore, her breakthrough to the Grandmaster realm left the Manual somewhat behind. If it weren't for the secrets she'd gained from the Purple Cloud Art and added to it, the Manual would likely have lagged even further behind.

"Although I can't unleash my full power due to the Sunflower Manual, but with my current strength, Yaoyue—humph." A hint of coldness crossed Dongfang Bubai's eyes.

I've been dieting recently. Not to mention being hungry, my mental state has also been affected. I have trouble concentrating, which has somewhat affected my typing. Please forgive me.