Who poisoned us? And why?
Just as their minds were struggling to make sense of it, a surprised voice suddenly reached their ears: "Huh?"
It was Yang Kai's voice! Su Mu hated Yang Kai to the bone — how could he possibly not recognize it?
It was him — so Yang Kai was the one who had poisoned them! That bastard! All they had wanted was to teach him a lesson, and he had gone and done something like this! Wasn't that a bit too cruel?
Su Mu wanted to curse Yang Kai, but his consciousness was rapidly fading.
Damn, was this young master really going to die in such a muddled fashion? How tragic — all his ambitions, all his grand aspirations, snuffed out before he could even begin to realize them. The heavens were jealous of genius, truly jealous of genius!
Yang Kai walked over to the group with a light, cheerful step, crouched down, and pulled off their face cloths. Taking a careful look, he found that every single one of them was someone he recognized.
After a moment's thought, Yang Kai figured out what they had been planning. They must have been tormented enough by him these past few days that they had come to launch a nighttime sneak attack in retaliation.
It was just their bad luck that things hadn't worked out.
Yang Kai hefted the incense burner in his hand, unable to decide whether to laugh or cry.
It really was an accident. Normally, before going to bed each night, Yang Kai would stow the incense burner inside the wordless black book. But tonight he had cultivated for too long, grown tired, and accidentally fallen asleep without putting the burner away. The herbs he had placed inside it hadn't been fully consumed yet, and Su Mu and his group had just happened to come along and smell them.
The strange fragrance from the incense burner was incredibly potent. The first time Yang Kai had smelled it, he had only managed three steps before collapsing to the ground. He had the Proud Bone Golden Body, and even he had been affected so severely — let alone Su Mu and his group.
Without the Proud Bone Golden Body to back them up, this alone would probably require several days of recovery.
Although Yang Kai bore some responsibility for his own carelessness, Su Mu and his group's carelessness was the root cause. If they had held their breath the instant they smelled the strange fragrance, they probably wouldn't have ended up in such a sorry state.
"Sigh, why did you have to bring this on yourselves?" Yang Kai sighed, stowing the incense burner back inside the wordless black book. He stared at the sprawled figures on the ground, looking somewhat troubled.
After thinking for a moment, Yang Kai dragged them all outside, dumped them in a random spot, and left them there.
Returning to his wooden cabin, Yang Kai went back to rest.
Today's incident had given him a wake-up call — he needed to break through the Body Tempering Realm as soon as possible. The incense burner could only be used when placed outside, but if he broke through the Body Tempering Realm and reached the Kaiyuan Realm, there would be no need for such hassle. At that point, the incense burner would be effective even if kept inside the wordless black book, as long as the Yuan Qi in his body could communicate with the wordless black book.
Over the next few days, Yang Kai trained diligently, trying to stretch the use of his two herbs as much as possible. Yet they still dwindled day by day.
Three days later, in the morning, after Yang Kai finished practicing the Tempering Body Chapter, as he inhaled a breath of the purple qi from the east, the sensation of qi within his meridians suddenly surged with excitement — as though countless tiny worms had come alive, darting and pulsing through his meridians.
Yang Kai's expression turned grave, and he quickly focused his mind to sense what was happening.
The pulsing of the qi sensation drove the flesh and blood to undulate, sending waves of tingling throughout his entire body — an indescribable blend of ticklish sensation and blissful comfort. He had no idea how long this lasted. Then, in a sudden instant, Yang Kai felt his entire body lighten, and a warmth bloomed in his abdomen. At the same time, the pulsing of qi vanished without a trace.
When he focused his mind, that trace of warmth in his abdomen seemed to come alive, dancing with jubilant energy.
Yuan Qi! He had finally taken this step — Body Tempering Stage Seven. The birth of Yuan Qi within his body was the clearest sign of it.