Chapter 243: Chapter 148: Showdown
Chen Sheng sat cross-legged on a soft brocade cushion, his bare upper body a mass of gnarled, well-defined muscle. Beads of sweat rolled down his taut skin. Each muscle seemed to hold explosive power, yet also betrayed a restless energy he was desperately suppressing.
Hearing the soft snort beside him, he slowly exhaled a scorching breath and responded with his eyes closed:
"What, is Miss Wang not satisfied?"
Wang Zilan, dressed in an intricate and magnificent Simurgh Phoenix Red Robe, sat to one side. Her once-vibrant makeup could not conceal the exhaustion etched upon her features, nor the lingering trace of pain. Hearing his words, her brow furrowed slightly and she turned her face away.
"Hmph."
Thinking back on what had just happened, she was overcome with a complex mix of emotions.
She had thought Chen Sheng taking her Profound Yin Qi would be a quick, clean affair. Never had she imagined the process would be so... difficult to put into words.
When Chen Sheng withdrew, he left not just a void in her True Qi, but also a bone-deep sensation that had nearly made her faint several times. Even now, she was still twitching slightly.
Even though she had taken a secret Healing Elixir from the Wang Family, the feeling of exhaustion and hidden pain had not completely faded. The acupoints all over her body still throbbed with faint, stabbing pains from time to time.
But what unsettled her the most was Chen Sheng’s attitude afterward. It was as if, just as he had said, this was nothing more than a cold transaction.
After taking the Profound Yin Qi, he immediately began refining it, without even a single symbolic word of comfort.
This cold and distant demeanor she was maintaining was partly due to her physical discomfort, but deep down, there was a sliver of hope that he would notice, that he would say a few gentle words. Even some false pleasantries would be better than being used and then completely ignored.
However, Chen Sheng seemed not to have understood at all, or rather, he simply had no time to understand.
It wasn’t that he was being callous and unfeeling; the reality was that his own condition had reached a critical juncture.
When Xu Shenzhi had first mentioned that Wang Zilan possessed the Profound Yin Qi, he had said that refining it was equivalent to ten years of hard cultivation.
At that time, Chen Sheng had just entered the Chaoyuan realm and hadn’t paid it much mind. He assumed that with his current Cultivation at the Earth Fiend realm, suppressing and refining this Qi would be a simple matter.
But the moment that strand of incomparably pure Profound Yin Qi, containing a vast Yin Cold Origin Power, truly merged into his Dantian, he realized he had underestimated how tyrannical this Yin Qi was.
The instant it entered his body, the surging power nearly ruptured his Meridians and burst out of him.
If not for his tenacious will, solid foundation, and profound reserves, he feared he would have long since been severely injured by the backlash of this rampaging power.
The only thing that brought Chen Sheng some comfort was that on the illusory Celestial Book Panel deep in his consciousness, the data representing his Cultivation progress was jumping and growing at an unprecedented speed.
He could feel that if he was just given a little more time to stabilize the situation and suppress the most violent initial burst of the Profound Yin Qi, the benefits of gradually refining it afterward would be beyond imagination.
At that point, reaching the peak of the Earth Fiend realm in one go would be well within reach.
At this critical juncture, all his focus was on looking inward, regulating his breath, and guiding his rampaging True Qi. How could he have any spare capacity to ponder Wang Zilan’s intricate, girlish feelings?
Wang Zilan waited for a moment, but when no response came, she grew even more sullen.
But when she studied Chen Sheng closely, she also noticed something was wrong.
His aura was fluctuating wildly, strong one moment and weak the next, extremely unstable. The Evil Qi emanating from him was at times bone-chillingly cold, and at others, scorching hot, even causing the temperature inside the carriage to become strange.
Moreover, Chen Sheng’s brow was tightly furrowed and cold sweat beaded on his temples. He was clearly enduring some kind of immense pressure.
She was no fool. After a moment of thought, she guessed that the Profound Yin Qi had probably triggered some kind of mishap.
The resentment in her heart inexplicably dissipated somewhat, replaced by a flicker of complex worry.
After a moment of contemplation, Wang Zilan said no more. She too took an Elixir to nourish her Meridians, closed her eyes, and began to regulate her breathing to alleviate her discomfort.
"Sister, are you not done playing chess yet? We’re almost at Luoyun Manor."
From outside the carriage came the hushed voice of her younger sister, Tao, tinged with curiosity and impatience.
Wang Zilan moistened her dry lips and replied in a steady voice:
"Not yet. Don’t disturb us."
"Oh, okay, Sister."
...
Luoyun Manor was decorated with lanterns and streamers, crowded with guests.
As the auspicious hour approached, the manor grew increasingly boisterous.
One after another, priceless congratulatory gifts were announced and sent to the Government Treasury, showcasing Luoyun Manor’s formidable power and extensive connections in Ning’an Prefecture.
Lu Maozhi, meanwhile, moved among the guests, a proper smile on his face, responding to congratulations that were by turns sincere or subtly probing.
"Lu, congratulations! You’ve won the fair lady!"
"Young Master Lu, I wish you and Miss Wang a speedy marriage and the early birth of a noble son!"
Facing the tide of compliments, Lu Maozhi smiled and returned the courtesies one by one, his demeanor calm and composed.
On the high platform, at the head seats, Lu Canghai, the Manor Master of Luoyun Manor, sat with Wangqingshan, the Clan Leader of the Ning’an Wang Clan, chatting and laughing cheerfully.
Lu Canghai’s gaze swept over the slightly restless guests below, then he glanced at the sky and chuckled in a low voice, "Wang, it seems the Wang Family is cutting it close to the auspicious hour, unwilling to arrive a minute early."
Wangqingshan stroked his beard and smiled, his expression calm:
"Rest assured, Lu. They will arrive by the auspicious hour and will not neglect the formalities."
On another side, Sun Yuzhi, the Vice Governor of the Jingwu Bureau, sat at his table with a grim expression. He signaled to Nie Xuanfeng beside him with his eyes and sent a voice transmission:
"Envoy Nie, you said before that a ’major event’ was bound to happen today. The auspicious hour is almost here. Where is Chen Sheng? What exactly is your scheme?"
Nie Xuanfeng’s expression did not change. He raised his cup, took a small sip, and replied via voice transmission, his tone still unhurried:
"Vice Envoy Sun, calm yourself. What’s meant to happen will happen when it’s time."
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