It was close to dusk when Ling Feng carried out the final round of acupuncture on his master's body, temporarily suppressing the sword Qi in his cinnabar field.
'Even though my master's complexion is getting better, I still need to use a number of different drugs before I can permanently cure his internal injury,' Ling Feng mused silently as he brought a pack filled with medicinal herbs outside to the courtyard.
After finding a rather open area, he set the pack down and began to practice the Black Wind Claw and Chasing Cloud Step. Although these two martial skills weren't extraordinary, they were the only ones he knew. He felt that he if didn't master them by tomorrow, he would lose, especially if he found himself in a situation where his true Qi was suppressed, keeping him from copying his opponent's moves.
Some hours later, when twilight had already faded far into the night, Ling Feng returned to his room. Surrounded by the soft glow of candleflames, he shrugged out of his training clothes and slipped on one of his simpler robes. Then he hopped onto his bed, opened his mortal eye, and began drawing world vitality into his body for the next thirty breaths.
By the time he finally fell asleep, curled up in his mussed sheets, the true Qi in his Qi sea had increased a section.
. . . . .
The red sun rose above the eastern rim, barely touching the horizon when Ling Feng finally crawled from bed and rushed outside to the medicinal garden.
He had to hurry because dewdrops could only be collected from a stone marrow flower at the earliest rise of the morning sun.
Once he reached the patch of stone marrow flowers, he took out a bamboo tube and began gathering the sweet-smelling liquid that had condensed atop its petals.
'Soon I'll be able to dispense some medicine and cure Master,' Ling Feng thought as the last droplet of dew filled the tube.
In his bamboo house, Duanmu Qingshan leaned against a railing and murmured, "This boy…"
With a deep breath, Ling Feng wiped the sweat from his brow and carefully placed the bamboo tube under one of his arms. But just as he turned to head back inside, he was alerted to the sound of approaching footsteps.
"Em, I'd like to meet the person who dared hit the disciples of my Meteor Peak!"
"Avenge us, Senior Brother Shi!"
During the length of the conversation, several figures stopped outside the bamboo house. This time, however, Ren Yifei was not the lead, a tall heavy-set man with a square face was.
The brows of that square-faced man were raised as he waited outside the house, hands folded across his back, "Boy, were you the one who hit Ren Yifei yesterday?"
Ling Feng concentrated his eyes. He already knew that this man's intentions were bad.
"Yes, I hit him. What are you going to do about it?" Ling Feng asked as he clenched his fists and stood vigilant.
This person's imposing manner was completely different from that of Ren Yifei and the other Meteor Peak disciples. He smelled of blood and iron, the sign of a true combat expert.
Ling Feng did not doubt that after experiencing so many life and death battles, this person's true Qi and martial skill had already entered a state of perfect balance. His body's movements and his intrinsic Qi flowed freely when he performed his martial art. He was the most difficult kind of warrior to deal with!
"What an arrogant child!" Shi Tailong glared coldly at Ling Feng, like a venomous snake, "This arrogance of yours will cost you!"
Before he even finished his sentence, Shi Tailong, similar to a fierce tiger descending the mountain, flew forward. Though he was using the same Chasing Cloud Step, his movement speed was several times faster than Ren Yifei!
Muscles rippled under Shi Tailong's flesh and a strong gale blew across everyone's face as a terrifying strength erupted from him.
"Die!"
Shi Tailong formed his hand into a claw and lunged toward Ling Feng's throat.
Ling Feng's reaction was not slow. Retreating quickly with the Chasing Cloud Step, he opened his deva eye, hoping to replicate Shi Tailong's martial skill.
"Em, Chasing Cloud Step? Unfortunately, you are too slow!" A strange laugh burst forth from Shi Tailong's chest as he swung another claw at Ling Feng. true Qi surrounded his five fingers like five steel blades.
Ling Feng's eyelids jumped at the manifestation of true Qi. Shi Tailong's method was similar to the one Wang Danfeng had used to transform his true Qi into wings. He could only have achieved this step if his true Qi was deep and concise.
"Kneel to me!"
In front of Shi Tailong, Ling Feng was just a tiny Coagulating Qi 3rd stage. His escape routes were completely sealed.
"Damn!" Ling Feng tightened his clenched fists. He knew that, unless he opened his asura eye, he would lose!
However, he was afraid that if he opened his asura eye here, he would no longer have a place in the Questioning Immortal Sect.
Unable to find a way out, Ling Feng could only watch Shi Tailong's claw approach his neck –
"GO AWAY!"
Shi Tailong's arm froze mid-flight as an astonishing roar suddenly burst out from Duanmu Qingshan's direction.
Body surrounded by a violent aura, Duanmu Qingshan leaped silently from his house. The moment his feet touched the ground, an invisible wave of Qi energy exploded from his body, knocking all vision from Shi Tailong, sending his entire body flying backward.
"Peng!"
Before anyone could react, Shi Tailong crashed to the ground and began vomiting mouthfuls of blood.
"Quite fierce!" Ling Feng's voice dripped with pride.
'This is my teacher! With just the force of his wild imposing manner, he has defeated Shi Tailong.'
Duanmu Qingshan crossed his hands behind his back and glared at the several Meteor Peak disciples, "Do you dare move my disciple?"
Legs weak from cold dread, Ren Yifei's knees buckled from under him.
Duanmu Qingshan's aura was really too fearful. It was not something a small Coagulating Qi Boundary martial artist like him could withstand.
"What's wrong? Has Yang Wei, that waste, forgotten my fierceness?" Duanmu Qingshan's ice-cold voice made the Meteor Peak disciples feel as if their whole bodies had fallen into an icehouse.
Ling Feng's heart sped up. He wondered when he could be as strong as his master, strong enough to be able to call a peak lord a "waste"!
"Senior Uncle Duanmu, mercy…mercy!" Still coughing up blood, Shi Tailong scrambled to his knees and kowtowed, "Mercy! Mercy!"
"Ahem, I will not kill you. You are not worth the time nor the effort!" Duanmu Qingshan responded with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Go back and tell Yang Wei that I have accepted Ling Feng as my last disciple. Tell him he should think long and hard about the consequences before deciding to move him!"
"Yes! Yes!" Shi Tailong and the other Meteor Peak disciples cried, escaping from Small Bamboo Peak as if they had just received a royal pardon.
"Thank you for helping me, Master." Ling Feng looked to Duanmu Qingshan, eyes soft. If his master hadn't acted, perhaps Shi Tailong would have really killed him. Ling Feng took the enmity of today to heart.
"You shouldn't thank me too soon. Your troubles will be endless now that I've made you my last disciple," Duanmu Qingshan said, patting Ling Feng's shoulder, "Boy, starting today, I will begin teaching you my secret skill inheritance!"
"Thank you, Master!" A great joy arose in Ling Feng's heart. He had just witnessed his Duanmu Qingshan's ability. If he could learn and master his skills, soon he wouldn't have to pay attention to Peak Lord Yang Wei. It might even increase his chances of recapturing the second volume of the Transcendent Acupuncture Technique!
"Eat first," Duanmu Qingshan reminded with a light smile, "You've been working all morning. I don't want you to strain yourself."
Ling Feng nodded, touched by his master's thoughtfulness.