Chapter 76: Why the Heart Inclines (1)

Realizing the other party was not joking, Yin Xiyu, despite her usually composed temperament, could hardly tolerate such mockery. She stood up abruptly, her cold eyes filled with authority, "So, Young Master, you came here today just to toy with me, Yin Xiyu! Although the Galloping Horse Gang does not wish to harbor enmity with Mingyi Tower, we are not afraid of you either!"

Zi Hao sat calmly and still, the smile in his eyes unchanged, "Aside from the Snake Gall, I have one other condition. It would not be too late for the Gang Leader to make a decision after hearing it."

Yin Xiyu remained cold and silent. Zi Hao said, "May I ask, Gang Leader, do you currently want this one Snake Gall and a cripple, or do you want a vibrant, healthy young gang leader of the Galloping Horse Gang?"

Yin Xiyu's willow-leaf brows furrowed slightly, "What do you mean by this?"

Zi Hao said, "Your younger brother was injured by the Heavenly Remnant Extinction Palm. Once he consumes the Snake Gall to neutralize the palm poison, the True Essence currently suppressed by the toxicity will suddenly surge in all directions. His severely damaged meridians will be unable to bear the burden and will inevitably suffer a second, devastating blow, leaving no hope for recovery." His tone was as flat as before, yet it carried an intangible, icy quality that continuously stirred chills in Yin Xiyu's heart, simply because he was stating an unavoidable, cruel fact, "However, if someone can use innate True Essence to force out the palm poison for him while simultaneously guiding his internal power to slowly return, there will be room for a buffer. The damage will be reduced to a level his meridians can withstand, and with proper care in the future, recovering his martial arts will not be difficult."

Yin Xiyu raised her brows. It was not that she did not understand this logic, nor that she had not thought of it, but in this world, those whose internal power has reached the innate realm are few and far between. Furthermore, even if such a person existed, who would use a method that not only consumes a vast amount of one's own True Essence but also risks a backlash of poison that could endanger one's own life to help another heal? Facing those unfathomable eyes, she remained uncertain of what the other party was truly thinking, and she followed the thread of his words to speculate, "You mean... you are willing to force out the poison and heal Xi Qing?"

Zi Hao smiled slightly, "If the Gang Leader does not object, I can give it a try."

Yin Xiyu was truly quite shocked and could not help but say, "The virulent poison of the Heavenly Remnant Extinction Palm is no small matter. Doing this is equivalent to risking your life."

Zi Hao nodded faintly, "I know."

Yin Xiyu was silent for a moment, "The Galloping Horse Gang cannot yet be considered an ally of Mingyi Tower. Why are you willing to go to such lengths to help? If there are any other conditions, you might as well state them first."

Zi Hao shook his head with a smile, "Whether we can eventually become allies depends on the sincerity of our cooperation. Since the Gang Leader has already agreed to my previous condition, how could I resort to further coercion or enticement? From now on, we are in the same boat; the affairs of the Galloping Horse Gang are the affairs of Mingyi Tower. Whatever I can do, I will naturally do my utmost."

These words were an admission that there had been no lack of schemes and calculations in his negotiation with Yin Xiyu just now, yet they were spoken so openly and candidly that even though one knew they had fallen into his trap, it was impossible to feel any resentment. In the current situation, agreeing to him was indeed risking Yin Xiqing's life; yet if she did not agree, Yin Xiqing would die regardless, and the Galloping Horse Gang and Mingyi Tower would certainly become bitter enemies.

The heaven-toppling hand of the Shao Yuan Jun Mansion, the sharp edge of the cold sword hidden in the shadows...

The empire and the martial world, the wind and rain, the clouds and storms; whose schemes against whom, who leads whom along their path, who advances and who retreats, whose room for maneuver, and whose desperate gamble?

It is nothing more than a perfect game of chess; it only depends on whether you are willing to be the chess piece or the one playing the game.

The room door closed, and the last glimmer of light before nightfall sank into the depths of the heavy curtains. The wind arrived before the corridor, and scattered raindrops drifted from the sky, making the room appear all the more secluded, quiet, and cold.

The severely injured youth remained trapped in a coma, his brows occasionally revealing an expression of pain. Zi Hao sat cross-legged nearby, the beads between his fingers gently turning to cast a serene light. When he opened his eyes from deep thought, he raised his hand and channeled a stream of True Essence into Yin Xiqing's vital Shanzhong vital point.

A force of yin-soft power, vast as water, gradually dispersed into the extraordinary meridians under his palm.

Yin Xiqing's pale skin faintly revealed an unusual flush. The Profound Penetration True Essence moved like a swimming dragon, wandering throughout his body, while the entrenched poisonous energy seemed like countless snakes seeing delicious prey, rearing their heads to hiss and surging violently. The successive collisions of True Essence gradually sparked a dark, blood-like crimson within that flush, causing Yin Xiqing's body to present a bizarre and illusory appearance in the darkness.

The surrounding curtains fluttered lightly without wind, but Zi Hao only closed his eyes quietly, with only the strange light between his fingers surging like a tide, emitting a purple, enchanting glow. Through the thin silk gauze, one could almost see his entire body shrouded in a faint, dark light, indicating that the Nine Nether Profound Penetration was being gradually pushed to its limit.

The crimson deepened, the purple glow grew more intense, and the True Essence and poisonous energy entangled incessantly. Starting from Yin Xiqing's Shaoshang vital point on his finger, it traveled along the Laogong, Neiguan, Quze, and Tianquan vital points, passed the Jianjing and Shentang, and then circulated back through the Qihai, Sanjiao, and other points. As one waned, the other waxed; as one retreated, the other advanced. Zi Hao's calm brows gradually knit together, and Yin Xiqing's body, even in his coma, trembled continuously until, suddenly, a thick trace of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

Zi Hao's brow tightened slightly. Although most of the backlash from the collision of True Essence had been diverted to himself, for Yin Xiqing, who was already severely injured, even the slightest residual shock was enough to cause serious consequences. Without time to think, the True Essence under his palm flowed, and the precious internal power that represented the life essence of a martial artist was forcibly pressed against that sinister palm power under his control.

Within the crimson, the dragon roared and thousands of snakes were devoured and transformed. A layer of clear, dark-purple, ghostly light shone brilliantly through the long, silent hanging curtains, illuminating the dark room with a clear radiance before settling into tranquility, yet it remained filled with the quiet, narrow space behind the screen. Cold sweat began to seep from Zi Hao's forehead, and his lips were faintly stained with a vermilion-like fresh red, making his refined silhouette appear with a near-demonic pallor under this ghostly light.

The innate True Essence soaked into the meridians like water into silk, devouring and penetrating bit by bit. Wherever it passed, it seemed as if crimson threads were uneasily bursting from the meridians, struggling and darting, only to be instantly extracted by the purple glow and dissipated under the sinister True Essence of the Nine Nether Profound Penetration.

The strange light between Zi Hao's fingers grew brighter, and his complexion grew a fraction paler. The invading poisonous energy weakened bit by bit, and the meridians throughout Yin Xiqing's body gradually emptied, allowing his dantian's internal power to naturally flow into various parts. The weaker the toxicity of the Heavenly Remnant Extinction Palm became, the more his own True Power recovered, constantly battering against the protection of the Nine Nether Profound Penetration. As a result, Zi Hao, not sparing himself, was forced to handle the powerful pincer attack from both sides while unable to fight back. After a moment of stalemate, his body finally trembled, and a mouthful of blood splattered onto his lapels.

Outside the window, the thick clouds were heavy, and the world had completely fallen into darkness, with only the dense, fine rain flashing with cold, faint light.

The only green lamp seemed unable to withstand the assault of the cold rain, flickering on and off, on the verge of extinguishing, and the purple glow behind the screen also seemed unstable, as faint as a firefly, flickering as if it might vanish.

Suddenly, Yin Xiqing's entire skin seemed to be bathed in a tide of light, presenting a translucent luster. In the depths of this dark, quiet space, it seemed as if one could see the fine, silk-like Profound Yin True Essence gathering and exhausting the poisonous energy. Unexpectedly, at this critical moment, Zi Hao felt several sharp pains in his heart meridian, and the True Essence under his hand involuntarily stalled. The internal power that had been blocked in Yin Xiqing's dantian seized this opportunity, breaking through like a surging flood and violently rushing toward his surrounding meridians.

Given Yin Xiqing's current physical condition, if he were to suffer such a collision, his meridians would surely be severed, leaving no room for salvation. Zi Hao felt the blood and Qi in his chest surging, but he had no time to care for himself; he decisively withdrew the Profound Penetration True Essence that was suppressing the poison and poured all his strength into blocking this out-of-control force.

Yin Xiqing's martial arts were, after all, no match for the Nine Nether Profound Penetration, and it was blocked in time. At the same time, the remaining wisp of True Essence in the Zigong acupoint was, under Zi Hao's deliberate guidance, turned around to rush outward.

Doing this was equivalent to forcibly drawing all the poisonous energy into his own body the moment it lost its restraint. Zi Hao's complexion turned white abruptly, and fresh blood sprayed from his mouth like a sharp arrow, his entire body's meridians feeling as if they were being churned by ten thousand blades. While forcibly resisting the collision of Yin Xiqing's internal power, he rapidly drew out the poisonous energy, blood continuously seeping from his tightly pressed thin lips, leaving shocking marks on his snow-white skin.

As the blood splattered, the Obsidian on his wrist flashed brightly, and dots of cold, mysterious light danced and flew, merging with the purple glow that was on the verge of dissipating. It suddenly spread outward, illuminating the crimson of the blood with an incomparably enchanting and strange allure, and also shrouding the bodies of Zi Hao and Yin Xiqing within it.

At this moment, outside Shangying City, a woman in black robes who was rushing toward Ling Tai Xi Shan Si suddenly stopped and looked up at the dark, cloud-covered night sky, as if there were truly a bright, strange star flashing and vanishing in the depths of the dark clouds, amidst the shadows of the wind and rain.

The man in blue robes beside her stopped his steps and turned to ask, "Princess, what is it?"

In her deep, profound eyes, the reflection was hazy. The woman's hair was blown into disarray by the wind, brushing against her snow-like face, and her slender figure seemed to sway in the wind and rain, appearing both illusory and real.

She raised her hand to touch her heart, the Spirit Stone on her wrist shimmering with a faint, rippling light, deep and crystalline like flowing rain. "It's nothing, let's go." She answered in a low voice, her black sleeves brushing past her long hair like clouds, and the night rain light drifted away. The momentary frown between her brows subsequently returned to a lazy calm.

Turning to leave, the two figures both submerged into the torrential rain by the mountainside, soon disappearing into the boundless, endless darkness.

The mysterious light was as clear as a mirror, continuously shrouding the entire space behind the curtain, strangely serene yet eerie to the extreme. As the blood dripped from the corner of Zi Hao's mouth, the radiance became increasingly translucent, appearing all the more ethereal and ghostly.

The dark purple glow gradually stabilized, bringing a warm luster under Zi Hao's palms, and finally flowed slowly into Yin Xiqing's entire body. A layer of faint mist hovered over Yin Xiqing's head, and sweat poured from under his clothes like paste, but his face gradually revealed a normal, healthy color. In contrast, Zi Hao's complexion became increasingly pale and exhausted. When the cultivation was finally complete, he could no longer care to check on Yin Xiqing's condition; he let him lean back against the wall, and after swaying for a moment, he collapsed forward directly.

The mysterious light and purple glow vanished in an instant without a trace, with only dots of hazy light lingering in the ink-black darkness.

The long, lingering rain followed the wind, pouring through the deep night as if it would never end. The candlelight struggled and flickered, finally extinguishing completely, and all light sank into the cold, rainy night, blurring the thin silhouette deep behind the curtains.

(End of chapter)