Chapter 55: The Shocking Eastern Heretic!

Time slipped by like a white colt darting past a crevice, days passing quietly.

The slight discomfort from the surge of internal force after Ning Chuan consumed three Innate Pills, and the sluggishness of his physical body not yet fully adapting, had all vanished completely under the careful tempering and consolidation during this period.

His Black Water Black Snake Innate True Qi had become even more condensed and harmonious, and his control over the two hundred opened Snake Orifices had grown increasingly effortless.

He returned to his fulfilling life of going out to sea to hunt and consume for cultivation, and spending leisure time reading scriptures and contemplating insights in the Wu Gong Tower or stone chambers of Taohuadao.

His strength continued to rise steadily and rapidly.

During this period,

Huang Rong's progress was equally astonishingly swift.

She was naturally intelligent and brilliant, possessing peerless talent, a martial arts genius rare once in a century; she had merely been somewhat playful in the past, her mind not fully focused on practicing martial arts.

Now, having experienced the incident of Chen Xuanfeng and Mei Chaofeng's defection, and having witnessed Ning Chuan's extraordinary and transcendent strength, her enthusiasm for cultivating martial arts reached unprecedented heights.

Furthermore, aided by the Taohuadao Heart Method tailored and improved by Ning Chuan for her, her cultivation became like a tiger gaining wings, achieving twice the result with half the effort.

This improved Heart Method not only greatly enhanced her efficiency in absorbing and refining the primordial energy of heaven and earth, but also effectively nourished her meridians and blood qi, compensating for the slight weakness of her physique.

In just half a month, she miraculously broke through two grades, leaping from her previous Postnatal Fifth Grade straight into the Postnatal Third Grade realm!

Such progress, even in the Jianghu where geniuses abound, was enough to leave people staring in shock.

On this day,

Outside the forbidden area of Taohuadao, the Eastern Heretic Huang Yaoshi walked out with a gloomy expression.

His demeanor looked quite unpleasant, with a hint of pent-up depression and irritability that he could hardly conceal between his brows.

These past days, he had been entangled with Zhou Botong, whom he had imprisoned in the forbidden area.

He had thought that, relying on his own strength and methods, he could surely force Zhou Botong to reveal the whereabouts of the upper volume and the general outline of the Nine Yin Manual.

He never expected that this old fool Zhou Botong, although his martial arts were inferior to his, possessed a nature so innocent and carefree to the extreme, and was also single-minded, impervious to threats or bribes.

No matter how Huang Yaoshi threatened or tempted him, even resorting to some "special" methods, Zhou Botong simply refused to utter a single word, instead often spouting mad words that made Huang Yaoshi furious beyond measure.

Yet, Zhou Botong happened to be the junior brother of Wang Chongyang of the Quanzhen Sect, a special identity, so Huang Yaoshi could not truly deal a fatal blow.

After all this trouble, he had not obtained the upper volume or the general outline of the Nine Yin Manual; instead, he was greatly angered by Zhou Botong's shameless attitude of a dead pig unafraid of boiling water.

In his depressed mood, Huang Yaoshi thought of his several disciples.

He decided to test their recent cultivation to see if these unworthy fellows had made any progress.

He summoned Qu Qu Lingfeng, Lu Chengfeng, Wu Mianfeng, and Feng Mofeng to the martial arts arena.

After the testing, the depression in Huang Yaoshi's heart did not dissipate; instead, it grew even more intense.

He blew his beard and glared with wide eyes, pointing at his disciples and cursing loudly: "A group of stupid donkeys! Fools! The martial arts of Taohuadao, passed into your hands, are truly pearls thrown before swine!"

"Where have you been spending your minds these days? Your progress is so slow, you are simply beyond redemption!"

No wonder Huang Yaoshi was angry.

Except for the eldest senior brother Qu Qu Lingfeng, who, relying on his extraordinary talent and diligent cultivation, barely broke through to the critical realm of the second stage of the Postnatal realm,

the other three, Lu Chengfeng, Wu Mianfeng, and Feng Mofeng, were all still stuck at the bottleneck of Postnatal First Grade, failing to break through to the Postnatal realm for a long time!

How could Huang Yaoshi, who was always extremely proud of his own martial arts talent, not be filled with burning anger?

Immediately, he saw Huang Rong standing aside, watching her senior brothers being scolded with glee.

Huang Yaoshi was even more furious, glaring at her without any good temper.

He knew his precious daughter's character too well; she was most playful in daily life, working hard for three days and slacking off for two, and had never had much patience for the boring cultivation of martial arts.

He was even too lazy to test Huang Rong's martial arts, expecting no surprises.

Seeing that her own father was venting his anger on her too, Huang Rong immediately pouted her small mouth in indignation.

She let out a coquettish huff and said, "Father! Don't underestimate me! During this time, I have been practicing very hard!"

Hearing this, Huang Yaoshi glanced at her, simply not believing it, and snorted coldly, "Oh? Is that so? I'd like to see how hard you can work."

Seeing her father didn't believe her, Huang Rong's competitive spirit was further aroused.

She let out a coquettish shout, said no more, and directly shifted her figure, unleashing the exquisite Palm Technique of Taohuadao to attack Huang Yaoshi!

Although her Palm Technique still looked immature to Huang Yaoshi, the fluctuation of internal force contained within made him pause slightly in surprise.

After Huang Rong finished demonstrating the set of Palm Techniques, she retracted her moves with a triumphant air, her small face filled with an expression saying "Praise me quickly," and said, "How is it, Father! Am I amazing? I have broken through two grades and am now at Postnatal Third Grade!"

The disdain on Huang Yaoshi's face had long vanished, replaced by deep shock and disbelief.

He stepped forward a few paces, seized Huang Rong's wrist, and carefully examined the condition of her internal force.