Chapter 54: Eighth Rank Realm

He returned home well past midnight.

As Liu Qiaolian helped Xia Daoming undress and bathe, her beautiful nose twitched occasionally, her eyes flickering with suspicion.

The scent of cosmetics and powders on her master was simply too thick and complex.

This wasn’t like her master’s usual behavior.

Had her master changed?

Or had he been taking too many pills lately?

“Cough, cough—tonight, I don’t know what got into those girls at Yaohua Pavilion; every single one stared at me with green eyes, clinging to me like they wanted to devour me whole.”

“Luckily, my cultivation base is strong—I remained unmoved, preserved my purity, and fought my way out of that wolf pack.” Xia Daoming wore an expression of unwavering virtue.

“Giggles!” Liu Qiaolian couldn’t help but smile, her body shaking with mirth.

“I’m serious! I was thinking of my Lian’er the whole time, and suddenly all those women turned into red powder skeletons—utterly unable to tempt me!” Xia Daoming said with solemn sincerity.

“Master!” Liu Qiaolian, moved, clasped his waist tightly from behind.

And so, the bath naturally became a shared bath.

In the days that followed, for Xia Daoming, life remained peaceful and tranquil.

He visited the martial arts academy every few days, drank tea with Miss Ji of the Ji family, and spent the rest of his time holed up in the back courtyard, devouring pills and cultivating, guiding Liu Qiaolian’s training and playing cards with her.

As for Yaohua Pavilion, Xia Daoming had temporarily quit.

Not only because he feared Liu Xiaoqiang might develop improper feelings—if he lost control, he might force himself on her and taint their pure fellow-disciple bond—but also because he feared the girls at Yaohua Pavilion, fierce as wolves, would swarm him and start a brawl.

Days passed one by one.

The girls of Yaohua Pavilion waited with bated breath.

Especially the girl who had swept the table twice in a row—her eyes grew hollow with longing.

Whenever Yuchi Xiao and the others went to Yaohua Pavilion to listen to music, the girls always asked if Master Xia would come tonight; each time they heard he wouldn’t, their faces fell with disappointment. (Today I revisited the song “Will You Come Tonight.”)

Once or twice was bearable, but after many such occasions, Yuchi Xiao and the others’ spirits were badly bruised.

During this time, news came from the Xu family: Xu Shixiong, merely twenty-two years old, had broken through to the Eighth Rank Great Martial Master.

A single stone stirred a thousand waves.

Not only did Xu Shixiong instantly become the most prominent figure in Licheng, but the Xu family also shook off its previous decline, and its vassal factions began launching frequent counterattacks.

The situation in Licheng grew even more chaotic.

No one knew that, during this time, in a modest-looking house in Lihua Alley, a young man had also broken through to Eighth Rank Great Martial Master, right after Xu Shixiong.

There was no choice: pure-natural medicines like the Cold Ice Purple Shouwu were so potent that others, after consuming even a small piece, needed days—sometimes weeks or even months—to recover.

Only Xia Daoming was a monster.

He devoured Cold Ice Purple Shouwu like it was a radish—and the more he ate, the hungrier he became.

Soon, he finished off every other piece of Shouwu except the one aged four to five hundred years.

That four-to-five-hundred-year Shouwu still had monstrous potency.

Xia Daoming had taken only a tiny bite at first, and it took him a day or two just to recover.

But this monster—he only needed to survive the initial shock; after that, things became much smoother.

Next, he took one small bite daily and stabilized for a while.

Then he moved to two small bites, then three, charging forward without pause.

Finally, one day, he completed the full nine levels of Seventh Rank meridian strengthening and burst through into Eighth Rank without resistance.

As soon as he entered Eighth Rank, Xia Daoming devoured the remaining half-chunk of Cold Ice Purple Shouwu in one go.

When he finally absorbed and refined all the medicinal energy, he glanced at the interface in his mind.

Xia Daoming—

Cultivation Base: Eighth Rank Martial Master

Level Two Meridian Strengthening Progress: 30%.

At this moment, Xia Daoming had absolute confidence: if he faced the aged Xu Zhiji again, he could openly and decisively beat him to death.

As for Xu Shixiong, the young, vigorous, most celebrated martial master of Licheng—if he saw Xia Daoming and turned to flee immediately, he might have a chance to escape; but if he dared to stand his ground, Xia Daoming was equally confident he could beat him to death.

There was no help for it: his Eighth Rank realm was built upon the strengthened meridians of seven previous ranks, each with nine levels.

This meant that as soon as he entered Eighth Rank, he could directly fight and defeat several Eighth Rank Great Martial Masters at once.

His meridians had now been strengthened to Level Two.

But the Xu family had a Patriarch.

There was a vast gap between a Patriarch and an Eighth Rank Great Martial Master.

He could transform invisible force into visible power!

He could project force outward, killing from afar!

Besides the Patriarch, the Xu family had four other Eighth Rank Great Martial Masters, including Xu Shixiong.

The Lin family, the Ding family, and the Saber Gate each also had several Eighth Rank Great Martial Masters stationed—formidable power indeed.

Moreover, all four families maintained private armies, trained at great expense.

These troops were disciplined, skilled in battle formations and killing—far beyond ordinary martial masters.

Yet Xia Daoming’s meridians were only 30% strengthened to Level Two; if all four factions turned their eyes on him, he’d have no choice but to flee.

So Xia Daoming, Licheng’s secretly most powerful young martial master, decided to maintain the status quo and avoid stealing Xu Shixiong’s spotlight.

After all, he was still young, he still had his system to strengthen nine levels of meridians—there was no rush to steal the limelight now.

During this time, Liu Qiaolian had also cultivated dark force.

But her supplementation needed to be gradual; she couldn’t be as brutal and undisciplined as Xia Daoming.

So even though Xia Daoming spared no expense on her, she still needed time to accumulate enough dark force to break through to Fifth Rank Great Martial Master.

“I’m now Eighth Rank. Without potent medicine to supplement me, relying only on daily circulation of qi and strength to toughen my meridians, my progress has nearly stalled.”

“With nothing better to do, I might as well use this gap to go out, settle Lian’er’s blood feud first—who knows what unexpected gains I might find?”

One day, with his cultivation progress slow, Xia Daoming grew restless.

As for Cangmang Mountain, Xia Daoming hadn’t planned to go yet.

That place was extremely dangerous; he’d wait until his strength increased further.

“Lian’er, you’ll still need time to reach Fifth Rank Great Martial Master. I think your revenge can’t wait any longer—tonight, prepare yourself; tomorrow we leave for Gengyun Mountain.”

As the sun set, its light soft, Xia Daoming lay on an old wicker chair beneath an orange tree, eyes half-closed, enjoying Liu Qiaolian’s massage as he spoke.

“Master!” Liu Qiaolian’s body trembled slightly, her eyes reddening.

She had waited for this day for many years!

Sensing Liu Qiaolian’s emotional surge, Xia Daoming seized her jade hand and pulled her into his arms.

A beauty in his embrace—warm, soft, fragrant.

Xia Daoming’s index finger was already poised to act—when Xia He knocked and entered.

Liu Qiaolian quickly rose.

“What is it, Xia He?” Xia Daoming asked casually.

“Master, the owner of Yaohua Pavilion just sent a guest invitation, inviting you to listen to music tonight.” Xia He handed him an elegant invitation, faintly fragrant, her gaze toward Xia Daoming tinged with wistfulness.

“Sigh—this fellow disciple sister running a brothel is such a nuisance; always dragging me to listen to music. Can’t refuse without seeming rude—it’s truly vexing!” Xia Daoming took the invitation, sighing heavily, looking utterly miserable.

Liu Qiaolian bit her lip and smiled, her eyebrows curving.

She loved watching her master’s performance.

Xia He’s wistfulness turned to delight.

Exactly—what’s so good about brothels anyway!

PS: New book still seeking support.