Chapter 28: Everyone Advances

"Don't be alarmed, and don't try to circulate your True Qi. The Fire Evil Toxin has been purged — though not by the method you're imagining. Your clothes have also been changed, but it was my maidservant who did it. In a few days I'll refine some pills for you to help you recover your strength." A calm, measured voice reached her ears. Ziyu looked up to find the same young man she had seen before.

"How did you cure the poison?" Ziyu did not trust Tang Yan, and asked in a cold voice.

"Why should I tell you? All you need to know is that nothing improper happened — you can check for yourself if you don't believe me." Tang Yan shrugged and continued:

"I know what you're about to say — that if I don't tell you, you'll kill me. But right now your cultivation core is sealed and you can't use your True Qi, so you can't beat me. And don't try threatening to kill yourself either — that trick won't work on me."

Hearing such shameless words from Tang Yan, Ziyu was furious. Yet she truly felt no discomfort of that sort, and the anxiety in her heart eased ever so slightly. She glared at him and said, "You wouldn't dare. If I ever find out you did something to me, I won't let you off."

"First," Tang Yan replied, looking displeased, "I'm the one who saved you. If you don't trust me, you're welcome to end it yourself. Second, don't threaten me. If you make me unhappy, I'll throw you out of my home. You're beautiful and completely helpless right now — if some street thug takes advantage of you after that, don't come blaming me."

Ziyu's cheeks puffed up with indignation at his words, but she was sensible enough to hold her tongue, silently cursing Tang Yan ten thousand times over in her heart.

Seeing that Ziyu had gone quiet, Tang Yan said, "Stay in the Tang Clan's residence for now. Once your strength recovers, you're free to leave or stay as you please. I'm going to train."

With that, Tang Yan left the room.

Watching his retreating figure, Ziyu sat alone in a daze. Could it be that there truly existed in this world a man of unshakeable virtue, unmoved even by beauty within arm's reach?

* * *

Old Master Tang had been smiling a great deal more lately.

His son had gone missing for many years, and his grandson had long been a disappointment. The lack of a worthy heir had become Tang Ling's greatest worry.

Then Tang Yan's cultivation core was shattered, which had all but extinguished Old Master Tang's hopes. He had resigned himself to using every last bit of his strength simply to shield his grandson and keep him safe for the rest of his days.

And yet now, Tang Yan had stumbled into extraordinary luck — he had taken on a mysterious master, not only restoring his cultivation core but reaching the eighth grade of the Primary Realm. This gave Old Master Tang something to look forward to again, seemingly overnight.

Old Master Tang felt as though he had shed decades off his age. Several bonsai trees he hadn't tended in years were now being trimmed by him every single day.

"Master, Master!" Just as Old Master Tang was fussing over a pot of orchids in the study, Uncle Mo came rushing in.

Old Master Tang knew his old friend's temperament well. Unless something truly urgent had occurred, the man would never barge in so recklessly.

"Brother Mo, calm down, calm down. What's happened? Has that brat Tang Yan gotten into trouble again?"

"No, no!" Uncle Mo was beside himself with excitement, his aged face radiating a brilliant glow. "The Young Master hasn't caused trouble — he's made a great contribution!"

"A contribution? What kind of contribution?" Relieved to hear it wasn't trouble, Old Master Tang set down what he was doing and pressed eagerly for details.

"Do you remember, Master, when the Young Master scolded the guards at the Training Grounds that time and then started pushing them hard in their training?" Uncle Mo asked with a mysterious air.

"Stop keeping me in suspense. What happened to those guards?" Old Master Tang urged.

"All one hundred and twenty guards — today, every single one of them broke through to the first grade of the Yellow Realm!" Uncle Mo shouted.

"Oh, is that all? Advancing in rank is perfectly normal! Raise the pay of whoever advanced and give them some encouragement." Old Master Tang waved his hand impatiently — then suddenly froze, his entire body going rigid.

He grabbed Uncle Mo by the arm and bellowed, "What did you just say? One hundred and twenty guards — all at the first grade of the Yellow Realm? Is that true?"

"Cough, cough — Master, please calm down, let's talk this through slowly. I heard it from young Yanjun myself, and I rushed straight here to report it without verifying. Who knows if it's true." Having been shaken back and forth for so long, Uncle Mo felt as though his old bones were about to come apart.

"Never mind talking — let's go to the Training Grounds and see for ourselves!" Old Master Tang grabbed his old companion by the hand and hurried out.

Young Yanjun was a man of upright character who had never been careless about serious matters. Old Master Tang didn't believe he would joke about something like this, and was already about seventy percent convinced in his heart. Still — one hundred and twenty guards, every one of them in the Yellow Realm — this was something Old Master Tang had never dared to dream of.

The two old men rushed to the Training Grounds. Before they even stepped inside, they could feel the dense, concentrated aura emanating from within. Tang Ling and Uncle Mo exchanged a startled glance. Both had already stepped into the Earth Realm, and they could sense the shifts in aura around them with great clarity — many of the presences inside were unmistakably those of Yellow Realm warriors.

Suppressing their astonishment, Tang Ling took a deep breath and pushed open the gates of the Training Grounds.

"Greetings, Master!"

"Greetings, Uncle Mo!"

Seeing the two elders enter, the assembled guards saluted in unison.

Tang Ling smiled and nodded to them all, then called out in a clear voice, "I hear everyone has advanced in cultivation?"

"To answer the Master — all one hundred and twenty soldiers of the Tang Clan have entered the first grade of the Yellow Realm!" Mo Yanjun came jogging over, his expression also tinged with excitement. He turned and bellowed, "Form up!"

Whoosh! In moments, one hundred and twenty men stood tall and straight in the open ground, perfectly aligned, their bearing formidable.

"On my command — perform the Tang Clan Fist!" Mo Yanjun roared. "Ready — begin!"

"Huo! Ha! Ha!" At Mo Yanjun's command, the Tang Clan soldiers launched into the Tang Clan Fist in unison. One hundred and twenty Yellow Realm warriors channeling their energy simultaneously — protective auras surged, and the spectacle was thunderous.

Old Master Tang stood utterly dumbstruck, scanning them one by one. This one was Yellow Realm, that one too, and this one — Yellow Realm! Yellow Realm… every single one of them was Yellow Realm!

By the time Old Master Tang had carefully gone through all one hundred and twenty Tang Clan soldiers, his eyes had glazed over, as though he were lost in a dream.

Uncle Mo was no better off. Hearing Mo Yanjun's report that morning was one thing — but witnessing one hundred and twenty Yellow Realm warriors with his own eyes left him equally speechless with awe.

"Excellent! Excellent!" Old Master Tang exclaimed several times in succession. He was, after all, a man who had weathered great storms. Forcing down the wild joy and shock surging in his chest, Tang Ling called Mo Yanjun aside and asked quietly, "Yanjun, how exactly did these guards improve their strength?"

Old Master Tang had not clawed his way into the Four Great Families of Yun City by being a fool. For over a hundred men to all enter the Yellow Realm in a single night defied all reason — something extraordinary must have happened.

"Yanjun, tell us quickly what's going on." Uncle Mo pressed from the side.