Touched That's the right feeling.

Xuanyangzi hummed a little tune, his steps brisk as he hurried back to the main hall of Qingyun Peak.

He walked with a spring in his step, and even the usually furrowed corners of his brows were tinged with a bit of joy.

"Hehe, Junior Brother Gu is really generous this time."

He touched the jade bottle in his sleeve, the corners of his mouth turning up unconsciously.

"The effect of this Marrow Cleansing Pill is simply heaven-defying."

As soon as he stepped into the main hall, Xuanyangzi couldn't wait to take out his communication jade slip. With a flash of spiritual energy from his fingertips, a line of text leaped onto it.

"Junior Brother Shi, good news, come quickly."

The jade slip transformed into a stream of light and shot out. In less than half an incense stick's time, the heavy sound of "thump, thump" footsteps came from outside the hall.

Shi Wanshan's rotund figure crashed open the hall doors, his gray robe still stained with soil from the spirit fields, clearly having rushed straight from the rear mountain's spirit fields.

"What good news is in such a hurry?"

Shi Wanshan wiped the sweat from his brow, plopped down heavily onto a grand armchair, and grabbed a spirit fruit from the table, stuffing it into his mouth.

"My patch of Golden Thread Spirit Rice is at a critical moment!"

Xuanyangzi smiled mysteriously and didn't answer immediately.

He flicked his fingers repeatedly at the hall doors and window lattices, shooting out spiritual light. A pale cyan barrier spread out like thin gauze, covering the entire hall tightly.

Shi Wanshan's chewing of the spirit fruit suddenly paused, his eyebrows shooting up high.

"Making such a big fuss? Could it be you've found a great treasure?"

"Even more precious than that."

Xuanyangzi slowly took out a lustrous white jade bottle from his sleeve. The bottle flowed with a warm luster. The fingertips holding the stopper trembled slightly, his movements as gentle as if holding fragile glass.

Shi Wanshan's gaze was instantly hooked by the jade bottle, his Adam's apple bobbing—something that could make Xuanyangzi treat it with such care was definitely no ordinary object.

"This..."

Shi Wanshan's Adam's apple rolled up and down, even his beard stained with fruit juice perking up.

He was too familiar with this expression—thirty years ago, when Xuanyangzi discovered an ancient pill recipe, he had this exact same look of excitement mixed with restraint.

"Junior Brother Shi."

Xuanyangzi suddenly leaned in, lowering his voice, his eyes flashing with irrepressible excitement.

"Do you know what this is?"

He enunciated each word extremely lightly, as if afraid of waking the treasure within the bottle.

Shi Wanshan stared at the jade bottle for a long time, his pupils suddenly contracting.

With a "smack," he slapped his thigh, and with a "pfft," the pit of the spirit fruit shot out of his mouth: "Could it be the legendary..."

"Yes, it is..."

Xuanyangzi was just about to speak when Shi Wanshan snatched the words from him.

"Haha, it's actually the legendary 'Fierce Tiger Blazing Sun Pill'!"

Shi Wanshan's voice boomed like a bell, his spittle spraying all over Xuanyangzi's face.

He rubbed his palm-leaf-sized hands together excitedly.

"I heard this treasure can make an old tree sprout new branches, allowing an eighty-year-old man to nightly... Ouch!"

Xuanyangzi's hand pulling the stopper suddenly stopped, the smile on his face freezing with a "crack."

The wide sleeves of his Daoist robe trembled, and his usually gentle face was now flushed red.

He slowly turned his head, his eyes filled with the dumbfounded look of "what the hell are you talking about."

After a long while, he squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth: "Yes... my foot!"

"I swear!"

Xuanyangzi was so angry he almost smashed the jade bottle on the ground, pointing at Shi Wanshan's nose, his voice cracking.

"Who told you this is an aphrodisiac? This is a Marrow Cleansing Pill that can improve your aptitude! Improve aptitude! Do you understand?!"

The last three words were almost roared out, shaking the dust from the ceiling beams.

Xuanyangzi then seemed to think of something, slowly raising his head to look at a certain part of Shi Wanshan.

Shi Wanshan suddenly noticed Xuanyangzi's gaze weirdly shifting between his belly and waist.

That look was thirty percent pity and seventy percent realization, exactly like a medical cultivator looking at a terminally ill patient.

Junior Brother Shi is in the prime of his life; could it be he secretly has such a hidden ailment?

No wonder he guards the spirit fields all day, fiddling with those spirit herbs that solidify the foundation and nurture vitality; so that's why...

"Senior... Senior Brother?"

Shi Wanshan felt uncomfortable all over under this gaze, shivering inexplicably, subconsciously pulling up his belt.

He coughed dryly: "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Xuanyangzi suddenly let out a long sigh and patted his shoulder.

Never mind, who asked me to be the senior brother?

His voice softened by eight degrees: "Junior Brother, don't worry, I understand how you feel. For the sake of your happy life, another day I will definitely help you beg Junior Brother Gu for..."

"Bullshit!"

Shi Wanshan's fat face instantly turned redder than a boiled crab.

His whole body's fat quivered in his roaring voice.

"I'm very capable, very capable!"

As he spoke, he suddenly realized something, his eyes widening.

"Wait, you said this is a Marrow Cleansing Pill that can improve aptitude?"

"This is a peerless precious medicine I specially begged from Junior Brother Gu of Purple Bamboo Peak!"

Xuanyangzi took a deep breath, handing the jade bottle he nearly crushed to Shi Wanshan, the warm luster of the bottle reflecting brightly in his eyes.

"There are only two in the entire Qingxuan Sect. I took one myself, and my aptitude shot up. This is the last one, and I thought of you immediately!"

He paused, leaning closer, lowering his voice.

"This matter needs to be kept secret, as there's only this one left. I don't want to cause dissatisfaction among the brothers of the other peaks."

Shi Wanshan's flushed face instantly stiffened, the hand scratching the back of his head slowly lowering, his round belly no longer so conspicuous.

He looked at Xuanyangzi's reddened eyes from excitement, then at the pill glowing with a pearly luster inside the jade bottle, suddenly feeling his throat tighten.

"Is this real?"

His voice was a bit hoarse, his fingertips rubbing against his knee.

"Of course it's real!"

Xuanyangzi patted his chest, wearing an expression of "I treat you the best."

"You are my dear junior brother, I didn't tell anyone, just saved it for you."

He grabbed Shi Wanshan's hand, shoving the jade bottle into his palm with enough force to crush bluestone: "Eat it quickly!"

Shi Wanshan pinched the warm jade bottle, his fingertips caressing the flowing spiritual light on the bottle.

Suddenly he chuckled "hehe," the corners of his eyes a bit damp.

He didn't decline further, uncorking the bottle and tossing the pill into his mouth, mumbling: "Then I won't be polite... In the future, I will protect the Qingxuan Sect!"

Xuanyangzi laughed inwardly: Hmph, you old rascal, always fighting with me over spirit fields and resources.

Now that you've taken my Marrow Cleansing Pill, let's see if you have the nerve to get red in the face and argue with me in the future.

Touched, right?

Being touched is right; from now on, you have to obediently listen to my orders.

The moment the pill entered his throat, a golden warm current exploded with a boom. Shi Wanshan threw his head back abruptly, the spiritual energy of the mid-King Realm surging like a tsunami, causing the barrier to buzz.

Golden light surged over his body like a tide, and a layer of pitch-black impurities actually surfaced on his skin.

As the impurities were continuously expelled, the aura on Shi Wanshan grew increasingly powerful, and his originally rotund figure gradually became tall and straight.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes fiercely, two brilliant golden lights shooting out from them, exuding a powerful aura.

"Hahahaha, I've broken through!"

Shi Wanshan felt the surging spiritual energy within his body, laughing excitedly.

His cultivation had directly broken through from the mid-King Realm to the peak of the King Realm, and his aptitude had even reached the lower-grade Saint level.