Swordholder

"Eating like that is so bland! Come on, take a big bite, chew hard, mmm... ah! mmm... ah!"

Seeing Chen Zhaoning eating slowly and methodically, Chen Yuan immediately adopted a wolfing-down-food-like manner, just like a starving beggar, and gestured for her to follow suit.

Chen Zhaoning couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth into a smile, but she quickly suppressed it as soon as the smile appeared.

She was no longer reserved, and after thinking for a moment, she followed Chen Yuan's example and ate heartily.

"That's right! Even if this stuff is ordinary and not that delicious, you should still eat it with relish. Before you know it, you'll have finished it."

"Once you've finished eating, you'll feel full, and feeling full will make you feel better."

As Chen Yuan spoke, a hearty smile spread across his face.

"It does seem... to make some sense."

Chen Zhaoning heard his words echoing in her ears, and when she looked down at the chicken leg in her hand, only bones remained, she was slightly taken aback.

Looking at her greasy, dirty hands, and wondering how to wipe them, another chicken leg was rudely handed to her and shoved into her hand.

"One more, please!"

Chen Zhaoning looked up and met Chen Yuan's bright smile. His eyes were bright and clear, and exceptionally captivating.

Chen Yuan was wrapped in a tattered cotton-padded coat, with several places haphazardly tied with strips of cloth, making him look exactly like a little beggar.

But at this moment, in her eyes, the other person's eyes were warmer than the sun, bringing a warm feeling to her heart.

Your eyes... are really beautiful.

Chen Zhaoning murmured unconsciously, only realizing what she had said as soon as she finished.

This is a compliment to a guy, why did I lose my composure?

For a moment, her cheeks burned.

She quickly turned around, her back to the dark cave wall.

Chen Yuan, who was gnawing on a chicken neck, laughed out: "Your peach blossom eyes are truly beautiful. You've been a beauty since you were little. When you grow up, you'll probably become a fairy who brings ruin to the country."

Hearing the teasing behind her, Chen Zhaoning's cheeks burned even hotter. She spat out a curse: "Pah, nonsense! Who would bring disaster to the country and its people?"

After a moment of silence, she added in a low voice, "It's fine to wreak havoc on the demon kingdom, but it will never harm innocent civilians."

"······Um?"

Chen Yuan didn't hear the second half of the sentence clearly and looked puzzled.

But Chen Zhaoning refused to speak and just kept eating her chicken leg.

Seeing this, Chen Yuan stopped asking questions and finished gnawing the chicken bone in his hand clean.

After a meal, he regained most of his strength, and all his previous fatigue disappeared.

Chen Yuan casually wiped his greasy hands with his dirty old cotton-padded jacket, then sat cross-legged and began cultivating by circulating the "Mysterious Yellow Righteous Qi Technique".

Not long after, there was a rustling sound beside her, as if someone was tugging at her clothes.

He opened his eyes and saw Chen Zhaoning, her cheeks flushed, wiping her hands with his clothes.

"Well... your clothes were already dirty anyway, so it won't make a difference. I'll buy you a new set of clothes when we get back to the Chen family."

After saying that, she quickly withdrew her hand like a startled rabbit, picked up the long sword beside her, and remained silent facing the cave wall once again.

Chen Yuan chuckled and didn't seem to care.

The clothes were already dirty, so wiping them with them didn't matter.

He turned to look at Li Wei and Nuomi, who were fast asleep beside him, then glanced at Lu Chengfeng, who seemed lost in thought, and said with a slightly embarrassed smile, "Uncle Lu, would you like some too? There are only bones left."

"I won't eat." Lu Chengfeng leaned against the cave wall, his voice coming indifferently, "You're quite good at pleasing girls."

Chen Yuan touched his nose, coughed twice, and had no choice but to calm down and continue his cultivation.

Hearing this, Chen Zhaoning behind him muttered reproachfully, "You're so glib."

Chen Yuan did not respond. He opened all his spiritual apertures, drawing out the spiritual power in his body to transform into magical power, which flowed through his limbs and bones.

As Chen Zhaoning turned her back, a wave of weariness washed over her, and she gradually drifted off to sleep, no longer paying attention to the young man meditating behind her.

The cave was shrouded in darkness. The firewood crackled and popped in the fire, its flickering light reflecting off the people inside.

With Lu Chengfeng guarding the cave entrance, everyone slept soundly, and Chen Yuan was able to cultivate in peace.

The night passed in the blink of an eye, and sunlight streamed into the cave through the entrance.

Chen Zhaoning lay prone on the spot, her clothes stained, but her delicate skin was still visible.

"No...don't come any closer..."

Chen Zhaoning was in a deep sleep, but nightmares haunted her. She suddenly woke up with a start, her forehead covered in cold sweat.

Tears blurred my vision, and for a moment I couldn't tell where I was.

But the image in her mind wouldn't leave her... Not long ago on Black Mountain, the scene of her third uncle detonating the Yellow Court to protect her and risking his life to save her was so clear that it seemed to be right before her eyes.

The middle dantian is located above the navel and below the heart, directly opposite the navel gate, and is also called the Yellow Court.

A cultivator draws the primordial energy from the lower dantian to the Yellow Court, refining and sublimating it, allowing their magical power and divine soul to merge, thus achieving the transformation of Qi into spirit. This realm is the Yellow Court Realm.

Her third uncle was a cultivator at the Yellow Court Realm.

Yesterday's explosion was when he burned up all the magical power within his Yellow Court.

Coming to her senses, all the past events flooded her mind, and guilt and pain clung tightly to Chen Zhaoning.

If she hadn't acted willfully and stubbornly, arguing with her grandfather and leaving the Chen family on her own, she wouldn't have been kidnapped by villains, sent to Black Mountain, and become a sacrifice for the Black Mountain Granny's cultivation. All the subsequent tragedies would not have happened.

She hugged her knees, her shoulders trembling, and tears streamed down her face.

The image of Uncle Three's self-destruction replayed in my mind like a nightmare.

"You must escape..."

"If anything happens to you, your Third Uncle's sacrifice will have been in vain..."

"Live well, and avenge me in the future..."

······

Her gentle words echoed in her ears again and again, and her chaotic thoughts gradually cleared, a sharp light shining back in her eyes.

"Yes, revenge! I must avenge my third uncle!"

"Grandma Black Mountain..."

She whispered the name, each word filled with deep-seated hatred.

The thought of revenge gave her lifeless and lost heart a new direction.

She immediately looked around warily. If she wanted to take revenge, she had to return to the Chen family and rely on the family's strength to have a chance to fight against Granny Black Mountain.

The dim environment inside the cave made her wary, and instinctively she quickly scanned her surroundings.

Seeing that the long sword he carried was properly wrapped in strips of cloth, he quickly hugged it to his chest.

Having a knife in my hand gives me a greater sense of security.

Her gaze shifted again, landing on Chen Yuan, who was meditating, and she was slightly taken aback.

After escaping from Black Mountain, this boy was like a ray of light shining into her gloomy life.

Remembering how the other party had repeatedly urged her to return to the Chen family first, a faint smile unconsciously appeared on her lips.

I used to dream of roaming the world and becoming a swordsman, but now I realize how naive I was.

She gazed at Chen Yuan, who was meditating, her eyes sparkling, but the next second, her gaze suddenly froze.

"Um?"

Chen Zhaoning sensed the vortex of energy flowing around the other person, her eyes widened suddenly, and she subconsciously began to count:

"one two three……"

As she counted to the end, she gasped.

Three hundred and sixty-one spiritual apertures?

She suspected she was seeing things, so she rubbed her eyes hard and counted again, but the number remained exactly the same.

There are a total of 361 acupoints in the human body, and he actually opened them all?

Chen Zhaoning stood frozen in place, his mind reeling from the shock, unable to believe what he was seeing.

In an instant, she suddenly remembered something crucial and exclaimed in alarm, "Oh no! You don't have the White Elixir or the Purifying Elixir. If you rashly force yourself to cultivate, your life will be in danger!"

Worry welled up in her heart, and she quickly stepped forward, reaching out to wake Chen Yuan from his meditation, interrupting his cultivation.

Chen Yuan opened his eyes, looked at Chen Zhaoning who was anxious and worried, and asked blankly, "What's wrong?"

"You're asking what's wrong?"

Chen Zhaoning was both anxious and angry, and her voice rose involuntarily, "How could you cultivate so recklessly? Do you know that this will kill you!"

Seeing her angry expression, as if he had caused a huge disaster, Chen Yuan was somewhat taken aback and shrugged, "I don't think there's anything wrong with it."

This time it was Chen Zhaoning's turn to be stunned. She looked Chen Yuan up and down carefully, and asked hesitantly:

"Don't you feel feverish, have a surge of anger, or experience sharp pain in your meridians? Or perhaps you feel cold all over and have bloodlustful thoughts?"

Chen Yuan shook his head slightly.

Chen Zhaoning looked at him as if she had seen a ghost, repeatedly checking his condition before pressing him for details, "How long have you been cultivating?"

Chen Yuan pondered for a moment: "It's been about twelve hours since last night."

After saying that, he got up and stretched. He hadn't slept all night while meditating, but he felt refreshed.

"Ten...twelve hours?"

Chen Zhaoning was completely stunned, her beautiful eyes wide open. "You cultivated for a full twelve hours, and you really didn't experience anything unusual?"

"Yeah, you wouldn't actually want something to happen to me, would you?"

Chen Yuan said helplessly.

"no……"

Chen Zhaoning was speechless, still staring at him as if he were an alien, "So, how long did it take you to open all your spiritual apertures?"

"Hmm... about a year."

Chen Yuan thought about it and realized that it had indeed been almost a year since Lu Chengfeng saved him and started teaching him cultivation.

"A year?!"

Chen Zhaoning suddenly stood up, her face full of shock.

She could tell that the other person wasn't lying.

Chen Yuan looked puzzled: "Is there a problem?"

He really didn't know whether spending a year opening 361 spiritual apertures was fast or slow.

Chen Zhaoning stared blankly at Chen Yuan, her understanding of the world being severely challenged at that moment.

What do you mean by "there's a problem"?

This is a huge problem, okay?!

Chen Zhaoning's mind was in turmoil, her thoughts churning like a stormy sea.

I cultivated for twelve hours and absorbed the polluted spiritual energy all night, and nothing happened to me?

Moreover, within a year, he opened 361 spiritual apertures.

Is it finished?

Her mind was severely shaken.

Among the geniuses of ordinary thousand-year-old families, as long as they have enough white pills and pure pills prepared, being able to open a spiritual aperture in a month is already considered genius.

A maximum of ten per year.

To cultivate for ten years and unlock one hundred is already the mark of a prodigy, a being worthy of respect and admiration.

But the other party...

That speed...

Wait, if he doesn't have the White Elixir and the Pure Elixir, isn't he afraid of being corrupted by demonic spirits and evil spirits, thus becoming a demon?

Or perhaps, it's about dispelling evil?

The more Chen Zhaoning thought about it, the more something seemed off.