The practice grounds, wide and flat, were increasingly crowded with Spirit Masters honing their arts; shouts erupted one after another, making the place incredibly lively and noisy.

At the edge of the practice grounds, the martial attendants struck poses, swinging their limbs and wiggling their hips, but their eyes darted everywhere, their minds clearly elsewhere. Soon enough, Er Lin came running back, panting, and whispered in a low voice, "Brother Wutong, I saw clearly. That brat Nie Kong went to the Elixir Hall."

"The Elixir Hall?" Wutong scoffed contemptuously a couple of times. "Is that a place he's allowed to go? Did Nie Qingfeng and Nie Qinghong teach him a lesson?"

Er Lin replied, "No, he went inside, and he was even chatting and laughing with Nie Qingfeng. Before going in, he slapped the stone lion at the entrance. I was too far away, so I couldn't clearly see the resulting display, but judging by Nie Qingfeng’s and Nie Qinghong’s expressions, they both seemed quite shocked."

"What?"

Wutong’s inherently lewd face was filled with utter disbelief. "The minimum entry requirement for the Elixir Hall is the third stage of Spirit Gathering. When did he cultivate to that level? Moreover, Spirit Masters at the third stage of Spirit Gathering are commonplace in the Nie family; there’s no way he could shock two Spirit Transformation masters, right? Er Lin, are you sure you didn't see wrong?"

Er Lin shook his head repeatedly. "Absolutely not."

"That's strange," Wutong murmured, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Could it be that they knew Nie Kong before, and seeing his appearance drastically altered is what caused the reaction you described..."

"Brother Wutong." Before he could finish speaking, San Mu came running, completely out of breath, his face flushed with a rage as if a thousand gold coins had just been stolen from him.

"How was it?"

Wutong and Er Lin asked simultaneously, urgently. Seeing San Mu gasping without speaking, Wutong couldn't help but urge him on, "Hurry up and tell us what you found out over at the Spirit Child Academy."

The Nie family had both the Martial Child Academy and the Spirit Child Academy. The Martial Child Academy educated children without cultivation aptitude, teaching them various methods of business management so they could manage the Nie family’s enterprises in the future; whereas the Spirit Child Academy focused on cultivating Spirit Masters—any child with passable aptitude was sent there for nurturing.

San Mu took a deep breath and spat out angrily, "Brother Wutong, you guessed right. I tricked a second-stage Spirit Gathering little boy at the Spirit Child Academy and had him poke around in that spot. He felt the same thing we did. Then I found several others, and it was the same result."

Initially, Wutong hadn't fully believed Nie Kong's words. Unwilling to verify with the Nie-surnamed Spirit Masters, he sought out several non-Nie friends to test. Those who would befriend him naturally wouldn't have very high cultivation levels. After their Heiting Hidden Acupoint on the nape of their necks was poked, they all displayed the same symptoms.

Because of this, Wutong’s suspicion had been slowly fading. However, seeing Nie Kong looking hale and hearty this morning, Wutong’s doubts resurfaced. After pondering for a moment, he dispatched Er Lin to tail Nie Kong, while San Mu was sent to the Spirit Child Academy to investigate—mainly because San Mu had a rather simple and honest appearance, making him adept at deceiving children.

"Nie Kong, go to hell!"

Upon grasping the full truth, Wutong looked as if he had been thoroughly violated, and he could no longer contain himself, letting loose a string of curses. Several nearby Spirit Masters cast displeased glances his way. Wutong suppressed his anger, forced a few smiles, and then dragged Er Lin and San Mu away at a scramble to a distant spot.

Er Lin’s face was flushed crimson. "We were actually played by that sickly ghost!"

Wutong’s expression was grim, his fingers cracking audibly as he clenched them. Although he was a small figure within the Nie family, he relied on Nie Fengxing behind the scenes to borrow authority; ordinary collateral family members genuinely dared not offend him easily. But this time, he had been thoroughly humiliated by Nie Kong. Thinking about the days he had diligently massaged his palms and soles like an idiot, Wutong felt a surge of madness. He could almost hear Nie Kong's mocking laughter echoing from the shadows every day.

San Mu added, "When I was coming back, I also heard that yesterday evening, Nie Kong tossed Nie Qinghua into the river in one go. That fat woman didn't even have the slightest chance to resist."

Wutong froze. "Doesn't that pig also have the third stage of Spirit Gathering? To subdue her in one move, he must be at least above the fifth stage of Spirit Gathering. It’s only been a few days—how did that weakling’s cultivation improve so quickly?" Wutong was full of shock. He himself had labored in bitter cultivation for several years just to advance from the first stage of Spirit Gathering to the fifth, yet now, after waking up, Nie Kong had rocketed past the fifth stage of Spirit Gathering. Wutong felt an increasing sense of imbalance.

Er Lin and San Mu stared wide-eyed at each other.

A moment later, San Mu clenched his fist and declared, "Fifth stage of Spirit Gathering is nothing! Brother Wutong, let’s drag him out right now and beat him up! Daring to trick us, he’s rebelling..."

"Idiot!"

Wutong slapped the back of San Mu’s head. "This is the Nie family. Even in the collateral district, there are hidden masters. You dare act rashly here?"

"Then lure him out to another place in Jiyang City," Er Lin suggested, his eyes darting.

"That sickly fellow rarely leaves the Nie compound in a year. What excuse could we use to draw him out?" Wutong snorted. "This matter still requires the Third Young Master to take action. He's been in seclusion cultivating in the 'Ice Flame Cave' these past few days; he should be out by tomorrow at the latest. If he finds out about Nie Kong's current situation, hehe..."

"..."

——————————————————————————————————————————————

"Flower Burst!"

In the quiet courtyard, Nie Kong flung out his right arm. Amidst a series of crisp crackling sounds, a small, emerald-green flower bud emerged from his palm, only to instantly dissipate with a soft poof.

"Still like this."

Nie Kong muttered to himself.

Nie Kong had been practicing "Flower Burst," a first-tier symbiotic combat skill that Xiangxiang had awakened upon leveling up, for an entire day, yet he hadn't achieved the desired effect. According to the consciousness Nie Kong received from Xiangxiang, once "Flower Burst" was mastered, that tiny flower would release immense power at the moment of explosion.

In today's practice, it was either miscontrol of spiritual energy or a lack of synchronization with Xiangxiang. Of course, Nie Kong had made considerable progress. Initially, he couldn't even condense the small flower, but now he could at least detonate the corolla, albeit with hardly any force.

Nie Kong was not discouraged. He narrowed his eyes, reviewing the process of executing the move just now, searching for errors to improve upon in the next attempt.

"Xiangxiang, again." Nie Kong instructed.

"Ah-ya-ya." Hungry.

Nie Kong was momentarily stunned, seeing the Purple Phantom Spirit Fragrance drooping its small leaf, looking exhausted and starved. Nie Kong felt speechless and could only shed his upper garments, sitting cross-legged on a stone beneath the courtyard wall. With a thought, the Golden Needle Pouch flashed out of his pet inventory and landed in his palm.

Man Needle, Earth Needle, Time Needle... one by one, they pierced the Nine Hidden Acupoints. Nie Kong had now discovered that simply coating the golden needles with wood-element spiritual energy achieved an effect similar to alcohol sterilization, which was much more convenient, eliminating the need to use candles for sterilization.

"Buzz..."

The golden needles vibrated faintly, and the medicinal power began to dissolve...