ps: I should carve the word 'miserable' onto my face... Overnight, two books caught up and pushed me down on the weekly recommendation chart. If this keeps up, I’ll be off the chart by today...

With intense exertion, Qin Fen didn't notice the faint ripples spreading outwards in concentric circles from his body.

Another scream, laced with terror and agony, suddenly burst forth from the depths of the unwilling sea. As the sound carried, a small splash erupted on the surface, and a woman surged out of the water, clutching the Navy’s most advanced oxygen tube in her mouth.

Qin Fen had never imagined someone was in the ocean not far away.

The woman’s face was ghastly pale, her features slightly contorted, as if she were enduring excruciating pain.

Pfft...

Before Qin Fen could react, the woman opened her mouth and sprayed out a mist of blood, her eyes rolling back as she fainted.

“What is this?”

Qin Fen couldn't concern himself much with anything else at that moment. The woman’s injury was clearly related to his desperate roar earlier. With the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill running at full power, the thrust of his Three-Star strength propelled his body laboriously through the water toward the woman.

Running on concrete was far easier than on sand, and running on sand was infinitely easier than in the sea.

Barely reaching the woman's side, he found her completely unconscious. Qin Fen placed his palm against her back and immediately felt her Zhenqi—internal energy—swirling chaotically inside her!

Qin Fen scooped her up and rushed toward the shore. It was only then he realized the woman in his arms was completely naked!

Jade Maiden Heart Sutra!

The name of an internal cultivation technique instinctively flashed through Qin Fen’s mind. This technique could be practiced by both men and women, but women who cultivated it achieved far superior results. Qin Fen had only encountered bits of it online.

Qin Fen only knew it was an internal cultivation method with extremely demanding requirements. It needed two people to practice simultaneously, and the strength of the two practitioners had to remain evenly matched. During practice, their bodies would meet palm-to-palm to dissipate the heat flow generated during energy circulation.

Based on his general understanding, Qin Fen had found that the more perverse the cultivation method, the greater its power upon mastery.

Although there was only one person before him—a massive deviation from the legends surrounding the Jade Maiden Heart Cultivation—Qin Fen had a peculiar feeling. The woman in his arms was definitely practicing the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra; he just couldn’t fathom why she had devised such a unique, solitary method in the depths of the ocean.

During the run back to the shore, the woman repeatedly coughed up mouthfuls of blood, indicating the Zhenqi raging inside her was growing stronger.

What were the steps to treat a practitioner of the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra who ran into trouble? Qin Fen had absolutely no idea! The woman in his arms obviously couldn't sustain him carrying her for the seven kilometers needed to reach the military camp for aid.

Although considerably lighter than Jin Kui, she was still over a hundred pounds. Not only was Qin Fen exhausted after just finishing his intensive Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill practice, but even in peak condition, he wouldn't have enough time to carry her back to the barracks quickly.

No one was around, and the woman coughed up two more spurts of blood, the crimson liquid instantly staining her proud peaks.

“Forget it! Treat a dead horse like a living one!” Qin Fen carried the woman two steps to his military uniform, retrieved a red pill, the Revival Pill, prepared by Inzarota for internal injuries, from his dragon-patterned belt.

He pried open the woman’s tightly shut mouth and swiftly fed her one Revival Pill. If his hand hadn't moved fast enough, Qin Fen would have ended up as a master with nine fingers, discharged upon joining the service due to disability, having nearly been bitten.

The Revival Pill, created by Inzarota, the so-called pharmaceutical genius, was certainly not an undeserved reputation. The woman’s complexion immediately gained a slight flush of color, but the furious, rogue internal energy within her was not quelled.

“No choice.”

Though completely ignorant of the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra’s required dual cultivation method, Qin Fen had no alternative but to place his hands upon her smooth, fair, jade-like back. Two streams of Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill energy entered her body.

Three Stars? Qin Fen sensed the intensity of her internal energy and inwardly groaned.

Normally, three stars against three stars was difficult enough to suppress; now, with the chaotic aura raging even fiercer than normal, it was exponentially more troublesome to manage. Subduing her turbulent Zhenqi with his own without causing harm was an almost impossible feat.

His two streams of Zhenqi managed to overwhelm the two closest raging internal energy surges first, leaving Qin Fen somewhat bewildered. What was the next step in guiding the energy flow? To run the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill route? That was ridiculous! Forcing her to alter her internal energy pathways would be tantamount to murder! At best, it would result in the complete dissipation of her Zhenqi, leaving her crippled.

“The Heart Sutra divides Yin and Yang side by side; extreme Yang reverts to Yin, opening all four directions…”

A familiar voice suddenly echoed in Qin Fen’s mind.

The Light Figure! He hadn't seen the Light Figure in days, and only its voice possessed that chilling, mechanical quality.

Instinctively, Qin Fen chose to trust the Light Figure’s guidance, following the frequently transmitted incantations to slowly circulate his energy within her body, bit by bit subduing the rampaging Zhenqi.

After subduing the final surge of chaotic energy and gently guiding it into her Dantian, Qin Fen retracted his Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill back into his own body.

Slap!

A sharp but weak slap landed squarely on Qin Fen’s face, momentarily stunning him.

The woman’s eyes flickered with an indescribably complex emotion as she stared intensely at Qin Fen’s face.

The Jade Maiden Heart Sutra was originally meant for dual cultivation, but due to unforeseen circumstances, only she was left to practice it. Unwilling to discard her lifetime of cultivation, she invented a unique path, repeatedly researching until she discovered she could practice alone at the bottom of the ocean, albeit requiring complete nudity to prevent complications. This was why she chose to venture out alone late at night.

Until this very night, when she broke through a bottleneck, her solitary practice had encountered no issues. But tonight, the problems of practicing alone finally erupted; her internal Zhenqi spun out of control. This was not caused by Qin Fen’s roar disturbing her concentration.

She should have been grateful, but because Qin Fen had held and touched her naked body, she didn't know how to face him. Coupled with the myriad worries already clouding her mind, she lashed out with a slap.

Qin Fen assumed his roar had ruined her practice and was unaware of the true situation. He awkwardly raised a hand to rub his burning cheek and explained, “I… I didn’t mean to…”

“You…” The woman, whose expression had just been complex, suddenly had tears welling up in her eyes. “You’re still looking!”

Qin Fen hadn't noticed while saving her, but realizing her reminder, he saw that he had indeed taken an unobstructed view of her beautifully contoured figure.

Slap!

Qin Fen grabbed his uniform, rapidly retreated, and fumbled to put his clothes back on, repeating, “I really didn’t mean to.”

“Turn around! No looking, no running away!”

Feeling guilty, Qin Fen complied, turning his back as requested. He decided that if her demand for compensation wasn't excessive, he would accept it, considering his roar had nearly cost her life.

The sound of a metal box opening was followed by the rustle of clothes being put on.

“Alright, turn around now.”

Qin Fen’s eyes widened in surprise. Although the woman possessed the bearing of a soldier, seeing her fitted into a female uniform gave him a strange jolt.

Uniforms! They were special clothing! The Federation’s military uniforms were designed in such a way that not only did they make men look heroic, but the women’s designs were specially tailored to fully accentuate feminine curves while adding a touch of sharp heroism.

Qin Fen had to admit that the short-haired military woman before him possessed a unique kind of beauty.