“Little fellow, I’m leaving now. Remember, don’t breathe a word about me to anyone else. If you ever need help, just have Huang Longshi contact me; he knows what to do!”

As Huang Longshi frowned in confusion, Zhang Yang heard the voice transmit directly into his mind again, while Zhang Pinglu, who was examining his body, noticed absolutely nothing.

Zhang Yang turned his head to look at Huang Longshi. At that moment, Huang Longshi also looked over, and their eyes met. Huang Longshi suddenly understood, seemingly guessing who had saved Zhang Yang.

With such power evident here, the only one capable of saving Zhang Yang was that person.

“Yang Yang, how are you feeling?”

Zhang Pinglu asked with concern. He truly didn't care who had rescued Zhang Yang; as long as Zhang Yang was safe now, he was content enough.

“I’m fine… Old Man, the bag, the bag…”

Zhang Yang’s voice was still weak. His entire body felt drained, his Qi Sea Dantian empty and raw, causing him great discomfort and making speech difficult.

The sheer power of the second stance of the Po Tian Sword Art was immense. Zhang Yang had only just managed to execute it, but forcing the sword back and breaking the momentum was the fundamental reason for his current weakness.

“The bag? Right, the High Mountain Cloud Fruit!”

Zhang Pinglu was first stunned, then instantly exhilarated. In Zhang Yang’s bag was that High Mountain Cloud Fruit, obtained from the Divine Beast Azure Eagle of the Spirit Beast Sect on Purple Gold Mountain. This fruit was perfect for replenishing depleted inner energy—a sacred healing elixir. He hadn't expected Zhang Yang to still be carrying it.

After giving Zhang Yang the High Mountain Cloud Fruit to consume, his complexion immediately improved.

His empty Dantian felt as if a sluice gate had opened, allowing a massive surge of energy to pour in, quickly filling the void. With Zhang Pinglu’s assistance, Zhang Yang sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and focused his spirit as his stamina rapidly recovered.

In a short while, Zhang Yang had completely assimilated the energy of the High Mountain Cloud Fruit, becoming completely invigorated, showing no lingering effects from his prior state.

Although his body was fully restored, Zhang Yang couldn't help but recall the words spoken by that mysterious person: Can you not break through to the Fifth Layer?

Based on that person’s bearing, Zhang Yang judged him to be a powerhouse of the Fifth Layer. Although he stated Zhang Yang couldn't break through, it was also equivalent to a promise made to Zhang Yang.

“Yang Yang? What is it?”

Seeing Zhang Yang’s furrowed brow, Zhang Pinglu immediately asked with concern, thinking he was still unwell.

“Old Man, I’m fine!”

Zhang Yang snapped back to reality and immediately smiled at Zhang Pinglu, pushing away the mysterious person’s words. How could the favor owed by a Fifth Layer expert compare to his own breakthrough to the Fifth Layer? Zhang Yang absolutely refused to believe he had no hope of reaching the Fifth Layer in the future.

“Jee-jee-jee!”

“Squeak-squeak-squeak!”

Shadowless Lightning also sprinted back, with Swiftwind carrying the Elder Yan and Tang Xiaolan on its back. They had bolted a considerable distance away to avoid the destructive power of Zhang Yang’s earlier sword strike.

Upon their return, the two little ones immediately looked for the Great Perfection expert who had been fighting Zhang Yang, but there was no sign of him anywhere.

“Is that Japanese Great Perfection expert dead?”

Huang Longshi approached, asking with a trace of guilt on his face.

Zhang Yang understood why Huang Longshi felt remorse. Dealing with foreign cultivators and deterring Great Perfection experts from entering China were supposed to be their responsibilities, yet everything that had just transpired proved their dereliction of duty. This was why Huang Longshi felt guilty. Moreover, that mysterious person had just said he owed Zhang Yang a favor, and from his words, it was clear he was allied with Huang Longshi.

However, pursuing those matters now was pointless. The Japanese Great Perfection expert, Iga-zaki Doushun, had been atomized by the second stance of the Po Tian Sword Art, leaving nothing behind.

Zhang Yang nodded, then pointed at the black-clad men who had likely been knocked unconscious by the powerful energy wave: “These people are the accomplices of that Japanese Great Perfection cultivator; they must be the intelligence network Japan secretly supports in China.”

“I know exactly how to handle them.”

Huang Longshi immediately nodded, thumping his chest as he promised Zhang Yang, “Leave these men to me. I guarantee we will eradicate every last root of Japan’s clandestine influence in China!”

“Hmph.”

The Elder Zhang Pinglu snorted upon hearing this, clearly still harboring resentment toward Huang Longshi because Zhang Yang had narrowly escaped death by falling into a trap this time.

Knowing he was in the wrong, Huang Longshi sighed repeatedly. Realizing his presence was only an obstruction, he quickly said to Zhang Yang, “I’ll take these men back first. Rest assured, Brother Zhang, we will give you a full accounting for today’s events. And, as you know, if you need anything, you can always come to me.”

As he spoke the last sentence, Huang Longshi was clearly referring to something else, his admiration for Zhang Yang clearly evident.

Zhang Yang nodded. Hearing Huang Longshi’s final words, he realized that the mysterious person must have also sent him a private transmission, letting him know about the favor owed.

Huang Longshi nodded and stopped delaying. He dragged all the black-clad men who were still breathing into one group and led them down the mountain.

“Yang Yang, are you truly alright?”

The Old Man looked at Zhang Yang, still uneasy even though the High Mountain Cloud Fruit was known for its rapid energy replenishment. He feared it might have caused some long-term effect on Zhang Yang.

This was concern blurring judgment. The Old Man cared too much for Zhang Yang and tended to envision the worst-case scenario first, to guard against it.

“Don’t worry, Old Man, I’m fine.”

Zhang Yang offered a slight smile, then walked toward Swiftwind. Elder Yan and Tang Xiaolan had been placed on the ground right in front of the beast.

After taking their pulses and confirming that Elder Yan and Tang Xiaolan were only in a normal faint, he relaxed. He then moved toward Yan Yefei and Li Juan.

Those two had been knocked out by the shockwave from the earlier energy burst, and their injuries were significantly more severe. However, Zhang Yang had come prepared this time. He took two pills from his canvas bag, administered them to both, and then channeled his inner energy into their bodies. With a little adjustment, Zhang Yang was confident they would awaken soon.

“Mr. Zhang! Mr. Zhang!”

Yan Yefei was the first to stir. Seeing Zhang Yang, he cried out urgently, “I—I didn’t die?”

Li Juan also woke up. She stared at Zhang Yang in shock, then quickly looked around, realizing she hadn't fallen off the cliff. Immediately, tears streamed down her face as she looked at Zhang Yang, emotionally exclaiming, “Mr. Zhang, we—we didn’t die?”

“Of course you didn’t die…”

Zhang Yang smiled faintly. Just then—

“Ding-dong!!”

The notification chime of the Divine Physician System violently rang in his mind, followed immediately by the mechanical tone confirming mission completion ringing in his ears.

“The Double-Ninety Mission has been completed. The system now prompts the host: Do you wish to use the subsequent reward? If the subsequent reward is used, the reward for this mission can be directly increased to 220% of the original amount!”

The emotionless, mechanical female voice inquired. It turned out the Double-Ninety Mission concerning the loyalty of Yan Yefei and Li Juan had finally been fulfilled!

This meant that, upon waking up after this incident, both Li Juan’s and Yan Yefei’s loyalty levels toward Zhang Yang had risen to ninety points, satisfying the original system requirement for the Double-Ninety Mission.

Zhang Yang became instantly excited. He hadn't expected the mission to complete under these circumstances. This meant that, including the subsequent reward, the reward for this long-uncompleted mission would be twice the original amount, plus an extra twenty percent!

Entering the virtual interface of the Divine Physician System, Zhang Yang immediately selected to accept the subsequent reward and receive the spoils of completing this mission.

Ding-dong…

“Mission reward is being issued immediately. How does the host plan to allocate the acquired Potential Points?”

The mechanical female voice questioned again. Zhang Yang didn't hesitate at all and stated directly, “Add all of it to Qi Gong Inner Energy!”

Adding the mission’s potential points to Qi Gong Inner Energy was equivalent to directly boosting his internal strength, an improvement countless times greater than what cultivation could achieve. Zhang Yang didn't even bother checking how many points he had received; he allocated them all to the Qi Gong Inner Energy attribute.

“Allocation complete.”

The system automatically finished distributing the potential points upon receiving Zhang Yang’s command. Zhang Yang suddenly felt a warm current flow through his entire body—a sensation that could only be understood, not verbally expressed!

“Mr. Zhang? Mr. Zhang, what’s wrong with you!”

As a special cultivator with the Tribulation-Averting Constitution, Yan Yefei immediately sensed that some kind of change was occurring within Zhang Yang, though he couldn’t articulate what it was.

“Mr. Zhang…”

Li Juan felt it too, but she dared not touch Zhang Yang. Instead, she turned to look at Zhang Pinglu.

“Don’t move him! He seems to be… breaking through?!”

Zhang Pinglu was also shocked. He could feel the incredibly pure energy flowing from Zhang Yang, celestial energy that seemed to be remodeling his body—a state that strongly resembled the precursor to a breakthrough.

“Hoo~” Zhang Yang opened his mouth and exhaled a plume of pure white energy. His body gave a slight tremor, and an invisible force immediately pushed Yan Yefei and Li Juan several feet away. Even the Old Man, Zhang Pinglu, unconsciously took half a step back.

Now, he appeared several times more vigorous than before.

“Yang Yang, did you break through again!”

Zhang Pinglu could no longer suppress his excitement. Zhang Yang’s appearance clearly indicated he had surpassed his current realm!

“Yes, I broke through!”

Zhang Yang nodded, examining himself. He had now broken through to the late stage of Inner Strength Fourth Layer, and furthermore, to the absolute peak of the late stage of Inner Strength Fourth Layer. His current level of Great Perfection was now indistinguishable from that of Hua Tianfei or Huang Longshi, and yet, he was far more formidable than them.

If he had to face Iga-zaki Doushun again now, Zhang Yang possessed the absolute strength to defeat him easily without resorting to the attack methods of a Fifth Layer expert!

Moreover, even facing two Great Perfection cultivators now, Zhang Yang was confident he could fight them—and win decisively!