Dugu Zongheng cast a sidelong glance, brimming with disdain: "Look at this old coot, fussing over his grandson getting a scratch like that. Where is the demeanor of a great general? Truly contemptible! That I, holding an official rank, should serve beneath such a lout—heaven and earth weep for it!!"

Dugu Wudi grinned widely, playing along with his grandfather, nodding vigorously like a chick pecking grain: "Exactly, exactly! Utterly despicable, heaven and earth weep for it."

The assembled ministers all shook their heads, filled with silent scorn: Only the Dugu family—if they got a scratch the size of a soybean skin, they’d scream to the heavens. And yet, here they were, scorning Jun Zhantian! Truly shameless! Still, the old Master Dugu's flowery language sounded rather convincing. It must have been polished by some sycophantic advisor...

Huh? Polished for a long time, you say? This was explosive news! Could there be disunity within the military ranks? At this thought, the shrewd old foxes all felt a flicker of suspicion.

Seeing his son cooperate so perfectly, Old Master Dugu Zongheng was overjoyed, feeling immensely comforted: "It’s still best in our family; one birth yields ten sons, all strong and vibrant. Not like the Jun family, they barely have a single hair left."

Dugu Wudi immediately resumed his chick-pecking nod: "Exactly, exactly."

A wave of nausea washed over the crowd: They’d given away their secret in just one sentence. One birth yields ten sons? Did he think his daughter-in-law was a broodmare? How utterly vulgar! Besides, you old man have three sons, nearly twenty wives between them, and you dare brag about only having ten-odd grandsons and granddaughters!

Ignoring the self-satisfied father and son, one praising and the other echoing, everyone shook their heads and walked out, heading home.

They would just treat everything that happened over these past two days as a rather dramatic farce. If they had known, sigh.

A short while later, the palace guards watched the old Jun patriarch leave the palace gate, looking immensely pleased, accompanied by an old man whose hair and beard were entirely white, carrying a medicine chest. Jun Zhantian rode his own horse, and incredibly, there was even a sedan chair!

It seemed the old man had prepared the sedan chair for the Imperial Physician even before entering the palace...

Truly... meticulously planned, utterly thorough!

What is a master, really? This is what a master is!

Young Master Jun Mo Xie lay on his bed, carefully maintaining the appearance of a man on the brink of death, though inside, he was reveling in the excitement.

The little loli, Ke'er, served him meticulously, spooning delicate morsels into his mouth: rock sugar bird's nest porridge, ginseng and lotus seed soup, eight-treasure furong stew... in short, every rich, nourishing item imaginable was pushed his way. The only thing that displeased him was that the old man had also procured gallons of Level Six Mystic Beast blood, reputedly a potent tonic. But Jun Mo Xie would pinch his nose and gulp it down, or sneakily pour it into the bucket beside the bed whenever he could...

It tasted disgusting! I’m not some savage! Why force me to drink raw blood? It’s so unsanitary, aren't they afraid of getting stomach poisoning?!

Of course, what pleased him more than the food was the realization that since this injury, the Hongjun Pagoda in his mind had been spinning at an accelerated rate. The spiritual energy white mist emerging from it was thicker than ever, washing over his meridians again and again, focusing especially on the injured areas. In less than a day and night, the sword wounds inside his body were already about 70 to 80 percent healed.

After a few coughs that expelled several chunks of thick, dark blood, the tightness in his chest had greatly eased; the sword wound on his thigh looked especially severe—almost transparent—but under the constant nourishment of the spiritual energy, the pain had vanished. Only the intermittent itching and tingling across his body caused him some discomfort, yet it was also somewhat pleasant—a case of pain mixed with pleasure...

Moreover, because of this injury, the spiritual energy from the Hongjun Pagoda continued to flow out, seemingly refusing to cease until the wounds scabbed over and fell off. Jun Mo Xie certainly wasn't going to waste such a magnificent opportunity for cultivation. He promptly activated the Kai Tian Zao Hua Gong completely, guiding the almost tangible spiritual energy to surge through his meridians. As soon as he circulated the energy, he noticed the difference: the spiritual energy seemed almost solid, colliding within his meridians. After impacting the blockages caused by the sword wounds a few times, they suddenly cleared, and he felt the flow of energy within his meridians visibly expand and thicken almost before his eyes...

In the past, encountering such a situation would have caused the Hongjun Pagoda to halt its output. But this time, it showed no signs of stopping. Jun Mo Xie was delighted, so he gave up worrying about healing the sword wounds altogether, focusing entirely on guiding the spiritual energy to fortify his internal flow—secretly accumulating wealth.

Jun Mo Xie suddenly felt his actions were akin to fraud... Others were kindly helping him heal, yet he was exploiting the opportunity to advance himself, just like a profiteer exploiting people’s goodwill for exorbitant gains...

But—

If this is the kind of fraud, I’d happily commit it again and again! I’m addicted to scamming! If it’s free, why not take it! Jun Mo Xie shouted internally, quickening the pace of his "scam"...

Otherwise, what if his injuries healed completely, and the spiritual energy flow dropped back to its original state? Now that he was accustomed to such high-quality energy transport, returning to the previous level would be devastating. Where would he go to cry? Would he have to impale himself twice more just to recreate this cultivation atmosphere?!

Unfortunately, the energy output would inevitably heal the various injuries to some extent, no matter how slowly. As he felt the tingling, itchy sensation spreading even to the wound on his thigh, the spiritual energy from the Hongjun Pagoda finally slowed its output. After maintaining that pace for a moment longer, the rotation slowly ground to a halt, and his sea of consciousness returned to silence...

Jun Mo Xie jolted awake, sighing internally at the pity; he felt like he hadn't enjoyed himself enough—this speed of cultivation advancement was simply too intoxicating. By circulating his internal energy, he saw a translucent current flowing slowly through his meridians. Compared to before the injury, the total volume had doubled in just one night! Measured by the Xuan Qi standards of this world, it was at least Eighth Grade Xuan Qi, and exceedingly pure!

In a world where anyone below the Ninth Grade was considered mere dust, Eighth Grade Xuan Qi, even if pure, was insignificant among the burgeoning ranks of Silver and Gold Xuan experts. But one shouldn't mistake Jun Mo Xie's speed as slow. He had been in this world for barely a month and a half, counting from the moment he arrived. In this short period, he had leaped from his original Third Grade Xuan Qi to the Eighth Grade! This rate of progress would shock even the eternally ancient powerhouses like the Supreme Divine Profounds!

If this world had an anatomy institute or similar organization, and they discovered Jun Mo Xie’s cultivation speed, it would be a miracle if he wasn't captured, dissected, and studied thoroughly! Jun Mo Xie let out a comfortable breath, immediately feeling that this injury was truly... damn worthwhile! He even began wondering if he should strategically injure himself every so often!

A guard entered and reported: "Young Master, Young Master Tang has come to visit you."

Jun Mo Xie gave an "oh," then remembered something. Casually, he tucked a cloth bundle from beside his pillow into the bedding, before speaking in a weak voice: "Go ask Young Master Tang to come in."

Following a series of dull footsteps, the fat man Tang stumbled into Jun Mo Xie's room, panting heavily. The spacious bedroom suddenly felt cramped. "Third Young Master, you scared me to death." Tang Yuan looked utterly shocked. "I heard you went to see the former Emperor; I cried half the night, the whole night! If we brothers were truly separated by heaven and earth, how would I live on, tell me!"

Jun Mo Xie cast a weak look at the plump man, fighting the urge to jump up and kick him! But since he had to maintain the facade of a gravely wounded man, he let him off for the moment. However, his eyes were practically radiating murderous intent...

Correction: I will never claim to be handsome again. Although I am indeed very handsome. But being hit with three or four hundred video calls in one day and night—this is simply too... exaggerated?!