"Senior Brother Qingshan, you’re back?" Zhuge Qing couldn't help but feel a surge of joy, immediately followed by a knot of apprehension mixed with anticipation, thinking of her father, 'Zhuge Yuanhong,' wanting to arrange a marriage for her.

"Mm." Zhuge Yuanhong smiled. "Your old man also told him that I want to arrange a match for him."

Zhuge Qing bit her lip, staring intently at her father.

Seeing his daughter like this, Zhuge Yuanhong couldn't help but sigh helplessly. In truth, ever since his daughter requested the complete manual for the Great Ox Strength Art for Teng Qingshan, he had realized that his precious daughter had developed a flicker of affection for Teng Qingshan.

"I told him that some of the granddaughters of our elders in the Guiyuan Sect, like your cousin, and Junior Sister Liuxiang, are all excellent girls..." As Zhuge Yuanhong spoke, Zhuge Qing grew anxious. Why was her father promoting other girls? If Teng Qingshan married someone else, what would become of her?

Noticing the anxious look in Zhuge Qing's eyes, Zhuge Yuanhong finally laughed, "Alright, Qingqing! Just say it. Your Senior Brother Qingshan is completely devoted to his cultivation and isn't thinking about marriage for the time being. So, he turned down all those girls."

Zhuge Qing looked at her father, her heart trembling with apprehension and nervousness.

"As for you, Qingqing..." Zhuge Yuanhong smiled faintly, "He didn't explicitly refuse you, just said he doesn't want to marry right now."

Zhuge Qing paused, stunned.

"Your Senior Brother Qingshan is a genius," Zhuge Yuanhong mused. "I forgot to tell you, he has already reached the Xiantian realm! A Xiantian expert at seventeen! Looking across the entire Jiuzhou Continent, he is the only one in five hundred years! No matter how high the talent or how great the opportunity, such an achievement is impossible without total dedication of body and spirit!"

"Senior Brother Qingshan reached Xiantian?" Zhuge Qing was equally stunned by the news.

"Alright, Qingqing. I have matters to attend to; I need to go to the Martial Pavilion." Zhuge Yuanhong then departed, leaving Zhuge Qing standing alone by the roadside.

Zhuge Qing watched her father’s receding figure vanish into the distance and whispered softly, "Father, thank you." Zhuge Qing was very astute; she understood that everything her father had said was just to soften the blow for her.

...

The afternoon sun was brilliant, yet Zhuge Qing’s mood was low.

She turned and stepped back into her private chamber.

"Not wanting to marry is just an indirect refusal, isn't it..." Zhuge Qing stood foolishly, gazing at a robe on the table. "But, Big Brother Teng reached Xiantian at seventeen. His mind must be entirely focused on cultivation. Unlike me, who spends all day lost in fantasy. Well. I mustn't hold him back... Sincere effort moves mountains!"

Zhuge Qing took a deep breath and returned to her chair, continuing to sew the robe.

Although she tried to encourage herself, her father's failed attempt to broker a marriage clearly affected her. While sewing a pocket, her mind wandered involuntarily.

"Ah." Zhuge Qing immediately pulled back her left hand.

A prick from the needle had left a small wound on the pad of her left index finger, a bead of scarlet blood welling up. This needle prick was quite deep. Zhuge Qing quickly grabbed a piece of Xuan paper from the table and immediately wrapped her index finger.

"Oh dear, what should I do now?" Zhuge Qing looked at the garment.

Even though she retracted her hand quickly, two drops of blood had managed to stain the edge of the pocket she was sewing. The two drops seeped through the Snow Silkworm Silk and penetrated the layer of cloth. Zhuge Qing immediately flipped the garment over to check. Thankfully, it was only two drops. Through the Snow Silkworm Silk and the cloth, only a fingertip-sized patch of deep red was visible on the outside.

The robe was stone-grey, so the stain was barely noticeable.

"It won't show once it dries," Zhuge Qing breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

...

Guiyuan Sect, Teng Qingshan's residence.

"Creak!" The courtyard gate opened, and Qingyu bounced into the yard, her face beaming.

"Qingyu, your brother is back!" A clear, hearty voice rang out.

Qingyu gasped in surprise, looking closely toward the central courtyard. She immediately rushed forward in excitement, "Brother!" Like a cheerful little rabbit, she dashed into the central courtyard and directly threw her arms around Teng Qingshan, who was sitting there. "Brother, it’s so wonderful you’re back! I’ve been thinking about you constantly these past few days, waiting for you to come back every day, but you never did. I lost my appetite, and I couldn't sleep well."

"Really?" Teng Qingshan blinked. "But I noticed that my little sister doesn't even come back for lunch anymore." Teng Qingshan had returned that morning and eaten lunch with his cousin, Teng Qinghu. As for his sister, 'Teng Qingyu,' he hadn't seen hide nor hair of her.

He had learned from Teng Qinghu that Qingyu had been spending a lot of time with Zhuge Yun lately.

Teng Qinghu, standing nearby, teased, "That's right. These past few days, I've been eating with my soldiers; I rarely see Qingyu."

"Cousin!" Qingyu shot Teng Qinghu a look, then turned helplessly to Teng Qingshan, "Brother, it's just that I didn't know you were back. Otherwise, I wouldn't have eaten lunch; I would have waited for you."

"It's settled," Teng Qingshan said with a smile. "The Sect Master already told me about you and Little Yun... I agreed. When the Age Ceremony arrives, I will bring our parents over. Once they give their blessing, your matters with Little Yun will be set."

No matter how carefree Qingyu usually was, she couldn't help but blush upon hearing this.

"Cousin, Little Yu! These are treasures I brought back from the Savage Lands." Teng Qingshan said, gesturing toward the wine gourd on the table. "Little Yu, your cousin already asked me what this was, but I haven't told him yet." Teng Qinghu could only blink blankly before chuckling, "Qingshan, tell us now, what is this thing?"

"Don't ask for now," Teng Qingshan said, handing two small bowls to Qinghu and Qingyu.

He pulled out the stopper, and the Vermilion Fruit Wine poured out of the gourd.

"Swish~~" A pale red liquid streamed from the mouth of the gourd. The fragrance spread, and both Qingyu and Qinghu couldn't help but inhale deeply. Soon, the two small bowls were filled.

"Drink it all," Teng Qingshan instructed.

"Mm." Both Qinghu and Qingyu found their mouths watering just smelling the wine, so they hesitated no longer, lifting the bowls and drinking them down in one go.

"Gulp~~" They finished every last drop.

"I'm sweating all over; I feel hot," Teng Qinghu exclaimed in surprise. Qingyu beside him also had a flushed face.

A moment passed.

"How does it feel?" Teng Qingshan watched Qinghu and Qingyu, who were still visibly shocked.

"My Dantian has expanded quite a bit," Qinghu said, astonished.

Qingyu was also surprised. "All my bones and tendons seem to have undergone a transformation; I feel like I'm brimming with strength." Saying this, Qingyu walked over to the rockery near the water basin and grabbed a stone weighing at least a thousand jin with both hands. With a surge from her slender forearm—Whoosh!—the massive thousand-jin stone was lifted high into the air.

"My, my strength—when did it become this powerful?" Qingyu cried out in shock.

Qingyu hadn't trained rigorously since childhood; she only started cultivating inner strength after joining the Guiyuan Sect. Though she possessed inner strength, the lift she just performed relied on physical power. Her physique hadn't changed, yet her physical strength had increased so dramatically.

"My strength has increased too," Teng Qinghu stated, unleashing a powerful chopping palm strike that generated a gust of wind.

"Very good. Drink half a bowl more." Teng Qingshan finished speaking and poured another half-bowl of Vermilion Fruit Wine for each of them.

"Drink it," Teng Qingshan commanded.

Qinghu and Qingyu, filled with delight, immediately downed the extra half-bowl.

"How does it feel now?" Teng Qingshan inquired.

"I don't feel much change," Qingyu shook her head. "My body feels pleasantly warm, but my Dantian and physique seem unchanged."

"Qinghu, how about you?" Teng Qingshan asked.

"No change in the Dantian, but my physical strength has increased again," Qinghu said in disbelief. He could clearly feel the changes in his bones and muscles. "But this time, the improvement is much smaller than the last."

Teng Qingshan nodded upon hearing this.

"This Vermilion Fruit Wine is of no more use to you now," Teng Qingshan explained. Back on Iron Arm Monkey Mountain, even the demonic beasts fought over this wine. Vermilion Fruit Wine is highly effective for the first-time drinker, be it a person or a beast, but the more you drink, the less effective it becomes, until it ceases to work entirely.

And one more thing!

The better one's physical constitution, the more Vermilion Fruit Wine one can absorb. Those with weaker constitutions absorb much less. Take Qingyu, a girl with average physique; no matter how potent the wine, it could, at most, grant her an increase of two or three thousand jin in strength, making her comparable to a second-rate martial artist.

Qinghu, however, absorbed a great deal from the first bowl, and then absorbed some more from the second half-bowl. The strength increase he gained was significantly higher than Qingyu's.

...

For instance, the demonic beast 'Iron Arm Monkey' typically possessed an arm strength of nearly one hundred thousand jin, yet these monkeys frequently received Vermilion Fruit Wine... clearly indicating the wine's limited effect. However, before Teng Qingshan drank even a small sip of the wine for the first time, his physical strength was already close to two hundred and twenty thousand jin!

With such a powerful body, he even surpassed the strength of a fully grown Iron Arm Monkey. After taking the first small sip, his physical strength saw a considerable boost, but as he continued drinking, the effect waned until he had consumed a third of the entire gourd, after which it provided no further benefit. Yet, by drinking that amount, Teng Qingshan had accumulated a total increase of twenty thousand jin in sheer power.

Now, relying purely on his physical body, Teng Qingshan’s strength reached two hundred and forty thousand jin. Though he was only at the 'Virtual Core' level, this accumulation of physical strength allowed him to contend with a Xiantian 'Solid Core' expert.

"Qingshan, my strength has increased by at least eight thousand jin!" Teng Qinghu exclaimed happily. "I feel that when I use pure physical power, it's only slightly less potent than using inner strength."

"Is it that much?" Qingyu frowned.

Teng Qingshan laughed. "Qingyu, the stronger the body starts, the more it can absorb the effects of the Vermilion Fruit Wine. But you are a girl; you don't need to build muscle. If you trained, you might become bulkier than Little Yun, and be careful, Little Yun might not dare marry you."

"He dares," Qingyu shot back with a glare, then blushed immediately. "Brother, it's still too early for that."

"Hahaha..." Teng Qingshan chuckled, then turned his gaze to his cousin, Teng Qinghu. "Cousin, although you gained eight thousand jin of strength, the Vermilion Fruit Wine has not been fully utilized. You must train diligently in the future, and your physical strength will continue to improve."

"Really?" Qinghu was overjoyed.

"Of course."

Teng Qingshan nodded. Having consumed the Black Fire Spiritual Root, Teng Qingshan knew very well that the 'Vermilion Fruit Wine' and the 'Black Fire Spiritual Root,' even if they provided such significant temporary boosts, would continue to exert their influence as he cultivated. After drinking one-third of the wine, only a very small portion had truly taken effect.

"However, the effect of the Tiger Form Divine Technique on my body has weakened considerably," Teng Qingshan also noticed. The further one advanced, the harder it became to improve the physique. Teng Qingshan estimated that in the later stages, even if the energy from the Vermilion Fruit Wine remained dormant in his body, the Tiger Form Divine Technique might not be able to convert this potential into usable power! This Tiger Form Divine Technique, being a secret art derived from the Xinyi Quan of his previous life, would have a diminishing effect on Teng Qingshan's body. One day, the Tiger Form Divine Technique would become completely useless!

Teng Qingshan's practice of internal martial arts had already pushed his physical body to an incredible degree. He needed to create an internal martial arts secret art that surpassed the Tiger Form Divine Technique!

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