Promise

The Devil Sword was now blood-red, glamorous yet deadly. Thin tiny lines had unknowingly appeared on the sword's body; these lines looked just like the sword's blood vessels and it was truly a chilling sight.

'Could this Devil Sword have been in my heart since I was born? That's unimaginable!'

Ning Xiaochuan tried several times to transfer the Devil Sword out of his body but, as the Combat Qi within his body was not strong enough, to no success.

Maybe he had to achieve the Divine Body Realm before he could transfer the sword out of his body.

Ning Xiaochuan could feel the immense power being nurtured within the sword. Everything it had displayed so far was just the tip of the iceberg; once it fully demonstrated its devilish prowess, he was afraid every martial artist under the sky would tremble before the sword.

Ning Xiaochuan cultivated Heaven and Earth Qi the entire night so that he could strengthen his Stage Seven Qi.

Once morning arrived, he left his room.

He exhaled through his mouth and out came a faint wisp of Qi. It made a slight thunder-like noise and the small gust of wind that followed shook all the plants within the manor.

Achieving Stage Seven Qi meant that the Combat Qi within his body had increased dramatically, giving him several times more Combat Qi than when he was at Stage Six Qi.

Once Ning Xiaochuan started circulating his Combat Qi, his blood began circulating quickly as well. His blood could now complete three cycles in one minute, which was nine times the speed of a regular person's blood cycle.

Despite the fact that his blood flow increased nine times in speed, the strength he had gained was not as simple as nine times that of regular folk.

'Completing three cycles of blood in one minute is considered Stage Seven Qi, completing five cycles of blood in one minute is considered Stage Eight Qi, and completing seven cycles of blood in one minute is considered Stage Nine Qi, which means I need to complete ten cycles of blood in one minute to achieve the Divine Body Realm. I still have a long way to go!'

He could already be regarded as a young powerhouse for achieving Stage Seven Qi but compared to the peak of the young generation, he was still far behind.

Once Stage Seven Qi was achieved, every realm achieved from then onwards would mean a sharp increase in power. Soon, Ning Xiaochuan would be able to kill a tiger with his bare hands and slaughter an elephant with a single punch. The realms that he would be able to achieve would be beyond an ordinary person's wildest imaginations.

Ning Xiaochuan formed a mass of bright-red Qi upon his palm. It slowly morphed into the shape of a sword that was three feet and eight inches long!

This was the Qi Sword, a sword made entirely out of condensed Qi. It was much sharper than a sword made of iron and could cut through a one-meter thick gold pillar easily.

"Bang!"

Before the Qi Sword could completely take shape, it exploded suddenly. It dissolved into wisps of smoke that flowed around Ning Xiaochuan's palm.

"I've failed! Although I've achieved Stage Seven Qi and I'm now able to produce Fortified Qi and wield Qi like a sword, my Qi still isn't thick enough to condense into the Qi Sword. I expect I'll be able to form the Qi Sword easily once I've achieved Stage Eight Qi. Once I reach Ninth Heaven Qi, my Qi Sword will be as powerful as martial artists of the same stage and nobody will be able to stop my sword then.' Ning Xiaochuan was slightly disappointed at the outcome.

If he had been able to form the Qi Sword, Ning Xiaochuan had confidence that he would be able to go against martial artists of Stage Eight Qi although he was only at Stage Seven Qi.

As soon as he used the Qi Sword, common swords or martial artists with Fortified Qi protecting their bodies would be no match for him.

However, controlling his Qi enough to form it into a sword was already a difficult feat that not only needed the support of solid Qi but also skillful control of the Qi by a martial artist. Most powerhouses who had achieved Stage Nine Qi could not even form the Qi Sword' yet.

Ning Xiaochuan had just achieved Stage Seven Qi yet he could already form the Qi Sword. This was quite a remarkable feat.

…

Begonia Manor, the Southern Mountain Cluster outside the Imperial City.

There were more than a hundred mountain clusters surrounding the Imperial City and the Southern Mountain Cluster was one of them.

This cluster was not far from the Imperial City and like the stars surrounding the moon, it cradled the Imperial City in the center.

Each cluster had its own strategic mountain pass where large numbers of troops were stationed to protect the Imperial City from danger.

The Imperial City was the place where the Nobles, the wealthy, the martial art practitioners, and the high officials stayed. Most of the common folk, on the other hand, had no right to stay in the Imperial City. After going to the Imperial City to work during the day, they usually returned to the clusters they lived in at night.

Therefore, the clusters surrounding the Imperial City were also known as the civilian areas.

Begonia Manor was one of the more famous manors in the Southern Mountain Cluster because most of the common folk who lived in this cluster knew that it was property belonging to Marquis Jiange's Residence, which made it a place frequented by the descendants of Nobles to entertain themselves.

Begonia Manor covered an area of a hundred and twenty hectares, which made it a very large manor. The rampart surrounding the manor was seventy feet tall, which was the same height as the ramparts of some towns. Furthermore, the manor's rampart even had arrow towers, watchtowers, and armored guards.

The scenery within the rampart was extremely captivating as well. A stream flowed between the canyon formed by two hills into an artificial lake that glistened bright blue. Atop the lake sat beautifully crafted pavilions, pagodas, stone bridges and in the distance some ravines, brooks, cliffs, and halls could be seen.

In the eyes of ordinary people, Begonia Manor was practically a town that was within sight but beyond reach.

Moreover, the areas within the surrounding thirty miles of Begonia Manor fell under its jurisdiction as well. All the residents living in these areas were required to pay not just an annual tax, but also rice grains and brocade cloth.

Many types of begonia flowers, such as the Autumn Ember Begonia and the Wax Begonia, were planted within the compound of Begonia Manor. Therefore, beautiful and fragrant flowers bloomed year-round on the shores of the small lakes, within the ravines, along the cliffs, and by the pavilions. The entire manor felt like spring throughout the entire year.

The petals that fell in the water floated gently by upon the surface of the streams, dying the streams pink in a beautiful scene.

The petals that fell on the pavilions floated down gently from the beams, hovering in the air as the wind blew by gently. The petals resembled a rain of flowers that covered the entirety of Begonia Manor.

Just as Ning Xiaochuan was admiring the beauty of Begonia Manor, a woman dressed in a white robe appeared in the distance, slightly visible through the rain of flowers. Her hair was done up in a goddess-like topknot and a white veil covered her face. She looked just like a flower fairy emerging from a begonia garden.

With a smile, Ning Xiaochuan said, "Maiden Yu's recovered very fast. You can already walk after only a night of rest." 

Yu Ningsheng had already achieved the Divine Body Realm which meant that she had already cultivated her physical body into a Divine Martial Body. Once she managed to expel the poison from the Evil Dragon out of her body, she could heal herself very quickly.

Now, all she could not do was use the power of the Divine Realm, otherwise, Yu Ningsheng was no different from a normal person.

"This is all thanks to Master Ning for saving my life." Yu Ningsheng's voice was elegant and beautiful. As she stood amidst the rain of flowers, she looked just like a goddess from a painting.

Ning Xiaochuan quickly said, "If we're talking about gratitude, I should be the one thanking Maiden Yu for saving my life instead. If Maiden Yu hadn't lent a hand to us, Yu Yan and I would've definitely died at the hands of those five men of sacrifice."

"Very well! I saved your life and you saved mine, so we're now even. I'm going to take my leave since neither of us owe the other anything." Yu Ningsheng was not an unreasonable woman; she and Ning Xiaochuan were strangers that had come together by chance so she did not want to get involved in the internal strife currently happening within Marquis Jiange's Residence.

No matter how beautiful and elegant a woman from a brothel looked, they would still be innately lowly.

Yu Ningsheng would be digging her own grave if she were to get involved in the storm that was the scramble for the title of heir of Marquis Jiange's Residence.

She had saved Ning Xiaochuan and Yu Yan yesterday because she was passing by. Since she had actually seen what was going on, she naturally could not turn a blind eye to them; this was a principle she subscribed to.

However, Yu Ningsheng's wounds were almost completely healed so she had quickly decided to leave as she did not want to be entangled further with these Nobles' descendants.

Ning Xiaochuan shook his head and said, "Favors of grace shouldn't be exchanged like that. After all, if you hadn't helped us, you wouldn't have gotten hurt and I wouldn't have needed to save you. Basically, your wounds were caused by us so saving you was the right thing to do. Therefore, I still owe you greatly. I've never liked owing anyone anything so is there anything you want? Or do you need any help? If I can do it, I'll definitely help you in order to repay you for your kindness."

Yu Ningsheng stared at him deeply, her eyes gleaming with slight contempt.

Many young Nobles' descendants and handsome talented men offered her help as a way of cozying up to her, and she felt that Ning Xiaochuan was no different.

"I want to enter the Heavenly Emperor Academy to practice cultivation, can you help me with that?" asked Yu Ningsheng calmly.

Ning Xiaochuan had long heard of this Heavenly Emperor Academy since it was regarded as Yulan Imperial Palace's most prestigious martial arts academy. It was famed for its political and military achievements but the Heavenly Emperor Academy was extremely strict in its character and talent assessments. It would only open admissions once every five years and those that manage to join the Heavenly Emperor Academy were the cream of the crop.

Yu Ningsheng's talents and Cultivation definitely made her eligible to enter the Heavenly Emperor Academy but she was a woman from a brothel. She had already sold her body to Guanyu Tower so she was expected to earn money for them. Why would they let her join the Heavenly Emperor Academy to practice cultivation?

Therefore, there was only one way for her to join the Heavenly Emperor Academy—she had to redeem her own body.

Yu Ningsheng was a famed beauty in the Imperial City, making her the cash cow of Guanyu Tower; even her fingers were priceless. Only true Nobles had the financial ability to redeem her body.

Yu Ningsheng stared at Ning Xiaochuan but when she noticed he was silent, it immediately confirmed her thought of him being just like the other geniuses she had met. He only coveted her beauty and did not actually want to help her from the bottom of his heart.

Yu Ningsheng slowly left, her steps bringing her through the rain of flowers and out of Begonia Manor.

Suddenly, Ning Xiaochuan's voice came from behind her. "Give me three months. In three months time, I'll definitely help you enter the Heavenly Emperor Academy. I'll keep that promise."

Yu Ningsheng stopped in her tracks to look back at him only to see Ning Xiaochuan standing on top of the seventy-feet tall rampart, his gaze unyielding as he stared at her.

She thought of Ning Xiaochuan as nothing more than a teenager that had allowed his emotions to get the best of him, but Yu Ningsheng could not help the slight fondness she now felt towards him. At least he dared to promise her.

Ning Xiaochuan stood high on the rampart surrounding Begonia Manor and watched Yu Ningsheng slowly fade into the distance.

Yu Yan appeared behind Ning Xiaochuan and whispered, "Master Ning, you aren't just saying that right?"

"Of course not!" replied Ning Xiaochuan.

Yu Yan said, "You should know that the women of Guanyu Tower are very expensive. Redeeming even a third-rate hostess requires at least one million to five million copper coins. Besides, Young Miss Yu is the star performer of Guanyu Tower. She's pursued by a myriad of people that want to redeem her for themselves. I'm afraid she's worth at least three hundred million copper coins, and that's the minimum. Furthermore, even if you do redeem her for three hundred million copper coins, it'll definitely create a stir throughout the entire Imperial City. The Elders of Marquis Jiange's Residence would never allow you to bring such disgrace to the Residence."

Ning Xiaochuan smiled faintly. "I merely want to redeem her in return for her kindness. It's not like I want her as a wife so how will that bring disgrace to the Residence in any way? Yu Yan, the most important things about being human are to always be honorable and to always repay the kindness you've received. If you carry no burden in your heart, you don't need to worry about the criticisms of others."

Yu Yan watched Ning Xiaochuan leave, still refusing to believe that a person would redeem a woman worth three hundred million copper coins from a brothel just to repay the woman's kindness. Did Ning Xiaochuan really harbor no ill thoughts towards Yu Ningsheng?