Chapter 623: Deep Gratitude
"Look Out"
Boom!
Xin Yan warned her maid before launching an attack with enough power to send her flying backward. Colliding with a stone wall in the back, Wu Ping spat a mouthful of blood.
A pained look appeared on her face, she could feel the tearing sensation spreading from her back to the front of her body. "Arghh!"
Forcing herself to stand up she looked at Xin Yan with eyes full of determination and stubbornness.
Seeing the look in her moist eyes, Xin Yan nodded in satisfaction. "The pain you are feeling, the warm sensation that accompanies it. Force your mind not to pay attention to it."
Lowering the wooden sword in her hand, Xin Yan kept giving instructions to her maid, "Instead focus all of your attention on landing a strike on me. Now that you have taken one of my strikes, it's time for you to try and land a hit on me, remember you only get ten chances before I strike again."
Wu Ping coughed before wiping the blood from the corner of her eyes. She squeezed the tears out of her eyes to clear her vision. "I understand mistress!"
Gritting her teeth, Wu Ping dashed towards Xin Yan but her speed was very slow in Xin Yan's eyes, like a toddler running towards their mother.
Even then Xin Yan did not ridicule her as it would be akin to mocking her resolve.
Woosh!
When she arrived before Xin Yan, Wu Ping extended her shoulder to punch Xin Yan in the chest. Seeing the incoming punch, the blue-haired woman sidestepped with ease.
Wu Ping did not stop there but kept attacking even when none of her punches connected. With each punch, she started to focus less on the pain and more on where to attack Xin Yan.
In less than five seconds, Wu Ping already made ten moves and hurridly tried o back away but Xin Yan did not show any mercy to her. She raised her snow-white leg and kicked her in the ribs from the side.
Thud!
Once more, Wu Ping found herself on the ground with stinging pain in her ribs. She gasped for breath looking at the ground as bloody drool escaped her gaping mouth.
Her hands clenched into a fist, leaving a mark on the ground as she forced herself to stand up once more, "AGAIN!"
With the sudden exclamation, the maid rushed at her mistress with full speed. This series of actions repeated more than ten times. Wu Ping got ten free strikes after which Xin Yan would counter with one of her.
After ten rounds of back-and-forth interaction between the two of them, Xin Yan finally smiled when she saw Wu Ping dodge her attack, though it was barely she was finally getting used to her speed.
"Let's end it here for now." She declared releasing Wu Ping's fist from her hands. "You have done well."
Thud!
Wu Ping's face bloomed into a warm smile her mistress's praise but it did not last long as the fatigue caught up with her mind once the adrenaline died down. With that, the bruised and bloody maid fell to the ground with a thud.
Seeing the contended smile on her face, Xin Yan shook her head before waving her head and conjuring a huge wooden tub from her storage ring, almost as tall as her.
The tub was already filled to the brim with water. Since she could not use her qi to heat up the water, Xin Yan took out several fire element Spirit stones from her ring and threw them in the water.
Once more than 30-40 high-grade fire element spirit stones were thrown in the tub, the water started to heat in no time. Xin Yan dipped her elbow in the water, once satisfied with the temperature, she threw in several treasured herbs in the tub as well.
"Now it's your turn" Once the water started to change color due to the influence of the herbs she threw in, Xin Yan turned to look at the main ingredient of the concoction.
She walked over and pulled the unconscious Wu Ping from the ground before throwing her into the tub.
Splash!
When Wu Ping fell into the tub, some of the water splashed into the surroundings, and the hot boiling water instantly started affecting the wounded Wu Ping, her skin started to turn red as her eyes snapped open from the piercing pain.
"Argh!" Wu Ping wanted to jump out of the tub but her body was exhausted and she could not even move her limbs. The pain she was experiencing was so unbearable like someone threw alcohol on a cut on her body or someone lit her up on fire.
"Mistress, it's painful!" Wu Ping could barely keep her face above the water as she cried in pain, seeing Xin Yan as her last ray of hope, she pleaded to her for help, "Please take me out of here."
"These are the most treasured herbs for a body cultivator Wu Ping." But to her despair, Xin Yan ignored her painful cries and spoke coldly, "What you are experiencing, some kill to go through. So take a deep breath and run the cultivation technique my dear gave you. Were the talks of you wanting to get stronger all mere talks?"
Seeing the last hope of survival fade away, Wu Ping broke into tears but when she heard the later part, Wu Ping's heart skipped a beat. She recalled the helplessness she felt before Xin Yan saved her.
That sensation, that pain was something this little pain could not compare to!
So, with a fierce look in her eyes, Wu Ping bit her lips to the point of drawing blood. Her hands held onto the edge of the bathtub as she started chanting the technique Noah had given her before.
The longer she chanted those words, the more turbulent the water around her got. The herbal mixture from the water started to rush directly towards her body and seeped into it through the pores on her skin.
Xin Yan relaxed the hand clenched behind her back and the blood on it seemed to freeze before it flew away in the air, "Grow up well Wu Ping, you will shatter all of your limits and become a renowned figure if you can survive the night of cultivating in the tub."
Turning around Xin Yan sat down in front of the tub cross-legged, immersed in her cultivation.
While the two of them were immersed in their own cultivation state, Shisan finally finished letting out all their grievances before Noah. Her eyes were swollen while her cheeks were red as was her nose.
Even though she was not crying anymore, her hands were tightly holding onto Noah's shirt as if she was scared to be alone.
"What do you think I should do?" After what seemed like forever, she finally raised her head to look Noah in the eye. Her eyes were devoid of any emotions and light as if she had lost all sense of direction in her life.
Noah did not flinch seeing the look in her eyes, for some reason, the look in her eyes reminded him of his younger self in his previous life. 'I was also once lost like this when I had nothing more in my life but then 'she' came.'
"Do you want an answer?" After carefully arranging his words, Noah replied to her question with one of his own.
Hearing that question, Shisan turned her head in confusion but Noah was not speaking, "An answer from Song Liu. A reason why she did, what she did? Why she attacked you, why she left you— no, why she left all of us feeling betrayed!"
Shisan's eyes shook hearing those words, she lowered her head, and her body trembled when she heard the word 'betrayal' but the next moment she raised her head once more.
This time her eyes were flashing with anger and unwillingness, not directed at Noah but at Song Liu, her young miss, "I want to know!"
Noah nodded in satisfaction and replied, "Then grow stronger! Stronger than those so-called generals in the Red Dawn cult. Then once we confront those cultists, you can get your answers directly from that little girl."
"Yes, I will ask her myself! Even if I have to punch the young miss in the face, I will make her tell me the truth!" After finally getting a direction to move in her life, Shisan's eyes regained their light.
After she calmed down, Shisan realized that she was so close to Noah and she froze again. She hurriedly took her hand back and stood up in panic.
"I am sorry for the mess I created." Shisan lowered her head, feeling ashamed of how she cried on Noah's robes but when she looked closely, she was surprised to see no signs of wetness on his robes, 'I did not even sense any qi coming from him, those robes are enchanted with ruins!'
"No need for any of that, I am happy that I could help a fellow elder."
"I am not sure if I even deserve the title of the elder, in a few years those kids will reach my level and maybe even surpass me." Shisan let out a heavy sigh as she recalled the talent of everyone in the sect.
"Are you going to get discouraged now?" Noah did not comfort her but instead asked with a teasing smile.
"No way! Even if they are monsters in terms of talent, I am no less than them!" Shisan snorted coldly before a smile appeared on her face, she lowered her head to Noah and said, "I am deeply grateful for your help, if you ever need my help just tell me, I will do anything for you."
Looking at the intense serious look in her eyes, Noah did not feel the need to turn her down and gratefully accepted the offer.