Return 1

Two years later ...

Qin Feng groaned.

That was a good thing.

The fact that he could groan, and that he could hear his own groaning, meant that he was still alive. Indeed, the fact that he could still feel pain, and the stiffness of his own body, was something that he rejoiced in.

He had half-expected to die, when he faced that overwhelmingly powerful practitioner. In fact, he was certain that he would not survive. Especially when it became clear that no one would not lift a finger to save him.

He hadn't known that Nu Yuanqing was about though. At least, not until after he had fallen. But he had managed to catch snatches of her conversation with the enemy. It seemed clear that she was still harboring a grudge against him, for the dispute between him and her people from the Rear Gardens of the Heaven Sword School.

Of course, he had expected as much. Someone with as small a heart as that selfish woman would never forgive a slight. Still, he had hoped that she would hold to the agreement that the Heaven Sword School had made with the Old Marquis' wife.

Too bad that she was more than willing to cast that aside, just for the chance of seeing him perish. Well, if that was the case, he was certainly not going to give her, and hers, a chance to flourish, now that he had managed to survive. Although he would have to see what was available to him later, and decide if he wished to hammer a few more nails into her coffin.

Well, he would have to wait, if he wanted to do that. For the moment, he was lying on an army cot in the middle of a musky old tent. Although he had to say that the bandages that had been wrapped around his bruised and strained limbs were greatly welcome. Well, aches and pains aside, he was more than pleased to be alive.

As for where he was, Qin Feng had absolutely no idea at all. Except for the fact that he was clearly still inside the Marquis' army camp, there were no other clues whatsoever. So he decided not to bother with that, and to concentrate on what he did know. Or what he was truly interested in:

Qin Feng turned his attention back to his own body at once. He could see that there were bruises all over his arms and those parts that were exposed, but there wasn't any danger at all. Which meant that he had been pretty well taken care of, after he had collapsed. Qin Feng had the idea that it was Li Changhai, the Second Ducal Prince, who had made the arrangements for that, since he had put himself in danger to save that person's life.

He shuddered then, as he thought back to how he had to fight against someone so far above him in terms of cultivation and martial arts earlier. That Luo Qingke fellow, who wielded the Iron Blood Hawk Claw, was already a master of his particular art, and Qin Feng was nowhere near his match at all! In fact, he was more than lucky to be alive!

Then he shook off that memory, and concentrated on his own body. He didn't have the luxury of getting distracted now. Who knew what other dangers lay in store for the Marquis' army, there on the fringes of civilization? Or if the Barbarians had any more tricks that they were about to play? He had to focus on his own recovery first!

But he was astounded, the moment that he started to Breathe. It was a bit of the shock, he had to admit, when he realized that he was already in the First Level of Core Growth! How did that happen? How did he get himself up by a whole Realm? Without even noticing it?

The Core in his body had already formed itself into a sphere, which differentiated itself from the ragged crystalline object that had formed during the Initial Phase. But how had be managed to bring himself up to that so quickly? It was nine levels, after all, and he was barely on the seventh level of the Initial Core Formation Realm when he last checked.

Had he really gone through three levels? During that seemingly suicidal fight for his life earlier, against that fellow in the Profound Realm? Was that the reason why he had managed to climb up the ladder of his own cultivation so quickly? And so smoothly?

He continued to Breathe, and to examine his own Inner Qi as he did so, and was largely relieved to find nothing amiss. The Jade Tree Sutra and White Jade Orchid Flower Great Law seemed to just fine. In fact the symbolic tree in his dantian seemed to have grown somewhat, which was no surprise given his rise in cultivation. How it happened, however, still remained a mystery.

But he was no longer shocked by the changes that he found. To the contrary, he was pleasantly surprised, and grinned when he finally finished his third Cycle of Breathing exercises and opened his eyes again. It appeared that the strong Foundation that he had built for himself was already starting to pay off.

A knock on the tent pole made him jump then. But he recovered quickly. It made sense that there would be someone to check on him. So he simply gave out a soft cry:

"Come in. I am more or less decent."

Which had the Second Ducal Prince laughing as he lifted the tent flap, and stepped inside. "That is good to hear. You have been unconscious for almost two whole days. And two nights. This is the morning of the third day after the Barbarians' attack, in case you are wondering. But I am glad that you are still alive."

"Well, I was about to disappoint you. That fellow in purple was a difficult opponent. He almost killed me, I will admit," laughed Qin Feng in response to the Li Changhai's words, and grinned at the taller, older fellow.

"I suppose I owe you my thanks, for seeing that I was well taken care of, after I collapsed."

Li Changhai sighed. "It was the least I could do, after you saved my life. I think you know that all of this was because they were targeting me. Well, my Uncle the Marquis too, I must say. I had not expected the enemy to have arranged that many experts against us. Even with the precautions that my grandmother had taken, they had almost destroyed our fortress here. Rebuilding it would have taken a great deal of time and money."

Qin Feng chuckled as soon as he heard that. "So ... Doesn't that mean that I had saved your uncle quite a bit of coin? So much so that he might be willing to grant me some sort of reward?" he asked the Ducal Prince with a grin.

"As you can see, most of my plans have been ruined, and I am going to have to spend a bit of time recovering from my injuries. All that is going to cost me a great deal of money and other resources."

"Ha! Trust to worry about that, the very moment that you wake up. You had almost been battered to death, you know?" Li Changhai reminded him.

"Still, I think I will drop a reminder or two in my Uncle's ear, about the losses that you had taken. That's the least I can do."

* * *