Resting at the Brothel

Cui Fen then bought her to a room that had a bathtub.

"Tsk, look at how dirty you are! A girl like you shouldn't have to be in this state forever." She said.

Ming Yue had a dangerous feeling but before she could move, Cui Fen had already stripped her and pushed her into the bath.

She got a good look at Ming Yue's body and was slightly surprised. Her skin was smooth and without blemishes. It was still underdeveloped but she knew that in due time, Ming Yue was going to be a beauty.

Whilst cleaning, the both of them talked. They conversed about each other and had begun to bond. The both of them led harsh lives and they were glad to have found someone that shared a similar pain and understood each other.

Cui Fen was forced to work as a prostitute to make ends meet. It was tough as her daughter was quite young, so she couldn't find the time to work. The owner of the brothel was understanding and helped to take care of her daughter.

Soon, everyone that worked in the brothel had known about her and worked together to clear off their debts. This meant that Cui Fen didn't have to be a prostitute. But she stayed, however this time she was only an entertainer meant to do dances and such.

Cui Fen stopped reminiscing and rigorously wiped her clean while Ming Yue could do nothing to stop it. Of course, she knew that it was for her own good but she still wanted a little warning beforehand. After the ordeal had passed, Ming Yue got out and felt very refreshed. For the first time in a long time, she could fully relax. These past months have always kept her on her toes and she never had a decent rest.

"Here, you should wear these. And don't worry they're clean and haven't been worn by anyone."

She was given some undergarments by Cui Fen as the rest of her clothes were to be washed. Then Ming Yue was led to her own room where she was told to rest for the night.

She was tired but she couldn't sleep, she was a little excited and decided to take out the Shadow Blade Arts that she had taken. The basic swords manual no longer had anything else to teach and she needed a way to improve her skills. Although the Shadow Blade Arts were not suited for her, it could at least give her some ideas on how to improve her skills or perhaps create some new ones.

Thus, she opened the book and started reading.

"The Shadow Blade Arts focuses on speed and silence, It is not just for assassination but allows the user to send out killing blows during combat. By using light and darkness, you will confuse your enemy and take their attention away from you. Thus you will be able to attack them in a weakened state."

Ming Yue was slightly happy after reading the introduction. Her swordsmanship is primarily focused on speed and with this art, she could become even faster. As she continued reading, she became happier and happier. Although she was technically was at the basic level of sword fighting, she was quite good at it, coupled with a decent comprehension ability and she could be considered talented.

The book described 7 moves: Shadow Slash, Hidden Darkness, Descent of the Twilight, Flashing Light, Flickering Shade, Eclipse. The first three moves are quite easy to learn but the difficulty spiked after that. Especially the final move, Eclipse, It was not the fastest move in this set but it was the deadliest.

The Dark Shadow Trio was only able to learn up to Hidden Darkness. Although it cannot be considered a top martial art, it was still decent enough.

By the time, Ming Yue had finished looking over the book, the sun had begun to rise. Realizing that the night was already over, she decided to cultivate for a bit. After the multiple fights, she wanted to check the changes in her body.

While the Human Realm focused on training the body, there was internal and external training. While external training could be done with body tempering, internal training was done by moving your inner force all throughout the 12 channels of your body, strengthening the bones, blood, organs, etc.

Both ways are quite painful but not excruciating, of course, pills can be taken to lessen the pain or improve your cultivation rate. Although the cultivation stage is a general indicator of strength, it does not dictate everything. There are also other things like talent, skills, weapons that affect your strength. It is possible to defeat someone of a higher stage but even then it is a difficult feat to achieve.

As of right now, Ming Yue could be said to be closing in at the peak of the 2nd level. Before she was at the middle stages, however, with her current ability, she could contend with someone of the late stages of the 2nd level.

She winced in pain as she moved her inner force throughout each meridian. She was still not quite adept at using it and so she could only cultivate slowly and carefully. If she did not do so, she would risk causing severe damage. She didn't have a proper cultivation method, and could only pass her inner force through points where the pain was bearable. This method was crude but with practice, she found a relatively comfortable method that seemed to give the best results.

Her body had begun to show signs of improvement and Ming Yue's breathing evened out. Several hours passed as her cultivation continued. Then, someone began knocking on the door.

"Ming Yue? It's time to wake up!"

Opening her eyes, she got up from her bed and went to the door. She felt quite relaxed and refreshed, her mind was clear and she even had a little smile on her face. She opened it and was greeted by Cui Fen, who had brought a bowl of congee with her. It was simple but it had lots of toppings on it like green onions, bits of fish, and other things.

It was a light but filling meal. 

After Ming Yue finished eating, Cui Fen brought her around and introduced her to everyone.

"This is Ming Yue, the one who saved me from the Dark Shadow Trio."

They all complimented her beauty while thanking her. Then a girl around ten years appeared out of nowhere. She was cute and had a bright smile on her face.

"This is my daughter, Rou'er. Rou'er, this is Ming Yue", said Cui Fen.

Rou'er turned and faced Ming Yue.

"You were the one that saved my mother?", she asked as she stared at Ming Yue's face.

Ming Yue nodded and was pleasantly greeted by a hug from her.

"Thank you!" said Rou'er.

She smiled and hugged her back, quietly talking to her.

"You don't have to thank me."

After meeting with everyone, Cui Fen left Ming Yue as she had some tasks to do. Taking this opportunity, she put on her Floating Breeze Robes that she bought and went to find the same shop from before. She was curious about the ring that she had taken from the trio and wanted to see what secrets it had.

After putting on her clothes and slippers, she took her sword and went out into the city.