Chapter 26: A Petty Man’s Revenge, All Day Long

At this moment, Yangx Kai smiled. Even though his physical strength and mental energy were completely depleted, his eyes were unable to see, his ears were ringing incessantly, and his brain was stinging as if pricked by needles, he still smiled.

"I’ve won! This joy of conquering myself is far more intense than defeating anyone else!" he thought.

Just as Yangx Kai thought he was about to faint, a warm sensation suddenly spread through his body. This warmth welled up from his bones. Like a spring breeze and Yur and Luu, and like sweet rain after a long drought, it swept across every inch of his skin and flesh, bringing a burst of vigorous vitality.

His depleted physical strength recovered slightly, and even his mental state improved significantly. Although he had not fully recovered, he wouldn’t fall unconscious just like that.

Yangx Kai didn’t push himself any further. Instead, he sat on the ground and carefully sensed the condition inside his body. He discovered that the initial numbness had disappeared, replaced by a sense of soothing comfort.

The flesh and blood throughout his body pulsed rhythmically. Along with this pulsing, they became noticeably firmer and more explosive. The Qi Sensing within his Meridians THUMPED incessantly, and his bones seemed to have grown much sturdier. With just this single instance, his body felt as if it had grown much stronger.

Yangx Kai fell into deep thought. The warmth that surged from his bones at the final moment should be credited to the Proud Bone Golden Form. Having experienced such situations a few times before, he had more or less grasped the key: only his unyielding tenacity when facing adversity could stimulate this latent ability of the Proud Bone Golden Form. If he compromised when facing difficulties, the Proud Bone Golden Form would not provide him with any assistance.

"What a Golden Form with a personality!" Yangx Kai chuckled lightly.

At this point, he finally understood why the Incense Burner could assist his Cultivation. The medicinal efficacy of the herbs added to the Incense Burner was magnified thousands of times. After inhaling it, the rate at which his physical strength drained and his mental fatigue worsened drastically increased, which was why he had nearly lost consciousness after taking just three steps earlier. However, while this medicinal efficacy magnified by the Incense Burner was tyrannical, it shouldn’t leave any lingering side effects. Otherwise, it couldn’t be used to assist his Cultivation.

And only by overcoming this difficulty and triggering the recovery ability of his Proud Bone Golden Form could he obtain genuine benefits, allowing him to grow stronger as he repeatedly broke past his limits. The Exotic Fragrance wafting from the Incense Burner perfectly complemented the Proud Bone Golden Form.

All of this was merely Yangx Kai’s own speculation, but judging from what had just happened, it was essentially the truth. Next, he would have to carefully verify it.

The Exotic Fragrance from the Incense Burner never ceased. Even though there was no wind in the room, it still drifted toward Yangx Kai’s location. However, he noticed that if he stood perfectly still, the Exotic Fragrance would not have any effect on him.

After resting for half an hour, Yangx Kai felt he had recovered a significant amount of strength. Standing up shakily, he once again stepped forward.

Having suffered a great loss once, he walked quite slowly this time, carefully sensing his condition as he moved. The moment his foot landed, Yangx Kai found that the strength in his body drained away like floodwaters from a burst dam, rushing out with a mighty SPLASH. The same went for his mental state; he suddenly became thoroughly exhausted without any reason or warning.

With another step, the little strength he had just recovered was completely drained, and he nearly tumbled over.

Gritting his Yar tightly, Yangx Kai’s stubborn temper flared up again as he desperately dragged his feet forward. This time, he managed to take four steps before he was forced to stop. Although he was unwilling to admit defeat in his heart, his body couldn’t keep up. His strength, after all, was still too weak.

The warm sensation inside his body slowly radiated outward once again, and the recovered strength prevented him from falling unconscious.

After testing this consecutively many times, all of Yangx Kai’s hypotheses were proven correct. Although the Exotic Fragrance wafting from the Incense Burner made one feel extremely fatigued, it wouldn’t cause any side effects. Meanwhile, the Proud Bone Golden Form needed his own conviction to be stimulated. The more unyielding his heart was, the stronger the warmth would become, and the greater the benefits to his body.

This method of Cultivation was simply inconceivable. To put it bluntly, he was playing with his life. One careless mistake, and he would be doomed beyond redemption. Fortunately, Yangx Kai was very self-aware; he would stop every time he barely pushed past his limits. By accumulating these small breakthroughs time and time again, the overall effect would be quite impressive. Human potential was indeed limitless, but becoming stronger always required a gradual process.

After a whole day of torment, Yangx Kai’s progress was obvious. He could now walk six steps, a substantial improvement compared to his first attempt.

However, he was still not satisfied. Right now, he was merely walking while smelling the Exotic Fragrance. If he could one day execute martial arts forms amidst the Exotic Fragrance, that would be true Cultivation.

Immediately after, Yangx Kai discovered a critical problem. This kind of Cultivation consumed too many herbs! Tossing one stalk of Three-Leaf Soul Flower and one stalk of Desolate Dried Wood Grass into the Incense Burner could only sustain the effect for about one hour. After an hour, he would have to add more herbs to produce the Exotic Fragrance again.

Yangx Kai counted on his fingers, his expression immediately turning ugly. He thought to himself, "With twelve hours in a day, and me practicing Cultivation for seven to eight hours daily, it will require at least fourteen stalks of herbs to sustain. Based on my current reserves, in two days at most, my Desolate Dried Wood Grass will be completely depleted, and my Three-Leaf Soul Flower will be more than half gone.

"What should I do once these herbs run out? I only have thirty-eight Contribution Points right now; how many days could that possibly last? I originally thought I was quite wealthy, but looking at it now, I am still dirt poor."

That night, Yangx Kai went to sleep with deep worries, his mind entirely occupied by how to obtain herbs and Contribution Points. Even in his dreams, he stumbled upon a massive field of Three-Leaf Soul Flowers and Desolate Dried Wood Grass, picking them until his hands and feet went soft.

That night, Yangx Kai didn’t sleep very well.

That night, Su Mu also didn’t sleep very well.

Recalling how he aggressively led his men to cause trouble for Yangx Kai in the morning, only to be defeated by him, Su Mu tossed and turned restlessly. If not for him, he might already be flirting with the daughter of Boss Hex from the Rice Shop right now. If not for him, how could he be suffering from this bellyful of pent-up anger?

Thinking of the Shuiling appearance of the Hex Family’s daughter, Su Mu was filled with righteous indignation, realizing he would never have the face to approach her again. As the saying goes, it was better to tear down ten temples than ruin a single marriage. Yangx Kai playing the homewrecker was simply going too far!

As another saying goes, a gentleman can wait ten years for revenge, but a petty man plots from dawn to dusk. Su Mu undoubtedly belonged to the latter. Even though he could challenge Yangx Kai again in a few days, how could he possibly wait until then? He wished he could violently thrash Yangx Kai right this instant to relieve the hatred in his heart.

Tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep, the irritated Su Mu got up. Not only did he drag himself out of bed, but in the middle of the night, he also roused his entire gang of underlings.