Hearing the cry of "I did it!", Zou Feng and Tian Yun exchanged a look before quickly realizing what had happened.

The two of them immediately rushed out, hurrying toward the martial hall’s secret room.

Sure enough, Bian Yixia, who had been in seclusion, was now standing outside the secret room.

Behind her floated three continuously spinning "Rotating Wheels" formed from Gang Qi, emitting constant gusts of powerful wind.

Zou Feng was certainly no stranger to the "Rotating Wheels" formed by the Six Harmonies Reincarnation Skill.

His memory of these electric fan-like contraptions from his battle with Deng Guangxin was still fresh.

However, the function of the "Rotating Wheels" wasn’t just to blow a cool breeze. The faster they spun, the more ferociously the cultivation skill was operating, making one’s attacks even sharper.

And now, Bian Yixia "wore" a full three electric fans on her back, making her leagues stronger than Deng Guangxin had been.

After this period of seclusion, her realm had reached the Fifth Grade, just as she had hoped.

Bian Yixia’s face was ecstatic, her fists clenched tightly. The excitement of taking another giant step toward her lifelong ambition was plain for anyone to see. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Xiaoxia, congratulations!" Tian Yun was the first to say.

Zou Feng also stepped forward at the right moment and said out of habit, "The Miss is incredible!"

Bian Yixia was indeed feeling quite smug. After all, her cultivation speed was absurdly fast.

She had to thank herself for seizing the fruits of Deng Guangxin’s years of planning; otherwise, she never would have been able to advance so quickly.

The fact that Tian Yun had broken through to the Fifth Grade even faster didn’t strike Bian Yixia as particularly strange.

For one, Zou Feng possessed the miraculous ability to help people break through their bottlenecks. For another, Tian Yun herself had spent many years building her foundation in the Inner Qi Realm.

After advancing on such a deep foundation, it was only natural that her path through the Gang Qi Realm would be faster and smoother.

So, having broken through to the Fifth Grade so quickly, Bian Yixia could barely resist the urge to throw her head back and laugh maniacally.

However, the exaggerated curve of Bian Yixia’s lips froze the moment she saw Zou Feng.

"The... The True Qi Realm!?"

It was precisely because she had advanced to the Fifth Grade, greatly enhancing her Perception in every respect, and because Zou Feng wasn’t deliberately hiding his aura, that Bian Yixia immediately noticed something was amiss.

"Zou Feng... you... you..."

Bian Yixia’s eyes widened, and for a long moment, she couldn’t form a complete sentence.

"I just got lucky and broke through yesterday!" Zou Feng said casually.

’He still didn’t think it was that big of a deal.’

’After all, if he hadn’t been focused on raising his Five Poison Holy Lotus Skill to the level of Extraordinary to Saint, he could have attempted a breakthrough much earlier.’

Upon hearing his confirmation, Bian Yixia, who had been about to burst with pride, instantly deflated.

’She had thought Zou Feng would probably be stuck at the Fourth Grade for a long time, and she’d have a real chance to stand beside him in the same realm once again.’

’But who would have thought the gap between them was now far, far greater than she’d anticipated...’

Zou Feng quickly noticed Bian Yixia’s dejection and hurriedly said, "Miss, you don’t have to use me as your benchmark."

"My cultivation is fast, I’ll admit. But do you know the price?"

Bian Yixia faltered, then asked reflexively, "What is it?"

Zou Feng’s expression turned sorrowful. He turned his head away and fell silent.

Seeing this, Bian Yixia’s expression gradually softened into one of compassion.

’That’s right. How could there not be a price for cultivating an Evil Skill?’

’Even though Zou Feng looks perfectly normal now, heaven only knows what unimaginable hardships he must have endured during his cultivation.’

’In contrast, I received Deng Guangxin’s boon and brought my Six Harmonies Reincarnation Skill to Great Success. At least until I reach the True Qi Realm, I won’t have to worry about paying too steep a price...’

Little did Bian Yixia know, Zou Feng had turned away to hold a moment of silence for all the "brothers and sisters" from the List of Gods.

Strictly speaking, he wasn’t tricking Bian Yixia.

The path he had walked to step into the True Qi Realm had indeed come at an astronomical price.

Zou Feng couldn’t even be bothered to count how many "brothers and sisters" he had sacrificed up to this point.

As the saying goes, "a single general’s success is built on a pile of ten thousand bones." The List of Gods was a perfect illustration of this.

Still, it was necessary to use this method to reassure Bian Yixia.

The girl was incredibly fixated on the path of the Martial Dao. If she couldn’t let this go and got hung up on it, there was no guarantee she wouldn’t be at risk of having her cultivation go awry and Fallen into Demon in the future.

Tian Yun, on the other hand, was always by his side and had long since grown accustomed to such matters.

He figured that if he told her he was the reincarnation of some Immortal Venerable from the Immortal Realm, and that was why he cultivated so quickly, she would probably believe him.

Seeing that Bian Yixia was relieved, Zou Feng suggested that since this was a double celebration, they ought to commemorate the occasion.

He brought out the Spirit Wine from the City Lord, and the three of them drank deeply for a long while.

As they continued to drink, they somehow ended up on the bed.

But this was no drunken antic. On the contrary, it was Bian Yixia who took the initiative to propose that the matter of the "Three Cultivators" session they had previously agreed upon could be fulfilled now—after all, there was no time like the present.

Even before her seclusion, Bian Yixia had already decided she wanted to join their cultivation of the Dragon and Tiger Kan and Li Skill.

This was both for the sake of continuing her climb to the peak of the Martial Dao and to follow her heart, deepening her bond with the man she admired.

It was only because she had suddenly sensed an impending breakthrough that the matter had been delayed until now.

Zou Feng, for his part, couldn’t ask for anything more.

He had long since realized that while cultivating the Dragon and Tiger Kan and Li Skill with Tian Yun alone was fine in the initial stages, raising this Skill to the level of Refined Skill would be a near-impossible task...

Tian Yun naturally had no objections. In fact, she had been pushing for this all along, desperately hoping a sister she knew and trusted could help her shoulder the burden.

Especially now that Zou Feng was in the True Qi Realm, she was genuinely worried she wouldn’t be able to take it...

As the "grueling battle" was about to commence, Zou Feng still felt somewhat reserved in the face of his former "Miss."