Su Qing knew that Demon Fiends were hard to kill.

He used his brand-new power.

Spiritual Qi.

Su Qing coated his fists with Fire Attribute Spiritual Qi.

He swung one heavy punch after another at the Deceitful Bride.

Upon contact, the Deceitful Bride’s red wedding dress seemed to catch fire, revealing the grotesque, rotting flesh beneath.

’It’s working!’

Su Qing rejoiced internally. After covering his entire body in Fire Attribute Spiritual Qi, he unleashed a flurry of punches.

Aiming straight for its face.

The very first punch seemed to daze the Deceitful Bride, making it stumble and fall.

Su Qing pressed his advantage, landing punch after punch on the Deceitful Bride’s head.

He continued until the Deceitful Bride stopped moving and, within three seconds, transformed into a thick cloud of demonic fiend energy that drifted into the air.

Afraid he hadn’t finished it off, Su Qing threw a few more punches at the black, mist-like energy in the air.

There was no reaction. Only then did Su Qing reluctantly stop.

The dense black mist floated up into the sky.

Su Qing watched as it slowly dissipated.

It merged into the heavens and the earth.

’Is it dead?’

Su Qing didn’t understand at all. This was the first Demon Fiend he had killed without using the Synthesizer.

"Did you kill her?"

Xu Ningying asked, a little shyly.

"I’m not sure."

Su Qing shook his head.

"Just now... you saw, didn’t you!"

"..."

Su Qing fell silent. He didn’t want to admit that he had definitely seen.

At the Tenth Layer of Body Tempering, his vision was clear enough to see even in the moonlight.

But admitting it was another matter entirely.

"No."

Su Qing’s tone was firm.

"Really?"

Xu Ningying didn’t believe him. He had just dashed right past her from behind.

"Really."

"I was only focused on the Demon Fiend."

"Alright, sort yourself out. We need to get back on the road."

Seeing Su Qing’s serious expression, Xu Ningying felt a little wronged.

She didn’t believe for a second that he hadn’t seen anything.

Embarrassment, grievance, and a touch of anger tangled in her heart, but she chose to let it go.

’If Su Qing says he didn’t see anything, then I’ll just have to accept that.’

Su Qing returned to the carriage.

He sat cross-legged and began his Cultivation.

It would be a lie to say Su Qing hadn’t seen anything.

He had indeed caught a glimpse of some rather private areas, but he had no desire to get entangled with a woman.

Especially a woman from this ancient-style world.

’What if she hits me with that "you saw my body, so you have to marry me" trope?’

Su Qing would definitely just run for the hills.

Ever since he got the Synthesizer, he had planned on walking his path alone.

Ever since he synthesized a Cultivation Technique, Su Qing knew just how powerful his Golden Finger was.

From the moment he started practicing Martial Arts, Su Qing understood that as long as he didn’t die...

...he would one day achieve Longevity.

A short while later.

Xu Ningying entered the carriage, and it began to move.

Xu Ningying felt awkward now. She had been seen, completely by accident, by Su Qing.

She was destined to become an Immortal!

And she had been seen by a mere mortal like that.

The key was, she couldn’t even beat this mortal.

’No, wait. Su Qing can cultivate now.’

’Perhaps he can become an Immortal too.’

’I’ll just consider it payment for saving my life.’

Xu Ningying thought fiercely, but still retreated into her blankets, feeling a little resentful.

That night, Xu Ningying couldn’t sleep.

Her mind kept replaying her embarrassing moment from the night before, as well as her brush with death.

The more she tried not to think about it, the more it occupied her thoughts.

And so, she lay awake.

The carriage traveled on and on.

Su Qing and Xu Ningying barely spoke to each other.

「Four days and four nights later.」

---

Host: Su Qing.

Realm: Tenth Layer of Body Tempering [Cyan Flood Dragon Posture: Mastery (54/1000)]

Third-Layer of Gathering Spirit [First Level Five Qi God Demon Skill: Entry Level (246/500)]

Synthesis Lv11 (321/1200) [Synthesis Success Rate +11%, Mutated +1%, Evolution +8%, Divinization +1%, Demonization +1%]

---

--- 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Su Qing looked at his panel and was very satisfied.

’Immortal Cultivation Techniques really are different.’

At first, Su Qing had thought that one hundred Skill Level points would be enough to break through one layer of the Gathering Spirit Realm.

He hadn’t expected that.

Turns out, the panel only changed after his body absorbed a certain amount of Spiritual Qi.

The increase in Skill Level simply helped him circulate the Five Qi God Demon Technique more smoothly.

"We’re almost there."

Xu Ningying looked at Su Qing’s well-defined features, but in her mind, she was screaming, ’Freak! What a total freak! He barely even rests!’

For four days and four nights, every time Xu Ningying woke up, she saw Su Qing sitting cross-legged.

It was as if he hadn’t moved at all.

"Mm."

Su Qing felt his body brimming with Spiritual Qi, and even his blood and qi were absorbing it.

It was an incredibly comfortable feeling.

’At this rate, it’ll probably take half a year to master the first layer of the Five Qi God Demon Technique.’

Su Qing thought about his progress, and it seemed quite likely.

"In about half a day, we’ll reach Shangjing."

"Right now, we’re in a small town on the outskirts of Shangjing."

Su Qing lifted the curtain and looked out. It was indeed a town, but a very large one. Being so close to Shangjing made a difference.

Su Qing still remembered some Martial Arts techniques.

In particular, there was a Swordsmanship manual.

However, Su Qing wasn’t very fond of that particular Martial Arts Swordsmanship.

It was the White Cloud Swordsmanship, given to him by the Wang Family as a package deal with the White Cloud Posture.

That style of Swordsmanship was too light, its techniques too flashy.

Su Qing didn’t like the look of it.

So he hadn’t learned it.

He figured that once he got to Shangjing, he would definitely learn a good one from the Demon-Extermination Bureau.

He was an Immortal Cultivator now, after all.

And Su Qing really wanted to be a Sword Immortal.

"A single sword’s gleam chills nineteen continents"—Su Qing was determined to reach that level.

He refused to believe he couldn’t achieve it by synthesizing Sword Techniques with hundreds of layers.

The carriage wheels kept rolling forward.

Until evening.

The carriage came to a stop.

"We’ve arrived in Shangjing."

Su Qing nodded.

"It’s so strange. How come you don’t smell bad at all?"

"I feel like even my own hair is starting to smell a little."

Xu Ningying actually leaned in, took a sniff, and spoke in surprise.

"It’s normal. I’ve been cultivating these past few days, and Spiritual Qi has been constantly circulating through my body. How could there be any bad smell?"

Su Qing nodded matter-of-factly.

Xu Ningying got out.

Su Qing followed her out.

However, this seemed to be someone’s private residence.

"This is my place. Not bad, huh? In this whole residence, I’m the boss."

Xu Ningying laughed heartily.

"Miss." A maid came forward and draped a cloak over Xu Ningying’s shoulders.

A light snow had begun to fall.

"Yinyin, arrange a room for Young Master Su."

"Yes."

The residence was already lit with lanterns.

"I’ll be troubling you, then."

Su Qing didn’t stand on ceremony. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have a place to stay for the night.

"It’s no trouble at all."

Xu Ningying smiled.

"Would you like something to eat? I’ll have the servants send it over tonight."

Su Qing shook his head.

He would rather cultivate.

"Please help me make arrangements with the Demon-Extermination Bureau as soon as possible, or get me a manual for a sharp, aggressive style of Swordsmanship."

"If you can get me the Swordsmanship manual, you don’t have to worry about the first thing."

"Consider it a favor I, Su Qing, owe you."

Su Qing said flatly.

"A favor?"

Xu Ningying was about to scoff and say, ’Do I care about that?’

She was going to become a Fairy, after all.

But she held her tongue.

"Fine. I have a Swordsmanship manual right now, but you can’t practice it within Shangjing."

"The Demon-Extermination Bureau will blame me if you do."

"Oh?"

Su Qing’s interest was piqued.

"In that case, how about you demonstrate it once?"

"Now?"

Xu Ningying questioned, her voice rising a few pitches.

"Hm?"

"I just got back! No way, absolutely not. We’ll talk about it tomorrow."

...