"What?!" Wang Fang blurted out, stopping dead in his tracks.
His personal room was a total disaster zone. What the hell happened here? he thought, his mature mind instantly tensing. Heightened sensory focus flared to high alert as he braced for an ambush. Moving cautiously toward the inner door, he raised his fists, ready to strike down whatever threat had breached his pavilion. Could an assassin have slipped into the estate?
He peered into the dim light of the chamber, fully expecting a dark-robed killer.
Instead, he found a scene of utter absurdity.
Sitting directly in the center of his pristine, silk-sheeted bed was a shockingly fat, low-tier raccoon. The creature had somehow bypassed his window latch, raided his private storage cabinets, and now sat surrounded by a mountain of empty wooden wrappers and crumbs. It had greedily devoured every single one of his expensive, high-grade cultivation dates and medical pills.
The chubby beast let out a loud, gluttonous burp, rolled onto its back with its bloated stomach sticking straight into the air, and completely ignored the young master.
Wang Fang's jaw dropped, his face turning blank with sheer disbelief. He had just survived the boiling horror of the Myriad Beast Essence Cauldron and weeks of brutal physical overload, yet he felt entirely defeated by a stray rodent.
"Hey! Get off my bed!" Fang yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at the snoring beast.
Part of him felt like weeping, but his adult soul kept his composure. To lose this badly is...
"Wait, what?" Wang Fang stared at the beast sleeping peacefully in front of him, his expression twisting. "This crazy creature is still sleeping?! In my chamber?!"
His face darkened. "Stand up, beast! Get out!"
"Zzzzz..."
The raccoon let out a sleepy groan and continued napping, utterly unbothered.
Silence fell over the room, followed by a surge of pure annoyance. Wang Fang's eyes narrowed. "AHHH!"
With a furious shout, he lunged toward the bed, determined to grab the creature by its scruff. As he closed the distance, his veins bulged and his expression grew wild with frustration.
His fingers reached out—and closed around empty air.
Whoosh!
The little creature vanished from the bed, springing onto his head in a fraction of a second.
Wang Fang froze. "Huh?"
He looked frantically from side to side. "Where did it go?"
Then he felt something small and heavy shifting on his scalp. Slowly, he raised his gaze toward his brow.
The raccoon sat comfortably on his hair, leisurely licking its front paws as if it owned the entire pavilion.
Wang Fang's face twitched. "Haha..." He let out a small, strained laugh. "Are you mocking me?"
The creature kept cleaning its paws, completely unbothered by his glare.
That was the final straw. "GET DOWN HERE!"
Wang Fang lunged again, grabbing upward with both hands.
Whoosh!
The beast vanished once more. His fingers caught nothing.
Wang Fang's posture stiffened, but this time he didn't blindly sprint after it. Instead, his adult mind calmed. He focused his internal sensory awareness, tracking the tiny displacement of air. His eyes sharpened, observing the creature's landing trajectory.
The instant it materialized near the tea table, Wang Fang moved.
Whoosh!
His figure blurred. The raccoon darted away, but Wang Fang pursued it relentlessly. In the blink of an eye, the two raced around the chamber, leaving chaos in their wake. Tables toppled, decorative vases shattered, and objects scattered across the floor as their figures flashed from one corner of the room to another.
No matter how slippery the creature was, Wang Fang refused to give up, gradually herding it toward the far corner of the room.
Finally, the beast reached a dead end against the stone wall.
Wang Fang stood before it, his chest heaving slightly, his expression so intense that the ambient air felt heavy. "Finally," he said through gritted teeth. "Let's see where you run now."
The raccoon stared at him. For the first time, a trace of nervous hesitation appeared in its round eyes. Then, without warning, it shifted its posture and turned its back to him.
"Huh?" Wang Fang frowned. "What is it doing? It's not like you can escape anymore."
As Fang stepped forward—
Pufff...
A sudden, dense cloud of foul green mist erupted straight into his face, instantly obscuring his vision. A terrible, suffocating stench assaulted his nose.
"Ahhh!" Fang gasped, immediately covering his face as he stumbled backward to escape the foul cloud. In his haste, his heel caught the leg of an overturned chair, causing him to lose his balance.
Seizing the opening, the raccoon charged forward like a cannonball, a faint aura of wild Qi enveloping its body as it hurtled toward him.
Fang's eyes widened. Even this beast possesses Qi?!
Before he could regain his footing, his instincts screamed at him to defend. He hastily crossed his forearms before his chest, bracing for impact despite his unstable stance.
BOOM!
A sharp shockwave erupted between them, knocking Wang Fang three meters backward onto the floor tiles.
"Cough! Cough!" He pushed himself back up as the green mist gradually dissipated. "What a powerful attack..."
His expression turned serious. Looks like I'll actually have to fight this thing.
He carefully scanned the room, tracing every shadow for the creature's next strike. But the room was completely silent. The raccoon was gone—having slipped out through the high window the moment it knocked him back.
"Huh?" Wang Fang blinked. Oh... it was just defending itself to escape.
Realizing the fight was over, he finally relaxed. His breathing evened out as he surveyed the disastrous state of his chamber. Broken porcelain littered the floor, furniture lay overturned, and the once-orderly room looked like a battleground.
Wang Fang's mouth twitched. "Just look at what that little beast did..."
Suddenly—
An invisible wave swept through his chest.
Ba-dum... Ba-dum... Ba-dum...
His heartbeat echoed strangely inside his inner ear. Wang Fang froze.
In an instant, his body went completely rigid. His muscles locked, and even drawing a single breath required an enormous effort of will. His pupils contracted.
He could feel it. Something deep within his internal framework was violently shifting. It was as though the invisible ceiling of mortal limitations that had confined him for months had finally begun to fracture.
Crack...
The sensation radiated from the marrow of his bones. His blood churned like boiling solder, his internal vitality began to reforge its density, and his skeletal structure vibrated from within.
Crack... Crack...
The micro-fractures inside his frame healed and solidified in real-time. Beneath the overwhelming physical discomfort, he sensed a profound transformation taking place.
"Ha... Haha... Hahahaha!" Wang Fang broke into a sudden laugh, unable to contain his excitement. "Finally! My months of hard work are paying off!"
He clenched his fists, feeling the staggering density and responsiveness of his newly reforged flesh. This feeling... how am I even supposed to describe it?
For a long moment, he simply stood in the center of the ruined room, savoring the surge of physical strength. Then, a specific face flashed across his mind.
"Doctor Li!" His eyes lit up. "Doctor Li told me to come to him whenever I reached a bottleneck or felt a breakthrough in my physical path. This is perfect!"
With that thought, Wang Fang turned around, preparing to head straight for Doctor Li's residence.
"Ahem! Ahem!"
A sharp, dangerous throat-clearing cut through the air. Wang Fang stopped dead in his tracks.
Xiao Lan was standing directly in the doorway, blocking his exit.
"Ahem... Ehehe..." Wang Fang's posture stiffened. His eyes darted nervously around the room, desperately looking for anything to fixate on other than her face.
Unfortunately, there was nothing to see except the catastrophic mess surrounding them.
Xiao Lan's expression darkened with every passing second, her aura turning terrifyingly dark.
"YOUNG—M-A-S-T-E-R!" she practically roared.
"Ehehe... It's not what you think!" Wang Fang explained rapidly, holding up his hands.
"Oh? It's not what I think?" Xiao Lan asked, her voice dropping into a dangerously calm register.
"Exactly! A wild beast did all this! A crazy beast burst in and wrecked the whole room!" Wang Fang nodded repeatedly, trying his absolute best to look like an innocent child.
"A beast?" Xiao Lan's eyes narrowed.
"Yes! A very troublesome, fat beast!"
"Oh, I see." Xiao Lan folded her arms. "Then I'm sure that beast must be standing right in front of me."
Wang Fang broke into a cold sweat. This girl... why is she so sharp-tongued?!
In his mind's eye, Xiao Lan's towering anger made her look like a terrifying martial instructor ready to dish out punishment. He swallowed nervously. Maybe I should just clean it myself...
Forcing a pleasant smile, he said, "There's no need to trouble yourself, Xiao Lan! I'll clean everything up personally, so don't stress over it!"
Xiao Lan's dark expression vanished instantly. Without hesitation, she pointed toward the broom and bucket in the corner. "Make it fast!"
Wang Fang stared at her. You little... I was already planning to do it!
However, he swallowed his complaints and grabbed the broom. Xiao Lan gave him one final, watchful look before turning on her heel and leaving the chamber.
Xiao Lan made her way toward Madam Xinyi's private courtyard.
When she arrived at the main doors, two female guards stepped forward, crossing their spears to block the path.
"Halt. Who goes there?"
"My ladies, I am Xiao Lan. I have come to report to Madam Xinyi," she replied respectfully.
The two guards exchanged a glance before a smooth, dignified voice echoed from within the inner pavilion. "Let her enter."
"Yes, My Lady!" The guards immediately withdrew their weapons, bowing as Xiao Lan stepped through the threshold and bowed deeply.
"Madam."
Madam Xinyi turned away from the window, her gaze soft. "How is he doing?"
"The Young Master is doing much better now, Madam. He is healthy, active, and full of energy," Xiao Lan reported with a bright smile.
A gentle, relieved expression relaxed Madam Xinyi's features. "Ah... my poor child." She sighed softly, a trace of motherly longing in her eyes. "Won't he come and see his mother now that I have returned from my journey?"
As she spoke, the mountain breeze caught her long, silky dark hair, shimmering softly in the morning light.
Several hours later, Wang Fang finally finished restoring his entire pavilion by himself.
He straightened his aching back, surveying his handiwork. The floors were spotless, the overturned tables and chairs were restored to their proper places, and every trace of the earlier chaos had been erased.
"Ahh..." He let out a long, satisfied breath. "That was surprisingly refreshing."
After spending so much time focused entirely on high-intensity physical destruction and meditation, performing mundane chores had allowed his mind to settle and digest his physical breakthrough.
Then he remembered his original objective. "Right. It's time to visit Doctor Li."
He paused, sniffing his sleeve. "But first, a bath."
A short while later, Wang Fang finished washing away the dust in cool spiritual water and dressed in a fresh, dark training robe. Adjusting his sleeves, he stepped out of his pavilion into the crisp morning air.
His expression gradually turned cold and focused as a familiar name crossed his mind.
Wang Zhi...
A calm, confident smile touched his lips as he clenched his fist, feeling the unyielding density of his Stage 1, Level 9 Ironroot Flesh vibrating beneath his skin.
"Only two weeks remain," Wang Fang whispered into the wind. "Just wait for me, cousin. In two weeks, I'm going to kick your ass.