Zhu Mentian was moving forward slowly.
As he walked, a bluish aura and inner energy began to flare across his body, coloring his skin.
With every step, his muscles grew denser and harder, and his height slightly increased due to the effects of his special technique.
The weather and terrain were changing rapidly.
At their current altitude, ordinary trees were entirely absent; only massive, deeply rooted trees remained, having withstood the violent gales that had uprooted everything else. Opening one’s eyes against the gale was extremely difficult.
Squinting hard against the wind, he spotted the elite disciple of the Mount Hua sect elite disciple ahead.
The elite disciple had not even activated his inner energy or special technique yet; he simply walked forward with his hands clasped behind his back.
Zhu mentian glanced back and saw no one else behind him. He thought to himself that the others must have given up, but then he remembered Chen Feng and the girl.
Chen Feng was a martial Expert like him—perhaps even more powerful—so having started earlier, he must have gone far ahead. But what about the girl? She didn’t look like a martial artist at all, so how on earth was she making it this far?
The ground beneath was completely slick with ice and mud, causing him to slip and recover his balance repeatedly amid the blinding rain.
The Mount Hua elite disciple glanced back over his shoulder and said, "You are quite brave and strong."
Hearing this, Zhu mentian wiped his sweat, smiled, and replied, "My master trained me specifically for conditions like these, and my goal is to gain admission into the Mount Hua Sect."
The elite disciple smiled and said, "You are only a short distance away from becoming a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect. I would be glad to have a junior brother like you."
The elite disciple channeled inner energy into his eyes to sharpen his vision.
Looking far ahead, he still couldn’t find traces of Su Yun and Chen Feng. He wondered how they could have vanished in such a short time. He could tell the young man was powerful enough, but dragging that girl along—carrying a dead weight—was he out of his mind? What was his real objective?
As they climbed higher, the weather underwent a drastic shift. The torrential rain suddenly turned into a blinding snowstorm, blanketing the surroundings in thick white ice.
The bitter cold bit deep, forcing the elite disciple to grit his teeth and channel his inner energy to the maximum.
Gritting his teeth, zhao yan muttered, "I won’t lose to that low-life! No matter what happens, I am an elite of the Mount Hua Sect, and soon, after becoming a Grand Master’s personal disciple, I’ll rise to become one of the Nine purfound Petal Disciples of Mount Hua.
My rank might be low at first, but with a Grand Master’s backing, I’m destined to become a Grand Master myself in the future!"
Suddenly, the air around him began to distort, shifting wildly in multiple directions. He drew his sword and slashed through the air, instantly altering the trajectory of the oncoming snowstorm.
A localized pressure field formed around him, keeping the freezing gale at bay.
Far behind, fatty Zhu mentian finally collapsed onto his knees in the snow, a triumphant smile on his face. He panted, "I... I finally made it."
Far ahead of them, sitting quietly in a secluded spot, Chen Feng sat facing Su Yun.
With his palms pressed against her back, he transmitted his inner energy and instructed, "Feel the pattern of how I am channeling this energy into you, and engrave this flow into your mind. This Eagle Transformation Technique is my special martial art technique, which you will use from today onward."
Su Yun was shivering violently from the bone-chilling cold. The howling roar of the gale echoed all around, but her only lifeline was her master seated behind her, continuously pumping warm energy into her body.
Despite the freezing wind, she could feel the harsh air tempering her body and hardening her physique from within.
A sudden thought crossed her mind—*According to master, these winds are tempering my physique, but I’m still fully dressed... should I take off all my clothes?*
Blushing fiercely at the thought, her face turned red as she quickly dismissed it: *No, no! My clothes are already soaked, I can feel the wind clearly, and my perception of the wind’s movement is growing with this breathing technique. I don’t need to strip off my clothes.*
Behind her, Chen Feng pulled his hands back. Su Yun began executing the breathing technique entirely on her own, sensing the Way of the Wind.
Chen Feng watched her with a twitch of his lips. He lacked any natural martial or cultivation talent himself, yet Su Yun possessed a staggering 60% potential to become a true cultivator through martial arts.
Watching her, he realized just how terrifying true martial talent could be; in just three hours, despite her body initially freezing and failing to function, she had endured the excruciating pain, understood the inner energy flow, and elevated her physical strength from a first-rate martial artist straight to the threshold of the martial expert realm.
Chen Feng couldn’t even imagine how fast individuals with a 100% cultivation talent could learn martial arts, especially since he lacked any such talent himself.
He almost regretted making Su Yun walk through the mountains while carrying heavy weights. Given her martial talent, she could probably learn a technique with ease if he simply taught it to her directly.
He glanced down at himself—he still needed to activate and practice the first layer of his Flame Phoenix Technique.
He had minor concerns about his clothes burning away once the flames engulfed his entire body, but he couldn’t leave Su Yun alone out here in this lethal environment. He had no choice but to take her along and shield her with his energy, having no other allies to rely on.
Suddenly, he sensed an unusual fluctuation in the surrounding inner energy and the Way of the Wind.
Activating his **Secret Seeking Eyes**, a translucent blue apparition materialized before him—an ethereal figure clad in ancient blue robes with a fierce expression and completely white, blind-looking eyes. It was Su Yun’s **Guardian Spirit**.
The Guardian Spirit looked at Chen Feng and smiled, saying, "Thank you very much for fulfilling your promise."
Chen Feng wanted to retort that he hadn’t climbed this mountain because of any promise to her, but because it was necessary for his own path.
However, before he could speak, the Guardian Spirit dissolved directly into the oncoming blizzard and vanished completely. Chen Feng fell silent, reluctant to look like a madman talking to himself in an empty wilderness.
Just as he prepared to move on, he sensed a presence right behind him.
Turning around sharply, his breath caught in his throat. Standing there was the very same Grand Master Elder of the Mount Hua Sect who had crushed the jade token earlier.
She stood smiling charmingly, completely unbothered by the surrounding snow and howling storm.
Taking a step closer, the Elder smiled and said, "Thank you for bringing this girl all the way here. Can you hand her over to us now?"
Chen Feng froze in place for a moment, trying to process her words before asking, "What do you mean, hand her over to you? She is my disciple!"
With a soft smile, the Elder replied, "Your disciple? As of now, she is officially a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect’s First Lotus Position."
Chen Feng’s expression shifted drastically. A wave of intense danger washed over him from the Elder, even though she displayed no overt killing intent.
Narrowing his eyes, Chen Feng demanded, "Were you controlling that Guardian Spirit all along? Are you and the Guardian Spirit the same person?"
Then he corrected himself—no, it was a genuine guardian spirit protecting Su Yun. The system couldn’t be wrong; he had verified it with his Secret Seeking Eyes.
The Elder shook her head and answered, "This girl is my older sister’s daughter."
Chen Feng became even more confused.
"Your elder sister’s daughter?"
"Then why didn’t you protect her until now?"
"You left your own niece in the Su Family and allowed her to suffer from starvation."
"You didn’t protect her at all."
"And now, after I’ve become her master and brought her here, away from all those dangers, you suddenly want to take her away?"
The elder shook her head.
There was still a smile on her face.
"My elder sister possessed the Myriad Food Physique."
Chen Feng finally understood something.
So that’s why Su Yun possessed the Myriad Food Physique.
Her mother had possessed the same physique.
It must have been inherited from her.
And her mother had been a disciple of Mount Hua Sect.
That was why Mount Hua Sect already knew that Su Yun possessed the Myriad Food Physique.
They used me.
They deliberately allowed everything to happen so that I would bring Su Yun here.
But why?
Mount Hua Sect was far more powerful than the Su Family.
The Su Family only controlled a single city, while Mount Hua Sect ruled over many cities.
There must be a reason behind all of this.