Six months passed and the memory of the child had been further ingrained into Susu’s mind. It was as if she never left her with Zhao Xing.

However, she just hoped she was actually there with her. The memories of Susu waking in the middle of the night, ensuring she was still breathing had been ingrained in her and that was all she did now.

Wake in the middle of the night, only to realise the child wasn’t there anymore.

Despite leaving her, Susu still held reservations with Xing taking care of her. Especially with his tendency to drink wine and womanise with the prettiest woman that’ll cross his path.

“No,” Susu whispered. He wouldn’t.”

Or so she hoped.

Susu calmed her mind, sitting in the lotus position cultivating. “He swore off wine as long as the child was in his care. He won’t falter.”

The wind whistled into the cave, light from the sun seeping through the cracks of calcified walls and holes that sat above her.

The sound of flowing water from a nearby river calmed her, as most things did within the forest.

As the anger in her heart slowly dissipated over the course of the passing months, she realised that her inner strength increased slightly due to her having a better understanding of the Soft Heart Mantra.

Master said, the Soft Heart Mantra wasn’t a cultivation manual…but a breathing technique, Susu mused, confused.

All her life, she had used the Soft Heart Mantra to cultivate, using the principles and insights her master had told her, only for him to acknowledge it was a breathing technique…was beyond frustrating.

Yet, she still Ascended to the Divination Realm.

Master, should I continue using the same principles when I cultivate? I don’t know if I should.

She sat there ruminating on this for the pass six months, and finally realised that despite the Soft Heart Mantra being considered a breathing technique only…she still ascended to the Divination Realm, which meant.

She had created her own technique, based on the principles and insights she found and realised.

But most importantly, she’d never experienced Qi deviation.

Not once in her life.

The first month of seclusion, Susu had allowed Shi Qiu’s smile to pass through her mind.

After years of suppressing it.

His smile reminded her of the time they spent together. However, in the second month, those thoughts of him were replaced the child’s emerald eyes and smile.

Susu’s cultivation improved drastically, not by leaps and bounds as she would’ve hoped, but it was an improvement nonetheless.

Three years ago, Susu felt her Soul Dantian rumble as if it were ready to expand. She believed she was close to ascending to the Accentuation Realm.

At the time, she was still with Shi Qiu, but soon after he broke off the engagement. The rumbling sensation she had felt within her Soul Dantian, she never felt that sensation again.

Susu would never admit it, but Shi Qiu breaking off the engagement angered and frustrated her more than she knew.

The feelings she had for him, were deep. She had infatuations before, but the way he spoke, the way he carried himself, the way he touched and caressed.

It made her feel loved. A love she didn’t know she desired. A loved she never thought she’d experience. A love, that broke her heart.

And because of it, the final step she needed to reach the Accentuation Realm, was gone.

She tried mimicking the circumstances as she cultivated many times, but that rumbling sensation never returned, which only served to let her hate for Shi Qiu fester.

No…that’s a lie, Susu admitted, I don’t hate him…I hate the cowardice within him!

The pain of his cowardice was evident when she found out, that Shi Qiu did love her, but as he was selected as the heir of the Emerald Sky Palace, which meant he couldn’t marry her.

“He could’ve just told me the truth, I would’ve understood.” She whispered. “I am not unreasonable!”

Out of all her Martial Brothers, Xing despised Shi Qiu the most. He’d never approved of him, he felt that Shi Qiu was pompous, arrogant and articulately annoying.

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However, despite that, he treated Susu like a woman, something she revered.

…with love and care…for a time.

…but that was all in the past.

Susu’s heart was devoid of love and full of anger…stifling her progress. It didn’t help either when Yan Fan asked her to join the Golden Bowl Sect recently.

Shi Qiu’s betrayal was still on her mind.

Joining the Golden Bowl Sect? Me? Ban Susu? Susu the Scorpion Maiden? Not in this lifetime…nor the next.

The Golden Bowl Sect wanted heroes of valor and prestige. Yes, Susu didn’t come from a sect, nor was she sought after by any for her martial prowess.

However, No one could ever dispute that she was seen as a hero within the Wulin, possibly a pillar…if she wasn’t a Parconian.

She knew how they felt about her, but she didn’t care. All that mattered to her now, was the child.

“I must break through to the Accentuation Realm or I won’t be able to protect her!” Susu said aloud, feeling the cold wind tracing against his neck, sending ripples of goosebumps through her body.

Susu tried to calm herself for the tenth time and began generating Qi within her Soul Dantian. Then flooded it Qi towards her Core Dantian, hoping to open the second meridian point within that Dantian.

She filled her Soul Dantian, she ruminated hoping that filling it up, would allow her Dantian to rumble.

It didn’t.

It felt as though she was out of breath and wanted to open her mouth, but her was dissipating, which confused her.

My Qi is disappearing? This isn’t right, She noted.

The words of Zhu Zixin came to Susu, each time her Qi dissipated. “Once you’ve quelled your anger. Your Qi will flow as smooth as a stone under a river.”

The former owner of the Lion Cub Escort Company, was a good man. Despite her reservations of getting close to him. He gave Susu sound advice, sensing the anger that brewed within her soul.

He’d advised her on how it ruptured the flow of her Qi.

Zhu Zixin wasn’t a peerless master, was he an Elder of a great sect. He, however was great man of integrity and insight. I’m sure master would’ve become good friends with him, She said, feeling goosebumps rose from her forearms.

The words he left Susu, were as significant as her master’s own. The old master deciphered that Xing and Susu shared the same master based on their stances…despite them altering The Guided Fist to their own personal fighting styles.

Zhu Zixin held Master Feng Chaoxiang in high regards. He told Susu and Xing that his martial arts was simple, but it must be revered, as four alternate styles blossomed from it alone.

The only challenge The Guided Fist had, was its lack of power, which lacked the ferocity of swirling Qi which made the impacts of each blow lacking on impact.

That must be master only considered it a breathing technique, He realised something after he ascended to the Qi Perception Realm.

As Master Feng Chaoxiang completed his Star Guiding Fist, he passed it on to Susu, which solidified Zhu Zixin’s words about him. “An unknown genius with a heart of a saint.”

Master Chaoxiang even incorporated breathing elements from the Soft Heart Mantra into the The Star Guiding Fist and gave his own insights on why breathing a specific way, will provide maximum external prowess.

Susu took the insight and incorporated what she felt worked for her One Hundred Venom Strike.

She saw results, instantly in the pass few months. The One Hundred Venom Strike, could even be considered Two Hundred Venom Strike.

An acupuncture sequence from Ying’s Poison Crane Finger, followed a Qi Acupoint sequence from Heng Guo’s Willow Tree Sword Stance and a simpler variant to Xing’s Iron Shredding Claws.

It was as if, Feng Chaoxiang left a treasure of martial arts elements to increase his student’s proficiency.

He showed them where and how he failed them in instruction. The manual also showed how their varying styles compliment each other, variantly. Which would only further improve their distinctive styles.

It truly was a blessing to be taught by your master, Susu thought. I wouldn’t change it for the world…but please, help me breakthrough!

◆◆◆

Three Days Later

Susu didn’t breakthrough, despite the rumbling sensation she felt within her Core Dantian.

That sensation, did make her feel as though she was close to a breakthrough, but something was missing.

But she didn’t know what.

Susu continually generating Qi from her Soul Dantian, then forced it into her Core Dantian. She tried her best by influencing her Qi to stay within her Core Dantian, but it would always waft into the meridians, leading to her Mind Dantian.

On the fifth day, Susu lied down on her mat within her cave abode, resting and rebuilding her strength.

The strain of her cultivating for four days without sustenance, forced her meridians to shrink from the overuse.

In those four days, frustration began to set in on the third day, but despite that Susu continued on, thinking of the child’s smile.

It gave her the resolve to continue on, if her body could go on for four more days, she would because that’s how important the child was to her.

On the seventh day, Susu fished out two fish from the nearby pond. The sweet scent of the foliage around the surrounding area did her body good, as the stiffness slowly eroded into elevation.

The thoughts of breaking through to the Accentuation Realm filled Susu’s mind constantly. She wanted access to three additional meridians, which would’ve increased her strength drastically.

Allowing her match her martial brother, Xing in strength and also allow her to snap a tree in two with the crack of her whip!

“My Core Dantian is rumbling, but its not expanding. I must try something different.” Susu said, taking a bite out of her freshly cooked fish.

The taste of the fish was plain, as she realised she hardly used the spices she had in her sack. It had a subtle saltiness that exploded in flavor within her mouth after the third bite, which sent a ripple of goosebumps around her body.

Susu wasn’t a great cook, so she refused to waste her spices, as all she needed was sustenance.

After Susu finished off her fish, she hunted for a tree with the widest branches and the thickest leaves. Once she did, she plunked herself down and nestled her back onto the coarse bark and closed her eyes, finally taking a rest.

The rest lasted three hours, as the sounds of frogs and crickets shrieking in the night, waking her as they claimed the surroundings as their own, not as if she cared.

Susu didn’t move and allowed the sweet sounds of nature to cradle her to rest. This was the first time she allowed it ever since retreating to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

This mountain was known for its wild animals, rich vegetation and lakes that surrounded the mountain and that was thanks to the snow-tipped mountain, hence its name.

“I need to fast for longer periods,” She said softly, “A fast may along me to get past mu bottleneck. The rumbling within My Core Dantian is weaker that I remember…maybe that’s the answer to to expanding my Core Dantian."