It turned out Li Xuefeng's worries were justified.
At a carriage at the foot of the mountain, she found her two younger sisters,
Li Xueqin and Li Xueqiong, bound with "rope art," both disheveled and pale.
At the same time, Li Xuefeng felt fortunate.
Although her younger sisters' appearances were compromised, they had only been molested,
and Wu Daode had not succeeded in his wicked intentions.
Li Xuefeng, along with her sisters, ascended the mountain again, killed Wu Daode,
then emptied all the martial arts manuals and all the books of the Kunshan Sect before slowly heading home in five carriages.
As for the Kunshan Sect disciples hiding in the shadows along the way, they pretended not to see them,
and if anyone dared to seek death, they would kill them.
However, no fools dared to show themselves along the journey;
they were too scared of being killed.
Collecting martial arts manuals was also one of the tasks Yang Hong assigned to the eight of them.
Yang Hong needed a large number of martial arts manuals to improve his own martial arts,
especially his breathing techniques and body-refining arts.
After experimentation and comparison, Yang Hong discovered that
one intermediate-level martial art was equivalent to three low-level ones, and one advanced-level martial art was equivalent to nine low-level ones.
Although Yang Hong felt this exchange rate was unreasonable, the system was supreme, and he could only accept it.
Furthermore, there was a fixed pattern to evolving his martial arts.
The first evolution required only 3 manuals;
the second required 30, the third 300, and so on.
Yang Hong didn't know if collecting all the martial arts manuals of the Five Dynasties would allow him to evolve seven times,
as the later stages became increasingly demanding and evolution more difficult.
To this day, Yang Hong had not even completed the evolution of the basic body-refining art,
as collecting 3000 manuals was difficult, and further cultivation was also a problem.
This was why Yang Hong had urgently found an excuse to send Song Yuzhi and the others out.
However, Yang Hong was also fortunate to have found the treasure land of the [Bao Lian Pond]; as long as luck wasn't too bad, he could essentially cultivate a martial art to completion in one go.
A martial art of 100 layers.
After collecting the Kunshan Sect's manuals, Li Xuefeng had to memorize them.
Memorize them in her mind!
Yang Hong, to this day, still could not cultivate; he was a prince in the cold palace without any cultivation.
This secret had to be kept for a long time.
For Li Xuefeng, this was a massive and arduous undertaking.
However, Yang Hong had secured a year for each of them, and they only needed to return to the imperial palace within that year.
There was still plenty of time.
With ample time, it became convenient, especially for the concubines whose homes were far from the Great Xing Imperial City.
For example, Song Yuzhi.
...
Lingnan was only a little over 2000 li from Great Xing. In this world, for martial arts masters who could traverse great distances, it wasn't particularly far.
However, the road to Lingnan was not easy; it involved not only towering mountains but also poisonous miasmas and fierce beasts.
There were also ill-intentioned mountain bandits and brigands.
Even with Song Yuzhi having 36 elite guards fully armored, there were still quite a few self-proclaimed formidable fools who attacked them along the way.
Upon seeing the regal attire of the Imperial Guard, the mountain bandits were not intimidated but instead excitedly charged forward with whoops to meet their demise.
Their eyes were solely focused on the number 36, and those finely crafted sets of armor.
Although it was widely known that the Imperial Guard were all composed of elite and second-rate masters,
they implicitly assumed these 36 individuals were second-rate masters.
Then, it was a one-sided slaughter.
Even when encountering mountain bandits who were innate grandmasters, Song Yuzhi's two maids, Xiao Yu and Xiao Shi, could handle them.
Initially, Song Yuzhi, the Crown Prince's Consort, eagerly took action herself.
She had been longing for practice.
However, as she killed, she gradually lost interest.
Second-rate masters were dispatched with a single sword strike.
Elite masters were dispatched with a single sword strike.
Even innate grandmasters were finished with one strike in her hands.
Gradually, she became bored, and unless the Imperial Guard were in danger, she would merely watch from the sidelines, occasionally offering pointers to the maids and Imperial Guards on how to dispatch enemies.
From the Great Xing Imperial City to the Song Family Fortress in Lingnan, Song Yuzhi took three months, taking detours along the way.
During this period, she personally killed over ten innate grandmasters, while the Imperial Guards and maids killed even more, hundreds.
As Yang Hong's main consort, Song Yuzhi brought a considerable amount of gifts for her visit, a total of 36 carriages.
Among these, naturally, were several fine wines from Yang Hong.
Using some of these resources, Song Yuzhi guided all 36 Imperial Guards to the realm of innate grandmaster.
The squad leader, Yan Yi, even wanted to acknowledge Song Yuzhi as his master,
but Song Yuzhi did not accept him; at least for now, she would not take these Imperial Guards as disciples.
Some matters were best avoided.
Furthermore, 80 originally low-tier coachmen also benefited, cultivating to the third-rate level.
This was merely a small portion of what Song Yuzhi had leaked from her fingertips.
The consumption was only 300 jin of fine wine, and the capacity of one carriage was barely half full.
However, as this entourage entered the territory of the Song Clan, Song Que, upon hearing the report, became anxious
and personally came to investigate.
When he saw Song Yuzhi, he was indeed shocked.
"Father, you've come to pick me up."
"Your daughter Yuzhi greets Father. I apologize for not being able to fulfill my filial duties at your side. Please forgive my unfilial conduct."
"Good, good, good."
Upon seeing Song Que, Song Yuzhi also became excited.
She first greeted Song Que with a filial demeanor, presenting a scene of paternal love and filial piety.
Then...
"Father, let's have a spar!"
As soon as the greetings were exchanged, Song Yuzhi eagerly invited, rubbing her hands together.
She had been somewhat pent up on this journey;
there wasn't a single enemy who could withstand her strike, all of them were finished in one blow.
This was literal; whenever she drew her sword, all enemies met a severed end.
Now, seeing her father, she knew he was a late-stage Grandmaster.
Oh, no!
As Song Yuzhi sensed it, her father, Tian Dao Song Que, was at the peak of Grandmaster, or perhaps even at the perfection stage of Grandmaster.
Such an opponent should be able to withstand her strike... right?
"So disrespectful, wanting a beating as soon as you return?"
Song Que cast a disdainful glance at Song Yuzhi, his expression dismissive,
but his eyes held affection.
Song Yuzhi's original early-stage elite cultivation was gone; she gave the impression of a healthy ordinary person.
In his view, Song Yuzhi's martial arts had been crippled. After all, the imperial family was wary of a consort with high cultivation to a prince who couldn't cultivate.
The hand he kept behind his back clenched tighter and tighter. He vowed in his heart to break through to the Heaven Realm as soon as possible,
then storm the palace and kill Yang Hong!
If he could also kill that old man Yang Zhong.
He, the Song Clan, would not be insulted!
"Father, let's have a spar. I promise not to use my full strength. I won't hurt you."
Song Yuzhi earnestly invited, tugging at Song Que's hand back and forth, acting like a young daughter.
The 36 guards and 80 coachmen watched in terror. Was this still the Song Yuzhi who had been decisive and taught them how to kill along the way?
"Alright, alright, let's have a spar over there."
Seeing Song Yuzhi acting spoiled like when she was a child, Song Que's heart softened,
and he agreed.
Then...
Then, after the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the father and daughter returned.
Song Que wore a dejected and incredulous expression.
The Heaven Saber, which he had kept behind his back and prided himself on as a peerless Earth-grade divine weapon, was held in his hands.
Clearly, the Heaven Saber, known for its invincibility, was broken.
Song Yuzhi also wore a dejected expression.
Although her father had blocked her strike, it was only for that one strike.
And at the cost of Song Que's Heaven Saber breaking.
This saber, she would have to compensate for.
But she didn't know how to compensate for it right now.
The excitement in Song Yuzhi's eyes was undeniable.
After all, she had defeated her father, whom she had been scolded by her entire life.
And it was a crushing victory.