“Ah, it must be delusional. Someone from Eastern Academy of green shirts actually won the competition? And their total score is ranked second? Well, it must be luck. Next time, you bunch of rats wouldn’t be so lucky?”

The cynical man sneered and said.

That guy really knew how to annoy people. Thus, at that moment, including Ding Hao, nearly all Eastern Academy of green shirts disciples wanted to tear him into pieces.

According to tradition, there would have been a celebration party. However, since Ding Hao had badly injured himself in the game. Thus, that night, the Eastern Academy of green shirts canceled the party. Instead, Ding Hao was escorted back to the No.8 Courtyard by Wang Xiaoqi and Zhang Fan.

On their way, Ding Hao ran into many people, who had warmly congratulated him.

Among them, there were Xiao Chengxuan, Li Canyang, and other “old friends” who he had met for once at the Sword-cleansing Pond.

However, to Ding Hao’s surprise, the proud and hot-tempered Li Yiruo also came, following her cousin. She still looked proud and squinted her eyes the entire time. She did not actually say anything to Ding Hao, and Ding Hao could not help but think. “She must feel sorry that I haven’t been beaten up by Liang Feixue in the finals.”

In front of the No.8 Courtyard, Ding Hao was surprised again, because he ran into Li Lan, who had been waiting here for some time.

Though Li Lan looked kind of girlish, he was deep down very ambitions. Seeing Ding Hao come, he pushed a jade bottle into Ding Hao’s palm, expressionlessly. The bottle was giving off a nice aroma. Then, he said, “Healing potion. If you want to be the head of the academy, heal yourself first. I don’t want to fight over something with a cripple.”

After that, he left without another word.

Watching the cyan jade bottle in his palm, Ding Hao shook his head and smiled.

“This Li Lan, is quite interesting.”

Suddenly, Ding Hao felt that there was something valuable in that cold and girlish youth, something that was hard to find out by people.

“What’s in it? Is it poison?” Wang Xiaoqi suspiciously scrutinized at the bottle and reminded Ding Hao. “Senior Brother Ding, this boy has been against you secretly and publicly. Be careful of the things he sent you!”

Zhang Fan agreed with Wang Xiaoqi and heavily nodded.

Ding Hao poked at both of them and smilingly said, “Both of you, what are you thinking?”

Then, they pushed open the courtyard door. After the three entered the yard, Wang Xiaoqi first snickered, took out a pile of gold notes, and passed them to Ding Hao. He said, “Senior Brother Ding, these are for you.”

“What? Gold notes certificated by Swordsmanship-seeking Sect… worth 40,000 tales of gold?” Ding Hao was startled. “So much, why do you give them to me?”

“Well, Zhang Fan, come explain to Senior Brother Ding.” Wang Xiaoqi made a face and ordered.

Zhang Fan had to explain about the gold notes in details, from the beginning to the end. Then, he added, “Senior Brother Ding, take them. Xiaoqi is for your best. Now that you’ve won the five academies competition, in the future, you’ll be the center of the attention. You’ll need lots of resources for cultivation. That costs a lot of money!”

Ding Hao clenched the gold notes, first looked at Wang Xiaoqi, then Zhang Fan. He considered for a while, then smiled and said, “OK, I’ll take the gold notes.”

“Yeah, awesome.” Wang Xiaoqi and Zhang Fan all jumped in excitement. They could finally heave a sigh of relief.

Originally, they had imagined that Ding Hao might refuse to accept. Now, everyting was fine. Ding Hao had taken the gold notes and it meant that Ding Hao really considered them as brothers.

…

Back in his No.1 Room, Ding Hao saw the moonlight flowing through the window frame, and everything was so quiet.

Then, he put away his prizes, Void Boundary Stone, and the crimson long saber in his room. He did not check them immediately. Instead, he went back to the outer hall and exerted his Qi to heal himself.

After the vicious battle, Ding Hao had more than 100 wounds on him. Though he was only injured on the skin, his entire body seemed to have been scrapped. The only thing intact of him was his face. Although he earned the Saintly Being of Saber and Sword and could heal easily, he still needed some time alone.

In the hall, Ding Hao took off his clothes and then sat cross-legged on the rush cushion, naked.

“Well, Little Chap Ding is really handsome when he fights!” Sword Master annoyingly commented in Ding Hao’s mind.

Saber Master was quick to follow. “Yes, well, well-built chest muscles, and six-pack abs. Ah, I think I’m falling in love.”

Hearing them tease him, Ding Hao did not know whether to laugh or cry. If was not like he could do anything to stop the two “great” ancestors. In the end, he just closed his eyes and started to heal the injuries on his skin.

Before he exerted his Qi, Ding Hao took out the cyan jade bottle that Li Lan gave to him. He popped the cork and then a lovely smell filled the entire room. With just one sniff, Ding Hao felt completely refreshed.

“It looks like this ‘healing potion’ is pretty valuable.”

The jade bottle was as large as half of the palm. It was transparent and smooth, which indicated the sculpture’s good skills. The moonlights reflected off the rare and premium Cyan Frost Jade. This kind of material could preserve the potion to the fullest extent. Inside the bottle, there was jade green liquid, crystal clear like the elixir.

Ding Hao poured out a little of the liquid and applied it to his injuries.

Instantly, he felt a cool and refreshing feeling on his skin. Combined with his ice and snow Qi, the injuries were disappearing at a speed that was visible to the naked eye. Moreover, he could not feel any pain anymore.

“Such powerful efficacy!”

Only at this time did Ding Hao realize how generous Li Lan was. The potion that he gave was definitely rare Spiritual Medicine and was hard to buy even with a lot of money.

Bearing that in mind, Ding Hao stopped his hands. He was reluctant to use the life-saving potion for his skin injuries. These kinds of wounds could be easily healed with the help of his Qi and his Saintly Being of Saber and Sword. He did not need to waste such premium medicine on his small injuries. He thought. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll need it in the future.”

Thus, he put down the bottle and started to exert his ice and snow Qi in the lower dantian. He sent it between two apertures in the Shaoyin First Channel of Hand and slowly circulated the Qi.

After the continuous battles of three days, though Ding Hao did not essentially breakthrough on his Qi realm, he did enhance his skills on the use and control of Qi. He had surpassed his old self and achieved a whole new level.

The ice and snow Qi surged in the meridian channel. Consciousness Sea aperture and Life River aperture were smooth like jade. They looked as mysterious as stars and seemed to bear extraordinary strength. Scattered light escaped from the apertures.

It was the sign of reaching the peak of two-apertured Martial Disciple Realm.

Next, Ding Hao would keep refining his saber technique Qi of the six extra-channels in his middle dantian. Only when his saber technique Qi advanced to the two-apertured Martial Disciple Realm, could his Shaoyin First Channel of Hand advance to the three-apertured Martial Disciple Realm.

At that time, Ding Hao noticed something strange.

“Well, what is that? The rusted sword changed! The rust peeled off? When did this happen?”

Under the moonshine, a streak of pale light shot into Ding Hao’s eyes. In astonishment, he found that on the previously rusted sword, the rust had miraculously peeled off and revealed some of the sword body that was as bright as frost, or white silk.

…