"Oh..." Wei Zhao was in a rather poor mood and did not probe further, only continuing, "There's a particular fragrance about Wang Xinyan. I wonder if either of you has noticed it?"

"A fragrance?" Gu Mengyao was slightly taken aback. But on closer thought, it did seem that Wang Xinyan carried a faint scent, one you could catch only from close by. Back when they had gone to the Lion-Tiger Park, Gu Mengyao had sat right beside Wang Xinyan and had smelled it—pleasant, the kind that made a person feel comfortable and at ease. She had assumed it was perfume and thought no more of it at the time, but now that Wei Zhao mentioned it, on reflection it seemed it was not perfume at all!

Gu Mengyao had used no small number of perfume brands, yet this scent was one she had encountered for the first time. So she nodded and said, "I think there is, yes. Quite pleasant. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, Xiao Shu caught it just now too. There really does seem to be a fragrance, like fragrant herbs..." Shen Yushu nodded in agreement.

"Mm. During the military training, when Wang Xinyan and I were in the barracks sleeping side by side, I discovered by chance that this fragrance can speed up my cultivation..." Wei Zhao said. "My cultivation has advanced considerably of late, and that's thanks to Wang Xinyan too!"

"Ah! I understand now—just now, you were about to break through a level barrier, weren't you? And you were only a little short, so you had us bring Wang Xinyan here!" Hearing Wei Zhao's explanation, Gu Mengyao grasped the crux of the matter at once.

"Mm, that's right." Wei Zhao nodded. "Earlier, at the casino, I was wounded fighting the enemy, but at the same time I found the opportunity to break through the barrier. Only I was a hair's breadth short and simply could not break through, so I had you fetch Xinyan here quickly."

"Then... Arrow-Brand Bro, have you broken through now?" Shen Yushu was astonished. She had not expected this to be Wei Zhao's reason for summoning Wang Xinyan—how extraordinary! Was Wang Xinyan a walking cultivation furnace?

"I have. But just now, to let the fragrance on her body spread as much as possible, Wang Xinyan threw off the bedsheet... So I think I ought to take responsibility?" Wei Zhao smiled wryly. With that, he quite naturally picked up the teacup from the tea table, meaning to take a sip.

"Oh, wait a moment!" Shen Yushu suddenly snatched the teacup from Wei Zhao's hand again and set it back on the table. "It's still rather hot. Better drink it later!"

"?" Wei Zhao gave Shen Yushu an odd look, thoroughly baffled.

"Xiao Shu, what are you playing at?" Gu Mengyao was just as puzzled by Xiao Shu's behavior and reached out to take the cup from her. "Let me drink first—I'm a bit thirsty too."

"Ah... aiyah!" Xiao Shu's hand slipped, and the teacup fell to the floor, shattering to pieces and spilling its tea across the ground...

"Xiao Shu, are you staging a rebellion?" Seeing Xiao Shu drop the cup, Gu Mengyao was too furious to know what to say.

"Oh... Xiao Shu's hand just slipped, that's all... Xiao Shu will go clean it up right away!" Shen Yushu stood up and hurried off to fetch a broom and mop, as though a weight had lifted from her.

Gu Mengyao opened her mouth but said nothing in the end. What was wrong with Xiao Shu today, so jumpy? Still, her mind was on Wei Zhao. "About Xinyan... I'll give her a call tonight. I have her number; it's easier for us girls to talk among ourselves. Shall I ask her for you?"

"Thank you," Wei Zhao said.

"Mm..." Gu Mengyao looked at Wei Zhao, and for a moment a thousand feelings welled up in her... When had there ever been anyone to ask on her behalf? That Xiao Shu...

Shen Yushu soon swept up the shards of the teacup and mopped the floor—she was quite diligent. These past few days, Granny Sun had been staying with Uncle Qing; Uncle Qing and Gu Pengzhan were both in Donghai City handling business matters. So the household chores had fallen to all of them.

"There we go..." Having finished it all, Shen Yushu let out a breath as though relieved of a great burden.

"Xiao Shu, what's the matter with you? No fever today, is there? You seem rather strange," Gu Mengyao said, sensing something off about Shen Yushu today.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm perfectly fine!" Shen Yushu said.

Although Wei Zhao had broken through the level barrier, today's battle had left many unanswered questions to ponder. So he nodded to Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu and said, "I'm going back to my room. There are some martial matters I need to work through. You two carry on."

"Mm, all right." Gu Mengyao rather hoped Wei Zhao would do something else to take his mind off things, rather than dwell on having been turned down by Wang Xinyan.

Once in his room, Wei Zhao began to investigate why he had been able to trigger the Wood Forest Heaven-Splitting Claw today. True, there had been the earlier failure of "Spring Rain from the Heavens" to learn from, but in Wei Zhao's view, that failure had been because his body lacked a water-attribute constitution. The Wood Forest Heaven-Splitting Claw was different: he could trigger the Wood Forest Thousand Transformations with perfect ease, and since the Heaven-Splitting Claw could be triggered in combination with the Frenzied Fire Fist, that showed there was no obstacle to triggering it in his case.

Then why did the Wood Forest Heaven-Splitting Claw fail to trigger? Wei Zhao frowned, unable to find the answer. So he once more circulated the mental formulas of the Wood Forest Thousand Transformations and, following the method for triggering the Heaven-Splitting Claw, began to trigger the first stance, the Wood Forest Heaven-Splitting Claw!

This time Wei Zhao did not aim too high by directly triggering the fifth stance; he tried the first stance as a test. The result, however, was tragic: the trigger failed all the same, and it did not even feel as close as his earlier attempt at Spring Rain from the Heavens!

With Spring Rain from the Heavens, though the trigger had failed, all the earlier stages had gone smoothly, falling short only at the final step of release. The Wood Forest Heaven-Splitting Claw was different—it simply would not trigger at all, as though the mental formulas and the triggering method did not match.

How strange. Wei Zhao tried once more, and after confirming beyond a doubt that he could not trigger the Wood Forest Heaven-Splitting Claw, he stopped and made no further pointless attempts.

It seemed it truly would not work. Where exactly was the problem? If what he lacked was a water-attribute constitution, then the Wood Forest Thousand Transformations was a wood-attribute martial art, while the Heaven-Splitting Claw should be a fire-attribute martial art—that much could be inferred from the red, searing true qi on Old Sixth Pi's claws when he triggered the technique...

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