Chapter 85: Martial Arts Realms

All right, I promise you," Chen Erpao said firmly. "If Grandma is telling the truth, and that man is no decent soul, then I’ll be doing the world a favor by getting rid of him. It’s just that with a clan so vast and power so formidable, there’s no way I can possibly kill Du Xuanming with the skills I have now. Give me time. You will surely live to see that day."

Grandma gave a comforting smile. "Erpao, I believe you can do it. Wait until you are completely certain before you act. I do not want Xiaoxue to end up a widow someday. Du Xuanming had already reached master level in martial arts ten years ago. Ten years later, he is likely either at the peak of the master realm or already a grandmaster. And with some of the older members of the family as well, their strength is beyond question."

Chen Erpao could not help but feel startled. This was the first time he had heard of such a thing.

"So martial arts even have levels?"

"Of course. In the past, the martial world was more clearly divided. Nowadays, so-called martial people place even greater emphasis on modern weapons."

Curious, Chen Erpao asked, "Then what level am I at now?"

Grandma thought for a moment before saying, "Though I have never sparred with you, I have seen you fight. By my judgment, you should be at the mid-level of the master realm, or perhaps already at its peak. Each realm is further divided into beginner, intermediate, and peak stages. If you can cultivate Nirvanic Saint to the great completion of its first level, you will very likely break through the master realm and enter the grandmaster realm."

After hearing her answer, Chen Erpao was deeply moved. Today, he had once again come into contact with many things. His experience was still far too limited, and beyond his familiar world there were countless unfamiliar, fascinating things he had yet to understand.

Later, Grandma placed a key and a treasure map into Chen Erpao’s hands, instructing him that only after he had absolute confidence in killing Du Xuanming could he go to retrieve the treasure.

Once he came out, Wang Xuemei came running over at once like a lively oriole, eagerly asking what Grandma had said.

Chen Erpao wanted to tease her a little, so he answered with a faint smile, "Grandma told me that if you ever misbehave in the future, I should spank you, because she said that is what you fear most."

"Hmph, the two of you are ganging up on me. If you dare spank me in the future, then don’t come to my bed. Tonight too—you can sleep on the sofa!"

Wang Xuemei seemed to have seized on Chen Erpao’s weakness, grinning smugly with bright, triumphant eyes.

Chen Erpao immediately put on a bitter face. When he looked up and saw that Grandma had already gone to rest in her room, he promptly wrapped his hands around Wang Xuemei’s slender waist and carried her toward the bed, saying, "Heh, you forced me into this. Grandma said if you won’t behave, then I should spank you hard." As he spoke, he raised his large hand and slapped her round bottom hard.

"Aah!" Wang Xuemei cried out involuntarily, her face and neck instantly reddening with embarrassment.

"Hmph, I’m not talking to you anymore. Not talking to you anymore."

Chen Erpao chuckled. "Oh? Not bad at all." With that, he struck her again.

But Wang Xuemei refused to beg for mercy. Chen Erpao laughed to himself and simply yanked down one leg of her tight jeans with quick, practiced ease, then in a few swift motions stripped off the last tiny pink undergarment.

At once, her plump, snow-white skin, faintly shimmering with a delicate luster, lay fully exposed before him. By then Wang Xuemei had buried her head deep beneath the pillow in mortified shame.

He lifted both hands and smacked her from left and right. Before long, though he kept his touch light, a faint flush had already spread across her skin. Looking down, he saw Wang Xuemei’s eyes gradually growing misty and languid, her expression softening with desire.

"Will you behave or not? If not, I’ll give you three thousand military lashes next."

At the mention of three thousand military lashes, Wang Xuemei was immediately alarmed. Just two thousand lashes before had already left her utterly unable to bear it; the next day she had been weak all over. One could imagine how terrifying three thousand would be.

"Hmph, you only know how to bully me. Fine, I’ll behave. I’m going to complain to Grandma later," Wang Xuemei grumbled unhappily.

The man and woman became entangled on the bed like that, writhing together little by little until, at last, they faced one another in complete nakedness, honestly exposed before each other. Suddenly, Chen Erpao felt an intense heat surge through his entire body, as if he were burning from within, exactly like the time after he had consumed a great quantity of serpent blood.

"Could there still be aftereffects?" This thought flashed through Chen Erpao’s mind. Though after swallowing the serpent blood that day and sleeping it off, he had awakened without any discomfort and his strength had risen dramatically, he had faintly felt that the blood’s power had not been fully absorbed. Much of it seemed to have remained hidden within his own blood. Over these past days, he could subtly feel his strength increasing slowly each day, and Nirvanic Saint itself was moving toward the great completion of its first level.

Only now did he fully believe it. The blood was burning rapidly and fiercely within him; his meridians were widening; his strength was rising sharply. Yet the overwhelming pain made him nearly crazed. Last time, the pain had been so great that he had fainted dead away.

Wang Xuemei’s face was full of panic as she watched him sink into such agony, tears falling one by one.

"Erpao, what’s wrong with you? Don’t scare me. I’m so afraid. I promise you, I’ll really do whatever you say from now on, all right? Don’t scare me like this, please!"

Chen Erpao felt the slick warmth where their skin touched, and a faint, delicate fragrance drifted into his nose. He only felt the fire within his body rushing rapidly toward some particular place, and even his manhood seemed to harden in an instant, as though it could shatter mountains and split stones. A fierce impulse filled his mind.

Chen Erpao knew that if this went on, he would have to endure another bout of painful unconsciousness. Even his manhood felt as though it might burst apart. Fainting from pain was one thing, but he was worried it might truly rupture, or leave some lingering aftereffect.

Unable to restrain himself any longer, he suddenly pressed Wang Xuemei beneath him, and the most primal urge surged forward like a storm. Wang Xuemei seemed to feel pain, yet she still did not cry out. Instead, she eagerly responded with passion, because in her eyes, as long as the man before her could find release from his suffering, nothing else mattered.

This time it lasted more than twice as long as usual before Chen Erpao finally calmed down. He felt the pain within him had vanished, and a great portion of the serpent blood’s energy had been absorbed as well. Under the effect of this blood, Nirvanic Saint had unexpectedly reached the great completion of its first level. More surprisingly, according to the martial classification Grandma had described, he himself had originally been at the peak of the master realm, but this time, with the aid of the serpent blood, he had advanced to the grandmaster realm, and his strength had multiplied severalfold.

Through this experience, Chen Erpao unexpectedly discovered a way to relieve the pain, allowing the essence contained in the serpent blood to be fully and smoothly absorbed.

Wang Xuemei was drenched in fragrant sweat, yet she showed not the slightest sign of exhaustion, which puzzled Chen Erpao somewhat. After all, his actions just now had been extremely rough and wild, and the duration had been more than twice the usual time, perhaps three or four times what a normal person could endure.

"No, that’s not right." Chen Erpao seemed to remember something. He recalled that not long after it had begun, Wang Xuemei had looked as though she were already on the verge of collapse, too weak to bear it. But later, after he left something in her body, she not only shed her fatigue but even seemed much more spirited. Could it be that he had just transferred part of the serpent blood’s essence to her through this method, changing her constitution and letting her reap immense benefits, just like him?

Wang Xuemei lay quietly in his arms, and after their storm had passed, her jade-like skin still carried a faint blush.

"What happened to you just now? You looked so frightening. Never do that again."

Chen Erpao gently nodded and kissed her forehead, light as the brush of a dragonfly.

"It won’t happen again. Never again. If I ever make you worry like that, you can spank me instead." He deliberately put on a wronged expression, and the two of them laughed at the same time.

Though Chen Erpao said that, he understood in his heart that the giant serpent had lived for who knew how many years, and all the blood in its body was its essence. He had nearly drained it dry back then. These two massive absorptions likely still had not completely exhausted the essence within the serpent blood. What troubled him most was that when this condition struck, there was no warning at all. If it happened suddenly in the middle of a street, would he not simply faint from pain, or lose all reason and find the nearest woman to relieve the torment? Chen Erpao truly felt some alarm at the thought. If such a thing really happened, he might well end up staging some absurd scene in public. Old or young, plain or beautiful, as long as she was a woman, that would be enough—and then his whole lifetime of dignity would be ruined for good.