"Why would I kill you?" Su Xuan extinguished the Undying Earth Fire with a flick of his wrist and sat back down on the stone slab bed.

The Spirit-Taming Sect member breathed a sigh of relief, never expecting Su Xuan to possess such a terrifying martial art. He was certain that if Su Xuan had thrown that ball of fire at him, he would have been turned to ash instantly.

Then, the man's eyes suddenly widened.

Accompanied by a series of cracking sounds, he watched as Su Xuan's body shrank at a visible rate, soon becoming less than half its original size.

This left him both shocked and bewildered. He'd only just taught Su Xuan the incantation! How could Su Xuan already perform the Shrinking Body to Inches technique to such an astonishing degree? Anyone who didn't know better would think he'd been practicing this art for twenty or thirty years!

"Feels a bit uncomfortable~"

A moment later, Su Xuan exhaled, and his body began to rapidly revert to its original size. While he was executing the Shrinking Body to Inches technique, his bones were continuously dislocating and pressing against each other. This caused him almost unbearable pain and significantly affected his internal organs.

"Brother, it's best to use medicinal pills as a supplement when performing Shrinking Body to Inches," the Spirit-Taming Sect member said considerately. "Otherwise, it's very easy to injure yourself."

"Got it," Su Xuan nodded.

"Brother, you are truly a peerless talent!" the man said with great admiration. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never have dreamed someone like you existed. You learn far too quickly! I'm certain no one else in this mountain world can learn faster than you!"

He learned it the moment I explained it, as if his learning time was zero. Who could possibly be faster?

"Circumstances forced my hand," Su Xuan said, waving his hand humbly as he wiped the sweat from his brow. "When do you think is the best time for us to escape?"

"Tonight!" The Spirit-Taming Sect member's eyes twinkled. "At midnight, the disciples guarding the dungeon change shifts. There will be a brief window then, giving us a chance to escape!"

"Good. We'll break out at midnight, then."

Su Xuan sat cross-legged and entered a meditative state to cultivate.

The Spirit-Taming Sect member also hurriedly closed his eyes to regulate his breathing, quickly absorbing the medicinal power of the pills in his body so he could recover as fast as possible and escape with Su Xuan.

Time passed like wind through the leaves, and soon it was midnight.

The disciples on dungeon duty yawned as they started to walk out.

"Brother, let's make our move!" Seeing the opportunity, the Spirit-Taming Sect member quickly reminded Su Xuan.

"Alright, let's go!"

Su Xuan took a deep breath, swallowed several medicinal pills, and began to perform the Shrinking Body to Inches technique. The Spirit-Taming Sect member also hastily began the technique.

In just two or three minutes, Su Xuan's body had shrunk to the size of a six- or seven-year-old child, and he slid down from the stone slab bed. He looked endearingly clumsy, waddling about like a penguin.

The Spirit-Taming Sect member, however, ran into some trouble. His leg bones wouldn't retract into his pelvis, and two of his ribs refused to shift. His mastery over the Shrinking Body to Inches technique was far too lacking compared to Su Xuan's.

"Help me!" The man shot Su Xuan a desperate look.

He was filled with a sense of defeat. He was the one who taught Su Xuan this divine bone-shrinking technique, yet he was the one fumbling like a complete novice!

Su Xuan walked over, applied external force with his hands, and pressed the man's stubborn bones into their ideal positions.

"Thank you!"

The man also turned into a penguin, but due to his inferior skill, his body was much larger than Su Xuan's.

"Let's go!"

Su Xuan led the way, squeezing his head through the gap between two bars of the cell, and then deftly wriggled out.

The man's attempt was not as smooth as Su Xuan's. His head and body got stuck between the bars, preventing him from squeezing through, so Su Xuan had to pull him out from the other side.

With that, the two had successfully wriggled out of the cell that held them captive.

"They're about to finish changing shifts! We must leave quickly!" the Spirit-Taming Sect member glanced around and whispered excitedly to Su Xuan.

"You go ahead," Su Xuan said, looking toward the deeper parts of the dungeon. "I still have to save a friend."

"What?" the man exclaimed in surprise. "You have another friend to save? But there's no time! This is no time to be a hero!"

"Farewell!"

Su Xuan paid him no further mind and headed alone into the depths of the dungeon.

"Brother, I don't even know your name!" the man called out to Su Xuan's retreating figure. "In the future, I, Ruan Liang, will surely repay you! I'll also guard your secret!"

Su Xuan's rapid learning ability is his secret! If this were to leak, he would inevitably become a target for all the major sects, each vying to possess him. It's both a blessing and a curse! Su Xuan really did have every reason to kill me to silence me... but thankfully, he didn't. I can't be the one to betray such kindness!

"We of the martial world don't seek rewards!"

Leaving that sentence behind, Su Xuan's figure vanished into the darkness of the dungeon's depths.

"Brother, I will never forget you in this lifetime!"

Ruan Liang dared not linger. He crept cautiously along the outbound passageway. After a short distance, he saw shadows approaching in the flickering light, but he didn't panic. He lifted the iron grate of a drainage ditch and crawled inside. No one would think to look there, as the narrow drainpipe could barely fit a large dog.

「The Third Level of the Dungeon」

On this level, the air was even more foul, making it difficult to breathe. The oil lamps on the walls seemed to compete with the prisoners for oxygen.

A woman sat cross-legged in a cell, as quiet and still as a beautiful statue.

"Qi Li, why must you be so ungrateful!" An elder in a black Daoist robe paced back and forth outside her cell. "Just stand up and tell all the sect disciples one thing. State that your father fled without a fight and abandoned the sect. Do that, and I will spare both you and him, granting you a favorable end. Is that so difficult?"

Qi Li slowly lifted her eyelids, but she didn't look at the elder or say a word. Her gaze simply fell on the cell across from hers.

Lying there motionless was a man of impressive build, drenched in blood. If not for the faint breath from his nostrils, one might easily mistake him for dead.

This man was none other than Lu Dongshan. He had never suffered such an indignity in the world below the mountain, yet upon returning to his own territory, he was left barely clinging to life.

"Qi Li!" The elder pointed at Lu Dongshan. "Do you really want me to torture you? To beat you until you're in the same state as him? Or must I kill him before you'll finally listen to reason?"

"Elder Liu!" Qi Li's fierce gaze locked onto the elder's face. She enunciated each word with cold fury, "If you dare touch Senior Brother Lu again, not only will I refuse to listen to another word you say, but I swear on my life that you will not die a peaceful death!"

"You force my hand!" Malice flickered in the elder's eyes as he drew a longsword and advanced toward Lu Dongshan's cell.

Just then, Qi Li's beautiful eyes widened in utter shock.

She saw a large, penguin-like figure waddle in from the entrance to the third level. And that handsome face... it was the one she had thought of dozens of times today!

Who else could it be but Su Xuan! How did he make himself so small?! And... why has he come to save me?!

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