The deflated cultivator refused to give up and vowed to turn the tables.

Qi Jiaojiao, being quick-witted, noticed something amiss and immediately went over, bent down, and nudged Zhao Gongzi's arm, asking, "Young Master Zhao, Brother Zhao, how are you feeling? Are you injured?"

Young Master Zhao lay on the ground, panting slightly, his eyes unfocused. It took him a long time to speak. He said in a voice barely above a whisper, "He...he's a demon...a demon, he can absorb...absorb other people's true energy, he practices evil arts..." After saying that, he fainted.

He seemed to have forgotten that he was the one who said Su Zinong had no true qi, and that he wanted to help Su Zinong increase his true qi and forcibly inject it into his body in order to inflict crazy and cruel torture.

Qi Jiaojiao glared angrily. She had finally found a suitable match—a man with high martial arts skills and a powerful backer—but Su Zinong had crippled him through some unknown scheme. She wanted to draw her sword and kill him, but seeing that Young Master Zhao's cultivation was far superior to hers, and that he had inexplicably been defeated by him, she dared not act rashly. She quickly mounted her horse and rode away without looking back, ignoring her fiancé, Young Master Zhao, lying in the middle of the road.

Su Zinong sighed and said, "Young Master Zhao, I have no grudge against you, yet you torment me. Now you forcefully channel your true energy into my body, triggering my own suction force, drawing all your true energy into my body. You brought this upon yourself. Since you wanted to harm me, you can't blame me!" With that, he waved his hand lightly, and an invisible stream of true energy flew over and struck Young Master Zhao. Young Master Zhao kicked his legs and immediately died.

Su Zinong knew that he had now made enemies of these prestigious sects and major factions, and would probably be hunted down by the entire cultivation world in the future. However, it was too late to do anything if he didn't kill Young Master Zhao at this point.

The old immortal I met in the sinkhole once said that to be a kind person, one must also have ruthless methods and not be swayed by sentimentality.

He found only five hundred taels of silver notes and a pearl in Zhao Gongzi's pocket. This pearl was the one he had given to Qi Jiaojiao, and he felt a pang of heartache.

They hastily dug a large pit by the roadside to handle the funeral arrangements for Young Master Zhao.

Su Zinong mounted his horse and galloped for three days and three nights, changing horses five times, until he finally reached a seaside a thousand miles away.

By this time, he had made another human skin mask, which looked very different from the previous one.

This never-ending life on the run!

Su Zinong settled down in a small fishing village and rented a small courtyard.

He carefully examined the true energy within his body. He had originally thought it would be divided into his own true energy and Young Master Zhao's true energy, but to his surprise, his own one-star true energy had disappeared in the past few days. Clearly, Young Master Zhao's true energy was too much and too strong, and had already devoured his original one-star mid-stage true energy.

It can actually absorb other people's true energy into its own body. In the past, I would have shouted that it was an evil technique.

But this wasn't what I wanted; it was something someone forced on me, and I had no chance to resist.

Whether it's evil or righteous, that's just how it is.

He secretly vowed that he would not easily reveal this skill in the future, nor would he easily meddle in other people's business. He would hide himself well until he became strong enough.

But fate seemed to be playing a cruel joke on him. Since he possessed this kind of skill, whether it was evil or righteous, he would inevitably use it. He had no choice but to use it.

That night, Su Zinong was practicing his martial arts. He practiced for an hour, but he didn't gain even a tiny bit of true energy. This was because every time he tried to cultivate any true energy, it was devoured by the true energy of Young Master Zhao within his body, making further practice useless.

Sigh, it's over! Is this how I'm destined to be stuck at the fourth-star cultivation level for the rest of my life?

Young Master Zhao was originally at the peak of the fourth star level, but the true energy absorbed by Su Zinong was somewhat depleted, and now he only has the cultivation level of the mid-fourth star level.

Just then, a scream suddenly rang out in the silent night, followed by someone shouting for help.

Hearing screams and cries for help in the dark was indeed terrifying. Although Su Zinong, who currently had a four-star cultivation level, wouldn't be too scared, he couldn't help but recall hearing Qi Jiaojiao's cries for help after being bitten by a poisonous snake on Tianqi Mountain, and the thought filled him with disgust.

But Su Zinong couldn't resist, so he turned around, went out the door, and ran towards the direction of the sound.

At the edge of the village, a man grinned maliciously as he pinned down a woman and tried to tear off her clothes.

Su Zinong was having an internal struggle. He had just made up his mind to stop using his martial arts and to stop meddling in other people's business, but now he was being contradicted and couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

It seems that when the old immortal said he still had mental tribulations to overcome, he was referring to similar experiences like that day at Qishan and now, which were meant to temper his mind.

But what should be tempered is one's mind and attitude, not one's kindness!

Su Zinong couldn't hold back any longer and took two steps forward, shouting loudly, "Let her go!"

The man looked stunned, turned around and saw Su Zinong, but didn't take him seriously, shouting, "Get out of my way, don't ruin my good time!"

Seeing that Su Zinong had no intention of leaving and seemed to be standing aside to observe, but clearly Su Zinong would not cheer for him and would definitely come over to stop him, it would be a great danger if he were to be suddenly attacked while he was fully engrossed in the moment.

The man swung his hand backward, unleashing a burst of palm energy towards Su Zinong.

Su Zinong was prepared; before his true energy even arrived, he had already dodged to the left and then lightly struck out with his palm in response. He dared not use too much force, for fear of injuring the woman on the ground.

The man stood up and fought Su Zinong face to face. It seemed that his cultivation level was also at the mid-stage of the fourth star, which was comparable to Su Zinong's.

The two men fought fiercely for a long time, but no one in the entire village dared to intervene or help the woman away. It seemed everyone knew what was happening and that the wicked man was highly skilled, so they dared not provoke him.

Su Zinong and the man fought for a full quarter of an hour without a clear winner.

His invisible true energy couldn't strike his opponent, because although the two were very close, the other person's movements were so fast that he dodged them all, leaving him helpless for a moment.

With everyone's cultivation levels roughly equal, the outcome of the fight was unpredictable. However, if things continued this way, capturing him would be difficult. If he escaped, the village would continue to suffer for a long time, perhaps even more severely.

In this anxious state of mind, he suddenly felt the same way he did when Young Master Zhao attacked and tormented him that day. His body naturally reversed its internal energy and he reached out his hand towards that person.

Unexpectedly, the man was pulled by the immense attraction and stumbled towards Su Zinong. Su Zinong quickly grabbed the man's left hand with his right hand and discovered that the man's true energy was continuously flowing into his body.

The man was shocked and tried to shake off Su Zinong, but Su Zinong held his hand tightly. He hurriedly reached out his right hand to attack.

In the chaos, Su Zinong grabbed the man's right hand with his left, while a steady stream of true energy flowed from his side. After a quarter of an hour, the man collapsed to the ground.

Su Zinong was in a state of confusion. Seeing that the woman on the ground was quite attractive, her clothes were disheveled, and she seemed to be too scared to move, he quickly told her to leave. Then he hurriedly left, leaving the woman lying on the ground, since he could no longer do anything wrong.

An hour later, Su Zinong felt his body fluctuating between hot and cold, and his mood shifting between sorrow and joy. Two kinds of true energy surged and fought each other within his body.

I felt an unbearable swelling and almost fainted.

Fearing he might suffer a qi deviation, he hurriedly used his internal energy to suppress the original Zhao Gongzi's true qi on the right side of his body, attempting to force the true qi out from the left side.

It took two hours of this exercise to feel a little better.

After resting for half an hour, he once again circulated his internal energy to force out the newly added true qi.

Three days later, the remaining alien true energy was not much, and it was eventually devoured by the original true energy of Young Master Zhao.

Although Su Zinong believed that his intelligence was no less than that of others, he still felt very troubled.

Absorbing the true energy of other beings is quite troublesome and carries great risks; a slight mishap could lead to qi deviation and demonic possession.

He wasn't very adept at using the true energy that Young Master Zhao had left in his body. Even when using the Invisible Needle True Energy technique, his true energy didn't coordinate perfectly. As a result, when he saved that woman in the dark last time, it didn't play a significant role. In the end, he could only barely resolve the situation by absorbing the man's true energy.

We urgently need to think of a solution.

He had considered simply expelling all of Young Master Zhao's true energy from his body.

But after just a slight touch, he dared not think about it again. Since his true energy was drained and he fell off the cliff, he had later cultivated until he recovered to one star level of cultivation. However, that little bit of true energy had been completely devoured after Young Master Zhao forcibly injected it into him. If he were to force all of Young Master Zhao's true energy out of his body now, he would become a person without any cultivation, barely able to walk, and the thought alone sent chills down his spine.

One day, while enjoying the breeze at the beach, a sudden golden light appeared, and then a little girl asked, "Grandpa, why does it rain? Where does the rain come from?"

An elderly man with white hair smiled kindly, patted the little girl's head, and said, "Because people and animals on the ground need water, crops and seedlings need water, and it also needs to be used to wash away dirt and grime, so it rains. Rain is caused by the sun shining on the earth, the earth's water turning into water vapor that rises into the air, encounters cold winds in the air, turns back into small water droplets, and falls down as rain, and so on in a cycle."

The little girl nodded thoughtfully and said, "Grandpa, you know so much. When I grow up, I want to be as knowledgeable as you."

"Good, good, good!" The old man nodded with a smile, stroking his long beard with delight.

Su Zinong smiled and walked forward for a while. Suddenly remembering the rain cycle, he wanted to turn back and ask the old man, but the old man and the little girl seemed to have vanished suddenly and were no longer on the shore...