Wei Zhao had not expected to be so unlucky. Out of pure good intentions he had gone to save Feng Xiaoxiao, and whether he had saved her or not he could not say—but he himself had been downgraded.

"I can see it. There is not the slightest ripple of energy left in your body; your condition is exactly the same as Feng Xiaoxiao's was a moment ago." Jiao Yazi had spotted that something was wrong long before, which was precisely why he had told Wei Zhao to examine his own condition.

"Then my... cultivation, is it all gone?" Wei Zhao felt rather gloomy, but he took it in stride. He had already been downgraded; grieving would do him no good. The important thing was to understand his situation as quickly as possible and find a way to fix it.

"Heh, that's right." Jiao Yazi laughed. "You used up all your energy, so of course you were downgraded. It would be abnormal if you hadn't been."

"Huh?" Seeing that Jiao Yazi could still laugh at a time like this, Wei Zhao's expression turned a little strange. "Elder Jiao, why do I get the feeling you're gloating?"

"Of course not. I simply think that if you've been downgraded, then so be it. The peak of the late Yellow Rank is nothing so remarkable—what does it matter if you lose it?" Jiao Yazi waved a hand and spoke as though it were of no consequence.

"Elder Jiao, you make it sound so easy. I have a great many enemies, you know..." Wei Zhao was somewhat speechless. "At this rate, won't I have to go hide back in the mountains?"

"Little Wei Zhao, you really are a disappointment. You lose the peak of the late Yellow Rank and you're so worried you want to run home and hide? Are you still capable of accomplishing anything great?" Jiao Yazi looked at Wei Zhao with scorn.

"Uh... the peak of the late Yellow Rank may be nothing in your eyes, Elder, but at least it let me protect myself... uh?" Wei Zhao suddenly started slightly, a flicker of delight passing through his eyes as he looked at Jiao Yazi. "Elder Jiao, don't tell me you have a way to fix this?"

"A way? You don't know?" Jiao Yazi looked at Wei Zhao with a half-smile.

"If I knew, would I be asking you?" Wei Zhao said helplessly. This Jiao Yazi seemed terribly mischievous, very much in the mold of an old urchin.

"I thought you knew." Jiao Yazi said, "It's such a simple thing. You were downgraded—just train it back up again. Haven't you ever played an online game?"

"Uh... train it back up?" Wei Zhao felt thoroughly depressed. "That is one way, but isn't it a bit too slow? I trained for more than ten years to reach the late Yellow Rank..."

"Your Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art has not been downgraded." Jiao Yazi looked at Wei Zhao and said mildly.

"The Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art... ah!" Wei Zhao suddenly understood, and instinctively began to circulate the inner-art mental technique of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art. Energy from the jade pendant space surged swiftly into his body, and Wei Zhao checked the level of his Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art—sure enough, it was still the second layer!

"Now you understand? Yellow Rank cultivation is merely a common grading system devised by certain people; it is based mainly on the amount of energy in the body—what they call true qi." Jiao Yazi said, "What you cultivate is the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art, and only the first layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art corresponds to the strength of the late Yellow Rank."

"Then if I cultivate energy all over again, won't it still be very slow?" Wei Zhao asked after a moment's hesitation.

"Have you ever played an online game?" Jiao Yazi was quite a fashionable old man, to know about online games.

"A few." Wei Zhao nodded. But he could not see what online games had to do with any of this.

"The situation in your body right now is this: though the energy is gone, the level is in fact still there!" Jiao Yazi explained. "It's just like playing an online game—the level is there, but the experience points are gone. Which is faster: using a level-thirty character to power-level a level-one character, or having a level-one character grind its own way up to level thirty?"

"Ah!" Wei Zhao understood Jiao Yazi's meaning at once. The analogy was crude, but it fit perfectly! That is to say, he was already at the strength level of the second layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art, so his current cultivation speed ought to be far faster than when he had not even been at the first layer! And then he thought of how he could also cultivate inside the jade pendant space—his speed would be on an entirely different order altogether!

"You understand now?" Jiao Yazi looked at Wei Zhao, somewhat amused. "It was never anything serious, and you made such a fuss over it!"

"Heh heh, it's only because I didn't know..." Wei Zhao said, a little embarrassed. Indeed, he had been so worried that his judgment had gone astray; now that he thought it over carefully, it really was just as Jiao Yazi said.

Wei Zhao once more circulated the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art. The energy in the space began to surge. Wei Zhao sensed it—sure enough, his speed was more than ten times what it had been when he first cultivated! And the purity of the energy was beyond comparison as well.

His heart settled somewhat. Having dealt with his own problem, Wei Zhao suddenly remembered that he still did not know what had become of Feng Xiaoxiao. He wanted to return to the real world to take a look, only to discover that this time he could not get back!

Ordinarily, Wei Zhao could control when he woke up while inside the jade pendant space, and he could also sense the condition of his body in the outside world. Earlier, Wei Zhao had been concerned only with his own strength and had ignored the situation outside; now he found that he and his body outside seemed to have lost the connection they once had!

"Elder Jiao, I can't get back?" Though Wei Zhao was somewhat worried, the thought of Jiao Yazi's calm expression reassured him—if something had truly gone wrong with him, the old man would not be wearing that face! Having already been through the experience of recovering his strength once before, Wei Zhao was not so terrified this time.

"You exhausted your physical strength and passed out, so naturally it's different from simply falling asleep." Jiao Yazi said mildly. "Recover some energy in the space, and you'll be able to return."

So that was it! Wei Zhao nodded inwardly. It seemed this was no great problem. Since Jiao Yazi had confirmed it, Wei Zhao set his mind at ease and began to cultivate...

Time passed, second by second, and gradually Wei Zhao regained his connection with his body in the outside world... He sensed that Feng Xiaoxiao's breathing had become steady and even, and that her body no longer lacked all trace of life as before, but instead bore a faint fluctuation of energy. Wei Zhao let out a breath of relief. It seemed Feng Xiaoxiao was going to be all right.

This too allowed him to cultivate quietly within the jade pendant space in peace; otherwise, with his mind always dwelling on Feng Xiaoxiao's condition, Wei Zhao could not have settled down...

The energy in the jade pendant space poured swiftly into Wei Zhao's body, and Wei Zhao's strength grew at an inconceivable speed! This set Wei Zhao's heart completely at ease—at the present rate, restoring his former strength would not take long at all!

It seemed Jiao Yazi had not deceived him. So long as the level of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art had not dropped, then even if all the energy in his body were exhausted, there was no great problem.

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