A Dish Best Served Cold (The Man In Rage)
Chapter 1417 A Change in Tang Yun's Body

"I don't need you to protect me. I want to become powerful too. I want to be able to protect the people that I love," said Angie stubbornly.

"You're going to drive me to an early grave. That scoundrel's gotten to you, hasn't he? What did that Chinese punk say to you? You're like a changed person. I'd advise you to give up now if you're only practicing martial arts to help Ye Fan. He's dead. The Chinese have announced the news of his death. You should think carefully about what you're doing," scoffed Mike Jones before he turned and left. His sister was driving him up the wall.

He left Angie behind, eyes red and tearing as she wailed.

"You're lying! Fan isn't dead! He can't die. Someone must have saved him. He's not dead. I'm going to find him after I've mastered my martial arts..."

Everyone had something that they couldn't let go of and that they truly wanted.

Just like how Ye Fan couldn't cast aside the humiliation and shame that he had suffered many years ago.

He practiced martial arts because he wanted to protect his mother and make sure that no one could ever bully them again.

Angie, on the other hand, had found something that she truly desired during the fight in the rainforest.

She had realized then that she didn't want to be useless.

She didn't want to be the person who could do nothing but cry when her family and friends were in danger.

She hated the feeling of being helpless.

She hated how she could do nothing in the face of danger.

She hated how she had only been a burden on others.

She wanted to prove herself and she wanted the world to know her worth and

recognize it.

Mike Jones left his sister alone. He knew his sister. She wasn't going to give up until she hit her head against the wall repeatedly and got herself bruised and bloodied in the process.

"Forget it. Let's see how long she lasts. Learning martial arts is tough. Not everyone can endure that kind of hardship."

Mike Jones gave his sister another look. She was still busy working on her basics. He shook his head, sighed heavily, then returned to the hall.

"I'm sorry, Qi-Tian. My sister isn't feeling well. I'm afraid she can't talk to you today. I'll bring her along to your place in a few days and say hi," said Mike Jones.

Angie was adamant to learn martial arts. She couldn't even be bothered to talk to her own brother. She wasn't going to waste her time talking to someone who wasn't even family. Mike Jones could only try to make an excuse for her absence.

"Alright then."

Chu Qi-Tian didn't press him further. After all, they had plenty of opportunities to see each other again.

Tang Yun's sleeping quarters in Chu Sect, where she took her rest, was a large room that was carefully though not lavishly decorated.

Its flower arrangements and hanging scrolls of calligraphy added life to a bedroom that was both luxurious and forbidding at the same time.

Tang Yun was presently seated on the bed and in the middle of a trance.

Her lovely face appeared slightly pale and lined with exhaustion.

She had rested an entire night since the battle yesterday.

In the past, she would have recovered swiftly from such a battle.

Yet, strangely, she was still feeling a little tired after a night's rest.

This wasn't the first time she had experienced the prolonged lingering effects after a battle. Since her return from the rainforest, Tang Yun had sensed her body's gradual deterioration. She got tired more easily. She felt lethargic and slept more. She appeared more sensitive and ate less.

Her strength was diminishing.

The strange transformation that she was undergoing was something that Tang Yun had never experienced. She was a little worried about her diminishing strength.

She had not yet fulfilled the ambitions of Chu Sect or carried out her master's final wishes.

She had so many more things that she had to do. Without sufficient power, she

wouldn't be able to fulfill any of her plans.

"Why? Ever since my return from the rainforest, my strength has been fading. Why?"

It was fading slowly, almost imperceptibly, and even though it had taken a long time for her to realize it, Tang Yun knew that she was no longer at the peak of her strength.

"Is this the result of forcibly absorbing the ice spirit fruit?"

Tang Yun frowned as she attributed her physical ailment to how she had absorbed the ice spirit fruit in the cave.

After all, she had not heard of that particular way of cultivation before.

Without Ye Fan, she wouldn't have thought of absorbing the energies of the ice spirit fruit in that manner.

She might have succeeded then, but she had had no idea if that had left her with any lasting symptoms or side effects.

Because she knew little of the cultivation method that she had used then, she had thus attributed the physical changes to her body to her internal absorption of the ice spirit fruit.

She had no idea that regardless the method of absorption, any danger that she might have suffered for absorbing the energies of the ice spirit fruit only existed while she was doing so. There were no lasting side effects after she was done absorbing the fruit.

There was an exception and it was if there was something wrong with the ice spirit fruit. Consuming the fruit then would lead to discomfort. But that had nothing to do with the method in which she had consumed it..

"Who's outside?" said Tang Yun coolly as her eyes turned cold. She had sensed the barest of movement outside her door.

"Master, it's me, Wan-Yu. I've brought you breakfast," a young woman replied meekly outside her room.

She was none other than Meng Wan-Yu, the woman who had appeared on Mount Yunding to meet Ye Fan on Tang Yun's behalf.

Meng Wan-Yu was the daughter of someone who was a friend to the Tang family. She had grown up under Tang Yun's watch and Tang Yun had treated her as her disciple.

As the Tang Yun's only female disciple, she took care of Tang Yun's daily meals.

Meng Wan-Yu had noticed that the sect leader had become increasingly sensitive recently, but she had no idea what had been the cause of her transformation.

The sect leader would grow tense at the slightest breeze.

It was strange and confounding behavior indeed.

"You may enter."

When she realized that it was only Meng Wan-Yu, Tang Yun eased her guard and allowed her to enter the room.

"Sect Leader, I've just warmed some milk for you. Please drink it while it's hot." Meng Wan-Yu entered the room with a tray of milk and pastries.

A supreme grandmaster might not need to eat, but eating was still a habit that Tang Yun had cultivated over many years. She would still take her daily meals.

"Alright." Tang Yun nodded before taking the warm milk from Meng Wan-Yu. After a few sips, she felt a sudden queasiness in her stomach. Then, she threw up the milk that she had drunk. "Are you alright, master? Were you injured in the fight yesterday?" asked Meng Wan-Yu worriedly.

She had witnessed how powerful the strange young woman had been yesterday.

Even though Tang Yun had claimed that she had forced the other woman into a retreat, Meng Wan-Yu had no idea if Tang Yun had been injured in the process.