Linhua steadied herself and looked at her mother meaningfully. She knew what was coming next, the Hell's Fury poison is running loose in her mother's veins right now. It would soon consume her entire Qi and the resultant pain could kill her mother. But there is a way out, and that if there is absolutely no Qi left in mother's body for the poison to destroy.

Linhua said with conviction, 'I am ready, mother.'

Shenhua smiled weakly and thought to herself, was she a cruel mother for doing what she was about to do? But she soon steeled herself and sat behind Linhua.

Shenhua steadied her nerves and spread out her palms as all the latent Qi in her being pulsed through her body. In a flash, she hit several acupoints on Linhua's body And placed her palms on the girl's shoulders. The Qi flowing in her body pulsed outwards and flowed into Linhua's body.

There are two main methods of developing one's inner Qi. The First being the human body's natural method of generating Qi. This mechanism of the human body is boosted by an appropriate amount of physical exercise. It is easier of the two main methods and was less painful.

The second method is to draw in Qi from the surroundings and harnessing it. There is an abundant amount of Qi present in the natural environment, and one could always try to harness the Qi and increase their reserves, but there are two problems with it. Firstly, it is very difficult to harness the Qi and even diligent people with a talent for martial arts could find it difficult to use Qi from nature. Secondly, it is a painful process and one has to train and make their bodies tougher to use the Qi. But natural Qi often had special properties and could lend various types of strength to the ones that endure the pain.

Almost all martial artists used some specific combination of both methods to increase their Qi reserves. Increasing Qi reserves were usually intended to prop their weapon skills, unarmed melee skills, or footwork/movement skills. Having good technique was usually decisive in battles, but Qi acted as a backbone and lend strength to the movement.

But a few decades ago, a group of martial artists had found out a different method of gathering Qi. By pulsing the Qi through a specific set of acupoints, one could transfer Qi from oneself to another. However, the process was not only destructive on the body of the person receiving the Qi but also the Qi being transferred could not be directly used and had to be harnessed bit by bit like taking natural Qi. The group had conducted gruesome experiments on the bodies of common people to get better results, and many had died in their experiments. As a result, they were condemned by the Alliance of Sects once found and were pronounced criminals.

The person who had reported these martial artists was actually none other but the infamous Heaven's Glory Hands Mu Shenhua in disguise. When she had raided their base to free the villagers they had held captive, she had discovered their notes containing their entire research on transferring Qi. She had kept the notes for herself fearing that the legitimate sects might develop an interest in the subject and torment people. Who knew that a day would come when she had to use the method herself.

Linhua felt that her internal organs were being squeezed and choked inside out. She gritted her teeth and fought through the pain to keep herself conscious. Shenhua looked worriedly at her daughter and wanted to stop the process. Conflicts started to brew in her mind about her decisions.

In the notes of the process to transfer Qi, vivid descriptions were given of how only the bones remained of the first victim of the experiment. The foreign Qi would destroy the muscles and organs of the body, and melt them. The researchists were successful only when the person's body was strengthened a lot and the Qi being transferred had similar properties to the Qi present in the body of the receiver.

Shenhua had realized long ago that she would lose her Qi from the poison in her body one day. To prolong her life she could either choose to destroy her own reserves or use the method to transfer her unaffected Qi to someone else. With that in mind, she has had Linhua practice body strengthening techniques from 3 years of age. She had come to the Northern Mountains and the cold regions present in abundance here were ideal for the body strengthening technique she had developed. She was slow but steady as she helped Linhua strengthen her body. Linhua was currently 9 years old and she was exceptionally fast in picking up the pace as her conditioning had far surpassed even Shenhua's own.

Shenhua herself wasn't idle all these years. She had absorbed the Icy Qi herself to modulate the Heaven's Glory Qi in her body. Unlike Linhua who was just using the very cold temperature to strengthen her muscles and bones, Shenhua used the raw Qi from the environment and she wanted results faster, so it was more painful for her. But she endured it, for the sake of Linhua's future. She knew if she could give Linhua her Qi and guide her through taming it, it will be the best protection she can give her child before she meets her doom.

But looking at Linhua's face which was twisted with pain, she started to have conflicting thoughts. The fight with the great generals and the rapidly spreading poison has consumed almost half of her Qi reserves. But she wasn't any ordinary martial artist, the vast reserve of her inner Qi could put other Grandmasters to shame.

When she considered stopping the transfer, but Linhua suddenly spoke in a shaky voice, "Mother, I am fine.... it does hurt ......but I can endure it. I am the strongest daughter in the universe. I ...can .... endure .... this."

A lonely stream of tears escaped Shenhua's eyes. She didn't know if they were tears of sorrow for plunging her daughter into the world of pain, or if they were the tears of the pride she felt from Linhua's words. She just smiled and said with a heavy voice,

"Yes, my daughter is the toughest and strongest girl I've ever known."