Deep Bonds Between Master and Disciple

Northwest Continent, Wu Tan Empire, Gama City.

No, Gama Empire, Wu Tan City.

Behind the Xiao Family estate, where Xiao Yan now trained alone, the aura of a Seven-Star Dou Shi gradually spread as he refined the pill in his mouth and repeatedly swung the heavy Mysterious Heavy Ruler on his back.

"Eight Extremes Collapse! Eight Extremes Collapse! Eight Extremes Collapse!" He roared three times in succession, yet he still could not unleash Eight Extremes Collapse's true power, managing only twenty or thirty percent of its force.

"Xiao Yan, your heart is in turmoil." Yao Lao drifted over and looked at the panting Xiao Yan, shaking his head. Mastering Eight Extremes Collapse was not something brute force alone could accomplish; otherwise, it would not be classified as a Mystic Rank High Level Dou Skill.

Seeing Yao Lao repeatedly shake his head, Xiao Yan withdrew his stance and smashed the Mysterious Heavy Ruler into the ground, a faint look of worry appearing on his face.

"Master has been gone for nearly a month. Even if he failed to achieve his goal, he should have returned seven days ago."

Removing the weights from his body, Xiao Yan lay atop a massive boulder, his training clothes thoroughly soaked with sweat. With a blade of grass between his teeth, he stared blankly at the azure sky.

"That should be the case... That brat will be fine. With his Earth Rank Dou Skills and powerful cultivation technique, I doubt even a Dou Zong could hold him." Yao Lao was somewhat worried as well, but when he recalled Zhang Tian, who had once bickered with him, he snorted stubbornly.

"For the past two days, I've been feeling restless. There's been constant pain below my Dantian. Master, do you think something really happened?" Xiao Yan spat out the grass, sat up, and looked at Yao Lao.

"Let me examine you when we get back. Could absorbing your Dou Qi these past years have caused some issue with your Dantian? Or did something go wrong when Flame Mantra devoured the Beast Flame? Could it be that such a miraculous cultivation technique truly does not exist?" Yao Lao immediately grew tense, revealing a rare trace of panic. After all, he had never cultivated Flame Mantra himself and had no confidence in it.

"No." Xiao Yan gave a bitter smile and shook his head, an awkward expression appearing on his face as he spoke softly.

"I feel like it's the place below the Dantian where essence is stored and spirit is nurtured..."

Yao Lao's expression froze. His old face was filled with confusion. Where was this place that stored essence and nurtured spirit? He had refined pills for so many years—how had he never heard of it?

However, Yao Lao was an old lecher after all. A moment later, he understood and revealed a lascivious expression.

"Below the Dantian... You mean that strange pain?"

"Tut, tut, that shouldn't be. Young and full of vigor—could the fire energy from Flame Mantra have damaged your lower yin?" Yao Lao had completely lost his earlier tension and worry. Instead, he gave a wicked laugh and stared maliciously at Xiao Yan's crotch.

Before Xiao Yan could react, he reached out and flicked his little brother, making Xiao Yan's face turn purple with pain.

"Fuck, Master, what are you doing?!"

"Mm, you can still feel it. But why is it so inexplicable..." Yao Lao pretended to examine him, though the amusement in his eyes could not be concealed.

How would I know? Ever since Master left, it's been hurting down there since yesterday. It hurts like it's cramping, like I pulled something.

After Xiao Yan told Yao Lao his guess, Yao Lao's expression turned serious. He walked to the edge of the cliff and pondered carefully.

"This situation is indeed rare."

Yao Lao fell silent for a moment before slowly speaking.

"Still, it is not unheard of for two people to share a connection in the Dou Qi Continent. It seems something happened to Zhang Tian—either that, or he was injured."

Xiao Yan's expression immediately darkened. First, because Zhang Tian, his most respected master and the man sworn brothers with Xiao Zhan, had actually been injured. Second: Master, if you're hurt, I'm heartbroken—but my balls hurt too!

"The last time I went to the Yun Lan Sect to look for Zhang Tian, Yun Leng said that he and Sect Leader Yun Yun had gone to the Tagor Desert." Xiao Yan muttered to himself.

"They couldn't have encountered the Medusa Queen, could they?!" Xiao Yan's expression suddenly changed as he recalled that terrifying being whose fearsome reputation in the Gama Empire could make children stop crying at night.

"Medusa Queen? Is she powerful?" Yao Lao asked Xiao Yan.

That name did not sound like much. Could she really be some unimaginably powerful expert? Surely she was not another Dou Wang? He had seen Xiao Yan's limited horizons before.

When he had roamed the Dou Qi Continent, the Medusa Queen had still been a little snake. Naturally, he knew nothing of her, especially when she was so far away in the remote Northwest Continent.

"Cough, cough." Xiao Yan choked at Yao Lao's words. After coughing for a while, he finally replied irritably.

"What do you mean, powerful or not? She's terrifying—a terrifying existence who leads the Snake-People Race and occupies the Tagor Desert." Xiao Yan said unhappily. After all, she had been part of the "ghost stories" Xiao Zhan told him as a child to scare him.

"Oh? A terrifying existence? Is there such an expert?" A trace of curiosity rose in Yao Lao's heart.

"Wait, that's not right." He immediately came to his senses.

"If they are the Snake-People Race, I recall that they prefer cool, shady places. Why would they settle in the Tagor Desert? By that logic, this so-called Medusa Queen must be unable to defeat the Dou Emperor known as the imperial family's guardian. She's just a little nobody." Yao Lao rolled his eyes. He had nearly been fooled.

"That's right. Snakes prefer cool places, yet they settled in the desert. It's not as if they're sand snakes." Xiao Yan was stunned. It did seem to make sense. Otherwise, the Medusa Queen would have invaded the Gama Empire long ago.

"You still have no idea how strong your master is. A small fry at the Dou Emperor level like that would probably be stabbed to death with one thrust of his spear." Yao Chen said irritably. Zhang Tian was Xiao Yan's master and of the same generation as himself, all right? Why did he always feel insulted?

"Master is actually that strong? Then who in the Gama Empire could possibly injure him?" An incredulous look of shock appeared on Xiao Yan's face. A single Dou Emperor would be enough to slaughter everyone in Wu Tan City, including the Xiao Family, while even the Medusa Queen, feared among Dou Emperors, was judged—

To be no more than someone who could be killed with one thrust of a spear?

Even Jia Xing Tian, the Robe-Clad Jia Lao known as the strongest person in the Gama Empire for nearly a thousand years and the foremost among the ten great experts, could not do that, could he?

"Don't underestimate your master. Even I find his rate of growth terrifying. But the faster one grows, the more dangers one encounters." Wisdom gleamed in Yao Lao's eyes, filled with the vicissitudes of time and remembrance.

Back when his parents had been driven out of the Medicine Clan, he had taken only several hundred years to become the Medicine Venerable, an Eighth Grade Peak Alchemist and a Nine Revolutions Dou Zun at the peak, whose name shook the continent. His beloved women, loves and grudges, battles and slaughter, desperate flights for his life—there were too many to count.

"Oh, I understand. If you take too big a step, it's easy to pull your balls, right?" Xiao Yan nodded, deeply moved.

Strangely enough, rapid growth brought not only all kinds of opportunities, but also countless trials and hardships.

"Hiss!" Just after saying that, Xiao Yan felt another burst of intense pain from his lower body, one that lingered for a long time.

Two streams of hot tears slowly flowed from his eyes as Xiao Yan was overcome with grief and indignation.

"Master, come back quickly!"