Leaving Wu Tan City

"Not bad, Little Yan. The two of us working together are actually pretty strong!" Yun Shu said with a grin, patting Xiao Yan on the shoulder.

Although Yun Shu had never fought Xiao Yan before, much less teamed up with him, their first collaboration had actually managed to put Instructor Ruo Lin at a disadvantage. It was rather interesting.

Two hours earlier.

After agreeing to Instructor Ruo Lin's request, Yun Shu, Xiao Yan, and Instructor Ruo Lin found a spacious area, intending to have a pleasant exchange between teacher and students...

Ruo Lin took a green leather whip from her Ring of Holding, presumably the weapon she used in battle. Then, she took out two ordinary longswords and tossed them to Yun Shu and Xiao Yan.

"Come on, little ones!" Ruo Lin said with a smile, flicking the long whip in her hand. As a five-star Great Dou Shi, if she could not handle these two little brats, would she not be handing those people at the academy an excuse to laugh at her?

Yun Shu caught the longsword and casually flourished it. It had been over a year since he had last held a sword. Though he still did not know how to use one, at least he would no longer nearly cut himself while playing with it like before...

"I'll go first. Do as you please!" Yun Shu left those words behind and charged straight at Instructor Ruo Lin with his sword raised.

"What an impatient little fellow." A trace of amusement flashed through Ruo Lin's eyes as she watched Yun Shu rush toward her. He actually intended to confront her head-on. A child was still a child; no matter how talented he was, he had never undergone systematic training and did not understand how to fully utilize his strength.

"Heh!" Yun Shu curled his lips and suddenly threw the sword in his hand at Instructor Ruo Lin.

"What kind of fighting style is that? He actually threw away his weapon!" the onlookers said in bewilderment.

Yun Shu did not know how to use a sword in the first place. Fighting with one was naturally less convenient than using a weapon he was familiar with, unlike Ruo Lin. So, he simply tossed away his weapon—but he had not thrown that sword at random.

"Absorption Palm!" Yun Shu extended his hand toward the direction the longsword had flown.

"He wants to retrieve the longsword with that strange Dou Technique... What?!" Before Ruo Lin could finish speaking, her expression changed. She suddenly felt her body being pulled toward Yun Shu by a force of suction.

What Yun Shu was drawing in was not the sword, but Ruo Lin's body!

And that direction happened to be the same direction from which the longsword was flying toward her. If she resisted the suction, she would be struck by the incoming sword. If she blocked the sword, her body would fly uncontrollably toward Yun Shu.

In a fight between two people, this would not have been much of a problem, since their difference in strength was too great. But with three people, the remaining one could seize the chance to attack her.

"That little bastard is quite crafty!" Ruo Lin gritted her teeth and chose to block the incoming longsword, but the instant she made her move, her body shot rapidly toward Yun Shu.

"Absorption Palm!" Yet, the moment Ruo Lin knocked aside the longsword, another force of suction came from Yun Shu's direction. Though it was weaker than the previous one, the two forces acted upon her simultaneously. Their combined pull threw Ruo Lin off balance, causing her to stumble.

Yun Shu and Xiao Yan seized the opportunity, instantly shooting toward either side of Instructor Ruo Lin.

"Absorption Palm!" Yun Shu used Absorption Palm again, drawing over the longsword that Instructor Ruo Lin had sent flying. However, he was not drawing it into his own hand, but toward Instructor Ruo Lin's back.

"Fire Blowing Palm!" Xiao Yan, meanwhile, threw his longsword toward Instructor Ruo Lin from the front, using powerful wind pressure to give the blade another push.

Two swords, one in front and one behind; two students, one to her left and one to her right...

"Sigh..." Faced with the four-sided pincer attack from the two students and two swords, Ruo Lin could not help but sigh. A genius truly was a genius. This was not the reckless, brainless fighting style she had imagined. The coordination of these two little fellows' combined attack was practically perfect.

They had taken advantage of her carelessness and caught her completely off guard...

Instructor Ruo Lin helplessly raised her fair hand. The long whip immediately coiled around her arm, and she gripped the massive serpent head at the end of the whip's handle tightly. The deep-blue Dou Qi within her body surged fiercely into the whip...

Immediately afterward, a massive mass of blue energy gushed from the huge serpent mouth on the handle like a fountain, rolling and condensing into an enormous water snake that coiled around Instructor Ruo Lin.

In the original story, she had intended to use this attack to defeat Xiao Yan, but now she was using the Dou Technique for defense.

Since this move was a small-area impact-type attack, it would lose most of its power if the water snake dispersed. Thus, using it to coil around her body for defense was enough.

Pfft!!

The two longswords plunged into the water snake like muffled farts.

After blocking both the attacks from the front and rear, Ruo Lin's lips curved upward. The next moment, she controlled the water snake and sent it charging toward Xiao Yan. Deal with the weaker one first, then take care of Yun Shu—that was Ruo Lin's plan...

But unfortunately, her plan was likely to fail, because Xiao Yan, who had nowhere to evade, intended to let Yao Lao take the field directly. After all, the gap in combat strength between Xiao Yan and Ruo Lin was simply too great. It was only normal that he could not defeat her.

Once Yao Lao took over, things became simple. He settled it easily within thirty moves.

"Teacher, I won't be traveling with you two," Yun Shu said to Xiao Yan and Yao Lao.

"Why?" Yao Lao asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Since it is training, I still think it is more suitable for me to travel alone. If I am unfortunate enough to die, then it can only prove that I was not destined to become strong," Yun Shu said calmly.

In truth, he simply did not want to travel with Xiao Yan and Yao Lao...

"Since you have already made your decision, I will not say more as your teacher. However, with your status as a Third-Rank Alchemist, I believe this training journey should be far more comfortable for you than for this brat Xiao Yan," Yao Lao said with a smile.

Alchemists were highly sought after everywhere, especially a Third-Rank Alchemist like Yun Shu.

"Then, Teacher, Little Yan, let us part ways here!" Yun Shu and Xiao Yan had been on their way back to the Xiao Family. Yun Shu had nothing at the Xiao Family; his belongings were instead at the Mittel Auction House ahead.

"Alright." The two nodded.

"Don't worry. Maybe we'll run into each other in the Monster Mountain Range!" Yun Shu said with a smile.

Since he had already said farewell to Xun Er, Yun Shu headed straight for the Mittel Auction House.

"You're back!" Ya Fei said as she looked at Yun Shu, taking a Ring of Holding from her bosom.

"The things are already prepared?" Yun Shu asked Ya Fei in surprise.

"You must be careful! Husband..." Ya Fei said sadly as she embraced Yun Shu.

"Don't worry. Don't you know what I'm capable of? I can come back anytime!" Yun Shu said, planting a light kiss on Ya Fei's lips.

"If you miss me, just say so. I'll definitely come back!" Yun Shu said, wrapping his arms around Ya Fei once more.

"Mhm..."