A Year and a Half Later (Please Follow and Vote Monthly)

The sun and moon turned, and the years drifted by.

In the blink of an eye, a year and a half had passed since Gu Yi arrived in Broken Blade City and took a master.

Gu Yi was nearly eight years old.

Over the past year or so, nothing major had happened on either the Nine Heavens Continent or the Douluo Continent.

Most of the time, Gu Yi cultivated in the courtyards of Broken Blade City and Nuoding City, practicing spear techniques and archery under Liu Canglan.

At times, Liu Canglan was too busy with military affairs and had to handle all manner of matters within and beyond Broken Blade City.

In those cases, the commanders and deputy commanders of the Crimson Blood Iron Cavalry would teach Gu Yi instead.

Even the weakest among them were at the sixth level of the Spirit Martial Realm, more than capable of guiding Gu Yi.

Moreover, countless soldiers cultivated the Iron Blood Malice Art that Gu Yi practiced. These Crimson Blood commanders and deputy commanders had cultivated it as well, making them ideal instructors.

Outside of cultivation, Gu Yi did not forget to earn source power. Before going to sleep each night, he would spend one or two hours grinding for source power, earning dozens of points every day.

Of course, Gu Yi would occasionally accompany Xiao Wu and Liu Fei around Nuoding City or Broken Blade City, having some fun and nurturing their relationship.

Over the past year and a half, Tang San had challenged Gu Yi many times. Each time, he used all sorts of Tang Sect secret arts and even brought out the various hidden weapons he had crafted.

Unfortunately, without exception, Tang San was easily defeated by Gu Yi every time. His so-called Tang Sect hidden weapons simply could not do anything to Gu Yi.

After all, Tang San was still weak, and the hidden weapons he made were nothing impressive.

As for the greatest change on the Douluo Continent over the past year and a half, Xiao Wu and Tang San had not sworn brotherhood as siblings after their first school year ended, unlike in the original story.

Instead, Xiao Wu had grown increasingly close to Gu Yi.

Because of this, Gu Yi received one thousand points of source power after the end of the first school year.

At first, Xiao Wu loved to play and pestered Gu Yi every day, demanding that he accompany her to eat, drink, and have fun in Nuoding City.

But Gu Yi refused.

To spur Xiao Wu to cultivate diligently, Gu Yi deliberately told her many adapted little stories of revenge.

Through tales of protagonists who neglected their training for the sake of fun and ultimately failed to defeat their enemies, he subtly reminded Xiao Wu that if she did not cultivate diligently, she could forget about avenging her mother in the future.

The effect was indeed excellent. The stories successfully stirred Xiao Wu's memories and hatred, and she became hardworking, cultivating diligently every day.

Gu Yi was greatly pleased by this, so after the first school year ended, he selected a cultivation method suited to Xiao Wu from the Scripture Repository in Broken Blade City.

Xiao Wu's body had not been modified by source power, making her unsuited to cultivate Nine Heavens Martial Dao. However, Gu Yi used Enlightenment to alter the cultivation method for her, removing the parts about tempering the body and retaining only the method for circulating energy through the meridians.

Furthermore, Gu Yi did not tell Xiao Wu the true nature of the cultivation method. He only said that it was a high-level meditation method he had obtained by chance.

Although cultivation methods on the Douluo Continent had developed slowly, some high-level meditation methods were already no weaker than lower-grade Yellow-tier cultivation methods from the Nine Heavens Continent. However, such high-level meditation methods were general-use versions. Yu Xiaogang had independently developed one in the original story.

With this cultivation method suited to her martial soul, combined with the immense energy hidden within her body as a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast who had re-cultivated in human form, Xiao Wu's growth over the past year and a half had been astonishing, far surpassing the original plot.

In the original story, Xiao Wu only reached level 29 Soul Power by the time she graduated from Nuoding Academy six years later, averaging three levels per year.

But now, Xiao Wu had directly gained seven levels of Soul Power and reached level 18. She was not far from obtaining her second soul ring.

Of course, the one who had improved the most over the past year and a half was still Gu Yi.

Host: Gu Yi

Age: Eight

Cultivation: Level 24 Soul Master, fourth level Qi Martial Realm

Source Power: 25,400 points

Talents: Blood Martial Soul, Bone Martial Soul

Abilities: Iron Blood Malice Art (Yellow-tier High-grade), Charge Spear Technique (Yellow-tier High-grade), Prairie Fire Spear Technique (Yellow-tier High-grade), Crimson Rainbow Arrow (Yellow-tier High-grade), Consecutive Meteor Arrows (Yellow-tier Mid-grade), Wind-Following Steps (Yellow-tier Mid-grade), Through-Back Fist (Yellow-tier Mid-grade)... First Soul Skill—Blood Refinement (2,400-year purple soul ring), Second Soul Skill—Blood Ignition (5,300-year soul ring)

Items: Myriad Worlds Gate, Profound Iron Spear, Crimson Blood Bow

Over the course of a year and a half, Gu Yi had accumulated a great deal of source power through the students of Nuoding Academy.

Even after using a large amount of source power during that time, he still had more than twenty-five thousand points left.

That was more than enough for Gu Yi to activate another cross-world passage through the Myriad Worlds Gate and connect to a second new world!

However, Gu Yi was about to go somewhere, so he temporarily postponed opening the second world.

As for cultivation, although Gu Yi's Soul Power Level had only increased by eight levels over the past year and a half, just one more than Xiao Wu's, that was because he cultivated two systems simultaneously. While absorbing Heaven and Earth Origin Qi and converting it into Soul Power, he also had to use it to temper his body and nourish his martial souls.

Furthermore, whether it was the Douluo Soul Ring System or the Nine Heavens Martial Dao System, the further one progressed, the more energy cultivation required and the longer breakthroughs took.

The energy Gu Yi needed to gain seven levels far exceeded what Xiao Wu had needed to gain seven levels while she only had one soul ring.

Besides, Gu Yi used his first soul skill, Blood Refinement, to condense a portion of the Heaven and Earth Origin Qi he absorbed during daily cultivation into drops of essence blood, storing them as a hidden reserve of energy.

By now, Gu Yi had accumulated around one hundred and fifty drops of essence blood in his body, averaging six or seven drops per month. Some of that essence blood came from the energy of his second soul ring.

Aside from his gains in source power and cultivation, Gu Yi had also improved enormously in martial skills.

Over the past year and a half, Gu Yi activated Enlightenment two or three times every month, spending several hundred points of source power on it.

As a result, Gu Yi's comprehension had improved considerably.

With the powerful aid of Enlightenment, Gu Yi mastered all five forms of the Charge Spear Technique and brought them to the minor mastery stage.

Even many martial artists at the fifth or sixth level of the Qi Martial Realm had failed to accomplish that.

The same was true of his archery. Under the guidance of a "Divine Archer" like Liu Canglan—

Gu Yi had already reached the level of hitting a willow leaf from a hundred paces away. Within five hundred meters, he was practically incapable of missing, hitting every shot without fail.

The Yellow-tier High-grade Martial Skill, Consecutive Meteor Arrows, had also reached minor mastery. He could fire four or five arrows in one breath, each containing thousands of jin of force, no weaker than martial artists of the same realm who possessed an arrow martial soul.

In addition, Gu Yi had cultivated several new martial skills, including spear techniques, archery, and close-combat fist techniques.

With so many factors combined, Gu Yi's true combat strength far surpassed his apparent cultivation realm.

On this day, Gu Yi was practicing his spear and archery in the courtyard as usual.

At that moment, Liu Canglan, clad in white armor, entered with Liu Fei.

As Liu Canglan watched Gu Yi cultivate diligently, his eyes were filled with satisfaction.

Ordinary eight-year-old children had only just embarked upon the path of cultivation, while his disciple Gu Yi had already broken through to the late fourth level of the Qi Martial Realm. How could Liu Canglan not be proud?

"Yi'er, the Cloud Sea Sect's disciple recruitment ceremony will begin soon this year," Liu Canglan said gravely.

"Your cultivation has happened to reach the fourth level of the Qi Martial Realm, fulfilling the requirements to join a sect. As your master, I wish for you to join the Cloud Sea Sect. Are you willing?"

The Cloud Sea Sect was where Liu Canglan had grown up, and it had shown him grace as weighty as a mountain.

Liu Canglan had once been the Cloud Sea Sect's most outstanding disciple, with the sect placing great hopes upon him.

The previous sect master of the Cloud Sea Sect had even wanted Liu Canglan to succeed him as sect master, and for that purpose, he had been willing to marry his only beloved daughter to Liu Canglan.

But unfortunately, years ago, Liu Canglan had left the mountain and departed the sect alone because of certain matters, leaving the position of sect master to another Cloud Sea Sect genius, Nangong Ling.

Yet it was precisely this act that left the previous sect master's daughter unable to bear the pain of abandonment, causing her to take her own life.

In his grief, the sect master left the Cloud Sea Sect, and his fate thereafter remained unknown.

Liu Canglan felt that he had wronged the sect and had been too ashamed to set foot in the Cloud Sea Sect again for many years.

But things were different now. Liu Canglan had taken an unparalleled genius as his disciple.

Therefore, Liu Canglan wanted Gu Yi to join the Cloud Sea Sect and become one of its disciples.

In the future, Gu Yi could make up for him, lead the Cloud Sea Sect to rise again, and make it the strongest sect in the Snow Moon Kingdom!

Liu Canglan had complete confidence in Gu Yi on this matter.

Gu Yi, who knew the plot well, naturally understood Liu Canglan's intentions. He had already planned to enter the Cloud Sea Sect, so Liu Canglan's proposal suited him perfectly.

Thus, Gu Yi nodded without hesitation. "I'm willing!"

Liu Canglan's face was full of relief, and he could not help patting Gu Yi on the shoulder. Over the past year or so, Gu Yi had grown rapidly. Though only eight years old, he was already 1.7 meters tall, only a head shorter than Liu Canglan.

Upon hearing their conversation, Liu Fei immediately said, "Father, I want to go to the Cloud Sea Sect with Junior Brother Yi too!"

"Fei'er, your strength is still only at the third level of the Qi Martial Realm, so you have not yet met the requirements to enter the sect." Liu Canglan was somewhat helpless. "When the Cloud Sea Sect recruits disciples next year, I'll send you there then, all right?"

Liu Fei's talent was not low. She could be considered a genius even in the Snow Moon Kingdom, and with a Divine Archer like him providing resources, she could still break through from the third level to the fourth level within a year.