Liu Yun's Lie Stunned Yun Yun

In the Mite'er Family's reception hall.

The meeting had already concluded. Yun Yun's visit had been on behalf of the Misty Cloud Sect to discuss trade relations with the Mite'er Family.

The outcome was a welcome one, with both sides achieving a win-win arrangement in terms of benefits.

"With this meeting over, the elders may go attend to their duties. I still have some details to discuss with Sect Master Yun. Liu Yun, stay behind," Teng Shan said.

He had also noticed Yun Yun's interest in Liu Yun's earlier transformation, so he had deliberately kept him behind.

Glancing at Nalan Yanran, who was tightly holding Yun Yun's left hand beside her, Teng Shan felt somewhat envious of that fellow Nalan Jie.

After all, Yun Yun was more than just the Sect Master of the Misty Cloud Sect. She was also a Dou Huang expert herself. If Liu Yun could take her as his master, his future accomplishments would certainly not be low.

After everyone else left, only Teng Shan, Yun Yun, Liu Yun, and Nalan Yanran remained in the hall.

"Liu Yun, what happened to you just now? Why did you break through repeatedly?" Teng Shan asked bluntly.

Liu Yun gave this bargain-bin grandfather of his a strange look. Though he knew the man would definitely ask and had already prepared an explanation, he was still somewhat taken aback that Teng Shan had asked so directly in front of outsiders.

But when he saw the old man's expectant gaze, he immediately understood. So the old man wanted him to suck up to Sect Master Yun!

Though he did want to suck up to her too...

As a transmigrator, however, he knew full well that the Misty Cloud Sect would not be able to keep jumping around for many more years. Even without Xiao Yan's Three-Year Agreement, the Soul Hall would come knocking.

He truly did not want to get involved with the Misty Cloud Sect. If possible, he hoped to keep a low profile forever, let Xiao Yan draw the Soul Hall's firepower, while he lived a cozy life with a wife, children, and a warm bed. Blissful!

"Grandfather, it's a long story," Liu Yun said.

"Then make it short," Teng Shan interrupted, his old face stern.

Knowing he could not avoid it, Liu Yun could only begin making things up.

"Grandfather, this began a few days ago. At the time, I was cultivating on the back mountain and had just broken through to Ninth Stage Dou Qi. Right then, an old man suddenly appeared before me.

"That old man said my aptitude was too poor, that if I followed the usual path, the peak of my life would only be Dou Wang. He asked whether I wanted to break free from that fate.

"I was so stirred up at the time that, in a moment of impulse, I swallowed the pill the old man handed me. Then something shocking happened—my cultivation actually fell from Ninth Stage Dou Qi to First Stage Dou Qi.

"Because of this, I have been regretting it these past few days, feeling that I had been deceived.

"Then today's consecutive breakthroughs happened. As for the exact reason, I'm completely clueless."

After Liu Yun finished speaking, both Teng Shan and Yun Yun were greatly shocked.

Teng Shan merely marveled at the wonders of Alchemists, but Yun Yun was utterly stunned.

As the leader of a sect, her experience was certainly extensive. The Misty Cloud Sect had a Sixth-Rank Alchemist, yet even he did not possess such abilities.

So either the boy before her was lying, or he had encountered a Seventh-grade Alchemist—perhaps even an Eighth-grade Alchemist.

"Little fellow, did that person ever reveal his name to you?" Yun Yun asked.

Having risen to the position of sect master, Yun Yun was naturally no naive fool. She was an extremely shrewd woman, not the foolish woman from the original story who had fallen into the quagmire of love.

What Liu Yun had said was simply too outrageous, so she considered it more likely that he was lying. Yet she had no way to explain this miraculous occurrence.

"Grandfather, Sister Yun, I know what you're wondering.

"Though I'm young, I'm not foolish enough to eat any medicine someone hands me. He truly convinced me.

"That old man called himself Elder Yao and claimed to be the number one Alchemist on the Dou Qi Continent.

"He also said that the pill was his latest creation. It could strengthen one's foundation and improve one's cultivation aptitude, and most importantly, it had no side effects. That was why I took it," Liu Yun said.

(Yao Chen: When did this old man ever say that?)

Yun Yun could no longer remain calm. Though she had never been to the Central Continent, she had heard Gu He mention Yao Chen, the continent's number one Alchemist.

This mysterious old man called himself Elder Yao. Could he truly have been that person? Liu Yun's explanation dispelled her suspicions. Liu Yun was only a child; even if he had made a wild guess, he could not have guessed so accurately.

"Little fellow, do you know where that senior went?" Yun Yun asked urgently.

"I don't know. I haven't seen him since then," Liu Yun answered.

Yun Yun knew that someone of such stature came and went without a trace, so she said nothing further. After offering an apology, she hurriedly departed.

After she left, Teng Shan gave a faint sigh, somewhat disappointed. He had no idea what kind of existence the Elder Yao Liu Yun spoke of was; he merely became even more envious of Nalan Jie.

Sure enough, not everyone had Nalan Yanran's good fortune.

"Grandfather, shall I go cultivate now?" Liu Yun asked.

He could feel it—the Return was about to come again. Perhaps he would break through to Eighth Stage Dou Qi the very next second. He needed to hurry and find a place to stabilize his realm.

"Your body is very strange right now. Grandfather cannot guarantee that no accident will occur, so if you feel unwell, you must tell Grandfather immediately," Teng Shan instructed with a frown.

"Got it, Grandfather. Can I go now?" Liu Yun replied vaguely before asking.

"Go on, go on!" Teng Shan waved his hand and did not stop him.

And so the meeting came to an end. Liu Yun hurried to his usual spot, sat cross-legged, and stabilized the realm he had just attained.

"Ding. Yun Yun gained 1 point of Dou Qi through cultivation. Congratulations, Host, for receiving 1 point of Dou Qi as a Return."

That familiar sensation of Dou Qi filling his body returned, and Liu Yun's realm reached Eighth Stage Dou Qi in that instant.

Then two more Return notifications sounded, and Liu Yun's realm consequently reached the unprecedented Tenth Stage Dou Qi.

But before he could recover from his joy, the Hundred Refinements Technique began operating passively on its own, and his realm started falling once more.

Ninth Stage Dou Qi, Eighth Stage Dou Qi... the familiar First Stage Dou Qi.

This drop in realm was much slower than the first time, but it still took only two hours for him to fall from Tenth Stage Dou Qi to First Stage Dou Qi.

Liu Yun knew that the Hundred Refinements Technique was extremely domineering. That meant he would need to undergo this process ninety-eight more times.

Thus, he could not be bothered to care anymore. Next, he simply removed his upper garments and tempered his body bare-chested in the water.

Thousand Hammer Body Tempering had three stages: Water Hammer, Fire Hammer, and Lightning Hammer.

Before reaching Dou Ling, one could only choose the gentler Water Hammer body tempering, cultivating through the pounding of flowing water.

After reaching Dou Ling, once the body had a foundation, one could use the more violent Fire Hammer body tempering.

After reaching Dou Zun, one would need to draw down tribulation lightning to temper the body—the third stage, Lightning Hammer body tempering.

Time flew by as Liu Yun entered a devilish self-torture training regimen.

The arduous training allowed him to clearly feel his body constantly transforming. Every day, he could take one more step toward the waterfall.

Liu Yun discovered that he was starting to become obsessed with this method of cultivation.