Secluded Cultivation in the Mountain Valley

Amidst verdant, overlapping mountain peaks, in a secluded valley shrouded in Spiritual Energy, Xiao Yuan gazed at the small wooden house before him, which was almost identical to his memory, and nodded with considerable satisfaction.

Central State truly lives up to its reputation as the center of the continent. This place is located in a winding mountain range northwest of Ye City, where the energy of heaven and earth is abundant. Just like that secluded valley in the Monster Mountain Range back then, it is indeed a good place to live in seclusion. The efficiency of cultivating Dou Qi here will be much higher.

Although this place was previously occupied by a Seventh Rank Magical Beast, it had no choice but to voluntarily relinquish it under the terrifying lineup of four Dou Zong and one Dou Zun.

Xiao Yuan was very satisfied with this, so he did not use his Magic Core to refine medicine.

As for the wooden house in front of him, it was built by Xiao Yuan using his immense soul power, after cutting down a large number of trees according to his memory.

Yun Yun and Xiao Yi Xian, who had both stayed in that little wooden house, naturally saw through Xiao Yuan's intentions, and their gazes towards Xiao Yuan were filled with tenderness.

This was Tang Huo'er's first time staying in a wooden house like this. As the young lady of Burning Flame Valley, her living conditions were quite good.

This kind of living environment, which is called simplicity by high emotional intelligence and shabby by low emotional intelligence, actually felt novel to her! What's more, this kind of carefree life, like that of a hermit, was quite interesting, and she really wanted to experience it.

As for Cai Lin, although she said things like "it's just a trick to coax women," she still obediently followed along.

Xiao Yuan was used to this stubborn and alluring beauty. It didn't matter if she was stubborn normally, as long as she was soft when kissing him, it was fine.

The idea of coming here to live in seclusion for a period of time was proposed by Xiao Yuan.

Although Xiao Yuan's ultimate imagined enemy was a super strong expert like the Hun Tiandi, at present, such a strong expert would not even look at him, a mere Dou Zong.

Therefore, those who can threaten him are basically the Heavenly Venerable Elder of the Soul Hall.

Xiao Yuan was not afraid of ordinary Heavenly Venerable.

Because he had a jade piece containing a trace of soul power stored with Heavenly Flame Venerable, if he encountered danger, unless a powerful expert far surpassing Heavenly Flame Venerable set up a spatial barrier, Heavenly Flame Venerable would immediately break through the void to come and protect Xiao Yuan.

Xiao Yi Xian now possesses the strength of Peak Two-Star Dou Zun. The accumulated poison power of her Woeful Poison Body over the years, which was a source of disaster for her in the past, has now become the best nourishment for improving her strength.

In addition, Xiao Yuan's strength is comparable to that of Dou Zun expert, so even if the people from the Soul Hall come looking for him, Xiao Yuan is not afraid.

As for the Soul Hall sending an expert far stronger than Heavenly Flame Venerable, there's nothing that can be done. Even Heavenly Flame Venerable can't defeat them; their arrival would only be suicide.

Moreover, if it really came down to a fight to the death, Xiao Yuan was confident that he could take down any enemy below the Dou Sheng level.

After all, the Dou Emperor Bloodline within him wasn't just for displaying his Clan Mark.

Of course, when you're out in the world, safety is the most important thing.

He traveled by tearing through the void the entire time he came out. Apart from Xiao Yan, Heavenly Flame Venerable, Yao Lao, Ye Zhong, and Xinlan, the rest of the Ye Clan had no idea that Xiao Yuan had left.

The courtyard where they lived was sealed off by Heavenly Flame Venerable, who claimed that he had just recovered his body and needed to go into seclusion for a period of time. No one except Xiao Yan was allowed to enter.

Xiao Yan practiced alchemy in the Ye Clan's most advanced Pill Chamber.

Ye Zhong and Ye Xinlan would occasionally bring people to deliver Medicinal Herbs.

All the Medicinal Herbs Xiao Yan needed to improve his alchemy skills were provided by the Ye Clan.

This cautious approach allowed Xiao Yuan to confidently bring the four beauties out for a stroll and to strengthen their bond.

Each person has their own cultivation rhythm, and a group of people naturally has their own cultivation rhythm as well.

Although they said they came out to relax, the group still had no intention of neglecting their cultivation.

Although the Ice River Valley incident has come to an end, it has not made them relax.

The Queen of the Snake-People Tribe, the Sect Master of the Misty Cloud Sect, the Sect Master of the Poison Sect, and the Eldest Daughter of the Burning Flame Valley.

Although the four women are now by Xiao Yuan's side, they all have their own pride. It's nice to have someone to rely on, but they are not willing to be completely treated as decorative objects.

Moreover, given the immense pressure Xiao Yuan was under, they hoped to share some of Xiao Yuan burden.

Xiao Yuan was quite moved by this. Although cultivation was something he had to do himself, as an alchemist, he still had some methods to increase the speed of cultivation.

"Here, the Medicinal Herbs you need."

Xiao Yi Xian and Cai Lin flew in from outside the valley, landed on the ground, and handed Xiao Yuan a Storage Ring filled with Medicinal Herbs.

To accelerate their cultivation progress, Xiao Yuan planned to refine a batch of pills and medicinal liquids to aid in cultivation.

While Xiao Yuan was building the wooden house, Xiao Yi Xian and Cai Lin were naturally busy. Firstly, they went out to help Xiao Yuan collect Medicinal Herbs, which saved a lot of time. Secondly, the two girls could also get to know each other better, since they would be sisters under the same roof in the future.

"You're back? You've worked hard. I've finished my work here too. Let's grab something to eat later, and then we can start cultivating."

Xiao Yuan said with a smile.

Being able to relax and balance work and rest is something that Xiao Yuan himself should be happy about.

"Okay!"

With Xiao Yi Xian sweet smile, Xiao Yuan felt as if he were seeing the kind-hearted girl from Green Mountain Town back then.

"Do you need any help?"

Although Cai Lin didn't nod with a smile like Xiao Yi Xian, she still asked softly in a gentle voice.

"Okay, I have some ingredients here, you two help me prepare them."

Xiao Yuan nodded and led the two toward a stream in the valley.

The stream is flowing water, originating from a rocky cliff in a corner of the valley. It has a sweet taste and is very clean, so there is no problem drinking it directly.

Moreover, with a master of poisons like Xiao Yi Xian and Xiao Yuan, who can now be called a master alchemist, even if the mushrooms are incredibly delicious, they can still eat them without worry after eating Grandma Jian's poisonous mushrooms.

Are Sister Huo'er and Sister Yun still cultivating?

As Xiao Yi Xian walked, she glanced around the room.

"Yes, Sister Yun's Dou Qi fluctuations have been getting more and more intense lately. I expect she will break through within the next day or two." Xiao Yuan nodded, and then added, "Huo'er is also a strong-willed person. She is currently engrossed in practicing the Control Fire Technique. Before I came, I asked Elder Ye for a good quality medicine cauldron. It has no other functions, but it has one special feature: it is heat-resistant! It is enough to withstand the high temperature of the Nine Dragons Lightning Flame."

Since the battle a few days ago, Yun Yun's internal Dou Qi has shown signs of advancement. However, she was unable to break through because of Xiao Yuan's anxiety a few days ago. Now that Xiao Yuan has taken her out to relax, she is in a much better mood. Therefore, her breakthrough is expected in the next few days. So she has been cultivating quietly in the house. With Xiao Yuan's soul barrier protecting her, the construction outside the wooden house will not have any impact on her.

As for Tang Huo'er, she originally intended to lend a hand to Xiao Yuan, but she discovered that her previous cultivation Dou Technique were all about explosive, wide-ranging movements, and she was not quite up to the task of delicate work like repairing a house.

She had originally planned to evaporate some of the moisture from the wood in the wooden house, but since she had just mastered the Nine Dragons Lightning Flame, she was not yet able to control the power of the flames, so she burned the wood as soon as she tried.

Tang Huo'er, deeply affected, was immediately in a bad mood.

It's so painful!

They all possess Heavenly Flames, so why is there such a big difference between them?

Oh, Xiao Yuan is an alchemist, that's fine. But that still won't do!

Tang Huo'er thought that her father, who was not an alchemist, had such a powerful Fire Energy, so why couldn't she? Therefore, she decided to go back to Burning Flame Valley to learn from her father, Tang Zhen.

But Xiao Yuan had anticipated this. He knew what kind of people his four lovers were, and naturally they would never actually stay in the valley with him and live a life of retirement.

Yun Yun and Cai Lin are fully capable of cultivating in the time to come.

However, Tang Huo'er and Xiao Yi Xian were not like that.

Both of them have just experienced a surge in strength and need a period of time to consolidate their power before they can continue cultivating.

For Tang Huo'er, nothing was better for honing her Dou Qi than practicing Control Fire Technique.

Therefore, Xiao Yuan specially prepared some medicinal liquids with special functions that did not require condensation of Medicinal Herbs, but only required removing impurities from the medicinal materials and refining them into a pure medicinal liquid, and asked Tang Huo'er to try to refine them.

Moreover, this can also strengthen her soul power, truly achieving three benefits in one fell swoop.

"Although Huo'er is straightforward, she has a stubborn streak. Although alchemy is a tedious and arduous task, I think she can persevere and benefit greatly from it."

Xiao Yi Xian nodded and said with great approval.

Although Xiao Yuan's womanizing ways were quite frustrating for her, she had to admit that Xiao Yuan had good taste; at least the girls she knew so far were all women she approved of.

Even the usually aloof Cai Lin had endless things to say about Xiao Yuan when they went out to gather herbs. In addition, since the two of them had both been shamelessly threatened by Xiao Yuan at the beginning, they had common topics, and their relationship became much closer in just a few words.

Cai Lin also had a good impression of Xiao Yi Xian, who always had a sweet smile. Back then, she also had such a smile, but for the sake of the Snake-People Tribe, she carried too much and lost too much.

Now that she's by Xiao Yuan's side, she no longer has so many trivial matters or such heavy burdens. While she feels relaxed, she also feels uneasy, always feeling that being idle is a waste of her life. However, the great battle a few days ago made her realize that although Xiao Yuan has such a handsome face that he can win favor everywhere and is incredibly attractive to some women, he probably has quite a few enemies.

Therefore, she actually understood Xiao Yuan's behavior of not being able to stay idle and going to practice Dou Technique.

If it were her, she would probably do the same.

She just hadn't gotten used to taking off the queen's mask she'd worn for so many years, like Xiao Yi Xian, and rediscovering that sweet smile from her carefree days.

Therefore, she has been practicing cultivation in her spare time lately.

She hoped that in the next battle, she would stand beside Xiao Yuan, not behind him.

Although it would be difficult for her to do this given Xiao Yuan's abnormal combat power, she would do her best to do it.

Fortunately, as an ancient mythical beast, the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python's cultivation speed after transformation was extremely fast, so she did have some confidence.

"The energy of heaven and earth here is abundant. I plan to go into seclusion for a period of time to cultivate secret techniques."

Cai Lin spoke softly as she somewhat clumsily processed the ingredients.

"What secret technique?"

Xiao Yuan asked curiously.

He knew very little about the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python, this ancient and mythical beast.

"It's a cultivation secret technique from my inherited memories that can speed up cultivation, but it can only be used after you've transformed into human form. It also requires some supplementary pills. The Medicinal Herbs and prescriptions are all in my Storage Ring. Remember to help me refine them."

I've been traveling a lot lately, so I haven't tried this before. Now that I have some free time, I'll give it a shot.

Upon hearing this, Cai Lin turned her head and looked at Xiao Yuan, explaining, "Alright, leave it to me. I will refine the pills for you as soon as possible."

Xiao Yuan nodded and said with a smile.

"Yes, thank you."

Cai Lin nodded and said gently.

"Why are you being so polite with me? My alchemy skills are meant to be used in situations like this. My initial reason for learning alchemy was to make things easier for myself and those around me. Although the Pill Gathering was good, it didn't mean much to me."

But Xiao Yan needs the Three Thousand Burning Flame, and he also needs to inherit his teacher's title as the continent's Number One Alchemist, so he has to go. Otherwise, he, like me, would prioritize improving his own strength, and the Soul Hall's power is far greater than what we see at the moment.

Xiao Yuan waved his hand, then spoke with a more serious expression.

He had always been quite wary of the Soul Hall.

After all, even the teacher, who was at the Dou Zun Peak, fell into their hands. Although Han Feng betrayed him, this also shows how powerful the Soul Hall is.

Moreover, Xiao Yuan knew clearly that behind the Soul Hall stood the entire Soul Clan, which was the most powerful force on the continent in terms of overall strength.

Even the Ancient Clan were actually slightly inferior in comparison.

"Did you already know these things when you were cultivating back then?"

Xiao Yi Xian asked with some doubt.

In her memory, Xiao Yuan was very hardworking when he was cultivating, never stopping for a moment.

"Back then, I was mainly annoyed by Nalan Yanran's annulment of the engagement. Although from her perspective, her intentions were not wrong, she just did things stupidly and did not act like the young master of the three major families of the empire at all. At that time, I had already met Sister Ya Fei. She had a great figure, was very good at dealing with people, and was very good to me. Compared to her, I was not very fond of this Miss Nalan Family."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yuan recalled what had happened back then and couldn't help but speak as well.