Xiao Yan's Sense of Urgency

Xuan Jin opened his eyes. A night of cultivation had left him refreshed and clear-headed.

As he watched the girl carefully turning grilled fish by the campfire, a long-lost warmth rose in his heart.

"You're awake? Brother Xuan Jin, come taste my cooking." Seeing that he was awake, Xiao Yi Xian revealed a faint smile.

She handed him a fish grilled to a crisp, golden brown.

Xuan Jin took it and bit into it.

Crisp on the outside and tender within, the fish had been seasoned with nothing more than simple salt, yet its natural freshness had been perfectly preserved. It tasted surprisingly good.

"Not bad," he praised sincerely.

Receiving his praise, the smile on Xiao Yi Xian's face deepened. She picked up a fish herself and began eating it in small bites.

Sunlight, a stream, a campfire, grilled fish, and the girl beside him.

Xuan Jin suddenly felt that this kind of life seemed rather nice.

In the days that followed, the two settled down in the valley.

Xuan Jin spent most of his time meditating and cultivating on a bluestone, occasionally offering Xiao Yi Xian some guidance.

Meanwhile, under Xuan Jin's watchful care, Xiao Yi Xian officially began studying the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture.

Following the records in the poison scripture, she began trying to consume poisonous herbs with relatively mild toxicity.

At first, she was afraid. But when she discovered that the poisonous herbs brought her no pain after entering her body and instead transformed into streams of pure energy that merged into her Dou Qi, she finally accepted her own constitution.

With Xuan Jin's guidance and the aid of medicinal pills, her cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds.

In just one month, her cultivation soared from that of an ordinary person with no foundation at all to Nine-Stage Dou Disciple. She was only one step away from becoming a Dou Zhe.

Even she was stunned by such rocket-like cultivation speed.

That afternoon, Xuan Jin finished cultivating. When he opened his eyes, he saw Xiao Yi Xian sitting on the grass some distance away, chin resting in her hands as she stared blankly at him.

"What are you thinking about?" Xuan Jin asked.

Xiao Yi Xian came back to her senses, her face flushing slightly. "N-Nothing."

She simply thought that Brother Xuan Jin looked so handsome when he cultivated.

Xuan Jin could not help smiling at her lovestruck appearance.

He rose and walked to the edge of the valley, standing with his hands behind his back. His gaze was distant, though no one knew what he was looking at.

For some reason, he suddenly thought of Cao Ying, far away in Saint Pill City.

That quirky girl, enchanting as a little fairy—he had been gone for more than half a year. He wondered how she was doing now.

Had she been cultivating properly?

"Is Brother Xuan Jin missing someone?"

At some point, Xiao Yi Xian had walked to his side and asked softly.

Her voice pulled Xuan Jin from his thoughts.

He turned his head, looked into the girl's clear Purple Eyes, and nodded candidly. "Yes. I'm thinking of a friend."

"She must be... very beautiful, right?"

Xiao Yi Xian lowered her head, her voice carrying a trace of jealousy that even she had not noticed.

"Mm, very beautiful. And very mischievous." A gentle smile appeared on Xuan Jin's face, one he did not even realize was there.

Seeing the smile on his face, Xiao Yi Xian inexplicably felt stifled inside.

She silently lowered her head and said no more.

Xuan Jin also sensed the shift in atmosphere. He coughed lightly and changed the subject.

"Xian'er, I see that your cultivation has reached Nine-Stage Dou Disciple and your bottleneck is stable. It's time to attempt a breakthrough to Dou Zhe."

"I happen to have the materials here. I'll refine a Qi Gathering Powder for you now."

At this, Xiao Yi Xian perked up and tossed her girlish worries to the back of her mind.

"Refining pills? Brother Xuan Jin, you... you're an alchemist too?" she asked in surprise.

"Ever since I was young, I dreamed of becoming an alchemist, someone who could heal the sick and save lives, but..."

Xiao Yi Xian's voice fell once more.

The Calamity Poison Body had doomed her to have no fate with alchemy.

Xuan Jin rubbed her head.

"Who says a poison master can't save people? Using poison to fight poison can sometimes work better than medicinal pills."

"Come, sit to the side and watch carefully."

With that, Xuan Jin sat down cross-legged.

He did not take out a Medicine Cauldron. With a mere thought, a cluster of deep blue flames rose from his palm.

Sea Heart Flame!

Xiao Yi Xian stared in utter astonishment.

Though she knew nothing of alchemy, she knew that alchemists needed Medicine Cauldrons to refine pills.

Yet Brother Xuan Jin had not taken out a Medicine Cauldron.

Ignoring her surprise, Xuan Jin swept out with his Soul Power. Dozens of medicinal ingredients flew automatically from his Storage Ring and hovered in the air.

With a flick of his finger, the herbs entered the blue flames one after another in a specific sequence.

The instant they entered the flames, the medicinal ingredients were precisely refined into the purest medicinal liquids.

Wrapped in the flames, the dozens of medicinal liquids slowly fused along a mysterious trajectory.

Xiao Yi Xian was completely mesmerized.

Was this the world of alchemists?

It turned out that refining medicine could be so elegant, so pleasing to the eye.

A moment later, a rich medicinal fragrance spread from the flames.

Xuan Jin turned his palm over, and the flames dispersed. A perfectly round pill, radiating a soft, precious glow, quietly hovered over his palm.

The Qi Gathering Powder was complete.

He held the pill out before Xiao Yi Xian.

"Take it. Today, you'll soon become a true Dou Zhe."

Meanwhile, in Wutan City.

At the waterfall on the Xiao Family Back Mountain.

"Boom!"

A black-clad figure burst violently from the water and landed heavily on a massive boulder by the shore, gasping for breath.

It was Xiao Yan.

More than two months had passed since Nalan Yanran came to break off the engagement.

During those two months, he had practically driven himself to his limit.

During the day, he tempered his body beneath the waterfall. At night, he absorbed Dou Qi without sleep or rest.

With the help of some pills Xiao Xun'er had previously sent him, his cultivation had climbed from Dou Disciple Stage Four at the time of the broken engagement to Six-Stage Dou Disciple.

In the past, such speed would have made him ecstatic.

But now, his heart held only crushing pressure.

Six-Stage Dou Disciple sounded impressive, but compared to Nalan Yanran's cultivation as a Three-Star Dou Practitioner, the gap was still as vast as heaven and earth.

"Not enough, still not enough!"

Xiao Yan slammed his fist into the huge boulder beneath him, instantly leaving several cracks across the hard rock.

The Three-Year Pact weighed on him like a mountain, leaving him unable to breathe.

He needed faster cultivation. Once he reached the Dou Zhe stage, he would also need better cultivation techniques and Dou Skills.

But where could he get them?

Just then, a set of light footsteps approached.

Xiao Xun'er walked over slowly, carrying a food box.

"Brother Xiao Yan, eat something first." She opened the food box, revealing several delicate dishes and a bowl of steaming meat porridge.

Xiao Yan shook his head, without the slightest appetite.

Seeing his tightly furrowed brow and bloodshot eyes, Xiao Xun'er's heart ached.

"Brother Xiao Yan, don't push yourself so hard."