"Fourth-grade Alchemist?"
Cao Ying's eyes widened at once.
A Fourth-grade Alchemist wasn't even qualified to join the Pill Tower.
But an eleven- or twelve-year-old Fourth-grade Alchemist was incredibly rare.
Even Cao Ying herself was only a Fifth-grade Alchemist at present.
However, her innate soul power was also quite strong. Once she gained enough experience, becoming a Sixth-grade or even Seventh-grade Alchemist would only be a matter of time.
[Congratulations, host, you have successfully checked in. Congratulations, host, you have received a Five-star Reward: Xiao Yan's very own Heavenly Demon Puppet!]
Just as Ling Xi was about to say something, the system's reward notification finally rang in his ears.
"Xiao Yan's very own Heavenly Demon Puppet?"
Ling Xi furrowed his brow slightly. This was the lowest-star reward he had received from a check-in so far.
"I just don't know which point in time this Heavenly Demon Puppet came from."
After all, the Heavenly Demon Puppet had accompanied Xiao Yan for quite a while, and had been strengthened several times along the way.
At its weakest, it had only been as strong as a Dou Zong. At its strongest, with the support of an array, it could stand against a Three-star Dou Venerate.
"Miss Cao Ying, haven't we reached the room yet?"
Ling Xi couldn't help asking. He was eager to get back to his room and check his reward.
"You're even younger than I am, so why do you talk like an old man?"
Cao Ying didn't answer Ling Xi's question. Instead, she wrinkled her delicate nose.
"Our teachers are friends, and I don't like being called Miss Cao Ying."
As she spoke, Cao Ying suddenly reached out and pinched Ling Xi's cheek.
"I'm a few years older than you, so you can drop the 'Miss.'"
"Sister Cao Ying...?"
Ling Xi hesitated, then called her that in a very embarrassed whisper under Cao Ying's expectant gaze.
How embarrassing!
At that moment, Ling Xi felt as if he could dig out a three-bedroom apartment with his toes.
After all, before being sent to the Dou Qi Continent by a truck, he had been a fine young man in his twenties.
Now he had to call a girl in her teens his older sister. It was rather awkward.
After all, he didn't have some strange quirk like Tang San, casually calling someone "Big Sis Xiao Wu."
"Why did you sound so reluctant?"
Cao Ying's brows immediately furrowed.
"Please hurry up and take me to my room, Miss Cao Ying."
Ling Xi spoke helplessly.
"Hmph, we're here. It's right here."
Cao Ying didn't say anything more. She stopped and pointed to a room beside them.
"This is your room. If you need anything, you can come to me."
"What do you mean?"
Confusion showed on Ling Xi's face.
"Since Master entrusted you to me, you can come to me anytime you need anything."
As she spoke, Cao Ying pointed to the room beside his and chuckled.
"I live right next door."
"Oh, is that so?"
Ling Xi raised his brows and reached out to open the door.
"It's late. You should get some rest too, Miss Cao Ying."
With that, he didn't wait for Cao Ying to say anything else before closing the door.
"Bang!"
The gust of wind from the closing door blew a lock of Cao Ying's hair down over her forehead.
Her face twitched slightly. As a direct disciple of a Pill Tower Giant, this was the first time anyone had treated her like this.
"Ling Xi... He's quite an interesting person."
Cao Ying looked at Ling Xi's tightly shut door, her eyes glinting.
"And that clan the teachers mentioned—what clan is it?"
Cao Ying came from one of the Five Great Clans of the Pill Tower and was herself the disciple of a Pill Tower Giant. When it came to soul power, she had never taken anyone else seriously.
Perhaps it was a woman's intuition, but she couldn't help feeling that Ling Xi's soul power was extraordinary.
"Never mind. There'll be plenty of time later."
Shaking her head, Cao Ying returned to her room as well.
As soon as Ling Xi entered his room, he flopped onto the bed.
After competing against others in the Ling Clan and traveling nonstop for an entire day and night, even he couldn't help feeling tired.
He rubbed his brow lightly, then immediately ordered the system.
"System, claim the reward."
Golden light flashed, and a golden puppet appeared in front of Ling Xi.
"This Heavenly Demon Puppet is about as strong as the one Xiao Yan had after it absorbed the Pill Lightning at the pill competition."
Looking at the dazzling golden light covering the Heavenly Demon Puppet, Ling Xi's gaze turned thoughtful.
"In other words, this Heavenly Demon Puppet is as strong as a Dou Venerate."
"With a Dou Venerate-level Heavenly Demon Puppet, even if my teacher isn't around in the future, I'll at least be able to protect myself."
With a wave of his hand, Ling Xi put the Heavenly Demon Puppet into his Nakai Ring. Then he sat cross-legged on the bed and began cultivating.
He had been on the Dou Qi Continent for quite a while now, and had come to understand one thing very clearly.
That was, when the body was at its most exhausted, the speed of cultivating Dou Qi within it actually increased.
As the Myriad Spirits Returning to Origin Art circulated, the energy of the world, along with Spiritual Qi, surged into Ling Xi's body.
Perhaps because this was the Pill Tower and it was close to the Star Domain,
Ling Xi could clearly sense that the Spiritual Qi here was exceptionally abundant, even denser than it had been in the Ling Domain.
The Devouring Power of the Devouring Ancestral Symbol suddenly activated, and an invisible vortex appeared between Ling Xi's brows.
Not a single wisp of Spiritual Qi could escape the Devouring Power of the Devouring Ancestral Symbol. Most of it became nourishment for Ling Xi's soul power.
The remaining portion was refined by his cultivation method and turned into the purest Dou Qi, which flowed into the golden-red Qi Vortex within him.
With this surge of powerful Dou Qi flowing in, Ling Xi's Qi Vortex immediately began spinning at high speed.
It was as though the Devouring Power of the Devouring Ancestral Symbol had been activated at that very moment. A terrifying force of devouring suddenly erupted from his body.
The energy of the world poured into Ling Xi's body in a seemingly endless torrent.
In the end, an energy vortex even formed around him.
"What's going on?"
The commotion naturally alarmed many people, including Xuan Kongzi and Ling You.
"Teacher, this is the room I arranged for Ling Xi..."
Roused from her cultivation, Cao Ying stared at the energy vortex appearing around Ling Xi's room, stunned.
"What terrifying Devouring Power. It's even drawing in the Spiritual Qi from the Pill Tower Starry Sky!"
Even Xuan Kongzi couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath.
He was certain he couldn't have caused a commotion like this in his teens.
"What exactly is your disciple doing in his room?"
"He's probably breaking through, right?"
Ling You was also shocked by the sight before him, but he understood Ling Xi better than Xuan Kongzi did.
"Breaking through?"
Xuan Kongzi's mouth fell open.
"Could he be breaking through to Dou Zong?"
"Otherwise, he must be cultivating a Heavenly Rank Cultivation Method. How else could he draw in the Spiritual Qi from my Pill Tower Starry Sky?"
Hearing this, Ling You shook his head with an amused, helpless smile.
"He's probably breaking through to Da Dou Shi, and his cultivation method is just an ordinary High Yellow Tier method from my clan."
Before you continue