Was Brother training in a place like this?

"Brother, where are you planning to go?"

Midair, Shui Bing'er looked at the scenery below with curiosity.

Shui Wuchen stood with his hands behind his back and replied without turning around, "To find a suitable place to train."

"A suitable place to train?"

Hearing this, a trace of confusion flashed through Shui Bing'er's eyes. "Are we going back to Skywater Academy to train?"

In Shui Bing'er's view, if they wanted to cultivate, there should be no place better than Skywater Academy's Simulated Training Ground.

After all, Skywater Academy's Simulated Training Ground was among the very best. It could increase cultivation speed by a full fifty percent.

However, to Shui Bing'er's surprise, Shui Wuchen shook his head after hearing her words.

"Skywater Academy's Simulated Training Ground is good, but its training efficiency is not the highest."

As soon as he said this, Shui Bing'er hurried forward, grabbed Shui Wuchen by the shoulder, and asked, "Then, Brother, what is the best?"

After learning that her brother had already broken through to Soul Emperor, Shui Bing'er had begun to feel a sense of urgency.

And now, hearing that her brother knew of a training site even better than a top-tier Simulated Training Ground, how could she not be excited?

"No matter how good a Simulated Training Ground within an academy is, it is ultimately man-made. Restricted by its creator's ability, funding, and location, its upper limit is already set.

"But nature has no such restrictions. Therefore, the finest Simulated Training Grounds in the world are not artificial environments within Soul Master Academies, but naturally formed secret realms."

As he spoke, Shui Wuchen gave Shui Bing'er an example.

"For instance, Godwind Academy was built atop a top-tier wind attribute Natural Secret Realm—the Hurricane Canyon. That is why its students' levels are generally somewhat higher than those of other academies.

"Feng Xiaotian's breakthrough to Soul Emperor also owed much to Hurricane Canyon."

After hearing Shui Wuchen's explanation, Shui Bing'er's eyes lit up. A secret realm born of heaven and earth truly sounded far superior to an artificial Simulated Training Ground.

"Then, Brother, were you also training in a place like this before?" Shui Bing'er blinked and asked.

Shui Wuchen did not deny it and nodded slightly. "That's right."

Seeing Shui Wuchen admit it, Shui Bing'er finally understood. No wonder her brother had broken through to Soul Emperor so quickly—it turned out this was the reason.

In truth, there were many reasons why Shui Wuchen had become a Soul Emperor at sixteen. The boost from the Natural Secret Realm was only one of them.

The most important reason was Articuno's uniqueness, which allowed him to absorb Soul Rings beyond the limits of ordinary people.

Every time he absorbed a Soul Ring beyond his limit, the Soul Power fed back to him had raised him by more than a level. Across six Soul Rings, this had undoubtedly saved Shui Wuchen a tremendous amount of cultivation time.

Otherwise, even with Shui Wuchen's talent, he would have needed at least another three or four years to break through to Soul Emperor. There was no way he could have reached Level 63 at sixteen.

At that moment, Shui Bing'er came back to her senses and asked somewhat doubtfully, "But Brother, since Natural Secret Realms have so many benefits, why didn't you bring me along to train before?"

Shui Bing'er did not doubt her brother's motives. They had depended on each other since childhood, and Shui Wuchen's kindness toward her was beyond question.

She was merely puzzled as to why her brother had not told her about this earlier. If he had, her level would definitely be higher now, and she could have helped Shui Wuchen more.

"I didn't tell you before because your level was too low."

Without any hesitation, Shui Wuchen said, "Natural Secret Realms are not safe places. They are often accompanied by danger. With your previous level, it would have been difficult for you to endure it. And training in places like that is very harsh. Are you really willing?"

Shui Wuchen had been able to train atop Tianxue Peak long ago because his level was high enough, and because the traits of his Articuno Martial Soul allowed him to ignore the extreme cold outside.

But what he could do was not necessarily something Shui Bing'er could do.

Although the Ice Phoenix Martial Soul could be called one of the finest beast Martial Souls, in Shui Wuchen's eyes, it still fell a little short. It had not reached the pinnacle level.

It had resistance to cold, but it was far inferior to Shui Wuchen after he gained the Articuno Martial Soul.

Moreover, the summit of Tianxue Peak was not a safe place. Even setting aside the freezing cold that could kill a person, the occasional avalanches were deadly dangers in themselves.

The reason Shui Wuchen could, and dared to, undergo long periods of Secluded Cultivation was mainly because he had Articuno to guard him. Even if something unexpected happened outside, it could protect him and keep him safe.

As for choosing a slightly weaker location, it might not even be better than Skywater Academy's Simulated Training Ground.

And once she chose Shui Wuchen's method of cultivation, it meant living like an ascetic. It meant becoming disconnected from her friends at Skywater Academy. That might not necessarily be a good thing.

All of these combined were the reasons Shui Wuchen had not told Shui Bing'er about this cultivation method.

"I'm not afraid of hardship! I want to train with you, Brother."

Hearing this, Shui Bing'er chose the same cultivation method as Shui Wuchen without the slightest hesitation.

She had already had enough of being left far behind by her brother, of being completely unable to help whenever something happened to him.

Seeing the determination in his sister's eyes, Shui Wuchen smiled and pinched Shui Bing'er's cheek. "Good. As expected of my sister. Since I brought this up now, I've already decided to take you with me to train. Just don't start crying in the days ahead."

"Hmph! I'm not a little girl anymore! I won't cry!"

After hearing Shui Wuchen's words, Shui Bing'er gave a light snort, slapped his hand away in displeasure, and turned her head aside.

But after turning away, a smile appeared at the corner of Shui Bing'er's lips. She knew that this meant her brother had acknowledged her, and that she could move forward alongside him.

After flying for most of the day, Articuno finally carried Shui Wuchen and Shui Bing'er to their destination: Tianxue Peak!

"This is Tianxue Peak? Brother, this is where you used to train?"

When she saw Articuno descending toward Tianxue Peak, Shui Bing'er's gaze trembled as she abruptly turned to Shui Wuchen.

Shui Wuchen nodded slightly, then faced the cold wind and jumped onto the cliffside where he had trained before.

The next moment, Shui Bing'er also jumped down from Articuno's back. Looking around at the surroundings and feeling the howling wind, as though her body might freeze at any moment, her heart immediately ached.

Her brother had actually trained in a place like this. It was so bleak, so arduous.

No wonder she sometimes could not find Shui Wuchen when she went looking for him. How could she possibly find him in a place like this?

At that moment, Shui Wuchen pointed to a spot beside him and said, "Bing'er. For the next twenty days, you'll train beside me. If you can't hold on, tell me. Don't force yourself."