Breakthrough!

Ye Xiu pulled a bag of gold coins from his Storage Ring and tossed it onto the counter.

"Count it."

Hai Bodong didn't even glance at the bag. He'd only named five hundred thousand on a whim; it wasn't money he was short on. He put the bag away, then looked at Ye Xiu without saying a word for a long while.

Ye Xiu stowed the fragmentary map in his Storage Ring and turned to leave.

"Wait." Just then, Hai Bodong suddenly called out to him.

Ye Xiu stopped and looked back. "What is it?"

Hai Bodong hesitated, then said, "You... you know this is only a fragment, so you should know that having just this one is useless."

"I know."

"Then why buy it?"

Ye Xiu looked at him. "I have my reasons."

Hai Bodong opened his mouth, then asked, "Do you really know what this fragment is for?"

"If you're trying to pump me for information, don't bother." Ye Xiu turned and walked to the door, then suddenly stopped as he remembered something.

"Do you want to break that seal of yours?"

Hai Bodong froze, then sprang to his feet. "You can break it?"

Ye Xiu glanced back at him. "A sixth-tier seal isn't difficult for me. But I'm busy right now. We'll talk when I get back."

Hai Bodong's eyes lit up. "You... you're willing to help me?"

Ye Xiu said, "Depends on my mood. And of course, there'll be conditions."

With that, he pushed open the door and left.

Hai Bodong stood behind the counter, staring at the door without moving for a long time.

After quite a while, he slowly sat back down and touched the wound on his face, still feeling a little dazed.

He'd naturally noticed the Fourth-grade Alchemist insignia on Ye Xiu. At that age, to be both a Dou Wang and a Fourth-grade Alchemist was simply terrifying.

But breaking his seal required a Po'e Pill refined by a Sixth-grade Alchemist.

Hai Bodong eyed him suspiciously. "Can that kid really break my seal?"

When Ye Xiu returned to the inn, Xiao Yi Xian was waiting for him in the room.

Seeing him come in, Xiao Yi Xian stood up. "Master, you're back?"

Ye Xiu nodded and sat down in a chair.

Xiao Yi Xian came over, curious. "Master, where did you go just now?"

Ye Xiu didn't hide it. After spending so many days together, he had come to trust Xiao Yi Xian deeply. "I bought something."

He pulled the fragmentary map from his Storage Ring and handed it to Xiao Yi Xian.

Xiao Yi Xian took it and examined it, frowning. "Master, what's this? It looks like a map, but it's all tattered."

"A fragmentary map of the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame."

"The Purifying Lotus Demon Flame?" Xiao Yi Xian froze. "That's the Heavenly Flame you told me about?"

"It's a Heavenly Flame, but it's a different one. It isn't the one I'm after this time."

Xiao Yi Xian looked at the fragment in her hands, her eyes sparkling. "Master, no matter what, that means we're one step closer to a Heavenly Flame, right?"

Ye Xiu smiled. "You could say that."

He took the fragment back and put it in his Storage Ring.

Ye Xiu continued, "There are twenty-three Heavenly Flames in all on the Dou Qi Continent. One of them is called the Nether Poison Flame, and it's especially suited to your Woe Poison Body."

Xiao Yi Xian was slightly taken aback. "Oh, really?"

Ye Xiu nodded. "If we get the chance someday, I'll help you subdue that Heavenly Flame. It'll benefit your constitution quite a bit."

Xiao Yi Xian immediately brightened. "Mm, thank you, Master!"

Then Xiao Yi Xian sat down beside him, resting her chin in her hands as she looked at him and changed the subject. "Master, did you run into any trouble when you went out?"

"What trouble could I run into? I just chatted with an old man."

"Chatted?"

"Mm," Ye Xiu said. "Then we started fighting."

Xiao Yi Xian: "..."

She looked him over and saw that he wasn't hurt at all, so she relaxed.

"So, Master, you won?"

Ye Xiu glanced at her. "What do you think?"

Xiao Yi Xian giggled. "Of course you won. Master's the best."

Ye Xiu said nothing. He stood up and walked to the window.

It was almost dark outside. The distant desert glowed red in the sunset.

Xiao Yi Xian followed and stood beside him.

"Master, when are we going to the Snake-People Tribe?"

"Wait a few more days."

"For what?"

Ye Xiu glanced back at her. "Until I break through again. And it won't be 'we' going to the Snake-Person Tribe. I'll go alone. It's still too dangerous for you there."

Xiao Yi Xian's spirits sank, but she nodded and didn't ask anything else.

The two of them stood by the window, watching the light outside slowly fade.

After a long while, Xiao Yi Xian suddenly asked in a small voice, "Master, tonight... are we cultivating together again?"

Ye Xiu glanced at her.

Xiao Yi Xian's face flushed, but she didn't look away. She simply gazed at him.

Ye Xiu said, "Come on. Follow me inside."

Xiao Yi Xian lowered her head, the corners of her mouth turning up.

The last sliver of light vanished beyond the horizon, and night fell.

Three days later, in the morning.

A mighty aura suddenly burst through the room at the inn in Mo City!

Ye Xiu opened his eyes and looked down at his hands. The Dou Qi inside him was far more abundant than before, and flowed with incredible ease.

At last, he had reached four-star Dou Wang.

Across from him, Xiao Yi Xian opened her eyes too. Her face was flushed, and her aura was much stronger than it had been three days earlier. She had also advanced by one star.

"Master!" Xiao Yi Xian was so excited she nearly jumped up. "I broke through! I broke through too! Cultivating together is so fast!"

Ye Xiu nodded with satisfaction. "Not bad."

Not bad? Xiao Yi Xian's mouth twitched. She'd been stuck at this level for years, and after her master cultivated with her for just three days, she'd broken through! How could he call that "not bad"?

But she didn't dare say anything. She only gave a couple of sheepish laughs.

Ye Xiu stood and stretched. Sunlight streamed through the window, filling the room with brightness.

"It's about time," he said. "I have to go."

The smile on Xiao Yi Xian's face instantly froze.

She opened her mouth, but in the end, she only lowered her head and murmured, "Mm."

Seeing her like that, Ye Xiu didn't say much. He went to the table and took some things from his Storage Ring, laying them out.

Two jade bottles, a scroll, and a bag of gold coins.

"These are Fourth-grade healing pills and Qi Recovery Pills. Keep them safe, and be careful while I'm gone," Ye Xiu said. "That scroll contains a low-tier Black-grade Dou Technique, the Green Python Poison Palm. I got it in Wutan City. It goes well with your Poison Scripture, so practice it when you have time. Keep the gold coins and spend them. Don't be frugal."

Xiao Yi Xian looked at the things on the table and nodded firmly.

She walked up to Ye Xiu and looked up at him. "Master, when will you be back?"

Ye Xiu thought it over. "If things go quickly, ten days to half a month. If not... hard to say."

Xiao Yi Xian nodded and bit her lip. Suddenly, she stepped forward and threw her arms around him.

Ye Xiu was taken aback. Feeling her soft body against him, he didn't move.

Xiao Yi Xian buried her face against his chest and said in a muffled voice, "Master, you have to come back safe and sound."