She Pushed Them to Hurry

If she didn't pick up the pace and catch up with Zhang Tao and the others, she'd really be left behind. As one of the prodigies, she couldn't allow that to happen.

As for her pride, heh. Compared to improving her strength, it wasn't worth a thing.

She wanted to experience the effects of sealing three gates in one day, too. That would undoubtedly save her a great deal of time. She was already older than Zhang Tao. If she didn't work harder, she could forget about surpassing him.

Zhang Tao was speechless. He'd only said it offhandedly, and he hadn't expected this woman to take him seriously. As for sealing three gates in one day, she could forget about it. The Kongtong Seal had helped him back then, and Li Zhen had just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Otherwise, sealing three gates in a day would've been a pipe dream.

Even Fang Ping, with his cheat-like ability to simulate auras, had taken several months.

"This isn't the place to talk. Let's head back first," Zhang Tao said. Actually, there was a way to speed things up: teach Nan Yunyue how to cultivate her spiritual power. That would greatly reduce the time needed to seal her gates and help her manifest her spiritual power much faster.

Zhang Tao still trusted Nan Yunyue.

It was just that Nan Yunyue's strength was too low right now. Clearly, Li Xianling wouldn't pass this on to her. After all, someone with too little strength couldn't keep a secret.

Nan Yunyue was overjoyed and hurried after Zhang Tao, limping.

When they got home, Zhang Tao raised an eyebrow. The cat wasn't there. Where had it gone off to? He wasn't worried about the cat's safety. After all, on Azure Planet, who besides the Heaven Suppressing King could hurt it?

"Hurry up! What's the method?" Nan Yunyue asked impatiently.

"To seal three gates, you just need strong enough qi and blood and powerful enough spiritual strength to speed things up. I'll teach you how to cultivate your spiritual power now. That way, you'll be able to seal your gates much faster!" Zhang Tao said through voice transmission.

Nan Yunyue froze. A method for cultivating spiritual power? Hadn't there never been such a thing? She stared at Zhang Tao in confusion. Was this guy trying to fool her? He dared to lie to her about cultivation?

Zhang Tao ignored her expression and told her the method for cultivating spiritual power. Then he said, "When you cultivate from now on, don't let anyone see you. Don't tell anyone, understand? This is a top secret. Telling you already violates the rules!"

Nan Yunyue was completely dumbfounded. Good grief, they'd really come up with a method to cultivate spiritual power? When had that happened? How did Zhang Tao know about it?

She had a bellyful of questions, but clearly this wasn't the time to ask them. With this method, she could reach Rank 7 several years sooner.

"I'll give it a try!" Nan Yunyue didn't stand on ceremony. She sat right down in Zhang Tao's living room and began cultivating. She had to bend the Bridge of Heaven and Earth into a closed loop and manifest her Brain Core.

Zhang Tao left her to it. He was planning to go out and buy some good things to reward the cat when it came back.

But as soon as Zhang Tao stepped outside, he saw Grey Cat returning with a swaggering gait.

When it saw Zhang Tao, it grinned. "Little Tao, you're back! Is the fighting over on your end?"

Zhang Tao grimaced. Had this cat been watching palace dramas lately?

"Brother Cat, it's over. We owe you for your God-Slaying Blade. Without it, we might've suffered a huge loss this time!" Zhang Tao said solemnly. Without the cat's blade, winning would've been far too difficult.

"No worries, no worries. Are you heading out?" Grey Cat asked curiously.

Zhang Tao shook his head. He'd planned to go out, but now that the cat was back, he didn't feel like leaving. He'd just call and have someone deliver some delicious food. He knew a descendant of an imperial chef, after all.

"Good timing. I have some things to give you!" Grey Cat said, padding inside. Zhang Tao's eyes lit up, and he followed. The cat was giving him something of its own accord. That meant something.

Once they entered the living room, Grey Cat spotted Nan Yunyue cultivating but paid her no mind. It opened its mouth and spat out a ring. "This is for you!"

Zhang Tao was stunned, then overjoyed. Good grief, a Space Ring! He'd just been wondering how to get one, and now the cat had brought him one.

He hurriedly took it and looked inside, then drew in a sharp breath. "Brother Cat, this..."

Grey Cat smiled. "It's for you, to speed up your cultivation." As it finished speaking, it thought of Gong Juanzi's expression and grimaced. Gong Juanzi was probably still cursing it out.

Grey Cat glanced at the Black Pool inside Cat World. Sure enough, Gong Juanzi had appeared above it, clutching the cat by the neck and cursing nonstop. Grey Cat curled its lip, muttered "cheapskate," and ignored him.

This called for a little explanation about Grey Cat's trip to the Catacombs.

After Zhang Tao left, Grey Cat had entered the Forbidden City Catacombs without anyone noticing. After all, it was an Emperor Rank cat, and even Great Grandmaster Guo Weicheng, stationed at Forbidden City, hadn't noticed a thing.

Grey Cat first went to the Catacombs' cities and stole a great deal of Life Essence. It didn't spare a few treasures, either. The King Cities' vaults held no secrets from Grey Cat.

Grey Cat had visited all the King Cities in the Forbidden City Catacombs. When their lords and guardian Monster Plants discovered what had happened, they were horrified. The city lord's vault had been robbed, and most of the Life Essence inside the Rank 9 Monster Plants was gone. It was all too bizarre. A True King-level expert must have done this.

But why would a True King want their things? The Catacombs' city lords couldn't figure it out.

After stealing quite a few things, Grey Cat entered the Forbidden Sea and swam to Kuocang Mountain.

When Gong Juanzi sensed Grey Cat, he activated the defensive barrier. He'd thought the cat had had enough fun outside and was coming back to sleep. After all, in Gong Juanzi's view, the great upheaval clearly hadn't arrived yet. The cat had probably gone senile. But instead, Grey Cat drained the Indestructible Substance from the Indestructible Lake where Gong Juanzi soaked his body.

It didn't leave a single drop. Grey Cat gathered it all into a mass of Indestructible Substance and left without even saying hello.

For a moment, Gong Juanzi was stunned. So this cat had come back to rob him? Was there no affection between them at all?

By the time he reacted, the cat had vanished. All he could do was jump up and down, cursing on the spot. What a rotten thing to do! It went without saying that if the cat wanted Indestructible Substance, it was for its little lover.

But was it really appropriate to use his things to support a little lover?

At that very moment, Zhang Tao was surrounded by happiness. The ring contained a good amount of Life Essence—at least two or three hundred pounds' worth—as well as a huge mass of Indestructible Substance, many spirit fruits, and Energy Liquid.

Had the cat robbed a King City? Even if it had, how could it have gotten Indestructible Substance?

"Brother Cat, thanks! Once I'm stronger, whoever dares to bully you, I'll chop them to pieces!" Zhang Tao said, thumping his chest as he made his promise.