Alchemy? You Still Have to Learn That?

Yun Yun saw the Mystic Ice Python dart toward Qing Lin and immediately sprang to her feet, tense with worry.

Although she had only just met Qing Lin, she already liked the little girl very much. Seeing that Qing Lin might be in danger, Yun Yun immediately wanted to intervene.

Then she promptly realized that she couldn't use Dou Qi at all.

But the scene she had imagined, with Qing Lin being attacked, never happened. Instead, Qing Lin gently scooped up the Mystic Ice Python, and it rubbed its face against hers, like an affectionate little puppy.

Touch whoever, and they'd turn stupid!

??

Had she really woken up?!

Yun Yun stared in disbelief. She pinched her leg, then despairingly concluded that she wasn't dreaming.

"Big sister, don't worry. It's very docile!"

The Mystic Ice Python was already under Xiao Lei's control through his Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils. Since Xiao Lei had designated it as Qing Lin's pet, of course it was docile.

As she spoke, Qing Lin held the Mystic Ice Python out toward Yun Yun, and then—

"Hiss!"

The Mystic Ice Python let out a sharp hiss and opened its bloody maw at Yun Yun.

As if! Xiao Lei had told it to be Qing Lin's pet. What did that have to do with Yun Yun?

To reach the Dou Emperor Realm, Yun Yun had been through plenty of battles, and she wasn't lacking in courage. Even with the Mystic Ice Python threatening her, she wasn't the least bit afraid.

Still, Yun Yun took a critical hit straight to the heart!

Why was it treating people differently? It was so obedient with Qing Lin, but it hissed at her!

A fifth-tier peak magical beast for a pet—Yun Yun was jealous. She didn't even have one!

Now she understood. The hundred gold coins, the free offer—it had all been a lie.

Yun Yun felt her nose growing red and hot!

"Xiao Xuan, be good. Don't stick your tongue out at big sister!"

Qing Lin stroked the Mystic Ice Python, and it immediately calmed down, returning to its earlier, well-behaved state.

"Xiao Xuan, don't do that again. You can't attack people whenever you like, understand?"

Yun Yun felt she'd taken too many blows today. She needed a moment alone, so she retreated into a corner.

Xiao Lei didn't mind. He patted Qing Lin's little head.

"You're not strong enough yet. When you reach Da Dou Shi, I'll release my control and let you place a Soul Imprint on it."

Qing Lin nodded gently. She didn't really care about that. She only wanted to cultivate so she could help Xiao Lei someday.

The little girl's thoughts had always been this simple. Otherwise, she would have been consumed long ago, given the twists and turns of her life.

After telling Qing Lin to wait nearby, Xiao Lei walked straight over to Yun Yun and sat down beside her without hesitation.

Then he opened the system.

[Target: The renowned Sect Master of the Misty Cloud Sect in the Jia Ma Empire.]

[Constitution: None.]

[Copy Time: Ten minutes.]

[Copy?]

Having suddenly gained the cultivation of a Dou Emperor, Xiao Lei's overall foundation was now stronger than Yun Yun's. After all, he also possessed two constitutions and alchemy skills. He was only weaker than her in cultivation methods and Dou Techniques.

Xiao Lei chose to copy without hesitation. After all, copying for ten minutes wouldn't have much of an impact.

"You seem to have been hit by the Amethyst Winged Lion King's Amethyst Seal. You can't use any of your Dou Qi. But I'm curious—what did you do to provoke it? Purple Spirit Crystal is nice, but it's not much use to a Dou Emperor, is it?"

Xiao Lei was good at playing dumb.

When Yun Yun saw him sit beside her, she was already at a loss. His question left her even more flustered, and she couldn't think of an excuse.

Yun Yun really didn't want to reveal anything else about herself.

Normally, if she met a Dou Emperor, there'd be no harm in giving him her name. But last night—

It would be mortifying if Xiao Lei found out that she, the Sect Master of the Misty Cloud Sect, was in this state!

"I-I have my reasons!"

Seeing that she didn't want to say, and that she looked so nervous, Xiao Lei didn't press her. He already knew anyway.

"Then what's your name? You can't refuse to tell me that too, can you? I can't keep calling you 'miss' forever!"

Teasing Yun Yun was a great deal of fun for Xiao Lei.

Yun Yun fell silent for a long while before finally replying, "My name is Yun Zhi. I came here to gain experience."

Yun Yun had just told two lies in one breath. Xiao Lei could only struggle to keep the corners of his mouth from curling upward.

He wondered whether it would be socially fatal if the two of them ran into each other at the Misty Cloud Sect and her disguise was stripped away.

"My name is Xiao Lei. Just call me by my name. And if you don't mind, you can call me 'oppa.'"

Xiao Lei casually tossed out a word Yun Yun had never heard. He wasn't Xiao Yan. Now that he was a Dou Emperor, there was no need—at least not in the Jia Ma Empire—to hide his identity at all.

"Oppa? Oppa! What a strange way to address someone. I've never heard it before. I'll just call you Xiao Lei."

Yun Yun searched through her little head for a long time, but couldn't find any memory of the word "oppa." It also gave her a strange feeling when she said it, so in the end, she couldn't bring herself to use it.

"Suit yourself. But once the seal is broken, are you planning to go looking for trouble with the Amethyst Winged Lion King again? Your cultivation levels seem pretty close. You probably still won't get the Purple Spirit Crystal."

Xiao Lei nudged her toward the answer. If Yun Yun wanted to get the Purple Spirit Crystal, she'd probably have to ask Xiao Lei, another Dou Emperor, to help her.

"Who says so? If that lion hadn't gotten lucky that day, if it had been hit by my—uh, my strongest attack, it would have fallen long ago. And now I know about its sealing ability. I'll definitely win next time!"

Xiao Lei hadn't expected Sect Master Yun to be such a tsundere, but he decided not to call her out.

After all, now that she knew his trump card, he knew hers too.

Xiao Lei ended the conversation himself, took out an alchemy cauldron and a pile of medicinal ingredients, and began refining pills, not caring that Yun Yun was watching.

Most alchemists wouldn't let others watch them refine pills because they wanted to maintain an air of mystery and command respect. They also worried about others stealing their techniques.

Would Xiao Lei worry about someone stealing his techniques?

He'd stolen his own skills, after all. As the saying went, people never cherished what wasn't theirs.

Xiao Lei's attitude was simple: go ahead and steal. If you can steal better than me, then you've earned it.

After all, when Xiao Lei used his Copy Alchemy Technique, it wasn't a simple matter of overwriting one skill with another. His skills fused together. As long as he copied an alchemist, he gained the alchemy knowledge they had spent their entire life studying.

So all Xiao Lei could say was: let's steal each other's skills!

As for commanding respect, Xiao Lei said his fists would make people respect him. After all, he wasn't some ordinary alchemist who folded at the first sign of trouble.

Yet Yun Yun was surprised to see Xiao Lei refining pills. She'd thought that, given his youth, becoming a Dou Emperor was already astonishing. She hadn't expected him to have the time and energy to study alchemy too.

"You know alchemy, too! As it happens, I know a high-rank alchemist. Would you like me to recommend you to him so you can study alchemy?"

After getting shown up by Xiao Lei again and again, Yun Yun seemed to have spotted a chance to demonstrate her own abilities. She was extremely excited.

Xiao Lei chuckled at her words. The person Yun Yun meant was obviously Gu He.

"No need. I already have a teacher. My master will naturally teach me."

Xiao Lei could only say: he still had to learn? Yun Yun, don't let Xiao Lei run into Gu He. Otherwise, in the next moment, Xiao Lei would freeload decades of alchemy knowledge from him.

Still, that had reminded Xiao Lei that his own alchemy skills really weren't enough. He'd have to find a chance to meet Gu He.

Far away at the Misty Cloud Sect, Gu He was preparing to refine pills for Nalan Yanran, imagining Yun Yun thanking him for it and feeling pleased with himself. He suddenly felt as if a gaze full of icy intent had fixed on him.

"Ugh!"

"Unbelievable. I'm a Dou Wang, and I'm still shivering from the wind."