Daily Life of Two Three

"Teacher."

Yun Zimo arrived at Yun Shan's quiet courtyard, bowing respectfully. Beside him, Nalan Yanran poured tea before standing obediently by Yun Shan's side.

"Sit. Have you paid your respects to your parents? It is only right to report your safety after returning from a long journey. With you and your father both breaking through to the Dou Emperor realm, our Misty Cloud Sect finally has four Dou Emperors once again."

Yun Zimo nodded. He had already visited his parents yesterday; his father, Yun Yin, had successfully broken through to the Dou Emperor realm and emerged from seclusion, while his mother remained obsessed with pharmacology, her strength still at the Dou Ling level.

However, the retired couple had unexpectedly begun pressuring him to marry and have children, forcing him to flee to Yun Shan's side in haste.

"Is Teacher still unable to break through?"

Yun Zimo asked with some confusion; logically, Yun Shan should have been able to reach the Dou Ancestor realm long ago.

"Soon, soon."

Yun Shan offered the same vague response as always, then produced a jade bottle before Yun Zimo.

"Take a look at this. That inhuman thing gave it to me, claiming it would guarantee a breakthrough to the Dou Ancestor realm!"

Given by Wu Ying?!

Yun Zimo's expression shifted slightly as he carefully poured out a pill no larger than a pinky finger, yet vibrant in color and shimmering with a lustrous glow.

The medicinal potency was immense. Yun Zimo was startled; judging by the fragrance and quality, this had to be a top-tier Grade 6 pill!

"It doesn't look like there's anything wrong with it..."

Yun Zimo was momentarily stunned. The object appeared to be a potent tonic, but he did not believe for a second that anyone from the Soul Hall would be so kind.

"Let us wait for Master Gu He to return and have him examine it."

Yun Zimo truly could not identify any flaws. Professional matters required professional hands; for pills above Grade 6, it was best to let an alchemist conduct the inspection.

"I intend to have that boy, Yun Yun, enter the lower levels of the Gate of Life and Death to 'pay his respects' to the portraits of our past ancestors."

Yun Shan nodded and brought up another matter.

Yun Zimo heard Yun Shan mention Yun Yun; this senior brother, who possessed the highest talent in the Misty Cloud Sect, had once been Yun Zimo's own mentor.

"Senior Brother Yun Yun is free-spirited and unrestrained; I fear he has no desire to waste more time on cultivation."

Yun Zimo remarked.

Yun Yun disliked cultivation. Although he had followed Yun Yun to listen to Yun Shan's lectures since childhood, he always fished for three days and dried his nets for two. Even so, he had already reached the peak of the Dou King realm.

While Yun Yun disliked cultivation, he was quite adept at social nuances and worldly economics. He spent his days visiting friends with a wine gourd in hand, and matters such as the Misty Cloud Sect's procurement and logistics were all handled by him. Fearing he would get into trouble out of boredom, Yun Shan had assigned him the post of Deputy Hall of Law Enforcement, requiring him to lead the Law Enforcement Team to patrol the mountain gates every few days.

"Once he reaches the Dou Emperor realm, I will leave him be. But until then, he must at least have the ability to protect himself on this continent!"

Yun Shan was helpless. No matter what he said over the years, the boy simply refused to put effort into his cultivation. Now that Yun Shan had come to terms with it, he let him be.

"Yun'er, she... although she is a Dou Emperor and the Sect Master, her personality remains like that of a child. Her thoughts are simple and hard to conceal, and she inevitably has some little-girl temperaments..."

Yun Shan spoke as if casually, while Yun Zimo sat quietly by his side without interjecting. A breeze brushed through the treetops, and the rustling leaves drifted down from time to time, leaving only Yun Shan's voice filled with memories beneath the tree...

"Hall Master! I have found the problem with this thing!"

Less than half a day later, Gu He found Yun Zimo with the jade bottle, his eyes burning with unconcealable rage.

"The creator is extremely sinister. Every single pill is refined using vengeful souls. Although they used human spirits to forcibly elevate the pill to the Grade 7 level, the fierce and poisonous resentment is difficult to dissolve. Those who take it long-term will not only become addicted but will also suffer a drastic change in temperament!"

As Gu He spoke, he ignited the Fire Cloud Water Flame to scorch the pill. Under the surge of the Heavenly Flame, wisps of black energy rose, accompanied by sharp, agonizing screams.

"There are twelve pills in this bottle. That means... that..."

Gu He was so angry he could not speak. To an orthodox alchemist like him, such scum deserved to be skinned and cramped, their souls extracted and incinerated by Heavenly Flame to be purified!

"That means at least twelve people were used as ingredients..."

Yun Zimo sighed. Given the nature of the Soul Hall, these twelve were likely alchemists or cultivators with exceptionally powerful soul strength...

What was even more terrifying was that this was merely one bottle of a single type of pill...

"I... I have decided that I cannot allow something that blasphemes the art of alchemy to exist!"

Gu He was furious. As he spoke, he ignited his Heavenly Flame in his palm, intending to destroy the bottle of pills.

"Master Gu He, wait!"

Yun Zimo hurriedly stopped him. Not to mention the research value, if Wu Ying were to suddenly return and discover the pills had been destroyed, the Misty Cloud Sect would be finished!

"Waste has the value of waste; we must make the best use of everything!"

Yun Zimo chuckled.

"Even if we destroy these, they can refine more. It would only leave those departed souls with lingering regrets. It is better to keep them for now and let them watch as we help them exact their revenge!"

Gu He hesitated. He knew Yun Zimo was not simply keeping these pills for a trivial reason.

He struggled internally over whether he should trust Yun Zimo's words, but in the end, he handed the pills over.

"Then you keep them safe. I fear I might not be able to stop myself from destroying them, so it is better left to you."

After Yun Zimo stored them in his storage ring, he chatted idly with Gu He. When the conversation turned to Hai Bodong, Gu He spoke with a strange expression.

"Hai Bodong has brought frost to the territory of the Snake-Person Tribe. He has transformed a vast oasis in the depths of the desert that had seen no rain for years. In order to collect enough fire-attribute energy, he is now a two-star Dou Emperor, braving the scorching heat of magma to take the Heaven-Swallowing Python egg into the subterranean fire veins..."

Perhaps because Hai Bodong had contributed to the evolution, the high-ranking members of the Snake-Person Tribe were surprisingly no longer overly opposed to the matter of Hai Bodong and Die.

According to the tribal rules revised by Medusa, Die would also be a Queen of the Snake-Person Tribe, and all her palaces were to be constructed to the specifications of a Queen.

After Hai Bodong learned of this, no one knew what he was thinking, but he used his power as a Dou Emperor to alter the weather, creating artificial rain and repairing the ley lines to forcibly carve out an oasis for Die's palace! He even volunteered for the task of helping Die be born, heading to the magma lake alongside an elder of the Snake-Person Tribe.

"This is the first time I've seen the Ice Emperor act this way. Years ago, when I saw him from afar, he always wore that cold, arrogant expression. Who would have thought he could also... hehehe..."

Gu He spoke with a soft chuckle, imagining Hai Bodong in such a clumsy posture, finding an inexplicably cute contrast in the image.

Yun Zimo also realized that once someone falls in love, their intelligence seems to be halved—especially for someone like Hai Bodong, whose love was lost and then regained.

"Brother!"

Just as the two were sighing, a crisp shout rang out, followed immediately by Zi Yan pushing the door open and walking in.

"Master Gu He."

Although Zi Yan was a bit boisterous, having stayed in the Misty Cloud Sect for so long, she had learned some manners. Moreover, she genuinely respected Gu He as her provider, so she still offered him a polite bow.

"What is it? Are those medicinal pills running out again?"

Gu He asked, having gained a very clear understanding of Zi Yan's appetite by now.

"Hehe, not yet, but it's getting close..."

Zi Yan grinned. Although she hadn't come to ask Gu He for snacks today, since she had run into him, she might as well get his authorization to go to the Alchemy Hall and collect next month's supply!

"..."

Gu He shook his head helplessly. It had only been half a month; in the past six months, she had nearly devoured the Misty Cloud Sect's entire annual inventory, forcing the logistics department to head down the mountain several times.

He didn't know why, but it seemed Zi Yan's appetite was growing larger by the day; her stomach was like a bottomless pit that could hold anything she fed it.

"Brother."

After happily tucking away the authorization slip from Gu He, Zi Yan finally brought up the real reason for her visit.

"I'm going to level up!"

Level up?!

Gu He and Yun Zimo were both startled. Zi Yan was currently at the level of a Tier 4 Magical Beast; after leveling up, she would certainly be a Tier 5. Given her monstrous strength and physique, a successful breakthrough would surely land her at the peak of Tier 5, perhaps even allowing her to go toe-to-toe with a Dou Emperor!

"With those medicinal meals and Master Gu He's pills, the energy accumulation is already enough. Although I don't know what my true form actually is, I haven't felt any bottlenecks. It's as if I can level up as long as I have enough energy."

Zi Yan blinked, saying something that left Gu He and Yun Zimo speechless. Countless geniuses had been stifled by cultivation bottlenecks, yet for Zi Yan, they simply didn't exist.

Perhaps the heavens were fair, however; every leap in Zi Yan's tier required a massive amount of energy to sustain, which could be considered a bottleneck of its own.