The back mountain, on a rather desolate mountaintop.
The three of them had come to this sunny spot especially for Xiao Xun'er's breakthrough.
The fire element was quite active here.
Xiao Ze and Xiao Yi Xian stood to one side, encouraging Xiao Xun'er with their eyes.
Xiao Xun'er opened the jade bottle and poured out a fiery red pill.
The pill's rich fragrance spread all around. Ripples of pale red energy even formed around it.
It was a testament to the nobility of a Fifth-grade Pill!
Xiao Xun'er glanced at Xiao Ze. At his encouraging smile, she parted her lips and swallowed the fiery red pill.
Then she closed her eyes and began to refine it with all her concentration.
The medicinal power of a Fifth-grade Pill was extraordinary!
Even a pill meant to improve one's talent could raise her cultivation to a whole new level!
And since breaking through also refined her constitution, the two effects might combine to make the pill even more potent.
Xiao Xun'er felt as though she had swallowed a ball of flame. The pill's violent medicinal power was about to rampage through her body.
But before it could erupt,
an even more terrifying force suddenly surged within Xiao Xun'er!
It easily subdued the medicinal power, which carried a scorching heat.
A faint red glow seeped from Xiao Xun'er's skin as the Fifth-grade Pill worked its changes.
At the same time, Xiao Ze keenly sensed the energy of the world around them shifting.
It began to flow toward Xiao Xun'er.
"Is she about to break through?"
The red glow gradually faded, replaced by a Golden Light of unparalleled nobility.
As Golden Light radiated from Xiao Xun'er's fair skin,
the energy of the world seemed to be drawn by some invisible force.
It began to gather wildly, forming a barely visible vortex of energy around her.
"Little Sister Xun'er should be able to break through, right?"
Xiao Yi Xian asked with some concern. Cultivating Dou Qi was never easy.
Often, if an attempt to break through failed, one could even lose a level.
"Don't worry. With Xun'er's talent and the remaining medicinal power of the Fifth-grade Pill, breaking through to Dou Master should be easy."
Xiao Ze was confident in Xiao Xun'er. All they had to do now was wait.
Sure enough, as time passed, the aura around Xiao Xun'er grew ever more powerful and vigorous.
The Golden Light radiating from her body also grew brighter.
Bang!
A faint golden wave of energy spread from Xun Er's body, and a system notification flashed before Xiao Ze's eyes.
[ Ding! Body Sculpting Flame Pill: talent slightly improved, strength increased to Dou Master. Congratulations, host, you have received a tenfold return! ]
[ Congratulations, host, your talent has greatly improved! ]
Xiao Ze's heart leaped with joy when he saw the system notification.
As expected, this was how to maximize the pill's effects!
If Xiao Ze took it, no one else would benefit, and his own improvement would be tiny.
But if Xiao Xun'er took it, she would improve her talent,
and Xiao Ze would also receive a tremendous boost!
Xiao Ze set the reward aside for now. There was no need to claim it yet.
He had only just broken through to six-star Da Dou Shi two days ago. After accumulating rewards for a few more days,
he should be able to claim them all at once and break straight through to Seven-Star Great Dou Master.
That would put him among the upper ranks of Great Dou Masters.
"Brother Xiao Ze, Sister Xiao Yi Xian, I successfully broke through to Dou Master!"
Xiao Xun'er opened her eyes and looked at Xiao Ze and Xiao Yi Xian, beaming.
She had finally reached Dou Master. She hoped Xiao Ze wouldn't leave her too far behind again.
"Xun'er, congratulations!"
"Little Sister Xun'er, congratulations."
Xiao Xun'er shared her insights from the breakthrough and described how the Fifth-grade Pill had felt.
"To celebrate your breakthrough to Dou Master, Xun'er, why don't we catch a few of those Ice Spirit Rabbits we found a few days ago and eat them?"
Xiao Ze's suggestion made Xiao Xun'er and Xiao Yi Xian's eyes light up. They couldn't help swallowing.
"I'll catch the Ice Spirit Rabbits!"
"I'll gather some firewood!"
They quickly divided up the tasks and vanished from sight.
Xiao Ze took a full set of cooking utensils from his Storage Ring.
The three of them spent almost every day in the back mountain, so of course they had to learn to provide for themselves.
Ice Spirit Rabbits were Tier 2 Magical Beasts, equivalent to cultivators at the Dou Master level. Their ice attribute made them extremely troublesome.
Ordinary magical beasts didn't include them in their diet, since beasts tended to swallow their prey whole.
Ice Spirit Rabbit meat contained a large amount of ice-attributed Dou Qi. Swallowed raw, it was hard to digest and could even cause severe diarrhea.
Magical beasts kept well away from Ice Spirit Rabbits.
Even beasts strong enough to defeat them found them so distasteful that they cut them from their diet!
But once Ice Spirit Rabbits were properly prepared and their ice-attributed Dou Qi neutralized, they became a rare delicacy!
Ever since tasting them once, the two girls had been unable to stop thinking about Ice Spirit Rabbits.
They had even marked the warren they found a few days ago,
so they could catch a few whenever they wanted some.
Before long, Xiao Xun'er returned, looking relaxed, with three Ice Spirit Rabbits dangling from her hand, their necks broken.
Xiao Yi Xian also came back with a good haul, taking some special firewood from her Storage Ring.
Not long after, an enticing aroma drifted from the mountaintop.
Unlike the pill's fragrance, this scent stirred a creature's primal hunger, making anyone who smelled it swallow involuntarily!
After each of them had enjoyed an Ice Spirit Rabbit, the three returned to their cultivation.
Cultivation was like rowing upstream: stop moving forward, and you fell behind.
The tedium of cultivation was unavoidable.
The only thing they could do was find a little joy along the way.
The delicious Ice Spirit Rabbits they had just enjoyed were the joy Xiao Ze and the two girls had chosen.
The next day, Xiao Ze made a rare return to the academy to attend a cultivation class.
His classmates welcomed him enthusiastically.
In their eyes, Xiao Ze was a hot commodity. Sparring with him would undoubtedly be extremely beneficial!
After the academy evaluations, Xiao Ze had vanished from sight, deliberately keeping his reputation low.
People always craved what was new, and their enthusiasm would inevitably fade if he stayed away for too long.
So when he returned that day, he received a warm welcome from his classmates, but nothing else out of the ordinary happened.
"Student Xiao Ze, please go easy on me."
A pretty girl with long black hair that fell to her hips and a hint of shyness on her face spoke to Xiao Ze.
"Hello. You should be the last person in our class to spar with me, right?"
"Aren't Student Xiao Xun'er and Student Xiao Yi Xian still left?"
The girl asked, puzzled.
"They spar with me every day. Don't worry about them."
Xiao Ze smiled and waved her on, signaling that she could begin.
"Must be nice..."
A strong note of envy flashed in the girl's eyes. Then, her expression turned serious as she attacked Xiao Ze.
The cultivation class had actually ended by then. Xiao Ze only wanted to finish sparring with the last student.
The other students were scattered around them, watching and learning from Xiao Ze.
Just then, a flash of red passed by the doorway.
Xiao Ze glanced over and chuckled to himself, but paid it no mind.
The red figure went straight to Xiao Xun'er.
What she said left everyone around them stunned.
It was the sort of thing that left people speechless!
"Xiao Xun'er, I like you. Will you go out with me?"
Xiao Xun'er stared at the figure who had suddenly appeared, her mouth parting slightly.
Her heart was filled with nothing but astonishment!
Because the person standing before her was an extraordinarily pretty girl!
The girl wore red and had a brightly colored flower clenched between her teeth.
The words she spoke through the gaps in her teeth were a confession that left even Xiao Xun'er dumbstruck.
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