"This way, Daoist Master, please."
The servant ahead guided respectfully, Yu Ci draped in a Daoist robe, walking leisurely, pacing through the corridors. Before long, that familiar voice rang out. "Is that Soul Chaser, my brother? It's been many days."
The servant led him into the room, where Third Master He's long-missed bear-like body stood straight to welcome him. A smile hung upon his rugged face, and his voice boomed like a bronze bell. "To come through that sort of tribulation safe and sound, Brother, you truly are no ordinary man."
At this moment, Yu Ci was meeting Third Master He in the guise of Soul Chaser.
In truth, Yu Ci and he had not gotten along very well in the past; on the contrary, the now-deceased Xia Shuanghe had repeatedly extended goodwill. But this time, Third Master He's attitude was quite amiable, even switching to the address of "brother." Perhaps this was also partly due to Yu Ci successfully entering the middle stage of Returning Elixir.
Within the Northern Wastelands, there was an extremely high proportion of moth cultivators—meaning, cultivators stuck in bottlenecks were particularly numerous. Under such circumstances, for a cultivator to possess early-stage Returning Elixir cultivation was nothing strange, but once they stepped into the middle stage, it proved that said cultivator possessed an elixir formula and a systematic method of cultivation. This level of resources and strength immediately allowed one to secure a foothold in the Northern Wastelands.
Yu Ci had seen plenty of this in the Northern Wastelands. To exaggerate slightly, some early-stage Returning Elixir cultivators were ordered about like dogs, yet the moment they ascended to the middle stage, they were immediately on another level, turning right around to order their former companions about like dogs...
He cupped his fists toward Third Master He.