The Gu and Xiao Reunion

Gu Xun'er sat at the center of the stone platform with her eyes closed. Her plain white dress lent her an air of cool, otherworldly grace. As she breathed steadily, dense energy from heaven and earth flowed into her body without cease and circulated slowly through her meridians.

Just then, the mist atop the mountain stirred. A dark figure flickered in and out of the white haze like a ghost, then landed silently beside the cultivation platform.

"Elder Ling, how is Brother Xiao Yan?"

Sensing the newcomer, Gu Xun'er snapped her eyes open and broke off her cultivation. A trace of urgency she could not hide rang clear in her usually cool, detached voice.

Ling Ying paused at his young lady's anxious question, and helplessness rose unbidden in his heart.

Only when it came to Young Master Xiao Yan did she shed her mountain-still composure and show the concern and liveliness of a girl her age.

Ling Ying bowed and said respectfully, "Young Master Xiao Yan has successfully advanced to the Dou Wang Realm. He has spent this time cultivating diligently at Starfall Pavilion, often accepting challenges from its disciples to temper his strength..."

Seeing Gu Xun'er finally show a hint of girlish feeling, Ling Ying told her every scrap of news he had gone to such lengths to gather.

"Peak Dou Wang, Tier 6 Alchemist, Yao Yan..."

As she listened to each piece of news, ripples spread through Gu Xun'er's clear eyes.

Xiao Yan's cultivation speed was astonishing by the standards of the outside world, far surpassing his peers. Even so, the strength of a Peak Dou Wang was not enough to withstand the malice and attacks of the Gu Clan's younger generation.

What was more, however swiftly Xiao Yan progressed, he had no Dou Di Bloodline to aid