After Emerging from Seclusion

A few years ago, a sprawling water park suddenly appeared in Mittel City. Featuring an exceptionally long ice slide in particular, it instantly became the most desired gaming haven for the city's children.

It only cost a single gold coin to play here for a whole day.

Many people were unaware that this water park was actually a casual creation by the new Ice Emperor for his younger sister's amusement.

However, that little girl had been so obsessed with cultivation over the past few years that she could not pull herself away, so she ended up opening the water park to the public.

Despite being full siblings, Wu Yue's talent fell far short of Wu Yan's. That could already be seen before she turned eight.

Yet in the year she turned eight, Wu Yan returned, not only building her a water amusement park but also giving her a bracelet.

Under the nourishment of the life energy within that bracelet, which quietly worked its influence like spring rain, Wu Yue's originally rugged and bumpy cultivation path became much smoother.

"Eleven years old, Sixth-Stage Dou Qi. Little Yue, you also possess the aptitude of a Dou Emperor!"

The next day, having basked in the moonlight all night, Wu Yan returned home.

Watching his younger sister's expression of eager anticipation for praise, Wu Yan chuckled and patted her little head.

"Hehe~"

Happily skipping and hopping, Wu Yue followed closely behind Wu Yan like a little shadow.

The little girl still missed this older brother whom she had not seen for a long time.

After greeting his parents, Wu Yan led the little girl out the front door.

Ya Fei, who had been in a daze, was snapped out of it by the sound of the door opening, after which she let out a cry of surprise:

"Brother A-yan, your seclusion is over!"

"Mhm."

Ya Fei grabbed and hugged Wu Yan's free right arm, glancing at her cultivation level of barely Ninth-Stage Dou Qi to confirm that she truly was not cut out for cultivation.

"Have there been any movements within the empire and its surroundings recently?"

"About a month ago, Gu He, an honored elder of the Misty Cloud Sect, advanced to a Sixth-Grade Alchemist. The clan has already received an invitation from the Misty Cloud Sect. Will Brother A-yan go personally?"

Ya Fei looked at the little girl being held by the hand on the other side by Wu Yan, blinking one eye with a beaming smile.

Wu Yan ignored the exchange of expressions between his two younger sisters and fell into serious thought.

Through the refinement of the little blue bottle and after consuming that Imperial Extreme Pill, Wu Yan had gained a completely new understanding of alchemists.

Logically speaking, he should indeed make a personal trip this time to leave a good impression on the only Sixth-Grade Alchemist within the borders of the Jia Ma Empire.

However!

Gu He's advancement speed was simply too slow; he could not keep up with Wu Yan's pace.

That phrasing was not quite right either; it was more that the speed of Wu Yan's progress was simply too fast.

Gu He did possess some talent, but he belonged to the category of normal alchemists recognized by the general public.

He required a long period of time to accumulate alchemy experience, followed by directly feeling his way forward through trial and error.

The problem was that Wu Yan was already at Dou Emperor Peak now, and it was hard to say whether Gu He's success rate in refining the Dou Spirit Pill for Dou Wangs to consume could even reach fifty percent.

With Wu Yan's cultivation speed, when he reached the limit of the Dou Zong realm and began planning for the Dou Zun realm, there was no telling whether Gu He would even be able to refine an Imperial Extreme Pill.

Under such circumstances, the benefits Wu Yan would gain from cozying up to Gu He would not be able to satisfy his demands.

Calculating based on this logic, even Yao Chen in a soul state was not worth Wu Yan sparing a second glance.

Because even Yao Chen in a soul state found refining Sixth-Grade Top-Tier Pills quite strenuous.

As for some Seventh-Grade High-Tier Pills, he feared success rates might not even be guaranteed, let alone Eighth-Rank Medicinal Pills.

Besides, given Yao Chen's newly awakened state, making him refine Seventh-Grade pills—were they certain he would not be struck to death by lightning?

Twitching the corner of his mouth, Wu Yan thought for a moment. "Alright, I will make a personal trip. Help me pick out a decent gift."

Well, although he had no use for it himself, he was not completely alone in this world; favors that needed to be buttered up should still be buttered up.

After all, Gu He's future development prospects were quite promising, and he could at least reach the Seventh-Grade High-Tier.

More importantly, this old fellow had decent character and was someone whose background they knew inside and out, making him safer to use in the future.

"Brother A-yan, can I go with you?" Ya Fei's fox-like eyes held expectation as she instinctively tightened her grip on Wu Yan's arm.

This action gave him a rough idea of Ya Fei's physical development.

Mhm, very healthy.

"You can."

"Brother, Little Yue wants to go with you too..."

"Mhm, you can come along as well."

Wu Yan stroked Wu Yue's head. The girl had a wind attribute and was already eleven years old now, so it was about time to find her a suitable teacher.

If possible, a female teacher would be best so that guidance would be much more convenient.

Jia Nan Academy's teaching style did not suit this girl, and it was too far away, which left Wu Yan ill at ease.

Calculated this way, Yun Yun from the Misty Cloud Sect was simply the most suitable candidate for a teacher.

Although the Yun Yun Wu Yan knew seemed to have a rather fiery temper, not nearly as gentle as written in the original story, and also seemed somewhat full of herself...

Still, for now, she indeed appeared to be the most fitting choice.

One large and two small palms touched together, and both younger sisters had their wishes fulfilled.

Ya Fei suddenly walked back to her room and then brought out many small boxes, numbering around fifteen or sixteen.

"Brother A-yan, I've collected some magic cores for you. Most of them are only Tier 4 Magic Cores, and there are only three Tier 5 Magic Cores..."

Ya Fei's voice grew lower and lower, filled with a sense of shame, as if she had let Wu Yan down.

"No need to blame yourself. You've already done very well."

Wu Yan waved his hand to open these boxes, glanced over the magic cores, and nodded.

With the resources Ya Fei could currently mobilize, being able to achieve this much already left Wu Yan very satisfied.

After all, this was not playing a video game; high-tier magical beasts also needed time to grow, and magic cores were neither inexhaustible nor magically replenished on a regular schedule.

Even though his personal demand was nothing much, within this Jia Ma Empire, experts capable of hunting Tier 4 magical beasts with extremely low risk and producing multiple Tier 4 magic cores could still be counted on one's fingers.

The only matter worthy of Wu Yan's attention was Gu He's advancement to a Sixth-Grade Alchemist.

Other trivial matters did not require Wu Yan to inquire personally; the others of the Mittel Clan would naturally resolve them.

Having stolen a few days of leisure, Wu Yan was not in a rush to return to seclusion to break through to the Dou Zong realm.

In another half a month, the celebration for Gu He's advancement to Sixth-Grade Alchemist would be held at the Misty Cloud Sect. Since Wu Yan had already agreed to make a personal trip, he naturally had to keep his word; otherwise, would that not make him out to be toying with people?

Wu Yan took out the set of Earth High-Tier Technique and Dou Skill that Gu Xun'er had used to invest in him, and began to study it slowly.

He prepared to transition his cultivation technique after breaking through to the Dou Zong realm, so this could also be considered preparing in advance.

Even though the Earth Mid-Tier Technique Wu Yan currently cultivated was still sufficient for now and did not need to be replaced just yet.