Another Letter

Two and a half hours later, Wu Yan returned to the manor in Mittel City. Ya Fei, who had already washed herself clean, was lying on the bed waiting for him.

Having gone nearly half a year without intimacy, the young Ya Fei was craving meat a little.

A dreamlike river of stars stretched across the bright night sky when countless meteors suddenly burst into it. Before long, another great swath of meteors streaked through the starry river from another direction.

After a long-overdue good sleep, Wu Yan discovered that there was nothing particularly important at hand.

The Mittel Clan's expansion could not be accomplished overnight. Given the Mittel Clan's scale, it would already be impressive if they could finish preparing within two years.

A large ship was hard to turn around; that was no empty saying.

The larger the faction, the slower its efficiency, because every matter required consideration from many sides.

Unless they truly faced a crisis of life and death, only then would they move swiftly.

Wu Yan glanced at the additional Storage Ring on his hand and smiled faintly.

"Now let me see just how much faster my cultivation can become with an Alchemist's assistance."

Little Blue Bottle, activate!

After patting Ya Fei on the butt and telling her about his secluded cultivation, Wu Yan entered the meditation chamber.

Still half-asleep, Ya Fei continued savoring the blissful taste of last night. Only after quite a while did she come back to her senses.

Like someone who loved dragons only from afar, Ya Fei let out a slight sigh of relief. Her face flushed as she murmured, "Secluded cultivation is good. Otherwise, I won't be able to sleep tonight."

Time passed bit by bit. Everyone had their own things to do. Time was fair to everyone and favored no one.

In Wutan City, a young man whose fate had been changed was marveling at the wonders of Alchemists.

Yet without so much time to temper him, would the youth's impetuous nature affect the course of his growth?

No one knew, except time.

It was once again the end of the year. The teacher who had brought over the lively young disciple learned that someone was in secluded cultivation and did not stay long.

Early the next morning, she left.

After returning to the sect, Yun Yun declined Gu He's invitation to gather herbs together.

That powerful man was cultivating in seclusion, never relaxing for even a moment. How could she let these unimportant trivial matters hold back her steps forward?

Thinking carefully now, she really had become somewhat lax after breaking through to Dou Emperor.

She needed to cultivate diligently, just as she had before breaking through to Dou Wang, devoting all her thoughts to cultivation.

One day, she would surpass that man and defeat him!

Then, she would make an exceedingly casual and subtle remark:

"Although you are my defeated opponent, you are still the strongest among all men. I'll marry you, then..."

Shaking her head, Yun Yun woke from her fantasy.

"That's far too fake. I don't even know how I could possibly beat that guy."

Still, no matter what, she should cultivate. Even if she could not surpass him, she had to catch up as much as possible and strive to become the woman closest to him.

More than half a month later, a letter from a city at the edge of the desert shook the Mittel Clan elders.

Without much argument or hesitation, they quickly made their decision.

Clan Head Teng Shan personally set out and arrived at the quiet manor.

Ding ding ding~~~

The crisp, pleasant ringing awakened a figure inside the meditation chamber.

"Clan Head Teng Shan, is something important happening?"

"Yes, Clan Head."

Teng Shan opened his eyes and blinked, but he still could not see how the person before him had appeared.

He took out a letter from his Storage Ring and handed it to Wu Yan.

Wu Yan quickly finished reading the letter. When he saw the name written at the end, he understood why Teng Shan had awakened him.

Hai Bodong.

The previous generation's Ice Emperor, one of the Jia Ma Empire's Ten Great Experts who had suddenly vanished more than twenty years ago, and the Mittel Clan's Supreme Elder—Hai Bodong.

In the letter, Hai Bodong did not explain the situation too clearly. He merely said that he had encountered trouble and needed the Mittel Clan's "new Ice Emperor" to lend a hand.

He also said that if Wu Yan was willing, he could come to Desert City at the edge of the Tager Desert.

"Clan Head, given Old Hai's personality, he must have encountered an extremely thorny problem. Otherwise, he would not have taken the initiative—"

"Mm. No need to say more. I'll make the trip myself."

Wu Yan raised a hand and waved it slightly, silencing Teng Shan.

"Old Hai is the Mittel Clan's Supreme Elder, which means he is one of us. When one of our own is in trouble, how could I, as Clan Head, stand by and do nothing?"

At those words, Teng Shan's eyes widened unconsciously as he looked at his young Clan Head with immense excitement.

He had not expected... the Clan Head to possess such magnanimity.

Wu Yan's figure flashed. When he appeared again, he was already at the horizon, turning into a tiny black dot.

If I bring Hai Bodong back, the Mittel Clan will gain another Dou Emperor to hold the fort. With a Dou Emperor sharing the burden, I'll have more time for quiet cultivation as well.

Wu Yan thought silently. This was a good thing!

As for matters like dividing authority, he did not care about such things at all.

Night descended, and Desert City, situated within the desert, finally welcomed coolness after enduring a day of scorching heat.

Arriving together with the night's chill was an unknown figure.

As a concealed ripple of spatial energy swept across all of Desert City, a powerful yet suppressed aura stood out like candlelight beneath the night curtain.

Arriving before an ancient shop called Ancient Map, Wu Yan looked at its closed doors and raised his hand to knock.

Knock~ knock~ knock~

Along with the knocking, Wu Yan deliberately released a cold aura into the room.

About half a minute later, the shop doors opened, and an old man with a ferocious scar on his face appeared before Wu Yan.

"...Are you Clan Head Wu Yan?"

The old man was visibly stunned when he saw Wu Yan's face.

"Mm, it's me."

Wu Yan nodded and handed over the letter Hai Bodong had personally written.

Upon seeing the letter, Hai Bodong hurriedly stepped aside and invited Wu Yan in.

"Old Hai, your cultivation has been sealed, hasn't it?"

"...Many years ago, Medusa Queen and I fought over a treasure. One misstep, and she sealed my cultivation. I fell all the way to my current state. Even my body has aged considerably."

Surprised by Wu Yan's keen perception, Hai Bodong had no intention of concealing anything further and recounted the incident he had experienced back then.

Wu Yan nodded slightly. Hai Bodong's experience was roughly the same as the plot of the original novel he had read.

"In that case... Old Hai, you should have a map of the Tager Desert here, right? Tonight, I'll pay the Serpent-Human Tribe a visit. I'll bring Medusa Queen here and have her remove the Seal for you, so that you can recover your cultivation."