You Half, Me Half

"How pathetic! A tiny Storage Ring has you this enchanted?" Medicine Elder said disdainfully.

"Isn't this my first time seeing one?" Xiao Yan put aside his playful mood and took the medicinal ingredients out of the Storage Ring.

"Put the ingredients away first. It isn't time to refine them yet. Are you sure no one else is coming?" Medicine Elder teased, then slipped straight into the black ring.

Knock, knock, knock!

"Yan'er, are you in there?" Xiao Zhan's somewhat deep voice sounded from outside the door.

"Father, what is it?" Xiao Yan opened the door and asked in confusion.

"Hehe, didn't we auction off a bottle of Foundation-Building Elixir today? I discussed it with the three elders. We'll divide this bottle into two portions—one for you, and the other for the rest of the clan. I can't be too biased, can I?" Xiao Zhan said with a smile.

"Uh, actually..." Xiao Yan had wanted to say that he no longer needed Foundation-Building Elixir, but he did not know how to bring it up.

Seeing Xiao Yan hesitate, Xiao Zhan said somewhat awkwardly, "It can't be helped. We spent quite a lot of gold this time. If we gave it all to you..."

"Father, what are you thinking? I meant that I don't really need Foundation-Building Elixir anymore. You should give it all to the others instead," Xiao Yan said helplessly.

"You brat, everyone else is scrambling for it, yet you're turning your nose up at it. Fine, take the Foundation-Building Elixir. Do whatever you want with it!" Xiao Zhan directly took out half a bottle of Foundation-Building Elixir and tossed it to Xiao Yan.

Looking at the half-bottle of Foundation-Building Elixir in his hand, Xiao Yan felt a complicated mix of emotions. He did not need it, but since it was his father's kindness, he accepted it anyway.

"Haha, I won't disturb you any longer. Cultivate well! Strive to become a Dou Zhe as soon as possible." Seeing Xiao Yan accept the Foundation-Building Elixir, Xiao Zhan lightly patted his shoulder, offered a few words of encouragement, and left with a smile.

After watching Xiao Zhan leave, Xiao Yan sighed softly and returned to his room.

"Teacher, no one else should be coming now, right?" Xiao Yan softly asked as he looked at the black ring in his hand.

However, the ring showed no reaction. Just as Xiao Yan was feeling puzzled, footsteps sounded outside once more.

"Is Brother Xiao Yan here?" Xun'er's voice came from beyond the door.

"What is it, Xun'er?" Xiao Yan helplessly shook his head, opened the door again, and asked softly.

"Of course good things should be shared with Brother Xiao Yan. Xun'er has no use for this half-bottle of Foundation-Building Elixir, so I'll give it to Brother Xiao Yan," Xun'er said with a smile, handing him the small white jade bottle.

"You half, me half—you are my other half." Looking at the half-bottle of Foundation-Building Elixir that had appeared in his hand once more, Xiao Yan spoke without thinking.

"What other half? What nonsense are you talking about, Brother Xiao Yan? Xun'er isn't speaking to you anymore!" Xun'er's little face flushed red with embarrassment as she turned and ran away.

Seeing Xun'er leave, Xiao Yan did not chase after her. He shook his head helplessly, returned to the room, gently closed the door, and placed the half-bottle of Foundation-Building Elixir Xun'er had given him on the table. Then he took out the half-bottle from his father and placed it beside it.

"Well, that makes a whole bottle." Xiao Yan looked at the Foundation-Building Elixir on the table.

"Hehe! Little fellow, quite a few people care about you," Medicine Elder said with a smile as he floated out of the ring.

"Teacher, you'd better get to refining the medicine. Only by becoming stronger can I live up to their feelings!" With a wave of his hand, Xiao Yan put the Foundation-Building Elixir into the Storage Ring, then took out all the medicinal ingredients and set them on the table. After that, he went to the bed, removed his shoes, crossed his legs, and began cultivating.

Medicine Elder looked toward the cultivating Xiao Yan, stroked his beard, and nodded lightly. Then he narrowed his eyes, stretched out his right hand, and spread his palm. A ball of white flame appeared in it. With a light gesture of his left hand, a medicinal herb from the table fell into the flame in his right palm. In a short while, it melted into a ball of pale-red liquid.

Repeating the same motions, he continuously refined the medicinal ingredients on the table. The pale-red liquid in his palm grew increasingly viscous until it finally became dark red. Medicine Elder made another light gesture, and a small jade bottle appeared in his hand. After guiding the drop of red liquid into it, he picked up another batch of ingredients from the table and began refining again.

By the time the final batch of medicinal ingredients had been refined, dawn was beginning to break. Xiao Yan, who had been cultivating on the bed, slowly opened his eyes. A pale-white gleam flashed through his pupils and vanished.

At the summit of the mountain behind the Xiao Clan, mist drifted among the peaks. The air was fresh, and everything was peaceful.

"Ah..." A miserable scream suddenly rang out, startling the sleeping birds in the trees into spreading their wings and flying into the sky to find the source of the noise. When they saw Xiao Yan tied to a tree and being beaten, they all flew toward him. Hovering over his head, they chirped nonstop, as though saying, "Can you give it a rest for a couple of days? Ever since you came to the back mountain, we haven't had a good night's sleep. You finally quieted down for two days, and we thought it was over! Who knew you'd start again?"

After circling above Xiao Yan's head for a long time, the birds saw that he showed no reaction and continued wailing. They promptly turned into bombers and began dropping bombs on Xiao Yan to express their displeasure.

Feeling something warm suddenly land on his body, Xiao Yan slowly raised his head. The birds circling overhead were all continuously shitting on him.

"One day, I'm going to catch you all and roast you... Ah!" Before Xiao Yan could finish speaking, another whip struck his body, and he screamed again.

Seeing that Xiao Yan was still screaming, the birds in the sky had no choice but to fly away after exhausting their ammunition, heading off to search for any early-rising worms.

The screams continued until there was not a single uninjured spot left on Xiao Yan's body. Only then did Medicine Elder release him. Xiao Yan was like a lump of mud, unable to muster even a trace of strength.

Medicine Elder dragged the blood-covered Xiao Yan and placed him into a wooden barrel prepared beforehand. The instant Xiao Yan entered it, he let out another pig-slaughtering scream. Once his body gradually adapted, he endured the pain as though taking a bath, washing away the blood and bird droppings before beginning to cultivate.

As Xiao Yan cultivated, the pale-red vapor rising from the wooden barrel directly enveloped him. The energy within it continuously strengthened his body's surface. When Xiao Yan inhaled the pale-red vapor into his body, one portion was refined into Dou Qi and stored in his qi sea, while the other strengthened his bones and meridians.

When the last wisp of pale-red vapor around his body was refined, Xiao Yan suddenly opened his eyes. A red gleam flashed through his pupils and vanished, making him look exceptionally eerie.

He leaped out of the wooden barrel and stood atop a huge boulder. After getting dressed, Xiao Yan turned to Medicine Elder and asked, "Teacher, if I train like this every day, can my physical strength really compare to that of a magical beast?"

The physical strength of magical beasts far surpassed that of humans. No expert, regardless of realm, was willing to engage a magical beast in close combat. Even a Dou Huang expert as powerful as Yun Yun had not dared get close while fighting the Amethyst Winged Lion King, because a single swipe of the Amethyst Winged Lion King's claw had nearly torn Yun Yun apart. If not for the Sea Heart Armor, Yun Yun would likely have died on the spot.