Before long, Han Chen returned to the valley. Yun Yun had already been waiting for him there for some time.
When she saw Han Chen fly back safely, a smile of relief finally appeared on her face, and she strode toward him.
But after barely two steps, her face stiffened again. She marched angrily up to Han Chen, grabbed his ear, and launched into a scolding.
"Where did you go? Didn't I tell you to come straight back once you were done? Did my words just blow past your ears?
"Do you know how worried I was? The Amethyst Winged Lion King charged back like he'd gone mad. No matter what I did, I couldn't stop him. I thought you'd been discovered."
Feeling the pressure on his ear and listening to Yun Yun's scolding, Han Chen felt warmth fill his heart, so he smiled.
"Teacher, I'm fine, aren't I? Besides, I had you there."
"You little ingrate."
Seeing Han Chen's carefree expression, Yun Yun couldn't help muttering under her breath before releasing his ear.
Once the pressure on his ear disappeared, Han Chen took several bottles of companion amethyst source out of his Ring of Holding as though presenting a treasure.
"Here, Teacher. Mission accomplished."
Taking the companion amethyst source from Han Chen, Yun Yun looked at him and asked worriedly.
"Are you really all right? The Lion King left awfully fast."
"I'm fine. I met a kindhearted fellow on my way out, and he volunteered to lure the Amethyst Winged Lion King away for me."
Hearing that, Yun Yun didn't ask any further questions. Instead, she said,
"Keep half of this for yourself. Companion amethyst source is extremely rare and valuable. It'll be useful to you, too."
Han Chen didn't agree to Yun Yun's offer to leave him some of the companion amethyst source. For refining medicine and fighting enemies, he already had tiandu corpse fire and profound soul yin fire.
As for cultivation, he could refine pills himself and had no shortage of them. This substance was of little use to him, so she might as well take it back to Nalan Yanran to help her grow stronger.
"No need, Teacher. I have enough cultivation resources. This Amethyst Source won't do much for me. Just take it back for Yanran. She needs it more than I do."
Knowing that Han Chen was no longer the same as before, Yun Yun thought it over briefly, then put away the bottles of Amethyst Source.
"All right, then. I won't stand on ceremony with you."
"Oh, and Teacher, take this with you, too."
As he spoke, Han Chen took a jade bottle out of his Ring of Holding and handed it to Yun Yun.
"Teacher, there's a pill called a Spirit Gathering Pill inside. I refined it to speed up cultivation. Take it back for Yanran."
Originally, Han Chen had planned to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill for Nalan Yanran. After all, its effects were far better than those of a Spirit Gathering Pill.
A single Spirit Gathering Pill wouldn't accomplish much, but he couldn't simply give Yun Yun a whole heap of them as though he were selling them wholesale. That would definitely arouse suspicion.
Unfortunately, plans couldn't keep pace with change. Even now, on the day Yun Yun was leaving, he still hadn't successfully refined a single Foundation Establishment Pill.
He had exhausted his stock of medicinal ingredients. Gu Ni and the others had good reason to classify this pill as a fourth-tier pill.
Even after consuming so many ingredients, he had failed to refine it. He could only settle for the next best thing and take out a Spirit Gathering Pill.
After accepting the pill, Yun Yun first looked at Han Chen, then ran back into the house. Just as Han Chen was wondering what she was doing, she emerged with a flushed face and something in her hands.
Hurrying up to Han Chen, she took his hand and pressed a piece of finely textured soft armor, still warm from her body, into it. She tried to look casual, but her stammering betrayed her.
"Th-this is the soft armor I wear against my skin. You... spend all year out gaining experience. Without me to protect you, you'd be in trouble if you encountered danger.
"This armor was made from a strange metal found inside a sixth-rank magical beast, a Three-Tailed Blue Whale. It has exceptionally strong defenses. Wear it, and it could save your life at a critical moment."
Hearing this, Han Chen looked at the warm soft armor in his hands, with its faint, unusual fragrance. His nose suddenly felt a little hot, and he couldn't help recalling how Yun Yun had looked after bathing half a month ago.
"Ahem, ahem. Thank you, Teacher."
This time, Han Chen didn't refuse. After all, this was hardly something to turn down. He tucked it straight into his robes and rubbed his nose.
Seeing Han Chen accept the armor, Yun Yun stood there without speaking. An inexplicable silence settled between them.
After a long while, Yun Yun was the first to lose her composure and spoke softly.
"I'm leaving. Come back for a visit when you have time. Yanran misses you very much."
By now, Yun Yun had returned to her usual air of a strong, capable woman. Once she finished speaking to Han Chen, she spread the Dou Qi Wings behind her and flew out of the valley.
Watching Yun Yun disappear into the horizon, Han Chen smiled and returned to the wooden house. Looking at the place where she had been living, he suddenly felt a little empty being alone.
"Just like that, it's only me and two spiders left. Oh! And a swarm of insects."
Little Blue had already left, not long after Xiao Yi Xian's departure. Now, the only ones remaining in the valley were Han Chen, the two Blood Jade Spiders, and the gold-devouring insects he had obtained that day.
Han Chen didn't release the gold-devouring insects right away. He knew these creatures would devour anything, and only jade objects and spirit wood could contain them.
If they flew straight off the moment he let them out, how was he supposed to catch them?
So he first built a sealed meditation chamber. Only after making sure they couldn't escape did he release them.
Once the system lifted the seal on the gold-devouring insects, an intense, low buzzing immediately filled the entire chamber.
Looking at the silver insects densely covering the walls, Han Chen was thrilled. With these gold-devouring insects, he not only had another means of fighting his enemies, but if he could raise an insect king like Han Li had, there might not be a battle between two emperors at all. Instead, it would be a righteous three-on-one beating.
After checking the gold-devouring insects' condition, Han Chen didn't rush to bind them to himself. Right now, they were merely ordinary larvae with hardly any fighting power.
Binding them early would only waste his blood essence. To help him in combat, they would at least need to develop golden spots, like the ones Han Li had raised.
"If I bind them now, the contract will gradually weaken as the gold-devouring insects keep evolving. I'd better raise them for a while first."
With that thought, Han Chen scattered some Spirit Nurturing Pellets and demon-luring grass on the floor. Then he shut the insects inside and left them to evolve on their own.
After feeding Little White and Little Jade a Spirit Nurturing Pellet each, Han Chen planned to continue his secluded cultivation. Next, he only needed to check in at Hai Bodong's map fragment ahead of time.
As for the green lotus core flame, truthfully, he didn't want to get involved. Everyone involved was a Dou Wang, and he had no confidence he could escape with his life. After all, he didn't have an old master backing him up.
And so, Han Chen returned to his days of cultivating and refining pills, only occasionally checking on the gold-devouring insects in the meditation chamber.
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