Small Valley

Deep in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, Xiao Yan spread his Purple Cloud Wings and flew above the sea of trees. He encountered a few flying magical beasts along the way, but most were only around the first rank, so they posed little trouble.

Although the Purple Cloud Wings could not match true wings formed from Dou Qi, they were still considerably faster than flying magical beasts below the fifth rank. In less than an hour, he reached his destination.

Upon spotting the Small Valley he remembered, Xiao Yan folded away his Purple Cloud Wings and gently descended. In his previous life, he had stumbled across this place while training in the Magical Beast Mountain Range. With its abundant energy and wealth of rare medicinal herbs, he had stayed here for a while, leaving him with a fairly vivid impression of it.

He vaguely remembered a little thatched shelter in the Small Valley back then, but there was nothing here now. Presumably, no one had discovered it yet. Thanks to its unusual terrain, the valley held far more energy than the outside world, allowing cultivation here to yield twice the results with half the effort. According to Xiao Yan's plan, he would cultivate here for more than half a year, until he broke through to Da Dou Shi, before leaving the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

After letting Xiao Yi Xian out of the sack, Xiao Yan did not rush to wake her. Instead, he first removed the little pouch at her waist. The sheer number of magical beast attacks they had encountered along the way clearly could not be explained by bad luck alone. The only explanation was that something was attracting them.

After rummaging around, Xiao Yan took a black stone out of the little pouch. Apart from some medicinal herbs and magic cores, this was the only thing inside that might attract magical beasts. He did indeed sense an unusual fluctuation coming from it, but now was not the time to study it, so he put it into his Storage Ring for the moment.

Only after finishing all this did Xiao Yan gently rest his fingers against Xiao Yi Xian's neck. As Dou Qi flowed into her, the unconscious Xiao Yi Xian gradually came around. She rubbed the spot that still ached a little and quickly remembered what had happened. "Why did you hit me just now?"

"What are you talking about? I wasn't the one who hit you," Xiao Yan said, his face all innocence.

"If it wasn't you, then who was it?"

"Oh no. Looks like that blow with the club scrambled your memory." Xiao Yan let out a long sigh. "Have you forgotten? Those villagers were the ones who knocked you out. They thought you were a witch, so they were going to lock you in a pig cage and drown you. Luckily, I was still a little worried about you and went back to check. That was how I managed to save you. Otherwise, we'd have been separated by life and death."

"Is that what happened?" Xiao Yi Xian still felt something was not quite right, but the medicinal fragrance filling the air soon drew her attention. As she looked at the herbs around her, her puzzled expression gradually gave way to delighted surprise. For a physician, nothing was more thrilling or exciting than discovering rare medicinal herbs.

"This is a little valley I discovered. It's very well hidden. I plan to cultivate here for a while. What about you?" Xiao Yan asked. Naturally, another reason he had chosen this place was to cater to her interests. With so many herbs here, it held tremendous appeal for an herb lover like Xiao Yi Xian, so she nodded in agreement without a second thought.

Of course, another reason was that this place had no entrance or exit. The only way out was to fly overhead, and Xiao Yi Xian clearly lacked that ability at present. Thus, even setting aside her agreement to stay here, she would still have to go through Xiao Yan if she wanted to leave.

Someone had once said that to keep a person by your side, you first had to keep her heart. But our great Demon Fury Sage declared that all of that was nonsense. Break all four of her limbs and see whether you could keep her around.

Of course, the current Xiao Yan was not quite brutal enough to go that far. Whatever else might be said, this girl would be a great help in the future, so winning her over had to be his main approach.

Naturally, Xiao Yi Xian knew nothing of Xiao Yan's little schemes. She had already excitedly taken out the herb-gathering tools she carried with her and begun picking the valley's herbs. At the sight, Xiao Yan could only sigh helplessly. This silly girl only has herbs on her mind. Hasn't she noticed there isn't a single place to live in this valley...?

Seeing Xiao Yi Xian like that, Xiao Yan could only do the work himself. He flew outside to collect some timber and stone, then began building a house. Although he had several tents in his Storage Ring, those were only for temporary use. Since he intended to stay here until he broke through to Da Dou Shi, he naturally needed a house fit for long-term living.

Xiao Yan felt rather helpless about this, too. If his opponents from his previous life-especially that wicked woman-learned that the illustrious Demon Fury Sage had one day been reduced to a construction worker, they would probably laugh their teeth out.

To save time, Xiao Yan also borrowed Yao Lao's strength for some help. After killing He Qian earlier, Xiao Yan had used a secret technique for blocking soul force that he had acquired in his previous life, temporarily cutting off Yao Lao inside the ring. He had only lifted it after reaching this little valley.

After all, he still had to play the obedient, well-behaved student in front of Yao Lao. Naturally, he could not let his teacher learn his true nature.

Yao Lao was also puzzled by his sudden inability to contact Xiao Yan. When he finally reestablished contact, however, Xiao Yan asked about his condition before he could raise the question himself. Xiao Yan also said that Yao Lao's sudden disappearance had left him utterly at a loss, and that he had thought Yao Lao had fallen asleep again...

With such superb acting and his carefully prepared lines, Xiao Yan easily convinced Yao Lao that he knew nothing about the incident either. Moreover, because Xiao Yan acted as though he knew absolutely nothing about building houses, Yao Lao ended up doing nearly eighty percent of the work...

Over the next few days, Xiao Yan made several trips to a nearby town to purchase daily necessities for their extended stay. He even brought Xiao Yi Xian a few changes of clothing and a little medicinal furnace for making pills.

Naturally, a physician could not summon Dou Qi flames to refine pills the way an Alchemist could. Combined with the limitations of her soul force and affinity, this meant the pills Xiao Yi Xian produced were, at best, herbs forcibly fused together with fire. Although they had some effect, they fell far short of genuine pills.

Yet Xiao Yi Xian never tired of it. Although she regretted being unable to become a true Alchemist, that did nothing to diminish her passion for these herbs.

Unlike Xiao Yi Xian's leisurely days, Xiao Yan resumed his grueling cultivation. During this period, he was either cultivating Dou Qi or practicing alchemy, occasionally finding time to go out and hunt magical beasts. To help Xiao Yan break through to Da Dou Shi as soon as possible, Yao Lao also carefully prepared a medicinal liquid called Burning Blood. Although applying it was rather painful, it could improve his cultivation speed somewhat.

Under such arduous training, Xiao Yan's Dou Qi cultivation naturally advanced by leaps and bounds. In just a few months, he rose from a three-star Dou Shi to a seven-star Dou Shi, bringing the realm of Da Dou Shi within reach.