"Xun'er, may reading this letter feel like meeting me, and may opening it bring a smile to your face."
"By the time you read this, I will have crossed the Magical Beast Mountain Range and reached Stone Desert City on the edge of the desert."
"You may remember me telling you that I passed through Tagor once before, but that was a journey through the night, no more than viewing flowers from horseback. Only this morning did I discover how distinctive Tagor was by daylight. Endless yellow sands met the horizon, and the deathly still sea of sand was majestic and hushed. It seemed a union of contradictions, both warm and cold, dangerous yet irresistibly inviting one to venture deeper. It was a novel experience unlike anything I had ever known in my homeland."
"When I left the Xiao Clan, I said I had no goal or direction and would take things as they came. In truth, that was a lie."
"I had long since chosen Tagor as my first destination, because this desert holds something I have anticipated for a long time. To me, it is an opportunity great enough to change my fate. I have never told anyone this secret, so you must keep it for me too, Xun'er."
"I came to this desert carrying my hopes for the future, prepared to face all manner of dangers. But once I actually set foot here, events still unfolded beyond my expectations."
"Tagor is the territory of the Snake-People Tribe and lies under Queen Medusa's absolute control. The slightest disturbance here could draw her gaze. That was true two years ago, and it remains true now."
"So I made up my mind to stop deliberately avoiding her and enter the game myself."
"The opportunity I am pursuing is still far too risky for me as I am now. As it happens, I can borrow this woman's strength to achieve my goal."
"I succeeded in this first step."
"After I exposed an opening, I drew Queen Medusa's attention. She followed me in secret all day without making a move."
"I know that bargaining with a tiger for its skin is terribly dangerous. If you were here, Xun'er, you certainly would not approve. But you know me. If I dare to do this, then I have a measure of confidence."
"Let me tell you some good news. No, two pieces of good news."
"The first is that the Void Pegasus Beast advanced this morning. All the care I have poured into it over these past few years has not gone to waste. Even I could hardly bear to squander the medicinal ingredients I fed it. Fortunately, those efforts have finally borne fruit today."
"At the Peak Fourth Tier, the Void Pegasus Beast's speed already rivaled that of a high-level Dou Huang expert. Now that it is at the fifth tier, I doubt anyone in the Dou Huang Realm can match it. Void-only now does it truly live up to that word. Though its innate racial ability is not yet mature, its first signs have emerged."
"With it beside me, that woman cannot stop me if I choose to leave. So you need not worry about me at all, Xun'er. The very worst outcome would simply be all my efforts coming to nothing. At worst, I can start over again later."
"The other piece of good news is that, as the Void Pegasus Beast's finest partner, your big brother Chen Cang certainly cannot fall behind. I am about to break through too. Yes, right away-I will begin as soon as I finish this letter. I could not contain my joy, so I wanted to share it with you beforehand!"
"Last of all, I had grown so used to living with the Xiao Clan that leaving so suddenly has been rather hard to get used to. I do miss everyone quite a bit."
"Of course, as for how much those fellows count for... hmm, put together, they barely amount to half a Xun'er."
He signed the letter and set down his brush, all in one fluid motion.
From beginning to end, Chen Cang had not mentioned a single word about Xiao Yi Xian and her mother, as though he had forgotten them entirely.
Such a small flaw might escape the eyes of the Xiao Clan's three brothers, but someone as attentive as Xiao Xun'er would certainly notice.
When she did, whatever little resentment she harbored toward Xiao Yi Xian would probably vanish in an instant.
Sometimes, a small detail left out inadvertently carried far more weight than a spoken explanation.
Of course, that depended on the other person being perceptive.
Only after checking the letter and making sure nothing was wrong did Chen Cang leave the inn with the Void Pegasus Beast and ask someone to deliver it.
Then he returned to his room with the Void Pegasus Beast, making a point of never leaving its side.
It was his greatest trump card in deciding victory or defeat in this game!
Leaving the Void Pegasus Beast to rest as it pleased, Chen Cang sat cross-legged on the bed and prepared to break through.
Apart from matters involving his secret of reading memories, Chen Cang almost never deceived Xiao Xun'er.
Among the cultivation realms on the Dou Qi Continent, setting aside Dou Di, only the breakthroughs to Dou Zong and Dou Sheng were especially difficult. They were two distinct dividing lines, hard to cross without a fortuitous opportunity.
The other realms were more a matter of accumulating quantity, without particularly pronounced barriers.
Talent, resources, and the like were the factors that affected the speed of that accumulation.
At least, that was how it was for Chen Cang. So far, he had yet to encounter a genuine bottleneck.
This time was no different. Over more than eight months, he had consumed all the pills he obtained at the imperial capital's auction. Together with the Earth Tier Cultivation Method, the Heavenly Flame Art, they had allowed him to rise from a Seven-Star Great Dou Master to the peak of a Nine-Star Great Dou Master, just as he had hoped.
By today, he could advance no further.
His breakthrough would come as naturally as water flowing into a channel.
His cultivation method suddenly began circulating, drawing in the energy of heaven and earth.
Although this heterogeneous energy had to be refined within his body before a tiny portion could be converted into something he could absorb, Chen Cang had already reached the limit of a Da Dou Shi. He truly could not hold even another drop.
As the saying went, water overflowed when its vessel was full. Thus, when Chen Cang circulated his cultivation method again to convert and absorb energy, the Dou Crystal within him immediately began to change.
With a hum, the fist-sized, diamond-shaped Dou Crystal abruptly began to tremble. A low humming spread outward, finally echoing endlessly within the vortex.
"Thump, thump..."
Quietly, a faint, intensely rhythmic sound arose within the vortex. Listening closely, it sounded as though a newly formed heart were beating there, wondrously mysterious.
As that rhythmic sound rang out, the light on the Dou Crystal's surface waxed and waned, brightened and dimmed. Under Chen Cang's Inner Sight, it grew rounder at a noticeable speed.
From irregular to rounded, then finally into the shape of a sea urchin, the Dou Crystal's transformation gradually came to a halt.
Yet that heartbeat-like sound continued. As Chen Cang kept absorbing energy and pouring it in, the beats grew faster and more urgent.
Finally, at a certain moment, they matched the rhythm of his heart.
At that very instant, the Dou Crystal within him shuddered violently. An immensely powerful ripple of energy burst from it, passing through the vortex, coursing through his meridians and bones, then spilling out through the pores of his skin.
"Boom!"
Chen Cang's body jolted as he sat cross-legged on the bed. Under the force of that energy, the tidy room was instantly reduced to a mess.
"Hrrr~"
Startled awake by the falling objects, the Void Pegasus Beast raised its head in bewilderment and looked over, only to be greeted by Chen Cang's delighted face.
Before you continue