"Here we go, freshly grilled fish. Eat slowly, and mind you don't burn yourself."
Xiao Yan picked up a grilled fish skewered on fragrant fruitwood and handed it to Yun Zhi.
"You're injured right now. You need plenty of nourishment."
Yun Zhi took the fish and smiled. "Have you ever seen a Dou Emperor burn herself on grilled fish?"
Her words made Xiao Yan scratch his head awkwardly, but they also brought the two of them considerably closer.
"This is delicious. I've never eaten anything so good."
Xiao Yan had initially worried that she would find his grilled fish too humble a meal. To his surprise, Yun Zhi ate with relish, her face glowing with delight.
"I know my cooking is pretty decent, but you don't have to praise me that much. You're a Dou Emperor. What delicacies from the mountains and seas haven't you tasted?"
Xiao Yan had a clear understanding of his own abilities and thought Yun Zhi was merely flattering him.
"No, I mean every word. So what if I'm a Dou Emperor? There are plenty of things even I can't decide for myself."
Yun Zhi's expression dimmed. She had kept many things buried in her heart, but now, faced with a complete stranger and with her Dou Qi sealed, she could actually speak freely about some of them.
"My teacher took me as a disciple when I was little and raised me to become the Sect's successor. My teacher was very strict with me. Ever since childhood, when I was hungry, I ate pills, and when I was thirsty, I drank medicinal liquids.
"Although that benefited my cultivation greatly, almost all of it tasted like chewing wax. There was no flavor to speak of."
Yun Zhi's heartfelt words completely shattered Xiao Yan's image of Dou Emperors. It turned out that not every Dou Emperor could do whatever they pleased.
"That's why I don't want to join those sects. Otherwise, I'd be bound by them, with every word and action representing the sect's stance. There's no freedom in that at all."
Xiao Yan also opened his heart to her, which made Yun Zhi abandon her intention of recruiting him into the Sect.
In the past, she would have done everything she could to win over a genius like Xiao Yan and have him safeguard the Sect's development.
But now, she was merely an ordinary woman named Yun Zhi, and could instead consider things from an ordinary person's perspective.
Of course, Yun Zhi would not go back on her promise to recommend Xiao Yan to her alchemist friend.
"Still, coming all the way here by yourself was rather risky, wasn't it?"
Unable to leave the cave at present, Yun Zhi's only diversion was chatting with Xiao Yan.
"I had no choice. Someone asked me to help a friend find a material. Besides, if your fight with that lion hadn't sent the Magical Beasts outside into a frenzy, I'd have left this place long ago."
Somewhat helpless, Xiao Yan added another handful of firewood to the fire before him.
"Oh, I see. Then I'm really sorry."
Yun Zhi lowered her head slightly and apologized to Xiao Yan, as though she had done something wrong.
At that moment, she displayed none of a Dou Emperor's airs or an elder's arrogance. She and Xiao Yan treated each other as equals.
"There's no need to apologize. We're both human, so it's only natural to help each other. Besides, if you died here, who knows how many people would be affected?"
The fall of a Dou Emperor often signaled the collapse of a faction. His grandfather, Xiao Lin, had been a Dou Wang, and after his death, the Xiao Clan had immediately dwindled into an insignificant little clan.
"That's why living is exhausting for people like us. We don't even have the right to die."
Yun Zhi sighed softly. Although she held a lofty position, many of her own wishes ran counter to the Sect's development. Yet she had no choice but to carry out those duties, leaving her utterly weary.
The conversation seemed to have grown rather heavy, so Xiao Yan hurriedly changed the subject. "Right, how many stars are you as a Dou Emperor? And how many stars is that lion? You two fought in the sky for an entire day. If I hadn't run fast enough, the shock waves would have killed me ages ago."
"Me? I'm a Three-Star Dou Emperor. The one I fought is called the Amethyst Winged Lion King. He's one of the four sovereigns of the Magical Beast Mountain Range, a sixth-rank Magical Beast who rules its eastern region.
"It's actually difficult to define a Magical Beast's rank precisely. Judging by his Dou Qi and Dou Techniques alone, the Amethyst Winged Lion King would only count as a Two-Star Dou Emperor. But Magical Beasts have powerful bodies. In close combat, he can rival a Four-Star or even a Five-Star Dou Emperor. Overall, his strength is probably around three stars."
"No wonder you mostly kept your distance from him in the sky. Once he got close, you were defeated in no time."
Xiao Yan nodded. He was very interested in battles between Dou Emperors.
"I let my guard down for a moment. I never expected him to have awakened a Sealing Technique, so I couldn't react in time and could only strike back in haste. Unfortunately, I only broke his horn instead of piercing his skull."
Given another chance, Yun Zhi would never make the same mistake again.
"Speaking of which, that fellow was planning to chase you, but then a bird's cry seemed to make him turn back. What Magical Beast was that?"
Like an inquisitive child, Xiao Yan fired off one question after another without stopping.
"Hmm, I suspect that was the Azure Emperor Sparrow, the sovereign of the Magical Beast Mountain Range's northern region. The place where I fell happened to be within its territory.
"The other two Magical Beast sovereigns are the Emperor Blind Alligator in the south and the Mountain-Moving Ape in the west. All four are sixth-rank beasts, comparable to human Dou Emperors.
"The Amethyst Winged Lion King had exhausted himself fighting me and had very little Dou Qi left. If he'd insisted on pursuing me, he would most likely have died at the Azure Emperor Sparrow's hands. Really, it was only good luck that allowed me to escape disaster and then meet you."
The Amethyst Winged Lion King? The Azure Emperor Sparrow? The Emperor Blind Alligator? The Mountain-Moving Ape?
Xiao Yan silently committed those four mighty Magical Beasts to memory. When he crossed the Magical Beast Mountain Range later, he would skirt their territories as much as possible.
"Then why did you come looking for the Amethyst Winged Lion King? Either side could die in a battle between Dou Emperors. Surely there was no need to take such a huge risk?"
At that question, Yun Zhi smiled instead. "My goal was purple spirit crystal, an ingredient used to refine the fourth-grade pill known as the Purple Heart Barrier-Breaking Pill.
"I originally intended to trade a Black Tier, Advanced Level Cultivation Technique and a Black Tier, Intermediate Level Dou Technique for it.
"But the Amethyst Winged Lion King refused. Instead, he demanded a seventh-grade pill, the Transformation Pill, in exchange.
"In the end, negotiations broke down, and we launched into a fierce battle."
Good grief. Trading a fourth-grade ingredient for a finished seventh-grade pill? That Magical Beast clearly never intended to trade with humans at all.
"Then will you go looking for that fellow again once your injuries heal?" That was what concerned Xiao Yan most at the moment.
"Of course. Purple spirit crystal is extremely important to me. If he insists on resisting, this time I absolutely
"won't fall prey to his Sealing Technique again!"
Xiao Yan's heart jolted. She's going to fight him again?
By then, Xiao Yan had already made his plans. When the two started fighting again, he would have to decisively reveal himself ahead of time.
However, Yun Zhi's next words doused Xiao Yan's fantasy.
"The next time I go, I hope you can help me. While I'm fighting the Amethyst Winged Lion King, sneak into his cave abode and steal the purple spirit crystal."
What a joke. How could I possibly risk my neck doing something that dangerous?
Xiao Yan decisively refused her. "No problem. Leave it to me."
Before you continue