Zi Yan advanced again!

"Treasure?"

"What treasure haven't I seen before?"

With a chuckle, Elder Huo strolled over nonchalantly. Although he was weaker than Su Qian, only a Dou Emperor, as a veteran Fifth-grade Alchemist who had recently advanced to the sixth grade, he dared thump his chest and declare:

Su Qian wasn't necessarily wealthier than him!

What treasure hadn't he seen? The Great Elder was making a mountain out of a molehill!

"You probably really haven't seen this one!" Su Qian ignored Elder Huo's indifference, a mysterious smile on his face.

At Su Qian's signal, Jiang Yun stepped forward and cupped his hands. "Student Jiang Yun pays his respects to Elder Huo!"

Whatever else might be said, Elder Huo had helped teach him. He still owed the elder the proper courtesy.

"So you're Jiang Yun!" Elder Huo regarded the boy before him with interest. Jiang Yun's name resounded like thunder throughout the Inner Academy!

As a new student, he had first swept through the Fire Energy Capture Tournament, then defeated an eight-star Dou Ling senior while still a Da Dou Shi. The academy universally recognized him as a monstrous prodigy.

Moreover, rumors in the Inner Academy claimed that he had some undisclosed connection to the Great Elder.

As Su Qian's longtime colleague, what relatives of his wouldn't Elder Huo know about? Jiang Yun clearly wasn't among them. Glancing at Su Qian beside him, he realized those rumors hadn't come out of thin air after all!

"Don't let your imagination run wild. Remember the two children I brought back a few years ago?" Elder Huo's teasing gaze made Su Qian's face darken, and he spoke up to explain.

"He's one of those two children?"

Now Elder Huo was even more surprised. He had heard that Su Qian had brought two children back from the Magical Beast Forest a few years ago, but he had never met them.

Now that he saw him...

"Extraordinary talent indeed. He really is a fine 'treasure.'"

Looking at the boy, who appeared to be eleven or twelve, and sensing the powerful Dou Qi within him, Elder Huo gained a much deeper understanding of what a monstrous prodigy truly was.

Seeing that Elder Huo had misunderstood, Su Qian could only say, "Jiang Yun had a fortuitous encounter a few days ago and obtained an unknown heavenly flame, giving him the potential to become an alchemist. His soul power is naturally strong, so..."

"What-"

"A heavenly flame-"

Su Qian was cut off. Elder Huo sprang in front of Jiang Yun and seized his hands, his eyes blazing with excitement. "Quick, let me see your heavenly flame!"

Although the Inner Academy's Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower contained a heavenly flame, that did nothing to diminish their allure to an alchemist.

Hearing this, Jiang Yun extended his right hand. With a whoomph, the white undying saint flame appeared in his palm.

The moment the flame appeared, Elder Huo gazed at the dancing sprite in rapture. Feeling the seventh-rank beast flame within him tremble, he became even more certain of its identity.

"When a heavenly flame appears, all other flames bow!" After a moment, Elder Huo reluctantly withdrew his gaze and sighed with emotion.

"This heavenly flame of yours has never appeared before. It isn't on the Heavenly Flame Ranking at all. But judging by what I can see, it should rank among the top twenty!"

After calming down and considering it carefully, Elder Huo gave his assessment with due caution.

"Right, the Great Elder said you have a talent for alchemy?" As though he had only just remembered something, Elder Huo asked before pointing at Su Qian and laughing reproachfully. "Now I understand! The Great Elder came to press me into service!"

"Heh!" Su Qian made no attempt to deny it, instead speaking as though it were only natural. "You're the chief elder of the Alchemy Department. Isn't teaching students your duty?"

"Don't be fooled just because Jiang Yun has only started learning alchemy. His talent for it is no worse than his cultivation talent. Look, he refined this first-grade pill!"

As he spoke, Su Qian handed Elder Huo a first-grade pill-the Spring-Returning Pill Jiang Yun had just given him.

Elder Huo accepted it curiously and poured out a pill to examine. His eyes immediately widened, and he looked at Jiang Yun in disbelief. "You refined this?"

"I did!"

"..." Receiving confirmation, Elder Huo shook his head, feeling rather defeated. Su Qian couldn't see the finer points, but how could he fail to notice them?

The Spring-Returning Pills in this bottle were flawless. Even many third-grade alchemists might not be able to refine pills like these.

That meant Jiang Yun either possessed an extraordinarily high talent for alchemy or had already reached the third grade in his alchemical skills.

Either possibility dealt Elder Huo a heavy blow.

"Great Elder, I can't teach this student!"

"Why? Jiang Yun is very gifted at alchemy. He only watched a few instructors in the Outer Academy demonstrate it and could already reproduce a first-grade pill perfectly. Doesn't such a promising seedling tempt you...?" Seeing Elder Huo refuse, Su Qian grew anxious.

"Urgh..." Elder Huo clutched his heart, bitterness flooding him. Where did this monster come from? Was he sent here specifically to crush 'trash' like us?

It wasn't that he didn't want to teach him! He was afraid he couldn't!

"How about this? Give Jiang Yun the status of an Alchemy Department student. He can use fire energy to borrow any pill formula below the fourth grade, and all the relevant reference materials will be open to him as well. If there's anything he doesn't understand, he can ask any of the elders at any time!"

In the end, Elder Huo proposed this arrangement, giving Jiang Yun considerable freedom.

Ultimately, the Great Elder left with a satisfied Jiang Yun, leaving a forlorn Elder Huo behind.

"Indeed, every generation brings forth new talents, each commanding the stage for centuries!"

With Jiang Yun's affairs settled, Su Qian had to leave as well. As the Great Elder, he was a very busy man.

After reminding Jiang Yun to cultivate diligently, Su Qian walked away through the air, step by step. Watching this "skill" exclusive to a Dou Zong, Jiang Yun's eyes gleamed.

Was that an application of spatial force?

The thought flashed through his mind. Jiang Yun moved, invisible spatial force gathering beneath his feet. With a single step, he appeared a thousand meters away.

Then a figure headed toward the dormitory, moving almost as though he were teleporting.

Whoosh-

Without a sound, Jiang Yun returned to the dormitory. Standing at the entrance, he murmured thoughtfully, "A crude enhancement using spatial force to achieve short-range teleportation. Its speed is no worse than a high-level Xuan-tier movement technique, but it still falls a little short of the effect I want. I'll call it Flying Cloud Step for now!"

Having created the beginnings of a Dou Technique, Jiang Yun's heart remained as still as an ancient well. This was how he had spent the past few years. He had discovered that his comprehension was even more terrifying than his cultivation talent.

Whatever he learned, he mastered at once. Practicing Dou Techniques was as simple as eating and drinking.

Over the past few years, he had created quite a few Dou Techniques, but they could only serve as ordinary tools. For his trump card, he still had to rely on his Four Symbols Seal!

Suddenly, Jiang Yun sensed the surrounding natural energy beginning to converge here.

"Zi Yan!"

Jiang Yun rushed into the room and saw Zi Yan sleeping deeply. Beside the bed lay the remnants of several Life-and-Death Profound Fruits.

A purple glow suffused Zi Yan's face, and her whole body burned like a furnace. Jiang Yun knew this condition well. It had been the same when she advanced to Dou Wang last time.

Before entering the Secret Realm, Zi Yan had already reached the peak of the fifth rank, only one final step away from the sixth rank. This time, they had obtained numerous medicinal ingredients and treasures collected by Dou Emperors and Dou Wangs in the Secret Realm.

Sure enough, Zi Yan hadn't been able to resist. Without waiting for Jiang Yun to return, she had eaten several Life-and-Death Profound Fruits. Now it seemed she had met the requirements for advancement.

Just as before, an even richer purple radiance poured out of her body, finally forming a purple cocoon of light over ten feet wide that enveloped her completely.

On the cocoon's surface, the purple light brightened and dimmed with the steady rhythm of a heartbeat.

Each time the cocoon shone, all the energy in the surrounding air was drawn into it, making its radiance even brighter.

"Let me lend you a hand!"

Looking at the purple cocoon Zi Yan had become, tenderness surfaced in Jiang Yun's eyes, and he spoke gently.

As though it had heard his words, the great purple cocoon brightened considerably, seemingly responding to him.

Jiang Yun chuckled at the sight and spread his hand. Black-and-white Dou Qi shimmered, then transformed into Spirit Seals flickering with light.

Under his precise control, the Spirit Seals fell one by one into the air before him, vanishing like raindrops falling into the sea. Only the faint, unusual ripples they sent out made their presence perceptible.

What Jiang Yun was about to set up was a Spirit Array commonly used in the Great Thousand World.

Level 3 Spirit Gathering Array!

A Spirit Gathering Array differed from ordinary Spirit Arrays. Although it had no offensive power, it was indispensable to many factions, a symbol of their strength and their accumulated foundations.

How could Jiang Yun not have studied such a renowned formation during his time with the Evil Spirit Clan?

Jiang Yun currently lacked the materials required to construct a Spirit Gathering Array, so he could only use Spirit Seals to set up a temporary one. It wouldn't last long, but it was enough for Zi Yan!

As over a hundred Spirit Seals merged into the air, they formed points of light almost invisible to the naked eye. With a thought from Jiang Yun, lines of light extended from those points and finally intersected.

Compared to other formations, a Spirit Gathering Array wasn't complicated. Soon, a profound array diagram slowly appeared.

At once, a powerful fluctuation erupted in midair. Vast swaths of radiance enveloped the light barrier, and everyone throughout the Inner Academy could sense enormous quantities of spiritual energy gathering toward the dormitory district as though drawn by a force.

"Looks like I made a bit too much of a stir!"

After finishing the array, Jiang Yun looked at the disturbance in the sky and spoke sheepishly.

Meanwhile, the instant Jiang Yun completed the array, figures appeared outside, whispering to one another and discussing it animatedly.

"What's going on?"

"The energy in the surroundings is rushing toward the dormitory district?"

"Could there be some treasure in the dormitory district?"

"Look! The elders are heading over there!"

Jiang Yun left the room and saw Great Elder Su Qian standing in the courtyard with Elder Huo and Elder Qing, whom he had met once before. They were all looking at him.

"Has Zi Yan begun advancing?" The Great Elder first asked about Zi Yan's condition.

"Yes, she's already formed a cocoon and is lying inside," Jiang Yun nodded and replied softly. "Would you like to go in and see her, Great Elder?"

"No. Knowing she's making a breakthrough is enough." Hearing that Zi Yan had already begun her breakthrough, Su Qian stroked his beard in satisfaction and declined Jiang Yun's suggestion.

"If I remember correctly, Zi Yan was already at the peak of the fifth rank! With this advancement, she'll probably become an emperor among Sixth-rank Magical Beasts!" Elder Qing sighed, his face full of emotion.

His expression was complicated. He hadn't expected Zi Yan, a little girl who had only just entered the Inner Academy, to catch up with him so quickly. And where was his own opportunity to break through to Dou Zong?

Glancing at Elder Huo beside him, Elder Qing subtly shook his head. Elder Huo had only just advanced to the sixth grade. Who knew how many years it would take before he could refine a peak sixth-grade pill, the Sect Breaking Pill?

Rather than place his faith in Elder Huo, Elder Qing would sooner trust Jiang Yun, a monster who defied all common sense.

"..." Though Elder Qing's gesture was subtle, Elder Huo's soul power was second only to Jiang Yun's among those present. How could he possibly miss that look?

Having worked together for years, how could he not understand Elder Qing's meaning? Secretly embarrassed and annoyed, he also swore to redouble his efforts in alchemy. When the time came, he would make Elder Qing beg him!

"By the way, this is a formation, isn't it?" The Great Elder looked at the Spirit Gathering Array before him and asked, though his tone was full of certainty.

"Indeed. This formation is called a Spirit Gathering Array. As the name suggests, it gathers energy from the surroundings, allowing those inside it to cultivate faster."

Jiang Yun nodded slightly. Since it had already been exposed, he had no intention of hiding it.

Jia Nan Academy had treated him and Zi Yan well. Zi Yan had swiped countless medicinal ingredients over the years, yet the Great Elder had never complained. If he could leave a few Spirit Gathering Arrays for the academy, it would count as repaying their original "cultivation loan"!

"You know how to set up formations too?"

"I also obtained this formation from the Ruins. I was just testing its effects. Judging by the results..."

"It seems pretty good!"

Su Qian fell silent. Every time, Jiang Yun reshaped his understanding of genius. He knew Jiang Yun's origins were mysterious, but he had never investigated them deeply. He trusted what he saw.

The importance of a Spirit Gathering Array to them went without saying. Though he dearly wanted one, he knew something so precious, like an alchemist's pill formulas, wasn't readily shared with outsiders.

Moreover, Jiang Yun was a student, and Su Qian felt awkward asking him. For a moment, he found himself caught between two difficult choices.

"Although the academy already has a treasure like the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower, I think its grounds are large enough to fit a few Spirit Gathering Arrays as well. What do you think, Great Elder?"

Seeing Su Qian's dilemma, Jiang Yun spoke in a joking tone.

Before Su Qian could answer, Elder Huo laughed heartily beside him. "Wonderful! As expected of our Alchemy Department's prodigy-you speak generously and without fuss! Jiang Yun, if you ever need any pills, just come to me!"

"Wait, since when did Jiang Yun belong to your Alchemy Department?" Elder Qing asked with a look of disdain.

"As of today!" Elder Huo flashed a sly grin, suddenly giving Elder Qing the urge to punch him again.

By now, Su Qian had also recovered his senses. He looked at Jiang Yun with a complicated expression, his eyes full of warmth and pride. "You're a good child. The academy can't take this from you for nothing either. Tell me, what would you like?"