Reaching the pinnacle from Doupo

Chapter 276: Xun'er's Thoughts, Meeting Gu Zhen Again
"It's absolutely true. It was Master Yao who told me about Lin Yuan's strength." Ling Ying murmured.

“Master Yao, since the old man said so… then it seems to be true!” Gu Xun’er stroked her forehead gently, with a look of deep doubt in her eyes, “Lin Yuan, this person is too mysterious. Since he was fifteen, his growth rate has been very abnormal…”

Hearing Xun'er's words, Ling Ying couldn't help but nodded, agreeing with it.

As for information about Lin Yuan, these guards had been ordered by their mistress to investigate many times, and had even gone to his hometown to investigate.

As a result, Lin Yuan was indeed born into an ordinary mercenary family. After becoming an orphan, he joined Canaan College. Before the age of fifteen, although he could be considered a very outstanding genius in Zhongzhou, it was ultimately within the scope of understanding.

However, at the age of fifteen, a Life-Devouring Pill... was like a watershed, dividing his life in two.

After turning fifteen, Lin Yuan became a confusing person.

Starting from achieving Dou Wang with a Life-Devouring Pill, Lin Yuan used less than five years to advance from the initial Dou Wang level to the current peak of Dou Zong.

His alchemy skills were even more amazing, and he actually became an eighth-grade alchemist.

In five years, most people may not be able to improve their Dou Zong level by one star... Lin Yuan's progress speed is so fast that even the young lady with an extremely high concentration of Dou Emperor bloodline would find it difficult to compare with him if he does not use some special methods within the clan.

Among the many geniuses of the younger generation of the Gu clan, only Gu Qingyang can currently match Lin Yuan in cultivation.

As for combat power, although there is a suspicion of "boosting others' ambitions and destroying one's own prestige", Ling Ying, who has witnessed Lin Yuan's battles many times, really cannot be too optimistic about Gu Qingyang.

That person is good at too many things, and has too many fighting methods and tactics. Without absolute cultivation to suppress him, the difficulty of defeating him... is extremely great!
"If Master Xiao Yan could behave like this, the pressure Miss would have to bear would be much less!"

Thinking of this, Ling Ying couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

On the other hand, Gu Xun'er shook her head, temporarily suppressed the doubts in her heart, and said in a deep voice: "Mr. Ling, tell me in detail what happened with Lin Yuan this time! Try to be as detailed as possible..."

Looking at the serious face of her young lady, Ling Ying felt a chill in her heart. After saying "Yes, young lady", she began to carefully recall the details of this incident and recounted in detail many things related to Lin Yuan.

He continued to tell the story until he came to the point where he talked about the death of old man Mu Gu...

"In other words, the three-star Dou Zun old man Mu Gu was killed by that little medical fairy? She was able to kill an old three-star... She is a four-star Dou Zun?"

Xun'er's emotions were a little turbulent, and her brows unconsciously wrinkled slightly.

Compared to Lin Yuan, how come the improvement speed of this little medical fairy who impressed me so much is even more bizarre?

If I remember correctly, when I left Canaan College, she was only a five-star Dou Zong... How did she suddenly jump to a four-star Dou Zun? Is the evil poison body such a powerful physique?
But I have read some of the previous records of the evil poison body, and it is obviously not so exaggerated...

Xun'er narrowed her bright eyes slightly, and after a while of careful calculation, she came to a conclusion: "According to my current training plan, will it take me another... five years to break through to Dou Zun?"

(Ps: In the original novel, five and a half years later, Xun'er's cultivation reached the peak of Dou Zong, which is a bit stronger here!)
"Tsk——"

Xun'er was a little unwilling to accept this conclusion, and she secretly made up her mind: "The current cultivation speed is a bit slow, I have to think of a way..."

Noticing Xun'er's condition, Ling Ying wisely kept silent for a while.

Having been a guard for so many years, he knew his young lady very well. Although she looked calm, she was very proud deep down.

For many years before, Miss Xun'er was very... casual in her cultivation. She really started to cultivate seriously after meeting the white-haired woman named Little Medical Fairy. It seemed that her young lady had a rare desire to compete with the latter.

However, a year has passed, and now the gap in cultivation between the two has not only not narrowed, but has widened a lot, which is a bit embarrassing.

"What a sinister nature... Lin Yuan and the people around him!" Ling Ying thought to himself.

After a moment's silence, Gu Xun'er had already made some decisions in her mind. She then continued to look at Ling Ying and said in a deep voice, "Sorry, I was a little distracted just now! Mr. Ling, please continue to tell us about the information related to Lin Yuan!"

"Yes, Miss!" Ling Ying nodded and continued her story.

"Lin Yuan came to the Eastern Region... to visit a friend?"

After listening to Ling Ying's report, Xun'er's beautiful eyes were slightly disturbed. "He has never been to the Eastern Region, but he deliberately came to such a distant place to visit friends? Moreover, it is obvious that he is not talking about me, but..."

Xun'er's thoughts raced as she quickly analyzed the information about Lin Yuan - his personality, his abilities, his style of doing things, the people from the Eastern Region that he had come into contact with...

A lot of information was gathered and finally fixed on a steady and ordinary face.

"Gu Zhen, is that you?"

Xun'er's eyes flashed, and she immediately looked at Ling Ying with a burning gaze: "Old Ling, Gu Zhen of the Black Annihilation Army, has he done anything important or unusual this year? Especially things related to the outside world..."

Ling Ying was slightly startled when he heard this, and then immediately recalled the information about the geniuses in the clan.

As Gu Xun'er's former bodyguard, his strength is far from enough to support this task, and the clan has arranged for a Dou Zun strongman to take over.

Now, his identity is closer to that of a "close minister", and these intelligence-related tasks are his main job.

Soon, he filtered out the information about Gu Zhen in his mind and began to report it to Xun'er.

"Half a month ago, Gu Zhen was baptized by the Emperor Altar and successfully broke through to the six-star Dou Zong."

"In this year, his contact with the outside world, in addition to going to the Black Horn Region to bring back the young lady, was indeed for another matter. Half a year ago, I heard that he took the initiative to take on the responsibility of regularly going to Yongning City to garrison..."

Hearing this, Xun'er's beautiful eyes narrowed, and her intuition told her that there was something fishy.

"Half a year ago...Yongning City?"

Gu Xun'er murmured, the more she thought about it, the more she felt that the "old friend" Lin Yuan was referring to was Gu Zhen.

At the beginning, after he and Gu Yao and others left the academy, Gu Zhen took several days to reunite with everyone. During this period, it was not impossible that he and Lin Yuan became friends, or reached some deal.

With her bright eyes narrowed slightly, Gu Xun'er continued to ask: "Mr. Ling, is there anything special about Yongning City?"

"This city is the hub city guarded by Gu Zhen's third uncle, the Eight-Star Dou Zun Gu Yong!" Ling Ying replied.

"So that's it!" Gu Xun'er nodded and then fell into silence.

After a moment, she took a deep breath, and a bright smile appeared on her elegant face, with a hint of cunning in her eyes.

"Since he said he is willing to do what I want, then I am willing to do him a favor! However, he should also fulfill his responsibilities!"

"Give the order, I want to leave the ancient world... to relax!"

"Target, Yongning City!"

After saying that, Gu Xun'er spread her golden flame wings and flew straight to the bottom of the mountain...
-
Yongning City.

This city is one of the hub cities connecting the Northern Region and the Eastern Region. Therefore, it is quite prosperous and can be regarded as one of the famous cities in the Eastern Region.

"As expected of a big city in the Eastern Region, its collection is indeed rich!" Lin Yuan walked out of an auction house called Wanbao Pavilion, his eyebrows slightly raised, and he seemed to be in a good mood: "One eighth-grade beast fire, nine seventh-grade beast fires, plus the fifteen I got in Ziyang City, it will be enough for now..."

Walking leisurely along the street, he admired the eastern style of this bluestone city while inquiring about various information.

Compared with other cities Lin Yuan has been to, Yongning City has two differences.

First, the “ancient” style.

Perhaps this kind of hub city is garrisoned by powerful people from ancient clans. Yongning City and Ziyang City have similar styles and are both quite "ancient".

The city is built with huge pale blue rocks. Perhaps due to the erosion of time, the city looks a bit old. This antiquity, combined with the extremely ancient architectural style, makes the whole city filled with ancient charm.

This feeling is quite similar to the Ancient Holy City, the center of the Eastern Region that Lin Yuan read in the records.

"Perhaps, the 'ancient' style is the special 'high-end feeling' popular in the Eastern Region?" Lin Yuan thought to himself.

Second, the atmosphere is “conservative”.

Lin Yuan had traveled to many places, and had seen the chaos of the Black Horn Region, the heat of the desert, the excitement of Gama, the gloom of Izumo, and the wildness of the Beast Region...

The atmosphere in Ziyang and Yongning cities was very different from the cities he had visited before.

Obviously, these two cities are trading cities, and the business exchanges between them are quite prosperous, but they do not have the bustling feeling of trading cities in other regions. Instead, they have a serious and orderly style.

In addition, the clothing style here tends to be conservative. People are quite polite to each other, and at the same time, they tacitly maintain a sense of distance between each other.

This kind of atmosphere is somewhat similar to the ancient clan reported by the Soul Palace.

Judging from the styles of the two cities of Ziyang and Yongning, the statement that "the eastern region of Zhongzhou is the eastern region of the ancient tribe" is not an exaggeration.

Although the ancient clan does not overly intervene in the specific affairs of the Eastern Region, the natural influence brought by its powerful strength will subtly penetrate into the entire Eastern Region, making this area involuntarily proud of and respect it.

If the Soul Clan has a decentralized continental layout, the Ancient Clan focuses on the Eastern Region in a centralized manner.

In the Eastern Region, the Soul Palace is the main target of the ancient clan. There are only a few branch palaces in the entire region, and activities have been compressed to the extreme, and even a reliable intelligence network cannot be established.

Even the Soul Hall's Eastern Region Hub Hall is not located within the Eastern Region, but in several locations in the Central Region close to the Eastern Region.

The Soul Clan lives in the west, and the Ancient Clan lives in the east.

The further east you go, the closer you get to the Eastern Region of Zhongzhou, and the weaker the power of the Soul Clan becomes.

After investigating for a while, Lin Yuan decisively shook off the distracting thoughts in his mind and leisurely toured this charming Eastern Region city, tasting the local delicacies to gain inspiration, and selecting the local specialty items for Xiyue and the others...

Soon after, it was getting dark.

Lin Yuan's figure flashed and landed on the rooftop of a secluded place. Then he flipped his hand and a purple jade slip appeared in his palm.

"The long-awaited leisurely days are over, it's time to meet him!" Lin Yuan clenched his hands and injected soul power into the jade slip.

Suddenly, the jade slip in his hand emitted a faint purple light, and a mysterious wave spread out and went towards the east.
-
In the center of the eastern district of Yongning City is a vast manor - Guyue Landscape.

In the eyes of everyone in the city, Gu Yue Mountain and Water is quite mysterious. No one knows who the owner of this place is, but they all know why its owner can occupy such a vast land in Yongning City where every inch of land is valuable.

There is nothing else to it, just strength and achievements.

Many years ago, the Lord of Gu Yue Mountain and Water used a magical crystal seal to kill a Seven Star Dou Zun who attempted to disrupt the Teleportation Square.

From then on, whenever someone tried to disrupt the teleportation square, they would be killed by the magical crystal seal!

Yongning City is a trading city, and the Teleportation Square is the foundation of the city's prosperity. The merit of protecting this place is so great that there is no need to say more!

Since then, although the Lord of Guyue Mountains and Waters almost never appears in public, his position in Yongning City is unbreakable. Many residents in the city regard him as the patron saint of the city.

As time went by, everyone reached the same consensus: in Yongning City, only the Ancient Moon Landscape and the Teleportation Square must not be violated!
And the very few people who are truly in the know are naturally well aware of the situation.

The master of the ancient moon mountains and waters must be a member of the ancient clan; the mysterious crystal seal must be the legendary Emperor's Seal.

The act of annihilation is a move to win over the hearts of the people of the ancient clan and suppress their ambitions.

At this time, beside a deep pool in Guyue Mountain and Water, the contemporary master of Guyue Mountain and Water, Gu Yong, a middle-aged man who looked quite elegant, was looking at the young man beside him with satisfaction.

"Xiao Zhen, you have broken through to the six-star Dou Zong level, that's great!"

Gu Yong praised him, then immediately straightened his expression and said seriously: "But just breaking through is not enough! The cultivation level that has been broken through through the baptism of the Emperor's Altar needs to be strictly tempered before it can be completely used for one's own benefit. This pond is mine..."

However, before he could finish, the humble Gu Zhen beside him suddenly looked at him, "Hmm? Third Uncle, that person... is really here!"

When Gu Yong heard this, excitement suddenly rose in his eyes, "Xiao Zhen, is this the Lin Yuan you mentioned before?"

"It's him!" Gu Zhen took out a purple jade slip, which was emitting a glowing purple light. "This is a communication tool between us. After activating it within a certain range, we can locate each other. He is in the Moon Watching Tower in the north..."

"Haha, what are you waiting for?" Gu Yong laughed loudly and said, "A distinguished guest has arrived. How can we be rude? Come with me to greet him..."

After saying that, he casually opened a space channel and walked in. Gu Zhen followed without hesitation.

The roof of the Moon Watching Building.

Lin Yuan, who was looking up at the moon, suddenly turned around, stared at a void in the courtyard with his deep eyes, and said with a smile: "Two distinguished guests, welcome!"

"My friend is indeed extraordinary, with such keen perception." An elegant voice suddenly sounded in the void.

The next moment, the void where Lin Yuan's eyes fell suddenly began to ripple slightly. Not long after, two figures slowly emerged from the distorted space...

It was the familiar Gu Zhen and a middle-aged man with an extremely powerful aura.

"Long time no see, Brother Gu Zhen! This is the Zong Yuan Dan I mentioned before...a gift for you!"

As he spoke, Lin Yuan raised his hand lightly, and the exquisite jade bottle in his hand flew out and flew towards Gu Zhen: "This top-grade Zong Yuan Dan that I personally refined should be able to at least increase your cultivation by one star..."

Gu Zhen did not refuse, he took the jade bottle generously and put it away, he said in a deep voice: "Then I will respectfully obey your command! Thank you, Brother Lin!"

"It's just a small matter!" Lin Yuan waved his hand casually.

Then, he turned his gaze slightly and looked at the middle-aged man next to him with a smile on his face: "My name is Lin Yuan, and you must be Brother Gu Zhen's elder, right? May I ask, what should I address you as?"

"The ancient clan, Gu Yong."

(End of this chapter)