Reaching the pinnacle from Doupo

Chapter 599 Harvest, Temporary Departure

"You little rascal, you're finally back!"

Upon smelling that familiar fragrance, Lin Yuan smiled, gently patted Zi Yan's back, and spoke softly.

"Thank goodness we made it in time!" Zi Yan looked up, her bright eyes blinking, and said with lingering fear, "The void far from the Dou Qi Continent is truly dangerous. No wonder the clan records say that many of our predecessors never returned after entering the void..."

During this trip, Zi Yan plunged into the depths of the void, gaining a genuine understanding of its vastness.

In that boundless void, even the concept of time almost did not exist. If Lin Yuan had not prepared a timekeeping device in advance, she probably would not have been able to return before the Pill Gathering.

This time, Zi Yan witnessed firsthand the dangers of the void.

The further away from the Dou Qi Continent one is, the more unstable the space becomes, and the more likely unknown dangers and extremely terrifying natural disasters will appear, such as the void vortex she saw this time. Once trapped in it, even a Dou Sheng powerhouse may perish.

The natural disasters that would cause even a Dou Sheng to perish are simply unbelievable on the Dou Qi Continent; no one would believe it if it were told.

However, Zi Yan had encountered this level of danger more than once when she ventured deep into the void.

Fortunately, she was already at the peak of the six-star Dou Sheng realm, and was also an exceptionally powerful Supreme Dragon Phoenix. Even when facing extremely terrifying dangers, she possessed sufficient resistance.

However, in addition to the problem of spatial instability, the energy state of heaven and earth in the depths of the void is also extremely unfriendly to humans.

Some places are not only extremely dangerous, but also have extremely thin energy. If a strong person gets caught in such a place, it will be difficult for them to replenish their energy, and they will eventually be in danger. On the other hand, most places with abundant energy are extremely violent and difficult to utilize.

In general, the depths of the void, regardless of the concentration of energy in the heavens and earth, are extremely unsuitable for habitation, and it is difficult for rare and precious materials to grow there.

Even with Zi Yan's treasure-hunting abilities, she explored the void for a long time but didn't find many good items.

Dangerous and barren, that is the state of the void far from the Dou Qi Continent... It's as if the will of heaven and earth is preventing living beings from leaving the Dou Qi Continent!
"The depths of the void are so dangerous?" Lin Yuan listened quietly to Zi Yan's story, a look of solemnity flashing in his eyes. He gently stroked her hair. "It's good that you came back safely. You must be more careful when exploring the void in the future."

"Hehe!" Zi Yan chuckled, a smug look on her pretty face, and said, "It was a little dangerous, but the rewards were quite substantial..."

"Oh? What did you gain from this trip?"

Lin Yuan released Zi Yan and led her and Qing Lin towards the pavilion, asking questions as they walked.

The three arrived at a secluded courtyard in the valley. Lin Yuan waved his sleeve lightly, and a table full of food that had been prepared beforehand was almost spread out on the entire table.

The food was dazzling and its enticing aroma made one's mouth water.

"By the way, try these. They're some new flavors. You should like them." Thanks to the booming development of 'Medicinal Cuisine' in the Pill Tower, Lin Yuan drew a lot of inspiration from it and came up with many new flavors and new dishes.

Zi Yan's eyes lit up, and she couldn't wait to sit down at the table, pick up a piece of pastry, and put it in her mouth.

"Ah, this is life!"

After a whirlwind of activity, Zi Yan's eyes narrowed into crescent moons, her face filled with rapture, and she mumbled indistinctly.

Its bulging cheeks made it look like a greedy squirrel, which was quite amusing.

"Why are you eating so fast? You've lost all your Dragon Emperor's dignity!" Qinglin sat gracefully beside Ziyan, handed her a cup of tea, and chuckled, "Tell me quickly, what did you gain from this trip to the void?"

Zi Yan swallowed the pastry in her mouth, took the fruit wine and drank it all in one gulp, then pouted and said, "What's so great about majesty? You've been in the void for half a year... Never mind, let's not talk about that."

Thinking back to the days she spent "on a business trip" from the depths of the void, Zi Yan couldn't help but feel a little irritated.

Searching for someone in the vast void is an extremely boring thing.

What's even more crucial is that, just in case, Zi Yan brought along some powerful ancient dragons to accompany her as she ventured into the depths of the void.

During this time, in order to maintain her "dragon emperor demeanor", she had to always put on a dignified appearance... This "pretentious" state was almost contrary to her innocent and carefree nature, which made her quite mentally exhausted.

That's why, as soon as Zi Yan returned to Dragon Island and learned that Lin Yuan needed manpower, she came over directly, wanting to relax here for a while.

She shook her head, clearing her mind of the memories, and began to talk enthusiastically about what she had learned.

"During this deep dive into the void, I retrieved four of my clan's Battle Saints!"

"They are all intermediate-level Dou Sheng. Two of them are mid-stage four-star Dou Sheng, named Cang Li and Zhu Lie respectively; another is early-stage five-star Dou Sheng, named Ao Qing; and there is also a senior mid-stage six-star Dou Sheng named Zhu Yin."

"In addition, I also received good news from Zhu Yin—there are still powerful warriors at the late stage of Dou Sheng in the Ancient Dragon Clan."

"But the void is too vast, and it's impossible to find it in a short time..."

"After some time, I'll lead some men to search the depths of the void again and see if we can find that old guy!"

"Four mid-level Dou Sheng?" Lin Yuan nodded and pondered, "The gains this time are indeed considerable! There's no need to rush into entering the void again. After the Pill Gathering, I'll have some free time, and I can accompany you then."

At this point, he felt a surge of excitement—with Zi Yan's successful business trip, the Ancient Dragon Clan's combat strength was now basically on par with the Medicine Clan.

The Medicine Clan's top combat strength consists of one Seven-Star Dou Sheng and two Six-Star Dou Sheng.

Although the Ancient Dragon Clan has two six-star Dou Sheng, the Dragon Phoenix Zi Yan, at the peak of the six-star Dou Sheng realm, after advancing to the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Realm, has unleashed her full combat power, enough to suppress Yao Dan and Yao Wangui.

In this way, as long as he doesn't personally enter the Medicine Realm, the threat posed by the Medicine Clan to him is extremely limited!

We can be more open about our plans against the Medicine Clan in the future.

Of course, it's best to be as careful as possible, and to keep a low profile as much as possible... The Medicine Clan is, after all, a clan of alchemists, and Lin Yuan couldn't be sure how many Dou Sheng powerhouses among the Ancient, Flame, and Thunder Clans owed the Medicine Clan favors.

Making a fortune quietly is the only way to succeed, and it has been Lin Yuan's guiding principle to this day.

Thinking of this, Lin Yuan waved his sleeve, and a transparent ball of light, more than half a zhang in size, slowly emerged, emitting terrifying soul fluctuations.

Under Zi Yan's gaze filled with strange fire, Lin Yuan pondered and said, "Zi Yan, take these soul essences and go to the ancient emperor's cave! Ask Uncle Zhu and the others to help you absorb these soul essences and strive to advance to the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Realm within a month."

Lin Yuan had promised Zhu Kun that he would help Zi Yan advance to the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Realm. Now, it was time to show his father-in-law his sincerity.

With the knowledge of those three half-emperors, they would surely be able to make the most of the soul's essence to help Zi Yan successfully advance.

"Soul essence, don't you use this yourself?" When it came to serious matters, Zi Yan's eyes narrowed slightly, and her expression became serious. She said in a deep voice, "You are an alchemist... This should be more useful to you than to me!"

"I'm not in a hurry!" Lin Yuan smiled slightly and patiently explained.

“I am already a Grandmaster of Precious Pills, but I am still far from being a Grandmaster of Profound Pills. What I lack even more is cultivation. Advancing my soul is not so urgent. I will still have to deal with the Soul Palace later. If I advance to the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Realm too early, they might become suspicious.”

"My cheap master is a ruthless person. If he becomes suspicious, he might use some radical methods against me."

"Before I deal with him, I should suppress his soul realm for now."

If he were to advance to the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Realm in a short period of time, even if the Soul Palace were foolish, they would be able to guess that he was the one who caused the incident in the Northwest.

The vast gap between the late stage of the Heavenly Rank and the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Realm is something that those who need to understand understand—it is simply impossible to cross this threshold in the ordinary way of cultivation without several decades.

Some skills that require time to cultivate cannot be explained by the word "talent".

The Grand Elder of the Little Pill Tower has been stuck at the late Heaven Realm for a hundred years, yet he still hasn't reached the Great Perfection of the Heaven Realm.

Even among the Medicine Clan, there are only a handful of people whose souls have reached the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Realm.

As long as Lin Yuan wants to stay in the Soul Palace, he must postpone his advancement to the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Realm until the right time comes... Fortunately, Lin Yuan has already come up with an alternative plan that can temporarily unleash the power of the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Realm, but it is still being tested.

Zi Yan listened to Lin Yuan's words and didn't say anything pretentious. With a flick of her sleeve, she put the soul light into the Dragon Emperor Jade Ring.

Breaking through to the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Realm in her soul realm also greatly benefited her combat strength.

Lin Yuan thought for a moment, then took out another jade slip, left some messages on it, and handed it to Zi Yan.

"In this jade slip, I marked some of the branch halls of the Central Continent Soul Hall. These are important branch halls responsible for storing souls, and they contain a lot of the soul's essence."

"With your speed and strength, you can deal with them and seize those soul essences within a day."

"With this essence of soul, plus the essence of soul from those branch halls, it should be enough to support your advancement. However, regardless of whether you can complete the advancement, you must return here within forty-five days... I have an important operation that requires your assistance."

With Zi Yan's peak six-star Dou Sheng strength, raiding several Soul Hall branches in Zhongzhou within a day would be no problem at all.

Even if these branch halls are guarded by Dou Sheng, she can crush them with a single punch.

As a supreme dragon-phoenix, Zi Yan's spatial abilities are no less than those of an ordinary eight-star Dou Sheng. Opponents would not even have a chance to call for help in front of her.

As for why it's forty-five days, that's because that day is the deadline for the end of the Pill Refining Competition—there are currently five days left until the competition, the first and second rounds of assessment have a time limit of ten days, and the third round of pill refining competition has a time limit of thirty days.

Alchemy competitions do not allow unlimited retakes; otherwise, those with abundant resources would naturally have an advantage.

"Forty-five days? That's enough!"

Beside her, Zi Yan carefully considered the time in her mind for a moment, then nodded heavily.

If she goes at full speed, she can fly back to Canaan College in a day.

Seeing this, Lin Yuan thought for a moment and added, "Be swift in your attack and leave no survivors; be careful to conceal your movements and don't let others discover your whereabouts. Make necessary disguises for your actions, and pretend to be five people!"

"Don't worry! Don't worry!" Zi Yan waved her hand, looking confident. "Hehehe, killing and robbing treasures, that's what I'm best at. But..."

Zi Yan glanced at Qing Lin beside her, a strange smile appearing on her lips.

Immediately, Zi Yan grabbed Lin Yuan's hand, and a strange purple light flowed out, instantly enveloping the two of them.

"Hehe, let me relax a bit before I leave this time!" The space distorted slightly, and the two figures disappeared instantly, leaving only Zi Yan's cunning voice with a hint of charm echoing lightly in Qing Lin's ears.

Soon after, a series of blush-inducing, seductive sounds echoed in Lin Yuan's room...

The next day, early in the morning.

A streak of purple light pierced the sky above Saint Pill City, speeding towards the northern region.

Because the light was moving so fast, none of the many powerful figures in the city noticed it before the purple light disappeared on the horizon.

In the Heavenly Valley, Lin Yuan slowly pushed open the door, rubbing his lower back as he walked out.

In the courtyard, a girl dressed in green was already waiting.

"Qing'er, good morning!" Looking at Qinglin, who made no attempt to hide her resentment, Lin Yuan gave an awkward smile and asked sheepishly, "The weather's nice today, want to go to Saint Pill City together? There's a small celebration there..."

Zi Yan is going to take action against the Soul Palace today, while he plans to make an appearance in the outside world, Saint Pill City.

Saint Pill City has no shortage of Soul Hall spies. If Medicine Lord makes a public appearance in the city, it will almost certainly be recorded. In this way, he can extricate himself from the incident in advance.

Lin Yuan is willing to do this kind of proactive planning, or rather, "outsmarting the air," in his spare time.

On the other hand, Qinglin naturally wouldn't refuse Lin Yuan's invitation.

Before long, a young couple appeared on the streets of Saint Pill City, causing gasps of surprise from those who knew them... In the following days, the Medicine Lord, who was usually hard to find, would occasionally appear in Saint Pill City with a girl in green.

As the Pill Gathering approaches, the enthusiasm for the Heavenly Pride Competition in Saint Pill City quickly wanes, replaced by heated discussions about the Pill Gathering itself.

At the same time, the number of powerful individuals in the city has also increased significantly compared to before.

For all factions, the long-established Danhui is the truly top-tier event in Zhongzhou, compared to the still "young" Tianjiao Competition.

With the surge in foot traffic, troubles are inevitable.

Fortunately, the Dan Tower was not an ordinary force, and it maintained order quite well, so no unpleasant riots occurred.

As the days drew closer, the entire city of Saint Dan gradually entered a state of excitement.

Amidst the city's fervent excitement, the final day before the Pill Gathering finally arrived. At this moment, in an elegant room within the Pill Tower, a young man, who had been meditating like an old monk, suddenly twitched his brow slightly and slowly opened his gently closed eyes...

(End of this chapter)