193: Chapter 193 Zi Yan

The news of Gu Yuan breaking through to the Emperor Realm was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, with ripples spreading from the Ancient World in all directions.

Various forces sent envoys to the Ancient World to offer congratulations; the Hall of Souls' gifts were delivered personally by Hun Qian, while the Yan Clan, Lei Clan, Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan, and Void Ancient Dragon all sent generous gifts.

Gu Yuan remained his usual calm and composed self, setting up only a few simple family tables on the Ancient Saint Peak and inviting Hun Feng, Hun Tiandi, and Void Swallowing Flame—the three Emperor Realm experts—to share the meal.

During the banquet, Gu Yuan had a few extra cups, and a rare look of reflection appeared on his usually stern face.

He had lived for thousands of years; in his youth, he had fought side by side with Xiao Xuan with high spirits, and in his middle years, he had shouldered the entire Gu Clan with painstaking effort, only reaching the Emperor Realm in his twilight years.

What comforted him even more was that his daughter had married a son-in-law even more promising than himself, and his granddaughter, Hun Muxian, had inherited the Gu Clan's God-Grade Bloodline and the Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame, promising a limitless future.

"Father-in-law, that girl Zi Yan asked me to offer you her congratulations," Hun Feng said, setting down his wine cup. "She said she is at a crucial juncture in her seclusion and truly cannot get away, but she will come to the Ancient World in person to apologize to you once she finishes."

Gu Yuan waved his hand to indicate it was of no consequence, then suddenly seemed to recall something and asked Hun Feng if that girl Zi Yan's cultivation was also nearing a critical point.

Hun Feng nodded with a smile, saying that besides offering congratulations, he had also come to borrow an Emperor Realm pill recipe from the Ancient World.

Zi Yan had deep accumulations, and her Dragon Phoenix bloodline was the top inheritance in the Magical Beast world; the only thing lacking was that the final trace of impurities in her bloodline had not yet been refined away.

Without a word, Gu Yuan took an ancient scroll glowing with a faint golden light from his sleeve and handed it to him, saying this pill recipe was the Emperor Realm Marrow Cleansing Pill left behind by the Gu Clan's ancestors, capable of refining impurities in Magical Beast bloodlines, though the medicinal ingredients were extremely rare, and the main ingredient specifically required the Source Qi of an Emperor Realm expert as a catalyst to be refined.

He paused, pushed the scroll further toward Hun Feng, and joked that even if he hadn't asked, that girl Xun'er would have come to ask him for it later anyway.

Hun Feng accepted the scroll and thanked him, his fingertips gently stroking the yellowed ancient scroll.

Zi Yan had followed Xiao Yan since the Jia Ma Empire, and later, when Xiao Yan lost his power, it was he who personally brought her back into the Soul Realm camp; she acknowledged him as an elder brother, and he promised her that the Void Ancient Dragon would stand together with the Soul Realm.

Now that the girl had finally reached this step, he naturally had to help her cross it.

Several days later, Hun Feng returned to the Soul Realm with the list of medicinal ingredients for the Emperor Realm Marrow Cleansing Pill and plunged into the Pill Hall.

The difficulty of refining an Emperor Realm pill far exceeded that of a Grade 9 Profound Pill; even with his current cultivation and the Heaven-Slaying Flame, it took him a full seven days and seven nights to complete the pill.

When the furnace was opened, a bolt of Emperor Realm Pill Lightning descended from the sky, blasting a hole straight through the roof of the Pill Hall.

Hun Feng, wearing robes charred black by the lightning, dug the pill, which was swirling with nine-colored halos, out of the ruins, wiped the ash from his face, and said to Hun Qian, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, "Go call Zi Yan."

When Zi Yan received the message, she was in seclusion in the Dragon Tomb on East Dragon Island.

Her current cultivation had firmly settled at the peak of Nine-Star Dou Sheng, and the Dragon Phoenix bloodline within her was like a sleeping volcano, storing power sufficient to destroy the heavens and earth.

She accepted the Emperor Realm Marrow Cleansing Pill delivered by Hun Qian and rushed to the Soul Realm without a word.

As soon as she entered the main hall, she saw Hun Feng sitting on the main seat, his robes still sporting several holes blasted by the Pill Lightning, and a small tuft of his hair was scorched.

She couldn't help but chuckle, "Brother, are you refining pills, or were you struck by a heavenly tribulation?"

"It's all for you," Hun Feng retorted, tossing the Emperor Realm Marrow Cleansing Pill into her hands. "Swallow it, then enter the Myriad Soul Origin Pool. It contains the Source Power of the bloodlines contributed by various clans, and after being infused with Source Qi, the energy in the pool is several times denser than before, enough to support a breakthrough to the Emperor Realm. This Marrow Cleansing Pill will refine the last trace of impurities from your bloodline; the rest is up to you."

Zi Yan looked down at the pill swirling with nine-colored halos in her palm; her playful expression gradually faded, and an unprecedented solemnity surged within her golden eyes.

Ever since she acknowledged him as her elder brother, he had never let her down.

It was he who personally led troops to help her unify the four islands of the Void Ancient Dragon; he was the one who personally told her the news of her father, Zhu Kun; and when she knelt outside the Ancient Emperor Cave, crying her heart out, it was he who pulled her up from the ground and said, "From now on, I am your elder brother."

Now that she was making a push for the Emperor Realm, he had personally refined a pill for her; she could never repay what she owed him in this lifetime.

Zi Yan gripped the pill and looked up, a faint yet extremely earnest smile appearing on the corner of her lips: "Brother, when I come out, I will accompany you to conquer the Great Thousand World."

Hun Feng smiled and ruffled her hair, saying that conquering the Great Thousand World was still a long way off, and she should focus on breaking through to the Emperor Realm first. He also warned the girl, who had been rash since she was young, not to blow up his Origin Pool while attempting the breakthrough.

Zi Yan huffed, gripped the pill tightly, and strode toward the Myriad Soul Origin Pool.

Golden energy surged ceaselessly within the Myriad Soul Origin Pool; after the infusion of Source Qi, the concentration of the pool water was even denser and purer than when Hun Feng had been in seclusion.

Zi Yan sat cross-legged in the center of the pool and placed the Emperor Realm Marrow Cleansing Pill into her mouth.

The moment the pill entered her throat, a vast yet extremely gentle medicinal power exploded within her body, surging through her meridians and into every part of her being, beginning to refine the impurities that had accumulated in her bloodline over thousands of years.

The Dragon Phoenix bloodline emitted a low resonance within her; nine-colored light and golden dragon aura intertwined and swirled, illuminating her entire being as if she were an ancient deity.

Hun Feng stood outside the pool with his hands behind his back, his Emperor Realm Soul spreading out to perceive every change in the energy within the pool.

Zi Yan's accumulation was extremely deep; this Emperor Realm Marrow Cleansing Pill had perfectly filled her final shortcoming.

At this rate, in a few months at the fastest, or a year at the slowest, the Fighting Qi Continent would welcome its fourth Emperor Realm expert.

He turned and walked toward the East Courtyard.

He didn't need to worry about Zi Yan for the time being, but there were still six wives at home who were in seclusion, striving for higher realms.

During this time, they were each in deep seclusion within their own cultivation rooms, and the East Courtyard was as quiet as a ghost town.

Now that they were infused with Source Qi, their cultivation speed had greatly increased, and their cultivation levels were advancing every moment.

He looked forward to the time when they would emerge from seclusion, each standing at the threshold of the Emperor Realm.

When that day came, he would be able to take them with him to conquer that vast, wider world.