The Great Desolate Starfall!

  Fa Ma had originally decided never to see this kid again, and even if they met, he swore he wouldn't speak to him to avoid feeling heartbroken.

  But who would have thought that as soon as he made the vow, he would break it herself?

  Sigh, he had given too much!

  Chen Guan, however, wasn't surprised at all. Meeting Fa Ma was something he had expected.

  If he had refused even the Spirit-Bearing Dust, someone could have told him he had quit drugs and he would have believed it.

  Coming down from the second floor, he saw Yao Yue in the first-floor hall, surrounded by people, refining pills. The crowd's admiration surged like waves.

  Heh, the vanity of a little brat.

  The "Energy Accumulation Pill" was a first-grade pill, of moderate difficulty. Given Yao Yue's current level and the assistance provided to compensate for any depletion, it should have been an easy task.

  But because she was distracted, thinking about what the two upstairs were talking about, she lost control of the heat. In an instant, the medicinal ingredients burned into a pile of ashes, some of which even scattered onto her face.

  A little girl with fair, tender skin suddenly turned into a soot-covered kitten.

  The others turned into poker-faced "Ninja Turtles." Though the scene was funny, they were used to it and didn't react much, having gone through similar experiences themselves.

  Chen Guan, on the other hand, saw it for the first time and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

  The angry little "kitten" turned her head and, seeing it was him, immediately pounced with bared teeth and claws, biting one of his arms.

  It didn't hurt him, but he looked at the dust on his clothes with disdain.

  Well, seems like she used him as a towel to wipe her face.

  "Stop messing around. Go tell your teacher that we're heading back."

  Yao Yue blushed, still embarrassed by her earlier blunder. Hearing him not mention her failure at pill refining, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief and hurried upstairs to say her goodbyes.

  Brushing off the dust from his sleeve, Chen Guan suddenly thought, if he had really taken Fa Ma as his master just now, wouldn't he have to call this girl his senior sister?

  What a close call!

  He was almost stuck with her lording over him forever. Chen Guan felt he had made a wise decision.

  Yao Yue quickly returned, and the two didn't linger any longer. Bathed in the glow of the setting sun, they headed toward the palace, playfully bickering along the way, their shadows stretching long under the evening sky.

  "Where's my gift?"

  "I prepared three for you. Which one do you want to see first?"

  "The second one. Hmm, what's this?"

  "Puppet wings. They can make you fly, and pretty far too."

  "How far is 'far'?"

  "About twenty meters or so."

  "..."

  After playfully teasing each other all the way back, the little girl was in high spirits, her earlier unhappiness long forgotten. She was so cheerful, it seemed as if the whole world had turned colorful.

  When it came to cheering up kids, Chen Guan was a pro!

  After dropping her off at her palace, he returned to continue his cultivation.

  Among the gifts for Yao Yue, besides the flashy yet somewhat useless second-tier puppet wings, the other two items were the same as what he had given Yao Ye—a pouch of Spirit-Bearing Dust and a protective puppet.

  A small difference, however, was that Yao Yue's puppet was of the "Dou Spirit" level. It wasn't that Chen Guan was showing favoritism; it would just be a waste to give her something of "Dou King" level. She was either at the palace or the Alchemist Guild—nobody was safer than her.

  The next day.

  Chen Guan emerged from his cultivation, feeling like he was one step closer to becoming a "Three-Star Dou Master." He couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.

  Although the Earth-Tier low-level cultivation method was just that, the difference between it and a Heaven-Tier technique was like night and day.

  Although he hadn't yet had the time to practice Earth-Tier battle techniques, his endurance had significantly improved. That was the most obvious enhancement.

  Getting out of bed, Chen Guan took out a pile of almost worn-out materials from his storage ring and began his daily puppet crafting study, completely immersed in it.

  It wasn't until close to noon that Yao Ye came to call him, and only then did he reluctantly stop.

  "I've got good news for you. You made a profit on that batch of 'Yellow Lotus Essence.' You were lucky and found six pieces of 'Blood Lotus Essence' in it."

  "So many?" Chen Guan was a bit surprised.

  "Do you even know how much you bought? While it's rare to find Blood Lotus Essence, it's bound to show up when you purchase indiscriminately."

  That made sense.

  Indeed, as long as you have the capital, many difficult problems can be easily solved.

  The two of them made their way to the back mountain, where Yao Ye stopped and said, "You go on ahead. I have to deal with something in the army today."

  The ninth prince of the Chu Yun Empire had died in Jia Ma. Although they no longer feared the other side, they still had to wrap things up, though Yao Ye didn't mention the hassle.

  Chen Guan nodded in acknowledgment. He had been to the back mountain many times and knew it well.

  At the usual spot, he saw Jia Xingtian. After a closer look, he felt that Jia Xingtian seemed a bit younger. It was a change that came from the soul.

  Clearly, the Spirit-Bearing Dust had worked to some extent.

  "Old Jia."

  "Mm, sit down. We haven't had a good chat like this in over a year. Every time I see you now, I can't help but feel lucky. Going to Wu Tan City back then was the best decision I ever made," Jia Xingtian said with a smile.

  Chen Guan didn't stand on ceremony, sitting down on the ground beside him. Looking at the small lake in front of them, he replied in a similarly nostalgic tone, "Being brought to the palace by Old Jia was my good fortune too."

  It was funny—every time he came to see Jia Xingtian, their conversations were always a mix of mutual praise and modesty. It had always been like that, never as relaxed as when he was with the two sisters.

  Maybe that was the generation gap.

  Today was no different. After their usual round of compliments, Chen Guan finally got to the main topic and took out a scroll to hand over.

  It was a mid-tier Earth-Tier battle technique—The Great Desolate Starfall!

  Among his teacher's relics, aside from the set of techniques his teacher had cultivated, Chen Guan had obtained seven Earth-Tier battle techniques, all mid to low tier.

  Unfortunately, four of them were of the wood attribute. The remaining three were fire, earth, and ice.

  And among those three, only The Great Desolate Starfall was mid-tier.

  Jia Xingtian was indeed quite lucky.

  After taking the scroll and looking at it for a few moments, Jia Xingtian couldn't hide his shock.

  He knew that Chen Guan had come into some fortunate encounters, but he didn't expect him to have acquired such a valuable battle technique. If not for his consideration for Chen Guan's feelings, he would have been tempted to ask more about it.

  Putting those unnecessary thoughts aside, Jia Xingtian glanced in the direction of the Yun Lan Sect, his confidence surging.

  "Next month is the Yun Lan Sect's annual disciple competition. Are you interested in joining the fun? I also want to see if that old guy Yunshan is dead yet."

  (End of Chapter)