Chapter 7: Promoted to Dou Practitioner, Encountering a Pufferfish

It was night.

Chen Guan sat cross-legged on the bed, feeling the abundant power in his body. He opened his eyes satisfactorily and took out a jade-green pill the size of a longan from the ring between his fingers. A strong medicinal fragrance wafted out, indicating that this pill was not ordinary.

"A Grade Four pill, Qi Gathering Pill. Yao Ye is indeed generous. If I fail to break through, I won't have the face to see her."

For those at the Ninth Stage of Qi Gathering attempting to advance to Dou Practitioner, the failure rate was quite high. Once they failed, their strength would drop to the Eighth Stage of Qi Gathering.

However, the Qi Gathering Pill in Chen Guan's hand could perfectly avoid this problem.

The Qi Gathering Pill was a Grade Four pill that could help those at the Ninth Stage of Qi Gathering to condense their Qi to one hundred percent. To this day, there had been no cases of failure!

The three words "one hundred percent" were enough to make countless people at the Qi Gathering stage drool, yearning for it day and night, and its value continued to rise.

Chen Guan remembered clearly that in the original work, Nalan Yanran gave the Xiao family a Qi Gathering Pill as compensation for breaking off the engagement, causing quite a stir in the Xiao family.

It was not an exaggeration to say that at any auction, the price of a Qi Gathering Pill would not be lower than a hundred thousand gold coins.

Compared to that, the low-grade ring in his hand was somewhat inferior.

And both of these things were just gifts from Yao Ye when they first met half a month ago.

What an easy life. It's really great!

Making a self-deprecating joke, Chen Guan kept the favor in his heart. He put aside all distractions, adjusted himself to the best state, and swallowed the Qi Gathering Pill in one gulp. Then, he proficiently formed the hand seal to absorb Qi.

The Qi Gathering Pill dissolved in his mouth, and a massive medicinal force instantly spread out, surging through his meridians and converging in his dantian.

At this moment, his dantian was like a container, already reaching its maximum capacity. Just as the surging Qi was about to overflow, Chen Guan quickly focused all his spirit (soul power) into his dantian. It was like tilling the soil, repeatedly compressing and compacting the Qi, tirelessly.

The Qi that was about to overflow gradually diminished in quantity but improved in quality. It was a process of qualitative change from quantity.

Finally, after who knows how many repetitions, the Qi in his body transformed into a milky-white vortex that kept rotating.

The Qi vortex had formed! Nine-year-old Chen Guan had advanced to become a Dou Practitioner, taking a solid step forward!

Becoming a Dou Practitioner, Chen Guan could feel the surging power in his body. Dealing with ten or eight versions of himself from yesterday would be a piece of cake.

In addition, he could now have internal vision, seeing the situation inside his body clearly.

Suppressing the urge to find Zhao Gang for a sparring session, Chen Guan forcibly calmed down and began practicing the cultivation technique, "Spirit Empowerment Art," which he had long memorized. After several weeks of practice, he didn't feel any pressure.

"It's true that Dou Practitioners on the Dou Qi continent start practicing cultivation techniques for a reason. The current strength of my body has increased significantly. In the future, I should also focus on tempering my body. Having a strong physique can be advantageous in battles."

Overall, Chen Guan was very satisfied.

He got up and freshened up again. Chen Guan changed into a new light blue outfit and felt that after breaking through to Dou Practitioner, he seemed to have grown several centimeters taller. His body appeared more slender, resembling a fourteen or fifteen-year-old, with a few traces of childishness gone.

People are in good spirits when they encounter happy events. In a rare occurrence, Chen Guan didn't bury himself in cultivation. He pushed open the door and arrived at the martial arts training ground, enjoying the relaxing night breeze.

Perhaps because the half-year assessment was approaching, even though it was already night, there were still many people sparring in the training ground. The urgency was palpable.

Chen Guan was quite well-known among his peers. Many people were taken aback when they saw him. They never expected that this bookworm would actually leave his room.

It was simply unbelievable!

Curiosity arose, but since they didn't have deep connections with him, no one approached to ask. A polite nod was sufficient as a greeting.

Chen Guan didn't pay attention to them either. He strolled around the training ground, finding it somewhat amusing. In the past five years, this group of people no longer had to worry about food and drink, but their activities were limited to the nearby training area, making it quite monotonous.

Except for Chen Guan, the others had probably explored every corner. Now, he was the only one who wanted to take a good look at the place.

He leisurely roamed around until he was close to the entrance of the training ground, preparing to return.

But it was at this moment that Chen Guan saw a little girl sitting on the steps in front of the entrance. She appeared to be around seven or eight years old, with her small hands propping up her chubby cheeks, resembling a puffed-up pufferfish.

Looking at her attire and the guards behind her who were not paying attention, the little girl's identity was quite obvious.

There was a ninety-nine percent chance that she was the unfamiliar little princess.

Just as he unconsciously revealed a smile while observing her, the little girl also noticed him.

"Hey, you there, are you laughing at this princess?"

"Cough, no, you've misunderstood."

"You're lying! I clearly saw you staring at me and laughing. Come here, this princess is in a bad mood. Tell me a joke, and I'll spare you."

Chen Guan was in a good mood. Although this little pufferfish couldn't do anything to him with the backing of Yao Ye, he still walked over and sat beside her.

At this moment, he didn't even notice it himself. Perhaps it was because of the favor from the royal family, or maybe it was because he referred to her as "Elder Sister Yao Ye." Consequently, he felt quite close to this little princess whom he had just met. Subconsciously, he treated her like a younger sister.

To reach this level, it must be said that the royal family had succeeded.

The little pufferfish didn't mind his somewhat impolite action of sitting beside her. She asked, "Hey, what's your name?"

"Chu Guan," the young man replied promptly.

"What a weird name. You can tell a joke now. If it makes this princess happy, I'll overlook what happened earlier. But if I'm not happy after hearing it..."

"What if you're not happy?"

"Then I'll make you tell ten jokes, no, until this princess is happy."

Chen Guan couldn't help but laugh again. It was such a terrifying punishment that he was almost scared. He felt a bit frightened.

"Alright, you call the shots. But before that, you have to tell me why you're not happy. That way, I can tell a joke that suits the situation. I don't want to make things worse by stepping on a landmine."

Yu Er put down her arm propping up her left cheek and looked at him with a hint of doubt. The little pufferfish cheeks instantly became asymmetrical, which was unbearable for someone with OCD.

"To tell you a joke, I have to tell you the reason I'm not happy?"

"Well, that's right. It's like seeing a doctor. To make you happy, I need to know the cause, right?"

"It seems to make sense. Actually, it's nothing. Today, I went to the Alchemist Guild, and Grandpa Fa Ma asked me to memorize the knowledge of medicine. If I didn't make any mistakes, he would accept me as his disciple. I had already practiced it at home and could recite it flawlessly. But when I went to the Alchemist Guild, I failed twice in a row. What's worse is that I had told my sister and grandpa about it beforehand. Now, if I go back, what am I going to say to them?"

It was a trivial matter, but Yu Er pursed her lips while talking and appeared quite distressed. The thoughts of children were simple, yet they could be incredibly unbelievable.

Chen Guan also felt a momentary daze, not because he was stumped by the little pufferfish's distress, but because he thought of the highly regarded profession she mentioned.

An alchemist!

(End of this chapter)