Ling Han left with the Empress and Hu Niu in tow. Meanwhile, Lu Hairong could not bear how Hu Niu kept clinging to Ling Han, and decisively hid in the shadows. Without seeing or hearing them, she wouldn’t feel annoyed.
However, the moment Hu Niu encountered danger, she would definitely appear at the first moment.
“Aiyo, that’s right.” Ling Han clapped a hand on his forehead. With a wave of his right hand, Bewitching Maiden Rou was thrown out of his Spatial G.o.d Tool.
Though this bewitching maiden could indeed exit on her own, she did not know the situation outside. If they were still on Three Yang Peak, it was possible that she would die immediately as soon as she came out.
Bewitching Maiden Rou was stunned for a moment, and then looked strangely at Ling Han.
This guy actually gave her such a precious treasure, without a single prior condition. In fact, he did not even ask her to thank him. This actually made her feel very touched.
After so many days, she had naturally refined the Heavenly Dao Jade fully, compensating for the shortcomings in her cultivation. Striking herself had become delivering strikes at the heaven and earth, and she had become an emperor tier, and a top-tier emperor tier at that.
But she immediately showed an expression of astonishment because she had spotted Hu Niu.
There was actually an exquisite beauty that could match the Empress in this world?
Meanwhile, Hu Niu’s jealousy soured. She glared fiercely at Bewitching Maiden Rou, and exclaimed, “Ling Han, you’re so mean! It’s not enough that you have such a witch, you have a vixen too!”
Ling Han chuckled, and said, “Don’t be willful. This is just a friend.”
Bewitching Maiden Rou showed a meaningful smile, and said, “Oh, just a friend?” This smile was enchantingly beautiful.
“Vixen, if you dare to smile again, Niu will chop off your vixen head!” Hu Niu threatened angrily.
“Young Master Ling, she’s so fierce!” Bewitching Maiden Rou said, and deliberately hid behind Ling Han, looking delicate and fragile.
“d.a.m.n you! d.a.m.n you!” Hu Niu yelled in fury, her viciousness on full display.
“Don’t tease her, or you’ll get yourself killed,” the Empress said. Even she did not have the confidence to defeat Hu Niu, what more a weaker opponent like Bewitching Maiden Rou. The reason why she had said this was because Hu Niu really would commit murder, and she did not want Ling Han to lose an excellent aid for his cultivation.
Bewitching Maiden Rou also felt slight regret. That look from Hu Niu, that expression definitely showed that she was extremely ferocious, and it was not just merely joking around. But she was also slightly defiant. Aside from not having advanced into the fifth severance, Bewitching Maiden Rou was definitely a top-grade existence in the Severing Mundane Tier.
Why did she have to be afraid of Hu Niu?
“She can suppress you with a single finger.” Ling Han nodded. “Hu Niu is a fifth severance, and may be slightly stronger than even me.” After all, he had just advanced into the fifth severance, while Hu Niu was already at the fifth severance’s peak stage.
The fifth severance!
Instantly, Bewitching Maiden Rou could only yield. Her cultivation was focused on charm technique, and charm techniques did not only seduce men. She had a glib tongue, and chose the words that Hu Niu liked to hear, such as how much Ling Han liked her, how he had missed her very much, and so on. Immediately, the little girl bared her mouth in a cheerful grin.
“Vixen, don’t think that Niu doesn’t know you are just sucking up. But seeing as you’re not too bad, Niu will spare you just this once,” Hu Niu declared casually. She was not the slightest bit dumb.
Ling Han released the Heavenly Phoenix Divine Maiden, which naturally caused Hu Niu to once more have a bout of jealousy. Only after Ling Han had picked her up and comforted for a good while was her anger appeased. After all, they had been apart too long, and she had missed him dearly.
Meanwhile, the two children made Hu Niu laugh loudly, and exclaim that they were interesting.
They returned to Alchemy City. With the Dragonhawk as their mode of transport, their speed naturally increased greatly. They had reached Alchemy City in just over a month’s time.
Ling Han went to meet Grandmaster Zi Cheng, and explained the situation in simple words. Then, he went into seclusion again.
There were too many things that he had to do.
First, he had to increase his abilities in alchemy, and advance to three stars as soon as possible. Secondly, he also had to cultivate, and reach the peak stage of the fifth severance.
After the journey to the Mystery Realm, he was going to break through to the Dividing Soul Tier.
In the Celestial Realm, one would have to travel to a specific location to advance to the next major tier, and in the case of the Dividing Soul Tier, he would have to go to different places to break through to all four of the minor levels, unlike the Severing Mundane Tier, where he only had to do so for the first severance, and not for the other severances.
Similar to the Severing Mundane Tier, there were very many places where one could break through to the Dividing Soul Tier, and breaking through at different places would also have a great influence on one’s future battle prowess.
Hence, he definitely had to choose the best location for his breakthrough.
Ling Han had already begun to study this problem. With the Black Tower, and with the help of the Reincarnation Tree, this day should not be too far away.
The Empress and Hu Niu would occasionally glare at each other, both wanting to suppress the other, especially in Hu Niu’s case. She had repeatedly wanted to secretly make a move, and kill off the Empress. Thankfully, Ling Han managed to stop her all these times.
The two women had fought a battle, and it was natural that it was Hu Niu that had won. Furthermore, her advantage was extremely great.
Firstly, it was because the Empress had just advanced into fifth severance, and secondly, Hu Niu was indeed superior in terms of celestial technique, physique, and natural talent in cultivation. It was not unjust that the Empress had lost.
However, after this battle, the animosity between the two women had instead dispersed. Though they could not be considered great friends, they had reached a certain tacit agreement, and no longer glared at each other day and night.
Ling Han was relieved, and focused on alchemy and advancing to the peak stage of the fifth severance.
Inside the Black Tower, he had another three supreme Regulations, but what was unfortunate was that Ling Han was the only one who could comprehend them, and others could not benefit from them, which caused Ling Han to feel slight disappointment. However, the Black Tower also had the power of Time now, and the acceleration rate of 1,000 times was extremely astonis.h.i.+ng.
Though there were 10 years, taking into consideration issues like travel time, they still had to set out ahead of time. Hence, it would more or less be around nine years.
Nine years would mean close to 330,000 years’ worth of time to comprehend Dao, and the acceleration of time would mean close to 9,000 years, which was an extremely extensive period of time.
Bewitching Maiden Rou was also considered to have pa.s.sed the test, so Ling Han tossed her into the Black Tower as well. To friends, Ling Han had never been petty.
Surprisingly, Lu Hairong did not step out to stop them, and would only occasionally appear in Ling Han’s residence, looking at where the Black Tower was while thinking pensively.
After seven years in real time, Ling Han had still not advanced to become a three-star alchemist, but in terms of Spirit Refinement, he had had a breakthrough, and had advanced to the level of Third Refinement.
Whether it was cultivation or alchemy, advancing a step further would be increasingly harder and harder the further one went.
Ling Han could not help but admit that three-star alchemists were still very valuable. It was no wonder that Fourth Refinement was the lifetime limit for the majority of alchemists. It was very difficult for him to improve even when he had spent so much time on this.
However, if other alchemists were to know that he was complaining like this, they would definitely fly into fury.
You only took hundreds of thousands of years, and you actually dared to complain? Then how were the majority of alchemists supposed to endure this?
Nine years later, Ling Han and his group exited the Black Tower.
There would of course not be much change in the appearance of a Celestial, and the changes in s.h.i.+ Lei and s.h.i.+ Yu were more obvious. They had grown to look like youths in their teens. They had not used any time acceleration effects, or they would have long since become adults.
Ling Han did not want them to miss out on their youth. At least, they should enter their 20th year under the normal time flow.
Only nine years had pa.s.sed in the outside world. It was natural that there was not much change in Alchemy City, and those previous Holy Sons and Holy Daughters had all kept a low profile. With Grandmaster Zi Cheng watching over things, who would dare cause trouble?
Ling Han prepared to set out, but before he managed to depart, he was summoned by Grandmaster Zi Cheng first.
“Come, let me introduce someone. This is your nephew[1],” Grandmaster Zi Cheng said smilingly, pointing at a middle-aged man ahead. “Peng Huanian, Third’s disciple, and he’s already a three-star alchemist.”
[1] Does not literally mean nephew, but rather the disciple of the senior brother/sister or junior brother/sister of your master, hence nephew/niece.