Chapter 226: Cultivation

"Why are you here..."

Looking at the graceful figure that had slowly appeared before him, a faint, wry smile touched Yang Yan's lips.

"What, you don't want me to follow you?"

Qing'er frowned at his words, her beautiful face adopting a slightly dangerous curve.

"No, of course not. It's just that you've been traveling with me day and night for these past few days, and after arriving at the Zhang family, you went through a great battle. You haven't had a proper rest." Yang Yan hurriedly shook his head to deny it.

Hearing this, the expression on Qing'er's face softened. After a long silence, she spoke. "I've already rested these past few days. Besides, I'm not very familiar with your family, so I decided it would be better to come out with you."

Yang Yan was stunned by Qing'er's words. Thinking back, in the half year she had spent following him, she had either been rushing about or facing various dangers. That such a delicate woman could endure all this without a single complaint filled Yang Yan's heart with deep gratitude.

After returning to the Zhang family, he had been preoccupied with various matters, causing him to neglect the girl by his side. After all, no matter how hospitable his father was, Qing'er remained an outsider. Furthermore, with her naturally refined temperament, it was difficult for her to integrate into the sudden bustle of the household. Not only had Yang Yan failed to fulfill his duties as a host, but he had been so overwhelmed by the affairs of the Qingxuan Sect and the Xuantian Palace these past few days that he hadn't even managed to spare a word for her.

At this thought, guilt welled up in Yang Yan's heart, followed by a surge of warmth—the feeling of having a friend was truly wonderful.

It was that quiet companionship, expecting nothing in return, asking for nothing. Usually, they might remain like invisible people, unnoticed, but the moment you were in danger or needed help, they would stand out without hesitation, becoming your solid backing and shielding you from the wind and rain.

In return, Yang Yan constantly thought about how to improve his strength so he could protect the people and things he cherished. After all, in the entire Tianyuan Continent, strength was supreme; only with sufficient strength could one do whatever one wished.

"Qing'er, thank you." Yang Yan offered her a sincere, radiant smile.

Seeing Yang Yan suddenly becoming so courteous, a look of surprise appeared on Qing'er's beautiful face. She had not expected that this young man, who was so powerful, decisive in killing, and possessed a temperament far beyond his years, would say such gentle words.

"Let's go!"

After a moment of astonishment, a heartwarming curve appeared on Qing'er's icy, beautiful face. It was as if snow-covered mountains had suddenly melted, or as if a spring breeze had blown over barren lands, causing a hundred flowers to bloom. Even Yang Yan was momentarily dazed.

However, Qing'er paid no heed to the stunned Yang Yan. With a light tap of her slender, jade-like feet, her clothes fluttering like a fairy from the nine heavens, she soared into the air and drifted toward the outskirts of Jinhuan City.

Seeing this, Yang Yan chuckled. Without further hesitation, he moved his body and followed...

The city was exceptionally lively today. From early morning, the streets were packed with people. In bustling places like teahouses and restaurants, the topic of conversation always circled back to one thing: today was the day of the Liu Clan's clan competition.

The so-called clan competition was meant to select the younger generation with outstanding cultivation talent and strength from among the Liu family's descendants to serve as one of the candidates for the current clan head's successor. Whoever could stand out in this competition would earn the qualification to vie for the position of the next clan head.

"Hey, have you heard? The Liu Clan's competition has been the talk of the town lately. I heard that many people who were expelled from the clan for various reasons have returned. As long as they can achieve good results in the competition, they have a chance to return to their roots. If they're lucky enough to perform well, they might even become candidates for the next clan head. It’s like a carp leaping over the dragon gate—transforming from a commoner into a phoenix!"

"Pfft, you think becoming a candidate for the Liu Clan's head is that easy? Besides, most of those who were expelled from the family don't have great cultivation talent. To think they could outperform geniuses nurtured since childhood with the Liu Clan's superior resources is nothing but a fantasy."

"That's true. Such 'rags-to-riches' stories are better left as dreams. Now that I think about it, it really is quite unrealistic."

"However, I did hear that among those abandoned descendants, there’s an incredible person. It seems he’s from Jinhuan City and is rumored to be a disciple of the Qingxuan Sect, a cultivation sect in Jinzhou. His strength is supposedly quite formidable."

"Also, the rules for this competition are slightly different from previous years. Not only does it test the cultivation talent and strength of the clan members, but it also assesses their social skills and connections. Therefore, the competition uses a one-on-one duel format where each person can invite an outsider to help them secure victory. This outsider can be someone they know or another member of the clan, but they cannot be over 20 years old. This naturally adds a lot of excitement to the competition."

"Hmm, even so, for those who have already been driven out of the Liu Clan, this isn't exactly good news. After all, having lost the protection of the Liu Clan, how well could they have possibly done out there?"

Having just arrived in Shangzhou from Jinzhou, Yang Yan and Qing'er heard this conversation from the neighboring table while resting at a restaurant. When they heard about the talented guy from Jinhuan City, Yang Yan was 80 or 90 percent sure that he was the Liu Zhengqing he was looking for.

***

The status and strength of this so-called Liu Clan in Shangzhou truly exceeded Yang Yan's expectations. The entirety of Shangzhou was not smaller than Jinzhou, and it had over a dozen subordinate cities. Unlike Jinzhou, however, there were no independent cultivation forces in these dozen cities. In other words, the Liu Clan held absolute sway in Shangzhou, possessing even more definitive authority than the Qingxuan Sect.

While the Qingxuan Sect held a dominant position in Jinzhou, each of its subordinate cities contained many forces—for instance, the three major families of Jinhuan City or the Jade Sword Pavilion of Hanxiang City. Although they looked to the Qingxuan Sect as their leader within Jinzhou, the Qingxuan Sect rarely interfered in the internal affairs of those individual sects.

At this moment, Yang Yan understood what Sect Leader Xie Xuantian had meant previously. The cohesion among people from the same clan was indeed far stronger than that of disciples in the Qingxuan Sect who came from all four corners of the world. Therefore, in terms of overall strength, the Liu Clan was likely stronger than the Qingxuan Sect.

However, although Yang Yan felt this was somewhat troublesome, he did not reach the point of fearing the Liu Clan. After all, he had offended a force as powerful as the Xuantian Palace of the three major sects without hesitation, let alone this small Liu Clan.

From the previous conversation, Yang Yan also gathered useful information: the Liu Clan's competition was set for three days later and would be held in Wutan City, the most central and prosperous city in Shangzhou.

Such a grand event could be considered the liveliest time in Shangzhou every three years. In the interest of fairness and transparency, anyone who did not cause trouble could attend. The Liu Clan also used this approach to showcase their family's strength to all parties.

After obtaining this information, Yang Yan did not intend to rush to the Liu Clan to find Liu Zhengqing. Now that he was certain Liu Zhengqing was not in immediate danger, Yang Yan planned to give him a surprise during the competition. He wondered if that guy had found a helper of his own.

Thinking of this, Yang Yan couldn't help but smile. It had been more than half a year, and he wondered what the guy had become. It was said that his strength had improved quite a bit as well.

After Yang Yan and Qing'er stayed in the teahouse for a while longer, they went out and found a hotel nearby to stay in. There were still three days until the competition, but Yang Yan did not relax. After returning to the hotel, he sat cross-legged on the bed and began the work of refining the energy within the seal.

After the series of fierce battles and the arduous journey, the spiritual energy in Yang Yan's body, which had been somewhat unstable, had settled down. Consequently, the aftereffects of absorbing the energy from the seal had vanished. Moreover, as long as this seal remained in his body for one day, it would remain a hidden danger; it was better to refine it as soon as possible.

Driven by this thought, Yang Yan again drew out some of his original spiritual energy, which could accelerate the leakage of energy from the seal. The current Yang Yan was fully qualified to handle this rate of refinement.

His strength was already at the peak of the fifth level of the Spirit-Communication Realm, and according to his calculations, he had refined nearly one-third of the energy in the seal. This speed of refinement could be considered quite fast.

Slowly controlling the Taiyin energy within the seal, Yang Yan pulled at the eerie black threads of spiritual energy one by one, like drawing silk from a cocoon, until they finally disappeared into the depths of his spiritual hub.

As Yang Yan proceeded, the energy leaking from the seal gradually increased. Faced with this massive surge, Yang Yan turned none of it away; after circulating through his meridians and internal organs for one cycle, it all converged into his Tian-Shu acupoint.

Now that his water-attribute spiritual energy had reached a near-perfect state, the most urgent matter for him was to improve the grade of the wood-attribute spiritual energy in his Tian-Shu acupoint so that it wouldn't become a "chicken rib" in future battles.

In fact, ever since he opened his wood-attribute spiritual hub, Yang Yan had realized the profound nature of wood-attribute spiritual energy.

It had to be said that nature was truly a master of craftsmanship. Not only were everyone's appearance and personality different—much like how there are no two identical leaves in the world—but even the spiritual attributes within different people were not the same. Even among people with the same attribute, there were innate differences in the strength of their spiritual bodies.

Take water-attribute spiritual energy, for example: as the name suggests, its characteristics were like water, possessing the capacity to contain all things and the endless, flowing quality of the sea receiving all rivers.

As for wood-attribute spiritual energy, the first thing that came to mind was the green color full of vitality. If a person's innate spiritual body was wood-attribute, they were born with a more terrifying recovery ability than ordinary people.

For example, if two people were injured at the same time, someone with a different innate spiritual body might need a month to recover, but someone with a wood-attribute innate spiritual body might only need half a month or even less to fully recover. This was the characteristic of wood-attribute spiritual energy—it possessed endless life force and could resolve hidden ailments within the body in the fastest way possible.

This was the benefit Yang Yan gained after opening his wood-attribute spiritual hub. Now, as he continuously used the energy from the seal to enhance it, the benefits he received grew greater.

With the recovery ability of the wood-attribute spiritual hub, coupled with the body-tempering martial arts of the Supreme Xuantian Technique he practiced, as long as he didn't suffer fatal wounds, any external injuries—no matter how severe—could be recovered at the fastest speed under the support of the Supreme Xuantian Technique and his wood-attribute spiritual energy.

He also believed that as his strength continued to rise and his Xuantian Technique continued to strengthen, his future recovery ability would become even more terrifying.

Feeling the surging energy circulating within his body, a faint smile appeared on Yang Yan's lips. He absorbed the energy greedily, like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, constantly strengthening his bones, meridians, and internal organs.

Throughout this dull cultivation, Yang Yan's state of mind remained unaffected. He sat cross-legged on the bed like an old monk in meditation until the sky began to turn white, at which point Yang Yan slowly opened his eyes.

He did not intend to stop his cultivation now. Since he had finished cultivating his spiritual energy, it was time to cultivate his soul power.

Previously, he hadn't had such plans because he lacked a technique for soul cultivation. But things were different now; not only had he obtained a rare soul-cultivation technique from President Frank, but he also had the Na-Spirit, which had absorbed countless pure soul energies from the Holy Spirit Pagoda. For the current Yang Yan, the improvement of soul power was no longer as difficult as it had been before.

With the nearly endless soul energy within the Na-Spirit, Yang Yan believed his soul power could improve significantly in a short time. That would give him a better chance of winning in battles against others, especially now that he had offended a powerful force like the Xuantian Palace. Without a few more trump cards, even he wasn't sure he could save his own life, let alone protect the Zhang family behind him.

The sudden pressure from a force like the Xuantian Palace might have placed a heavy burden on Yang Yan, but it was not without its benefits. Yang Yan's slightly relaxed state of mind, which had followed his breakthrough to the Spirit-Communication Realm, tightened once again.

There was always someone better, and a sky beyond the sky. The Xuantian Palace, the obstacle before him now, might be the first on his path of cultivation, but it would certainly not be the last.

Yang Yan had made up his mind. Once he resolved the matter of Liu Zhengqing, he would set off for the Kunyang Sect in Qingzhou. He now had the strength to start investigating information about the group that had assassinated his father and mother.

He let out a long breath, banished his complex thoughts, and with a wave of his hand, took out the Na-Spirit.

Clutching the Na-Spirit in his palm, Yang Yan closed his eyes. At the center of his brow, a vigorous, intangible soul force emerged. Upon touching the Na-Spirit, it seemed to convey a message; the conch-like Na-Spirit began to emit waves of massive, intangible fluctuations—the power of the soul.

Feeling the terrifying soul power released from the Na-Spirit, Yang Yan did not dare to be the least bit negligent. He directly drove his mind to operate the Spirit-Rhino Perception Method. Soon, that intangible force flowed continuously into his body through his nostrils and mouth, and after circulating through certain mysterious meridians, it transformed into the purest soul power and rushed into the center of his brow.

Currently, Yang Yan's soul realm was at the "Minor Achievement" stage of the Spirit Realm, which was not at all inferior to his own spiritual energy cultivation. However, Yang Yan's means of soul attack were quite limited, consisting only of the sound-wave martial technique, "Lion-Tiger Beast King Roar." According to what Elder Yang had said before, once his soul power stepped into the "Great Achievement" stage of the Spirit Realm, he would be able to use his intent to condense his soul into various tangible soul attacks.

For instance, with a single thought, Yang Yan could condense the intangible soul power at the center of his brow into blades, spears, swords, or halberds to launch attacks against the enemy. Moreover, these condensed items required no spiritual energy to control; they could be unleashed with a mere thought, which could produce surprising and decisive effects in battle.

Of course, for the current Yang Yan, he was still a long way from that step. "Minor Achievement" and "Great Achievement" might only differ by one word, but the gap between them was as difficult to cross as a chasm. In the entire Tianyuan Continent, while those with a soul realm similar to Yang Yan's were not exactly a dime a dozen, they were certainly not rare. However, those who truly reached the "Great Achievement" stage of the Spirit Realm were 90% fewer. One could imagine that existence of the level of Frank could not be found elsewhere in the entire Feiyun Empire. The scarcity of such a soul realm was self-evident.

Feeling those massive, intangible forces flowing into the center of his brow along specific meridian routes, it felt as if a cool, refreshing stream were being poured over his head during a hot summer, bringing an indescribable comfort and pleasure.

The fatigue from the series of fierce battles and days of continuous traveling vanished without a trace under the cleansing of this soul power, which felt as clear as water. Furthermore, he could feel that the soul power at the center of his brow was becoming increasingly full under this constant accumulation, and his soul realm had also completely stabilized.

According to Yang Yan's calculations, if he were to face an ordinary peak Spirit-Communication Realm expert now, provided they didn't have a medium-grade treasure like the black-clothed man from the Tianlong Empire, he wouldn't need much time to deal with them.

Speaking of those guys from the Tianlong Empire, although they were annoying, they had failed repeatedly in their attempts to hunt him down and had even lost their lives in the process. Naturally, their Qiankun pouches had fallen into Yang Yan's hands, becoming his spoils of war.

Among them was the so-called medium-grade treasure, the Black Dragon Annihilation Seal.

As for the "Space-Travel Step" he had obtained from that old man Hu, Yang Yan hadn't found the time to practice it during this period. He planned to do so after the Liu Clan's competition was over. After all, that movement technique was faster than the Cloud-Drifting Steps, and the importance of speed in battle went without saying.

Over the next few days, Yang Yan fell into a state of intense cultivation. During the day, he continuously absorbed energy from the seal to cultivate his spiritual energy, and at night, he absorbed pure soul power from the Na-Spirit to temper his soul.

Time passed quickly while immersed in this state of cultivation. Three days vanished in the blink of an eye. Early this morning, while Yang Yan was still immersed in the practice of breaking the seal, a knock sounded at the door.

After Yang Yan answered, a graceful figure pushed the door open—it was Qing'er.

"Young Master, today is the day of the Liu Clan's competition. We should head over a bit earlier," Qing'er said with a smile.

Yang Yan nodded. Feeling the surging spiritual and soul power within his body, a faint smile appeared on his lips.

Although only three days had passed, he could clearly feel that the intensity of both his soul and spiritual energy was much stronger than it had been three days ago. Of course, this improvement was still a long way from breaking through to the next stage.

"Hmm, let's go!"

After nodding, Yang Yan didn't hesitate. He left with Qing'er and headed straight for the location where the competition was being held.

According to those who had been talking, it seemed that Liu Zhengqing's status was that of an outcast who had been driven out of the family for some reason. If that were the case, he would inevitably be harassed by the Liu Clan members. However, it seemed that such a situation was about to change with Yang Yan's arrival...