As he approached, a faint smile appeared upon his face.
"Senior Ji Xin," he greeted politely, "nice to see you again." His tone remained respectful. Yet beneath that politeness, there was undeniable confidence.
Ji Xin blinked once before finally regaining part of her composure. "I…" she paused briefly, "how did you know I was here?"
"Oh, I sensed your presence before the fight started," Li Yan replied naturally.
His tone remained calm and smooth, almost casual. "I simply didn't get a chance to greet Senior while I was struggling to face those three beasts."
Ji Xin's expression twitched visibly. "Struggling?"
Her eyes swept across the battlefield behind him.
"Fighting three Tier-3 beasts at once and killing them in seconds without even drawing your sword seriously…" she said slowly. "And you call that struggling?"
Li Yan thought for a moment before nodding lightly. "They were slightly more troublesome than the beasts I fought previously," he answered honestly, "but still manageable."
"Manageable…" Ji Xin repeated quietly.
Her brows furrowed faintly.
She was no fool.
Those punches weren't random bursts of power.
His control over timing, movement, force, and positioning was terrifyingly refined for someone at his age and cultivation realm. Especially the final movements during the battle—
They had carried the calm decisiveness of an experienced hunter.
Her gaze slowly lowered toward the gauntlets covering his fists.
The dark blue metal reflected faint sunlight while black flame-like runes pulsed quietly across the surface.
"These gauntlets…" she asked carefully, "what tier are they?"
Li Yan glanced toward them briefly. "Tier-3 Mid-Level."
Ji Xin stared at him speechlessly for a moment.
Even though she only possessed a Tier-3 artifact because of her identity and status within the sect. Yet somehow, when those gauntlets rested upon Li Yan's fists—
They felt different.
Not decorative.
Not luxurious.
Dangerous.
Then another thought surfaced within her mind. "Did the Goddess give them to you?"
"No," Li Yan replied calmly. "I purchased them myself from the treasury."
"The treasury…" Ji Xin narrowed her eyes slightly.
Silence settled briefly between them.
The wind stirred softly through the clearing while distant beast cries echoed faintly from deeper within the Hunting Ground.
Finally, Ji Xin spoke again. "Li Yan…" Her voice carried unusual seriousness now. "You're far stronger than what your cultivation should allow."
Li Yan turned away casually before walking toward the beast corpses to store them inside his storage ring.
"The difference between cultivation and strength is only absolute…" he said calmly, "for those who don't know how to break the rules."
His tone remained casual. But the words carried strange weight.
Ji Xin's eyes trembled faintly. Those words sounded simple. Yet coming from him—After witnessing this battle—they carried an undeniable weight.
Li Yan finished storing the corpses before glancing back toward her briefly. "See you later, Senior Ji."
Then he turned and walked deeper into the Hunting Ground without hesitation.
Ji Xin remained standing atop the ridge, silently watching his departing figure disappear between the massive broken cliffs and ancient trees.
Her thoughts churned silently. "I don't even know if I can defeat him in a fair fight…"
The realization unsettled her deeply. Her cultivation exceeded his by almost the entire realm. Yet after witnessing that battle firsthand, confidence no longer came easily.
Her still gaze lingered in the direction he had disappeared.
For the first time since joining the Shadow Haven Sect, she found herself unable to compare him to the other disciples around her.
Not because of his appearance.
Not because of rumors.
But because of the terrifying confidence hidden beneath his calm demeanor.
And slowly—
Something unfamiliar stirred within her heart.
Respect.
Curiosity.
Admiration.
Perhaps something even deeper.
A feeling no other male disciple had ever managed to awaken.
And although she was nearly three years older than he, that difference meant little in the cultivation world.
Because among cultivators—
Strength—Was what truly determined everything.
*****
The next six months passed quietly yet relentlessly.
From the moment Li Yan stepped deeper into the Tier-3 Hunting Ground, his life once again became trapped within an endless cycle of cultivation, combat, refinement, and growth.
The deeper regions of the Tier-3 Hunting Ground gradually became a battlefield stained with blood and strewn with broken corpses.
Day after day—
Night after night—
Li Yan hunted without distraction.
What began as a difficult survival slowly transformed into an experience.
Then mastery.
At first, Tier-3 Magical Beasts had forced him into cautious battles where every mistake carried danger. But as months passed, his combat instincts sharpened rapidly beneath constant pressure.
Swordsmanship.
Movement.
Reaction speed.
Close combat.
Long-range combat.
Everything improved continuously through real battles.
Whether he wielded a sword, spear, gauntlets, or his bare fists, every movement became increasingly precise, efficient, and deadly.
The Tier-3 Hunting Ground itself slowly became familiar to him. The habits of Magical Beasts. The dangerous regions. The places where beast packs gathered, the areas where stronger predators roamed.
Li Yan memorized everything silently through experience.
At the same time, the Training Rings remained constantly active upon his limbs throughout the hunt, forcing his muscles, bones, and tendons to adapt continuously beneath crushing weight and endless combat pressure.
After each hunting session, Li Yan would return to the sect, briefly rest before locking himself once again inside his private alchemy chamber.
There, another battlefield awaited him.
Alchemy.
The room would often remain lit deep into the night as refining flames danced endlessly beneath the furnace while medicinal fragrances filled the air in heavy waves.
Every pill recipe presented a new challenge. Temperature control. Essence purification. Ingredient balance. Spiritual precision.
Li Yan treated each failure as another stepping stone beneath his feet.
And slowly—His mastery continued to rise.
Most importantly, He never deviated from his schedule. Not once. No distractions. No laziness. No wasted time.
Everything moved according to the path he had planned months earlier.
Hunting.
Cultivation.
Alchemy.
Body refinement.
Rest only when necessary.
Then repeat everything.
Month after month, his strength rose steadily through discipline alone.
Currently, Li Yan sat cross-legged within his alchemy chamber, refining flames surged steadily from his palm into the pill furnace before him.
Sweat covered his forehead lightly.
Yet his purple eyes remained perfectly focused.
The entire room was lined with prepared ingredients, empty bottles, jade containers, and completed pills, with the pill bottles neatly placed on the shelves along the walls.
This alchemy session had already continued for several days.
Inside the furnace, medicinal essences rotated carefully beneath controlled heat.
Several minutes later—
DULL! HUM!
A soft vibration echoed from the furnace.
Success.
Li Yan's eyes sharpened immediately. With a controlled motion, he lifted the furnace lid. A light-green medicinal pill slowly floated upward from the furnace amidst a faint medicinal fragrance.
Li Yan raised his hand calmly and caught it between two fingers before placing it inside the pill-testing artifact resting beside him. The numbers upon the artifact began rising steadily.
0%. 10%. 34%. 57%. 72%. 83%. Then finally—88%.
The numbers stopped.
Li Yan nodded slightly before storing the pill inside one of the nearby pill bottles.
Without pause, he immediately reignited the refining flames beneath the furnace for the next refinement attempt. No wasted movement. No wasted time.
This was already the seventh successful pill refinement of the third recipe among the eleven Tier-3 Peak-Level pill recipes he was currently practicing.
Within these last six months, Li Yan had already mastered every pill recipe from Tier-2 Low-Level all the way through Tier-3 High-Level.
Yet one problem continued to bother him.
Purity.
As the level of the pills increased, the maximum purity he could achieve gradually declined.
Tier-1 Low-Level to Tier-2 High-Level pills had all reached a maximum purity of 93%.
Tier-2 Peak-Level pills had lowered his highest purity to 92%.
Tier-3 Mid-Level to Tier-3 Peak-Level pills had reached around 91%.
Even though such purity already surpassed the standards of most alchemists across the entire planet, Li Yan still wasn't satisfied.
Because he still hadn't found the exact reason for the gradual decline.
Hours passed quietly afterward while Li Yan remained immersed completely within his alchemy practice.
Eventually, he paused briefly to consume Tier-5 beast meat, which helped him to replenish his exhausted Qi reserves much faster.
At that moment—
A faint disturbance came from inside his storage ring.
Li Yan's eyebrows narrowed immediately as he stopped eating. With a wave of his hand, a Communication Artifact appeared before him.
The moment he channeled Qi into it, Ji Hong's calm voice echoed outward. "Li Yan, the Goddess has arrived."
Li Yan's eyes sharpened slightly. "Thank you, Elder Ji," he replied. "I'm on my way."
The artifact dimmed afterward before disappearing back into his storage ring. Li Yan stood up immediately and left the chamber.
Several days earlier, Li Yan had already completed the task of collecting ten thousand Tier-3 beast cores. Before entering his current alchemy session, he had specifically requested Ji Hong to notify him upon Yao Fuhuo's arrival.
Now—
She had finally arrived.
The evening sky had already begun turning golden by the time he arrived near the central assembly grounds of the Shadow Haven Sect.
Disciples and elders had already gathered throughout the area once more.
At the center platform—
Yao Fuhuo stood calmly beneath the fading sunlight, her divine blue eyes carrying the same serene authority as always.
Calm.
Elegant.
Untouched by the mortal world.
Ji Hong and several elders stood respectfully nearby while countless disciples watched from a distance with awe-filled eyes.
The moment Li Yan stepped into the assembly grounds, several gazes immediately turned toward him.
After arriving at the central platform, Li Yan stepped forward calmly, his azure robes trailing behind him, and greeted Yao Fuhuo, Ji Hong, and the surrounding elders with due respect. His expression remained composed despite the countless gazes fixed upon him.
Yao Fuhuo's blue eyes rested upon him briefly before she spoke. "I heard you completed your task."
Her voice remained calm and serene, yet the faint trace of approval hidden beneath it was impossible to miss.
Li Yan nodded slightly. "Yes, Senior Yao."
Without another word, golden light gathered around them instantly.
Space distorted softly.
The surrounding assembly grounds vanished.
Moments later—
Both of them reappeared within the enormous treehouse in the ancient valley once more.
Fading sunlight filtered through jade-like leaves while the quiet scent of flowers drifted gently throughout the peaceful surroundings.
Li Yan had visited this place many times already. Yet it still felt detached from the mortal world.
After entering the treehouse, Li Yan waved his hand calmly.
Thousands of Tier-3 beast cores materialized instantly across the wooden floor.
Dense beast Qi spread throughout the room as the translucent cores reflected shimmering light in every direction.
Ten thousand.
Even Yao Fuhuo paused briefly before nodding slowly in satisfaction. "You completed it faster than I expected."
"I only followed the path Senior prepared for me." Li Yan remained calm. "Also, the tasks themselves became part of my cultivation."
A faint smile appeared across Yao Fuhuo's lips. Then, she raised one slender finger before placing it gently against Li Yan's forehead.
A pulse of Spiritual Energy surged instantly.
Li Yan's Spiritual Consciousness trembled slightly as countless streams of information flooded directly into his mind.
Soul/Spiritual Cultivation Technique.
The reward she had promised.
Unlike ordinary manuals or jade records, this transfer bypassed words entirely. Knowledge entered directly into his Spiritual Consciousness itself, clear and complete.
Several moments passed before Yao Fuhuo withdrew her hand calmly.
"Now," she said softly, "tell me about your progress."
Her gaze sharpened slightly afterward. "I want to know how far you've advanced on each path before deciding your next task."
Li Yan nodded immediately. He no longer hid anything significant from her.
"My Qi Cultivation has reached the Qi Channeling Realm (Stage-1)," he began calmly.
"As for Body Cultivation…"
A faint pressure naturally spread from his body. "I've reached the Skin Tempering Realm (Stage-6)."
Yao Fuhuo's eyes flickered slightly with approval. That progress was already astonishing, considering how recently he had begun the Body Cultivation path.
Li Yan continued afterward. "My Soul Cultivation hasn't progressed further due to a lack of a proper cultivation technique until now."
Then his expression sharpened slightly.
"As for swordsmanship… my Sword Intent has reached a bottleneck. I'm only one step away from breaking through the barrier to entering the second level—Earth-Level Intent."
At those words—