Ye Tian slowly exhaled a long breath.
Thick, white mist-like pill fragrance sprayed from his mouth and nose.
The weariness throughout his body was completely expelled along with it.
Inside and out, Ye Tian felt refreshed and invigorated once more.
He closed his eyes and smiled serenely, his voice full of contentment as he spoke. "Finally broke through again."
As his words echoed around the pill furnace, Ye Tian gradually opened his eyes while slowly raising his right hand, which held the Flawless Nascent Pill. Simultaneously, his Spirit Ring rose into the air, eventually shrinking and wrapping around the pill, instantly emitting a continuous hum!
Centered on the Flawless Nascent Pill, it began spinning wildly.
It looked as if a purple sphere of light had enveloped the Flawless Nascent Pill at its core.
As Ye Tian's Soul Power was consumed, more and more purplish-black pills appeared within that purple sphere of light.
By the time the purple Spirit Ring came to a stop, sixteen Marrow Cleansing Pills had materialized in Ye Tian's palm.
Without pausing, he lifted his hand and popped them into his mouth.
As usual, he ate half and saved half.
"So satisfying!" Ye Tian chuckled as he stored the glass jar away, then pulled out a small notebook.
Looking at the data recorded inside, a faint smile appeared on his face. "It took about the same time as breaking through to level fifteen, roughly three months."
As he spoke, Ye Tian took out a pen and added a few notes to the page.
Then, with a look of self-satisfaction, he murmured softly, "It seems my cultivation speed really is getting faster and faster."
Snap!
Ye Tian closed the notebook with great satisfaction.
He was well aware that judging the speed of cultivation solely by the time taken to break through was incorrect.
Each level varied significantly.
Under normal cultivation, the time required to break through to level sixteen would inevitably be longer than that for level fifteen.
Yet for Ye Tian, the time to break through both levels was nearly equal.
From this perspective, the benefits of taking the Marrow Cleansing Pills were beginning to show.
Ye Tian put away his record book.
He stood up, walked behind the screen, and stood before the desk, gazing out the window.
The glaring sunlight made him squint. "Is it already noon? By the way... has Little Xue visited today?"
Ye Tian pulled out the chair and sat down, propping his cheek on his hand as he silently watched the scenery outside, lost in thought.
He wasn't exactly missing them, but he was somewhat curious about what they had been busy with these past couple of days.
They hadn't come to collect their medicine yesterday...
He had started closed-door cultivation last night and only now had the time to ponder it.
After a moment of reflection, a glimmer of understanding lit up Ye Tian's calm dark eyes, as if he had found the answer. "Counting the days... it should be about time for Yue'er's Martial Soul awakening."
Thinking of this, Ye Tian couldn't help but lift his gaze toward the mountaintop, a hint of anticipation in his eyes.
"Hmm?!"
Suddenly, his gaze dropped downward, landing on the graceful figure strolling toward the Wisteria Residence.
Immediately, a mischievous idea sprang to mind!
"Heh heh! Teacher, you can only blame your own greed." A dangerous smile spread across Ye Tian's face.
With a flick of his wrist over his bracer, a long spear appeared on the desk.
The spear in Ye Tian's hand was not smooth and slender like a conventional spear.
Its tip was not shaped like a traditional spearhead either, but rather ground into a seamless, long tube.
It featured a front sight and was strictly a two-centimeter caliber! At the magazine slot, there was a bolt to eject spent casings and reload ammunition. Without a doubt, what Ye Tian held in his hands was the 'Fire-Tipped Spear No. 2'—a weapon he had painstakingly crafted over the past few months. Its entire body was forged from special heat-resistant metal, gleaming with a cold silver radiance.
Click!
Without hesitation, Ye Tian pulled back the bolt, retrieved the limited ammunition from his Soul Guidance Device, and carefully loaded it into the magazine. Gazing at the exquisitely crafted, smooth bullets, he couldn't help but marvel: a Soul Master taking up blacksmithing was truly a dimensional leap compared to ordinary people! Even bullets could be polished to such perfection, each with minimal margin of error—though the labor cost was a tad expensive, given it was a Soul Master's work.
During the development process, Ye Tian had been stumped by the formula for the bullet primer. Fortunately, he had made a discovery at the blacksmith's shop: a type of stone that released immense thermal energy upon impact, which he used as a substitute, embedding it into the base of the bullet. Through repeated experiments, he finalized the design of the cartridge case.
Click!
There was no time for further contemplation. The Fire-Tipped Spear was now loaded. Ye Tian closed his left eye and aimed directly at the entrance of Wisteria Residence, waiting for Bi Bi Dong to approach so he could give her a hefty surprise!
Creak—
The door of Wisteria Residence eased open slightly, revealing only half of Bi Bi Dong's face before she instinctively squinted. "Teacher, for confiscating the pistol I made," Ye Tian muttered under his breath, "today you'll get to taste the flavor of this long spear!" With that, he held his breath, focused on the wooden door, and rested his index finger on the trigger. Still rational, he aimed not directly at her but around her, intending only to startle her fiercely.
Suddenly, a graceful figure flipping over the doorframe caught Ye Tian completely off guard. "Damn! What's going on?!" The unexpected exposure made him blurt out a colorful expletive. He quickly raised the long-barreled Fire-Tipped Spear, attempting to re-aim, but Bi Bi Dong had already leaped into the air, shooting a strand of Spider Silk from her hand that anchored to the highest point of Wisteria Residence. Swinging like on a pendulum, she rapidly closed in on him.
"Holy crap!" Ye Tian lost his composure entirely. Bi Bi Dong was using moves he had taught her! With ammunition scarce, he had neglected practice, and now he struggled to keep the spear steady, repeatedly aiming and losing his target. Despite the chaos, he clung to a shred of calm. Springing to his feet, he stopped fumbling with the spear and aimed squarely at the window—reasoning that, given her trajectory, she would inevitably burst through it into his room. Thus, he decided to hold his position and wait for her there.
"Now's the chance!" Bi Bi Dong swung swiftly on the silk, appearing before the window in an instant. Ye Tian gritted his teeth, ready to fire, but froze when she spread her legs mid-air. His eye, the sight, and Bi Bi Dong aligned perfectly. If he shot now and actually injured her, what then? Hesitation seized him, and in that split second, he missed his optimal window to fire.
"Rebellious disciple! How dare you attempt to assassinate your teacher!" Bi Bi Dong's sharp cry sent a jolt of terror through Ye Tian, forcing him to frantically readjust his aim.
All hope was already lost.
Watching Bi Bi Dong pull on the Spider Silk, spreading her scissor-legs wide.
She swung toward him just like that.
"!!!"
Without a second thought, Ye Tian prepared to fire, his finger just beginning to move—
But he was already caught by the Spider Web shot by Bi Bi Dong!
"Damn! I'm done for!"
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