On a morning two months later, Xiao Wu skipped over to find Yu Yan, standing beside him as she summoned her spirit ring.
"Hehehe, Yu Yan, I've learned the Cang Feng Secret Art!"
After proudly announcing the news to Yu Yan, Xiao Wu quickly changed her spirit ring's color from yellow to purple, then to black, and finally changed the color of her first spirit ring to red.
"Ta-da! Look at my million-year spirit ring."
After showing off in front of Yu Yan, Xiao Wu stood before him with her first spirit ring glowing red.
Yu Yan, who had not yet learned the Cang Feng Secret Art, looked enviously at Xiao Wu as she continuously changed the color of her spirit ring.
"What's wrong?"
"Envious of me?"
Deactivating the Cang Feng Secret Art, Xiao Wu looked at the silent Yu Yan and smiled even more happily. One of her goals for working so hard to Cultivate was to show off in front of him.
Now that she had achieved her goal, she naturally smiled very brightly.
"I'll let you win this time. It's only a matter of a couple of days before I master the Cang Feng Secret Art, so don't get too ahead of yourself."
In the matter of Cultivating the Cang Feng Secret Art, Yu Yan and Xiao Wu had coincidentally formed a secret, positive competitive relationship. In their spare time from Cultivating, they both put their maximum energy into practicing the Cang Feng Secret Art.
Now, Xiao Wu had taken the lead by learning the Cang Feng Secret Art first.
Yu Yan was not a sore loser; in the face of the established facts, he helplessly admitted, "I'll count this as your win."
"Hahaha... Come here, I'll tell you the secrets to Cultivating and learning the Cang Feng Secret Art."
Hearing what she wanted to hear, Xiao Wu took the initiative to tell Yu Yan about her insights from Cultivating the Cang Feng Secret Art.
Listening to Xiao Wu's insights, Yu Yan, who was just one step away from success, found a clear direction for his progress.
Two nights later, Yu Yan successfully mastered the Cang Feng Secret Art.
Now able to change the color of his spirit ring, Yu Yan experimented with it with great interest.
Yellow, white, purple, black, red, and platinum—these colors appeared one by one on his first spirit ring.
After experiencing it personally, Yu Yan found that changing a hundred-year yellow spirit ring's color to a ten-year white one was the easiest, while adjusting it to other colors was relatively difficult.
The reason was that the former involved hiding the spirit ring's energy, which was easy, while the latter involved simulating and adding other colors... "I'll reach Rank 20 tonight."
On a night with a full moon six months later, Yu Yan looked at the cloudless sky in a very good mood.
Since his Spirit Awakening, it had taken him one year and two months to successfully Cultivate from Rank 10 to Rank 20. Only Yu Yan himself knew the hardships, sweat, and effort he had put in.
Oh, that's not right—Xiao Wu knew too, as the two of them Cultivated together.
purple qi and lunar essence were the tools for Yu Yan to grow stronger. If he hadn't Cultivated diligently, it would have been impossible to reach Rank 20 so quickly.
After successfully reaching a Breakthrough to Rank 20, he would be able to absorb a thousand-year second spirit ring, possessing the first or second thousand-year second spirit ring in the history of the Douluo Continent.
The reason he wasn't sure if it was the first or second was that he wasn't sure if Xiao Wu would condense her own spirit ring before him.
That fellow Tang San should be around Rank 15 or 16 by now.
While making rapid progress himself, Yu Yan thought of his imaginary rival, Tang San, and speculated about his Spirit Power Level.
"Yeah, finally about to reach Rank 20."
Standing beside Yu Yan, Xiao Wu held the now-grown Spirit Cat, stroking its smooth fur with her hand.
Girls generally develop earlier; during this year of living together, Xiao Wu, who used to be shorter than Yu Yan, was now as tall as him.
Besides her height, Xiao Wu's appearance had also undergone some changes. Perhaps because she read a lot, the current Xiao Wu had a bit more of an elegant, scholarly air about her.
Comparing her past and present in his mind, Yu Yan felt that he still preferred the Xiao Wu before him; she looked more comfortable and pleasing to the eye.
The Spirit Cat Wu Xue's growth rate was also not slow. Benefiting from Yu Yan's version of a cultivation accelerator, it had grown from a kitten into a 5-year Spirit Beast.
Wu Xue was the Spirit Cat's name, taken from the first and last characters of its color description, 'Dark Clouds Treading on Snow'.
As a 5-year Spirit Beast, the Spirit Cat possessed two abilities, as well as one special ability whose existence was uncertain.
The first was intelligence. Wu Xue's intelligence was quite high, and it could understand most of what Yu Yan and Xiao Wu meant. This was a major reason why Spirit Cats were the most popular pet Spirit Beasts, but Yu Yan felt that Wu Xue's intelligence seemed even higher.
The second was speed. The speed of cat-type Spirit Beasts was among the highest among similar Spirit Beasts. Wu Xue's speed was not slow; as a 5-year Spirit Beast, it was comparable to a normal Rank 11 Spirit Master with one ring who wasn't using Spirit Abilities. This speed was top-tier among all Spirit Cat Spirit Beasts of the same age.
The special ability of uncertain existence was being an omen of good fortune. Legend had it that Spirit Cats could bring good luck to their owners. Yu Yan was somewhat reluctant to believe this, but the Auspicious Beast Three-Eyed Golden Ni did indeed exist on the Douluo Continent.
As the full moon slowly rose, Yu Yan sat cross-legged on the ground and began to guide the lunar essence to Cultivate, with Xiao Wu sitting down beside him to Cultivate as well.
The Spirit Cat skillfully left Xiao Wu and came to Yu Yan's lap to find a comfortable position to lie down, greedily absorbing the high-quality spirit power with a slightly different effect that emanated from Yu Yan's body.
Not far from Rank 20, Yu Yan successfully reached Rank 20 as the eastern sky began to brighten.
As the morning sun rose, Yu Yan, who had reached a Bottleneck and could progress no further, forced the energy condensed from the purple qi and lunar essence out of his body for Xiao Wu to absorb.
Xiao Wu, who was still a little bit away, did not stand on ceremony with Yu Yan. She decisively absorbed this special high-quality energy into her body to break through the Rank 20 barrier.
Lying in Yu Yan's lap, the Spirit Cat Wu Xue also absorbed a little bit of the Essence of Sun and Moon to Cultivate.
"You little thing, you really are clever."
After transferring the last wisp of the Essence of Sun and Moon, Yu Yan withdrew from his Cultivation state. Seeing the Spirit Cat slowly wagging its tail in a comfortable posture because it had absorbed the Essence of Sun and Moon, he did not move it.
"Xiao Wu, are you Rank 20 now?"
Yu Yan looked at Xiao Wu as she finished her Cultivation and asked if she had reached a Breakthrough to Rank 20.
"Mm, the Essence of Sun and Moon you transferred to me at the end successfully helped me break through to Rank 20."
"Wu Xue, come here."
Xiao Wu answered Yu Yan's question and picked up the Spirit Cat from Yu Yan's lap; she really liked this clever and cute little fellow.
Hearing Xiao Wu's call, the Spirit Cat stood up from Yu Yan's lap and leaped into Xiao Wu's arms.
"Well, next I need to obtain my second spirit ring. I wonder what my Second Spirit Ability and Second Martial Soul Fusion Skill will be."
While chatting with Xiao Wu, Yu Yan stood up and performed Tai Chi Fist in the morning light to strengthen his body and stretch his muscles.
Rubbing the Spirit Cat's little head, Xiao Wu followed Yu Yan in performing this set of fist techniques that could exercise the body to the maximum extent, chatting with Yu Yan in the morning light.