"Xiao Yi, Brother Xiao Yi? You, you're awake?"
Fang Qingzhu looked at Xiao Yi with incredulity, her phoenix eyes wide open and a layer of mist already veiling her watery orbs.
The Little Lin on her shoulder also stood erect, staring intently at Xiao Yi.
In its eyes was a human-like excitement.
Xiao Yi squeezed out a faint smile on his pale face, nodded, and with a hoarse voice that was still somewhat weak, he said, "Sorry for making you worry!"
Even though he had been in a coma for half a month, there were times when he could still sense everything that was happening outside.
Fang Qingzhu's meticulous care over the past half-month, her tireless conversations in hopes of awakening him—Xiao Yi was fully aware of all this.
Xiao Yi tried to rise, but his arms felt weak and he leaned heavily against the headboard.
"Brother Xiao Yi, don't move...What do you want to do? Let me help you!" Fang Qingzhu said in panic, supporting Xiao Yi as she hastily asked.
With the help of Fang Qingzhu, he sat up properly.
Xiao Yi caught Fang Qingzhu's retreating hand. Her soft palm was somewhat cool, and medicinal ointment was applied on the back of her hand. Xiao Yi asked with concern, "Does it still hurt?"
This was where Fang Qingzhu had accidentally scalded herself while stewing soup for him.
Before this incident,
Fang Qingzhu had never cooked, but for Xiao Yi, she started learning to cook, learning to make soup, learning to take care of people.
Xiao Yi remembered all of this in his heart.
Fang Qingzhu shook her head, a sweet smile on her face as she said, "It doesn't hurt!"
Xiao Yi forced a smile.
Fang Qingzhu was taken aback and lowered her head, "It hurt a bit at the beginning, but His Highness the Seventh Prince got me these ointments, and they worked very well. It doesn't hurt anymore!"
Xiao Yi gently stroked Fang Qingzhu's messy fringe on her forehead and said in a deep voice, "Qingzhu, thank you for staying by my side all this time!"
Fang Qingzhu hesitated for a moment and then rested her head against his chest, "We are husband and wife, if you never leave, I will never forsake you!"
Smelling the faint fragrance that entered his nose, Xiao Yi gently patted her shoulder and lightly rested his chin against her head.
Besides his mother, at least for now, Fang Qingzhu was the only one who had entered the sanctuary of his heart. This feeling was more than just between husband and wife, it was also an inseparable kinship!
In his eyes, however, there was an unprecedented determination!
Little Lin, looking at the two hugging each other, glanced left and right at itself, then brought its tail to its head.
It rested its head against its tail.
Its face showed a human-like contentment.
At Tianqi Martial Arts Academy, behind the mountain.
It was still that waterfall.
Xiao Yi stood beneath the waterfall, holding an energy stone in each hand.
The surging energy from the energy stones infused into his body, converging within his Golden Core, and above Xiao Yi's Golden Core were already five light rings floating up and down.
This signified that his cultivation had stepped into the Fifth Layer of the Golden Elixir Realm.
Half a month had passed since he woke up.
"Breaking through a realm now requires fifty medium-grade energy stones, and the further I go, the greater the consumption…"
Xiao Yi slowly opened his eyes, looking at the energy stones in his hand that had lost their luster and turned to waste, he sighed deeply.
Back then, in that ancient tomb, Xiao Yi had obtained a little over a thousand low-grade energy stones, one hundred forty medium-grade, and twelve high-grade ones.
The medium-grade energy stones contained ten times the energy of the low-grade ones, and the high-grade ones ten times that of the medium-grade.
To break through to the Four Layer of the Golden Elixir Realm, he had exhausted all the low-grade energy stones.
The remaining medium and high-grade energy stones amounted to what would be equivalent to two hundred and sixty medium-grade energy stones: "Two hundred and sixty medium-grade energy stones... Should be enough to break through to the Eighth Layer of the Golden Elixir Realm. Below the tribulation, I'll be invincible, Zhou Yuan is no longer a concern!"
The greatest reward for Xiao Yi from this secret realm adventure was not the spirit stones, but those three Martial Dao Divine Fruits.
Each of these Martial Dao Divine Fruits could be exchanged for several hundred or even a thousand top-quality spirit stones.
But Xiao Yi had no intention of selling the Martial Dao Divine Fruits.
Jiang Tai's voice came from outside the waterfall, and with a step, Xiao Yi emerged with rolling vital energy surrounding him, preventing the cascading water from getting close.
In just a few flashes, Xiao Yi had reached Jiang Tai's side.
After the journey through the secret realm.
Xiao Yi had come to recognize Jiang Tai. He sized him up and down and laughed, "Congratulations, elder brother, your cultivation has greatly improved!"
Since returning from the secret realm, Jiang Tai had already stepped into the Eighth Layer Realm of the Golden Core Realm.
His combat power was also even stronger than before!
Jiang Tai rolled his eyes and said exasperatedly, "You're supposed to be complimenting me, right? But why does it sound so awkward to my ears?"
Xiao Yi laughed heartily, clearly aware Jiang Tai was referring to him being tied for first place on the Teng Long List, and then shook his head, "Did elder brother need me for something?"
Jiang Tai nodded, a playful look on his face, holding an invitation between two fingers, "This is for you!"
Xiao Yi was startled, opened it, and looked with a peculiar expression, "Jiang Shanhe is inviting me to the Qingyun Banquet?"
In half a month's time, it would be the Tianqing Kingdom's Qingyun Festival.
Every year at this time, when the unique Qingyun flowers of the Tianqing Kingdom bloom, the royal family holds the Qingyun Banquet to invite the outstanding young talents from within the kingdom.
Moreover, with the Crown Prince position not yet decided, the recent Qingyun Banquets have been organized by the eldest prince.
Given Xiao Yi's relationship with the Royal Martial Arts Academy, he couldn't fathom why Jiang Shanhe would send him an invitation!
Jiang Tai squinted his eyes and suggested, "Maybe he wants to recruit you?"
Xiao Yi rolled his eyes, "Recruit me? It's probably a setup for a trap, aiming to put me in a deadly situation!"
"Don't worry, the Qingyun Banquet is a state banquet. If anything goes wrong, father won't spare him, and he wouldn't dare make a rash move. If you don't want to go, I can help you decline," Jiang Tai said.
Xiao Yi waved his hand dismissively and smiled at the invitation in his hand, "Go, why not go? Not only will I attend, but our fellow brothers from the Tianqi Martial Arts Academy will go as well!"
Jiang Tai was taken aback.
"Our Tianqi Martial Arts Academy is too poor, you see, the Shi Family brothers and Niu Dali have all starved to the point of skinniness, it's a good opportunity to take them for a good meal!"
Xiao Yi's eyes narrowed into slits, "It's also a good chance for me to see for myself what this eldest prince, who has held the top position on the Teng Long List for many years, is really like!"
A strong sense of fighting spirit suddenly burst forth from him.
Ten days flew by in the blink of an eye...
At the gate of the Tianqi Martial Arts Institute.
Xiao Yi looked at Gu Junhe, who was drinking sullenly next to the Cangyun Eagle, and said helplessly, "Headmaster, the Qingyun Banquet is for young people, it's really not suitable for you to go!"
"Are you saying I'm old?" Gu Junhe squinted his eyes and asked.
With a serious face, Xiao Yi hummed in agreement.
Niu Dali chuckled and said, "Headmaster, let the young people handle their affairs; you don't need to get involved!"
"Are you saying I'm old?" Gu Junhe asked again, putting down his liquor gourd.
Mimicking Xiao Yi's seriousness, Niu Dali nodded his head, but before he could utter a word, he was abruptly smacked to the ground by Gu Junhe's palm.
The slap made stars dance in his vision.
Gu Junhe grabbed Niu Dali's ankle and dragged him towards the institute like dragging a dead dog. Niu Dali's head made a thudding sound with every intimate contact with the stairs, and Gu Junhe's voice drifted, "You all go! Niu Dali will stay with me in the institute for some extra training."
Everyone looked at the stairs with over a thousand steps, swallowing saliva subconsciously, their faces filled with sympathy.
Shi Yaoming sighed and said earnestly, "Brother Dali, keep the headmaster company, we will eat your share as well..."