Ye Qiu hadn’t expected Jin Zhimo to appear here.
Assuming the siblings had something to discuss, Ye Qiu smiled and said, "I’ll go out and wait for you, you two chat first."
After speaking, Ye Qiu took the lead and left the cave.
Jin Zhimo snapped out of her daze, the aura she had felt from Ye Qiu was terrifyingly powerful, even more so than the elders of her clan.
What surprised Jin Zhimo was Ye Qiu’s strength; she had never thought that Ye Qiu could be so formidable.
In the cave, only the siblings were left. Jin Zhimo conveyed all that their father had told her to Jin Shanshun, finally persuading, "Brother, can you not leave the Jin clan?"
Jin Shanshun shook his head, "What I’m doing is also for the good of the Jin clan. Maybe Elder Jin Mu is right, I might provoke a powerful ancient clan. When the time comes, if they are implicated because of me, even I would blame myself. Leaving the ancient clan isn’t that bad; on the contrary, it frees me from so many constraints."
Seeing her brother Jin Shanshun’s resolute attitude, Jin Zhimo could only sigh inwardly, knowing she couldn’t persuade her brother to return to the Jin clan.
"By the way, before you go, brother, I have a gift for you," Jin Shanshun suddenly said, then took out a pill bottle from his chest.
"What’s this?" Jin Zhimo was astonished.
Jin Shanshun said, "Inside are some pills that can help you advance quickly in the martial path. When you reach the peak of the legendary realm, come find me, and I will find a way to help you break through to the mythic realm."
"Mythic realm..." Jin Zhimo couldn’t help but stare blankly. In a minor ancient clan, having a mythic realm powerhouse was already considered strong. Even within the entire Jin clan, aside from the Great Elder, only Emperor Elder was at the mythic realm, with no second mythic realm powerhouse.
Jin Shanshun said he could help her break through to the mythic realm. If it had been any other member of the Jin clan, they would have taken it as a joke, but this person was her own brother. Jin Zhimo knew he wouldn’t lie to her, and she firmly believed Jin Shanshun could do it, nodding heavily, "I will come to you."
The two left the cave and saw Ye Qiu facing the wind, looking at the scenery of the Jin clan.
"Let’s go," Ye Qiu said with a smile.
Jin Shanshun nodded, bidding farewell to Jin Zhimo.
Watching the two figures disappear, Jin Zhimo thought her brother’s silhouette looked so desolate. From then on, he would live by himself, having left the Jin clan, and her eyes couldn’t help but moisten.
"Don’t worry, your brother will be very safe with me. One day, you will look up to your brother. He is destined to stand above all ancient clans,"
A voice suddenly echoed in Jin Zhimo’s mind—it was Ye Qiu’s spiritual transmission.
The sudden appearance of the voice startled Jin Zhimo, but it also felt somewhat familiar.
Quickly, her expression changed as she watched the receding figure of Ye Qiu, realizing that the voice that had helped her defeat her opponent in the family martial competition was Ye Qiu’s.
However, Ye Qiu’s words seemed a bit exaggerated—to stand above all ancient clans was not something just anyone could accomplish.
"I just hope my brother stays out of harm’s way," Jin Zhimo said softly.
The figures in front of her walked further and further away, disappearing from sight, leaving the Jin clan’s territory.
Jin Zhimo looked at the pills Jin Shanshun had given her, a bit puzzled—where had her brother gotten these pills? She casually opened it to take a look, and suddenly, a fragrance wafted out, startling her senses.
"These pills are... Primordial Pills... a full ten of them!"
Seeing this scene, Jin Zhimo was truly stunned!
The two returned to the courtyard, and Ye Qiu wanted to consolidate his strength, so he immediately re-entered the cultivation state.
Jin Shanshun also didn’t slack off and continued practicing his boxing. He wanted to become stronger. Now that he had left his clan, he harbored an unyielding ambition in his heart, determined to make everyone take notice of him.
"It’s a pity that the teacher is in closed-door cultivation; otherwise, I should have said goodbye to him," Jin Shanshun sighed, positioning his body into an unusual stance. Soon, the sound of his punches echoed throughout the courtyard.
Inside the room, Ye Qiu sat cross-legged on the bed.
After absorbing and refining the Xuan Ying Dan, his strength had truly soared.
From the initial phase of the Legendary Realm, his power skyrocketed directly to the pinnacle of the late stage of the Legendary Realm. This energy could have absolutely pushed him into the Mythical Realm, but Ye Qiu forcefully stopped it. He felt that crossing two minor realms was manageable, but crossing into a major realm would destabilize his martial path.
Ye Qiu held the belief that one should cultivate step by step, with no shortcuts on the martial path. However, ever since he learned alchemy, Ye Qiu’s thoughts started to waver.
He even toyed with the idea that if he relied solely on consuming pills to increase his strength, he could quickly become a master.
This thought had circled in his mind for a long time, and Ye Qiu almost decided to do so several times, even after refining the Xuan Ying Dan, he still pondered this problem.
However, just when he could have used this power to break the shackles of the Legendary Realm and enter the Mythical Realm, Ye Qiu abruptly stopped. He felt it was unwise. Content originally comes from novel{f}ire.net
Pills could indeed aid his martial progress and greatly reduce the time needed for cultivation, but he couldn’t solely rely on pills to enhance his strength. If he continued down this path, relying entirely on pills for his power, he would never be able to stand at the peak of the martial path.
Ye Qiu had his ambitions. He wanted to stand at the peak of the martial world, but breaking through major realms with the help of pills would definitely cause a shaky foundation in his martial path, something Ye Qiu did not want to see.
"Pill techniques can help one rapidly break through and greatly increase strength, but the martial path requires one to cultivate step by step and not seek to ascend to heaven in a single bound."
"Perhaps with the help of pills, one could stand at the peak of the martial world, but I can’t take that risk. Once it fails, there’s no second chance."
"As for the martial path, spending time on cultivation and gradually becoming stronger ensures a solid foundation, but for me, the pace of cultivation is still too slow. To seek revenge for the Dugu family, and to improve my strength step by step, it’s unclear how long it will take before I have the power to contend with the ancient clans."
Ye Qiu laid out all the issues before him, pondering which path to take.
One was risky, the other conventional. Ye Qiu thought incessantly about both.
"In that era, alchemists usually had mediocre personal strength and formidable pill techniques. I don’t want to be someone who is only strong in alchemy. I also want to be a formidable martial artist."
Gradually, he made a decision. If he could pursue alchemy and the martial path together, making parallel progress, complementing and supporting each other, perhaps that could be a path that suited him.
With this thought, Ye Qiu’s eyes grew brighter. He felt that this idea was good, definitely worth trying, and without any disadvantages.
Having redefined his martial path in his heart to combine pill refinement with martial arts, Ye Qiu felt much more refreshed. He immediately began operating the Black Flame Pill Body Technique, starting to study his own strength. Reaching the pinnacle of the late Legendary Realm was indeed a good thing for him, but he needed to master it as soon as possible.
There wasn’t much time left for him.
On the fourth day of Ye Qiu’s seclusion, the one-month timeframe for the departure of the Venerable Wu Yang had finally arrived.
"This day has finally come!" Ye Qiu, who had been in closed-door cultivation, slowly opened his eyes and sighed.