Yet fate is unpredictable. It was precisely this woman, with her perfect figure, who remained forever out of reach to men. Now Yang Hao finally understood why those wealthy men had mocked and ridiculed him so brazenly—it was merely a way to mask their own frustration.
“Good disciple, smart disciple, don’t you dare soften your heart,” Hun Yuanzi, truly knowing his apprentice well, warned.
Yang Hao indeed hesitated—not only because of Shi Mingyuan’s physical perfection, but also because of the sorrowful aura she exuded. This aura was something coarse men could never perceive. Although Yang Hao appreciated beauty, he wasn’t vulgar or lustful, and he was sensitive to women’s emotional nuances.
“Why not try your pills on me?” Shi Mingyuan surprisingly suggested.
“What?” Yang Hao was startled. “You want to take them?”
In Yang Hao’s experience, those who came to buy medicine were usually men. Even the rare women who visited merely sought to restore their husbands’ vigor. Never had a woman requested it for herself.
“Although nothing can disable my electric defenses, you might as well give it a try. Perhaps it will have some effect,” Shi Mingyuan said with a faint, wistful smile. “If you’re capable, then make me a real woman again.”
“I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to…” Yang Hao felt awkward. He had little experience in such situations.
“Even if you succeed with me, it won’t matter,” she continued. “Li Bo and Ling Ziyun’s ultimate plan isn’t about me—it’s to set a trap to kill you.”
“Kill me?” Yang Hao thought to himself. It wasn’t entirely unexpected. Plus, there were still experts from the Royal Swordsmen on the other side, especially Wang Tao, who was absurdly strong. If he didn’t think of something soon, he might really end up dead.
Suddenly, Hun Yuanzi spoke, “I actually have another brilliant idea.”
“What idea?”
“I’ll teach you to cultivate your first core pill and ascend to a higher level of cultivation,” Hun Yuanzi suddenly became unusually proactive, unlike his usual lazy self.
“A higher level of cultivation!” Yang Hao immediately felt motivated. “So I can become an immortal then?”
“Not so fast,” Hun Yuanzi quickly tempered his enthusiasm. “You still have a long way to go before becoming an immortal. But it will make you much stronger. After taking my Niwan Pill, you’ve already reached the Foundation Building stage, giving you the strength of a second- to third-tier warrior. If you cultivate the Heijin Huansui Pill and reach the Spiritual Void stage, your power will jump to at least sixth-tier, and you’ll be able to create higher-level auxiliary pills. Then, hehe, you’ll be many times stronger than now.”
Although Yang Hao was disappointed he couldn’t become an immortal immediately, the idea of becoming a powerful warrior thrilled him. “So if I reach the Spiritual Void stage, I’ll be invincible?”
“Absolutely not,” Hun Yuanzi snapped.
“Then what’s the point? We’re still going to lose the competition anyway,” Yang Hao muttered.
“What I mean is…” Hun Yuanzi lowered his voice conspiratorially, “if we can’t beat them fairly, we’ll just kill those bastards by force. Then the Dan-Ding Dual Cultivation Sect will rise again…”
Yang Hao was speechless.
Meanwhile, Shi Mingyuan smiled at Yang Hao, clearly quite fond of this uniquely different man.
Producing a core pill and ascending to a new cultivation stage sounded simple, but was actually extremely complicated—especially with a clueless teacher like Hun Yuanzi.
Combined with the core of the black magic beast he had previously defeated, Yang Hao had finally gathered all forty-nine ingredients needed to create the Heijin Huansui Pill after great effort. However, Hun Yuanzi suddenly remembered and pointed out that Yang Hao’s Steel Furnace couldn’t be used to cultivate the core pill—it required a rare Red Gold Furnace.
And this Red Gold Furnace required at least ten kilograms of pure gold to construct—nearly giving Yang Hao a heart attack. Now he finally understood why Hun Yuanzi had said that without money, one couldn’t even begin learning the Dan-Ding Dual Cultivation Sect. Every time he tried to cultivate a pill, the required materials and tools were incredibly expensive.
Just as Yang Hao was struggling with his lack of progress, Shi Mingyuan suddenly invited him to travel together to a nearby primitive planet in a shuttle.
The Laymon star system, located at the outer edge of the empire’s universe, wasn’t as developed as the core planets. Most planets here remained untouched, inhabited only by dominant native species, making them popular destinations for adventurers and tourists.
This time, Yang Hao and Shi Mingyuan traveled to a relatively unknown primitive planet called Suimian, dozens of light-years from Laymon. Clearly, Shi Mingyuan hadn’t been here before either, so X13 piloted the spacecraft the entire way.
Suimian was a relatively obscure primitive planet, yet its environment was quite suitable for human survival. Covered in lush greenery, its oxygen levels were high, and its gravity was similar to Laymon’s.
Holding Shi Mingyuan’s hand, Yang Hao slowly walked across the pale blue soil. The mineral-rich ground emitted a soft ocean-like glow, making the entire landscape appear like a giant sapphire from afar. The tall, straight plants stood upright, resembling neatly trimmed gardens.
“It’s so beautiful…” Without her veil, Shi Mingyuan’s beauty was fully revealed. “I heard this place resembles the color of the soil on Angel Star, so I wanted to come see it for myself.”
“Is the soil on Angel Star blue too?” Yang Hao asked curiously. He hadn’t traveled much and was only familiar with a few dark, muddy planets.
“Our planet is much more beautiful,” Shi Mingyuan’s face lit up as she spoke of her hometown. “The ground is semi-transparent blue and purple. Tourmaline shines like crystal, glowing at night.”
“I’d love to visit someday,” Yang Hao said casually. Suddenly, his Sensing Skill tingled, detecting the presence of gold nearby.
“Gold?” Yang Hao felt a surge of excitement. Gold was exactly what he needed most right now. If he could find some to make a furnace, the trip would be worthwhile.
But as Yang Hao was thinking, Shi Mingyuan looked suddenly downcast. Yang Hao’s offhand comment had unintentionally touched a painful memory: “I’m afraid I’ll never return to Angel Star again.”
“Nonsense! I’ll take you back!” Yang Hao, having learned nothing useful from his master except how to talk big, blurted out.
“Really? You’ll take me back?” Shi Mingyuan stopped walking, looking at Yang Hao with hopeful eyes.
This time, Yang Hao finally realized the weight of his words. He stared at her hopeful face, momentarily at a loss for words.
“Haha, clumsy disciple, you’ve been caught by a pretty girl,” Hun Yuanzi teased. “Now that you’ve got a woman by your side, how will you roam the world and chase countless beauties? Back in my day, I was a thousand-man slayer. You haven’t even reached ten before getting tied down—what a tragedy!”
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