Chapter 23

Leaving the Liu residence, Chu Yan was unaware of the conversation between Su Muyan and Liu Qingcheng. Otherwise, he would certainly have blamed Su Muyan for being a big mouth.

However, he was indeed very upset now, feeling extremely depressed, as if enveloped by a thick fog.

Just thinking about it made him angry. He had been exhausted for three days... and now they said he was going to poison them?

But he had indeed been impulsive just now. He shouldn't have thrown away the Star-Breaking Pill; he could have taken it himself.

Sigh, three days of effort had been wasted. Throwing it away felt good at the time, but now he was a bit heartbroken.

Chu Yan sighed, but after leaving the Liu residence, he felt awkward. He realized that apart from the Liu residence, he had nowhere else to go in Tianyong City.

But now that he was out, he couldn't shamelessly go back, could he? Go back and sleep on the floor again? No, he was a man, and he couldn't be so unambitious. He had his dignity, after all.

Chu Yan continued to wander the streets of Tianyong City. Eventually, he went to a mountain outside the city. On the mountain, Chu Yan sighed deeply.

"Ah, I have to live this kind of life again, sleeping under the sky. But it's fine; I've been through this for ten years, so I'm used to it." Chu Yan lay on the grass, his arm under his head, looking at the brightest star in the sky.

"Hehe, Mother, if you knew that your son can't even return home, would you laugh at me too?" Chu Yan smiled bitterly. Just then, a rustling sound came from the mountain.

Chu Yan frowned. Suddenly, a lone wolf emerged from a dark forest.

Seeing the lone wolf, Chu Yan wasn't afraid; instead, he felt a bit sympathetic.

After all, wolves are social animals. A lone wolf is destined to die, while a pack of wolves can survive. This lone wolf had clearly been separated from its pack, starving, and saw Chu Yan as its meal for the night.

"So, little guy, you're homeless too?" Chu Yan took a deep breath, stood up, and walked toward the lone wolf.

"Ao!"

The lone wolf immediately became alert, crouching and growling, trying to scare Chu Yan away, but Chu Yan was unafraid.

"Alright, come over. We're both homeless tonight. Let's team up and rest here. I don't have much to eat, but these scraps of meat are all yours." Chu Yan took out some scraps of meat and threw them to the lone wolf.

Seeing the meat, the lone wolf was suspicious but very hungry. He circled the meat a few times and finally ate it.

Seemingly full, the lone wolf no longer saw Chu Yan as prey. Instead, it looked at Chu Yan with a curious gaze, as if asking what he was doing here so late.

"What are you looking at? Have you never seen a man controlled by his wife?" Chu Yan said angrily.

"Ao—" The lone wolf seemed to understand that Chu Yan was insulting him and growled unhappily.

"What are you growling about? Growl again, and I'll beat you up."

Chu Yan smacked his lips. Over the years, he had slept on the ground, under the sky, and had traveled through many wild forests, living with many wild animals. So Chu Yan was used to being with animals. Honestly, sometimes he felt that animals were more trustworthy than humans, at least in their world, the bonds were more precious.

"Alright, you're full and I'm going to practice. You stay here and guard me. Go back to your pack early, or you won't be so lucky tomorrow. After all, I won't be kicked out by my wife every day." Chu Yan smacked his lips, sat down, and began to circulate his yuan qi.

For three days, he had been refining pills. Apart from throwing away one Star-Breaking Pill, he had refined many low-level Warm Yuan Pills. Although these pills couldn't enhance talent like the Star-Breaking Pill, they could nourish the yuan meridians.

After three days of continuous yuan qi depletion, his strength had improved.

So Chu Yan decided to take advantage of the night, guided by the brightest star, to attempt to break through to the Fifth Layer of the Mortal Realm.

"Three realms of the mortal world... the Mortal Realm is visible, the Moving Dust Realm is ethereal, and the Absolute Dust Realm is formless! The way of heaven, the sun and moon are constant!"

Chu Yan silently recited, entering a meditative state. Soon, four layers of dust appeared in his dantian, but the fifth layer was slow to form.

After converting the effects of over a dozen Warm Yuan Pills, Chu Yan held them in his hands and threw them into the dust sea in his dantian. The dust sea churned, and after a long wait, a rumbling sound appeared in Chu Yan's dantian. Chu Yan's eyes widened, and he finally succeeded?

In the sky above his dantian, five layers of dust finally appeared.

"Fifth Layer of the Mortal Realm! All the effort these days has not been in vain."

Chu Yan smiled in relief. When he opened his eyes, the breakthrough attracted some heaven and earth yuan qi, but before he could react, a more dazzling light burst out from beside him, making the yuan qi he attracted pale in comparison.

"Damn! What the hell?"

Chu Yan was startled and then stared in shock at the lone wolf, who had been imitating his meditation. Seven layers of dust had appeared above its head?

"This little guy, did he just break through seven layers of the Mortal Realm in one go?"

Chu Yan was speechless. He had struggled to break through one layer, while this little wolf, which had been just a wild animal, had not only become a demon beast but had broken through seven layers... Wasn't this enough to make him furious?

"Ao!" The lone wolf woke up and looked at Chu Yan, letting out an excited howl.

What was even more infuriating was that while howling, the lone wolf circled around Chu Yan, its eyes filled with a hint of disdain?

"Shut up! You becoming a demon beast is all thanks to me. Come here."

Chu Yan called to the lone wolf. The wolf tilted its head, curious, and walked over to Chu Yan, no longer wary because of the meat.

"Bang!" As soon as the lone wolf reached Chu Yan, he punched it on the head. "Kneel down and bow to me as your master!"

"Ao!" The lone wolf growled unhappily, the seven layers of dust converging at its forehead, as if saying it was stronger than Chu Yan and didn't need to bow to him.

"Didn't you learn from me? Who says a master must be stronger than the disciple? A master teaches, guides, and resolves doubts. Didn't you become a demon beast by watching me practice?"

The lone wolf nodded hesitantly.

"Exactly. Since you learned from me, in human terms, I am your master. Come on, kneel down and bow to me."

"Ao!" The lone wolf, excited by the mention of food and persuaded by Chu Yan, knelt down and buried its head in the ground, performing a proper bowing ceremony.

Seeing this, Chu Yan laughed, satisfied, and patted the lone wolf's head. But in truth, he was also curious about this lone wolf. Demon beasts, due to their incomplete spiritual senses, have underdeveloped minds, making their cultivation much harder than humans. So, demon beasts often rely on their bloodline, like dragons, phoenixes, Kunpeng, and ancient demon beasts, whose strong bloodlines allow them to reach high realms from birth.

From this perspective, this lone wolf was far from simple, likely having a significant background.

"Hehe, it seems we are both homeless but have great backgrounds." Chu Yan saw a bit of himself in the lone wolf.

"Ao!" The lone wolf seemed to understand and called out.

"Alright, I need to continue practicing. As a master, I can't be weaker than my disciple. So from now on, only I can practice, not you. Wait until I reach the Seventh Layer of the Mortal Realm, then you can practice. Go play somewhere else."

"Ao!" The lone wolf growled unhappily, wondering what kind of master this was.

Chu Yan smiled and didn't say more. The real reason he didn't let the lone wolf practice was that, although it had a strong bloodline and had jumped to the Seventh Layer of the Mortal Realm, its foundation was unstable. Continuing to practice could lead to a gap in its cultivation, hindering future breakthroughs.

The lone wolf didn't argue further, lying down beside Chu Yan to guard him.

After breaking through to the Fifth Layer of the Mortal Realm, Chu Yan felt his strength, clenched his fist, and nodded. "I now have 1,500 pounds of yuan qi. This strength is what a typical Seventh Layer of the Mortal Realm expert would have. If I use the Soul-Capturing Technique to concentrate all my yuan qi at one point, I can double it to 3,000 pounds, comparable to a Ninth Layer of the Mortal Realm expert."

Thinking of this, Chu Yan felt a bit excited. "Liu Qingcheng, wait and see. Watch me surpass you and see if you still make me sleep on the floor!"

"But now that I've broken through to the Fifth Layer of the Mortal Realm, it's time to open the Nine Heavens Mystic Tower and see what secrets it holds." Chu Yan thought, always curious about the Nine Heavens Mystic Tower. It had been sealed by countless chains, and he hadn't had the chance to enter it. Now that he had opened the first layer, he decided to open the Nine Heavens Mystic Tower and study it carefully.