After taking their rewards, Yan Li walked out of the Enforcing Palace with the three Mi realm disciples.

Xuanyuan Yu was visibly hyped up, patting Yan Li on the shoulder, “Holy! We're loaded this time! You know what, s.h.i.+di Yan, I owe you this one. If you need anything from me, just don't hesitate to ask!”

“Thanks a lot, s.h.i.+xiong Xuanyuan! I'll be happy to oblige!” Yan Li replied sincerely. He had not known Xuanyuan Yu for long, but could see that he was somebody worth befriending.

“Awesome! Then that's settled! And now, if you'll excuse me, I still have something else to attend to. Take care and I'll see you around!”

Shui Linglong waved her goodbye as well before Meng Wuyan came up and addressed in a cold tone, “Just so you know, Yan Li, I was going to teach you a lesson since you took my brother's Wushuang Sword! But I got quite a lot from this mission as well, so I guess I'll just drop the matter for now!”

That was when Yan Li finally connected the dots together: This guy was Meng Wshuang's brother!

He had his suspicion before but was not quite sure about it; and now that Meng Wuyan had personally confirmed it, Yan Li could not help but shudder a bit.

However, Meng Wuyan was in fact an honest person even though not appearing to be so. And thinking about this, Yan Li took the sword off of his belt and handed it to Meng Wuyan, “Time to return it to its true owner now!”

Instead of taking it, Meng Wuyan just simply waved it off, “Just keep it! Since you got it from Wushuang on the Stage, then he shall take it back from you on the Stage as well!”

Finis.h.i.+ng his words, Meng Wuyan turned around and flew away.

Watching him disappear into the distance, Yan Li murmured, half-admiringly, “When will I reach the Mi realm?”

Yan Li had just been in his yard for a couple hours before Xue Zhan, along with his other friends, showed up, “How's it going, s.h.i.+xiong Yan! We heard that you are back, so we just thought we'd drop by and say hi!”

They had only been apart for a few days, but Yan Li could already sense their progress in skills. Pleased, Yan Li decided give them each some Dayuan pills and the Tiger-Leopard pills, since these things could not be as much helpful as those two entry-level Magic Stones to him.

Xue Zhan and others were beyond excitement to receive the pills and then went off to go in seclusion and practice. With the help of the pills, it would not be too hard for them to break through the completion stage of Lianqi realm and reach Yuan realm.

Seeing them off, Yan Li went back inside to retrieve the creatures' cores from the darkroom and then started to absorb the Mixed Yuan elements from them.

Day in and day out.

On the tenth day, Yan Li felt that the Zhen vigor inside his body became extremely active and realized that a major breakthrough was quivering on the horizon.

Then, the enlivened Zhen vigor began to form whirls automatically, one after another.

One!

Two!

Three!

……

Nine!

Within just two hours, nine whirls had taken shape; but what surprised Yan Li more was that the process did not stop there and he could feel that more whirls were coming,

So he immediately took those two seven-level cores out to absorb the Mixed Yuan elements in them.

Ten!

Eleven!

Twelve!

…….

The number of whirls was still increasing, and Yan Li had to speed up the absorption.

Three days later, after using up all the creatures' cores he had in storage, Yan Li, feeling a little helpless, now had eighteen whirls residing in his body.

The more whirls one had, the more vigor he would need to reach the next realm. Normally, having nine whirls was already rare enough, not to mention having eighteen of them! How many Mixed Yuan elements would he need to reach Shenyuan realm?

“Let me out, kiddo!”

The Sword Spirit demanded from the Mixed Yuan s.p.a.ce and Yan Li obliged. However, the moment he touched the Bladeless Sword, he sensed a strong surge of Blood vigor came pouring out of it and then barged into his body before settling in the sea of vigor to form whirls as well.

A few more days later, Yan Li felt even more helpless looking at the newly expanded sea of Blood vigor comprised of fifteen whirls.

Most martial artists would only follow one guide, but that was not because they wanted to do so; in fact, they had to, for that most people did not that much energy to spare.

Yan Li, on the other hand, being an exception, followed three different guides with two of which, the Mixed Yuan Cla.s.sic and the Blood Monster Cla.s.sic, being extremely time-and energy-consuming.

But, then again, on the flip side, the vigor produced by following these guides was much more powerful than the thunder elements.

“Let's see what we got now!” Yan Li thought as he summoned the Mixed Yuan vigor and pointed at the air in front of him.

A hole appeared in the air before quickly closing up, which had Yan Li gawped with surprise.

“My gos.h.!.+ It is as powerful as that of Renxuan realm, if not more powerful.”

“Let's try the Blood vigor!”

Summoning the Blood vigor, Yan Li again pointed his finger at the air, where a red glow straight up burned a hole that did not away until a few minutes later.

“Holy c.r.a.p! This thing is even crazier than that!”

Two months flew by like a blink and tomorrow would be the day of the indoor disciples' contest.

Yan Li, after two straight months of practice, walked out from his room, looking even more handsome and confident than he was before with the extra two inches he got on during this time.

“Congratulations, Young Master!” Wu Zhongmou said, sporting a proud look.

Yan Li nodded and took a seat in the living room, “Any news from the royal city, Uncle Wu?”

“The Crown Prince has been released and is currently grounded in his place.” Wu Zhongmou replied calmly.

“That's fine!” Yan Li heaved a sigh of relief. As much as he wanted to go back to the royal city right there and then, he knew deep down that it would not do anyone any good.

“Oh, another thing, Young Master! I don't know if I should tell you, but…” Wu Zhongmou said in a slightly hesitating drawl.

“What is it?”

“Li Zhe, son of Li Chengzong, came to Dahuang Palace a month ago and became an indoor disciple here; and along with him is Li Xuanji's daughter, Li Fenghuang. They two didn't even try to hide their ident.i.ty, just walking around as prince and princess.”

“During this period of time, they have recruited hundreds of indoor disciples and even some elite disciples as well!”

Frowning, Yan Li thought for a while and soon came to the conclusion that these two were probably sent here by their fathers to muddy the water or, more specifically, to spy on him!

A surge of anger swelled up inside him, “Who do these people think I am? Some idiot to be fooled around.”

That was when the door was kicked open with a loud “Bang!”

Then, walked in a boy and a girl, all decent looking, while being escorted by a group of errand boys.

Wu Zhongmou's expression altered, “There they are, Young Master!”

“Fine! Let's see what they have for me!” Yan Li said and walked out of the living room.

Narrowing his eyes, Li Zhe called out the moment he saw Yan Li, “Isn't this our famous prodigy? I've heard so many amazing things about you! So what you say about joining my crew, Yan Li?”

Yan Li knew he was trying to get on his nerves, so he just returned with a smile, “Really, Li Zhe? Talking to your cousin like this? I'm sure your father would be proud of you!”

“Who the f.u.c.k do you think you are, Yan Li? Talking to our Young Master like this?” One of the indoor disciples behind Li Zhe scolded.

“Get rid of those minions, Uncle Wu!”

“On it!” Wu Zhongmou stepped out.

A shadow flashed across as the people behind Li Zhe and Li Fenghuang were sent flying out of the yard.

With the door slammed shut, there were only four people left inside the yard now.