Chapter 225 – The Thunderball Needs Fifty Breaths, Unexpectedly Became a Celebrity

Returning to his small courtyard, Yu Xian resumed his cultivation and comprehension, fully mastering the newly acquired Wood-Lightning technique.

After a full month, Yu Xian stood up and looked outside the pavilion, his expression serious.

Over the past month, Yu Xian felt that he had completely mastered the control of two strands of Wood-Lightning.

But shortening the casting time required practical tests and trials during real combat.

A whole incense stick’s duration was simply too long—such casting time rendered the spell almost useless in battle.

He needed to reduce it to at least two-thirds, or ideally, a quarter of an incense stick’s time. Only then could he possibly use it in actual combat.

And if successful, this fusion thunder technique would become Yu Xian’s strongest killing move—without question!

Only a peak Golden Core-level talisman treasure could possibly counter it.

After all, a peak Golden Core-level talisman was comparable to a pseudo-Nascent Soul level strike.

Yu Xian naturally hoped this trump card would succeed. If he could condense it in fifty breaths, it would be perfect.

Fifty breaths—in the chaos of battle—was already an unimaginable length of time.

But Yu Xian was confident. As long as he wasn’t up against a Golden Core expert or some freakish peak Foundation Establishment cultivator, he could endure fifty breaths.

And after that—regardless of how strong they were—he was confident the Thunderball could destroy them!

He needed more practice.

Nodding to himself, Yu Xian left the small courtyard, casually deactivating the formation as he headed down the mountain.

“Yu Xian.”

He had only taken a few steps when a familiar voice suddenly called out behind him.

Recognizing the voice, Yu Xian turned around in slight confusion.

The person was none other than Elder You Xiaohua, the Grand Steward of the Alchemy Division.

What was she doing at his courtyard? His two-year mission-free period still had at least half a year left.

“Oh, it’s Grand Steward Elder.”

Though puzzled, Yu Xian still bowed and asked politely, “What brings you here today? Is there something you need?”

“You haven’t visited the Alchemy Division in over a year and a half.”

You Xiaohua looked at him with visible confusion. “Don’t you want to learn alchemy? If you never come to learn, I really can’t assign alchemy-related missions to you in the future.”

“Uh…”

Yu Xian was stunned on the spot.

You Xiaohua shook her head and continued, “Hard cultivation isn’t wrong, and increasing your realm is good. But advancement becomes harder with just brute force. Why not spend some time learning alchemy? Once you know it, you can make your own pills and save spirit stones. That way, your cultivation will benefit more—it’s called sharpening the axe before chopping wood.”

“So, Elder came here today just to tell me this?”

Yu Xian smiled wryly. “I’ve just been too busy. But how about this—I’ll visit the Alchemy Division soon to ask for your guidance in alchemy. I hope the Elder won’t hold back then.”

“Yu Xian.”

Her tone turned more serious. “You refused the Sect Master’s offer to become his disciple—I thought you simply didn’t like the Alchemy Division. But you also rejected Elder Li Cexuan of the Martial Peak. So what do you want? Don’t you know how important a strong master is for your future cultivation path?”

Yu Xian’s refusal of Li Cexuan’s offer had spread throughout the sect in just one month.

He didn’t realize that he had inadvertently become famous.

Li Cexuan, a mid-Golden Core powerhouse, was strong enough to manage Martial Peak and resolve sect disputes. Since breaking through to Golden Core, he had never taken a disciple.

That day, he chose Yu Xian—something most disciples could only dream of—but Yu Xian lightly refused him.

A mid-Foundation Establishment disciple had rejected two direct disciple offers…

Naturally, such shocking news spread through the whole sect.

Yu Xian had been in seclusion all month, unaware of how many people “accidentally” passed by his courtyard out of curiosity.

And now, with You Xiaohua’s visit, they finally saw him emerge.

“I see…”

Yu Xian realized the matter must’ve gotten out, and that’s how You Xiaohua had learned of it.

But was it really worth her personally coming to ask?

With a serious expression, Yu Xian replied, “I believe the most important thing between master and disciple is fate. I didn’t feel such fate with the Sect Master or the Martial Peak Elder, so I declined.”

“Fate?”

You Xiaohua looked at him, her eyes flashing. Then she nodded faintly. “Usually it’s the master who decides if there’s fate. You’re quite bold to reverse that logic. Still, in four months, the sect will issue missions again. If you haven’t learned alchemy by then, I’ll have to assign you external missions again—don’t blame me.”

Yu Xian bowed slightly. “I’ll visit soon and ask for your guidance in alchemy.”

“Good. The sooner, the better. Think it over carefully.”

With a final glance at Yu Xian, You Xiaohua turned and left.

Watching her leave, Yu Xian blinked and sighed helplessly before heading down the mountain.

Learning alchemy wasn’t hard.

What was hard… was pretending to be a beginner.

After all, if you already knew something, pretending you didn’t was harder than actually learning it.

Should he just tell her the truth—that he was originally a disciple of Baiyun Sect, and only ended up in Haotian Sect due to Hongshao saving him, then by chance remained?

And that he had already studied alchemy in Baiyun Sect?

Sometimes, honesty was the simplest way to solve problems.

Yu Xian pondered as he unknowingly arrived deep within the Xiao Kunlun Mountains.

The Xiao Kunlun range was vast. Aside from the central “Heaven-Piercing Pillar” that served as the sect’s core, the surrounding peaks numbered in the thousands and brimmed with spiritual energy.

But since this was sect territory, no one outside the sect dared establish a cultivation cave here, and inner disciples preferred the sect grounds for their richness.

Thus, this vast area became unused wild land—lush, teeming with spiritual energy, and home to countless wild beasts.

Of course, there were no spirit or demon beasts—those had long since been captured or eliminated.

After traveling a hundred or so miles, Yu Xian found a stone cliff, activated the “Eight Cloud No-Fly Array,” and sat down to continue refining his thunder technique.

Fusion of thunder arts was incredibly difficult.

With a single hand extended, he summoned a twisting bolt of lightning. Once stabilized, he added another bolt.

Stabilize… control…

Yu Xian’s expression was grim. It still took him an incense stick of time to stabilize the thunderball before launching it.

Boom!!

A thunderclap echoed through the skies, erupting over the dry earth.

The cliff before him, once rock-solid, now bore a gaping ten-zhang wide, four-zhang deep crater.

Flying debris was blocked and shattered by two vine-like tendrils at Yu Xian’s side.

Still takes a full incense stick… far too slow.

He shook his head and summoned another bolt of lightning.

Boom!!

Another strike echoed.

And again.

Boom!!

…

He repeated this eight times before silence returned.

The mountain face now had a deep, pitch-black cave leading into the interior.

Sweating, Yu Xian sat motionless, quietly recovering.

His spiritual energy remained, but his mental exhaustion was enormous—one more cast might result in a backfire.

He rested for half a day.

With the enhancement of the Yin Spirit Pearl, the baptism from the sky demons, and the Wood Spirit Heart Echo technique feeding cool energy into his mind, his recovery was swift.

Opening his eyes—he continued.

More fusion. More thunder.

Boom!!

The explosions resumed.

Birds and beasts had grown used to it—initially startled, now indifferent.

Five days passed.

Yu Xian gradually shortened the cast time—from a full incense, to nine-tenths… eight… seven… six… finally, five-tenths.

But even that was too slow—half an incense stick was still ten minutes. He needed fifty breaths!

So hard… too hard…

On the tenth day, he compressed it to one-quarter incense stick.

Breathing out, Yu Xian muttered: “The technique is fine—it’s just my mental strength that’s lacking.”

He needed Yin Spirit Pearls or demon spirits to replenish it.

And the best source of Yin Pearls… was vengeful ghosts.

There were options, but the easiest was to revisit that old tomb—a tomb within a tomb—where an ancient ghost was sealed.

He thought of Jiang Xiaolong and Su Mofeng. They had survived. Maybe they’d gone back for those ghosts?

But it was too far—700,000 to 800,000 miles from Haotian Sect.

He’d have to try the auction houses or black markets in the meantime.

Resolving not to waste more time, Yu Xian stood up. He would wait until he could make more Yin Pearls and enhance his spirit, then return to this thunder fusion.

Three hundred breaths was still too slow.

Back in the sect, he immediately headed toward the Alchemy Division.

Though only ten days had passed, he wasn’t sure if You Xiaohua was angry.

“Hmm? That’s Yu Xian?”

“He’s finally shown himself…”

“Senior Brother, that’s the Yu Xian?”

“Yup, the one who rejected the Sect Master and Martial Peak Grand Elder.”

“Damn. What a prideful guy…”

“He’s… something else.”

“Stubborn?”

“That’s the word…”

Chuckles echoed around.

Yu Xian’s name had already spread throughout the sect.

He had turned down two direct disciple offers from Golden Core powerhouses!

He frowned—how did this become such a public thing?

Arriving at the Alchemy Hall, bustling with disciples buying and refining pills, the moment he entered, the noise lessened.

Dozens of gazes turned to him—envy, mockery, contempt, admiration.

Yu Xian didn’t care and walked straight into the inner hall where the elders resided.

“Senior Brother Yu!”

A cheerful voice called out.

It was Su Xiaoduo.

“Oh? Not cultivating with the Sect Master?”

Yu Xian smiled.

Su Xiaoduo grinned. “Master went into seclusion to fully recover to peak Golden Core. I’m learning alchemy with Elder Sister for now. You’re here to learn too, right? My sister is amazing—she can refine even fifth-tier pills!”

Yu Xian nodded. “Yes, I have something to discuss with her.”

“She’s been waiting for you. If you didn’t come today, she would’ve really gotten angry!”

Su Xiaoduo giggled and led him deeper into the hall.

There was a separate chamber within, fragrant and refined, draped in curtains, with a spiritual spring boosting the aura inside.

There, You Xiaohua was cultivating.

“Sister! Senior Brother is here!”

“Stop calling him that. He’s not our master’s disciple. He’s not your senior brother.”

Yu Xian looked around. It was a pleasant place to cultivate. You Xiaohua’s words didn’t offend him. He simply smiled.

“You’re right, Elder. Since I’m not your junior brother, let us address each other as fellow Daoists from now on.”

“No, you’re my senior brother—always will be.”

Su Xiaoduo shook her head, then teased her sister, “Now that he’s here, you must teach him alchemy. After all, we all came to this sect together—we’re closer than the others, aren’t we?”

You Xiaohua sighed. “You talk too much.”

She looked at Yu Xian, her voice calm.

“Yu Xian, why did it take you ten days to come? Don’t you know how time-consuming alchemy is to learn?”