X-Dragon Era

Discover hidden tales at empire

After settling the affairs of Ming Xuan and her son, Xin Yun had planned to set off immediately. Before the start of school, he wanted to help Yi Luo Xiang catch an Emperor Sword Dragon, but due to an event, he had to delay his plans.

Yan Qingying had always been very quiet, seldom speaking, and her expression was always calm, even a bit cold. If no one initiated conversation with her, she would definitely not speak.

If it were anyone else, they might find it hard to accept such coldness, but Xin Yun knew that this was caused by her experiences... speaking of which, Yan Qingying was merely a pitiful person.

People are like this, after all: when they are hurt too much, they put a protective film over their hearts. When the hurt accumulates, this protective film layers up until it forms a shell, an incredibly hard, tightly enveloping shell.

Though Yan Qingying was still young, her experiences had inflicted unimaginable harm upon her, and as a result... despite her young age, her shell was incredibly thick and hard.

Ever since a conversation with Xin Yun a few days ago, Yan Qingying had remained silent, but on her usually calm face, there was often struggle and hesitation. Xin Yun saw all of this but was helpless; the shell was truly too thick to be worn away through mere effort.

Having no alternative, Xin Yun had to temporarily set aside these concerns and together with Yi Luo Xiang, he focused on cultivating. He wasn't far from Bronze Five Stars, and aimed to elevate his strength to Five Stars before setting off, as this would significantly increase their chances.

Hard work pays off for the diligent, and at last… after a week of continuous cultivation, both Xin Yun and Yi Luo Xiang broke through Bronze Four Stars and reached the level of Bronze Five Stars.

Barely opening his mouth, suddenly... countless blue beams of light shot out from Xin Yun's mouth. In the midst of the blue light, a round, azure Dragon Ball slowly floated out.

Upon closer inspection, the Dragon Ball seemed to be carved from crystal; inside the crystalline orb, strands of blue mist swirled, and although the mist was still faint, it was clearly no longer transparent.

Seeing this, Yi Luo Xiang smiled sweetly, and as her red lips parted, a Dragon Ball emitting a purple glow floated out. Looking closely, one could see waves of purple light mist undulating within the Dragon Ball.

Satisfied with swallowing the Dragon Ball back, Xin Yun laughed and said, "I've finally caught up with you. Just... I don't know how long I will be able to keep up."

Hearing Xin Yun's words, Yi Luo Xiang responded with a smile, "What does it matter if you keep up or not? In my heart, you will always be the strongest. Besides... I should be more worried about being left behind, right?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Facing Yi Luo Xiang's words, Xin Yun couldn't help but laugh. Yes... what does it matter if you keep up or not? Whether you're ahead or behind, as long as you reach that end point, being early or late makes no difference.

Yi Luo Xiang continued, "If you really want to advance quickly, why not use the Dragon Crystal? I heard that using a Dragon Crystal can greatly accelerate cultivation speed, especially below the Gold Rank, where the effects are very significant."

"No!" Hearing Yi Luo Xiang's words, Xin Yun quickly said, "Never entertain such thoughts. Cultivation is something that should rely on one's own power, to be grounded and proceed step by step. Relying on external forces might offer temporary advantage, but in the end, it will surely be detrimental—it's absolutely not worth it."

Cultivation, starting off slow like laying a foundation, absolutely cannot be rushed. Once sped up, the foundation isn't solid, and if so, building up higher is impossible.

Looking seriously at Yi Luo Xiang, Xin Yun continued, "Although those who use Dragon Crystals may cultivate quickly, you must know, once a certain level is reached, external forces can no longer be relied upon. When that time comes, those who have not endured the hardships of training will find it extremely difficult to persevere through the excruciatingly slow pace of cultivation."

Sighing, Xin Yun went on, "Moreover, although not using a Dragon Crystal means cultivating slowly at the start, no matter how slow it is, it doesn't compare to the difficulty of later tiers, especially after reaching the Crystal Rank. Forget about rank advancement, even improving one star is incredibly hard; years of effort might not even result in one star advancement, and therefore...

starting off slower has its advantages."

"Ah!" Hearing Xin Yun's words, Yi Luo Xiang's eyes brightened, and she said excitedly, "I understand now. The speed doesn't matter at the beginning at all, after all... even if others cultivate faster than me by a month, it's meaningless because at the higher levels, that one month is completely insignificant."

Smiling and nodding, Xin Yun said with a smile, "Yes, even if they've already reached the Crystal Rank while we're at Bronze, there's no fear. In the latter stages, it takes years, even decades, to improve by one star, so we can completely catch up and then surpass them!"

"Mhmm..." Nodding energetically, Yi Luo Xiang said with a joyful smile, "Yes, those who hasten in the early stages inevitably have unstable foundations, making it difficult to reach greater heights, and even if they do, their shaky foundation can't compare to martial artists who have cultivated diligently from the ground up."