"Good child, you've suffered in the past. From now on, I'll back you up in Yu Village. If anyone dares to bully you, just come and tell me."
Old Man Yu was so moved by the combination of melodramatic and tragic stories Yu Yan had fabricated that his eyes were faintly shimmering with tears. He looked at the poor, orphaned Xiao Wu with affection.
The Balak River, which connected to the sea, ensured the villagers never wanted for food or clothing. Consequently, the overall atmosphere of Yu Village was excellent, with villagers being friendly, helpful, and harmonious. Old Man Yu, who had never left the area in his life, had never heard such a tragic story.
Seeing that Yu Yan's story had moved Old Man Yu to tears, Xiao Wu couldn't help but look at Yu Yan, wanting to ask him what she should do.
This scene was definitely not part of the plan they had agreed upon beforehand.
Yu Yan, who also hadn't expected this reaction, looked away. He didn't know how to handle the situation before him either.
"Okay, thank you, Grandpa Yu."
Finding no help from Yu Yan, Xiao Wu responded with as well-behaved an attitude as possible.
Xiao Wu's attitude made Old Man Yu feel even more pity; a pitiful yet sensible child always tugs at one's heartstrings.
Thinking of this, Old Man Yu looked at Yu Yan again and couldn't help but let out a soft sigh. He was lamenting how similar the tragic fates of these two children were, and how alike their sensible personalities were as well.
"Grandpa Yu, because of those things, Xiao Wu hasn't had her Spirit Awakening yet. I was thinking of taking her to the Spirit Hall in Balak City the next time the villagers head to town to see if she can become a Spirit Master."
Hearing Old Man Yu's sigh and clearly sensing things were heading in an awkward direction, Yu Yan prepared to steer the conversation back on track by mentioning the reason he had come to see him.
"Yes, yes, yes, that is indeed a very important matter."
At the mention of Spirit Awakening, Old Man Yu's expression immediately turned serious. He went back to his room, brought out a small notebook, and began flipping through the records inside.
Due to his advanced age, Old Man Yu would record many things concerning the village in this notebook to prevent himself from forgetting.
Old Man Yu read slowly. After flipping through it for the third time, he finally confirmed the next date for a trip to Balak City.
"You're in luck. A merchant caravan traveling between Balak City and Suotuo City will pass through our village in three days. You can travel with the caravan then; it will be a bit safer."
"Yu Qiqiang from the east end of the village will be going to Balak City with the caravan. I'll ask Yu Qiqiang to look after you two. Once you reach Balak City, go straight to the Spirit Awakening; don't go wandering off."
Old Man Yu found the next opportunity to go to Balak City and pre-arranged the details for Yu Yan and Xiao Wu's journey.
"Grandpa Yu, don't worry, we definitely won't wander off."
Yu Yan nodded in agreement to Old Man Yu's concern.
Xiao Wu, standing beside Yu Yan, nodded repeatedly, indicating she was the same and would absolutely not wander off.
After chatting at Old Man Yu's place for over half an hour, Yu Yan was shooed away by Old Man Yu on the grounds that he was already a Spirit Master and shouldn't hang around there all the time, but should go back and do something productive.
Standing outside Old Man Yu's door, Xiao Wu looked at the somewhat depressed Yu Yan and burst out laughing. This was the first time she had seen such an expression on Yu Yan's face; it was very interesting and fun.
Listening to the grating laughter, Yu Yan strode forward... Late at night, Yu Yan lay in bed, reflecting on the day's events, feeling a sense of unreality.
Clearly, it had only been a short day, yet so much had happened.
Yu Yan didn't know how to evaluate these events, but he knew they were all in his favor.
After reviewing his plan once more and finding no issues, Yu Yan yawned and drifted into a dreamland.
On the other side, Xiao Wu lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.
A lot had happened today for Yu Yan, and just as much had happened for Xiao Wu; their states of mind were actually quite similar.
Regarding today's events, two little rabbits were arguing in Xiao Wu's mind.
One was saying that Yu Yan was a really good person and someone worth trusting;
The other was saying that Yu Yan was a human, and she was a Spirit Beast transformed into a human, so she had to remain wary of him.
On the soft, large bed, Xiao Wu thought about many things, finally drifting into sleep amidst her cluttered thoughts... "Hey, Xiao Wu, wake up!!!"
The next morning, after finishing his morning routine and preparing to head up the mountain to Cultivate, Yu Yan checked the time and realized Xiao Wu hadn't gotten up yet. He went to the door of Xiao Wu's room and knocked.
Xiao Wu had said yesterday that she wanted to go up the mountain this morning to see exactly how Yu Yan Cultivated, yet this girl still hadn't gotten up by this hour.
Before long, Xiao Wu's drowsy, soft voice drifted out from inside the room.
After waiting for two or three minutes, a sleepy-eyed Xiao Wu with messy hair opened the door and appeared before Yu Yan.
"Um, that, I... the big bed was just too soft."
Facing Yu Yan's scrutinizing gaze and remembering what she was supposed to do this morning, Xiao Wu stammered for a moment before giving a very 'wise' explanation.
"Fine, fine, fine, I get it. Hurry up and get ready. Any later and we'll miss the rising sun."
Yu Yan didn't directly reveal the secret of the purple qi. He wasn't familiar enough with Xiao Wu for that yet. He only said his Cultivation method was related to the rising sun.
Once they were familiar enough, and once Yu Yan had figured out how to use the purple qi to Cultivate, he would inform her of this special Cultivation method.
Xiao Wu didn't say another word. She took two minutes to quickly tidy herself up and followed Yu Yan to the mountaintop to wait for the sunrise.
As the morning sun was about to rise, Yu Yan sat cross-legged and began to Cultivate using the purple qi from the rising sun.
As the purple qi was drawn into his body and began its cycle, Xiao Wu, who had been closely monitoring Yu Yan's condition, clearly sensed that same spirit power fluctuation from yesterday morning.
To sense it more clearly, Xiao Wu moved closer to Yu Yan and observed him more intently.
Xiao Wu's sensory abilities were not weak. She could feel that the spirit power fluctuations emanating from Yu Yan were completely different from the spirit power emitted during normal Cultivation.
Xiao Wu had seen many powerful Spirit Masters among humans. In terms of the quality of the spirit power itself, this spirit power was clearly of a higher quality.
After careful observation, Xiao Wu was certain that Yu Yan's accidentally mastered method of Cultivating with the morning sun could definitely be of great help to her.
Seeing that she couldn't discern anything more, Xiao Wu sat cross-legged beside Yu Yan, wanting to see if she could comprehend this Cultivation method on her own.
Closing her eyes, Xiao Wu could feel that the spirit power fluctuations nearby were denser and slightly higher in quality than the surroundings.
While tracing the source of this special spirit power, Xiao Wu was surprised to find that the source seemed to be... Yu Yan?!?
Feeling that this special spirit power fluctuation was gradually dissipating, Xiao Wu didn't have time to overthink why and quickly began her Cultivation.
This special spirit power was spirit power that had dissipated because the purple qi's quality was too high and Yu Yan's absorption was incomplete. If other Spirit Masters utilized this spirit power to Cultivate, they could gain some benefits.
This spirit power converted from purple qi that dissipated from Yu Yan's body did not have that scorching sensation because it had been filtered by Yu Yan.