Yun Shu didn’t know the conversation happening between that chatty old man and his students. However, he felt that domineering Spirit Qi sweeping the entire valley in person. And so did Su Lingwen.

 Earlier, Yun Shu had directly gone back to the square to meet Su Lingwen after he left that nagging old man. However, before they could chat, that overwhelming Spirit Qi arrived like a tornado.

Yun Shu was struck dumb, remaining silent for a while before he could barely overcome his shock to open his mouth. “What… What was that?”

Yun Shu’s voice was slightly trembling.

 “It came from the Forest of Deadly Wind. Perhaps, it was some huge change in nature…” said Su Lingwen, frowning.

 Yun Shu nodded. After all, it was too hard for them to imagine that the immense power actually belonged to a human being.

 “Where is the Forest of Deadly Wind?” Yun Shu suddenly asked.

 “I once read about it in a book. The Forest of Deadly Wind is one of the most treacherous places in this world. Its south end connects to this valley, and the woods are extended all the way into the far north. Nobody knows what it’s like, and nobody wants to know,” Su Lingwen explained.

 Yun Shu nodded, although he didn’t quite understand. He gazed into the distance, his interest in the Forest of Deadly Wind rising by the minute.

 That Spirit Qi was extremely unusual. If a chance were to arise, Yun Shu would definitely go into the forest to take a look. At least, he believed that cleaving the killing wind in the forest would make his practice much more efficient.

After all, he could always use that stone gate to escape.

 “Try not to think about it for now. Why don’t you practice swords with me? I know you gained a better understanding of sword intent recently,” said Su Lingwen.

 Although Yun Shu didn’t expect her offer, he still hurriedly nodded. “Sure!”

 Su Lingwen picked up her wooden sword, while Yun Shu picked up his stick. They were using the same sword intent indicated on the steles to fight.

 Of course, Su Lingwen would restrain her power to match Yun Shu’s level. Meanwhile, Yun Shu would stay where he was.

This was purely a fight between their comprehension of the sword intent.

However, Yun Shu didn’t last more than twenty moves, and the stick in his hand was thrown away by Su Lingwen’s wooden sword.

“We’ll do it again!” Yun Shu wouldn’t give up so easily.

 “It’s not necessary. We’ll try later when you get better,” said Su Lingwen.

 Yun Shu had no other option but to agree. However, he was unwilling to yield in his heart.

 He could only last twenty moves…

 That was embarrassing.

 “It’s getting late. I’ll come back tomorrow. You sure you don’t want to go back with me?” asked Yun Shu.

 “I’m not going!” Su Lingwen decisively refused.

 Yun Shu had to leave by himself.

 After making sure that Yun Shu had departed, Su Lingwen dropped the wooden sword and rubbed her wrist. His strength was much greater than she had thought. She definitely had to treat their fight more seriously next time.

 In the following days, Yun Shu flung himself into his sword technique, practicing and honing his art. In his eyes, losing to Su Lingwen within twenty moves was unacceptable and shameful. To win back some of his lost dignity, he pushed himself to the absolute limit.

 Su Lingwen never talked much, but she was also under enormous pressure. She couldn’t let herself fall behind Yun Shu as she hoped that he would always respect her as a senior cultivator. She was also putting her heart and soul into it, just like him.

 Just like that, both of them cultivated day and night to maintain their own self-esteem. And thus, both of them were progressing by leaps and bounds. However, despite all her efforts, Yun Shu was still growing much faster than her.

 When fighting, Su Lingwen had to secretly increase her power to the level of Aqua Sky Realm to defeat Yun Shu in about fifty moves. She was both excited and angry, not knowing how to describe her feelings. She was happy to see him growing so fast. Yet, as a genius, she was also annoyed with herself.

 Today was the twentieth day after their first fight. Yun Shu sat with his legs crossed in his stone shelter and slowly opened his eyes. Maybe it was time for him to take the next step.

 The idea had just occurred to him, like an instinct. He knew that it was finally the right time. But before that, he needed to make thorough preparations first.

 He went to the world behind the stone gate. Recently, he had been busy practicing with Su Lingwen, so very rarely did he have the time to come here.

 After he went upstairs, he saw a pile of more than two hundred top ginseng and a dozen white spirit herbs. It seemed that the white spirit herbs were even rarer than the ginseng. Yun Shu was honestly a bit surprised.

 At this time, the little chick that was dozing off also woke up, staring at Yun Shu sadly.

 “Sorry, my bad! I’m feeding you right away!” Yun Shu smiled. Then he turned his Spirit Qi into a flame and fed the little chick.

 Afterward, he took out the furnace and started refining pills. With some prior experience, the process went much smoother this time.

 Among the first batch of eighteen, there were four Fine-grade pills. However, Yun Shu wasn’t too happy with it. In his eyes, the number should have been higher.

 What Yun Shu didn’t know was that it was already a huge success. Many famous dan masters would be happy with producing four Fine pills out of eighteen.

 Soon, the second set of pills was produced. This time, there were six Fine pills out of twenty.

 Then came the third and fourth batches. Within a day, he refined a total of twelve sets of pills. Among them, there were seventy-three Fine pills and two hundred and two Ordinary ones.

 Anyone who knew something about alchemy would call Yun Shu an absolute genius.

 However, Yun Shu was still not satisfied. He thought that at the very least, he should get a couple of Supreme-grade pills.

 The majority of dan-making masters would definitely be pissed off by Yun Shu’s idea. Only the great masters could possibly make Supreme pills, after all.

 Yun Shu was obviously being too greedy. Anyhow, he now had the pills ready for his next breakthrough.

 He saved half of his Fine-grade stash for Su Lingwen and put aside the rest. Finally, he went back to the stone shelter.

 “Aqua Sky Realm! Here I come!” Yun Shu laughed.