Chapter 224: Crazy Women
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Peng Yun opened his eyes, which now radiated a vibrant energy and an overwhelming sense of presence.
He had transformed from an old man with only a few decades of life left into someone who had regained his prime years.
Even his cultivation had surged to the peak of his current stage, just a step away from advancing to the next stage.
Da Shu, witnessing his grandfather's rejuvenated appearance, couldn't help but stand there in shock, mumbling to himself.
"Hey, Ethan, what the hell did you feed him? Got any of that for me too?" he asked, already imagining all the ways he could use such a miraculous remedy.
"Sure, I could give you some," Ethan replied nonchalantly, "but then your house would be overrun by fourth and fifth-stage cultivators."
"Nevermind then."
While the two chatted, Peng Yun finally stood up and stretched his newly revitalized body.
Clenching his hand into a fist, he could feel the immense power coursing through it.
He believed he could now reach heights he had only dreamed of before, heights he never thought he would achieve in this lifetime.
As Da Shu and Ethan observed the moving sight of the patriarch returning to his former glory, their expressions shifted from joy to bewilderment.
With trembling hands, Peng Yun grabbed the lower part of his martial robes and peeked inside with a look of expectation.
"I-it's alive. The dragon has risen," the old man murmured tearfully.
While Da Shu nodded in agreement, Ethan couldn't help but wonder why everyone in this family seemed to be missing a few screws.
After restoring the patriarch's body, it was time to boost his cultivation.
Although Ethan couldn't immediately push him to the fourth or fifth stage, he could at least ensure that Peng Yun would have a much easier path to get there.
He taught Peng Yun the method to bond with a spiritual beast and provided him with a collection of high-grade cultivation materials.
Considering the lack of spiritual energy in this realm, Ethan created a formation in a section of the training grounds. The formation concentrated spiritual energy in the area, increasing its density significantly.
A month passed in this manner, and the progress Peng Yun made exceeded all expectations. He achieved in that short time what would normally take more than a year.
Meanwhile, on the alchemy front, another grandmaster had emerged. Ming Yu, in particular, advanced to the level of a three-star alchemist.
Ethan believed that by the end of the year, the young girl might even achieve the rank of grandmaster alchemist.
However, he thought it was equally important for her to improve her cultivation.
The last thing he wanted was for her to become a target because of her exceptional talent. It wouldn't be surprising if other factions, unable to recruit her, decided to eliminate her instead.
Although the Peng family patriarch was steadily reaching higher levels, he wouldn't always be able to protect her. For this reason, Ethan resolved to help her in her cultivation as well.
While all this was happening in his smaller dimension, hundreds of miles from his spiritual garden, the earth trembled.
The volcanic region, silent since its formation, erupted violently, unleashing chaos and destruction across the surrounding area.
Amid the eruption, a figure could be seen at the heart of the volcano. Shrouded in a red-orange aura, she floated above the lava, seated cross-legged as if unaffected by the heat.
The figure took a deep breath before opening her eyes, which glowed like twin suns capable of peering into one's very soul.
As the woman collected herself, a voice echoed nearby.
"I see you've regained your old cultivation," said a woman's voice as she appeared at the edge of the volcano.
It was Bai Yu, who had come to check on the progress of Feng Huang, the woman who had spent the past years cultivating here to recover her former strength.
Nearly three months had passed since she had moved to this location, almost the same amount of time Ethan had spent on his earlier closed cultivation.
Unlike him, who only managed to reach the first level of the fifth stage, Feng Huang had not only recovered her fifth-stage cultivation but had progressed even further, reaching the fourth level.
Her cultivation speed was extraordinary, but the main reason for her rapid recovery was that Ethan had preserved traces of her previous cultivation base. Combined with the abundant fire spiritual energy in the area, her progress had been significantly accelerated.
Feng Huang could confidently say that, even though she was only at the fourth level, the power she could unleash was enough to suppress most fifth-stage cultivators.
The only exceptions was the emperor, who was at the peak of this stage, Ethan, whose true strength was still a mystery to her, and the blue-clad woman standing before her.
During her time here, Feng Huang had gotten to know Bai Yu and discovered that she was the same woman who had killed the demon Long Hao had fought.
Feng Huang assumed Bai Yu might be Ethan's master, and while this was partly true since Bai Yu had trained him for several years, it became clear that their relationship was far from a traditional master-disciple relationship.
She couldn't explain why, but every interaction with Bai Yu filled Feng Huang with the urge to strangle her.
Whether it was due to their opposing elemental affinities or something else entirely, the two women couldn't sustain a single conversation without clashing.
Ethan had already been caught in the middle of at least two conflicts between these crazy women.
Accordingly, he made it his mission to keep them as far away as possible. He did not know what was going on in their minds, nor did he care to find out.
After helping Feng Huang recover her cultivation and providing her with this location to speed up the process, Ethan returned to the external world, where he still had disciples to train.
He hoped the two women wouldn't destroy the territory in his absence, though he doubted he could do much to stop them if they did.
Bai Yu had a playful personality and never held back when provoking the other woman.
It turned out that Feng Huang also had a mischievous streak, and she always managed to retort, escalating their disputes into full-blown conflicts.