The heavy, soundproof door of the cultivation room closed with a "bang," shutting out all the noise from the outside world.
Liu Yuan leaned his back against the cold, hard metal door panel, letting out a long sigh, feeling his cheeks still frighteningly hot.
He raised his hand to touch them; that burning sensation made him both annoyed and helpless.
"Crazy... truly crazy..."
Liu Yuan covered his face, Snow Empress's soft, waxy voice with a hint of craftiness saying "Good Master" constantly echoing in his mind.
He had actually been teased into fleeing by a Vicious Beast loli who had lived for seven hundred thousand years!
If word of this got out, what would happen to his lifelong reputation?
"Truly a sweet burden..." Liu Yuan shook his head with a bitter smile.
Although he complained, he also knew that the reason Snow Empress treated him this way proved that their relationship had truly moved from initial opposition and wariness to closeness and trust.
Through the "Soothe Bell," combined with the "bond" effect of the Heal Ball and a continuous material offensive, the ice in the heart of the ruler of the far north had finally melted.
The current Snow Empress, aside from spending money lavishly and occasionally teasing him, was indeed becoming more and more like a caring little companion.
"Forget it, let her be."
Liu Yuan adjusted his mindset and threw these distracting thoughts to the back of his mind.
Matters concerning women would only slow down his Cultivate speed!
He sat cross-legged on the prayer mat in the center of the cultivation room, eyes slightly closed, sinking his mind into his body to begin impacting the final barrier.
The spirit power of a level 59 Peak had already accumulated to its limit within his body; it only lacked an opportunity to break through that thin layer and step into a brand-new world.
...
In the days that followed, Liu Yuan's life seemingly returned to peace, but undercurrents were surging.
At the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, he had undoubtedly become a legend.
Previously, Liu Yuan was just an exceptionally gifted "outstanding student" in the academy, and his classmates' attitude toward him was mostly admiration, curiosity, and a sense of equal competition.
Now, everything had changed.
In the Soul Master Tournament, he led his team to defeat Shrek and win the championship;
After the tournament, he was personally titled by the Sun Moon Emperor Xu Tianran as the youngest duke with a different surname in the history of the Empire, with vast fiefdoms and immense power.
Under the overlap of dual halos, his status in the academy had quietly shifted from "student" to "important figure."
Walking along the academy's tree-lined paths, Liu Yuan could always feel gazes coming from all directions.
In those gazes, there was less of the previous purity and much more awe, flattery, and desire.
"Duke Liu Yuan, good morning! These are snacks I made myself; please do try them!"
"Lord Duke, I have a set of notes regarding ancient spirit tool inscriptions here; perhaps they will be helpful for your research..."
"Senior Liu Yuan... no, Lord Duke... are you free tonight? I... I would like to ask you some questions about Spirit Cultivate..."
Countless young and beautiful female students, like butterflies smelling nectar, tried every possible way to get close to him.
Their eyes were bold and fiery, filled with undisguised hints; their sweet voices and deliberate encounters made Liu Yuan feel as if he had fallen into a spider's den, feeling uncomfortable all over.
He could only keep a stiff face, rejecting all invitations with the briefest language and hurrying through the crowd like he was avoiding some fierce beast.
Fortunately, not everyone had become like this.
"Hey, Liu Yuan, why is your face pulled as long as a bitter melon? Blocked by that group of fangirls again?"
Xiao Hongchen was still his usual carefree self, draping an arm over Liu Yuan's shoulder and teasing him with a wink.
Beside him, although Meng Hongchen didn't speak, she rolled her eyes at Liu Yuan, her expression seemingly saying, "Serves you right, who told you to be so flashy."
It was precisely this unchanging "normalcy" that gave Liu Yuan a long-awaited sense of relaxation and peace of mind.
He let out a long breath and said to Xiao Hongchen with a bitter smile, "Do you think I want this? I'm quite helpless too!"
"Give me a break!" Xiao Hongchen gave him a light punch, "You're getting a bargain and still acting like a victim! Anyone else would be over the moon. It's just you, you unromantic guy!"
Besides the changes in the academy, the threshold of Liu Yuan's Dukes Mansion was almost worn down.
Almost all the nobles of the Sun Moon Empire, large and small, had sent visiting cards.
Invitations to banquets of all kinds piled up like a mountain.
They all wanted to befriend this newly promoted duke with real power, this super Genius who was deeply trusted by His Majesty the Emperor.
But Liu Yuan had no interest in these superficial social activities, having his butler decline them all on the grounds of "concentrating on Cultivate, no time to spare."
However, there was one person's visit he could not refuse.
That was the current princess of the Sun Moon Empire, Xu Tianzhen.
This lively and active princess had recently seemed to make her home at Liu Yuan's Dukes Mansion, running over every few days.
"Liu Yuan! I'm here! Look at what good stuff I found today!"
This afternoon, Liu Yuan was in the garden having afternoon tea with Snow Empress, enjoying a rare moment of leisure.
Xu Tianzhen's crisp and pleasant voice drifted in from the main gate.
She was seen lifting her skirt, like a happy bird, jogging all the way over, with several panting imperial guards following behind her.
"Why are you here again?" Liu Yuan put down his teacup helplessly.
"What do you mean 'again'!" Xu Tianzhen sat down across from him dissatisfied, picked up a macaron in front of Snow Empress and stuffed it into her mouth, saying unclearly, "I've discovered a huge secret!"
"What secret?" Liu Yuan raised an eyebrow.
"It's you!" Xu Tianzhen tilted her chin up proudly.
"I found that before, when I wanted to leave the palace to play, Imperial Father never allowed it, and I had to be sneaky."
"But now, as long as I tell Imperial Father that I'm coming to see you to 'discuss spirit tool technology' or 'exchange Cultivate insights,' he immediately approves happily! He even sent eight guards to protect me!"
Liu Yuan: "..."
He finally understood; he was being used as a shield.
Emperor Xu Tianran was clearly pleased to see his daughter getting close to Liu Yuan, which was highly beneficial for stabilizing the relationship between both parties.
"So, from now on, this princess will often come to bother you; you're not allowed to find me annoying!" Xu Tianzhen smiled like a little fox that had stolen some fish.
"Is it even useful if I do?" Liu Yuan rolled his eyes.
To the side, Snow Empress was licking the cream off her spoon in small bites.
Regarding Snow Empress, Liu Yuan had always claimed she was his younger sister to the outside world, so Xu Tianzhen also treated her like a sister.
And Snow Empress actually quite liked this simple little girl, especially since they both shared the hobby of wandering around shopping.
So now, Snow Empress put down her spoon and spoke in her soft voice, "Sister Tianzhen, that jewelry store you mentioned last time has a new batch of jewelry. Shall we go take a look now? Brother Liu Yuan said he's in a good mood today and can reimburse us!"
"Really?!" Xu Tianzhen's eyes lit up.
Liu Yuan was about to say "I didn't say that," but Snow Empress had already jumped off her chair, grabbed Xu Tianzhen's hand, and looked back at Liu Yuan with a threatening gaze that said "don't you dare say no."
"Of course it's true! My brother is the most generous!"
"Great! Liu Yuan, you're such a good person! Let's go!"
Thus, in a daze, Liu Yuan was sandwiched by two girls with exploding shopping desires and led grandly toward the most prosperous commercial street in the Sun Moon Imperial City.
In the blink of an eye, three months of these lively and slightly chaotic days passed.
During these three months, Liu Yuan's Dukes Mansion had almost become a playground for Xu Tianzhen and Snow Empress.
While he himself invested the vast majority of his time and energy into boring Cultivate.
Without the rewards from System missions, relying solely on his own hard work, the growth rate of spirit power was frustratingly slow.
Liu Yuan finally deeply understood the hardships of an ordinary Spirit Master.
That kind of day-after-day, year-after-year grind, the feeling of spirit power growing as slowly as a snail crawling, was indeed quite torturous...
On this night, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse.
Inside the cultivation room, Liu Yuan was in a state of meditation.
The spirit power within his body was like boiling lava, impacting that indestructible barrier time and time again.
From level 59 to level 60, from Spirit King to Spirit Emperor, this was a massive watershed.
The difficulty of the Breakthrough far exceeded any previous time.
"Break... for me!"
Liu Yuan let out a silent roar in his heart, mobilizing all the mental force within his sea of consciousness to merge with the surging spirit power in his body, turning into an indestructible sharp sword that fiercely stabbed toward that Bottleneck!
Crack—
A crisp cracking sound, seemingly from the depths of his Soul, suddenly rang out.
That solid barrier that had troubled him for three whole months finally shattered upon impact!
Boom!!!
A surge of spirit power, far more majestic and condensed than before, like floodwaters breaking through a dam, instantly rushed into his four limbs and hundred bones, washing through every inch of his Meridians and nourishing every one of his cells.
His sea of consciousness was rapidly expanding, and his spirit power was undergoing a qualitative transformation.
A powerful aura erupted with him as the center, even penetrating the walls of the cultivation room, causing the entire Dukes Mansion to tremble.
"Whew..."
A long time later, Liu Yuan slowly opened his eyes.
A brilliant flash of light vanished from his eyes, and his entire temperament became deeper and more powerful.
Level 60! Spirit Emperor!
Finally... a Breakthrough!
Feeling the reborn-like power within his body, Liu Yuan let out a long breath of turbid air, his face showing heartfelt emotion and exhaustion.
"It wasn't easy..."
He leaned against the wall, muttering to himself.
These three months of Cultivate made him miss the System more and more.
Seriously, using cheats is still the best!
Following the rules to Cultivate is truly a grind!
And at the very moment he was feeling emotional, that familiar and cold mechanical notification sound suddenly rang out in his mind without warning!
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the Host, spirit power has broken through level 60, officially entering the Spirit Emperor Realm!]
[Detected that the Host has reached a key node; a brand-new mission mode has now been triggered...]
[Limited-Time Mission: Activated!]
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