Han Chi and Han Xue were nearly struck dumb by Han Yue's words.
What did they just hear? Twenty-one years old. Dou Zun. And on the verge of becoming a Grade 8 Alchemist.
Is this even human?
Comparing goods makes one feel poor; comparing people makes one furious.
After hearing Han Yue's introduction, Han Xue lowered her head in thought, lost in memories.
Han Chi couldn't help swallowing hard. He caught one crucial detail from Han Yue's last sentence.
"Yue'er… when will your sweetheart—no, our future son-in-law—be free? Invite him over for a casual family meal."
"Xue'er, what's wrong?" Han Yue noticed her younger sister's unusual behavior and asked gently.
Han Xue snapped back to reality, hurriedly shaking her head and waving her hands. "N-nothing!!! Sister, quickly tell me—how did you meet this insanely rich husband of yours?"
"What rich husband? Watch your mouth or I'll spank you!" Han Yue's face flushed red as she playfully pretended to hit her sister.
Han Chi sat back in his chair, watching his two daughters bicker with a complicated expression.
Recalling his younger daughter's earlier reaction, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly. With his experience, how could he not understand what was going on?
…
Three days later — in a dense forest outside Tianbei City.
Xiao Jietian sat cross-legged on the ground. Before him floated the enormous purple Sun-Moon Dual Cauldron.
His hands moved with practiced fluidity. Inside the cauldron, various medicinal liquids fused and merged in perfect order under the scorching heat of the exotic flame.
As time passed, the liquids gradually condensed into a single mass, slowly taking on the embryonic shape of a pill.
Boom!
A pillar of golden light—ten zhang thick—shot straight into the sky. Almost instantly, dark clouds gathered above the forest. In the blink of an eye, they condensed into a thundercloud nearly a hundred meters wide!
Low, rumbling thunder echoed from within the clouds. The thundercloud churned violently. Then, three distinct colors slowly emerged—blue, silver, and red!
"Three-colored Pill Lightning? Not bad for my first successful Grade 8 pill."
Eighth Grade Pills already stood at the pinnacle of the pill pyramid. Though there was only one grade between Seventh and Eighth, the difference was like heaven and earth.
The quality of an Eighth Grade Pill couldn't be judged by appearance alone—it was determined by the color of the Pill Lightning!
Eighth Grade Pill Lightning ranged from a minimum of two colors to a maximum of nine. A pill capable of summoning nine-colored lightning was infinitely close to Grade 9—a pill with the power of creation itself.
The appearance of the three-colored Pill Lightning instantly attracted the attention of the entire Tianbei City.
Being relatively close, the Han Family in the southern part of the city was the first to notice.
Han Chi sensed the terrifying energy fluctuation. With a flash, he appeared atop the deliberation hall roof. Standing at the highest point, he stared at the three-colored thundercloud in the distance, face full of shock.
"This… this is three-colored thundercloud! The phenomenon that appears only when an Eighth Grade Pill is born!!"
"How could a Grade 8 Alchemist appear in a place like Tianbei City?" Han Chi muttered in disbelief. Grade 8 Alchemists were almost exclusively concentrated in the Central Region of the Central Continent—or in Holy Pill City itself.
Suddenly, Han Chi remembered what Han Yue had said three days earlier. A glint flashed in his eyes.
"Could it be…"
While he was deep in thought, Han Yue arrived with Han Xue and stood beside him. After greeting her father, she looked at the terrifying Pill Lightning, worry flickering in her eyes.
"Yue'er… the one refining it is…" Han Chi couldn't help asking.
"Sister, could it be brother-in-law?" Han Xue also asked, clinging to Han Yue's arm.
"Yes," Han Yue replied with a proud smile. "He said this is one of his gifts for his first official visit to our home. He also told us not to go over, to avoid any accidental injury."
Her beloved—a Grade 8 Alchemist!!
One must know that Grade 8 Alchemists were extremely rare even across the entire Central Continent, let alone one so young.
"Yue'er, you mean he…" Han Chi had managed the Han Family for decades—he was no fool. Combining Han Yue's earlier words, he quickly understood his future son-in-law's intentions after only a brief moment of thought.
"Have you informed the Great Elder about this?"
"I already told Great-grandfather," Han Yue nodded.
The "Great-grandfather" she referred to was none other than Han Fei—the current strongest member of the Han Family, a Five-star Dou Zong.
While they were speaking, a massive fist wreathed in lightning and carrying terrifying momentum suddenly blasted toward the three-colored Pill Lightning thundercloud.
The giant fist roared with electric light. Every bolt of lightning twisted madly, exuding an aura that could annihilate everything.
Wherever the fist wind passed, space itself was torn into dark spatial cracks.
Just as the giant fist appeared, several streaks of light rapidly flew out from the northern part of Tianbei City—the Hong Family's territory. The two leading figures stepped through the air without wings, while those behind them had Dou Qi wings.
…
The three-colored thundercloud in the sky seemed to sense the incoming threat. It churned violently and contracted sharply.
Then—a three-colored lightning bolt, thick as a giant python—shot out from the clouds. It tore through space with a horrifying ripping sound and crashed directly toward the oncoming giant fist.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Wherever the giant fist passed, the thundercloud's lightning was torn apart and crushed like thin paper.
It continued to smash toward the center of the thundercloud with unstoppable force.
Finally, accompanied by a deafening roar, the giant fist shattered the entire thundercloud.
The shattered thundercloud transformed into countless scattering points of lightning, gradually dissipating between heaven and earth.
Below the forest, a pill floated quietly in Xiao Jietian's hand. It was wreathed in faint spiritual mist, vaguely forming the shape of a tiger.
It continuously swam in place, as though it were a living creature.
A true Grade 8 Spirit Pill already possessed its own spirituality.
"So this is a Grade 8 Spirit Pill? Quite interesting indeed."
Xiao Jietian glanced at the pill and casually put away the Sun-Moon Dual Cauldron on the ground.
"You should be arriving soon, right?"
Xiao Jietian sensed many powerful auras rapidly approaching. Instead of putting the pill away, he simply stood there, a cryptic smile playing on his lips.
Since not a single bolt of lightning had fallen to the ground, the valley itself remained largely undamaged—only many large trees had been snapped by the powerful gale.
Several figures were rapidly closing in on the valley. Many others from different directions were also rushing toward the same location.