Cai Yun continued to absorb the soul force from the White Bear’s Soul Crystal. It was already starting to lose some of its color, which meant that it was already halfway drained. Despite this, Cai Yun had not achieved a breakthrough. He was absorbing the soul force faster than normal people, but getting less out of it. It was problematic as it meant it would take him more resources to make the same kind of advancement. It was the same as being put at a severe disadvantage.

Cai Yun held the soul crystal in one hand and the small red pouch in the other. He was going to head to Cai Meili’s again. Hopefully, the candy would persuade her to give him something a little better.

As Cai Yun arrived near the Main Hall, he became a little more cautious. He looked around to make sure no one was around as he went into the building. “Hello?” Cai Yun asked.

“I’m back here, Little Yun,” said Cai Meili.

Cai Yun headed into the back of the shop. Cai Meili had a face mask on and was wearing another layer of thin clothes over her body as she mixed the batch.

“I brought you a small gift,” said Cai Yun.

“Just let me finish this,” said Cai Meili.

Cai Yun sat on the floor and waited. He saw Cai Meili pour the mixture into a large flask. The flask then allowed the contents to drip down into individual vials. With that, Cai Meili removed the extra coverings and sat down next to Cai Yun.

“I didn’t expect to see you again so soon,” said Cai Meili.

“I went through all the pills yesterday and I’m working on this now,” said Cai Yun as he showed Cai Meili the White Bear’s Soul Crystal.

“Still no breakthrough?!?” Cai Meili said in surprise.

“Only to the Second Level from the River Grass Pills,” Cai Yun confirmed.

“That is weird,” said Cai Meili.

Cai Yun handed the pouch to Cai Meili. “I was hoping I could trade you this for something good.”

Cai Meili opened it with a big smile. “It’s chocolate!” she cried in joy.

Chocolate was a rare delicacy that was difficult to grow and thus very valuable. The Lin Clan grew a lot of it as their specialty. But since no one else could grow a lot of it, it was considered an expensive luxury in Cloud City.

Cai Yun wondered how Cai Meili might be able to defeat Cai Rong. She was second only to him in terms of strength and was three years younger. If she had more time to train, she could probably surpass him. But, with what Cai Jun had told him, it was going to be done this year in order to stop that from ever happening. It was Cai Hong’s way of making sure that he remained unchallenged.

“Are you going to fight this year?” Cai Yun asked Cai Meili.

“Of course,” said Cai Meili.

The girls and boys were separated into different divisions until the final round. At that point, the strongest boy fought the strongest girl to determine who was the overall strongest. Gender was rarely a factor unless there was a mental issue that blocked them from fighting against that person, such as being close. The biggest factor was usually age. One year was usually at least two levels in the Elementary Realm and as a result, those that were eighteen usually topped the rankings. There were exceptions like Cai Yun’s father and Cai Jun who topped the charts starting from the time that they turned fifteen, but that was considered an unusual circumstance.

Cai Bingwen entered carrying a sack. “Oh, I didn’t expect to see you here this early,” he said to Cai Jun.

“Hello, Uncle Bingwen,” said Cai Yun. “I brought you two a gift as thanks.”

When Cai Yun looked over at Cai Meili, she had already finished most of the sweets already. Cai Bingwen just let her be and walked in. He put down the sack next to the alchemy pot. It was filled with different herbs that could be used to make elixirs. He dug to the bottom and took out five soul crystals. “Here,” he said as he handed them to Cai Yun.

“Really?!?” Cai Yun was surprised.

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“Low grade soul crystals are more common than you think,” said Cai Bingwen. “It’s not a big deal.”

“I can’t accept this,” Cai Yun said.

“Think of it as payment for the gift,” Cai Bingwen insisted.

Cai Yun opened his hands and Cai Bingwen dropped the five soul crystals into his hand. “Thank you, uncle,” said Cai Yun.

Cai Yun looked in amazement at the five glowing pearls that were the soul crystals in his hands. For most people, this was extremely expensive because they could not go outside the walls alone. Even Cai Rong and Cai Hong could not go outside easily because of their status. This restriction was put in place to manage risk to Cloud City. Each clan could only send people out under the leadership of someone who is at least at the Martial Artist Realm. Then, the number they could bring with them was very limited and they were all forbidden to travel beyond the Badlands unless they could surpass the Martial Expert Realm.

This restriction was put in place because one of the city’s ancestors discovered a frightening creature that surpassed the Martial Expert Realm towards the end of the Badlands. It had attacked the city in the past and the Four Noble Families had to join together to stop it, ultimately resulting in the death of many of them.

Each of the crystals had a slightly different hue and Cai Yun could notice the energies swirling within were all a little different. The biggest difference was the density, but one of the crystals was unusual in the fact that the movement inside the crystal was in a different pattern from the rest. Cai Yun looked at it, wondering what it could be.

“Where did you get this one from?” Cai Yun asked.

Cai Bingwen grabbed a hold of the soul crystal. “I’m not sure,” he said. “They all look the same to me.”

Cai Bingwen was an expert in alchemy, not soul crystals. You could ask him about plants and he could read off all the benefits of every single one. Soul crystals required a different kind of specialty.

“Your father might be able to tell,” said Cai Bingwen. “He’s a lot better than this at me.”

“Alright, I will ask him later,” said Cai Yun.

Cai Meili had finished the entire pouch of candy. She handed the red pouch back to Cai Yun. “That was good,” she said.

Cai Bingwen nudged Cai Meili. “Thank you, Little Yun,” she said.

“No need to say thanks,” said Cai Yun.

Cai Meili went back to work with the new plants to continue working on the elixirs. Cai Bingwen sat down next to Cai Yun. Even then, he was still huge and as tall as Cai Yun standing up. “In three months, the Hunt will begin,” said Cai Bingwen.

“The Hunt?” It was the first time Cai Yun had heard of it.

“The ancient array left by our ancestors of our city leads to a special vault,” Cai Bingwen explained.

“What’s inside the vault?” Cai Yun asked.

“Lots of cultivation resources,” Cai Bingwen answered. “You must at least reach the Eighth Level of the Elementary Realm by then.”

“Eighth Level?!?” Even if Cai Yun advanced at one level every two weeks, which was an impossible pace for most, he could not make it.

Cai Bingwen held out a ring. “This is what will help you, but do not open it until you get home,” said Cai Bingwen.

“What is it?” Cai Yun asked.

“Unregistered,” Cai Bingwen answered.

Unregistered items were things that were not reported to the Cai Clan even though they should be. Things like high grade elixirs, Martial Artist and above soul crystals would be categorized here. “You can’t,” said Cai Yun.

“I’m tired of Cai Hong not investing in our younger generation,” said Cai Bingwen. “I also do not want to see Cai Meili marry that awful Cai Rong. That is why you must get stronger.”

“But there are many others better than me,” said Cai Yun.

“You have a good heart and that is more important,” said Cai Bingwen. “There are others that can oppose Cai Hong, but we need someone with a good heart to become the symbol of our clan, not Cai Rong.”

Cai Yun understood it. As someone who was growing up without the ability to cultivate and had only been able to do so recently, he did not develop the same mentality that allowed them to step on one another to make progress. Cai Yun shared compassion and showed care for others, especially Cai Meili and Cai Yan. As a result of this, Cai Bingwen put is faith in Cai Yun. “Even Cai Bo thinks you would be a better successor than Cai Rong.”

“Cai Bo?” Cai Yun was surprised to hear this. Cai Bo was the son of Cai Hong and the father of Cai Rong. But to hear that Cai Bo thought that his own son did not deserve to represent the clan was a shock. “Why?”

“Cai Bo is not some careless senior who lets his son run wild,” said Cai Bingwen. “A long time ago, he was friends with your father and I too.”

This was the first time that Cai Yun had heard of this. “What happened?”

“Cai Hong did not like that Cai Bo was going to break out of his arranged marriage,” Cai Bingwen explained. “He told Cai Jun and Cai Bo that one of them would have to marry the girl.”

“Did they fight?” Cai Yun asked.

“Cai Bo volunteered to save Cai Jun because he saw that Cai Jun had the potential to become stronger than him,” said Cai Bingwen. “He also forced himself into isolation by doing so and was forced to become Cai Hong’s lapdog.”

Cai Yun could not believe it. He had thought that Cai Bo was a bad person like Cai Hong and Cai Rong. Children took after their parents after all. But, Cai Bo seemed like an oddity between Cai Hong and Cai Rong now. “Cai Bo has been doing what he can to help distribute at least the lower grade elixirs evenly among the families,” said Cai Bingwen. “This is his way of paying back to you what you never got because of Cai Hong’s treatment of you.”

“I need to thank Cai Bo then,” said Cai Yun.

“Your father has helped him a lot already,” said Cai Bingwen. “Do not worry too much.”

“I will do so still,” said Cai Yun.

“Focus on training first,” said Cai Bingwen. “When you reach the top of the tournament, then you can thank everyone who helped you.”

“I will, Uncle Bingwen,” said Cai Yun.

“Let’s try to make that Father-in-Law Bingwen,” Cai Bingwen joked.

For the first time, Cai Yun did not speak up in response to that joke.