Time slipped by, and half a year soon passed.0

In the blink of an eye, deep winter arrived.0

It was as though Li Yuan had severed all contact with the outside world. He remained behind the third gate of the Holy Tree Temple, quietly practicing his taming skill. To allow him total focus on this training, the temple postponed nearly all requests for him to forge spirit artifacts. Only the truly urgent tasks—ones that could not be deferred—were assigned to him.0

He complied fully with the Holy Tree Temple’s arrangements, even accepting the bride they selected from the Jing Clan. The higher-ups took note of this acquiescence, growing increasingly pleased with him. In turn, he finally received the Holy Tree Temple’s full support and the precious resources that he could never have obtained on his own.0

Before secluding himself behind the third gate, Li Yuan had already contacted Yan Yu, Xue Ning, and Tang Nian, letting them know he might be out of reach for a while—so there was no need to worry about him in the short term. 0

Truthfully, if he ever decided to leave, he could walk away with little effort. His son was Gu Xuejian’s cherished disciple; his wife was from the Cui Clan. Neither would come to harm. 0

He remained only because he wanted to gather as much strength and information as possible before withdrawing to Cloudpeak Province. There was no better place for that than...0