After nearly half an hour, the medicinal effects of the Fifth-Rank Healing Pill gradually spread throughout her body.
The female warrior slowly opened her beautiful eyes.
Her complexion had recovered slightly, though the purplish tint caused by the serpent poison still lingered on her delicate face.
The moment she regained consciousness, her beautiful eyes immediately landed on the young man sitting a short distance away.
Xiao Feng was quietly tending the campfire, occasionally adding a few pieces of dry wood into the flames.
Noticing that she had awakened, he turned around with a gentle smile.
"You're awake."
The female warrior slowly sat up, enduring the pain throughout her body.
After taking a deep breath, she looked at Xiao Feng with sincere gratitude.
Without saying a word, she slightly bowed toward him.
"Thank you..."
"Had you not intervened today..."
"I'm afraid I would have died beneath those two serpent Magical Beasts."
Xiao Feng immediately stood up and waved his hand.
"Please, don't."
"There's no need for such formalities."
"I've already accepted your gratitude."
"You don't have to bow."
"You should focus on recovering your injuries first."
Hearing his calm and modest words, the female warrior was slightly surprised.
On the Dou Qi Continent, strength was respected above all else.
It was rare to find someone who had saved another person's life without showing the slightest intention of taking advantage of the situation.
Without realizing it, Xiao Feng's image in her heart rose another level.
A faint smile appeared on her beautiful face.
"Regardless..."
"You have my thanks."
Xiao Feng nodded.
Since the atmosphere had become much more relaxed, he smiled slightly.
"We've been talking for a while..."
"But I still don't know your name."
"If you don't mind."
The woman hesitated briefly before answering softly.
"My name is..."
"Yun Zhi."
The moment those two words entered Xiao Feng's ears...
His expression froze for the briefest instant.
Yun Zhi?
Although his face remained calm, countless thoughts flashed through his mind.
"Yun Zhi..."
"So she really used this name..."
He knew very well that "Yun Zhi" was only an alias.
Her true identity was far more famous throughout the Gamma Empire.
Suppressing the surprise in his heart, Xiao Feng picked up a clean towel from beside him.
He poured a little warm water over it before walking toward her.
"The poison left quite a mess."
"Allow me."
Yun Zhi looked at him in surprise but did not refuse.
Xiao Feng gently handed her the warm towel.
She quietly wiped away the bloodstains, dust, and traces of poison covering her face.
As her appearance gradually became clear, Xiao Feng finally saw her true beauty without obstruction.
Her flawless face possessed an elegance that seemed untouched by the mortal world.
Her beauty was every bit comparable to Xiao Yi Xian's.
However, unlike Xiao Yi Xian's gentle and youthful charm, the woman before him carried a natural maturity and noble dignity.
Even while injured, she unconsciously emitted the bearing of someone accustomed to standing above countless others.
Looking at that familiar face, Xiao Feng became completely certain.
There was no mistake.
The woman before him was none other than the current Sect Master of the Misty Cloud Sect...
Yun Yun.
Since he already knew her identity, Xiao Feng had no intention of pretending otherwise.
Smiling helplessly, he looked directly into her beautiful eyes.
"Or perhaps..."
"I should address you properly."
A trace of surprise flashed across Yun Zhi's face.
Xiao Feng continued calmly,
"The Sect Master of the Misty Cloud Sect..."
"Yun Yun."
The moment those words were spoken...
Yun Zhi's pupils suddenly contracted.
The calm expression on her beautiful face instantly disappeared.
She stared at Xiao Feng in disbelief.
"You..."
"How do you know my true identity?"
Her hand instinctively tightened around the hilt of her sword.
Although she had not fully recovered and had no intention of attacking her savior, the sudden exposure of her carefully concealed identity naturally filled her with vigilance.
Seeing her reaction, Xiao Feng merely smiled peacefully and slowly raised both hands.
"Please don't misunderstand."
"I have no ill intentions."
"If I wanted to harm you..."
"I wouldn't have risked offending two powerful serpent Magical Beasts to save your life."
Yun Yun fell silent.
After a long moment, she slowly relaxed her grip on the sword.
She knew...
The young man before her was right.
If he truly wished to harm her, there had been countless opportunities while she was unconscious.
There would have been no need to reveal her identity now.
Even after hearing Xiao Feng's explanation, Yun Yun did not completely lower her guard.
Her beautiful eyes remained fixed on him.
Seeing this, Xiao Feng smiled helplessly and voluntarily took several steps backward, leaving a respectful distance between them.
"I don't mean any harm."
"I'll tell you how I guessed your identity."
Yun Yun remained silent, signaling him to continue.
Xiao Feng slowly said,
"First..."
"Your cultivation."
"A female Dou Huang isn't something that appears every day in the Gamma Empire."
"Second..."
"Your Wind Attribute Dou Qi."
"The Gamma Empire has very few female Wind Attribute Dou Huang experts."
"Third..."
"Your sword."
"I've heard that the Misty Cloud Sect's Sect Master carries a unique cyan longsword."
"And finally..."
"You introduced yourself as Yun Zhi."
"When I heard that name..."
"My guess became certainty."
"I've also heard that when the Sect Master travels outside, she occasionally uses aliases such as Yun Zhi or Yun Li."
"I simply connected everything together."
Yun Yun stared blankly at him.
She had expected Xiao Feng to possess extraordinary observation skills.
However...
She never imagined someone could deduce her identity from such seemingly unrelated details.
Especially the aliases.
Only a handful of trusted people within the Misty Cloud Sect even knew those names.
After a moment, Xiao Feng smiled and cupped his fists.
"I haven't introduced myself yet."
"My name is Xiao Feng."
"I'm from the Xiao Family of Wutan City."
"I've heard stories about the Misty Cloud Sect since I was a child."
"While traveling through various inns and cities, I also happened to hear people mention some of the Sect Master's aliases."
Hearing this, Yun Yun's elegant face couldn't help becoming slightly red.
Those nicknames were never meant to be widely known.
She had not expected they would eventually reach the ears of someone else.
However...
The moment she heard the words Xiao Feng, her expression changed again.
"Xiao... Feng?"
She carefully looked at the handsome young man before her once more.
This time, recognition gradually appeared in her eyes.
"So you're..."
"The genius from Wutan City."
"The youngest Dou Ling in the history of the Gamma Empire."
Xiao Feng smiled modestly.
"I was fortunate."
Yun Yun gently shook her head.
"That wasn't fortune."
"I've heard quite a lot about you."
"Although many people didn't believe the news at first..."
"Once your strength was personally witnessed, no one doubted it anymore."
She had indeed heard about Xiao Feng long ago.
Initially, when rumors spread that a fifteen-year-old from Wutan City had become a Dou Ling, she dismissed them as exaggerated gossip.
At that time, she had entered secluded cultivation to break through to the Second-Star Dou Huang realm.
By the time she emerged, the entire Gamma Empire had already confirmed the news.
Soon afterward came another astonishing piece of information.
Xiao Feng had become a Fifth-Rank Alchemist.
Under his leadership, the Xiao Family had rapidly risen to prominence.
Within only a few short years, Wutan City had transformed from an ordinary border city into one of the Gamma Empire's most prosperous trading centers.
Apart from the Imperial Capital and Black Rock City, almost no city could compete with Wutan City in the medicinal pill trade.
Countless cultivators now traveled there specifically to purchase Fourth-Rank and even low Fifth-Rank medicinal pills.
Yun Yun had intended to visit Wutan City herself one day.
Unfortunately, before she found the opportunity, Xiao Feng had already left for Canaan Academy together with Xiao Yi Xian.
Since then, their paths had never crossed.
She had even issued a private order within the Misty Cloud Sect.
"No disciple is allowed to provoke the Xiao Family."
Fortunately, the distance between the Misty Cloud Sect and Wutan City was considerable.
The two factions had no territorial disputes and no direct conflicts of interest.
Even without her order, clashes between them were unlikely.
However, not everyone in the Gamma Empire thought the same way.
Many noble families had begun coveting the Xiao Family's rapidly expanding wealth.
Some secretly tested the Xiao Family's strength.
Others openly attempted to interfere with their businesses.
Even the Imperial Family initially chose to observe from the shadows.
If the Xiao Family truly possessed enough strength, they would seek cooperation.
If not...
They would simply allow the larger noble clans to divide the Xiao Family's influence among themselves.
After all, at that time, the Xiao Family did not possess a Dou Wang powerhouse.
History had already proven how dangerous such rapid growth could be.
The Mittel Clan had only survived because they first relied upon the protection of the Ice Emperor Hai Bodong, and after his disappearance, Mittel Tengshan successfully advanced to the Dou Wang realm, stabilizing the family's position.
Without powerful backing, wealth alone invited disaster.
Just as several powerful factions were secretly preparing to move against the Xiao Family...
An unexpected event completely shattered those plans.
Guardian Elder Su Qian of Canaan Academy personally visited Wutan City because of Qing Lin's admission into the Academy.
Although his visit was brief and extremely low-profile, the Empire's true powerhouses soon learned of it.
Only a few influential figures—such as Yun Yun, Mittel Tengshan, Jia Xing Tian, and several veteran experts—discovered that the mysterious old man who arrived in Wutan City was actually the Great Elder of Canaan Academy.
None of them knew his purpose.
But one fact was enough.
A Dou Zong powerhouse had personally visited the Xiao Family.
That single piece of information caused every ambitious faction to immediately abandon any plans against them.
Even the Imperial Family quietly changed its attitude.
Instead of testing the Xiao Family further, they officially recognized the Xiao Family's authority over Wutan City and ceased any covert suppression.
Most members of the Xiao Family never knew why the pressure around them had suddenly disappeared.
Only a handful of people throughout the Gamma Empire understood the real reason.
From that day onward...
The Xiao Family was no longer viewed as an ordinary rising clan.
Behind them stood the shadow of Canaan Academy.
Yun Yun was one of the few powerhouses who knew the truth behind the Xiao Family's sudden change in status.
Because of that, she had no intention of allowing the relationship between the Misty Cloud Sect and the rising Xiao Family to become strained.
However, the Misty Cloud Sect already had its own Alchemists.
So, from the outside, repeatedly purchasing medicinal pills from Wutan City might seem unnecessary.
The reality was different.
The Misty Cloud Sect's primary focus had always been cultivation.
Their Alchemists mainly existed to serve the Sect's essential needs—treating injuries, refining pills required for breakthroughs, and preparing medicinal pills that could assist their stronger disciples in advancing their cultivation.
They had enough Alchemists to satisfy those important requirements.
But they simply did not have enough Alchemists to provide every ordinary disciple with all the medicinal pills they might want for their daily cultivation.
Nor could their Alchemists spend all their time refining lower-grade pills for every disciple.
After all, an Alchemist capable of refining a high-quality medicinal pill naturally had better uses for their time.
This was where the Xiao Family's medicinal pill business became particularly attractive.
The pills sold by the Xiao Family were not only reliable in quality, but many of them were considerably better than what ordinary pill shops could provide.
Among the most popular were the Purple Heart Breaking Pill and the Three-Line Green Spirit Pill.
At first, some of the Misty Cloud Sect disciples were rather confused when they were instructed to travel to Wutan City to purchase pills.
"Why do we have to travel all the way to Wutan City?"
"Can't we simply purchase them closer to the Sect?"
"Didn't the Sect already have its own Alchemists?"
Such questions naturally appeared among the disciples.
However, those doubts quickly disappeared after they personally used the pills.
The quality was simply too good.
The medicinal effects were stable, the impurities were relatively low, and the pills were considerably more effective than many of the alternatives available elsewhere.
After several successful purchases, the disciples stopped questioning the arrangement.
Instead, they gradually became regular customers.
Once every month, groups of Misty Cloud Sect disciples would travel to Wutan City to purchase the pills they needed.
Sometimes they came specifically for Purple Heart Breaking Pills.
At other times, they purchased Three-Line Green Spirit Pills or other medicinal pills produced by the Xiao Family's Alchemists.
What had originally been an unusual request from the Sect Master slowly became a normal routine.
The Xiao Family's shopkeepers also gradually became familiar with the Misty Cloud Sect's disciples.
"You're here again?"
"Yes. We need another batch of Purple Heart Breaking Pills this time."
"How many?"
"Thirty."
"Thirty?! You Misty Cloud Sect disciples are certainly generous customers."
The exchange was accompanied by laughter rather than hostility.
Neither side regarded the other as an enemy.
Over time, these repeated transactions quietly established a connection between the two factions.
It wasn't an official alliance.
There were no grand declarations.
No written agreement.
It was simply a relationship built through repeated cooperation and mutual benefit.
The Misty Cloud Sect received high-quality medicinal pills for its disciples.
The Xiao Family gained a reliable and influential customer.
And, more importantly, the two sides became increasingly familiar with one another.
Yun Yun was perfectly satisfied with this arrangement.
She didn't need the Misty Cloud Sect to openly stand behind the Xiao Family.
She only wanted to ensure that the rapidly growing family would not regard the Misty Cloud Sect as an enemy—and that the Misty Cloud Sect's disciples would understand that Wutan City was a place they could visit without fear of conflict.
Looking at Xiao Feng now, Yun Yun couldn't help feeling that her decision from those years ago had been worthwhile.
The young genius who had once been little more than a rumor in the Gamma Empire had already grown into someone capable of standing on equal footing with the major powers.