"Brother, where are you planning to go?"
Midair, Shui Bing'er looked down at the scenery below, a bit curious.
Shui Wuhen stood with his hands behind his back and replied without turning around, "To find a place suitable for cultivation."
"A place suitable for cultivation?"
Hearing this, a trace of confusion flashed in Shui Bing'er's eyes before she asked, "Then are we going back to Tianshui Academy to cultivate?"
In Shui Bing'er's view, if they wanted to cultivate, there was probably no place better than Tianshui Academy's mimic cultivation grounds.
After all, Tianshui Academy's mimic cultivation grounds were among the best, capable of increasing cultivation speed by fifty percent.
However, to Shui Bing'er's surprise, Shui Wuhen shook his head after hearing her words.
"Tianshui Academy's mimic cultivation grounds are good, but in terms of efficiency, they are not the absolute best."
As soon as he said this, Shui Bing'er quickly stepped forward, grabbed Shui Wuhen's shoulder, and asked eagerly, "Then brother, what is the best?"
After learning that her brother had already broken through to Spirit Emperor, a sense of urgency had arisen in her heart.
And now that she heard her brother knew of a cultivation place even better than top-tier mimic grounds, how could she not be excited?
"No matter how good a mimic cultivation ground in an academy is, it's still artificially created. Limited by the creator's ability, funding, and location, its upper limit is already determined.
"But nature doesn't have these restrictions. Therefore, the most top-tier mimic cultivation grounds in this world are not artificial environments within academies, but naturally formed secret realms."
As he spoke, Shui Wuhen gave Shui Bing'er an example.
"For instance, Shenfeng Academy is built upon a top-tier wind-attributed natural secret realm—the Hurricane Gorge. Because of that, their students' levels are generally higher than those of other academies.
"The reason Feng Xiaotian was able to break through to Spirit Emperor also owes a great deal to that Hurricane Gorge."
After hearing Shui Wuhen's explanation, Shui Bing'er's eyes lit up. A natural secret realm of heaven and earth indeed sounded far superior to artificial mimic cultivation grounds.
"Then brother, were you also cultivating in a place like this before?" Shui Bing'er blinked and asked.
Shui Wuhen did not deny it and nodded slightly. "That's right."
Seeing him admit it, Shui Bing'er suddenly understood. No wonder her brother could break through to Spirit Emperor so quickly—it turned out this was one of the reasons.
In truth, Shui Wuhen being able to break through to Spirit Emperor at sixteen was due to many factors. The boost from natural secret realms was only one of them.
The most important reason was the uniqueness of his Articuno martial soul, which allowed him to surpass normal limits when absorbing spirit rings.
Each time he absorbed a spirit ring beyond his limits, the feedback of spirit power allowed Shui Wuhen to gain more than one additional level. After six spirit rings, this undoubtedly saved him a huge amount of cultivation time.
Otherwise, even with Shui Wuhen's talent, he would still need at least three to four more years to break through to Spirit Emperor. It would have been impossible for him to reach level sixty-three at sixteen.
At this moment, Shui Bing'er came back to her senses and asked with some confusion, "But brother, since natural secret realms have so many benefits, why didn't you bring me along to cultivate before?"
She did not doubt her brother's intentions. After all, they had depended on each other since childhood, and Shui Wuhen's care for her was beyond question.
She was just confused why he hadn't told her earlier. If he had, her level would definitely be higher now, and she could have helped him more.
"I didn't tell you before because your level was too low," Shui Wuhen replied without hesitation. "Natural secret realms are not safe places—they are often accompanied by danger. With your previous level, it would have been difficult for you to endure it. And cultivation in such places is very harsh. Are you really willing?"
Shui Wuhen had long been able to cultivate at the peak of Sky Snow Peak because his level was high enough and because of the special traits of his Articuno martial soul, allowing him to ignore the extreme cold.
But what he could do, Shui Bing'er might not necessarily be able to.
Although the Ice Phoenix martial soul could be considered one of the top-tier beast martial souls, in Shui Wuhen's view, it still fell slightly short and had not reached the ultimate level.
While it provided resistance to cold, it was far inferior to Shui Wuhen's Articuno martial soul.
Moreover, the summit of Sky Snow Peak was not a safe place. Even setting aside the extreme cold that could freeze a person to death, the occasional avalanches alone were deadly dangers.
The reason Shui Wuhen could—and dared to—cultivate in long-term seclusion was mainly because he had Articuno guarding him. Even if something unexpected happened outside, it could ensure his safety.
As for choosing a slightly less dangerous place, it might not even be as effective as Tianshui Academy's mimic cultivation grounds.
Furthermore, once choosing Shui Wuhen's cultivation method, it meant living like an ascetic, and it also meant becoming disconnected from friends at Tianshui Academy. That might not necessarily be a good thing.
All these factors combined were why Shui Wuhen had not told Shui Bing'er about this cultivation method.
"I'm not afraid of hardship! I want to cultivate together with you, brother."
Hearing this, Shui Bing'er made her choice without the slightest hesitation, deciding to follow the same path as Shui Wuhen.
She was already tired of being left far behind by her brother, of being completely unable to help whenever he faced anything.
Seeing the determination in his sister's eyes, Shui Wuhen smiled and pinched her cheek. "Good. That's my sister. Since I'm telling you this now, it means I've already decided to bring you along. Just don't start crying in the days ahead."
"Hmph! I'm not a little girl anymore—I won't cry!"
Hearing Shui Wuhen's words, Shui Bing'er snorted, slapped his hand away, and turned her head aside in dissatisfaction.
But after turning away, a faint smile appeared at the corner of her lips, because she knew this meant her brother had acknowledged her, and she could now move forward together with him.
After flying for most of the day, Articuno finally carried Shui Wuhen and Shui Bing'er to their destination—Sky Snow Peak!
"This is Sky Snow Peak? Brother, this is where you used to cultivate?"
Seeing Articuno descend toward Sky Snow Peak, Shui Bing'er's eyes trembled as she suddenly looked at Shui Wuhen.
Shui Wuhen nodded slightly, then faced the cold wind and leapt onto the cliff where he had cultivated before.
The next moment, Shui Bing'er also jumped down from Articuno. Looking at the surroundings and feeling the howling cold wind—so intense it felt like her body might freeze—her heart suddenly ached.
Her brother had actually cultivated in a place like this—so harsh, so grueling.
No wonder there were times she couldn't find him when she went looking. How could she possibly locate him in such a place?
At this moment, Shui Wuhen pointed to a spot beside him and said, "Bing'er, for the next twenty days, you'll cultivate right next to me. If you can't hold on, tell me—don't push yourself."