"Indeed." Gao Zhen nodded as a wide smile formed on her face, seeing the curious glint in Yi Chen’s eyes.

The next second she added, "It’s faring pretty well...Initially, I thought that now that I’ve learnt the basics of the Art, it’s only going to become more difficult to master it.

However, I didn’t expect that the understanding from my previous Qi Absorption Art would harmonise with my new learnings and speed things up for me."

She paused for a second as the smile on her face widened.

"From how things are going...I’ll be able to master the Absorption Art in just one and a half years."

"One and a half years? That’s great!" Yi Chen exclaimed exuberantly.

He knew how difficult it was to master an Absorption Art, and without the comprehension buff to speed things up for him, it would have taken him several years to reach his current comprehension.

It was also because of this that he had expected it would take her at least five years to master it, if not longer.

Despite the fact that only one-tenth of the Abyssal Blackglacial Arts was written on the stone tablet, it was still extremely complex compared to even the high-ranked Qi Absorption Arts cultivated by experts in the top kingdoms.

Therefore, he was already prepared to spend another five years in this place. It was because of this reasoning that Gao Zhen’s words affected him greatly.

"Yes! We’ll be able to get out of this place much sooner than expected!" Gao Zhen exclaimed, with the same happiness on her face.

The next moment, Yi Chen coughed lightly before putting on a serious expression and declaring, "As a grand gesture for relaying this news to me, I’ll personally roast a fish with extra spices just for Madam Gao."

An extremely grateful expression formed on Gao Zhen’s face the next instant as she said, "Then...I’ll shamelessly accept this noble gesture from Young Master Chen."

The moment she finished those words, their eyes met, and they burst into a fit of chuckles that very instant.

*CHUCKLES*

"Madam Gao is still pretty good at acting," Yi Chen praised with an amused expression on his face.

Gao Zhen chortled after hearing his praise and said, "Young Master Chen’s acting has improved significantly as well."

Both of them exchanged a warm smile before Yi Chen busied himself in preparing the spicy fish as promised.

"Good night, Young Master Chen," Gao Zhen said with a smile, and a while later, with a wave of her hand, left for her tent.

"Good night." Yi Chen waved back with a smile.

When her figure disappeared, silence soon settled inside the tent as Yi Chen let out a deep breath.

The smile on his face had faded by now as he thought about the time he had already spent in this place. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"It’s been more than two years... the tournament would have already been concluded by now..." he said with a bitter smile on his face.

The next moment, he thought of the system mission and checked it out.

======= Mission ========

Objective

Participate in the Silver Cloud Tournament and rank among the top 10 experts.

Rewards

1) EXP (Based on Performance)

2) Chance to Talk with Feng Yu (24 Hours)

Penalty for Failure

Similar Rewards will never be assigned.

========================

"It’s still here, huh..." Yi Chen muttered while looking at the panel with a hopeful gaze.

After the two-year mark had crossed relative to the time he left the Jade City, he had been checking this mission panel almost on a daily basis.

Now, more than two months had passed, and despite that, the mission was still present and was not considered a failed one.

Although there was still a chance of the Silver Cloud Tournament being longer than usual because of some unexpected events, the chances of that happening were extremely small.

Therefore, in the end, he was able to confirm something important. The fact that there was no time limit for this mission.

Since the Silver Cloud Tournament was held every 27 years, he’ll be able to participate in it again 25 years later.

"The chance to talk with Yu’er...I can still obtain it." He muttered with a resolute expression while clenching his fists.

With this confirmation, he no longer regretted having to spend years in this place. As the mission was still intact, there wasn’t anything stopping him from completing it successfully.

Especially now, when he had 25 more years to get even stronger. At that time, attaining the first position would no longer be a possibility but would become a fact.

As for the matter of joining the Heavenly Azure Dragon Sect, its entrance test happens every five years, so he wasn’t worried much.

A few moments later, he shook all these thoughts away and began going over the jade slips Gao Zhen had given him this evening.

He still needed to fully study the Spirit Guiding Technique, and once he understood the gist of it, he planned to put it into practice and deepen his understanding.

Starting the next day, he immersed himself in gaining as much familiarity with the Spirit Guiding Technique as he could while Gao Zhen immersed herself in mastering the Abyssal Blackglacial Arts.

Months passed by steadily as the two remained focused on their goals and kept at it without any distractions.

Six months later.

Yi Chen, who was sitting cross-legged in his tent, suddenly opened his eyes. His eyes had an energetic sheen to them, and they looked as clear as glass.

The very next instant, his gaze moved towards the many pill bottles that were placed on one side of his tent.

From the wear and tear on their surface, it was apparent that they were no longer used for storing pills and had long become Yi Chen’s practice aids.

A second later, Yi Chen’s eyes shone with a white glow, and all of the ten or so bottles, including several broken shards on the ground, rose up in the air and stayed there for several seconds.

"I’ve finally mastered it..." Yi Chen muttered with a grin.

The next instant, all the bottles were neatly arranged on one side of the tent, in ascending order of size.

As for the shards, they were all gathered at one place before being crushed to fine dust by an invisible force.