After spending several hours helping in the shop the day before, Gu Changhuan was woken early by Gu Wanhao at Nine Perches Market.

Because of Gu Xuanzhan's Purple Mansion Celebration, they had to return to Emerald Maple Mountain to help.

Of course, minor tasks would not fall to a young fellow like Gu Changhuan who had yet to take on formal duties; Gu Xuanzhan merely wished to see him.

On the journey back, Gu Changhuan remembered the second-tier spiritual wine he had purchased during his trip to Cloudheaven Market for both Gu Wanhao and Gu Xuanzhan. The Green Leaf spiritual wine had long since been given to Gu Wanhao.

The remaining jar of Red Mulberry spiritual wine had sat in his Storage Ring for quite some time.

Let it serve as celebratory wine for his great-grandfather's breakthrough to the Purple Mansion Realm!

It was merely somewhat low in grade.

Before long, the two returned to Emerald Maple Mountain, heading first to pay their respects to Gu Xuanzhan.

Gu Xuanzhan dismissed Gu Wanhao with a few words, keeping Gu Changhuan behind to converse.

"Good. Your cultivation hasn't risen much, but your Spiritual Power is much denser. Still, it's too early to spend so much time refining it. Focus on advancing your cultivation first. You helped me reach Purple Mansion, and I'll make sure you reach Foundation Establishment!"

Gu Changhuan had not expected his great-grandfather to still be worrying about his breakthrough. But of course, Gu Xuanzhan did not know about his Spiritual Body. He had reason to worry.

The thought warmed Gu Changhuan. He accepted the offer with a mischievous smile.

"Thank you, Great-Grandfather! It's good to have a great-grandfather at Purple Mansion. I bought you this wine at Cloudheaven Market. I meant to give it to you when we got back, but somehow I forgot.

"It must have been meant to be. Now we can drink it to celebrate your breakthrough!"

"You little rascal. You behaved better when you were small. The older you get, the slyer you become," Gu Xuanzhan said, laughing.

He accepted the spiritual wine from Gu Changhuan and produced two cups.

"Come, have a taste as well."

Gu Changhuan received the cup with both hands. He was now on the verge of breaking through to the Qi Condensation Eighth Layer, and this Red Mulberry wine was a second-tier spiritual brew. Drinking a little more might just push him directly across the threshold.

Gu Changhuan was no great drinker. Red Mulberry wine was rich in Spiritual Qi, but strong too. Two cups turned his ears red.

By the third cup, he felt his Spiritual Power surge violently within him. Without a moment's hesitation, he crossed his legs and immediately began circulating the Chaos Myriad Spirits Art, striving to rein in the runaway torrent of energy.

Guided by the technique, the excess Spiritual Qi flooded toward his Dantian. Before long, Gu Changhuan smoothly crossed into the Qi Condensation Eighth Layer.

Gu Xuanzhan was surprised at how easily he advanced. Even without the wine, Changhuan would probably have reached the eighth layer within a month.

He was not yet twenty. Even after taking time to refine his Spiritual Power, he was progressing much faster than cultivators with dual Spirit Roots.

At this rate, he might well reach the Qi Condensation Ninth Layer before turning twenty-five, leaving a year or two to spare for another refinement.

The young were not to be underestimated!

Gu Xuanzhan drank another cup. Would the boy's rapid progress attract attention? Of course it would.

But now that he had reached Purple Mansion, he would protect the clan's descendants.

He would never allow the tragedy of decades past to repeat itself before his eyes.

As if recalling some painful memory, Gu Xuanzhan's grip tightened in a flash of agitation, crushing the wine cup in his hand to powder.

Decades earlier, shortly after reaching late Foundation Establishment, he had received a call for help from one of the clan's properties.

Three Foundation Establishment Demon Beasts had besieged the outpost, and two clansmen had fought their way out under the cover of their companions to seek reinforcements. Hearing the news, Gu Xuanzhan had rushed to the scene immediately, yet still arrived too late.

By the time he reached the location, the terrain had been utterly warped by relentless assaults. All he found along the path were the scattered remains of his clansmen.

When he finally tracked down the three culprits, the beasts were in the midst of devouring a clansman's corpse.

Furious, Gu Xuanzhan fought all three alone. He swiftly killed one high-grade second-tier beast and two middle-grade second-tier beasts, earning his reputation in that single battle.

Yet that legendary battle remained a memory he could never bear to revisit.

Of the sixteen clansmen stationed at that property, only a single man had survived-and that survivor had paid the price with both legs and an arm.

On the very day Gu Xuanzhan achieved the Purple Mansion Realm, that surviving clansman passed away.

Had the Gu Clan possessed a Purple Mansion expert back then, they could have arrived before the defensive formations fell, and those lives would have been spared.

Lost in the past, even Gu Xuanzhan, whose mind had been tempered to stillness over long years of cultivation, could not suppress a deep sigh.

After stabilizing his cultivation, Gu Changhuan opened his eyes. Gu Xuanzhan was staring into the distance, apparently lost in memories.

Gu Changhuan quietly retrieved another cup and poured a measure for his elder.

Only then did Gu Xuanzhan snap back to reality. He swallowed the spiritual wine in one gulp and smacked his lips.

Suddenly, realization dawned on him.

"You changed your cultivation technique?"

The circulating method Gu Changhuan had just employed bore no resemblance to the Azure Cloud Qi Condensation Art.

Gu Changhuan had not expected to be found out so soon. Still, he could talk about the art, as long as he kept its origin secret.

"I've switched to a Five Elements art. Don't worry, Great-Grandfather. It can take me all the way to Purple Mansion," Gu Changhuan said, telling a small lie.

"As long as you know what you are doing." Gu Xuanzhan could well guess that the boy harbored secrets; such things were normal among cultivators, though Changhuan's secrets were perhaps rather more significant.

Still, the child was sensible and reliable, quite capable of guarding his own affairs without requiring excessive worry.

He stayed for a long time, asking questions about cultivation. Gu Xuanzhan lived up to his new realm: a few words were often enough to clear up a problem and teach him something valuable.

On Emerald Maple Mountain, he had no alchemy duties, so he spent more time cultivating and reading jade slips. A pot of tea, a jade slip, a seat in the courtyard, and a whole day could pass.

The peach tree in the courtyard yielded a heavy crop of spiritual peaches each year-thin-skinned, thick-fleshed, and rich with sweet, abundant juice. Gu Changhuan was particularly fond of them, and the vast majority ended up in his stomach.

A small portion he reserved for brewing spiritual wine.

Though the fermentation and aging process was simple and the ingredients humble, the resulting wine tasted pleasant enough, even if its Spiritual Qi remained ordinary.

Occasionally, close clansmen would visit with spiritual herbs and Spirit Stones to request pills, and Gu Changhuan never refused fair exchanges.

He had long since reached the level of a high-grade first-tier alchemist. Most requests were for middle-grade first-tier Pills, which he could make with ease, achieving almost the same success rate as Gu Wanhao.

Consequently, an increasing number of clansmen sought him out for pills, quietly earning Gu Changhuan a tidy sum.