BTTH : genius planner

Half a month later.

On the mountain where Lin Yuan was refining medicine, after a flurry of movements, the calm Lin Yuan flicked Ziyan's forehead, who was panting heavily, and chuckled, "Ziyan, this is the seventh time, right?"

Hearing this, Ziyan directly lay down on the grass, resting for a while. Feeling a bit deflated, she looked at Lin Yuan and mumbled, "How come you're so strong? And you're getting stronger and stronger. Clearly, my cultivation level should be a bit higher than yours."

"Strength isn't the only factor that determines the outcome of a battle; environment and tactics are also important. Your fighting style is too direct. You rely solely on your cultivation and physical strength. It's fine when facing someone with lower cultivation, but it's dangerous when facing someone with higher cultivation or someone who is not much different from you but is very skilled in combat," Lin Yuan commented.

During this half month, Lin Yuan spent his time refining medicine, helping Ziyan concoct pills and snacks, and sparring with her.

Ziyan was somewhat unconvinced after losing to Lin Yuan in their first encounter. She felt that Lin Yuan's cultivation wasn't higher than hers and believed she lost simply due to carelessness. Wanting to win back her pride, she continuously challenged Lin Yuan. Over the past month, they had fought several times, and each time Ziyan was easily defeated by Lin Yuan. This time was already the seventh.

"What should I do then?" Ziyan asked, a bit confused.

"Two methods: First, improve your cultivation level to overwhelm others with absolute strength. If the gap in strength is large enough, you won't have to worry about these things; second, learn a few combat techniques that suit you to refine your fighting style. For you, focusing on improving your cultivation level is the priority right now!"

"So, it means I should eat more pills and level up quickly, right? I understand! Brother Lin Yuan, I've run out of pills. Please help me refine some more. I want to eat more and level up faster," Ziyan said, suddenly enlightened, as she got up and looked at Lin Yuan with a mischievous smile.

"Usually, you call me Lin Yuan, but when you want something, it's Brother Lin or Brother Lin Yuan. You little girl! I really can't do anything with you," Lin Yuan said, rubbing his forehead helplessly, then playfully ruffled Ziyan's hair. Although he complained, his body was honest and headed towards the medicine cauldron to prepare pills for Ziyan.

Ziyan watched Lin Yuan's back as he refined the pills, her eyes narrowing slightly, and a beautiful smile crept onto her face.

Ten days later.

"Done!" With the last batch of pills completed, Lin Yuan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief under the starlight. He had finished all the fourth-grade and below pills assigned by Elder Huo, and the amount he was submitting to the academy was even more than required. Additionally, due to Lin Yuan's high success rate in refining, there were quite a few leftover materials, which naturally belonged to him.

Originally, Lin Yuan planned to complete this refining task in 2-3 months, as the quantity was indeed considerable. However, thanks to his optimized techniques and increased experience (Lin Yuan could now directly use the Qingling Flame to refine dozens of materials simultaneously), his efficiency in pill refining skyrocketed, allowing him to complete the task ahead of schedule.

After putting away the pills, Lin Yuan pondered, "After submitting this batch of pills, the higher-ups should be convinced of my refining abilities. After all, the success rate is so high, and the quality is excellent. It will be reasonable for me to request materials for fifth-grade pills next."

Suddenly, Lin Yuan's expression changed as he felt the bottleneck in his body loosen. He immediately sat cross-legged and began to channel his energy to break through the bottleneck.

The next day, just as the sun rose, a powerful fighting spirit erupted from Lin Yuan's body. He opened his eyes while sitting cross-legged, revealing a hint of satisfaction in his gaze.

"Three-Star Battle King, I've made it."

Ziyan, who was awakened by Lin Yuan's breakthrough, yawned and sleepily looked at him, "So early, what are you doing?"

"Getting ready, Ziyan. We're preparing to go back to the academy!" Lin Yuan turned to Ziyan and said.

Upon hearing this, Ziyan became fully alert and hurriedly asked, "Why do we have to go back? Isn't it nice here?"

She had been enjoying her time lately, with Lin Yuan refining various delicious pills for her. After eating, she could just lie down and digest without having to sneak around looking for materials. Once she finished eating, she could just act cute towards Lin Yuan. When bored, she could also spar with him, and Lin Yuan spoiled her quite a bit.

"It's not that it's not nice here, but it's that you enjoy your days of eating and sleeping too much! If this continues, I'll become a poor guy and won't be able to support you anymore," Lin Yuan said, pinching Ziyan's cheek and complaining. A small portion of the surplus from refining for the academy had turned into Ziyan's snacks.

Ziyan touched the back of her head and smiled sheepishly at his words.

Over these days, their relationship had progressed significantly, and their interactions were increasingly resembling that of very close siblings.

"Let's go!" After Lin Yuan finished speaking, he spread his azure fire wings and soared into the sky, flying towards the inner courtyard. Ziyan followed suit, spreading her purple wings to keep up.

Upon returning to the inner courtyard, Lin Yuan headed straight for the Grand Elder's office. Just as he reached the building's entrance, Ziyan, who had been closely following him, suddenly reacted, her expression changing as she turned to run.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of Ziyan, blocking her path. The person was Elder Su Qian, the Grand Elder of the inner courtyard, who was fuming, "You little girl, you've been out there for so long, and now that you're back, you want to run? Are you trying to drive me crazy?"

Seeing that she was blocked by the Grand Elder, Ziyan jumped and hid behind Lin Yuan, then stuck out her tongue at Su Qian, saying, "I knew you would scold me when you saw me, so I wanted to run! Hmph."

The Grand Elder seemed to be choked by Ziyan's words, his face turning red. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. Lin Yuan watched with interest, finding their exchange quite amusing. They were like a mischievous granddaughter and a lecturing grandfather. Although their conversation was heated, the underlying affection was genuine. Perhaps only Ziyan could make the usually composed Grand Elder show such expressions!

Once he calmed down, Su Qian looked at Lin Yuan and asked, "Lin Yuan, did you come here for something? Also, how did you two end up together?"

Lin Yuan replied, "I came here because Elder Huo assigned me the task of refining pills, and I've completed all the fourth-grade and below pills. I'm here to submit them to the Grand Elder. The pills are in this storage ring." He then handed a storage ring to Su Qian.

Su Qian took the storage ring and inspected it. He found a large quantity of high-quality third and fourth-grade pills inside. Even without being a pill refiner, he could tell the quality was excellent. He couldn't help but exclaim, "Although I heard from Elder Huo about your talent in pill refining, I didn't expect you to produce so many high-quality pills in just two months. It seems that fifth-grade pills won't be a problem for you now. Impressive!"

"Thank you for the praise, Grand Elder. It's all thanks to the academy's support!" Lin Yuan humbly nodded, then continued, "As for Ziyan and me, here's the situation..."

Lin Yuan then recounted the events of the past few days to Su Qian, mainly expressing that he really liked Ziyan and had always wanted a younger sister like her.

Su Qian listened without suspicion. After all, Lin Yuan had just arrived at the inner courtyard, and there was no possibility or motive for him to scheme against Ziyan. Moreover, his fondness for Ziyan resonated with Su Qian, who, despite teasing her, genuinely cared for the quirky little girl.

Looking at Ziyan, who was bored and kicking the ground, Su Qian couldn't help but scold her, "You troublesome girl, I've told you not to take other people's things without permission. Luckily, it was Lin Yuan this time. What if it were someone else with a worse temper who was stronger than you?"

As he spoke, he couldn't help but worry. He knew Ziyan's knack for getting into trouble. While he could generally manage things within the inner courtyard, he wondered what would happen outside. After thinking for a moment, he looked at Lin Yuan and, recalling Ziyan's obsession with the pills he refined, suddenly had an idea. He took out a scroll from his storage ring and handed it to Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan took the scroll, puzzled, and Su Qian cleared his throat and explained, "I have a favor to ask of you. I've heard that you're quite skilled at researching combat techniques, and this is a scroll of movement techniques that I've collected. I hope you can teach Ziyan this technique. Since she loves the pills you refine, if she doesn't practice seriously, you shouldn't help her refine pills. Let's see if she takes it seriously."

"Old man, don't meddle in my affairs! I don't want to learn any combat techniques; it's such a hassle. Lin Yuan, don't listen to him," Ziyan said, getting anxious. Her beautiful eyes glared at Su Qian, the old man who wanted to take away her food.

"You cause so much trouble; if you don't learn combat techniques, how will you escape when you get into trouble in the future? You get impatient when I ask you to practice; let's see how you handle it this time," Su Qian shot back, glaring at Ziyan. He then turned to Lin Yuan and said earnestly, "Lin Yuan, you're very sensible and understand Ziyan well. You should know what is best for her!"

"Don't worry, Grand Elder. I'll take on this task," Lin Yuan nodded and agreed to the Grand Elder's request. Upon hearing Lin Yuan agree, Ziyan immediately showed a look of despair.

"Very well, thank you. Is there anything you need help with?" Seeing Ziyan's dejected expression, Su Qian knew he had successfully managed her and felt quite pleased. He turned to Lin Yuan and asked.

Lin Yuan thought for a moment and then cupped his hands, asking Su Qian, "Grand Elder, could you help me keep an eye out for any secret techniques that can temporarily boost strength and high-level body refining combat techniques?"

"Oh? Secret techniques for temporarily boosting strength and high-level body refining combat techniques? I'll help you keep an eye out for that," Su Qian stroked his beard, thought for a moment, and agreed. He then looked at Ziyan, "Ziyan, study hard. You'll understand that this is all for your own good! I have to go busy myself now." With that, he vanished without waiting for Ziyan to respond.

"Is it the Battle Sect?" Lin Yuan thought to himself as he looked at the disappearing figure. He glanced at the scroll in his hand and used his spiritual perception to examine it. "High-level movement technique of the Xuan rank, Cloud Dragon Dance."

Looking at Ziyan, who was still sulking, Lin Yuan patted her head, "Let's go, Ziyan."

"I don't want to go anywhere!" Ziyan replied sulkily, kicking the ground with her head down.

Seeing Ziyan acting like a spoiled child, Lin Yuan couldn't help but chuckle to himself, thinking, "She really is just a kid." He then playfully said, "Don't you want to eat something even more delicious and energy-packed? Then I'll just leave."

"I want to eat!" Ziyan immediately replied, her expression changing to one of anticipation in an instant. Seeing her change of mood so quickly, Lin Yuan couldn't help but realize he had been tricked by this little rascal.

"Let's go! We're heading to the beast habitat in the back mountain," Lin Yuan said to Ziyan as he spread his fire wings.

"Why are we going there? Didn't you say you were going to make me food?" Ziyan asked, puzzled, as she also spread her fighting spirit wings.

"Of course, we're going to 'borrow' some things from the beasts in the back mountain. After all, to make you something delicious, I need some quality ingredients," Lin Yuan chuckled, flapping his fire wings and shooting out, with Ziyan following closely behind.

Two streaks of light, one blue and one purple, cut through the sky, flying towards the beast area in the back mountain of the inner courtyard.

**(End of Chapter)**