Chapter 441 - Four Ancient Families "Someone who is a half-dragon is usually a human with dragon blood mixed within their blood. They’re not really dragons, but they have the power of dragons." Feng Yuxiang explained to him. "I see... That explains her unique appearance. A half-dragon, huh? Does this mean there are also half-phoenixes and half-serpents out there as well?" Yuan then asked. "That’s correct." Feng Yuxiang said. "By the way, you said the Four Ancient Families, right? I remember hearing about them at the Dragon Essence Temple. How do they differ from the Seven Legacy Families?" Yuan continued to ask, as he found these powerful families that have existed for thousands of years to be very interesting. "Yes, they’re similar to the Seven Legacy Families in the way that they’re only branches of the main family somewhere in the upper heavens. However, compared to the Seven Legacy Families, the Four Ancient Families are far superior in terms of prowess and influence in the Nine Heavens." "While the Seven Legacy Families would have at most two or three Spirit Grandmasters in each family, the Four Ancient Families have at least 7 Spirit Grandmasters in each family. Furthermore, they have much more resources than the Seven Legacy Families." "However, unlike the Seven Legacy Families that enjoy being in the spotlight, the Four Ancient Families are very secluded and private. They won’t make an appearance unless absolutely necessary." "Then what is someone from the Four Ancient Families doing in this place?" Yuan then asked. "She’s probably doing her trial." "Trial?" "Members of the Four Ancient Families are required to leave the family after they reach a certain age to go on a trial. The trial differs from person to person, but if they are unable to pass the trial in 10 years, they are forced to leave the family, and their cultivation will be crippled before they leave. However, if they pass the trial, they will be allowed to ascend to the next world." "Crippled and forced to leave the family if they fail the trial? That’s even stricter than the Seven Legacy Families..." Yuan was speechless upon hearing this, and he wondered why there are so many families like this in the cultivation world. It was at this moment the door behind him suddenly opened, and Meixiu came running outside in a panicked manner. "Yuan?!" Meixiu didn’t expect Yuan to be sitting right in front of the door and fell on top of him. "Are you okay?" Yuan said to her who was on top of him, and he could feel two round and soft sensations pressing against his body. Meixiu quickly got off his body and stood up with a flushed face. "Looks like you’re finally done with your cultivation. It’s been two days, you know?" Yuan said to her in a calm manner. "I-I am so sorry! I don’t know what happened, but it didn’t feel that long when I was cultivating! I thought only a couple of hours had passed at most!" Meixiu’s habits as a servant kicked in, causing her to lower her body until she was bowing to Yuan. "It’s okay, Meixiu. What you experienced is called enlightenment. You easily lose track of time when you’re in that state, so I don’t blame you. It also happened to me before, so we can call it even with this." Yuan said with a smile on his face. When Meixiu got out of her enlightenment and saw how much time she had left in the room, she almost thought that she was dreaming, so she logged off to see the time, and sure enough, two whole days have passed since she started cultivating. In other words, she didn’t cook food for two straight days, leaving Yuan to starve. This is definitely the biggest blunder she has made in her entire life thus far. Sometime later, they logged off once Meixiu calmed down. After cooking the meal, she went to Yuan’s room whilst still feeling guilty. "I’m sorry, Yuan..." She apologized to him again as she fed him the food. "Don’t worry about it," Yuan said. "Cultivation... It’s dangerous... Especially if this happens again..." Meixiu sighed in a worried voice. "I don’t think you have to worry about that since enlightenment doesn’t happen often. I heard that some people even live their whole life without experiencing enlightenment a single time, and those who have already experienced enlightenment most likely won’t experience it again." Yuan explained to her. "Is that so..." Meixiu was relieved to hear this. "What cultivation are you now after two whole days of cultivation?" Yuan asked her a moment later. "Ninth level Spirit Apprentice," she said. "Peak Spirit Apprentice already?" Yuan was surprised by her progress. "Are you going to try cultivating in the real world now? You might be able to do it since you have plenty of experience now." "I will try later." And she continued, "By the way, how do you improve Soul Strength?" "Soul Strength? Doesn’t it increase as you improve your cultivation?" Yuan said, as he would get Soul Strength alongside other stats every time he had a breakthrough. "Although the other stats have improved, my Soul Strength hasn’t increased since I started cultivation, and I was just wondering if it requires a special method to train that," Meixiu said. "Well... I know that you can improve your Soul Strength with Soul Techniques and treasures, but I’m not sure why your Soul Strength isn’t increasing. Maybe it has something to do with your physique? We can ask Xiao Hua and the others tomorrow." "Okay." Sometime later, after they finished their meal, Meixiu went to her room and tried to cultivate. As for Yuan, he also started cultivating. Inside her room, Meixiu sat in the lotus position on the floor since the bed was soft and uneven, and she was used to cultivating on a hard surface. After taking a deep breath and clearing her mind, Meixiu began reciting the Spirit Severing Technique inside her head, and to her surprise, she was able to remember the technique very easily, unlike previously when she couldn’t even recall the technique no matter how much she tried.