Boom!
A tremendous explosion rang out in the mountains behind the academy.
Immediately afterward, a figure was hurled away by the blast and slammed into a giant tree.
Xiao Yao landed on the ground with practiced ease and coughed twice. His injuries healed in the blink of an eye.
He looked at the center of the explosion, where a deep crater had been left behind.
Xiao Yao had originally planned to use that third-tier Magic Core as a test subject, but after thinking it over, he decided it was too extravagant.
Besides, if anything went wrong, the force unleashed by a third-tier Magic Core would clearly be even greater.
After all, if a magical beast had the presence of mind to self-destruct, it would surely detonate its own Magic Core.
If he recklessly tinkered with a third-tier Magic Core and actually caused it to explode, the force would be equivalent to a Third-Rank Magical Beast's self-destruction.
Xiao Yao didn't want to play with fire like that, so he started by experimenting with some first-tier Magic Cores.
The result was that Xiao Yao had been blasted away again and again over the past few days.
Even first-tier Earth Attribute Magic Cores, which had the property of holding energy, were dangerous.
After all, no matter how well they could hold energy, the energy inside a Magic Core was still extremely violent.
That violent energy was something even a Dou Wang expert wouldn't dare absorb into the body lightly.
Xiao Yao trying to pour his own energy into one was like lighting a powder keg; naturally, it exploded at the slightest touch.
Xiao Yao glanced at his tattered clothes and shook his head, making no further attempts.
Over the past few days, he had tried Magic Cores of every attribute, but none had worked.
Even Fire Attribute Magic Cores, which were closest to his Yang Attribute, exploded at the slightest touch.
Xiao Yao sat cross-legged on the ground and scratched his head. He took out the third-tier Magic Core and examined it closely, sensing the violent energy it contained.
Magic Cores were used extensively on the Dou Qi Continent.
Normally, the violent energy inside a Magic Core couldn't be absorbed, but a medicine refiner could combine it with various medicinal ingredients to neutralize that energy, turning it into pills that increased strength.
Besides being used to refine medicine, Magic Cores could also be embedded in weapons to increase their power, or in armor to enhance its defense.
With so many uses, demand for Magic Cores naturally outstripped supply.
Xiao Yao had squandered dozens of Magic Cores over the past few days. Even though they had all been first-tier, he had still sent tens of thousands of gold coins down the drain.
Even Xiao Yao couldn't bear to squander a third-tier Magic Core. They were generally worth at least 200,000 gold coins apiece.
Thus, Xiao Yao merely used his soul power to carefully sense the third-tier Magic Core.
As Xiao Yao probed deeper, he noticed that the energy within the Magic Core was escaping at an almost imperceptible rate.
Xiao Yao's eyes lit up. Since the violent energy inside a Magic Core exploded as soon as it was touched, couldn't he simply find some empty Magic Cores to store energy in?
Once that line of thought opened up, Xiao Yao immediately recalled something he had read in an ancient text.
Magic Cores that had lost their energy could be made into ornamental jewelry to display one's status.
They could also be made into Magic Core bottles through a secret method and used to store certain special energies of heaven and earth.
Even some high-tier medicinal pills were kept in such Magic Core bottles.
It was like facing a difficult problem and trying many different solutions, until a flash of inspiration opened a new line of thought, linking all his previous knowledge together and revealing a new solution.
Realizing this, Xiao Yao immediately searched the shops in Jia Nan City and soon bought dozens of Magic Cores.
Xiao Yao had carefully picked through them, making sure the Magic Cores themselves were undamaged and that only the energy inside had drained away. Otherwise, he could have bought even more.
He tried pouring his own energy into an empty Magic Core, and it went smoothly!
Xiao Yao was delighted. This was far better than before, when the cores had exploded violently as soon as he fed in a trace of energy.
In less than a moment, Xiao Yao had filled an empty first-tier Magic Core.
He held the Magic Core, shining with golden light, before his eyes and sensed the solar energy in it, nodding in satisfaction.
Xiao Yao attached a wisp of Dou Qi to it, then flicked it away.
With a boom, it blasted a boulder dozens of zhang away to pieces, and violent energy swept outward.
Even from so far away, Xiao Yao could feel its searing heat.
Its power was equivalent to the self-destruction of a first-tier magical beast, if not greater.
That was because even when a first-tier magical beast detonated its Magic Core, the core exploded inside its body, and the beast's own flesh absorbed part of the blast. Naturally, it wasn't as powerful as detonating the Magic Core directly.
"Haha! It worked!"
A delighted smile spread across Xiao Yao's face.
The solar energy had circulated through Xiao Yao's body, and even without refining it into Dou Qi, he had gained a great deal of control over it, so that only his own Dou Qi could serve as the medium to detonate it.
That would prevent it from being used against his own people if it fell into an outsider's hands.
Xiao Yao went on to make several more Magic Cores and studied them further.
Since they were filled with solar energy, Xiao Yao named them Sun Magic Cores.
Admittedly, the Magic Cores Xiao Yao made had the same drawback as natural ones: their energy would gradually escape over time.
But that wasn't a major problem.
At worst, Xiao Yao could learn one of the continent's secret Magic Core storage techniques, which should effectively slow the loss of energy.
After trying many first- and second-tier Magic Cores in succession, Xiao Yao finally turned his gaze to the highest-tier Magic Core he had purchased this time.
An empty fourth-tier Magic Core.
Even empty, a fourth-tier Magic Core was worth quite a bit and had cost Xiao Yao a good number of gold coins.
But if he could fill it with energy, he would make a huge profit.
The self-destruction of a fourth-tier Magic Core was no joke. Even a Dou Wang expert might suffer a serious setback if caught off guard.
Xiao Yao began pouring a continuous stream of energy into it. At that moment, he was like a pool being drained and filled at the same time, pouring energy into the Magic Core while absorbing solar energy to replenish his Dou Qi.
But even while pouring energy into a fourth-tier Magic Core, Xiao Yao couldn't use it up as fast as his Qi recovered.
While Xiao Yao was locked in a struggle with the fourth-tier Magic Core, Xun'er, dressed in an academy uniform, came over to him, looking lovely.
The uniform could be seen everywhere in the academy, but on Xun'er, it looked entirely different, lending her an air of nobility and mystery.
"Brother Xiao Yao, it's almost time for your match. Once this round is over, the knockout stage will end here."
Xiao Yao stopped pouring energy into the fourth-tier Magic Core and rose to his feet, intending to go with Xun'er.
But Xun'er covered her mouth and chuckled. "Brother Xiao Yao, you should change your clothes first. Otherwise, it might damage the image you've built up as a prominent figure these past few days."
Xiao Yao looked down at his clothes. Though they weren't as tattered as they had been when he was experimenting with Magic Cores over the previous days, he still looked somewhat unkempt.
Xiao Yao smiled, took off his outer garment, and casually pulled a uniform from his Storage Ring and put it on. Then he headed to the competition plaza with Xun'er.
Today was the final round of the knockout stage, which would determine the top fifty. The advancement matches afterward were only to compete for the top five places.