I'm a Grunt Now Too
In the dense forest, a slightly thin-looking boy stood with a calm expression and cold eyes.
Xiao Yan calmly looked at the team in front of him, holding a large, wide ruler in one hand, hovering steadily in mid-air, unleashing a violent and destructive aura without restraint.
Yang Hao stared solemnly at the azure flames wrapped around the giant ruler, recognizing it as the Green Lotus Core Flame, ranked nineteenth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking. His eyes were filled with disbelief.
Faced with Xiao Yan's provocation, Yang Hao did not respond directly—he was not confident of defeating Xiao Yan.
Yang Hao is only Four-Star Dou Ling now. Although his star level is higher than Xiao Yan's, he finds the Heavenly Flames, which can seriously injure someone with just a touch, extremely troublesome.
Of course, if he called upon the ten Da Dou Shi behind him, they could definitely suppress Xiao Yan if they attacked together, or at the very least, exhaust his Dou Qi and defeat him.
However, Yang Hao couldn't bring himself to win using such methods—a pride unique to the Gu Clan.
After confronting Xiao Yan for several breaths, seeing that the raging blue flames showed no signs of weakening, and that Ling Quan Dou Qi Armor was becoming increasingly blurry, as if it might melt at any moment, Yang Hao could only say in a deep voice, "We underestimated you this time, we admit defeat."
Xiao Yan tilted his head, flicked the Heavy Black Ruler in his hand, and put it back on his back. The azure flame did not retract, but instead enveloped Xiao Yan's entire body.
Yang Hao stared intently at Xiao Yan. The ball of blue flame was constantly radiating terrifying heat, but even after Xiao Yan finished collecting the herbs and left, not a single blade of grass under his feet was ignited, and there wasn't even a trace of yellowing.
"The control over this flame..."
Yang Hao grew increasingly wary. The Heavenly Flames was indeed incredibly powerful, but it was also too powerful to control. Xiao Yan's ability to control the Green Lotus Core Flame to this extent was nothing short of astonishing.
At this moment, Ling Quan finally crawled out of the ground, looked at Xiao Yan's departing figure, and said resentfully, "I'll let you be smug for a while. Without the Dou Di Bloodline, your cultivation speed will never be as fast as mine!"
Yang Hao agreed with this and patted Ling Quan on the shoulder, saying, "When you reach the Dou Zong, Xiao Yan may not be able to break through to the Dou Emperor. A temporary setback is nothing. He is only able to suppress us temporarily by relying on the advantage of the Heavenly Flames."
"However, since you lost to him this time, your resources will probably be reduced in the future," Yang Hao said after offering words of comfort.
Gu Clan value martial prowess; a loss is a loss, especially one-on-one where Ling Quan was instantly killed. He will definitely be punished.
Ling Quan had no objection to this, but his expression grew even more somber...
Surrounded by the Green Lotus Core Flame, Xiao Yan returned to the mountaintop step by step, his mind heavy with worries.
Although Xiao Yan was confident, he was never arrogant. At least half of the reason he was able to defeat Ling Quan this time was because Ling Quan underestimated him, and the other half was because the Green Lotus Core Flame was unmatched at the Dou Ling stage.
Facing Ling Quan's attack, Xiao Yan neither dodged nor evaded. Unfortunately, the Long Spear was aimed directly at the Green Lotus Core Flame residing in Xiao Yan's chest cavity, triggering a counterattack from the Green Lotus Core Flame. This caught Ling Quan off guard, allowing Xiao Yan to easily win the battle.
If only one Dou Ling relay is left, Xiao Yan will have no choice but to take medicine and fight again.
"The Dou Di Bloodline..."
Xiao Yan felt somewhat powerless. Several of the squad leaders who didn't have the surname Gu were all at the Dou Ling. Even Xun'er, who had wasted more than ten years, had already broken through to the Dou Wang level. The core members who had the surname Gu were probably all at the Dou Wang level.
There are even some Dou Emperor among them.
What's the point of even hitting it then!
The claims about suppressing the younger generation of the Gu Clan to the point of suffocation, and the fifth-ranked Life Spirit Flame, are just empty promises. Anyone who believes them is a fool!
Feeling rather dejected, Xiao Yan climbed back to the mountaintop, took a few seconds to compose himself, took a deep breath of the abundant World Energy of the Ancient Realm, and began to think about the Beast Flame.
This mountainous region is not lacking in fifth and Sixth Grade Beast Flame, and even Seventh Grade Beast Flame is not uncommon. However, if one wants to advance the Flame Mantra without relying on Heavenly Flames, those "low-level" Beast Flame are like a drop in the ocean. It is likely that only Eighth-tier Beast Flame can be effective.
The Gu Clan certainly possess Eighth-tier Beast Flame, but if you think you can obtain an Eighth-tier Beast Flame by defeating a Dou Ling, you might as well go to sleep.
Xiao Yan didn't think for long before starting the Medicinal Bath again— Old Yao had a fairly complete Medicinal Bath program that could not only nourish the body and replenish the source of energy, but also greatly increase the speed of cultivation.
Of course, compared to directly swallowing Pills, Medicinal Bath are less effective and require a much larger quantity of Medicinal Herbs. However, Medicinal Bath do not cause the problem of Floating Dou Qi, so in the long run, Medicinal Bath are still more desirable.
According to Old Yao, the Medicinal Bath is enough to support Xiao Yan's rapid breakthrough to the Dou Wang realm. At that time, the effect of the Medicinal Bath will be reduced, and when he reaches the Dou Huang Realm, the Medicinal Bath will be almost ineffective.
The reason for this is that the Dou Wang realm allows them to control the World Energy within a small area to a certain extent, whether it is to restore Dou Qi or to refine it to break through their realm.
These World Energy are vast but mottled, requiring refinement, and therefore cannot be combined with Medicinal Bath.
In the blink of an eye, a year has passed.
During that year, Xiao Yan spent ten months breaking through to the Nine-Star Dou Ling Peak, and then went into seclusion for two months, successfully breaking through to the Dou Wang.
Reaching the Dou Wang realm means being on a completely different level from before.
The Dou Qi of Dou Wang expert is no longer confined to the Dou Crystal, but flows into the meridians of the limbs. When mobilized, the Dou Qi of the whole body is condensed, eliminating the need for a Dou Crystal to respond.
The scattered Dou Qi, when added to the originally fragile physical body, greatly enhances the body's resistance to attacks, vitality, and recovery ability.
At the same time, Dou Wang expert can control the World Energy to a certain extent, driving his Dou Qi Wings to fly, greatly increasing his endurance and agility.
In the Jia Ma Empire, Dou Ling are a dime a dozen, while Dou Wang number only around a hundred at most, representing the true strength and foundation of the empire.
In the Northwest Continent, the number of Dou Wang expert is also one of the important standards for distinguishing the strength of a force.
Even in the Central Continent, Dou Wang expert are the vanguard soldiers who can play a role in the struggle between forces. For example, one of the requirements for regular soldiers of the Black Annihilation Army is that their cultivation must reach the Dou Wang level. And the Soul Hall, which fights against the Black Annihilation Army, also has a group of Dou Wang as its assistants.
It is said that the Inner Courtyard of the Jia Nan Academy is sought after by many Dou Zong families in the Central Continent because it has a shortcut to help Dou Ling break through to Dou Wang. People travel thousands of miles to the Jia Nan Academy to study.
Having broken through to the Dou Wang realm, Xiao Yan could be considered a somewhat useful soldier.
Not long after Xiao Yan broke through to the Dou Wang, and before he had fully become familiar with the power of this realm, his half-father-in-law, the master of empty promises, Gu Yuan, quietly arrived at this Little Medicine Mountain.