Six-star Dou Ling

To Xiao Yan's surprise, Hua She'er had no idea where she had run off to, and Queen Medusa personally delivered the medicinal herbs.

"It looks like you really are badly injured. I see quite a few herbs in this Pill Recipe that replenish blood and Qi and help the body recover."

Xiao Yan did not know whether it was just his imagination, but Queen Medusa's tone sounded remarkably gentle, entirely unlike her usual coldness and decisiveness.

Perhaps it's because I'm 'injured'? The thought flashed through Xiao Yan's mind. After inspecting the delivered medicinal herbs, he sighed helplessly.

"Sigh... Your Majesty, I know you mean well, but some of these herbs are too old. Their medicinal properties are too potent, so they aren't suitable for pill refinement!"

"Ah! Sorry..." Queen Medusa suddenly blushed, lowering her head somewhat shyly. "I'll go prepare another batch with the proper age."

Xiao Yan swallowed an Ice Heart Pill and nodded.

"By the way, what kind of pill is that? I always see you taking it," Queen Medusa suddenly asked.

"...It's a Meridian Protecting Pill. I'm tempering my body with Heavenly Flames and cultivating an Earth-tier Mid-grade Dou Technique. This is an auxiliary pill," Xiao Yan said with a straight face.

"I see. Tempering your body with Heavenly Flames really is terrifying..." Smiling at the corners of her eyes, Queen Medusa suddenly leaned close and stared directly at Xiao Yan. "But why is it that you only take this 'Meridian Protecting Pill' whenever you're with me?"

Caught off guard, Xiao Yan looked at Queen Medusa's bewitchingly beautiful face and smelled her delicate fragrance, nearly standing at attention on the spot.

However, Xiao Yan turned the situation around with his own unique style. "Your Majesty, I have an impertinent question to ask you."

"Oh? Go ahead." Queen Medusa leaned back, putting some distance between them.

Sure enough, just as Queen Medusa expected, Xiao Yan took the initiative to move closer and closed that distance again.

"Your Majesty, do the Snake People Clan lay eggs, or do they directly give birth to snake people? And where exactly do they give birth from?" Xiao Yan asked solemnly.

"?"

Queen Medusa froze.

"I've actually always been curious about this, but there's no record of it in books. The Snake People Clan's waists are longer than ours humans', and their tails are at least several meters long. If they get pregnant, is it in their stomachs or their tai—"

"I'm going to get your herbs."

"Alright."

Watching Queen Medusa activate her Dou Qi Wings and rapidly fly away, Xiao Yan let out a cold laugh. "Good thing I'm a dumbass. Otherwise, I really wouldn't have been able to restrain myself."

At last, Hua She'er delivered medicinal herbs that met the requirements.

"What is it?" Xiao Yan asked when he saw Hua She'er looking as though she wanted to speak but hesitated.

Hua She'er lowered her head and whispered furtively, her voice extremely soft. "Lord Xiao Yan, what did you say to Her Majesty? She flew into a rage after leaving you."

"Oh, it was like this. She just happened to be unable to answer one of my questions..."

Xiao Yan immediately perked up and rambled on at great length.

"Lord Xiao Yan, I think I understand why Her Majesty was angry." Hua She'er's expression turned strange. Queen Medusa dared to give Xiao Yan the cold shoulder, but Hua She'er did not dare, so she could only slink away with a sway of her hips.

"You certainly know how to talk," Old Yao's voice sounded in his heart.

"Teacher, how do you think the Snake People Clan gets pregnan—"

Hearing Old Yao's voice, Xiao Yan switched to questioning him, but got nothing in return.

Feeling rather helpless, Xiao Yan could only temporarily set aside his exploration of science and begin refining the Blood Burning Spirit Ascension Pill, Qi Nourishing Body Recovery Pill, and Blood Generating Pill.

Since the doubts in his heart remained unresolved, Xiao Yan failed to refine even the Fourth Grade Blood Generating Pill with a Pill Pattern, leaving him quite melancholy.

Yet after moping around for half the day without Old Yao offering any comfort, Xiao Yan could only adjust his own mindset. He sat cross-legged on the Green Lotus and swallowed the Blood Burning Spirit Ascension Pill.

An intense bloody scent emanated from Xiao Yan's body. The medicinal power of the Blood Burning Spirit Ascension Pill stirred his blood, causing it to burn continuously before transforming it into streams of blood-colored energy.

These streams of blood-colored energy were fundamentally converted from Xiao Yan's own blood and shared the same origin as his Dou Qi, allowing them to be easily refined and even directly absorbed into his Dou Qi Vortex.

However, the Blood Burning Spirit Ascension Pill's medicinal power did not merely convert blood into Dou Qi—

The true function of this blood-colored energy was to draw World Energy into the consumer's body.

Otherwise, even a genuine Fifth Grade Magical Beast would not be able to withstand using blood in exchange for Dou Qi to break through continuously for an entire month. It would inevitably die from excessive blood loss.

Drawn by the blood-colored energy, the vast World Energy resonated with Xiao Yan's boiling blood and poured into him without end.

Yet as this World Energy approached Xiao Yan, the Green Lotus's power formed a protective barrier around him. It protected Xiao Yan while refining the impure World Energy, making it pure.

Not only that, the disturbance in his blood alerted the Green Lotus Core Flame within Xiao Yan's heart. All the World Energy entering his body flowed with his blood into his heart, where it was transformed before flowing out as azure energy.

After being scorched and transformed by the Green Lotus Core Flame, the resulting azure energy required virtually no effort from Xiao Yan. It merely circulated once according to the Flame Mantra before easily merging into the Dou Qi Vortex, becoming nourishment for the growing Dou Qi Crystal.

As his blood was continuously consumed, Xiao Yan's face grew paler and paler, and the conversion speed began to slow.

With a thought, Xiao Yan swallowed a Blood Generating Pill as well.

Under the Blood Generating Pill's effects, his powerful body began producing blood continuously, compensating for the Blood Burning Spirit Ascension Pill's consumption.

Although the pills replenished his blood in this cycle, the weakness of his body was still unavoidable.

Thus, Xiao Yan swallowed the Qi Nourishing Body Recovery Pill as well.

After entering his stomach, the Qi Nourishing Body Recovery Pill transformed into a thin white mist of energy that slowly dispersed into every corner of Xiao Yan's body, replenishing his Origin.

The Blood Burning Spirit Ascension Pill's restrictions were truly severe. Even a genuine Dou Wang needed to spend continuous time refining the World Energy pouring into their body.

Of course, this also gave the body a chance to catch its breath, since it did not need to consume blood at every moment.

But Xiao Yan was different. The Green Lotus Throne, the Green Lotus Core Flame, and the Flame Mantra, which had evolved into an Earth Grade Cultivation Method, could easily process the impure World Energy and directly promote the growth of his cultivation.

This caused Xiao Yan's blood to be consumed at a rate far beyond normal.

However, with the Qi Nourishing Body Recovery Pill and the Blood Generating Pill working together, the problem of excessive blood loss was perfectly resolved...

Half a month later.

Because he had consistently maintained a relatively high rate of blood consumption, in just half a month, almost all of the Blood Burning Spirit Ascension Pill's medicinal power had been used up.

Yet, under the effects of one Blood Generating Pill each day and one Qi Nourishing Body Recovery Pill every three days, Xiao Yan's complexion remained rosy and healthy.

Xiao Yan pressed on in one go, consuming every last trace of the Blood Burning Spirit Ascension Pill's medicinal power. After undergoing three rounds of refinement, the vast energy poured into his Dou Qi Vortex.

After devouring this energy, the Dou Qi Crystal finally broke through once more, retracting one of its spikes.

Xiao Yan suddenly opened his eyes, and a powerful aura burst forth. After half a month of cultivation, Xiao Yan had astonishingly reached the level of a Six-star Dou Ling!