Steadily Moving Forward

Before long, all four Purple Leaf Orchid Grass plants had been refined into a thumb-sized mass of medicinal liquid.

Old Yao then refined the Bone Cleansing Flower and the Magical Core, finally fusing all the materials together into a single drop of jade-like liquid.

"Teacher, is it finished already? How do you tell whether this kind of liquid medicine has Pill Patterns?" Xiao Yan widened his eyes and carefully examined the drop of liquid, but he could not make heads or tails of it.

"...Medicinal liquid and medicinal powder aren't pills in their final form, so they don't have Pill Patterns." Old Yao was somewhat speechless. Why was it so hard to show off in front of his disciple?

"Oh, I see. Then, Teacher, how do I use this thing? I remember that those who haven't become Dou Zhe can't use pills." Xiao Yan continued asking.

"Ordinary Dou Qi cannot use pills, but your body is far stronger than that of an ordinary Dou Zhe, so—"

With a flick of his finger, Old Yao sent the medicinal liquid flying into a bucket in the room. Then he said, "Get in and cultivate in the water."

Xiao Yan nodded, stripped naked, jumped into the water, and began cultivating his Dou Qi.

A powerful suction force formed a vortex within the bucket. Not only did the energy in the water rush into Xiao Yan's body, but World Energy from the room also streamed into him without end.

"Good thing I didn't boast in advance. At this cultivation speed, this drop of medicinal liquid won't last until two months from now. It'll be used up in one month at most."

Old Yao muttered softly, then took out several portions of Medicinal Herbs from his Storage Ring.

The Xiao Family had never lacked medicinal powder over the years, laying a solid physical foundation for Xiao Yan. The current Xiao Yan could fully handle some First Grade Pills.

Old Yao just so happened to possess a set of Pill Recipes specially designed to improve physical strength. From the first grade to the fifth grade, they corresponded to Dou Zhe through Dou Wang. If taken repeatedly as a set, they could even have some effect on Dou Emperors and Dou Zongs.

As for the drawbacks, they were obvious as well. The pills had to be taken multiple times before significant results could be achieved, and each pill consumed more Medicinal Herbs than pills of the same grade. Ordinary people simply could not afford them.

Of course, that clearly was not a problem with the Pill Recipe. It was a problem with the user...

"First Grade Pills: Stone Skin Pill and Muscle Augmentation Pill. Second Grade Pills: Jade Skin Pill and Blood Vitalizing Powder. Third Grade Pills: Bone Forging Pill and Marrow Cleansing Pill. Fourth Grade Pills: Viscera Dispersing Powder and Meridian Unblocking Pill."

"Teacher, I'm only at the mid-stage Great Perfection of the fifth stage of Dou Qi right now, and I'm still some distance from the sixth stage. Won't I explode and die if I take Fourth Grade Pills?"

A month later, Xiao Yan had used up the Foundation Building Spirit Liquid and successfully broken through the fifth stage. Then Old Yao took out eight pills and told Xiao Yan to eat them.

"These pills have gentle medicinal effects and work slowly. The lower your cultivation and the younger you are, the better the results when taking them."

"If you took just those two Fourth Grade Pills on their own, you'd be dead for sure. But if you take all eight pills together, their medicinal properties will restrain and merge with one another, giving you a buffer period."

"After observing you for this past month, your body is strong enough to endure it. Just eat them without worry."

Old Yao's words brought Xiao Yan a measure of comfort. So Xiao Yan steeled himself, shut his eyes, and swallowed all eight pills in one gulp.

After a while, Xiao Yan opened his eyes in confusion. "Teacher, why don't I feel anything?"

"What do you expect to feel? These pills weren't meant to produce obvious improvements in the first place. But over the next... half a year or so, your physical condition will improve drastically."

"Enough. Don't waste the medicinal effects. You'll probably need to reach the eighth stage of Dou Qi before you can take another set of pills. If the effects end and your cultivation still isn't high enough, then figure out how to refine pills yourself!"

Old Yao's teasing voice sounded like a devil's whisper to Xiao Yan. Going from the fifth stage to the eighth stage in half a year... actually, that did not seem too difficult?

Xiao Yan prepared a bucket of clean water, added Foundation Building Spirit Liquid, and fell into thought.

One drop of Foundation Building Spirit Liquid per month—twice the normal rate. In the original story, Xiao Yan had cultivated from the third stage to the eighth stage in a year. Now, going from the fifth stage to the eighth in half a year or so really did not seem like much of a problem.

Sitting cross-legged in the wooden bucket and submerged in the greenish liquid, Xiao Yan noticed that something was wrong as soon as he began cultivating.

As World Energy entered his body, a faint swelling pain spread throughout him. Upon closer feeling, it also seemed to be an itchy numbness.

Had the pills' effects begun?

With that thought in mind, Xiao Yan endured the discomfort and continued immersing himself in cultivation.

However, the various discomforts made it difficult for Xiao Yan to enter a deep cultivation state. After just an hour, the pain in his body forced him out of it.

"Urgh... hiss." Xiao Yan bared his teeth as he climbed out of the wooden bucket. Every part of his body felt like it was rebelling. If he stayed still, his entire body ached and swelled; if he moved even slightly, the pain pierced his heart.

"You've absorbed the medicinal power fairly well, though it still hasn't reached my expectations. Looks like you need to supplement it with Dou Technique training—from tomorrow onward, you'll practice Eight Extremes Collapse to promote the absorption of the medicinal power."

Old Yao's voice rang out, and a flood of information immediately appeared in Xiao Yan's mind. It was the High Profound Tier Dou Technique, Eight Extremes Collapse.

Xiao Yan pulled a long face. His body already hurt, yet he still had to practice a Dou Technique that required physical strength. Cultivation was too painful. I want cheats.

However, Xiao Yan's only cheats were Old Yao and the soul that had become stronger than ordinary people's after crossing into this world. There was no system that made him stronger just by checking in, so he could only cultivate in misery.

"Teacher, why does practicing Eight Extremes Collapse by slamming into rocks and wooden posts feel so good?"

"Oh? I never expected you to have such a hobby."

→_→

"Hahaha, enough teasing. It's because Eight Extremes Collapse promotes the absorption of the medicinal power. Your body can clearly feel itself becoming stronger, so it feeds back a sensation of 'pleasure' to you."

"If it were an Earth Tier Dou Technique specifically meant for body tempering, the effects would be even more obvious. Unfortunately, your little body can't handle it. Otherwise, I could just find a volcano, kick you into it, and have you temper your body with lava."

"Tempering my body with lava? If you want me dead, just say so."

"What the hell do you know? If I hadn't cultivated that Dou Technique to mastery back then, the risks of refining Heavenly Flames would have been at least twenty percent higher!"

"Then may I ask what cultivation you had when you practiced that Earth Tier Dou Technique?"

"The weather is really nice today."

"..."

Ignoring that shameless old man, Xiao Yan exhausted all the Dou Qi in his body before dragging his utterly exhausted self back to his little nest. After washing himself clean, he jumped into the wooden bucket and cultivated his Dou Qi.

With his Dou Qi completely depleted, all the Meridians in Xiao Yan's body entered a parched state, greatly increasing their demand for World Energy. Xiao Yan's cultivation speed rose sharply.

At the same time, his body continued digesting the pills he had swallowed under the cleansing flow of World Energy, and his physical condition slowly improved.

The greatest changes were in his skin. Its hardness and flexibility both increased, while his speed of absorbing World Energy also seemed to have risen slightly.