Advancing to Da Dou Shi

He curled his fingers into claws, and a suction force surged from his palm. The golden Great Sun Glazed True Fire coiled around the Yin-Yang Dual Flame.

The first to be invaded was the yang flame of the Yin-Yang Dual Flame. Its originally pure white blaze was gradually tainted gold.

The entire process went far more smoothly than Xiao Yang had anticipated.

That was because the Yin-Yang Dual Flame was simply too weak now.

It had already been refined once before and had left its birthplace. Relying solely on the energy within its original flame seed, it was nothing more than water without a source, a tree without roots. After being sealed for so many years, it was long past its prime.

Moreover, Xiao Yang had devoured the soul of its former master, making control over the Yin-Yang Dual Flame effortless.

Even the nineteenth-ranked Green Lotus Core Flame could be suppressed by Medusa Queen, a Peak Dou Emperor. The Yin-Yang Dual Flame was another two tiers weaker—only at the level of a Three-Star Dou Emperor.

As the Yin-Yang Dual Flame was refined into his body, the Dou Qi within Xiao Yang began to stir.

After the Yin-Yang Dual Flame was absorbed by the Great Sun Glazed True Fire, its remaining energy was likewise refined by Xiao Yang into Dou Qi. Everything fell naturally into place as he thoroughly broke through the barrier between Dou Shi and Da Dou Shi!

Xiao Yang changed his hand seals and began compressing the liquid Dou Qi in his body, condensing it into a solid form!

As Xiao Yang's hand seals shifted, the vortex within him first fell silent in an instant. A moment later, ripples suddenly began spreading across its surface. The fluctuations grew increasingly violent until, in the end, it resembled boiling water. Bubbles of azure waves continuously seeped out from the center of the vortex...

The instant the energy ripples began to fluctuate, the slowly rotating vortex also quietly accelerated. The acceleration lasted an exceedingly short time—less than ten seconds—and the once lazy, tranquil vortex transformed into a rapidly spinning whirlpool!

Its high-speed rotation created rings of dark golden arcs around the vortex. The humming sound produced by its rotation slowly spread through his body. Those sounds, which seemed to contain some mysterious rhythm, passed through his meridians, penetrated his bones, and fused into his cells!

At this moment, the energy within his Dou Qi vortex had already reached its limit. This also meant that his advancement had arrived at its most critical juncture.

The wildly spinning vortex had become a vague dark golden shadow. As it spun at such tremendous speed, the liquid Dou Qi within it was rapidly diminishing at a rate visible to the naked eye!

Yet although the energy was decreasing, Xiao Yang could clearly sense that deep within the vortex, a substance containing immense energy was slowly taking shape.

"Almost..."

Time slowly passed. Within the wildly humming vortex, the liquid Dou Qi had gradually run dry. Under Xiao Yang's watchful awareness, a thumb-sized dark golden diamond crystal suddenly rose slowly to the very center of the vortex. It hung there motionless, its faint flickering glimmer revealing the fragility of this newborn thing...

Xiao Yang stared intently at the dark golden diamond crystal. The instant it appeared, he could clearly feel a sense of ease radiating from the depths of his soul. This little thing was the symbol of successfully advancing to Da Dou Shi—the Dou Crystal!

"So that's how it is. A crystallized material form of high-purity energy—this is the essence of a Dou Crystal!"

Xiao Yang understood at once, but he was also deeply shaken.

In the technological world of his previous life, countless people had tirelessly pursued nuclear fusion technology. But a step beyond nuclear fusion was energy materialization!

It meant condensing originally intangible energy and converting it into high-purity energy crystals.

Such energy crystals were the foundation that enabled spacecraft in countless science-fiction works to achieve light-speed travel.

Only such an immense energy source could meet the demands of light-speed travel!

Now, Xiao Yang had achieved it through his own cultivation.

It was precisely because he had such an enormous supply of energy within his body that Xiao Yang could so easily wield enough destructive force to collapse an entire building.

As he personally experienced this immense power, Xiao Yang became absolutely certain that the power of the Battle Through the Heavens world had been severely underestimated.

Many times, the destructive power of the Battle Through the Heavens world appeared weak on the surface because most of that power was blasted directly onto the enemy.

Only a small remaining portion spilled outward and caused destruction.

If one could not even control one's own power properly and could only affect the surrounding environment, then it would be all smoke and no damage. Against a true powerhouse, that would be nothing but a joke.

It was no exaggeration to say that Xiao Yang now possessed the equivalent of a miniature nuclear reactor within his body!

At this moment, the Dou Qi vortex inside Xiao Yang slowly stopped rotating, and the dark golden diamond-shaped Dou Crystal immediately shone brilliantly!

Inside the stone chamber, Xiao Yang's eyes snapped open. Golden light shot from them as he leaped into the air, and an invisible aura immediately swept out from his body!

Afterward, Xiao Yang took the black-and-white metal ore, the size of a human head, from the great cauldron and directly thrust Zangetsu in his hand into it.

That black-and-white ore was Yin-Yang Profound Iron, which had been born alongside the Yin-Yang Dual Flame. It contained the power of both light and darkness.

Xiao Yang's Zangetsu had been condensed entirely from the power of his own soul. After fusing with the Yin-Yang Profound Iron, it would truly possess a complete physical form.

Then, Xiao Yang casually took out the Mystic Bodhi Foundation Pill and swallowed it. The pill melted as soon as it entered his mouth. Its extremely gentle medicinal power, like a steadily flowing spring, poured endlessly into his Dou Crystal before spreading through his limbs and bones.

Before the medicinal power of the Mystic Bodhi Foundation Pill was exhausted, Xiao Yang's cultivation would undergo a rapid rise.

Another two hours passed before Zangetsu finally devoured the entire piece of Yin-Yang Profound Iron. Xiao Yang also packed away every treasure in the stone chamber and stored them in his Xumi Ring.

Once he was done, Xiao Yang left the cave. After carefully comparing the map, he headed toward Black Seal City.

Before leaving the academy, Xiao Yang had already looked into it. The annual auction of Black Seal City would be held soon.

The quality of that auction was quite impressive. At the very least, the final item put up for auction each time was an Earth-Rank Fighting Skill.

In the original story, his older brother had bought Three Thousand Lightning Movement and the Purifying Lotus Demon Fire Remnant Map at the Black Seal City auction.

Naturally, Xiao Yang wanted to try his luck as well.

After leaving the forest, Xiao Yang was fortunate enough to encounter a merchant caravan. He hitched a ride in their carriage and arrived at Black Seal City.

A vast city built from jet-black boulders gradually emerged in the distance, its outline hazy and indistinct. At the four gates of the city, dense clusters of tiny black dots could faintly be seen, like ants converging as they poured into the city's enormous, gaping dark maw.