Breaking Through to Dou Zhe

Removing the stopper, a rich medicinal fragrance wafted out, refreshing his spirit.

Tilting the bottle, a jade-green pill the size of a longan rolled out and landed in his palm. Raising it to his nose, Xiao Se greedily inhaled the medicinal fragrance that refreshed his spirit.

Then, he swallowed it in one gulp.

The Qi Gathering Powder melted upon entering his mouth, transforming into a warm, pure energy that surged into Xiao Se's body. In an instant, it spread through all four limbs and hundred meridians.

Xiao Se's body suddenly trembled. His expression soon returned to calm as his hands formed several strange seals, and he began rapidly absorbing the Dou Qi from the outside world.

As soon as the Dou Qi entered his body, it combined with the pure medicinal power of the Qi Gathering Powder within him. After being refined, it transformed into tiny grains of green energy.

In an instant, the Dou Qi throughout the Stone Chamber erupted into unrest. Strands of Dou Qi continuously gathered. A single strand might have been weak enough to be invisible to the naked eye, but a spark could start a prairie fire.

Before long, threads of pale-white Dou Qi had gathered within the Stone Chamber, rushing fiercely into Xiao Se's body through his mouth and nostrils.

For a time, Xiao Se felt more relaxed than ever before. His entire body felt warm and comfortable...

However, as Dou Qi continuously flowed into his body, merged with the pure medicinal power of the Qi Gathering Powder, and was refined into green energy, Xiao Se's face began to twist in agony.

Waves of soreness spread through his meridians. At first, the pain was not particularly intense, but with every additional strand of Dou Qi he absorbed, it grew worse.

In the end, Xiao Se gritted his teeth from the pain.

Fortunately, he had always placed great importance on physical training since childhood, and the strength of his meridians far exceeded that of ordinary people.

The pain was painful, but it could not cause much damage to his meridians.

Finally, the last trace of medicinal power was fully refined.

At that moment, Xiao Se felt as though the meridians throughout his entire body were about to burst. His body was terribly swollen.

Xiao Se inwardly sensed trouble. This is bad. I must condense the Dou Qi Cyclone quickly, or all my efforts will have been for nothing.

He exhaled heavily, formed several strange hand seals, and the surging green energy within his body began to spin violently around the dantian in his lower abdomen, forming a vortex.

The pale-white Dou Qi accumulated throughout his meridians also gathered, continuously flowing into the green vortex.

As all the Dou Qi flowed into his dantian, Xiao Se's Soul Power keenly sensed that the originally green vortex had become milky white.

At this point, Xiao Se knew it was time for the final step.

Compress the Dou Qi.

Calm his breath, steady his mind!

Xiao Se activated his Soul Power perception. Although he was not yet skilled in using it, the strength of his transmigrator's soul had already given him soul perception no weaker than Xiao Yan's three years later.

With the aid of his soul perception, Xiao Se rapidly formed hand seals, and the Dou Qi Cyclone within his dantian gradually shrank.

When the Dou Qi had been compressed to only the size of his palm, it finally stopped changing.

But Xiao Se did not stop. Clenching his teeth, he shouted, "Compress it again!"

Boom...

A not particularly loud rumble quietly sounded within Xiao Se's body, and the Dou Qi Cyclone was successfully condensed.

Ding. Congratulations, Host. Your cultivation has risen by one rank, reaching Dou Zhe. You have been awarded one System Patch.

Hearing the System's notification in his mind, a faint smile rose on Xiao Se's lips. Then, utterly exhausted, he collapsed onto the ground. His eyelids slowly closed as he fell asleep.

What Xiao Se did not know was that, the instant he fell asleep, the stone platform beside him gradually cracked open. The tender sprout began growing at a visible speed, becoming a half-meter-tall bonsai tree in mere moments.

Looking carefully through the crack in the stone platform, one could vaguely see a dark-green Ancient Jade treasure chest within. Under the moonlight shining through the ventilation opening above the Stone Chamber, it gave off a cold, eerie glow.

The next morning.

Warm sunlight shone through the Stone Chamber's ventilation opening onto Xiao Se's fair, youthful face.

Xiao Se slowly opened his eyes and immediately checked the scroll and Palm Heaven Bottle inside his Storage Belt. These were the foundations of his survival.

Fortunately, both the Burning Art and the bottle were still there.

Letting out a heavy sigh of relief, Xiao Se revealed a satisfied expression and stretched comfortably. "Ah... that was truly a wonderful sleep. In more than eleven years since coming to the Dou Qi Continent, this was the most comfortable sleep I've ever had. Not only did I break through to Dou Zhe, but I also obtained the Dou Qi Continent's most bizarre cultivation technique, the Burning Art. Right, it seems I was rewarded with a patch. The System can be upgraded now too."

Thinking of this, Xiao Se called out in his mind, "System, install the patch."

Ding. Installing System Patch. Estimated installation time: one hour. Please wait patiently, Host.

Xiao Se smiled helplessly. This truly was a half-finished System.

Naturally, Xiao Se would not stupidly stand around waiting while the System upgraded.

After getting up and moving his slightly sore limbs, he shifted his gaze to the stone platform.

At the sight, Xiao Se was immediately overjoyed. That tender sprout had truly grown, becoming a bonsai tree. Xiao Se roughly estimated that the bonsai before him was at least thirty years old.

Beyond the bonsai, a crack in the stone platform beneath its roots caught Xiao Se's attention. He discovered that it was actually hollow inside, and there seemed to be something within.

"This is..."

The Dou Qi Continent had no entertainment facilities. Apart from cultivating, Xiao Se would visit the Xiao Clan's Library Pavilion to read books about medicinal herbs and the geography of the Dou Qi Continent.

If a transmigrator in Battle Through the Heavens did not have the ambition to become an alchemist and show off, could he still be called a transmigrator?

Relying on the innate soul talent that came with being a transmigrator, Xiao Se could not claim to remember everything at a glance, but after reading something two or three times, he could basically memorize it. Over the years, he had practically turned the open sections of the Xiao Clan's Library Pavilion upside down.

By now, he could recognize most common medicinal herbs and determine their age.

At this moment, Xiao Se could easily identify the bonsai before him as nothing more than an ordinary Podocarpus.

However, the thing beneath the bonsai greatly interested Xiao Se.

"Stone Crushing Palm."

He retreated several steps, then suddenly charged forward. Dou Qi gathered in Xiao Se's right palm as he raised it and struck directly at the crack in the stone platform.

This was the only Dou Technique Xiao Se currently possessed, a Yellow Middle Grade technique. Butler had taught it to him back then, and he had long since mastered it to perfection. He could easily shatter stones with it.

Rumble...

Under Xiao Se's powerful palm strike, the Podocarpus's roots and trunk were instantly shattered. With a crack, the fissure in the stone platform rapidly spread and widened as pieces of stone continually fell away. Before long, the hollow section of the stone platform was exposed to Xiao Se's sight.

"This is... a box..."

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