Dou Huang

Gu He continued refining Fifth-grade pills as always. Many of the medicinal ingredients in the valley used for refining Fifth-grade pills had nearly been wiped out by his constant pill refining. He had already decided that if he still failed to break through within another half month, he would head into the Monster Mountain Range to gather more ingredients.

After Gu He finished refining the pill, he smelled its fragrance, and the barrier he had long sensed between Dou Wang and Dou Huang suddenly trembled slightly. Then, energy from the outside world began pouring into Gu He's body of its own accord.

Gu He knew that his opportunity for advancement had arrived. He put away the pill and placed it in a jade bottle.

Thinking that Xiao Yi Xian had run out of spirit liquid, and not knowing how long this period of seclusion would last, Gu He spared a sliver of attention to take all the Superior Spirit Liquid from his Ring. He wrote on a slip of paper that he would be entering seclusion for some time, wrapped both items in Soul Power, and placed them on the ground nearby.

After finishing all this, Gu He let out a breath. Next came the focused task of advancing to Dou Huang.

Gu He rapidly circulated his Dou Qi along the route dictated by his cultivation technique. As it cycled through him, a marvelous sensation, as though it existed within his very soul, slowly welled up in his heart. Just as Gu He's mind sank into that wondrous feeling, the surrounding natural energy began to surge madly, then spun at high speed. In the end, it formed a spiral funnel composed entirely of energy in the air above Gu He's head. Its lower end connected to the crown of his head, wildly pouring that vast energy into his body.

Gu He frowned tightly. Such immense and impure energy entering his body would inevitably affect the purity of his Dou Qi if he could not refine it quickly. At this point, he could no longer worry about concealing his Devouring Flame. He formed the Devouring Flame into a layer of fiery gauze that wrapped around his entire body. Instantly, more than half the energy passing through the fiery veil and entering his body was filtered away. Thinking of the enormous amount of energy needed to advance to Dou Huang—even Xiao Yan, with his absurdly fast absorption speed, had needed a full year to succeed—Gu He threw all the Fifth-grade pills he had refined over the past few days into the Devouring Flame.

After Xiao Yi Xian finished cultivating and came outside, she saw Gu He cultivating while wrapped in a layer of pitch-black flames. Thinking something had happened to him, she climbed the slope and saw the pill liquid and the note on the ground. Only then did she understand that Gu He was advancing to Dou Huang.

"Master, then I wish you an early success in your advancement." Xiao Yi Xian murmured from a short distance away.

In the time that followed, Xiao Yi Xian could no longer watch Gu He refine pills, and Gu He had yet to teach her any Dou Skills. With nothing to do but endure the dull wait and keep watch, she could only devote all her time to cultivation. As a result, her progress was quite rapid.

Time passed peacefully like this. Two months later, Xiao Yi Xian had already reached the Ninth Stage Fighting Energy, while Gu He's entire aura had completely vanished. The increasingly massive energy vortex above his head suddenly stopped spinning. Then, boundless energy poured down like a torrential rain, finally becoming a huge stream of energy like a mountain flood that shot straight toward Gu He, who was wrapped in black flames on the slope.

The pills Gu He had fed to the Devouring Flame had also been completely refined. The pair of eyes that had remained closed for two months finally trembled slightly before slowly opening.

At once, a trace of excess energy within his body spilled out through his eyes, making the air before him crackle.

The aura that had been suppressed for two months also erupted into the valley like a bursting mountain flood.

"Ah!" Xiao Yi Xian could not help crying out at Gu He's terrifying aura in the valley.

Hearing Xiao Yi Xian's voice, Gu He finally snapped out of his joy at advancing to Dou Huang. He withdrew his aura, flickered slightly, and arrived beside Xiao Yi Xian. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. It's just my first time feeling such a powerful aura. I was so happy about advancing to the Ninth Stage Fighting Energy, but it seems I still have a very long way to go before reaching Dou Huang." Rather than becoming discouraged, Xiao Yi Xian was filled with fighting spirit.

"That's a good mindset. I happen to have some Qi Gathering Powder. Go up the slope and take advantage of the energy nearby before it fully disperses. Try to break through to Dou Zhe." As he spoke, Gu He took out a jade bottle containing an emerald-green pill the size of a longan.

"So this is the Fourth-grade pill, Qi Gathering Powder! I've never seen you refine it, Master." Xiao Yi Xian carefully accepted the jade bottle, then asked in confusion.

"Fourth-grade pills do little to improve my alchemy. The times you've seen me refine pills, I was refining Fifth-grade pills." Gu He explained casually. Now that he had reached Dou Huang, he could try refining Sixth-grade pills. To him, Fifth-grade pills no longer amounted to much.

Xiao Yi Xian looked at Gu He with admiration, greatly satisfying his vanity. Still, he urged, "First, adjust your condition properly before taking the Qi Gathering Powder. Although this pill can allow someone at the Ninth Stage Dou Qi to condense a Dou Qi Cyclone with a hundred percent success rate, you still can't be careless. Otherwise, if you fall back to the Eighth Stage Fighting Energy, these two months of hard cultivation will have been wasted."

After sending Xiao Yi Xian up the slope, Gu He sensed that his control over his strength had declined greatly. He intended to spend some time adapting to his explosively increased power.

Gu He gathered the materials in the valley for refining the Spirit Dou Pill, intending to begin refining pills once his realm had stabilized. After successfully refining the relatively simple Sixth-grade Spirit Dou Pill, he would begin refining the Dou Huang Pill. Then, he could use the Devouring Flame to rapidly increase his strength again. However, thinking of how Xiao Yi Xian had seen the Devouring Flame during his breakthrough to Dou Huang, Gu He frowned slightly. It would be best not to explain such matters proactively. The more he explained, the messier it would become. He would just let nature take its course. Fortunately, the Devouring Flame had only displayed its pitch-black color at the time; none of its other abilities had been revealed. The pills had been wrapped in flames, so Xiao Yi Xian probably had not noticed anything.

Xiao Yi Xian quickly finished digesting the medicinal power. Thanks to the solid foundation she had laid at the Seventh Stage Dou Qi, she smoothly broke through to Dou Zhe, the first threshold of Dou Qi cultivation.

"Master, I did it! I'm already a Dou Zhe." Xiao Yi Xian happily spun around Gu He. Her slender waist looked even more delicate as she turned, making one unable to help worrying that it might snap if she moved too forcefully.

"Very good. Now you can learn Dou Skills and cultivation techniques. I had originally planned to teach you a High-grade Profound Dou Skill when you reached the Eighth Stage Dou Qi, but because of my breakthrough, I never got the chance. I'll teach it to you along with your Dou Zhe cultivation technique." As he spoke, Gu He held out a deep-blue scroll to Xiao Yi Xian.

"This is a High-grade Profound Water Attribute cultivation technique. At present, I don't have any higher-grade Water Attribute cultivation techniques on me, so make do with this for now. Once I get you an Earth Grade technique someday, you can switch to that."