Da Dou Shi

A gentle morning breeze stirred as a blazing sun leaped over the horizon, scattering dawn light like shattered gold.

Xia Mo looked over the Medicinal Herbs needed to refine the Three-pattern Green Spirit Pill: Green Flame Grass, Black Gastrodia...

Then he left early for the Mittel Auction House and asked them to help gather them, since that was the fastest method. When he arrived at the Mittel Auction House, Xia Mo did not disguise himself. He directly told one of the auction house attendants to inform Ya Fei that Xiao Huohuo had arrived.

The woman led Xia Mo into a room. Before long, the door opened and Ya Fei walked in. "Xiao Huohuo... Xia Mo?" she asked with a smile.

"It's just a name. No need to mind it," Xia Mo said in an old-fashioned tone. He was not surprised that Ya Fei knew his name. After all, Wutan City was only so large, and he had caused quite a stir before.

"Alright, no need to fuss over such details. You know it now anyway. Miss Ya Fei, I'd like you to help me collect these Medicinal Herbs as soon as possible. I'm willing to pay above market price." Xia Mo took out a list of Medicinal Herbs and handed it to Ya Fei.

Ya Fei accepted the list and glanced through it. "That will be possible, but we currently don't have several of these herbs. They'll need to be transported from elsewhere, which will take around three days."

"Alright, we'll do as you say. I'll come collect them in three days. Thank you for your help, Miss Ya Fei," Xia Mo said.

"Little brother, be sure to look after Ya Fei more in the future," Ya Fei said as she looked at Xia Mo.

"I will."

Xia Mo turned and left. Watching his departing figure, Ya Fei thought, The Xiao Clan really is blessed with good fortune. They have a Xiao Yan in their clan, and they also know such a young genius. Befriending them may be my opportunity...

Three days later, Xia Mo received the Medicinal Herbs. That very night, Old Yao helped him refine them into a Three-pattern Green Spirit Pill.

After spending several days adjusting his condition, Xia Mo woke one clear, sunny morning. Morning light filled the room, and feeling the warmth of the sunlight, he opened his eyes, rolled off the bed, opened the door, and stretched lightly toward the rising sun.

He liked that warm, cozy feeling. As he looked at Xiao Yi Xian in the courtyard, his heart gradually calmed. After standing at the doorway for quite some time, he said, "Sister Xiao Yi Xian, no matter who comes later, don't disturb me. If anything comes up, go ask Xiao Yan for help first."

"Got it," Xiao Yi Xian replied.

Xia Mo returned to his room and sat cross-legged. Holding a green pill ringed by three Pill Patterns in his hand, he slowly closed his eyes and formed the seal for cultivation.

As Xia Mo immersed himself in cultivation, the calm energy of heaven and earth around him began to ripple, like a placid lake suddenly struck by a stone. Streams of energy poured into Xia Mo's body. Once the energy entered him, Xia Mo circulated his cultivation method, refined it, and infused the purified energy into his Monster Core.

Once he gradually settled into his cultivation state, Xia Mo flicked his finger and sent the Three-pattern Green Spirit Pill into his mouth. The pill melted the instant it entered, swiftly turning into three waves of pure energy, each stronger than the last. Like a rushing river, they flowed down his throat and poured into his meridians.

The moment the energy entered his meridians, Xia Mo suddenly sensed a white energy as cold as ice. Wherever it passed, frost formed over his meridians. The other two streams were scorching hot, like flames, allowing Xia Mo to truly experience the extremes of ice and fire.

So this is the Three-pattern Green Spirit Pill—absorbing the power of flames and turning it into one's own energy. The thought flashed through Xia Mo's mind. This white energy should be his teacher's Bone Spirit Cold Flame, while the other two should be Beast Fires. It seemed his teacher had quite a collection, though they were probably not origin flames.

With a thought, Xia Mo continued circulating his cultivation method and guided the three streams of energy. As the cultivation method operated, the one cold and two hot streams intertwined and began to merge harmoniously. The simultaneously freezing and scorching sensation made Xia Mo feel as though he were dying and ascending to heaven all at once.

As the three streams fused into a single tricolored energy following the cultivation route, its volume suddenly expanded, directly transforming into a stream of tricolored liquid energy. It surged violently through Xia Mo's meridians, causing them to rapidly expand, even giving him the feeling that they were about to burst. Yet the meridians battered by this violent impact became broader, and once nourished by energy, they would grow tougher as well.

This tricolored energy split into countless smaller streams that scattered through the meridians in Xia Mo's body. Some of the finer meridians were directly struck with tiny cracks—a sign that they could no longer withstand the pressure.

Seeing this, Xia Mo ignored the pain in his meridians and immediately controlled the Dragon Phoenix Flame to refine the energy within them. As the energy was refined, it quickly adhered to the cracked meridian walls and repaired them. Xia Mo knew that once these tiny meridians were opened, the speed at which he could mobilize Dou Qi would greatly increase, giving him a greater advantage in battle. Thus, he refined the energy with even greater effort.

As streams of energy opened the fine meridians and pores across Xia Mo's body, he felt his body madly absorbing external energy at a rate more than ten times faster than before.

After dealing with the branches and minor pathways, Xia Mo controlled the Dragon Phoenix Flame to envelop the tricolored energy in his main meridians. Though the energy's impact hurt him, his magical beast physique meant it caused only slight pain. Ignoring it, Xia Mo circulated his cultivation method and guided the tricolored energy along its route. As the Dragon Phoenix Flame continuously refined it, the tricolored energy completely merged into liquid energy, and its resistance gradually weakened.

"Xia Mo, Xia Mo, time to go!" Xiao Yan called as he walked into the courtyard.

"Don't shout. Xia Mo isn't free today, so he won't be going to cultivate with you. If it's urgent, you can wait for him here, but I don't know whether he'll be able to come out today," Xiao Yi Xian said to Xiao Yan.

"So that's it. Little Mo is breaking through to Da Dou Shi," Old Yao's voice sounded in Xiao Yan's heart.

"What? Did he take some miraculous pill? No, I need to work even harder!" Xiao Yan sat cross-legged in the courtyard and began cultivating. From the look of it, he intended to guard Xia Mo.

As the cultivation method circulated, wisps of pure energy that had lost their wildness and heat were completely transformed into purple-gold liquid and infused into the Monster Core. Under the continuous influx of pure energy, Xia Mo's aura steadily rose. Before long, he had already reached the threshold of the eight-star level.

Xia Mo rapidly refined the tricolored energy with the Dragon Phoenix Flame. With every circulation of his cultivation method, a large amount of pure energy was infused into his Monster Core, and his aura continued rising.

No one knew how much time passed before Xia Mo's body was shrouded in purple-gold radiance, which covered his body in the form of a Dou Qi robe. The purple-gold radiance constantly twisted, as though constructing something, and the illusory Dou Qi robe gradually seemed to gain substance.

Time passed bit by bit. As the final stream of energy was infused, the Monster Core began spinning wildly, emitting a mysterious rhythm that passed out of his body and into the Dou Qi robe on his body's surface. As the sound reached it, the Dou Qi robe stopped twisting. Purple-Gold Light flashed fiercely as the purple-gold Dou Qi rapidly fused, gathered, and melded together, forming the outline of a Purple Gold Armor etched with dragons and phoenixes.

The Purple Gold Armor formed, and the Monster Core stopped spinning. A powerful aura surged from Xia Mo's body and spread out of the room, allowing both Xiao Yi Xian and Xiao Yan outside to sense it.

Xia Mo stood up, feeling the abundant power within him. He slowly clenched his fist and walked outside.

"Are you alright?" Xiao Yi Xian walked up to Xia Mo.

"I'm fine. Why are you here? Didn't you go to the back mountain to cultivate?" Xia Mo replied to Xiao Yi Xian, then looked toward Xiao Yan and asked.

"I wanted to see what a Da Dou Shi is like," Xiao Yan said sourly.

The moment Xia Mo heard Xiao Yan's words, he understood what was going on. His fist slowly clenched, its surface covered in dense purple-gold light. He bent his arm, twisted his waist, and stepped into a bow stance. The three simple movements were completed in a single fluid instant as he threw a punch.

Boom!

His punch shot out like rushing thunder. A fierce gust howled, the air shrieked, and it swept past Xiao Yan's ear.

"Did you see it?" Xia Mo asked Xiao Yan with a grin.

"Gulp..." Xiao Yan said, "Xia Mo, you little brat, are you trying to scare me to death?"

"I want braised fish," Xia Mo said, looking at Xiao Yi Xian.

"I-I want sweet and sour ribs too," Xiao Yan hurriedly said, no longer in the mood to bicker.

"Alright, I'll go prepare them. Xiao Yan, go call Xun Er," Xiao Yi Xian said softly.

It was another sumptuous dinner. After eating, the four of them chatted for a while before each returning home.