Tempering Dou Qi

Tempering Dou Qi

After leaving the area around the fire well, Xiao Ling headed toward the training rooms.

He casually picked a low-level training room and entered, intending to first familiarize himself with using the Fallen Heart Flame's flame projection to temper his Dou Qi.

After closing the door he had opened upon entering, Xiao Ling began carefully examining the training room.

This training room was meant for a single person. At its center stood a black stone platform, only large enough for two people to sit cross-legged on the ground. It rose about two inches above the floor.

Xiao Ling stepped forward and cautiously touched the black platform with his palm. A faint warmth flowed through his fingertips, and under that strange warmth, even the circulation of Dou Qi within his body seemed to become somewhat more active.

"The Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower's effects really are obvious. Especially for Fire Attribute cultivators, training in a place like this gets twice the result with half the effort. I wonder what effect it'll have once I swallow that larger Fallen Heart Flame in the future." Xiao Ling muttered inwardly before flipping onto the stone platform.

Sitting cross-legged on the platform, Xiao Ling felt the increasingly dense warmth and let out a long breath. With a flick of his finger, a green Fire Crystal Card appeared in his palm.

He clasped the Green Fire Crystal Card tightly in both hands, then cautiously inserted it into the groove before him. A faint click sounded, and a dim glow burst from the groove. As the light appeared, Xiao Ling clearly saw the number on the Green Fire Crystal Card immediately decrease by one. Apparently, it had deducted the fee for one day of training—one unit of Fire Energy.

Soon after the Fire Energy was deducted, Xiao Ling slowly closed his eyes. His hands formed a cultivation seal, and his body became as motionless as an old monk in meditation.

Within his lonely, tranquil mind, only the long, steady sound of his heartbeat slowly echoed. After entering his cultivation state, Xiao Ling's senses toward the energy of heaven and earth around him became increasingly sharp. He could sense the astonishingly dense scorching energy within this training room. Cultivating in such a place, those who practiced Fire Attribute techniques would undoubtedly achieve far greater results than others.

"Puff..."

As his mind grew ever more tranquil, a low, faint sound suddenly rang out. Then, a cluster of seemingly invisible flames, yet radiating unusual fluctuations, appeared without warning not far from Xiao Ling's heart. Threads of warmth slowly spread out, baking the inside of Xiao Ling's body until it was steaming hot.

As his mind watched that wisp of invisible flame, Xiao Ling once again felt apprehensive at the Fallen Heart Flame's elusive nature. Even though he was already on the highest alert, he still had not sensed how this flame had appeared at all...

After sighing inwardly, Xiao Ling stared closely at the flame. This cluster was undoubtedly more powerful than the one he had encountered at the entrance to the Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower earlier. It was likely because of this training room.

Enduring the burning pain inside his body, that wisp of invisible flame rose ever more joyfully. Wisps of scorching heat seeped from it, forming what seemed like a furnace within his body. All of his internal organs and even his meridians were tempered within that furnace, constantly growing stronger through the refinement!

Although the burning pain caused by the high temperature occasionally made Xiao Ling's meridians twitch ever so slightly, whenever they were damaged, the Hundred Thousand Year Blue Silver Emperor Torso Bone within his body automatically released life energy to heal them. Through this constant destruction and reconstruction, his physical constitution gradually strengthened as well. After enduring this for around ten minutes, Xiao Ling's mind stirred. The diamond-shaped Dou Crystal within his Qi vortex suddenly emitted a faint glow, and streams of powerful Dou Qi poured out of it like floodwaters bursting through a dam.

The Dou Qi raced through his meridians and, guided by Xiao Ling's Soul Power, arrived before the Fallen Heart Flame projection that radiated high heat. With a movement of his mind, the Dou Qi that had long been waiting there immediately surged forward. The red Dou Qi poured directly into the invisible flame!

The instant the Dou Qi entered the invisible flame, Xiao Ling could clearly sense that the latter suddenly became much hotter. The Dou Qi entering the flames seemed to boil like water, as something was continuously expelled and stripped away under the intense heat.

This boiling did not last long. That wisp of Dou Qi successfully emerged from the flames. Compared to before, the Dou Qi that emerged had shrunk by nearly half, yet the energy contained within it was far denser and more compact than before. Clearly, after being tempered by the invisible flame, this wisp of Dou Qi had successfully slimmed down...

After the first successfully tempered wisp of Dou Qi emerged from the flames, it completed another cycle through his meridians under the guidance of Xiao Ling's Soul Power before pouring back into the Dou Crystal. At once, the glow on the surface of the Dou Crystal swelled slightly again.

Seeing this change in the Dou Crystal, joy immediately rose in Xiao Ling's heart. The Fallen Heart Flame truly deserved to be called a cultivation accelerator. Its effects were enough to make anyone envious. If word of this got out, even with Jia Nan Academy's standing on the continent, it would inevitably attract covetous eyes. It seemed that even the powers in the Central Plains did not have such a treasure ground for cultivation. He wondered how Jia Nan Academy prevented this news from spreading.

With the success of the first tempering, Xiao Ling finally let go of his last lingering concern. As his mind shifted, wisp after wisp of Dou Qi was continuously drawn from the Dou Crystal, circulated through his meridians, passed through the flames, and finally gathered back into the Dou Crystal.

He fully operated the Fen Jue, and the surrounding Dou Qi gathered around Xiao Ling, entering his body through every pore. After being tempered by the heart flame within him, it became even purer. This feeling was simply wonderful.

There was no precise concept of time during cultivation. Xiao Ling immersed himself in his rapidly growing strength, seemingly wishing he could cultivate in one breath until he advanced.

Within the spacious training room, Xiao Ling's body was enveloped in a faint layer of invisible ripples. Wisps of pale white vapor rose from above his head, gradually thinning until they finally turned into nothingness and vanished.

Xiao Ling exhaled a breath of stale air and woke from cultivation, a flash of crimson passing through his eyes. Feeling the scorching discomfort within his body, Xiao Ling frowned, feeling somewhat troubled. Without a Heavenly Flame protecting my body, it really is easy to contract Fire Poison. Fortunately, I'm an Alchemist. Otherwise, even taking pills would consume a great deal of cultivation resources.

He then took out the jade bottle containing Third Grade Pills, the Calming Heart Pills. He poured out a milky-white pill and placed it in his mouth. As the discomfort in his body gradually faded, Xiao Ling formed a cultivation seal and continued tempering his Dou Qi.

Time in cultivation passed like flowing water, silently slipping through his fingers. When an ancient bell chime rang throughout the entire tower level at some unknown moment, Xiao Ling, who had been sitting in the training room with his eyes tightly closed, slowly opened them. A flash of excitement passed through his gaze.

After checking the greatly increased Dou Qi within his body, Xiao Ling was highly satisfied and could not help but sigh inwardly. At this rate of cultivation, I'll soon break through to a five-star Da Dou Shi. The Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower's ability to temper Dou Qi is incredibly powerful. From now on, I won't have to hesitate when taking pills.

Once his cultivation reached the Dou Wang realm, he could seek out those opportunities from the original story. The Fallen Heart Flame no longer had much effect on Dou Wangs; otherwise, there would not be so many elders in the academy whose cultivation was only at the Dou Wang realm.

No longer dwelling on it, Xiao Ling stood from the stone platform, left the Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower, and headed back the way he had come.

Seeing the dense crowd pouring out of the Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower, Xiao Ling felt rather troubled when he recalled that he still had dozens of minutes of walking ahead of him.

He had originally not wanted to reveal Rayquaza in front of outsiders within the Inner Academy, but in order not to waste too much time on the road, he still had to let it out for some exercise.

He patted his wrist, and Rayquaza emerged from his sleeve, flying before Xiao Ling and letting out a long roar toward the sky.

Under the envious gazes of the crowd, Xiao Ling leaped up and landed steadily on Rayquaza's back.

After patting Rayquaza, which was connected to his mind, it flew into the sky and vanished from the students' sight in an instant.

Seeing this scene, the surrounding students began discussing it.

"I'm so jealous of that guy. He even has a magical beast to ride back to his dormitory. Think of how much cultivation time that saves."

"Isn't that the new student Xiao Ling? Does anyone know what kind of magical beast that is? I've never seen one like it. If I'd ever seen such a cool magical beast before, I definitely wouldn't have forgotten it."

"I entered the Inner Academy last year. When I was still in the Outer Academy, I asked around about it. I think it was called Rayquaza."

"If only I could raise such a cool magical beast too."

Among the clouds, Xiao Ling felt the wind blowing against his face and experienced an incomparable sense of freedom. Looking at Rayquaza beneath him, he began pondering. I can still take Rayquaza around on the Northwest Continent, but I can't bring it with me to the Central Plains. It'll inevitably draw attention and cause trouble. Better let it follow Xun'er to the Ancient Clan, where it can live in luxury.

Shaking his head, he stopped thinking about it. Those matters were still too far off for him now. He should simply live each day well first.