The Road of Grueling Training

The blazing sun of the Tagor Desert hung in the cloudless sky like a furnace discarded by the Fire God, pouring scorching light and heat over the boundless sea of sand. Scalding grains were swept up by fierce winds, striking exposed skin with the roughness of sandpaper and leaving fine red marks behind. The stinging pain burrowed through the pores and into the bones. Xiao Yan stood in the sheltered hollow behind a massive dune. The sand beneath his feet had been baked hot, and even through the thick soles of his boots, he could feel its searing temperature. He bent down and buried the waterskin and dried provisions he had brought from Luofeng Town three feet beneath the sand, in the cool earth below—one of the methods for preserving water in the desert. The sand's insulation was enough to keep the waterskin slightly cool. He then took several stones engraved with simple runes from his Storage Ring and arranged a concealment formation around the area according to Elder Yao's teachings. The stones embedded themselves in the sand, their runes flashing faintly before vanishing. Though it could not ward off the detection of experts above the Dou Ling realm, it was enough to evade the notice of ordinary Demonic Beasts and desert caravans.

The Purple Gold Winged Lion King lay nearby, its enormous body like a small mountain that blocked most of the incoming wind and sand. Fine grains of sand stained its golden mane, while its amber eyes swept vigilantly across the surroundings. Its nose twitched from time to time, testing the air for the scent of Demonic Beasts or unfamiliar humans. Xiao Yan sat cross-legged and adjusted his breathing. He slowly opened his palm, and the pale violet Myriad Beast Spirit Fire quietly rose like a newly sprouted bud. The flame danced at his fingertips without giving off scorching heat. Instead, it carried a trace of gentle warmth. After his battle with Hai Bodong, he had come to understand more deeply that controlling Heavenly Flames was not merely about pursuing world-destroying might. More importantly, one had to wield them as naturally as one's own limbs—capable of becoming blazing fire that could burn mountains and boil seas, yet also a warm current that could repair damaged meridians.

"Xiao Yan, there are two core objectives for this period of grueling training." Elder Yao's voice rang out in Xiao Yan's mind, stern yet gentle. "First, completely fuse the Flame Splitting Wave Ruler with the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire, so that the Dou Technique is no longer a simple addition of Dou Qi and flame, but a perfect union of both, capable of unleashing greater power. Second, stabilize your one-star Dou Shi cultivation, temper your Dou Qi, and lay a solid foundation for breaking through to two-star Dou Shi." After a brief pause, Elder Yao added, "Although the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi in the desert is not as rich as that within the Secluded Valley, it is purer and carries an innate wildness. It is just right for tempering your Dou Qi meridians, allowing them to become tougher through the struggle between 'violence' and 'control.'"

Xiao Yan nodded slightly and closed his eyes, slowly circulating the Dou Qi within his body according to the cultivation method of the Blazing Art. The Dou Qi in his Dantian flowed through his meridians like a gentle stream. Each circulation passed through several meridian nodes that had previously been frostbitten by Hai Bodong's Ice Element Dou Qi. Waves of stinging pain came from those places, as if countless needles were piercing him. Xiao Yan gritted his teeth and endured the discomfort as he guided the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire in his palm, separating an extremely fine thread of flame power and merging it into his Dou Qi. The flame spread through his meridians like a warm stream, gradually enveloping the damaged channels and burning away the lingering chill. At the same time, it continuously refined his Dou Qi. The originally somewhat impure Dou Qi gradually became purer under the flame's tempering, and its flow grew faster and faster.

Time quietly slipped by amid the monotonous cultivation. The sun rose and the moon set, while the desert's temperature difference between day and night made it seem like two entirely different worlds. During the day, the blazing sun roasted the earth until the sand was hot enough to cook eggs. Xiao Yan's black fitted outfit was soaked through with sweat and clung tightly to his back, only to be quickly dried by the heat. After this repeated several times, a thin layer of white salt frost formed on the fabric and fell away in flakes at the slightest touch. Yet he seemed entirely unaware of it. A faint fiery aura wreathed around him, blocking out most of the heat, while he focused solely on circulating his Dou Qi and greedily absorbing the thin yet violent spiritual qi between heaven and earth. Through the conversion of the Blazing Art, he merged it into his own Dou Qi and intertwined it with the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire.

Whenever his cultivation encountered a bottleneck and his Dou Qi stagnated in his meridians like a river blocked by a massive boulder, Xiao Yan would suddenly open his eyes. With a clench of his right hand, the Black Heavy Ruler on his back gave a soft "hum" and automatically fell into his palm. He rose and walked to an open stretch of sand atop the dune, gripping the Black Heavy Ruler with both hands. After taking a deep breath, he poured the Dou Qi within his body frantically into the ruler. The Black Heavy Ruler already weighed a thousand jin, and enhanced by Dou Qi and flame, it became even heavier. Every swing produced a sharp whistle through the air and sent yellow sand flying everywhere. "Flame Splitting Wave Ruler!" Xiao Yan shouted, sweeping the ruler out toward the empty space ahead as pale violet flames coiled around its body.

Flame and Dou Qi intertwined, transforming into three surging waves of fire. Like roaring beasts, they swept up sand and charged toward the distant dunes. Where the fire waves passed, the sand ignited and turned into countless tiny fireballs that traced arcs through the air before extinguishing, leaving smoke and dust everywhere. At times, he deliberately controlled the flames, condensing them into sharp fire blades to cleave apart the incoming wind and sand. They left deep, searing marks across the ground, their edges still giving off faint white smoke. Every training session consumed an enormous amount of Dou Qi. When he pushed himself to the limit, Xiao Yan would grow dizzy, and his arms would become so numb and sore that he could barely lift them. Yet after only a brief rest and a little water and dried food, he would throw himself back into training. He knew that only by doing so could he improve his strength in the shortest possible time.

The Purple Gold Winged Lion King occasionally trained alongside him. Whenever Xiao Yan unleashed fire waves, it would release an ear-splitting lion's roar. Golden sound waves intertwined with the flames and traveled far across the desert, frightening the nearby low-level Demonic Beasts into scattering in all directions. Once, a third-tier Demonic Beast—a Desert Scorpion—was drawn by the commotion of his training and silently burrowed over beneath the sand. Its body color blended with the sand, making it difficult to detect. Just as it was about to approach Xiao Yan and lash out with its venomous tail stinger, the Purple Gold Winged Lion King noticed it first. With an angry roar, it lunged forward with its enormous body and forced the scorpion back. Xiao Yan reacted instantly. The Black Heavy Ruler swept horizontally, and flames immediately wrapped around the scorpion. With a piercing scream, the scorpion was burned to ashes, leaving behind only a wisp of black smoke. This unexpected battle also made him realize that cultivating in the danger-filled desert required more than improving one's cultivation. He had to remain vigilant at all times and combine actual combat with training if he wished to survive when true danger came.

The desert was especially cold at night. The frigid wind cut across the land like knives, carrying sand that struck the body with an agony even harder to endure than the blazing sun of day. Xiao Yan would condense the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire into a ring of semi-transparent Flame Barrier around himself and the Purple Gold Winged Lion King. The barrier emitted gentle warmth, fending off the biting wind while frightening away low-level Demonic Beasts that emerged at night. By the bright moonlight, he would take the Fragmented Map of the Netherworld Demonic Fire from his robes and carefully unfold it. The flaming lotus mark on the fragment glimmered faintly beneath the moon, confirming one another with the patterns on the other map fragment in his memory. Every comparison gave him a deeper sense of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame's aura, as though he could vaguely feel that Terrifying power capable of purifying all things and burning souls.

"Xiao Yan, your Dou Qi is already sufficiently refined, and your meridians have mostly recovered. Tomorrow, you may try to break through to two-star Dou Shi." On the fifth night, Elder Yao's voice sounded again, carrying a trace of relief. "The spiritual qi deep in the desert is violent, but during a breakthrough, that violence can instead become an aid. You can guide the violent spiritual qi to strike at the bottleneck, but be careful with your control. Do not let the spiritual qi throw your meridians into disorder. At this moment, the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire is your 'reins.' You must keep it firmly under control."

Xiao Yan put away the map fragment, his heart filled with anticipation, and nodded. "Teacher, I understand."

At dawn the next morning, when the sky had only begun to brighten and the desert was still enveloped in a thin mist, Xiao Yan selected the summit of a relatively high dune. The view there was wide open, allowing him to clearly sense the flow of spiritual qi between heaven and earth. He sat cross-legged and drew a deep breath, circulating the Dou Qi in his body to its limit. The Dou Qi in his Dantian boiled like scalding water, churning violently as it rushed through his meridians. At the same time, he opened his mind and guided the spiritual qi between heaven and earth into his body in an endless torrent like a surging river.

The violent spiritual qi entered his meridians like wild horses that had slipped their reins, charging about recklessly and bringing waves of intense pain, as though his meridians could be torn apart at any moment. Xiao Yan gritted his teeth. Fine cold sweat seeped across his forehead, yet he did not relax in the slightest. Following the cultivation method of the Blazing Art, he gradually guided the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire and turned it into chains that tamed the violent spiritual qi, allowing it to slowly merge into his own Dou Qi. Second by second, his face grew paler and paler, while his lips were bitten until blood seeped out. Yet his gaze only became more resolute.

When the Dou Qi in his body accumulated to its critical point, like a volcano on the verge of eruption, Xiao Yan suddenly exerted force. He let out a low shout and guided all of his Dou Qi and the tamed spiritual qi toward the two-star Dou Shi bottleneck. "Boom!" A muffled explosion sounded within his body. The bottleneck shattered instantly like a dam overwhelmed by floodwaters. Dou Qi flowed wildly through his meridians, more refined and more vast than before. Where it passed, his meridians were further widened and reinforced. Xiao Yan's aura surged, and the surrounding sand was lifted by the shockwave, dancing through the air. He had successfully broken through to two-star Dou Shi!

Xiao Yan slowly opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing through them. The Myriad Beast Spirit Fire in his palm surged, transforming into a pillar of flame several zhang tall that blazed fiercely in the desert. The Purple Gold Winged Lion King beside him released an excited low roar, then happily rolled about in the sand with its enormous body. Xiao Yan rose and stretched his limbs. He felt power coursing through his entire body, and every movement carried an unprecedented lightness and Explosive Power. The meridians that had been frostbitten were not merely fully restored; they were even tougher and broader than before.

"Very good. Now that you have broken through to two-star Dou Shi, the power of your Flame Splitting Wave Ruler can rise another level." Elder Yao's voice carried unmistakable satisfaction. "However, this is only the beginning. Next, you must attempt to combine the weight of the Black Heavy Ruler with the Heavenly Flames. The thousand-jin force of the Black Heavy Ruler and the searing might of the Myriad Beast Spirit Fire complement one another. Only then will your Dou Technique truly possess the strength to crush opponents of the same rank."

Xiao Yan nodded and gripped the Black Heavy Ruler. Dou Qi and flame surged into it at the same time, and the ruler immediately burst into blazing fire. Even the patterns etched across its surface were illuminated by the flames. He leaped into the air, tracing a Graceful arc through the sky. With both hands gripping the Black Heavy Ruler, he swung fiercely at a small dune in the distance. "Flame Splitting Wave Ruler!" Three enormous waves of fire, wrapped around countless grains of sand, crashed down upon the dune like an enraged tsunami with a world-destroying Aura. "Boom!" With a thunderous explosion, the dune collapsed. Sand and dust filled the air, enveloping an area dozens of meters wide like dense fog. When the dust finally settled, the original dune had vanished. Three Deep Gullies had been burned into the ground, their edges still releasing thin wisps of green smoke, while the sand itself had been scorched into glass-like crystals.

A Relieved Smile appeared on Xiao Yan's face as he looked at the result. He knew that in this vast desert, every breakthrough and every step forward brought him closer to his goal—to find a way to cure Xiao Yi Xian's Calamity Poison Body as soon as possible, to protect those around him, and to become a true powerhouse. He put away the Black Heavy Ruler, walked over to the Purple Gold Winged Lion King, and patted its head. His gaze turned toward the depths of the desert. Yellow sand filled the distance, where the outlines of rolling dunes could vaguely be seen. The legacy of the Snake People Tribe might be hidden there, along with more unknown opportunities and challenges waiting for him.

Over the following days, Xiao Yan's grueling training became even more intense. He would deliberately venture into areas near the desert's edge where Demonic Beasts were active, seeking out low-level Demonic Beasts to fight and putting his practiced Dou Techniques to use in actual combat. When facing the incredibly swift Desert Jerboa, he would deliberately slow his pace to hone his reaction speed. When encountering thick-skinned Sand Armored Beasts, he would focus on strengthening the armor-piercing power of the Flame Splitting Wave Ruler, perfectly combining flame and strength to break through their defenses.

Following Elder Yao's guidance, he would also venture into dry ravines along the edge of the desert in search of the "desert spirit herbs" Elder Yao had mentioned—Sand Ginseng, which could enhance the refinement of Dou Qi; Suoyang Flower, which could repair meridians; and Camel Thorn, essential for refining Healing Pills. Most of these spirit herbs grew within dark cracks in the rocks of the ravines, often guarded by Demonic Beasts. Every search was a contest against those beasts, but Xiao Yan never tired of it. He knew that these spirit herbs could not only be used to refine pills that aided cultivation, but could also save his life at critical moments.

Sometimes, when fierce winds rose and yellow sand filled the sky until even his line of sight was obstructed, Xiao Yan would neither hide nor retreat. Instead, he would stand atop a dune and circulate his Dou Qi and flames, forming a sturdy barrier around himself to withstand the assault of the wind and sand. The gale carried sand grains that lashed against the barrier like whips, producing sharp crackling sounds. The barrier's glow flickered brightly and dimly, yet it never shattered. He stood amid the storm like a statue, allowing the wind and sand to rage against him as he tempered his will and body, ensuring that even in extreme conditions, he could maintain a clear mind and stable circulation of Dou Qi.

Yellow sand filled the sky, and the blazing sun burned overhead. Xiao Yan's figure appeared especially small within the boundless sea of sand, yet it was exceptionally resolute. His black fitted outfit had long been worn somewhat pale by the wind and sand, and his face was stained with dust, but his eyes grew brighter and brighter, like stars in the desert. He knew that this road of grueling training had no end. Only by continuing onward and constantly breaking through could he gain a foothold in this Dou Qi Continent where the strong devoured the weak and fulfill his promises. Deep within the Tagor Desert, the mysterious Snake People Tribe and the ancient ruins hiding countless secrets were also quietly awaiting his arrival, awaiting a new adventure and challenge.