Half a Year in Seclusion

Jiang Donghua sat cross-legged deep within the cave, Dou Qi surging around him like flames and bathing the entire cavern in crimson light.

"Whew—"

He slowly exhaled a breath of foul air. It shot out like an arrow, leaving a shallow mark on the rock wall.

"Finally, a Dou Master!"

He opened his eyes, crimson flames seeming to dance deep within his pupils. An aura several times more powerful than before erupted from his body, shaking loose fragments of rock from the ceiling.

One-star Dou Master!

Having entered the Dou Master realm, the Dou Qi within his body was no longer as loose as it had been when he was a Dou Zhe.

Instead, it had condensed like liquid, circulating within his Qi vortex. Every strand contained even greater explosive force.

Jiang Donghua clenched his fist, feeling the surging power within him. A wild, arrogant smile curled across his lips.

"So this is the power of a Dou Master?"

He suddenly threw a punch at the cave wall!

Boom!

The rock shattered, and his fist wind gouged out a depression half a foot deep!

"Not bad!"

In the past, even his full-strength strike could only leave a shallow mark.

But now, a casual punch carried such power!

The two Yellow-tier Advanced Dou Techniques he knew, Blazing Palm and Cloud-Chasing Steps, had long since been Mastered. Now, strengthened by his Dou Master cultivation, their power had surged even further!

"Blazing Palm!"

Crimson Dou Qi gathered in his palm before he thrust it forward!

Rumble!

A scorching wave of fire swept out, directly blasting apart the massive boulder at the cave entrance. Fragments flew everywhere as dust filled the air!

"With that strike, I could instantly kill an ordinary One-star Dou Master!"

Jiang Donghua nodded in satisfaction. Then his figure flashed, and he activated Cloud-Chasing Steps. He darted through the cave like a ghost, moving so quickly that afterimages nearly lingered behind him!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In just a few breaths, he had circled the cave several times. At last, he landed steadily back where he had started, his breathing not even disturbed.

"My movement technique has improved quite a bit too."

He opened the AFK System. There was another clone!

[Host: Jiang Donghua]

[Realm: One-star Dou Master (0/1000)]

[Main Cultivation Method: Sky-Burning Incantation (Mysterious-grade Mid-tier)]

[Idle Gain]

Clone 1: 4 points/hour

Clone 2: 4 points/hour

Clone 3: 4 points/hour

[Current Total Gain: 12 points/hour]

[Dou Techniques: Yellow-tier Advanced movement technique Cloud-Chasing Steps (Mastered), no further improvements possible. Yellow-tier Advanced palm technique Blazing Palm (Mastered), no further improvements possible.]

[Pill Formula: Bone-Mending Pill, Not Started (0/100)]

Jiang Donghua stared at the system panel, his brows knitting slightly.

"More clones are a good thing, so why has each clone's cultivation speed dropped instead?"

It had gone from 5 points per hour to 4 points per hour. Although his total gain had increased from 10 points to 12, the efficiency of each individual clone had indeed decreased.

"Strange. Could it be because my realm improved, so the quality of the experience points increased?"

He shook his head, too lazy to look into it further.

"Whatever. As long as I have the cheat!"

After all, he had never planned to rely entirely on idle cultivation. Real growth still required battle and slaughter!

His gaze swept to the bottom of the system panel, and Jiang Donghua's lips curved upward.

"Bone-Mending Pill? It's about time I let that idle too!"

He had not paid attention to this function before. After all, alchemy was still unfamiliar territory to him.

"Let's give it a try!"

With a thought, the system immediately responded.

[Bone-Mending Pill idle cultivation has been activated!]

[Current progress: 0/100]

[Idle efficiency: 0.1 points/hour]

"Why is it still only 0.1? That's way too slow!"

Jiang Donghua curled his lip and was about to turn it off when he suddenly noticed something.

"Wait, did the system update?"

He looked carefully and discovered that the Bone-Mending Pill's idle cultivation speed was slowly increasing!

0.1 → 0.5 → 1.0 → 2.0 → 3.0!

It eventually stabilized at 3.0 points per hour!

"Holy shit?!"

Jiang Donghua's eyes widened, and he could not help blurting out a curse.

"The idle cultivation speed can increase on its own?!"

At this rate, he would only need a little over thirty hours to gain 100 experience points and get started!

"I can learn the Bone-Mending Pill in a day and a half?!"

If all three clones cultivated it together, he could get started in half a day.

He had truly struck it rich.

This was far faster than figuring it out on his own!

A hint of amusement flashed through Jiang Donghua's eyes.

"That old geezer Mo Xuan used his reputation to scare people before. If he finds out that I not only broke through to Dou Master, but can also refine pills now..."

He could not help laughing aloud.

"I wonder if he'll be scared stiff enough for his beard to stand on end."

Still, alchemy was not something one could master through idle cultivation alone. Collecting Medicinal Herbs and controlling the heat would all require his own hands.

"No rush. I'll get started first!"

Besides, he still had enough Medicinal Herbs for ten batches of Bone-Mending Pills in all these bags.

It was just that he had forgotten that he did not have a pill cauldron on him. There was no way for him to experiment and practice.

Jiang Donghua stepped out of the cave. Sunlight fell across his body, making him seem like a drawn sword, sharp and dazzling.

He stretched lazily, feeling the surging Dou Qi within him. A satisfied smile rose on his lips.

"Four-star Dou Master. This AFK System is simply ridiculous!"

In just over twenty days, he had not only idled the Bone-Mending Pill all the way to Mastered, but his cultivation had soared continuously as well, taking him straight to Four-star Dou Master!

One had to know that an ordinary Dou Master needed at least several months of bitter cultivation to advance one star, perhaps even longer.

Yet he had broken through while lying down, relying solely on the AFK System!

"If those old fellows who had cultivated bitterly for decades found out, they'd probably cough up blood from anger."

He lowered his head and looked at the bulging bundles on his body, filled with Medicinal Herbs, monster cores, and various treasures he had gathered from the mountain range during this period.

"There's too much stuff. It's almost impossible to carry it all. I need to return to Jia Nan Academy first."

"With all these supplies, I could easily trade for more than a dozen Storage Rings."

"In the future, I definitely won't have to carry all these bags around like I'm moving house."

"It's time to go back."

He took a deep breath and was about to use Cloud-Chasing Steps to hurry along when suddenly—

Boom!

A muffled blast came from afar, followed by the explosive sounds of Dou Qi clashing. Several urgent shouts could vaguely be heard mixed in.

"Someone's calling for help?"

Jiang Donghua frowned and listened closely.

The sound came from the dense forest on the other side of the mountain path, not far from Jia Nan Academy.

Logically, this area should have been frequented only by people from the academy.

"Could students be in danger?"

He had not wanted to meddle, but on second thought, he was now a Four-star Dou Master. His strength had increased dramatically, so this was the perfect chance to test it.

Besides, if they really were from his academy, saving them might earn him a favor.

Whoosh!

Dou Qi surged beneath his feet as he instantly activated Cloud-Chasing Steps. He shot forward like a ghost, bounding across the treetops with the swiftness of a nimble monkey.

Within a few breaths, he had reached the source of the sounds.

Through the shadows of the trees, he vaguely saw three youths in Jia Nan Academy uniforms standing back-to-back in a clearing. Their faces were pale and their Dou Qi was in disarray. They had clearly exhausted themselves.

"Damn it! That beast is too fast!"

One of the youths gritted his teeth.

"Watch out! It's coming again!"

Another cried out in alarm.

Swish!

A dark golden shadow burst from the grass. It moved so fast that it nearly left an afterimage, its sharp claws reaching straight for one youth's throat!

"Move!"

Jiang Donghua swept his gaze over it and instantly recognized the magical beast.

"Golden Shadow Demonic Ape?!"

It was an extremely rare ape-type magical beast, born with incredible speed. Once fully grown, it could reach the strength of a Nine-Star Battle Master and even erupt with speed comparable to a Dou Master for a short period!

This Golden Shadow Demonic Ape was clearly an adult, with strength at least at the peak of Nine-Star Battle Master!

As for those three youths, the strongest among them was only a Four-star Battle Master. They were no match for it at all!

Roar!

Having missed its strike, the Golden Shadow Demonic Ape roared furiously, twisted around, and pounced at another youth!

"It's over!"

The youth's face turned deathly pale. He had no time to dodge.

At that critical moment—

"Blazing Palm!"

A scorching wave of fire suddenly rushed in from the side and smashed fiercely into the Golden Shadow Demonic Ape!

Boom!

The Golden Shadow Demonic Ape was sent flying by the strike, crashing heavily into a tree and snapping its trunk at once!

"Who?!"

The three youths turned in shock. They saw a tall figure slowly descend from the treetops, Dou Qi rolling around him like flames, his aura astonishing!

"A Dou Master?!"

The three stared wide-eyed at Jiang Donghua in disbelief.

Jiang Donghua ignored them, his gaze fixed tightly on the Golden Shadow Demonic Ape.

Roar!

The Golden Shadow Demonic Ape climbed to its feet, the ferocity in its eyes growing stronger. It stared fixedly at Jiang Donghua, clearly enraged.

"Beast, you're asking to die!"

Jiang Donghua sneered. Cloud-Chasing Steps activated beneath his feet, and his body vanished from where he stood!

Whoosh!

The Golden Shadow Demonic Ape's pupils shrank. It instinctively tried to evade, but Jiang Donghua was even faster!

Bang!

A punch struck out. The Golden Shadow Demonic Ape's chest caved in, and blood sprayed wildly from its mouth!

"Roar—"

It let out a shrill cry and turned to flee.

"Trying to run?"

A cold glint flashed through Jiang Donghua's eyes. Crimson Dou Qi gathered in his palm as he struck out!

"Blazing Palm!"

Boom!

The wave of fire swept forth, blasting the Golden Shadow Demonic Ape dozens of meters away. It crashed heavily onto the ground, its aura completely extinguished!

"Hiss—"

The three youths sucked in a cold breath, looking at Jiang Donghua as though he were some kind of monster.

Jiang Donghua dusted off his hands, turned to the three of them, and asked indifferently, "Are you all right?"

"W-We're fine!"

The three hurriedly shook their heads. One of them said respectfully.

"Thank you for saving our lives, Senior Student!"

Senior Student?

Jiang Donghua's mouth twitched. No matter how he looked at it, he was younger than them, wasn't he?

But he could not be bothered to explain and merely waved his hand.

"Get back to the academy quickly. This area isn't very safe."

After saying that, he turned to leave.

"Wait!"

A young man suddenly called out.

"Senior Student, what if this Golden Shadow Demonic Ape has a magic core?"

Jiang Donghua paused, glanced back at the magical beast's corpse on the ground, and replied casually.

"If you want it, take it."

He was not short of such things anyway.

By now, Jiang Donghua had stuffed every valuable item he could find into all his bags, to the point that even his underwear was packed full.

Why would he care about a few hundred gold coins?

The three of them were instantly delighted and hurriedly thanked him.

Jiang Donghua said nothing more. With a flash, he vanished into the dense forest.

"That Senior Student is so strong!"

"Yeah! He killed a Nine-Star Battle Master-level Golden Shadow Demonic Ape in one move!"

"That was Blazing Palm, wasn't it? I remember it's a Yellow-tier Advanced Dou Technique, but in his hands, its power was practically comparable to a Mystical-tier technique!"

The three of them talked animatedly, their eyes full of admiration.

Jiang Donghua had no idea that he had already become a mysterious Senior Student in others' eyes. At that moment, he was speeding toward Jia Nan Academy.

"That Golden Shadow Demonic Ape just now was rather interesting."

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"But why would a magical beast of that level appear near the academy? Could something have happened?"

At that thought, he frowned slightly and quickened his pace.

"I need to get back and take a look!"