Dou Zong Was a Threshold

Dou Zong Was a Threshold

"Well... torture devices."

Yao Lao blinked, folded his hands into his sleeves, and put on an indifferent look.

Xiao Yan: ...

Huh? No, wait, huh? Are you serious? "Teacher, you—"

"Ahem! To be precise, they're cultivation tools I modified from torture devices." Seeing Xiao Yan's resentful expression, Yao Lao immediately explained.

Things like this actually weren't rare.

After all, the Dou Qi Continent was full of cultivators. Even if you were only an ordinary person, as long as nothing unexpected happened along the way, you could still advance to Dou Zhe in old age and enjoy it a little.

With such a massive number of cultivators around, the need to seal Dou Qi naturally spread across the entire continent, and all kinds of bizarre tools emerged one after another.

Among them, this was especially obvious in powers like the Jia Ma Empire.

Their overall realms were low, and they couldn't use Dou Qi seals or restrictions, so they could only rely on torture devices to suppress it.

These bracelets modified into cultivation tools were something Yao Lao had obtained from an empire.

"These two pairs of bracelets were originally used to seal Dou Wang experts. After I refined them again, one pair seals the amount of Dou Qi stored, and the other limits Dou Qi output. Their sealing effect can continue to increase along with the wearer, until it caps at Dou Wang."

As Yao Lao said this, even he could not help sighing with some emotion. "I just never expected to run into someone like you. At the Dou Shi realm, you already need a first-star Da Dou Shi seal to suppress you."

When Xiao Yan had suddenly used a Dou Technique that day, he had given him quite a fright.

Although he had long estimated that there was something special about this kid, the number of shocks he brought was a bit too much.

"If I couldn't sense any Dou Di Bloodline, I really would think you had run out from some Emperor Clan." Yao Lao looked at him with a somewhat complicated gaze.

"Dou Di Bloodline?"

"That's right."

Yao Lao's voice was leisurely as he sank into his memories. "When a cultivator's realm reaches Dou Sheng, their own bloodline begins to change. And when they reach Dou Di, this Bloodline Power benefits their relatives, becoming a miraculous power that can be passed down from generation to generation.

"It can amplify strength, improve talent, raise potential, and even let all the realms before Dou Sheng be crossed without obstruction.

"They are truly born strong. Their bloodline is pride carved into the soul. The Emperor Clans live within their own unique worlds, overlooking the entire continent from a transcendent position."

"Teacher has come into contact with them?" Xiao Yan feigned confusion.

"..."

Yao Lao was silent for a long time before he finally spoke hesitantly. "I have some ties with one of their clans."

"Then is the blessing of the Dou Di Bloodline really that strong? Wouldn't that mean they're standing directly at the finish line?" Seeing that Yao Lao was unwilling to tell the truth, Xiao Yan changed the topic at the right moment.

"More than just standing at the finish line..."

Yao Lao gave a helpless laugh. "They are the referees themselves, even the organizers themselves. All the rules of the continent are theirs to amend and decide.

"You should stop thinking about these things and consider how to step across the Dou Zong realm instead. That is the first true threshold on the path of cultivation."

Dou Zong...

Xiao Yan rubbed his chin.

Looking across all the realms of Battle Through the Heavens, Dou Zong was an obvious dividing line.

Although in the later stages Dou Zong experts were everywhere, and at most could only serve as cannon fodder on the battlefield, that still did not change how rare this level was.

Before Dou Zong, as long as you had enough resources, even if you forced it with sheer piling and pouring, you could still be pushed to the peak of Dou Emperor.

But Dou Zong was a little different...

Mo Ya of the Black-Corner Region, who appeared in the original work, reached six-star Dou Emperor at thirty years old, yet the text clearly stated that even with medicinal pills to assist him, he might not be able to advance in this lifetime.

Even by the time they reached Central State, Dou Zong was still a threshold.

Among the younger generation of the Four Directions Pavilion, apart from Feng Qing'er, who had a Saint-tier background, not a single one had stepped into the Dou Zong realm.

Setting aside the factor of the ten Emperor Clan powers backing people, the one in the original work who came closest to Xiao Yan as a Dou Zong prodigy was still Yi Chen of the Tianming Sect.

And according to what was said in the book, he was around ten years older than Xiao Yan, which meant he was a peak Dou Zong at around forty years old.

Even so, he was still called the most talented disciple of the Tianming Sect in a hundred years, and what he cultivated was an evil art that overdrew the latter half of his life. Only with multiple factors added together could he reach this level.

A heavenly chasm.

Nothing more, nothing less.

The more he thought about these things, the more astonishing the power of the Dou Di Bloodline became. The arrogance of those heavenly dragons in the original work seemed somewhat understandable too.

If the Emperor Clans were removed, then the top Central State powers were the Pill Tower and the Hall of Souls. The former was propped up by medicinal pills left behind by a peak expert, while the latter was secretly supported by the Soul Clan, so neither could really count.

What was more, the Pill Tower was essentially the shared force of alchemists across the entire continent, and was not limited to Central State at all.

Once you finished removing these, you would discover—

Dou Sheng were figures who only existed in legends, while Half Saints were lofty ancestors or hidden experts. The true top speakers of all Central State were the various Dou Venerate experts, and Dou Zong were the core backbones of every force.

That saying, "having a Dou Zong means being a force with a name across the entire continent," did not seem too far off the mark.

"True, but Master, do you still not believe in my talent?"

Xiao Yan pointed his thumb at himself. "A Dou Master my age isn't exactly common, right? Even among the Emperor Clans, there might not be many who can surpass me."

Yao Lao was speechless for a moment.

That was the truth.

He had roamed the continent for so many years, yet this was truly the first time he had seen such a favored son of heaven. Otherwise, he would not have chosen to lay his cards on the table before even knowing what sort of person Xiao Yan was.

"I do, I do! When it comes to talent, I couldn't believe in you more."

Yao Lao nodded repeatedly. "But I've never seen the three clusters of Dou Qi inside your body before, so how could I know whether they'll interfere with your advancement? Those special traits are your greatest trump card for surpassing others, and also the greatest aid that will let you roam the continent with a mortal body—even contend against those Emperor Clan people! I've been holding back your cultivation progress precisely because of this. Ordinary Dou Qi cultivation is simple enough, but if the balance is broken, who knows what changes might occur?"

And advancing to Dou Zong would be the greatest change of all.

Because at that time, spatial power would become part of the power of Dou Qi. No one knew whether the introduction of a new power would break the original balance.

"Hiss..."

For a moment, Xiao Yan also felt a bit of a headache coming on. "Then let's set all this messy stuff aside for now... There'll be plenty of time to study it later. The problem now is, I can't keep suppressing my progress forever, can I? It's already been so long."

His qi and blood could at least be assisted by body-tempering Dou Techniques, but the metallic qi entrenched in his organs could only be slowly worn down by Xiao Yan himself. Its speed could only be described as better than nothing.

Compared to cultivating Dou Qi, he reckoned it was only about a quarter as efficient.

"What can I do about that?"

With a wave of Yao Lao's hand, a greenish-blue medicinal cauldron smashed down onto the open ground.

"The qi and blood you created yourself, along with that metallic qi—right now, you can only cultivate them according to the things you've figured out. However, it's not as though there hasn't been any progress in the research."

"Huh? There are results?" Xiao Yan's eyes lit up.

"Refine the pill first."

Yao Lao pointed at the green cauldron. "The assessment isn't over yet!"

Power scaling getting out of hand really is annoying. Who knows how much more setting I'll have to patch in before it runs smoothly.