Five-Star Dou Ancestor

The valley was quiet, and the stream babbled softly.

Xiao Yi Xian sat cross-legged on the grass before the Bamboo House, a newly born Dou Qi lingering around her.

Compared to half a month ago, her aura had undergone a world-shaking transformation.

Half a month earlier, Xiao Yi Xian had not taken the Qi Gathering Powder right away. Instead, she had first stabilized her Dou Qi.

At that moment, Xiao Yi Xian's tightly shut lashes trembled lightly before slowly opening.

A lively gleam flashed through her Purple Eyes, and her entire bearing became different.

Feeling the vortex-like Dou Qi within her body, condensed from Dou Qi—the Dou Qi vortex that symbolized a Dou Zhe—Xiao Yi Xian's face was filled with novelty and delight.

So this was what it felt like to be a Dou Zhe?

Xiao Yi Xian rose to her feet and tried to circulate the Dou Qi in her body.

A pale violet current instantly covered her palm, carrying a sense of power far beyond what she had possessed before.

She looked toward the black-robed figure seated cross-legged on a bluestone not far away, her heart full of gratitude.

If not for Brother Xuan Jin, she might still have been at the Myriad Medicine Pavilion in Qingshan Town, bandaging patients' wounds while worrying about when her condition might erupt.

But now, she not only knew the secret of her constitution, she had also embarked upon the path of cultivation that countless people dreamed of.

Just then, a dull fluctuation suddenly came from the bluestone.

Xiao Yi Xian was startled and hurriedly looked over.

The space around Xuan Jin's body had visibly distorted.

One scorching energy and another entirely different flame energy collided within him, as though two prehistoric beasts were fighting inside his body.

A trace of pain appeared on his once-calm face.

"Brother Xuan Jin!"

Xiao Yi Xian cried out anxiously and wanted to step forward, but an invisible wave of searing heat forced her back several paces.

That heat made her feel as if even her Dou Qi were about to ignite.

Xuan Jin did not respond.

At that moment, he was circulating that incomplete copy of the Burning Art with all his strength.

Ever since leaving Saint Pill City, the several energy masses within his body had occasionally clashed. Though he had forcibly suppressed them each time, they remained a hidden danger.

The incomplete copy of the Burning Art happened to offer him a solution.

However, the incomplete copy refined this energy extremely slowly. Only by this day had it refined a portion of it, yet as Xuan Jin's cultivation rose, more energy would emerge!

Not only that, the refinement process was exceptionally painful.

Several energies crashed against each other within his meridians, and the agony they brought was enough to make an ordinary Dou Emperor expert collapse instantly.

But Xuan Jin's Soul Power was immensely powerful. He firmly guarded his mind and guided the circulation path of the Burning Art, wearing down the conflict again and again without the slightest impatience.

Time passed, second by second.

Xiao Yi Xian watched anxiously from afar, yet she did not dare disturb him and could only pray silently in her heart.

Finally, as the sun slanted westward and the valley was dyed gold.

The violent fluctuations within Xuan Jin not only failed to calm down, but instead reached their peak.

An aura several times stronger than before erupted from his body with a thunderous burst!

The air throughout the valley froze at that moment.

The stream ceased to flow, the birds fell silent, and even the wind stopped in its tracks.

Xiao Yi Xian only felt as if an invisible mountain were pressing down upon her, nearly leaving her unable to breathe. The little Dou Qi she had gained after becoming a Dou Zhe was as insignificant as dust before that pressure.

She stared at that figure in horror.

The distorted space around Xuan Jin suddenly contracted inward, then expanded sharply outward!

Boom!

A dull explosion rang out, not from the outside world, but directly within his body.

A vast torrent of Dou Qi surged through every limb and bone in his body. The barrier of a Three-Star Dou Ancestor was effortlessly shattered before that torrent.

Four-star Dou Ancestor, achieved!

The pressure in the valley receded like the tide.

Xuan Jin slowly opened his eyes, and a sharp glint flashed through them.

He let out a long breath of turbid air. When it landed on the ground before him, it scorched a bluestone slightly black.

"Brother Xuan Jin, are... are you all right?"

Seeing him awaken, Xiao Yi Xian hurried over, the worry on her face not yet faded.

"I am fine."

Xuan Jin stood up and stretched his body, producing a series of crackling sounds.

Looking at Xiao Yi Xian, he smiled and teased, "Congratulations. Xian'er is now a true Dou Zhe as well."

Xiao Yi Xian's cheeks reddened slightly, and she lowered her head in embarrassment.

"It is all thanks to Brother Xuan Jin."

"With your constitution, cultivation in the early stages truly advances by leaps and bounds."

Xuan Jin looked at her thoughtfully.

As long as the Calamity Poison Body had enough poison, there were practically no bottlenecks before Dou Zong.

After reaching Dou Zong, however, it would be necessary to suppress the eruption of the poison body.

Even the geniuses of those ancient clans might not be able to match such cultivation speed.

When Xiao Yi Xian heard him mention her constitution, the joy on her face dimmed somewhat.

"Brother Xuan Jin, do you think... will I truly become like what the books describe someday?"

She was still afraid—afraid that she would eventually become a monster who brought disaster.

"As long as I am here, you will not." Xuan Jin gently stroked Xiao Yi Xian's head. She happily narrowed her eyes, utterly delighted.

Xuan Jin looked at the endless Magical Beast Mountain Range in the distance, but his gaze was directed farther west, toward the Tagor Desert.

Green Lotus Core Flame.

To completely resolve the problem of the Calamity Poison Body, he needed the power of multiple Heavenly Flames.

And to merge multiple Heavenly Flames, he had to obtain the complete Burning Art.

He, too, needed the complete Burning Art!

It seemed it was time to prepare for the next Heavenly Flame.

Time in the valley seemed to have been set to slow motion.

In the blink of an eye, another half year passed.

It had been exactly one year since Xuan Jin left Saint Pill City.

On this day, the aura around Xuan Jin, seated atop the bluestone, rose once more.

Relying on the Burning Art to continuously refine the conflicting energies within his body, coupled with his own terrifying cultivation talent, his cultivation naturally advanced from four-star Dou Ancestor to five-star.

"Phew..."

He opened his eyes and felt the even more surging power within him, yet there was not much joy in his heart.

Still too slow.

Rising two stars in a year was simply not worth mentioning compared to Xiao Yan from the original story.

The Burning Art was merely an incomplete copy, after all, and its refining efficiency was limited.

If he had the complete method, he was confident that he could completely resolve the internal conflicts within a year, perhaps even use them to charge toward the higher ranks of Dou Zong.

It seems the ring in the Xiao Family must be obtained. Xuan Jin thought to himself.

He was determined to obtain the complete Burning Art!

Meanwhile, at the Xiao Family Back Mountain in Wutan City.

Xiao Yan was cultivating with all his might.

Less than a month remained before the Coming of Age Ceremony.

After exhausting all the pills Xiao Xun'er had given him, his cultivation had only remained at the Eighth Stage Dou Qi.

As for the other pills, they were of little use at his current level.