Dou Qi Vortex, One-star Dou Practitioner

"How could she be here?"

A trace of confusion flashed through Gu Han's eyes.

A girl of around fifteen approached him. She was cold and elegant, yet delicately beautiful, dressed in a moon-white robe that accentuated her graceful, curvaceous figure. Green jade pendants hung from her tender earlobes, chiming crisply as she moved.

She was Nalan Yanran, disciple of Yun Yun, the Sect Leader of the Misty Cloud Sect.

But as the Sect Leader's personal disciple, why had she come to train at the Outer Sect Training Hall?

Even if she could not yet enter the Back Mountain, she should certainly have access to the Core Disciple Training Rooms.

Though puzzled, Gu Han moved quickly and stepped aside.

"Hmm?"

Nalan Yanran, who had been walking with her head lowered in thought, also noticed a figure suddenly appearing before her. Just as she was about to dodge, she saw that he had already moved aside, so she continued onward.

Her gaze lingered on Gu Han's face for an instant, and a glimmer of surprise flashed through her eyes. After nodding to him, she quickened her pace and continued outside, soon vanishing through the doorway.

Gu Han did not look after her. After passing Nalan Yanran, he headed straight for the Registration Office.

"Steward."

Gu Han took out his Identity Token and handed it over.

The person in charge of the Outer Sect Training Hall was a dignified middle-aged man who looked thoroughly upright.

"A probationary disciple?"

The middle-aged man accepted the token, surprise flickering in his eyes.

Probationary disciples had not yet become Dou Zhe. Coming to the Cultivation Hall to train Dou Qi was far too wasteful of Merit Points unless they were preparing to break through.

"You're Gu Han?" A friendly smile appeared on the middle-aged man's face.

"Yes, Steward." Gu Han replied neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"I've heard of you. You took first place in yesterday's Preliminary Disciple Competition, and you had already reached the Ninth Stage Dou Qi half a year ago." The middle-aged man picked up his brush and began writing. Then he took a token from the desk and handed it back. "You must be here to break through to Dou Zhe."

"That won't be easy. No. A1 may give you a slightly better chance of success."

Hearing this, Gu Han immediately cupped his fists in gratitude. "Thank you for taking care of me, Steward."

The Outer Sect Training Hall had eighteen Training Rooms, divided into three grades—A, B, and C—with six rooms in each grade.

No. A1 had the richest Heaven and Earth Energy. Normally, only highly ranked Outer Sect disciples could apply to use it.

This was no small favor.

"Go on. Train diligently. When you're done, bring back the token to exchange for your Identity Token." The middle-aged man smiled kindly and waved his hand lightly. "You have a total of fifteen hundred Merit Points on your token, enough for at most fifteen days of training. Adjust yourself properly before condensing your Dou Qi Vortex. Your chances of success will be higher."

"Yes." Gu Han had the Jade Spirit Fruit and was not worried about failing to break through, but there was no need to say that. He merely accepted the goodwill.

Holding the token, Gu Han continued inward. At the corner, he showed it to two guards before proceeding further inside.

Only after he disappeared did the middle-aged man withdraw his gaze, a touch of desolation appearing in his eyes. "It isn't easy for disciples from humble backgrounds to rise above the rest. I wonder whether Gu Han can go farther than I did."

Bang!

At the deepest part of the Outer Sect Training Hall, Gu Han took out the token and inserted it into the slot on the door marked No. A1.

The mechanism activated, and the Training Room door opened.

Gu Han entered, shut the door from within, and the token appeared in a slot inside.

As long as he pressed the token down, he could lock the chamber. During that time, no one outside would be able to open the door and enter.

Room No. A1 was not small, roughly twenty-five square meters in area and five meters high. Its ceiling had a special structure that could be opened for ventilation.

A cushion sat in the very center. On the first level was a desk, along with brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.

Gu Han walked over to the cushion, sat down, and closed his eyes to begin regulating his breath.

Yet a faint orchid fragrance drifted into his nose, causing him to open his eyes.

"Nalan Yanran."

After thinking it over, Gu Han immediately understood why the scent had felt familiar.

When he had passed Nalan Yanran at the entrance to the Cultivation Hall earlier, she had carried this very fragrance.

"Looks like she was using No. A1 before this."

A flash of understanding passed through Gu Han's eyes. He no longer dwelled on it and returned to his meditative state.

About a quarter of an hour later, he took a faintly glowing fruit from his Storage Ring and swallowed it in one bite.

A strange sensation spread through his mouth, but before Gu Han could savor it, warmth rose from his lower abdomen, as though a flame had been ignited there.

"What immense energy."

The flame in his Dantian did not harm him. Instead, it allowed Gu Han to use Internal Vision ahead of time. He could clearly sense a gentle, pure energy flowing into his limbs and bones, beginning to strengthen every one of his meridians.

He immediately formed the hand seal for absorbing Dou Qi, drawing in Heaven and Earth Energy and converting it into Dou Qi that flowed into his body. It merged with the immense energy in his meridians and gathered within the Dantian in his lower abdomen.

"Whew."

The still air in the chamber began to ripple with currents. Gu Han did not experience the tearing pain in his meridians that others felt when breaking through to Dou Zhe. Instead, he felt exceptionally comfortable.

The meridians throughout his body were being nourished and enhanced, while his cultivation rose swiftly and steadily. It felt so pleasant that he almost wanted to moan.

Under the dual effects of the Jade Spirit Fruit's medicinal power and Dou Qi, his meridians had already been filled to the brim with energy.

The Dou Qi throughout his body had reached its absolute limit.

It had arrived at a threshold beyond which it could not increase.

Yet Gu Han did not hurriedly mobilize his Dou Qi to gather in his Dantian. Instead, he continued absorbing without pause.

Only when the Jade Spirit Fruit's medicinal power faded, his meridians stopped expanding and becoming tougher, and the excessive Dou Qi began to cause faint prickling pain did Gu Han change his hand seal, joining his index fingers and thumbs while pressing his middle fingers together.

In an instant, the surging Dou Qi within him seemed to come alive. It all rushed toward the Dantian in his lower abdomen, spinning as it condensed, changing from pale white to pure white, and finally to milky white.

"Condense!"

The entire process lasted nearly two hours. Gu Han suddenly opened his eyes, and pure white qi flashed through his ink-black pupils.

A strange muffled sound came from within his body, and he sensed that he had gained a new ability: Internal Vision.

It was an auxiliary skill only Dou Zhe could master. The stronger one became, the more thoroughly one could examine the inside of one's body.

Gu Han sank his awareness into his Dantian and "saw" a palm-sized milky-white Qi Vortex slowly rotating there. Its outermost layer was wrapped in a nebula-like cloud of milky-white energy, more than ten times stronger than his previous Ninth Stage Dou Qi.

If he faced Mo Qing again now, he could suppress him directly with Dou Qi.

From this point onward, the energy he converted from absorbing Heaven and Earth Energy would truly be Dou Qi!

At this stage, he could choose a cultivation technique to study. Otherwise, he could only use the most primitive method, controlling the Qi Vortex to inhale and exhale Heaven and Earth Energy in order to grow stronger.

"Whew."

Having condensed his Dou Qi Vortex successfully on his first attempt and become a One-star Dou Practitioner, Gu Han finally relaxed slightly in both body and mind.

But this was merely the first step of a long journey. He was not overly delighted and closed his eyes to continue cultivating.

The Jade Spirit Fruit had strengthened his meridians, bringing many benefits, and its medicinal power had not yet been fully absorbed.

Cultivating now would yield twice the results with half the effort, allowing him to stabilize his cultivation as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, Mo Yu returned to Mo Qing with a dark expression.

"Brother, where's the Jade Spirit Fruit?" Mo Qing asked eagerly, failing to notice that something was wrong with Mo Yu's expression.

"It's gone." Mo Yu clenched his fists, his gaze icy. "A thief stole it and ate it."

Mo Qing: ?