Deep in the mountains some distance from Wutan City, Old Man Yao held Xiao Han's giant sword and slashed it heavily toward a waterfall in the distance.
A crimson arc of sword energy shot from the blade, surging forward with unstoppable force!
"Han'er, watch carefully! This move is called the Flame Splitting Wave Ruler!!!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
Thunderous explosions echoed through the valley. Countless chunks of rock tumbled from the cliffs, and water sprayed through the air.
A gale swept across the lake, quickly dispersing the valley's mist. At last, the enormous waterfall emerged from behind the veil of spray.
Staring wide-eyed at the waterfall, Xiao Han drew in a sharp breath, deeply shaken by the sight before him.
The waterfall's immense torrent had been cleaved clean through. On the huge rock face behind it, Old Man Yao's casual strike had carved out a trench over forty meters long and fifteen or sixteen meters wide.
Fine cracks spread from the edges of the trench across the entire cliff face, resembling climbing vines.
The water flowing over the cliff remained suspended for more than twenty seconds before it finally began to stream down again. The massive gash in the rock gradually disappeared from view.
"Well? What do you think?"
Old Man Yao looked at his stunned disciple with a broad smile.
"To be honest, it's incredibly powerful. It certainly lives up to the name of an Earth-Tier Dou Skill." Xiao Han swallowed, then glanced at the destruction caused by the Flame Splitting Wave Ruler. He couldn't help feeling excited.
"Hehe, as long as you're satisfied. You focus on Sword Dao, but I don't know sword techniques. If you hadn't shown me this giant sword, I might not have remembered this Dou Technique." Old Man Yao chuckled and winked at Xiao Han.
"Although this Dou Technique uses a ruler as its weapon, the giant sword you have is about the same size, so you can learn it.
"If you still had that little sword of yours, there'd be nothing I could do." Old Man Yao grinned mischievously.
"Sometimes things just work out that way."
Taking the giant sword Old Man Yao handed him, Xiao Han held it in both hands. "Tell me, Teacher. How do I train in this Dou Technique?"
"Don't rush."
Old Man Yao smiled and pointed toward the waterfall he had just struck. "Over there are ten stakes I set up earlier from felled trees. Starting today, you'll train against the waterfall's Riptide. Once you can stand beneath the tenth stake and slash through the water three hundred times, you'll have learned to use the Flame Splitting Wave Ruler."
The surging waterfall crashed heavily against the rocks. A muffled roar like thunder echoed through the small valley.
Xiao Han took one look at it, and his legs nearly gave out.
"With water crashing down on me that hard, and a giant sword weighing over a thousand jin in my hands, how could I possibly keep my footing?"
"Hehe, that's not my problem. If you want to master a powerful Earth-Tier Dou Skill, you have to pay a price, don't you?" Old Man Yao smiled faintly. He had gone through the same thing back in the day.
"Fine. No gain without pain. I'm going for it!"
Gritting his teeth, Xiao Han gripped the giant sword and leaped toward the first stake.
Boom!
His feet had barely touched the stake when, before he could even protect himself with Dou Qi, the enormous torrent slammed into him. Pain shot through his back, and the fierce impact sent him flying straight into the lake.
After climbing out, Xiao Han said nothing. He simply charged toward the stake again.
Thanks to his excellent physical conditioning, after failing repeatedly, he finally made it to the third stake.
"Good! Keep it up!"
Old Man Yao floated nearby, watching Xiao Han train while handling a task of his own.
Since Old Man Yao couldn't stray far from the ring, Xiao Han had borrowed it from Xiao Yan.
"Qing Shen Grass, Qingling Flower, Ziyang Root, Liuli Grass, Lingyin Fruit, Spirit Gathering Leaf, Nine-Leaf Soul Flower... I can't believe Xiao Zhan's banquet brought in so many Heavenly Treasures that can nourish the soul.
"These ingredients are precious, but in the past they were nothing rare to me. To have to rack my brains over a few herbs now... It's truly lamentable." Thinking of how far he had fallen, Old Man Yao could only shake his head helplessly.
"Enough. Now's not the time to dwell on that. Since I have so many Soul Treasure Medicines, I might as well refine them, mix them with other balancing ingredients, and make a powerful tonic for the soul!"
Old Man Yao took the Black Demon Cauldron from his Storage Ring and called Xiao Han over to watch him refine medicine. Whenever Old Man Yao prepared to refine pills himself, he always thoughtfully reminded Xiao Han to come observe.
Xiao Han was always happy to oblige. Watching Old Man Yao refine different pills earned him varying amounts of proficiency, after all.
And so, the old man and the young man trained and refined medicine deep in the mountains, seemingly forgetting all about time.
A month later, Xiao Han had successfully trained the Flame Splitting Wave Ruler to Great Accomplishment. But during that month, he hadn't simply buried himself in practicing the Dou Technique. Whenever he was exhausted, he would immediately meditate to recover his Dou Qi, then resume training. With the Spiritual Medicine Old Man Yao prepared for him, his cultivation had shot upward.
By the end of the month, he had reached the peak of the Nine-Star Dou Practitioner level.
During that time, Old Man Yao had wandered through the mountains gathering herbs, returning with heaps of medicinal plants Xiao Han couldn't name and teaching him their properties.
Through dedicated study and practice, Xiao Han soon refined a large batch of first- and second-grade pills he had never made before. He intended to sell them at the Xiao Family Market, so he naturally had to be careful.
Otherwise, if anything went wrong, the Xiao Family Market's business would be ruined.
When Xiao Han returned to the Xiao Family with Old Man Yao, Xiao Yan had already trained to the Fourth Stage Dou Disciple. Xiao Han asked about Xiao Yan's progress, then returned the ring to him.
Even with the help of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid, reaching another stage of Dou Qi in just a month was a terrifying rate of progress. Much of it was thanks to Xiao Yan's unshakable foundation and his past experience cultivating to the Dou Zhe level, both of which gave him a significant advantage.
After returning to the Separate Courtyard, two fragrant gusts swept toward him. Xiao Han felt two soft bodies wrap around his arms from behind, one on either side.
He didn't even need to look to know it was Xiao Xun'er and Qinglin. He had no idea what sort of agreement they had reached while he was away, but seeing them laughing and chatting together put him at ease.
In Xiao Han's heart, if there was anyone he could imagine taking as his wife, it was Qinglin.
As for Xiao Xun'er's brave and straightforward feelings, Xiao Han truly wasn't ready to turn his younger sister into his wife. The idea was simply too awkward for him...
So whenever Xiao Xun'er sulked over it, all he could do was smile wryly.
After that, he went home and handed Xiao Zhan all the various pills in his Storage Ring. Seeing that the pill stock was nearly depleted, Xiao Han smiled apologetically and told Xiao Zhan not to skimp on pills for the family's disciples. He would take care of everything.
Then he left amid Xiao Zhan's astonished exclamations at the number of pills in the ring.
Just two weeks earlier, the Ao Ba and Jia Lie families had been uprooted by Xiao Zhan in a thunderous show of force.
With those two troublesome families absorbed, it was easy to imagine that the Xiao Family would soon dominate Wutan City.
As for the brothers Xiao Ding and Xiao Li, they knew their family had risen to power, but they were determined to build their own lives out in the world and had no plans to return.
Since that was the case, Xiao Han personally supplied the two of them and the entire Mo Tie Mercenary Group with a large quantity of pills and funds, so they could improve their cultivation quickly and strengthen the group.
They could also use certain methods to eliminate the other Mercenary Groups in Shimo City, then establish another foothold for the Xiao Family.
Xiao Han had spared no effort in helping the Xiao Family prosper. Whenever he thought of something that could benefit its future, he would mention it to Xiao Zhan, who always supported his suggestions without question.
After taking care of a mountain of trivial matters, Xiao Han found Old Man Yao and asked him to refine a pill that could help him break through the bottleneck to Dou Master.
Once he had the pill, Xiao Han repeatedly tempered the Dou Qi within his body, using his Demonic Flame to refine it over and over until it became increasingly pure.
He continued this training for more than a week.
A week later, feeling the Dou Qi inside him swelling to capacity, Xiao Han smiled.
After swallowing the pill Old Man Yao had refined, he broke through to Dou Master as smoothly as if there had been no bottleneck at all.
Everything had gone like clockwork.
To go from Dou Zhe to Dou Master in three months was such a frightening rate of progress that anyone who heard it would probably take him for a monster.
Feeling the surging Dou Qi within him, Xiao Han drove a fist forward with satisfaction. A wave of air rippled outward. Sensing a strength he had never felt before, he grinned.
Now that he had advanced to Dou Master, he could finally open the Traversal Template he had left untouched. He hadn't checked it earlier because he was afraid it would distract him. Now, having reached Dou Master, and with all the hard training he had done and the Demon Armor inside him, he could even fight a Da Dou Shi!
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