Suppressing the Demon Armor

Night. Xiao Family's Back Mountain.

After glancing around and confirming no one was nearby, Xiao Han opened the system panel.

On the system interface's progress bar, several large characters were displayed.

"Hero Template Fusion 98%, estimated remaining time: 15 minutes."

Xiao Han sat cross-legged on the large stone where Xiao Yan usually lounged, beginning to regulate his body after the Change Meridians and Cleanse Marrow.

The unfused Swallowing Spirit Technique remained the same as this morning—still that low-grade Yellow Rank cultivation technique.

But after Washing Marrow and Cutting Bone, Xiao Han discovered that his cultivation speed had skyrocketed to 200% of its original rate, a full doubling!

What a terrifying improvement!

In other words, the two months it originally took to cultivate a single star had been directly shortened to one month!

And that extra month could be used for rapid advancement!

This was before Xiao Han had even fused the Earth Rank High-Grade cultivation technique Xiao Xun'er had given him. If that fusion succeeded, his cultivation speed would likely become even faster.

After finishing his breathing exercises, Xiao Han checked the time on the system interface—still five minutes left.

So he proceeded to perform the Fierce Tiger Fist, a technique he had already honed to perfection.

Every stance and movement was like a fierce tiger descending the mountain, brimming with savagery! The fist techniques flowed naturally between retraction and extension, all moves executed with effortless ease, sending burst after burst of wind howling through the air!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

After completing a full set of Fierce Tiger Fist, Xiao Han withdrew his stance and stood upright, exhaling a breath. His face was calm, his heart steady—the warm-up from that set of fist techniques had brought his body to its optimal state.

"Ding! Honor of Kings Hero Template: Demon Armor, fusion complete. Host may view the data panel at will."

Boom!!!

The moment the system's voice faded, Xiao Han sensed the streak of light that had flown into his Dantian earlier begin to stir. It then transformed into an unknown energy, rapidly reshaping his entire body.

At the same time, his mind flooded with information about his current physical changes.

An almost inexhaustible torrent of power surged and flowed through his meridians, causing Xiao Han's Dou Qi to boil. As a cultivator with several years of experience, he was no longer the greenhorn who had just set out.

He understood clearly now: the reason his Dou Qi had begun to run wild was that the energy brought by the Demon Armor was far too immense for his body to bear all at once!

"Ha!"

Xiao Han made a decisive move, immediately sitting cross-legged and activating the Swallowing Spirit Technique to absorb the energy from another world—called the "Demonic Path"—into his Dantian. He used this to continuously expand the pitifully small Dou Qi vortex within him.

Zzz—Zzz—

Amidst his closed-eye cultivation, Xiao Han seemed to hear a strange sound. He sank his mind into his Dantian and discovered an Azure Blue suit of armor there, greedily absorbing the Dou Qi inside his body.

Yet this Azure Blue Demon Armor wasn't taking without giving. After absorbing the Dou Qi, it reconverted it into a peculiar energy that dispersed throughout Xiao Han's Dantian. His Dou Qi vortex seized the opportunity to absorb this energy and continuously strengthen itself.

With this cycle of absorption and release, the Demon Armor and his Dou Qi vortex formed a perfect circulation—equivalent to Xiao Han cultivating at every moment.

Though the cultivation effect produced by this cycle was minimal, if he could one day find a way to enhance this internal Dou Qi circulation, wouldn't he possess a Perpetual Motion Machine that cultivated on its own?

At that point, even if Xiao Han never trained at all, his Dou Qi cultivation would grow stronger on its own—like a cheat code for cultivation!

Joy spread across Xiao Han's face at this favorable internal change.

And the next moment, the second transformation brought by fusing the Demon Armor immediately manifested.

Above the Demon Armor, a small Dark Blue flame had appeared at some point, flickering incessantly.

Through his inner vision, Xiao Han could clearly see that this tiny flame was parasitic on the Demon Armor—meaning it was also an attached ability brought by the armor!

Xiao Han narrowed his eyes. Though four years had passed, he still clearly remembered the hero Demon Armor. When he activated his ultimate, his entire body erupted with a blue flame special effect that dealt considerable magic damage to everything around him every second.

Could it be this tiny flame?!

Xiao Han was puzzled, but the energy inside him was growing too fast—he couldn't hold it any longer!

Under the Demon Armor's conversion, the surging energy within continuously pushed Xiao Han's Dou Qi cultivation forward. The Swallowing Spirit Technique's efficiency at utilizing energy was terrifyingly high. Though the technique's rank was low, its 150% energy conversion rate rapidly propelled Xiao Han's cultivation upward.

Boom!!!

One star! Two stars!

In a short span of time, Xiao Han broke through two minor realms in succession, swiftly reaching the level of Three Star Dou Practitioner!

This forced advancement did not come without a price. With such high energy conversion, Xiao Han could only feel his meridians' endurance reaching its limit.

But the Demon Armor in his Dantian showed no sign of stopping. It continued to inhale and exhale Dou Qi and convert its strange energy, as if intent on bursting Xiao Han apart from the inside.

"Stop! I can't take it anymore!"

"Damn it!"

"Fine! I refuse to believe a mere Demon Armor can overpower me!"

Xiao Han's face twisted in a snarl, veins bulging on his forehead. He clenched his mind, mobilizing all his Soul Power to suppress the Demon Armor! But the armor had absorbed too much Dou Qi—the Yellow Rank Swallowing Spirit Technique couldn't keep up with its conversion speed!

"System! Fuse the technique for me!"

He quickly pulled the Technique Jade Slip from his pocket, summoned the system panel, and tossed the jade slip toward it.

Strangely enough, the moment the jade slip touched the system, it seemed to crash into the surface of still water, ripples spreading outward. The entire jade slip sank into the system interface and vanished without a trace.

"Ding! Detected Earth Rank High-Grade Cultivation Technique Heavenly Flame Technique. Beginning fusion with cultivation technique Swallowing Spirit Technique."

"Ding! Fusion complete. Swallowing Spirit Technique has successfully advanced to Earth Rank Low-Grade Cultivation Technique."

The moment the system's voice faded, the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi over the entire Xiao Family's Back Mountain seemed drawn by the eye of a violent tornado, madly surging into Xiao Han's body, transforming into wave after wave of newborn Dou Qi.

Compared to the original Yellow Rank Cultivation Technique, the Swallowing Spirit Technique, now promoted to Earth Rank Low-Grade, possessed a devouring might over Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi that was no less than that of an Earth Rank High-Grade technique.

Boom!

Propelled by the energy of the Demon Armor, Xiao Han advanced once more!

Dou Practitioner, Four Stars!

And with Xiao Han stirring up such a massive commotion, the entire Xiao Family was likely alarmed!

Yet what puzzled Xiao Han was that the Xiao Family courtyard, so close at hand, had not a single person detect the disturbance in Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi, as if something had sealed it off.

Though he wondered why the Xiao Family hadn't been roused, since he couldn't figure it out, Xiao Han couldn't be bothered to dwell on it. He focused his mind, mobilizing the Dou Qi and Soul Power within his body, and began a life-or-death struggle against the Demon Armor!

The speed of devouring Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi surged tenfold!

If, under such a terrifying boost, he still couldn't shatter a mere Demon Armor, then Xiao Han might as well just ram his head into a wall and die!

"Ha! Open up!"

Soul Power, mingled with Dou Qi, clashed against the Demon Armor, and the energy within his body exploded once more!

Boom! Xiao Han could feel another Small Level break open within him!

Dou Practitioner, Five Stars!

"No good! If my cultivation keeps skyrocketing like this, my foundation will become extremely unstable! I can't let this continue!"

Using Dou Qi as the bow, Soul Power as the arrow, and the meridians within his body as the bowstring, Xiao Han constructed a great bow. Without mercy, he shot his Soul Power arrow into the Demon Armor within his Dantian, finally suppressing it completely!

At the same time, the energy within his body erupted again, as if trying to stir up more trouble. But before the Swallowing Spirit Technique, now promoted to Earth Rank, this paltry amount of energy seemed utterly laughable.

"You bastard, why don't you keep jumping? Jump! Watch me deal with you!"

Xiao Han let out a cold laugh, swiftly wrapping his Soul Power around the entire Demon Armor. With full concentration, he began to refine this unruly little thing entrenched in his Dantian.