Six Years

"Master, have some tea." Xiao Li poured a cup of tea and handed it to Wang Ming.

Wang Ming gulped it down.

"Ah—Jia Ma Empire is still the most comfortable." Wang Ming found a reclining chair, leaned back in it, and promptly fell asleep with loud snores.

Xiao Ting and the others did not dare disturb Wang Ming. After all, President Wang was friendly toward the Xiao Clan only because of Xiao Li. Although Wang Ming had taught Xiao Li for six years, he had not given the Xiao Clan any benefits.

If they wanted pills refined, the old rules still applied: provide their own medicinal ingredients, and whether the refinement succeeded or failed, he bore no responsibility.

The Xiao Clan could conduct pill business entirely because Xiao Li was so capable. From First Grade Pills to Fourth Grade Pills, the Xiao Clan could now compete with the Alchemist Guild for business.

Of course, all of this required President Wang's tacit approval. He was only responsible for teaching his disciple; as for his disciple using alchemy to benefit his family, he did not interfere.

Besides, even if the entire Xiao Clan were sold, it could not repay President Wang for everything he had invested in Xiao Li over the past six years. Everyone in the Xiao Clan knew their place. In any case, the outcome was quite good—they already had a Rank 4 Alchemist in their clan.

Watching Wang Ming snore away, Xiao Li could not help but smile. Over these six years, he had come to know his master inside and out.

On the Dou Qi Continent, master-disciple relationships had always been excellent. Aside from a handful of scum, such bonds could be as close as blood relations, or even closer.

Xiao Li's current cultivation was at the Peak Six Star Dou Grandmaster realm. In the eyes of ordinary people, that was already an incredible achievement. At the very least, it was unparalleled within the Jia Ma Empire.

Yet Xiao Li had not devoted all six years to cultivation. Most of his time had been spent painstakingly studying alchemy and tempering his foundation. Over the years, he had consumed no small number of pills.

As long as Wang Ming knew how to make it, any Foundation Building Pills, whether Grade 5 or Grade 6, would be refined for Xiao Li to consume as long as they could be made. He truly ate pills as though they were meals.

And that was not all. Xiao Li not only had to consume pills, but also undergo Medicinal Baths to assist absorption. Wang Ming had prepared all of this to build Xiao Li's foundation. The process was somewhat painful, but Xiao Li had forged a body no weaker than that of a Magical Beast.

That being said, why did Old Wang know so much? Wasn't he merely a Rank 6 Alchemist from the Jia Ma Empire? How could an alchemist from such a small place know so many things?

Hmph! You wouldn't understand that. Xiao Li had not understood at first either. Gu He of later generations was also a Rank 6 Alchemist, yet he had not raised Liu Ling particularly well.

As it turned out, Old Wang had originally come from Central Continent. His family had once resided in Windcloud City in the Southern Region of Central Continent. The Wang Clan, to which Old Wang belonged, had been one of Windcloud City's top families. His grandfather had been a Dou Zong Expert, his father a Dou Emperor Expert, and his mother a Peak Rank 5 Alchemist.

When Old Wang was young, he had followed his mother in learning knowledge related to alchemy, giving him a certain foundation.

According to Old Wang, his childhood had been the happiest time of his life. But good times did not last. When Wang Ming condensed his Dou Qi Vortex and became a Dou Zhe at the age of twelve, his Special Physique awakened.

Shocking! Old Wang actually possessed a Special Physique! That was right—Wang Ming possessed a Special Physique known as the Heavenly Yang Physique. If this physique were paired with Heavenly Treasures of the Extreme Yang Attribute, he would surely achieve greatness in the future!

Old Wang's awakening of his Special Physique had brought prosperity to the entire Wang Clan, but in Central Continent, possessing a Special Physique was instead a danger!

When Old Wang was fifteen, Ice River Valley, one of the Three Valleys, suddenly attacked the Wang Clan. Three Dou Zong experts led the assault, along with countless Dou Emperors and Dou Kings. The Wang Clan of Windcloud City, once at the height of its glory, was destroyed. Wang Ming was captured and brought back to Ice River Valley, where the Heavenly Yang Physique Origin was stripped from him, leaving him on the verge of death.

Fortunately, Old Wang had once consumed a Life-saving Sixth Grade Peak Pill as a child, allowing him to survive with great difficulty.

Although he had survived by chance, his physique had been crippled and his cultivation foundation ruined. Old Wang's body was riddled with damage. He was no longer the genius youth of Windcloud City from back then.

With his clan destroyed and his loved ones dead, Old Wang had once wanted to end his own life. Yet the thought of revenge allowed him to live on stubbornly.

Old Wang began cultivating diligently and targeting Ice River Valley disciples, but just how enormous was Ice River Valley? It was a Top Central Continent Power, one of the Three Valleys, second only to One Hall, One Tower, Two Sects.

During one hunt for Ice River Valley disciples, he was discovered by an Ice River Valley expert. Wang Ming was pursued and ultimately forced to jump off a cliff.

A saying circulated on the Dou Qi Continent: if one day you fell off a cliff and landed in a cave, do not panic. Take two steps forward, and perhaps you would become an expert!

Such a joke had truly happened to Wang Ming. After Old Wang fell from the cliff, he did not know how long it took before he regained consciousness. There, he discovered a skeleton.

When Xiao Li heard Wang Ming's account, he could not help but feel that it sounded exactly like a Protagonist Template. Clan Destroyed in Youth, physique crippled, fell off a cliff and obtained an inheritance.

According to Old Wang, he had obtained the inheritance of a Peak Rank 7 Alchemist. That alchemist had also been a Dou Zong Expert, but he had never become a Rank 8 Alchemist in his entire life. Failing to become a Dou Zun had been his lifelong regret.

After obtaining that alchemist's inheritance, along with the knowledge of alchemy he had learned from his mother since childhood, Old Wang taught himself alchemy.

He cultivated until he reached the Dou King Level before leaving the mountain. After killing two Dou Kings from Ice River Valley, he departed Central Continent for the Northwest Continent and ultimately settled in the Jia Ma Empire.

Old Wang's life had been filled with calamities. Though his enemies still remained, Wang Ming had already come to terms with it. Passing down everything he knew about alchemy was what truly mattered.

Xiao Li had heard Old Wang say this more than once.

Old Wang said, "This old man's fortune has already been good enough. After living for so many years, what is there left to be dissatisfied about? When my end approaches, I will carve out a cave and leave behind my inheritance. That will bring things to a proper conclusion."

Xiao Li knew that Old Wang carried severe old injuries. That was why he looked so aged, and why, despite clearly being a Six Star Dou Emperor, he could only display combat strength equivalent to around three or four stars.

That was also why Old Wang could not refine Sixth Grade Peak Pills. First of all, the growth of one's soul was limited by one's own Dou Qi Cultivation.

Although Old Wang had survived by chance, his talent had been utterly destroyed. Old Wang often said that his current cultivation was all thanks to the inheritance of that Rank 7 Alchemist. Otherwise, even reaching the Dou Emperor realm would have been difficult for him.

Naturally, Xiao Li wanted to heal his master. Over the years, his master had given him no shortage of treasures.

First was an Earth Grade Low-level Cultivation Method and its Matching Dou Techniques. Then, when Xiao Li was twelve years old, Old Wang gave him a Rank 6 Beast Flame, the Purple Tiger Flame, taken from a Rank 6 Magical Beast, the Purple Emperor Tiger King.

Then there was the Medicine Cauldron Xiao Li had just used. It was a Rank 5 Medicine Cauldron that Old Wang had previously used often, named the Blue Flame Cauldron.

Everything had been given to him by Old Wang. Xiao Li was not some shameless beast who betrayed his master and destroyed his ancestors. He despised such people most in his life. The two most infamous beasts on the Dou Qi Continent who betrayed their masters and destroyed their ancestors were Han Feng and Hun Xuzi.

Old Wang had already nurtured Xiao Li's bones and foundation to perfection. Before long, his cultivation would erupt like a fountain.

Old Wang had invested far too much in Xiao Li. Old Wang said that, barring any accidents, everything he had invested would allow Xiao Li to advance smoothly all the way to become a Dou Zun Expert. That was right—a Dou Zun!

After all, Old Wang was someone from Central Continent. In Central Continent, Dou Zuns were everywhere. Especially in the Central Region of Central Continent, Dou Zuns gathered in great numbers, and even Dou Shengs could appear there!

Old Wang hoped that his disciple would become a Dou Zun Expert who could dominate an entire region. A Dou Zong could only lord over others in such a remote place.