Dou Qi Continent

Northwest of the Dou Qi Continent.

Northern Jia Ma Empire, Wutan City.

Wutan City belonged to the Jia Ma Empire. Backed by the advantageous terrain of the Monster Mountain Range, it had risen into the ranks of the Jia Ma Empire's major cities.

Aside from the City Lord's Mansion and the Mittal clan, the strongest local powers in the city were the Three Great Families of Wutan City: the Xiao Family, the Jia Lie Family, and the Ao Ba Family.

However, the elder-generation Dou Lings of the Three Great Families had died off, while the current patriarchs of all three families remained stalled at the Da Dou Shi stage.

As a result, over the past decade or so, Wutan City had rapidly fallen to the bottom of the Jia Ma Empire's rankings of major cities.

"Move it, you useless lot! Do I pay you two Gold Coins a month to come here and play around?"

Early that morning, more than a dozen freight carriages stood quietly outside a trading house south of Wutan City.

A middle-aged man dressed in luxurious yellow robes stroked his round belly as he urged on the large group of porters constantly rushing back and forth before him.

That damned Yellow Skinflint. He must have been born from the same mother as those capitalists on Blue Planet.

Watching the man in yellow, who weighed more than the two hundred jin of goods on his back, Lin Feng grumbled inwardly without pause.

But recalling the transmigration novels he had read before, he could not help complaining in his heart. How come everyone else transmigrates into a great family, or gets carried straight to the top by some ridiculously overpowered system?

And me? Not only did I physically transmigrate to the Dou Qi Continent, my body turned into that of a six-year-old. If I hadn't been tough enough, I probably would have starved to death on the streets long ago.

That was right. Lin Feng was a transmigrator from Blue Planet.

He had originally been one of Blue Planet's countless miserable wage slaves. On the day he transmigrated, he had gotten off work, bathed, and gone to sleep as usual. Yet when he woke up, he had somehow inexplicably arrived in the Dou Qi Continent.

Worse still, his body had regressed to that of a six-year-old. With the language barrier and not a coin to his name, he had nearly starved to death on the streets.

Fortunately, he had put his shameless personality to good use and survived by begging.

When he was thirteen, two years ago, he found this job as a porter, and only then did his life become somewhat stable.

At dusk, after finishing work, Lin Feng hurried over to the yellow-robed man who was about to leave the trading house. "Um, Manager, I have something to do tomorrow. Could I take a day off?"

"A day off? Do you know how much cargo you won't move if you take a day off? Is that fair to the two Gold Coins I pay you every month?"

Hearing Lin Feng's request, the man in yellow grew displeased and replied irritably.

Other places pay five Gold Coins. If I weren't too young for them to hire me, who the hell would come work for you?

Of course, Lin Feng only dared to think that. He would not dare say it aloud, since he still had to rely on this job to eat.

He immediately put on a smile. "Manager, I really have no choice. Please be generous and approve it this once."

"Fine, I'll approve it this time. But there won't be a next time, understand?" After saying that, the yellow-robed man impatiently rubbed his round belly and walked away.

"Thank you, Manager."

The next day.

Early in the morning, on an unnamed mountain peak several li from Wutan City, a thin pale mist lingered year-round without dispersing. When the breeze blew, it drifted in and out of sight.

Beneath a secluded cliff on the mountain, Lin Feng sat cross-legged inside a cramped cave.

He had carefully selected this cliff as his cultivation site. Across from it, clouds and mist swirled, and below them lay a bottomless abyss.

The only trail leading here had long since been concealed with branches and loose stones, so he did not need to worry about anyone interrupting his cultivation.

The reason he had taken leave to come here was that he had remained at the ninth stage of Dou Power for a full year. Now, he wanted to attempt to condense a Dou Qi Vortex and advance to Dou Zhe.

He could have broken through several months ago, but since he had no Qi Gathering Powder and the chance of failure was too high, he had delayed until today.

Now, Xiao Yan, who was the same age as him, had also turned fifteen. According to the original story, Old Yao was about to appear as well.

He had to break through to Dou Zhe before Xiao Yan. Otherwise, all those treasures in the Jia Ma Empire would have nothing to do with him.

Once Lin Feng sensed that his condition had reached its peak, he muttered, "I have to succeed!" Then he drew a deep breath and quickly activated the common method for absorbing Dou Qi Energy.

At once, the calm air suddenly rippled violently.

Strands of pale-white Dou Qi Energy seeped out from the air under a peculiar attraction, then continuously burrowed into Lin Feng's Meridians.

As time passed, he absorbed more and more Dou Qi Energy. The Meridians within his body had long since been filled to capacity, yet they continued expanding.

As he continued absorbing Dou Qi Energy, the energy within Lin Feng's body finally swelled to a critical point where it could no longer increase.

The swelling Dou Qi Energy sent waves of intense pain through his Meridians and Dantian, twisting Lin Feng's expression.

Before long, Lin Feng felt that he had reached his limit. If he did not act now, not only would he fail to condense a Dou Qi Vortex, but his Meridians might also be damaged.

Drawing in a cold breath, he followed the teachings of the introductory book on Dou Qi Energy, forcefully compressing all the Dou Qi Energy in his Meridians toward his Dantian.

In an instant, the surging Dou Qi Energy in his body seemed to be caught by a ferocious suction force, rapidly contracting toward his lower abdomen.

When all the Dou Qi Energy had shrunk into his lower abdomen, it was only the size of a palm.

The originally pale-white Dou Qi Energy also began transforming into a milky-white, irregular, dense gas close to liquid form. This was the phenomenon of Dou Qi Energy transforming into Dou Qi.

At the Dou Power stage, the energy one absorbed was called Dou Qi Energy. Only after advancing to Dou Zhe was the absorbed energy called true Dou Qi.

Though the two differed by only one word, the gap between them was as vast as heaven and earth, utterly incomparable.

However, compared with Dou Qi, Dou Qi Energy was much gentler.

Thus, when their physiques were still relatively frail, people used Dou Qi Energy to cleanse their Meridians and temper their bones, strengthening their bodies and laying the foundation for absorbing Dou Qi in the future.

This stage was called Dou Power!

Seeing this, Lin Feng gritted his teeth. He knew that success or failure depended on whether he could compress the chaotic Dou Qi Energy in his Dantian into a self-rotating Dou Qi Vortex.

If he failed to condense the vortex this time, he would fall back to the eighth stage of Dou Qi Energy. To challenge Dou Zhe again, he would have to wait at least another year.

With his heart set, Lin Feng shut his eyes tightly and compressed it down once more with all his strength, shouting at the same time, "Dou Qi Vortex, condense for me!"

"Bang!"

As a soft muffled sound rang out within his body, the exhausted, drained feeling plaguing Lin Feng vanished into thin air.

Lin Feng also let out a heavy breath, and the heart he had held in suspense finally settled.

Now that his Dou Qi Vortex had successfully condensed, Lin Feng had officially entered the gates of Dou Qi cultivation.

"Looks like my luck isn't bad. I condensed a Dou Qi Vortex on my first try. A fifteen-year-old Dou Zhe is considered a second-rate genius even in the Jia Ma Empire."

Having successfully advanced to Dou Zhe, Lin Feng chuckled and muttered to himself. Then he slowly exhaled, half-closed his eyes, and gradually sank his consciousness into his body.

Internal vision was an auxiliary skill only those at the Dou Zhe level and above could grasp. The higher one's strength, the more thoroughly one could examine the condition within one's body.

His consciousness sank into his lower abdomen, where a palm-sized milky-white vortex slowly rotated. Around it was wrapped a layer of milky-white energy mist resembling a nebula.

As his consciousness observed the tiny vortex, Lin Feng nodded in satisfaction.

Though the vortex was small, the energy contained within it was definitely more than ten times stronger than the ninth stage of Dou Qi Energy he possessed before.

Controlling the vortex with his consciousness, Lin Feng's thoughts shifted slightly. A strand of milky-white Dou Qi swiftly separated from the vortex and surged in the direction indicated by his mind.

He continuously controlled the vortex's inhalation and exhalation. Once his curiosity had been satisfied, Lin Feng finally stopped this playlike action and slowly withdrew his consciousness from his body.

His tightly shut eyes suddenly flew open. The milky-white glow in his dark pupils lingered for a full dozen seconds before gradually fading.

Although he had successfully condensed a Dou Qi Vortex, Lin Feng could not yet be considered a true Dou Zhe.

That was because he had not yet transformed the attribute-less Dou Qi within his body into Dou Qi corresponding to his own attribute.

Coming back to his senses from the joy of advancing to Dou Zhe, Lin Feng could not help frowning when he thought of a Cultivation Method.

On the Dou Qi Continent, the ranks of Dou Qi were divided into Dou Power, Dou Zhe, Dou Shi, Da Dou Shi, Dou Ling, Dou King, Dou Emperor, Dou Zong, Dou Zun, Dou Sheng, and Dou Di—a total of eleven major realms.

Each major realm was further divided into one to nine stars.

At the Dou Power stage, people generally used a special guiding method to separate Dou Power from the air before absorbing it themselves. Although this was inefficient, the human body was inherently frail at the Dou Power stage and could not absorb much Dou Qi Energy, making it an excellent choice instead.

But after advancing to Dou Zhe, one's physical constitution improved tremendously, and using this method was no longer suitable.

Thus, after countless years of exploration, the ancients invented Dou Qi Cultivation Methods.

After the development of countless people, Dou Qi Cultivation Methods were classified from high to low into four tiers and twelve grades: Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow.

Each tier was further divided into low, middle, and high grades.

Cultivating a Dou Qi Cultivation Method could not only transform the attribute-less Dou Qi inside one's body into Dou Qi matching one's own attribute, but the grade of the Cultivation Method one practiced was also one of the key factors determining one's future accomplishments.

For example, someone cultivating a High Yellow Tier Cultivation Method would naturally possess far stronger Dou Qi than someone of the same level cultivating a Low Yellow Tier Cultivation Method.

However, high-grade Dou Qi Cultivation Methods were difficult for ordinary people to obtain. The methods circulating among commoners were, at most, High Yellow Tier.

Ordinary people who advanced to Dou Zhe would generally receive a Cultivation Method from their elders. It might not be especially good, but at least it was something.

But Lin Feng had transmigrated here. What elders could he possibly have on the Dou Qi Continent? He had not awakened any system either. Staying alive had already been difficult enough—where would he get so many Gold Coins to buy a Cultivation Method?

Although he knew there were many treasures in the Jia Ma Empire, he did not have the strength to claim them yet.

Should I go to Jia Nan Academy? Lin Feng thought.

Then he shook his head. Jia Nan Academy was simply too far from the Jia Ma Empire. By the time he returned a few years later, Xiao Yan would likely have already swept all those Jia Ma Empire treasures clean. What would be left for him?

Then join some sect?

After thinking it over, Lin Feng still abandoned that option. There were no particularly good sects in the Jia Ma Empire. The only one worth mentioning, the Misty Cloud Sect, had ties to the Soul Hall. The waters ran far too deep.

After a long while, Lin Feng still could not think of any solution. With a soft sigh, he rose to his feet and headed back toward Wutan City.