After meeting with Yao Han that day, Xiao Yan kept a low profile, rarely leaving his room and spending most of his time cultivating.
His cultivation had advanced far too quickly during this period. In less than half a year, he had risen directly from a Three-star Dou Huang when he first emerged from the tower to an Eight-star Dou Huang. As a result, his control over Dou Qi was nowhere near as effortless as it had been when he was a Da Dou Shi. Fortunately, with Spirit Realm Soul Power far beyond his current realm, his ability to fight across ranks remained exceptionally formidable.
However, after learning about the major factions of the Northwest Region over the past few days, he discovered that the strong individuals in this region were far more powerful than he had imagined. There were more than ten forces openly known to possess Dou Venerate experts, while the number of Peak Dou Zong experts was no less impressive. With his current strength, he could at most contend against a Seven- or Eight-star Dou Zong. Under such circumstances, securing one of the top twenty spots in the Sect Convention would be extremely difficult.
Although Liuli could serve as a fallback, Xiao Yan was a man and could not keep troubling her to stand in front of him, especially when she was a girl he liked. Unless it came to a last resort, he decided to test himself first. Thus, over the past few days, he had been steadily consolidating his cultivation while continuously probing the barrier to becoming a Nine-star Dou Huang.
Compared with Xiao Yan's diligence, Liuli had been much more carefree these past few days, taking Zi Yan out shopping whenever she had nothing else to do.
She had already reached the Peak Dou