Breakthrough to Dou Zhe

After breaking through to the Ninth Stage of Dou Qi, Xiao Ce did not immediately attempt to advance to Dou Zhe. Instead, he spent another full half month consolidating his foundation before coming to find his grandfather.

"Juqi Powder!"

In Xiao Hai's courtyard, the old man was first stunned when he learned of his grandson's purpose, then his expression turned to wild delight.

"Ce'er, when did you break through to the Ninth Stage of Dou Qi?"

"Half a month ago. Over the past half month, I felt that I had completely stabilized my Ninth-Stage Dou Qi, so I came to ask Grandfather for Juqi Powder." Xiao Ce chuckled softly.

"Hahaha, good! Who would have thought that you little brat entered the Ninth Stage of Dou Qi half a month ago and did not even tell your grandfather? It seems our grandfather-grandson relationship has been rather neglected."

Xiao Hai pointed at Xiao Ce and laughed as he scolded him, but from his expression, he was clearly overjoyed.

Then, with a flip of his hand, a white jade bottle appeared in his palm.

"Ce'er, take it. This Juqi Powder was prepared for you long ago."

After saying that, Xiao Hai pointed toward a room deep within the courtyard. "Go into your grandfather's cultivation chamber and break through to Dou Zhe in seclusion. With your grandfather guarding the place, nothing can possibly go wrong."

"Alright, Grandfather."

Naturally, Xiao Ce would not stand on ceremony with Xiao Hai. He took the jade bottle from his palm and walked straight into the latter's cultivation chamber.

Xiao Hai's cultivation chamber was not particularly large. It was quiet and simple; apart from a meditation cushion, there was only an incense burner resting silently in a corner.

The incense in the burner was made from special medicinal herbs and could help calm one's mind.

Xiao Ce walked over and sat on the meditation cushion. His gaze fell upon the jade bottle of Juqi Powder in his hand, and his eyes held a hint of burning anticipation.

For him, only by breaking through to Dou Zhe and officially beginning cultivation of the Xuantian Yin-Yang Dao could he truly gain a foothold in this world.

Taking a deep breath, Xiao Ce stopped thinking any further and poured the Juqi Powder from the jade bottle.

In an instant, a strange fragrance overflowed from the Juqi Powder. Xiao Ce did not hesitate; as soon as he poured it out, he swallowed it in one gulp.

As a faint coolness spread through his mouth, a warm and pure energy surged directly into his body moments later. Like floodwaters bursting through a broken dam, it raced along his meridians and wildly poured into every part of his body.

Feeling the pure and surging energy within him, Xiao Ce's entire body trembled. He did not dare slacken in the slightest and immediately focused all his attention on circulating the Yin-Yang Foundation Establishment Chapter of the Xuantian Yin-Yang Dao, beginning to refine the surging energy within his body.

One cycle, two cycles, three cycles...

As time passed, the Dou Qi within Xiao Ce's body rapidly expanded, quickly reaching an extraordinarily terrifying critical point.

Xiao Ce had long heard his grandfather describe the crucial steps to condensing a Dou Qi Cyclone. Therefore, the moment he sensed his Dou Qi swelling to its limit, his mind stirred.

"Now!"

"Condense!"

Xiao Ce let out a low roar in his heart, and his hands abruptly changed seals.

The next moment, the Dou Qi that had expanded to its critical point suddenly began to compress, retreating from every meridian in his body toward the dantian in his lower abdomen.

When all of the Dou Qi had been compressed into his dantian, a nebula-like Dou Qi Cyclone quietly condensed.

Most astonishingly, the instant Xiao Ce's Dou Qi Cyclone formed, the originally milky-white cyclone silently transformed into black and white.

The black-and-white cyclone intertwined like the yin-yang fish within a taiji diagram. Within you was me, within me was you; they blended together as one.

Clearly, this black-and-white Yin-Yang Qi Cyclone was the product of Xiao Ce cultivating the Yin-Yang Foundation Establishment Chapter of the Xuantian Yin-Yang Dao.

At that moment, his Dou Qi attribute had also transformed into the special Yin-Yang Dou Qi.

Though it did not belong to any attribute on the continent, it could use yin and yang as its foundation to evolve into Dou Qi of any attribute in the world.

Xiao Ce extended a finger, drawing a strand of Yin-Yang Dou Qi from the Yin-Yang Qi Cyclone. It spilled from his fingertip.

With a thought, this strand of black-and-white Yin-Yang Dou Qi rapidly transformed before the naked eye into all manner of attributes—metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, lightning, and more.

After cycling through them, the Dou Qi at Xiao Ce's fingertip settled on the fire attribute. He gave a strange smile.

From now on, he would use the fire attribute against enemies. Yin-Yang Dou Qi was exceptionally powerful, and fighting above his level would be as easy as eating and drinking. If he used it to catch someone off guard, he would certainly leave them utterly unprepared.

Xiao Ce then tested his strength after the breakthrough. He casually clenched his fist and threw a punch at the air before him.

Bang!

His fist wind howled, and a low sonic boom rang out in the air.

Feeling the surging strength within his body, Xiao Ce's eyes instantly lit up.

The power of this punch was several times greater than it had been at the Ninth Stage of Dou Qi.

It seemed that the Yin-Yang Foundation Establishment Chapter had not merely built an incomparably solid Dou Qi foundation for him; it had also made his physical body far stronger than that of Dou Zhe at the same level.

This had only been a casual punch. If he went all out with Dou Qi, a Dou Zhe of the same realm would likely be unable to withstand even one exchange with him.

In the courtyard outside the cultivation chamber, the old man paced back and forth.

A full day had passed since Xiao Ce entered seclusion.

Although he knew that Juqi Powder could help a Ninth-Stage Dou Qi cultivator condense a Dou Qi Cyclone with absolute certainty, Xiao Hai was still somewhat nervous, afraid that some unexpected complication might arise midway.

Just then, the door to the cultivation chamber suddenly opened.

Xiao Ce slowly emerged from the cultivation chamber, dressed in a blue robe. His features were clear and bright, and a faint smile rested upon his lips.

"Grandfather!"

Hearing Xiao Ce's voice, Xiao Hai froze, and wild delight instantly appeared on his face.

"Ce'er, you broke through."

Xiao Ce did not speak. Instead, his body gave a slight tremor, and an invisible aura immediately spread out from within him.

"Good! Good! Good!" Sensing the aura emanating from Xiao Ce, Xiao Hai burst into laughter and said "good" three times in succession. His aged face was filled with excitement and pride.

He quickly stepped forward to examine his precious grandson's youthful face, the light in his eyes astonishingly bright.

"Hahaha, a twelve-year-old Dou Zhe!"

"My grandson Xiao Ce has the bearing of a Dou Emperor!"

At those words, Xiao Ce looked at the excited Xiao Hai with a strange expression and thought, Grandfather, you really should not say things like that so casually!

For some reason, Xiao Hai's words reminded him of someone from his memories.

My son Wang Teng has the bearing of a Great Emperor!

The grandfather and grandson chatted for a few more moments before Xiao Hai asked, "Ce'er, do you know what attribute your Dou Qi is?"

"Fire attribute?"

Xiao Hai frowned slightly upon hearing that.

"Within the family, the highest-grade technique is undoubtedly the Mystic-Rank Intermediate technique cultivated by the clan leader, Mad Lion Furious Qi. If you had wind-attributed Dou Qi, your grandfather could help you obtain it. But as for fire-attributed techniques, the highest grade in the family is only Yellow-Rank High-grade."

Xiao Ce waved his hand.

"Grandfather need not worry. Your grandson has his own means of obtaining a cultivation technique."

"Means?" Xiao Hai was stunned, and a thought immediately flashed through his mind.

The means Ce'er spoke of was probably that girl Xun'er?