Breakthrough to Dou Zhe

The next day, just as dawn was breaking.

Xiao Ling had already opened his eyes. After a night of letting things settle, he had managed to calm down. He got up and stretched his limbs.

A hint of anticipation appeared on Xiao Ling's face, and then he pushed the door open and left.

Along the way, every Xiao Clan youth he met greeted him respectfully. "Good morning, Brother Xiao Ling..."

"Mm."

Xiao Ling maintained his original body's personality and answered mildly, though inside he was secretly thrilled.

Without changing his expression, he walked to a raised platform in front of the Martial Arts Arena and looked down at the group of Xiao Clan youngsters, all between four and eight years old.

Suddenly, he felt like one of the ancient generals from his previous life, directing troops on the battlefield.

Except the troops he was commanding were a bunch of little kids...

Thinking this, Xiao Ling looked at the many pairs of eyes fixed on him and forced himself to adopt an imposing air.

"Today's morning lesson will proceed as usual."

"Yes, Brother Xiao Ling."

As soon as he finished speaking, a chorus of orderly replies rang out below.

Watching this scene, Xiao Ling casually waved his hand and sat cross-legged on the platform, putting on the appearance of cultivating while actually exploring his golden finger.

With a thought, a page invisible to everyone else appeared before his eyes. Its overall layout was very simple.

There were sections for Cultivation Methods, Combat Skills, Pills, Treasures, and Materials.

Looking at the five sections before him, Xiao Ling felt a surge of excitement. "Just when I needed it, help arrived. With these, I'll never have to worry about cultivation methods or pills again."

He immediately opened the Cultivation Methods section, but what appeared before him left him utterly stunned.

[Flame Mantra, Low Yellow Tier, growable, created by Ancestor Tian Can of the Great Thousand World... improved by the system. Due to its special nature, the transaction costs ten years of lifespan.]

[Zi Wu Body Tempering Technique, Low Xuan Tier, auxiliary cultivation method, created by a foreign race in the Feng Tian World... improved by the system. The transaction costs nine months of lifespan.]

[Yan Huang Canon, First Layer, High Xuan Tier, created by Yan Huang of the Yan Huang Great World during his lifetime... improved by the system. The transaction costs nine months of lifespan.]

"This..."

Xiao Ling stared at the countless cultivation methods before him, along with their descriptions of origin and prices, and was dumbfounded.

After a long while, he finally came to his senses, disappointment welling up inside him.

He hadn't expected the system's "Trading Heavens" to work like this.

He'd thought he would be trading directly with transmigrators who had systems of their own.

After browsing through everything, he hadn't found any Earth Tier Cultivation Methods or Combat Skills, or any pills above sixth grade. Still, he had found what he needed for now...

After careful consideration, Xiao Ling decided to choose the "Yan Huang Canon" as his cultivation method. As for why he didn't choose the "Flame Mantra," there was a reason.

The Flame Mantra's difficulty and starting point were completely out of proportion to its price.

He didn't dare gamble, after all. He had only a little over twenty years of lifespan.

The Yan Huang Canon was different. Not only was it easy to cultivate, it also came with three Combat Skills of the same tier. Compared to the Flame Mantra, it was a much better deal.

Thinking this, Xiao Ling gritted his teeth and selected the "Yan Huang Canon," the "Zi Wu Body Tempering Technique," "Swallow Return Strike," "Eight Extremities Collapse," "Foundation Establishment Powder," and other cultivation methods and Combat Skills, as well as the pills he needed to break through.

[Ding! The items selected by the host require four years of lifespan. Confirm?]

Xiao Ling: "Confirm!"

[Ding! The host has nineteen years and eleven months of lifespan remaining.]

"Wait... what's going on?"

"Didn't I only trade for four cultivation methods and Combat Skills equivalent to the High Xuan Tier, plus six packets of Foundation Establishment Powder? It only added up to four years of lifespan!"

Xiao Ling's expression darkened.

"System, get out here! Did you pocket some of my lifespan?"

[Ding! The Trading Mall is fair and impartial. It will never secretly deduct the host's lifespan. Please rest assured!]

At that, all sorts of thoughts flashed through Xiao Ling's mind. Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

"Could... could this be a problem with my original body?"

"But I've never heard of any such constitution. It wasn't even in the original story."

"If it really is a problem with my constitution... then I'll just have to collect some interest on behalf of the original owner first..."

Xiao Ling opened his eyes. A ruthless glint flashed in them as he got up and said, "That's enough for today's morning lesson. Go back and keep up with your cultivation."

With that, he headed for his residence, paying no attention to the replies from the clan youths behind him.

When he returned to his small courtyard, he was carrying a simple wooden cage. Inside was a nest of rats he had caught along the way.

He planned to try them out first. Then he reached into the cage and grabbed a large rat, about two feet long.

"System, plunder its lifespan."

As soon as he spoke, he felt a thread of life-filled energy flow up his arm and disappear into his mind.

"This..."

Xiao Ling stared in astonishment at the dried-up rat in his hand. He hadn't expected the system to act so quickly.

[Ding! The host has nineteen years, eleven months, and one hour of lifespan remaining.]

Xiao Ling pondered. "One big rat is equivalent to an hour of lifespan? If that's how it works, doesn't that mean I can live forever in a roundabout way?"

Thinking this, Xiao Ling looked at the cage before him. Perhaps sensing the danger, the rats inside let out shrill squeals.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak..."

Xiao Ling ignored them and did the same thing again. Before long, dozens of dried-up rats lay beneath the fruit tree by the entrance. Xiao Ling dusted off his hands and smiled with satisfaction.

Over the next month, aside from cultivating and teaching the morning lessons, Xiao Ling spent almost every day catching rats in the Back Mountain. He was so obsessed that he seemed like a different person.

The Xiao Clan youngsters gradually became too afraid to approach him.

Yet there was one little girl with long legs who would follow him around every few days, making all the other Xiao Clan youngsters envious.

"Xiao Yu, it's getting late. Hurry back and cultivate. Make sure you cultivate the 'Zi Wu Body Tempering Technique' I taught you, understand? After some time, I'll teach it to the other clan members. Then you can lead them in cultivating."

In a clearing somewhere in the Back Mountain, Xiao Ling picked up the wooden cage with a satisfied smile and sternly addressed the little girl beside him.

At that, a reluctant look appeared on Xiao Yu's face. "Brother Xiao Ling, remember to take Yu Er out to play sometime..."

"Play, play... All you ever think about is going out to play." Xiao Ling pretended to hit her. Xiao Yu immediately darted away, made a face at him, and ran down the mountain path.

Watching the little girl's long legs disappear into the distance, Xiao Ling shook his head and headed down the mountain.

Back in the courtyard, Xiao Ling buried another hundred or so dried-up rats beneath the tree roots. He dusted off his hands, sat in a reclining chair to bask in the sun, and reviewed what he had gained during this period.

First, his lifespan had recovered to twenty years, and his cultivation had reached the peak of Dou Power Stage Nine. He could attempt to break through to Dou Zhe at any time. It was no small achievement.

Second, Xiao Yan had been born three days ago... As the head of the Xiao Clan youngsters, he had personally gone over for a visit...

As Xiao Ling continued thinking, he drifted into sleep. The Dou Qi within his body began to stir and gather toward the dantian in his lower abdomen.

Drawn by this force, a funnel of Dou Qi a zhang high gathered above his head. The Dou Qi throughout the courtyard was dragged into it, pouring relentlessly through its other end, which connected to Xiao Ling's crown point. It flowed into his body and raced along his meridians into his dantian.

As wave after wave of Dou Qi poured in, the space in his dantian grew smaller and smaller, until it was completely full.

If Xiao Ling had been conscious, he would have started compressing the Dou Qi to form a Dou Qi Vortex.

Unfortunately, Xiao Ling was not conscious.

His dantian continued to swell, like a ball pumped full of air, ready to burst at any moment.

Just as the situation reached a critical point, a mysterious vitality suddenly flowed into his dantian. Under its influence, the Dou Qi began to compress slowly, eventually forming a milky-white vortex the size of a palm.

As soon as the vortex appeared, it unleashed a powerful suction force. The funnel of Dou Qi outside began to shrink until it disappeared completely into Xiao Ling's body. Only then did the surroundings return to stillness.

"Hm?"

A startled voice came from somewhere in the space above the courtyard.

"To think that the Xiao Clan, with its bloodline severed, still has such a genius. Xiao Xuan, so this was your plan..."

Only then did Xiao Ling open his eyes in a daze. He glanced at the sun that had sunk below the horizon and murmured, "I can't believe I slept through the entire afternoon..."

Then he abruptly sat up. A look of surprise appeared on his young face, for when he tried to channel Dou Qi just now, he discovered that what he had drawn out was Dou Qi—something only a Dou Zhe or above could use.

"Could I have broken through without taking any pills, without even realizing it?"

A glint flashed in Xiao Ling's eyes as he looked at his dantian. A milky-white vortex the size of a basketball was floating inside, and it gave him a real fright.

"How... how can it be this big?"

Xiao Yan's had only been the size of a palm, but his was ten times larger. And he wasn't even a One-Star Dou Zhe. Did that mean his future achievements would be ten times greater than Xiao Yan's, too?

Just as Xiao Ling was indulging in his fantasies, a single sentence from the system doused him with cold water and left him frozen in place.