Peak Dou Ling! Destination: Jia Nan Academy!

Chapter 5: Peak Dou Ling! Destination: Jia Nan Academy!

Black Rock City.

A large city located in the eastern province of the Gama Empire.

Compared to Wutan City, Black Rock City was much larger. Its massive walls were built from neat blocks of black rock, making it especially imposing.

Even across the entire Gama Empire, Black Rock City ranked among the best in overall strength.

Jiang Han had hired the fastest Horned Horse Carriage in Wutan City, yet it had still taken him a full half month to reach Black Rock City.

After raising his cultivation to Seven-Star Great Master Fighter, Jiang Han had considered making Yao Lao, who existed as a soul, or Ling Ying, the Dou Emperor guarding Xiao Xun'er, his next target.

As long as he maintained a good relationship with Xiao Yan and Xiao Xun'er, it should not have been too difficult.

What worried him was whether exposing his trump card before Yao Lao and Ling Ying would cause unnecessary trouble later on.

After all, throughout the entire history of the continent, no one had ever broken through from a Seven-Star Great Master Fighter to above Dou Emperor in an hour or even half a day!

Thus, for the sake of safety, Jiang Han chose Black Rock City based on his memories.

After entering the city, Jiang Han experienced Black Rock City's prosperity firsthand.

Though dawn had only just broken, the main road was already bustling with activity and filled with clamor.

Patrol guards passed by from time to time, their armor clanking like morning bells.

After asking several breakfast stall owners, Jiang Han crossed three streets and four alleys before stopping in front of a grand, imposing building.

The building had a unique exterior, resembling a Medicine Cauldron. Its towering roof was covered by a huge cauldron lid that curved down over it.

On a pale purple sandalwood plaque, the five ancient characters for Alchemist Guild gleamed with dazzling golden light.

"Excuse me, is Master Otto in the guild?"

Jiang Han politely stepped forward and asked the fully armed guards standing on either side of the entrance.

"Today is the alchemist assessment, so Master Otto is naturally here," one of the guards replied.

Jiang Han nodded in thanks, but just as he was about to enter, the two guards simultaneously stretched out their hands to stop him. "Little brother, not just anyone can enter. You need a letter of introduction from another alchemist." Jiang Han froze. He had not expected such a requirement.

After looking around and confirming there was no one else nearby, Jiang Han took out several gold coins from his robes and quickly slipped them into the guards' hands.

"Big brothers, I'll also be taking the assessment in a few days. I just wanted to take a look around beforehand."

In the world Jiang Han had lived in during his previous life, social connections were all about favors and tact. This world should be no different.

Sure enough.

The two guards exchanged looks, nodded after a brief wordless discussion, and let him through.

"Thank you, big brothers." Jiang Han quickly entered.

Just as they said, money could make even ghosts turn millstones. If they would not turn them, then add more money.

Winning her over was not that hard either. You just had to drive a Cullinan.

As soon as he entered the Alchemist Guild, a rich medicinal fragrance washed over him, refreshing his mind.

Before long, Jiang Han found the hall for the alchemist assessment.

At that moment, quite a crowd had gathered in the hall. Their gazes were fixed on the examination area in the center as they whispered among themselves.

There were sixteen stone platforms in the center, with an alchemist standing before each one and working with alchemy equipment.

Three elderly men in charge of the assessment sat at the head of the hall.

Jiang Han squeezed into the crowd. After asking someone nearby and confirming that the elder in the middle was Otto, he fixed his gaze on him.

The host has continuously stared for 5 seconds

Target lock successful

Progress: 1%

Progress: 5%

Progress: 10%

...

Just as he had expected, because the gap between their cultivation realms was not too great, the progress increased by roughly one percent every ten seconds.

Progress: 97%

Progress: 100%

The host has completed staring at the target

It took a little over a quarter of an hour in total.

To avoid drawing the attention of everyone in the hall, Jiang Han immediately slipped away from the Alchemist Guild the moment the staring ended.

As a highly respected figure in Black Rock City, Otto had noticed Jiang Han staring at him from the start. However, he was accustomed to such reverent gazes from others, so he did not find anything unusual.

On the street, as Jiang Han felt the Dou Qi within him surge, he swiftly found an empty alley and slipped inside.

For an ordinary person, breaking through from Great Master Fighter to Dou Ling required years of accumulation. Even Xiao Yan, the son of fate, had only achieved it in one stroke with the aid of Earth Core Body Tempering Milk.

Yet Jiang Han, just as before, encountered no bottleneck whatsoever.

The dazzling Dou Crystal within the vortex in his abdomen visibly changed, transforming from a diamond shape into the shape of a sea urchin.

Once his aura stabilized, Jiang Han checked the System interface.

Host: Jiang Han

Age: 20

Appearance: Unprecedented and unsurpassable

Figure: One of a kind

Cultivation: Three-Star Dou Ling

Other: Extreme Blade Three Styles

Jiang Han carefully experienced the Dou Ling realm. Compared to Great Master Fighter, he found that aside from having more powerful Dou Qi, there was no especially fundamental difference.

A Great Master Fighter could release Dou Qi and form it into armor, while a Dou Ling could merely condense it further into objects, such as swords, sabers, and spears.

"As expected, there's no additional reward."

Jiang Han had chosen Otto as his target this time not only to ensure safety, but also to verify one of his guesses.

From a useless good-for-nothing to a Five Star Dou Practitioner, he had advanced step by step and received only cultivation rewards.

At the Xiao Family, he had gone from Five-Star Dou Practitioner to Seven-Star Great Master Fighter, crossing two major realms. In addition to his cultivation increase, he had received the battle skill Extreme Blade Three Styles.

This time, from Seven-Star Great Master Fighter to Three-Star Dou Ling, he had likewise only received a cultivation increase.

Crossing more realms carried greater risks, but came with additional rewards;

Crossing fewer realms was safer, but came with no additional rewards.

How could he have both fish and bear's paw?

Jiang Han racked his brain, recalling the people and things in this world as he pondered his next target.

One month later.

At the eastern city gate of Ghost Suppression Pass in the Gama Empire, a black-robed young man slowly walked out.

Leading his horned horse beyond the moat, Jiang Han looked back at the final city on the Gama Empire's border. Then he returned to his carriage and followed the map, disappearing at the end of the road.

His destination was Jia Nan Academy, the renowned Dou Qi academy of the Dou Qi Continent.

Jia Nan Academy was located within the Black-Corner Region, and the distance between the Gama Empire and the Black-Corner Region was extremely vast.

Starting from the border, he still had to pass through several small countries before reaching the edge of the Black-Corner Region.

Under normal circumstances, traveling by carriage would take five or six months.

However, with the intention of enjoying the magnificent landscapes of the Dou Qi Continent along the way, Jiang Han traveled and played at his leisure, taking a full year to arrive.

Over that year, he encountered several experts stronger than himself. Playing it safe, he raised his cultivation from Three-Star Dou Ling to Peak Dou Ling, leaving him only half a step away from becoming a Dou Wang expert.

Along the way, Jiang Han became used to seeing slaughter and conflict—strong people bullying the weak, bandits massacring villagers, and all kinds of mercenary groups fighting for profit...

Of course, he was only a passerby. More than once, he suppressed the saintly urge stirring within him.