Breakthrough

Breakthrough

In a cave on the Xiao Family Back Mountain, Xiao Bai sat cross-legged on a smooth boulder.

He had discovered this place when he was young. The surroundings were quiet and secluded, the interior spacious, and almost no one ever came here.

He placed two Jade Bottles in front of him, took a deep breath, cleared the distracting thoughts from his mind, assumed a posture with his five centers facing the heavens, and adjusted the state of his body.

Once everything was ready, Xiao Bai began compressing the Dou Qi in his Dantian. In the past, every time he tried, the Dou Qi in his Dantian would not budge at this step. But this time was different. Under Xiao Bai's compression, the Dou Qi in his Dantian began to rotate slowly.

A good sign. Joy flashed through Xiao Bai's heart. He picked up a Qi Gathering Powder and swallowed it directly.

As the medicinal power of the Qi Gathering Powder spread through his body, the Dou Qi in his Dantian began to spin faster, forming a tiny vortex at its center.

The vortex was like a galaxy in the universe, rotating while continuously absorbing the stray Dou Qi at the edges of his Dantian and growing larger. The Dou Qi energy in the meridians throughout Xiao Bai's body also seemed to be affected by the cyclone, surging toward his Dantian in a swarm.

The Dou Qi cyclone grew larger and larger, slowly filling the entire central region of his Dantian, while the Dou Qi within was continuously compressed into battle qi.

When all the Dou Qi in his body had been compressed into battle qi, his entire Dantian trembled lightly, and the cyclone within it no longer spun at high speed.

An aura belonging to a Dou Zhe erupted from Xiao Bai.

"Haha. Five years. Five whole years. I finally did it!"

Sensing the change in his Dantian and the battle qi that was several times stronger than Nine Stage Dou Zhi Qi, Xiao Bai was wild with joy and let out a crazed laugh, as if venting everything at once.

Although he had been ninety-eight percent sure that his inability to break through was because of the talisman, that certainty was not absolute.

That had left a faint worry in his heart. If it was because of the talisman, then fine. If it was not, then things would be troublesome.

If he could not find the cause, it meant he could not break through and grow stronger. Without the Xiao Family bloodline, he would not even be able to ride Xiao Yan's coattails when Xiao Yan became emperor.

As for Xun Er, just imagining her becoming a Dou Saint in the future while a man at 9 Star Dou Zhi Qi stood beside her—though Xun Er might not mind, he would probably be roasted to death by everyone on the entire continent. Xiao Bai did not want to end up like that. It was not as if he had a crooked grin.

Then there was Ya Fei. With her abilities, in his previous life she would count as a capable career woman no matter what. But in this world where the strong were revered, if she had not known the protagonist, she would only have ended up as a pawn of her clan, or a plaything of the strong.

So how could clinging to someone else's thigh be as comfortable as becoming the thigh himself?

Rumble!

A peal of thunder rang beside Xiao Bai's ears just as he was feeling refreshed and invigorated.

"Purple Firmament Divine Thunder!" Xiao Bai blurted out when he heard the thunder.

"Huh? Why did I say Purple Firmament Divine Thunder? Is it thundering outside?" Xiao Bai was puzzled and looked toward the cave entrance, only to see sunlight shining brightly outside. It was still a clear day.

Suddenly, Xiao Bai seemed to remember something and hurriedly sensed his Sea of Consciousness. The scene inside made him rub his eyes in disbelief, wondering if he had gone to the wrong place.

At that moment, the sky above his Sea of Consciousness was filled with purple lightning, illuminating the entire Sea of Consciousness in purple, as if he had entered a purple world of thunder.

In the central sky of his Sea of Consciousness, the talisman that had shown no movement for the past few years was now surrounded by Purple Lightning, setting off the ancient talisman with a dignified, sacred majesty.

At this point, it could no longer be called a talisman. It looked more like a Thunder Emperor Talisman Edict. Its radiant might made Xiao Bai feel as if he were an ant beneath the Heavenly Dao, one that could be erased by a streak of Purple Lightning at any moment, leaving no bones behind.

"Brother Talisman... no, Talisman Grandpa. I know I cursed you before, but considering I spent two thousand merit points to invite you back, and we've lived together for so many years, you absolutely have to control your thunder properly! Don't strike me. Otherwise, where are you going to find such a handsome host with such a good temper, right?"

Feeling that aura like Heavenly Might and confirming that he absolutely could not afford to provoke it, Xiao Bai instantly gave in.

As if it had heard Xiao Bai's words, the lightning in his Sea of Consciousness immediately twisted, making Xiao Bai's heart pound with fear. However, the Purple Lightning did not hurt him. Instead, it arranged itself in the sky above Xiao Bai's Sea of Consciousness according to some mysterious pattern.

In the end, it formed several large characters—"Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Scripture."

This was not the writing of the Dou Qi Continent, but the Chinese characters used in his previous life.

Xiao Bai was overjoyed when he saw those words. This was a cultivation method! Judging from how incredibly impressive Talisman Grandpa looked right now, this cultivation method definitely would not be bad.

Xiao Bai focused all his attention on the lightning in the void, waiting for the contents of the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Scripture to appear. As soon as they appeared, Xiao Bai would make sure to memorize every single word firmly. A cultivation method was no joke. If he remembered something wrong, problems would arise when he cultivated it.

But after waiting and waiting, those same few words still floated in the sky, with no other content appearing.

Xiao Bai asked the talisman cautiously:

"Talisman Grandpa, what comes next?"

The talisman flickered with electric light and gave no response.

"Talisman Grandpa, did you fall asleep?"

The talisman still flickered with electric light and gave no response.

Xiao Bai was furious. Damn it, I already took off my pants, and this is all you show me! But he only dared to be angry, not speak out.

He carefully examined those words, but no matter how he looked, there was no other content. Just those few bright, glaring words floating there.

Xiao Bai dug in his heels against it and simply stared, refusing to believe those words would float there forever.

But very soon, he saw a sight that made his heart leap into his throat. Those words fell from the sky and smashed toward his Sea of Consciousness. He had seen the lightning that formed those words. That power—if not for the talisman controlling it, he felt even a single wisp could kill him a thousand times over. Now several huge clumps were crashing down. How could he possibly survive?

"My life is over!"

Xiao Bai could not stop it. He could only watch helplessly as those words drew closer and closer to his Sea of Consciousness. Unable to bear looking any longer, Xiao Bai gently closed his eyes.

"If I die like this, wouldn't I be the most aggrieved transmigrator in history? Smashed to death by my own golden finger. Other transmigrators might laugh themselves to death over it!"

"I hope the next time I open my eyes, I'll be back on Earth. This world is way too unfriendly. One moment I was full of ambition, thinking about seizing resources and becoming stronger, and the next moment, tragedy struck!"

After Xiao Bai's thoughts ran wildly for a while, he realized he did not feel the pain of being struck by lightning.

"Did I die too fast to feel any pain?"

Xiao Bai was puzzled. He opened his eyes, stood up, moved his arms and legs, then carefully felt himself all over. Nothing was missing.

"Haha. I'm fine, I'm not—!"

"Hmph!"

Before he could be happy for even three seconds, Xiao Bai let out a muffled groan, clutched his head, and collapsed to the ground. A massive flood of information suddenly poured into his mind, making him feel as if his head were about to explode.

"Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Scripture"

So the cultivation method had been contained in those few words all along. It was not something to be learned by reading, but something directly engraved into his Sea of Consciousness.

At that moment, Xiao Bai clenched his teeth, sweat streaming down his face like little creeks. It felt as though someone were scraping the inside of his head with a knife, but he held his head without making a sound. This was his opportunity, and also the foundation he would rely on in the future. No matter how painful it was, he had to endure it.

At last, that flood of information was fully absorbed, and Xiao Bai immediately felt much more at ease.