Returning to Dou Zhe, Flame Mantra, Higher Heaven Rank Body Refining Technique

Time flew by in the blink of an eye.

After taking Yao Lao as his master and no longer losing the Dou Qi within his body, Xiao Yan regained his talent.

Starting from the eighth stage of Dou Qi, he returned to the ninth stage in just three short days.

Seeing this, Yao Lao did not even know whether he should mention his Foundation Building Spirit Liquid.

He felt that with Xiao Yan's talent, he could quickly return to Dou Zhe even without the Foundation Building Spirit Liquid.

Rather than spending the time and effort to refine the Foundation Building Spirit Liquid, it would be better to begin gathering the medicinal ingredients for Qi Gathering Powder and help Xiao Yan achieve a guaranteed breakthrough to Dou Zhe.

Xiao Yan's response to this was—

It still had to be refined.

Though he no longer needed the Foundation Building Spirit Liquid, it was extremely valuable and inexpensive to make.

Taking it to auction for money was an excellent choice.

After Xiao Yan persuaded him, Yao Lao chose to continue refining the Foundation Building Spirit Liquid.

Over the years, Xiao Yan had saved up quite a bit of money himself.

All of it had come from selling some body tempering medicinal baths.

The medicinal bath formula had naturally come from that Dou Di Inheritance. It was the lowest-grade medicinal bath capable of benefiting both those in the Dou Qi stage and Dou Zhe.

He had now handed the medicinal bath formula over to the Xiao Clan.

Thanks to it, the Xiao Clan, which had originally been faintly suppressed by the Jia Lie Clan, had now pushed back against them. Even the combined forces of the Jia Lie Clan and Ao Ba Clan were no match for it.

According to the information Xiao Yan had received, the two clans had even considered leaving Wutan City.

As for the specifics, he did not care.

To him, those were all external matters. Breaking through to Dou Zhe as quickly as possible was what mattered most.

Of course, because the meridians of someone in the Dou Qi stage were fragile, his daily cultivation time was fixed, leaving him with plenty of spare time.

During that time, he followed Yao Lao in learning basic alchemy knowledge and techniques, laying the foundation for becoming an Alchemist.

Unlike the Xiao Yan of the original story, who had worried over his cultivation, he devoted more of his energy to studying alchemy.

The original Xiao Yan's talent for alchemy had already been among the best on the Dou Qi Continent. Now, he possessed even greater Soul Talent and superior Soul Perception, while being no worse than the original in any other aspect.

Taken together, his talent for alchemy was the finest among the finest.

His alchemy techniques, medicinal herb identification, and soul control were all improving at a rapid pace.

As his teacher, Yao Lao was immensely satisfied and often wore an approving smile.

Three days later.

Behind the Xiao Clan's mountain.

Xiao Yan closed his eyes and sat in meditation, absorbing the Dou Qi between heaven and earth to increase the Dou Qi within himself.

The ninth stage of Dou Qi in his body had already reached perfection. As he poured more Dou Qi into it, it began to undergo a faint qualitative change.

Time passed second by second. Then, at a certain moment—

The faint Dou Qi within him responded to his will and began whirling madly through his body.

Xiao Yan's expression changed. He swiftly formed hand seals, guiding the Dou Qi toward his lower abdomen as he controlled it to condense into a Dou Qi Vortex.

His powerful soul force displayed its effect at that moment.

The faint Dou Qi was compressed by his soul force. Like an obedient puppy, it submitted to his every command and smoothly condensed into a complete Dou Qi Vortex.

"Dou Zhe, achieved!"

Yao Lao, who had been watching nearby, wore a broad smile.

Because Xiao Yan's soul force was so powerful, he had not asked Yao Lao to refine Qi Gathering Powder. Yao Lao had initially worried that Xiao Yan was being overconfident, but now it seemed that he had truly underestimated him.

With such talent in soul force, being able to accept a disciple like this was truly a stroke of tremendous luck.

"Teacher." Feeling his cultivation return to Dou Zhe, Xiao Yan smiled in satisfaction.

Now, at last, he could begin cultivating the body refining technique brought by that Dou Di Inheritance.

"Little fellow, congratulations. You've broken through to Dou Zhe," Yao Lao said.

Xiao Yan smiled. "Then I have to thank Teacher for finally stopping the absorption of my Dou Qi."

Yao Lao awkwardly stroked his beard and changed the subject. "Ahem, let's not discuss such unpleasant matters. Now that you've broken through to Dou Zhe, have you decided which cultivation technique to choose?"

Xiao Yan said, "That depends on the highest-grade cultivation techniques you have, Teacher. I trust that you must have long prepared a cultivation technique for me."

Yao Lao did not deny it and took out two scrolls. "Of course I prepared them for you."

"I have two cultivation techniques here. One is Lower Earth Rank and most suitable for you now. Once your cultivation reaches a certain level, I also have a higher Earth Rank fire-attributed cultivation technique, enough for you to cultivate to a very high level."

"As for the other scroll, it contains a Lower Yellow Rank fire-attributed cultivation technique. I named it Flame Mantra, and I found it in an ancient cave dwelling."

"Though this cultivation technique begins at Lower Yellow Rank, according to its description, it can evolve by devouring different flames, such as Beast Flames and the exceedingly rare Heavenly Flames found between heaven and earth."

"The first path is the smoothest, while the latter has the greater potential. You must think this through carefully," Yao Lao said solemnly.

Xiao Yan did not hesitate in the slightest. "I choose Flame Mantra!"

Yao Lao was startled. "Brat, did you not listen to a word I said? Though this cultivation technique can evolve, absorbing different flames is extremely dangerous."

Xiao Yan merely flashed his teeth in a grin. "Teacher, I prefer things a little more exciting."

"And..."

"You should be able to tell, right? Xiao Xun'er has an incredibly extraordinary background."

"If I want to be worthy of her, I have to take a gamble." Xiao Yan deliberately put on a heartfelt expression, finding himself an excellent excuse.

Thus, Yao Lao did not question him further. He merely nodded. "Try cultivating it first. If this Flame Mantra truly does not work, it will not be too late to switch cultivation techniques. You will only waste some time."

Having reached an agreement, Yao Lao handed Flame Mantra to Xiao Yan.

"Enough. We can discuss cultivating techniques tomorrow. You still have not finished learning alchemy today," Yao Lao urged.

"I know, I know." Xiao Yan put away the Flame Mantra and began that day's alchemy training with a grin.

After breaking through to Dou Zhe, Xiao Yan swiftly began cultivating the Higher Heaven Rank body refining technique.

This body refining technique from the Dou Di Inheritance was called Spirit Devouring Body Forging Mantra. It could devour magical beast blood essence and all kinds of natural spiritual treasures to rapidly strengthen the body.

The technique was divided into ten stages. From Dou Zhe to Dou Emperor, every time he reached a new stage, he could awaken a unique innate ability based on the magical beast blood essence and natural spiritual treasures he had absorbed during that stage.

Xiao Yan's body was now comparable to that of a Rank Two Magical Beast, and he had already reached the technique's second stage.

However, because he had not formally cultivated the technique yet, he had not awakened an innate ability.

But that did not mean he could not make up for the two missing innate abilities.

As long as he absorbed magical beast blood essence and natural spiritual treasures, he could awaken them.

I cannot be careless with innate abilities. The Xiao Clan could obtain the blood essence of ordinary Second Rank or even Rank Three Magical Beasts, but it would be useless even if I got it.

Unless it is the blood essence of an Ancient Void Dragon or another top-tier magical beast, I will only use Heavenly Flames to awaken my innate abilities! Xiao Yan thought to himself.

Of course, awakening innate abilities did not prevent him from using the Spirit Devouring Body Forging Mantra's properties to absorb magical beast blood essence and natural spiritual treasures to rapidly strengthen his body.

As it happened, he knew of a place that had both, and they were perfectly suited to him.

The Magical Beast Mountain Range—the Amethyst Winged Lion King and his Companion Amethyst Source!