Time flew by in the blink of an eye.
After taking Yao Lao as his master, Xiao Yan's talent returned once the Dou Qi in his body stopped draining away.
Starting from eighth stage Dou Qi, he returned to ninth stage Dou Qi in just three short days.
Seeing this, Yao Lao no longer knew whether he should even 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 spend time and effort refining the Foundation Building Spirit Liquid, he might as well start gathering the medicinal herbs for Qi Gathering Powder to ensure Xiao Yan's breakthrough to Dou Zhe.
Xiao Yan's answer to this was simple.
What needed refining still had to be refined.
Although he no longer needed the Foundation Building Spirit Liquid, it was extremely valuable and cost very little to make.
Auctioning it off for money was an excellent choice.
After Xiao Yan persuaded him, Yao Lao chose to continue refining the Foundation Building Spirit Liquid.
Xiao Yan had saved up a sizable sum of money over the years.
He had earned all of it by selling Body Tempering Medicinal Baths.
The medicinal bath recipe naturally came from that Dou Di Inheritance, and it was the lowest-grade medicinal bath effective for both those at the Dou Qi stage and Dou Zhe.
He had already handed the medicinal bath recipe over to the Xiao Clan.
Thanks to the recipe, instead of being slightly suppressed by the Jia Lie Clan as in the original story, the Xiao Clan had now turned the tables. Even the Jia Lie Clan and the Ao Ba Clan together were no match for it.
According to the information Xiao Yan had received, the two clans were even considering leaving Wutan City.
As for the specifics, he paid them no mind.
To him, these were all external matters. Breaking through to Dou Zhe as quickly as possible was what mattered most.
Of course, because his meridians were fragile during the Dou Qi stage, his daily cultivation time was fixed, leaving him with plenty of spare time.
During that time, he followed Yao Lao and learned the basic knowledge and techniques of pill refining, laying the groundwork to become an Alchemist.
Unlike Xiao Yan in the original story, he was not worried about his cultivation, so he devoted more energy to learning pill refining.
The original Xiao Yan's talent for pill refining had been among the best on the Dou Qi Continent. Now, with his stronger soul talent, he surpassed the original in soul perception and was no worse in any other respect.
Taken together, his talent for pill refining was the cream of the crop.
His refining techniques, ability to identify medicinal herbs, and control over his soul all improved at a rapid pace.
As his teacher, Yao Lao found this immensely gratifying and often smiled with pride.
Three days later.
The mountain behind the Xiao Clan.
Xiao Yan closed his eyes and meditated quietly, absorbing the Dou Qi between heaven and earth to strengthen his own.
The ninth stage Dou Qi within him had already reached its peak. As he poured more Dou Qi into it, it faintly began to undergo a qualitative change.
Time passed, second by second, minute by minute. Then, at a certain instant—
The faint Dou Qi within him moved at his will, swirling wildly through his body.
Xiao Yan's expression changed. He swiftly formed a hand seal, guiding the Dou Qi toward his lower abdomen and controlling it as it condensed into a Dou Qi Vortex.
His powerful Soul Power came into play at that moment.
Compressed by his Soul Power, the faint Dou Qi became like an obedient puppy, submissively doing whatever it was told, and smoothly condensed into a complete Dou Qi Vortex.
"Dou Zhe—I did it!"
Watching from the side, Yao Lao wore a broad smile.
Because Xiao Yan's Soul Power was powerful, he had not asked him to refine Qi Gathering Powder. Yao Lao had worried that he was being overconfident, but now he saw that he truly had underestimated Xiao Yan.
With such talent in Soul Power, taking in a disciple like him was truly a stroke of tremendous luck.
"Teacher." Feeling his cultivation return to Dou Zhe, Xiao Yan smiled in satisfaction.
Now, he could finally begin practicing the Body Refining Technique from that Dou Di Inheritance.
"Congratulations, little fellow. You've broken through to Dou Zhe," Yao Lao said.
Xiao Yan smiled. "For that, I still have to thank you for finally stopping sucking away my Dou Qi, Teacher."
Yao Lao stroked his beard awkwardly and changed the subject. "Ahem, let's not talk about such unpleasant things. Now that you've broken through to Dou Zhe, have you decided which cultivation method to choose?"
Xiao Yan said, "That depends on the highest-ranked cultivation method you have, Teacher. I'm sure you must have prepared one for me long ago."
Yao Lao did not deny it. He took out two scrolls. "Of course I've prepared them for you."
"I have two cultivation methods here. One is lower Earth rank and is the most suitable for you right now. Once your cultivation reaches a certain level, I also have a higher Earth rank fire-attribute cultivation method, enough for you to cultivate to a very high level."
"As for the other scroll, it contains a lower Yellow rank fire-attribute cultivation method. I named it the Flame Mantra. I found it in an ancient cave dwelling."
"Although this cultivation method starts at lower Yellow rank, according to its description, it can evolve by devouring unusual flames, such as beast flame and the exceedingly rare heavenly flames found between heaven and earth."
"The former offers the smoothest road, while the latter has a higher ceiling. You must think this through carefully," Yao Lao said solemnly.
Xiao Yan did not hesitate in the slightest. "I choose the Flame Mantra!"
Yao Lao froze. "You little brat, were you even listening to me? This cultivation method can evolve, but it requires absorbing unusual flames. It's extremely dangerous."
Xiao Yan merely flashed a toothy grin. "Teacher, I prefer a little excitement."
"And besides..."
"You should be able to tell, right? Xiao Xun'er's background is anything but ordinary."
"If I want to be worthy of her, I have to take a gamble." Xiao Yan feigned deep devotion, coming up with quite a convincing excuse.
Thus, Yao Lao did not question him further and simply nodded. "Try practicing it first. If this Flame Mantra really doesn't work out, there'll still be time to switch cultivation methods. You'll only lose some time."
With their decision settled, Yao Lao handed the Flame Mantra to Xiao Yan.
"All right, we'll discuss practicing the cultivation method tomorrow. You haven't studied pill refining today yet," Yao Lao urged.
"I know, I know." Xiao Yan put away the Flame Mantra and began that day's pill-refining practice with a grin.
After breaking through to Dou Zhe, Xiao Yan swiftly began practicing the higher Heaven rank Body Refining Technique.
This Body Refining Technique from the Dou Di Inheritance was called the Spirit Devouring Body Forging Mantra. It could devour magical beast blood essence and various spiritual treasures of heaven and earth to rapidly strengthen the body.
The technique had ten stages, spanning Dou Zhe to Dou Emperor. Upon reaching each new stage, the practitioner could awaken an innate ability unique to them, based on the magical beast blood essence and spiritual treasures of heaven and earth absorbed during that stage.
Xiao Yan's body was now comparable to that of a Rank Two Magical Beast, so he had already reached the technique's second stage.
However, because he had not formally begun practicing the technique, he had not awakened any innate abilities.
But that did not mean he could not make up for the two innate abilities he lacked.
As long as he absorbed magical beast blood essence and spiritual treasures of heaven and earth, he could awaken them.
I can't settle for just anything when it comes to innate abilities. It's not as though the Xiao Clan can't obtain blood essence from ordinary Rank Two or even Rank Three Magical Beasts, but it would be useless to me.
For my innate abilities, unless I can get blood essence from an Ancient Void Dragon or some other top-tier magical beast, I'll only use heavenly flames to awaken them! Xiao Yan told himself.
Of course, awakening innate abilities was one thing. It did not prevent him from rapidly strengthening his body through the Spirit Devouring Body Forging Mantra's ability to absorb magical beast blood essence and spiritual treasures of heaven and earth.
As it happened, he knew a place that had both, and they were just right for him.
The Magical Beast Mountain Range—the Amethyst Winged Lion King and his companion amethyst source!
Before you continue