This Guy Was No Longer Human
Inside the cave, in front of Xiao Yan was a bath tub filled with clear spring water. Beside the tub was a stone platform covered with all sorts of medicinal herbs, totaling about forty-eight kinds. Some of these were already in Xiao Yan's possession, while the rest were brought to him by Zi Yan in the past two days.
After receiving the pills, Queen Medusa glanced at Xiao Yan with satisfaction before leisurely departing. Her swaying hips caused Xiao Yan to momentarily lose his composure, but being the disciplined person he was now, he quickly adjusted his mindset and continued refining the pills until Zi Yan returned.
At this moment, Zi Yan was holding several bottles of pills, taking them while Yan Protector outside the cave.
While Xiao Yan could also prepare medicinal liquids, he was certainly no match for Alchemy Grandmaster like Old Yao. Therefore, after handing the Earth Core Body Tempering Milk to Old Yao, Xiao Yan watched eagerly from the sidelines.
The Old Yao's figure hovered in mid-air beside him. He opened the bottle cap, and immediately, a faint wisp of emerald-colored smoke drifted out, condensed at the bottle mouth, and lingered for a long time.
The Old Yao took a deep breath of the mist and immediately felt a faint warmth flowing through his soul. He couldn't help but smile and exclaim in admiration:
"This thing truly lives up to its reputation as a spiritual object condensed from the power of the earth; it is so pure and concentrated. No wonder it has the miraculous effect of cleansing the marrow and refining the bones."
As he spoke, the Old Yao tilted the jade bottle slightly and poured fifteen drops of Earth Core Body Tempering Milk into the bathtub.
Given Xiao Yan's current physical condition, the diluted Earth Core Body Tempering Milk is definitely unsuitable; he must use the original liquid.
After all, when something like the Earth Core Body Tempering Milk enters Xiao Yan's body, a large portion of its energy is directly absorbed by his body and not entirely used to increase his Dou Qi.
In this situation, the only solution is to increase the dosage.
As fifteen drops of "Earth Core Body Tempering Milk" were added, the clear water in the bathtub instantly transformed into a rich emerald color at a speed visible to the naked eye. Just like the opening of a bottle cap, a lingering mist appeared on the surface of the bathtub.
Watching the changes in the water in the bathtub, Xiao Yan rubbed his hands together, filled with anticipation.
It should be noted that this item is a treasure even Fifth Tier magical beasts regard as precious, so its effect on Xiao Yan is self-evident.
The Earth Core Body Tempering Milk has immense energy, and even with Xiao Yan's current physical strength, it's not advisable to ingest it directly. A medicinal bath is the safest way to maximize its effects.
With the combined effects of various medications, not only can the Earth Core Body Tempering Milk be perfectly absorbed, but the medicinal power of those medications can also help Xiao Yan further enhance his physical strength!
With a tremor of his hand, the Old Yao unleashed a wisp of pale white flame from his palm.
Then, Old Yao once again demonstrated to Xiao Yan a method of alchemy that only high-level alchemists could achieve: using flames directly as the cauldron instead of a cauldron.
Old Yao's Fire Energy is beyond question. The medicinal herbs that usually require Xiao Yan to refine for at least half an hour can be transformed into the purest medicinal liquid in just a few minutes in Old Yao's hands. Xiao Yan was completely mesmerized by this method of refining medicinal herbs.
As his soul power spread out, Xiao Yan began to record every detail of how Old Yao refined the medicinal herbs.
About two and a half hours later, all forty-eight kinds of medicinal herbs had been extracted and put into the bath tub.
After refining the last medicinal herb, Old Yao still looked energetic. Clearly, Xiao Yan's decision to prevent Old Yao from taking action over the past two years had been quite beneficial to the recovery of Old Yao's soul power.
Looking at the colorful water, Old Yao nodded in satisfaction, then turned his gaze to Xiao Yan and said with a smile:
"Once your physical body reaches the level of Fifth Tier magical beast, you can try to directly consume the primordial essence. However, for now, you still need to use a medicinal bath to adapt."
Hearing what Old Yao said, Xiao Yan's heart stirred slightly.
This Earth Core Body Tempering Milk smells amazing; it must taste delicious, but unfortunately, I can't eat it now.
"By the way, although the energy in the Earth Core Body Tempering Milk becomes milder after neutralization, overall, it's still much stronger than before, and the pain will be doubled!"
The Old Yao chuckled somewhat jokingly.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan grinned and said, "Teacher, you know me. The thing I'm least afraid of now is pain."
"Speak, "Xiao Yan said, taking off his clothes and eagerly stepping into the bathtub. He sat cross-legged and assumed a cultivation posture.
Hiss!
But the expected pain did not come; instead, a bone-chilling coldness made Xiao Yan tremble.
The temperature of this medicinal liquid was extremely low. If it were ordinary water, it would have frozen by now. Xiao Yan was no stranger to this extreme cold.
That was the extreme cold power emanating from the Bone Spirit Cold Flame.
Suppressing the urge to envelop his body with Dou Qi to resist the chill, Xiao Yan focused his mind on his body and entered a state of cultivation.
Beside the bathtub, watching Xiao Yan enter a meditative state, Old Yao smiled and nodded.
His disciple has always been on the right path, and what he needs to do is to accelerate Xiao Yan's progress and ensure that he continues on this right path!
As Xiao Yan entered a meditative state, dense, tiny bubbles began to rise from the colorful surface of the bathtub. After a while, the bubbles grew larger and larger, making it look as if the water was boiling. However, to Xiao Yan's senses, the water remained bone-chillingly cold.
Amidst this icy touch, streams of pure medicinal power began to surge towards Xiao Yan's body!
The immense energy caused Xiao Yan's pores to feel as if they were being stretched open, and his skin experienced a mix of stinging and throbbing sensations.
Xiao Yan remained unmoved; the more pain he felt, the less it hurt.
Therefore, the more it hurts, the less it hurts.
The vibrant energy that surged into his body did not require any guidance; it spontaneously permeated Xiao Yan's skin, muscles, meridians, fascia, bones, and finally his internal organs.
In Xiao Yan's inner vision, everything within sight was a vibrant and colorful scene, teeming with life and flourishing with all things.
However, as his entire body was dyed in vibrant colors, a burning pain that penetrated to the bone quickly spread and then permeated every corner of his body.
Is this the "pain of doubling" that the teacher was talking about?
It doesn't feel right either...
Old Yao, who was floating outside the bathtub, saw Xiao Yan subconsciously purse his lips and couldn't help but laugh and cry.
This little guy actually seems a bit disdainful?
It seems that cultivating that body-refining Dou Technique was indeed of great significance and brought Xiao Yan many benefits.
However, this way, the potency of the medicine can be increased when preparing it in the future, which might even save Xiao Yan some cultivation time...
I feel like the little guy would definitely agree to trade pain for time.
In Xiao Yan's vision, the colorful body began to become transparent as time went by. It felt as if he could see the anatomical structure of his own body. Every muscle bundle was clearly visible, and through the bones, he could even see the churning bone marrow inside.
This wondrous experience made Xiao Yan feel incredibly good. He had completely forgotten the pain and began to observe the surge of his bone marrow, the flow of his blood, the contraction of his muscles, and the circulation of his Dou Qi in his meridians.
Even though the impact of the pure medicinal power doubled the pain in Xiao Yan's Xiao Yan, he was still immersed in observing the mysterious world inside his body, and a very happy smile even appeared on his lips.
Outside, Xiao Yan's body was stained with various colors by the medicinal power, wisps of white mist rose from the top of his head, and even blood trickled from his pores into the medicinal water in the bathtub, making him look very strange and terrifying.
But seeing Xiao Yan's body in such a miserable state, yet his expression grew increasingly serene, and he even laughed at the end, a sense of horror rose in Old Yao's heart.
This is really a bit strange. If Old Yao didn't spend every day with Xiao Yan know his background very well, he might really be wondering if Xiao Yan is even human!
As Xiao Yan became engrossed in his own world, time slipped away, until the afternoon of two days later.
Within his inner world, Xiao Yan watched as the last vibrant color vanished completely from his bones, his entire body radiating a soft, jade-like glow. He understood that his body had undergone a transformation.
Next, it's time to break through to the Dou Ling!
"Buzz!"
A deep, muffled sound echoed within his body. The remaining medicinal power no longer entered his body but transformed into the purest energy, surging into his meridians.
Even though this energy was extremely large, it couldn't cause any waves in Xiao Yan's even stronger body. His meridians opened and closed, easily absorbing the energy. Then, the inner walls of his meridians began to contract, pushing this huge energy along the execution route of the Flame Mantra, and finally injecting it into the Dou Crystal in the Qi Cycle.
With such a massive infusion of energy, the size of the Dou Crystal increased at a visible rate.
Xiao Yan had already planned to use the power of the Earth Core Body Tempering Milk to break through to the Dou Ling. So he immediately took over the body's spontaneous advancement process. As the hand seals changed, an extremely powerful suction force burst out from his body, beginning to draw out all the remaining medicinal power in the bath.
Seeing this, Old Yao's expression also turned serious. He naturally understood that breaking through to the Dou Ling required a considerable amount of energy, and if the energy in this bathtub was insufficient, he would have to replenish Xiao Yan's energy in time.
The medicinal liquid in the bathtub was spinning rapidly, and streams of extremely pure medicinal power entered Xiao Yan's body. This caused the already pale and mottled medicinal power to become transparent at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The next moment, within Xiao Yan's body, cobalt blue flames began to rise, and the suction force surged, violently drawing in the energy between heaven and earth, refining it, and along with the medicinal power, entering the Dou Crystal after circulating through his meridians.
However, Xiao Yan had only recently advanced to the level of Nine-Star Da Dou Shi, and the energy required to advance to the Dou Ling level was extremely vast. Therefore, even though he absorbed energy at an extremely fast speed, the Dou Crystal still did not feel full; its already brilliant surface simply became even more dazzling and lustrous.
As time passed, the medicinal power in the liquid almost dried up, and the vibrant colors had long since disappeared, but the advancement was clearly not over yet.
Seeing this, even with his extensive experience, the Old Yao immediately understood that he had to take action!
After a moment's hesitation, Old Yao made a gesture and retrieved the original essence of the Earth Core Body Tempering Milk from Xiao Yan's Storage Ring. Then, using his soul power, he precisely extracted two drops of jade liquid and flicked them directly into the bathtub.
Thus, the medicinal liquid, which was about to become crystal clear, was transformed again into a rich emerald color. The water mist rose again, and the immense medicinal power began to surge into Xiao Yan's body once more, finally pouring into the Dou Crystal.
The Earth Core Body Tempering Milk added directly was not mixed with other medicines, so the energy it contained was even more domineering. However, Xiao Yan's physical body had already undergone a transformation, so this time he really didn't feel any pain at all. Xiao Yan didn't care about such things at all, and instead focused wholeheartedly on breaking through to the Dou Ling.
For ordinary people to break through to the Dou Ling, it takes a long time to accumulate experience, and some people even need to accumulate experience for several years.
If he hadn't obtained the Earth Core Body Tempering Milk, Xiao Yan wouldn't have planned to break through to Dou Ling in one fell swoop after just advancing to the Nine-Star Da Dou Shi.
Fortunately, he has always been lucky, and with the help of Zi Yan and Old Yao, he was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to directly break through to the Dou Ling.
After a full hour of absorption, the medicinal liquid in the bathtub turned back into clear water, and the powerful suction force that had erupted from Xiao Yan's body suddenly disappeared. His pores also contracted, sealing all the energy in his body without any leakage!
Inside the cyclone, a fist-sized Dou Crystal, like a dazzling sun, emitted light that illuminated the entire cyclone.
"Buzz!"
As the last surge of energy flowed from the meridians and into the Dou Crystal, a deep humming sound quietly echoed within the vortex.
A moment later, the light on the Dou Crystal began to flicker, and a sound like a heartbeat came from inside the Dou Crystal.
The originally rhomboid Dou Crystal gradually became rounded after the pulsating sound, but its edges became more prominent and elongated in the process, making it look like a sea urchin. If you count carefully, there are exactly nine long, sharp spines on the sea urchin.
After the rhombus-shaped Dou Crystal completely transformed into the Sea Urchin Dou Crystal, the intensity of its light became increasingly rapid, and the sound, like a heartbeat, gradually overlapped with Xiao Yan's heartbeat.
"Bang! Bang!"
The next moment, the Sea Urchin Dou Crystal in the cyclone trembled violently, and an extremely powerful energy ripple suddenly spread out from it, passing through the cyclone, meridians, bones, muscles, and finally bursting out of the body through the skin!
Suddenly, water sprayed out, and Xiao Yan's bathtub was instantly turned into wood chips by the energy ripples, which flew out. After shattering the bathtub, the energy ripples swept through the entire cave without any hindrance, and the entire mountain shook violently in an instant.
Xiao Yan opened his eyes and stood up. Under his control, his Dou Qi transformed into a set of blue clothes. Although the style was extremely simple, it was a genuine method of condensing Dou Qi.
This means he has successfully advanced to the Dou Ling level!