Dou Zhe Peak

Two months later, one morning.

Xiao Yan stood bare-chested atop a massive slab of bluish stone.

His left palm pressed outward as though cradling the moon, while his right arm curved back as if pushing a mountain. As his arms moved, they actually stirred up sharp gusts of wind.

The instant fallen leaves drifted past, they were shredded into powder by invisible force.

His moves then shifted, and the footwork beneath him changed accordingly, yet he never left the bounds of the stone. A moment later, having completed the routine, Xiao Yan withdrew his stance and stood still, his eyes carrying a thoughtful look.

Recently, he had reached the peak of the Dou Zhe realm and was waiting for the opportunity to advance to Dou Master. Aside from cultivating his Dou Qi and alchemy as usual, he had been practicing the move he intended to create himself.

He wanted to combine Sucking Palm and Fire Blowing Palm with Taiji.

Though calling it a combination was not quite accurate. In truth, he was simply integrating Sucking Palm and Fire Blowing Palm into Taiji.

The Dou Qi Continent had no flashy magic, only Dou Qi that had been developed to its utmost limit.

Thus, many things could be accomplished with Dou Qi.

As a result, people focused more on studying the ways Dou Qi could be used and refining them further.

While this had greatly broadened the applications of Dou Qi, in combat, it naturally led to a lack of exquisite control over one's own strength.

Taiji Fist was a profound internal martial art. In battle, it required coordination with footwork, breathing techniques, and precise mastery of Taiji itself to fully unleash all its power.

This style of boxing placed extremely demanding requirements on precise control of one's strength and one's combat principles.

Therefore, the pulling and pushing forces carried by Sucking Palm and Fire Blowing Palm already aligned with certain principles within Taiji. What Xiao Yan needed to do was infer the pathways through certain meridians from Sucking Palm and Fire Blowing Palm, creating a Taiji Dou Technique with the characteristics of the Dou Qi Continent.

This was an undertaking that consumed an enormous amount of time and energy. Even with Xiao Yan's monstrous talent, by this day he had only developed some barely passable ideas. He could already link the meridians together and had preliminarily created this Dou Technique.

The only trouble was that practicing it alone would certainly not work. Nor did Xiao Yan want Old Yao, whose soul had yet to recover to its peak condition, to waste soul power feeding him moves.

"Your fist technique is rather interesting. It's very novel, and far more intricate than a crude Dou Technique like Eight Extremities Collapse. But it's clear that to master this kind of Dou Technique, you'll have to put in hard work and comprehend its true essence!"

Old Yao floated nearby and spoke thoughtfully.

Old Yao was not actually surprised that Xiao Yan had created his own Dou Technique.

After all, Xiao Yan had improved Dou Techniques before. Now that he wanted to create an entirely new Dou Technique based on two existing ones, perhaps it was not all that difficult for him.

"Mm. Although I've only created the rough outline of this Dou Technique, its power should be no weaker than a high-grade Mystic Tier technique. That's not beyond my expectations. Once it's fully perfected, it should be enough to reach the level of an Earth Tier Dou Technique."

Xiao Yan nodded, considering that he needed to find someone skilled at fighting to properly temper this Dou Technique of his.

As for its name, Xiao Yan was not very good at naming things, so he might as well call it Taiji.

"Screech!!!"

An eagle's cry rang out as a massive deep-blue eagle descended from the sky. On its back sat Xiao Yi Xian.

"You're back?"

Watching Xiao Yi Xian lightly leap down from the eagle's back, Xiao Yan smiled and went to greet her. At the same time, he tossed Blue Eagle a second-grade medicinal pill that would help strengthen its body.

Blue Eagle was a magical beast that had wandered into the valley after being injured about a month and a half ago.

Xiao Yi Xian had bandaged its wounds, while Xiao Yan had used medicinal pills to restore it to health.

From then on, this Blue Eagle had become Xiao Yi Xian and Xiao Yan's companion.

Although it was only a first-tier magical beast, as a flying magical beast, its endurance in the air far surpassed someone like Xiao Yan, who relied on Purple Cloud Wings.

Xiao Yi Xian had still named it Xiao Lan.

Over these past days, quite a few pills Xiao Yan had refined to grind his alchemy proficiency had ended up in Blue Eagle's stomach.

However, it seemed there was still quite a long way to go before Blue Eagle could advance. It showed no signs of breaking through yet.

Of course, with Xiao Yan's current cultivation and abilities, as he prepared to break through to Dou Master, there was not much more he could do. Achieving the current result was already his limit.

Xiao Yi Xian, on the other hand, had fully activated her Woe Poison Body after laying everything bare with Xiao Yan. She had begun cultivating by consuming poison, and her progress was truly advancing by leaps and bounds!

The current Xiao Yi Xian was already a six-star Dou Master! Given the special nature of the Woe Poison Body, even someone at the peak of the Dou Master realm would likely be no match for her!

And this was only because Xiao Yan had forbidden her from developing the Woe Poison Body too deeply. Otherwise, with her experience, she could have cultivated even faster!

"Mm, I'm back."

Xiao Yi Xian nodded with a radiant smile.

Unlike Xiao Yan, she did not need to improve her combat experience through battle. As someone reborn, Xiao Yi Xian had plenty of experience in combat. She was not like Xiao Yan, a complete blank slate who needed to build up experience all over again.

This time, she had gone out to make a trip back to Green Mountain Town and purchase a batch of supplies.

After living in the small valley with Xiao Yan for so long, the survival supplies they had brought with them were nearly exhausted, so they naturally needed to replenish them.

"Have you thought it through? Are you sure you want to go train in the Tagor Desert with me?"

Hearing this, Xiao Yan nodded. He circulated his Dou Qi to evaporate the sweat from his body, then put on his clothes and walked toward Xiao Yi Xian.

"Mm, I've thought it through. But I probably won't be going to Jia Nan Academy. You know that, for me, a place like that can't really improve my cultivation speed by much. And I don't want you to exhaust yourself like that. So when you're ready to go to Jia Nan Academy, I still plan to spend some time in the Chu Yun Empire. But I don't intend to establish the Poison Sect."

Xiao Yi Xian spoke with a smile.

Although she truly wanted to remain by Xiao Yan's side forever, she also did not want to see him bear such enormous pressure alone. She wanted to share some of it for him.

"I'm worried about you."

However, Xiao Yan shook his head.

It was not that he did not trust Xiao Yi Xian's abilities. He simply did not want her to take such a great risk for his sake either.

Poison Masters ran rampant in the Chu Yun Empire. Most people who cultivated poison Dou Qi either had something wrong with their minds or possessed strange, withdrawn temperaments. Their actions were unpredictable. If something went wrong, Xiao Yan would regret it for the rest of his life.

"As for preparing poisons, as an alchemist, I can help you obtain more herbs for making them much more easily. Besides, Teacher knows something about the Woe Poison Body as well. With his vast experience, he can guide your cultivation well enough. You said you'd stay by my side, so don't think about running off alone to take risks anymore. I won't allow it!"

Xiao Yan said with a serious expression.

Upon hearing this, Old Yao, standing to the side, also nodded slightly and said, "Little girl, listen to him. Besides, through you, I also wish to gain a more detailed and profound understanding of the Woe Poison Body, so that I can help you bring it under control as soon as possible."

"Then thank you very much, Mr. Old Yao. I'll be troubling you from now on!"

Xiao Yi Xian said with a bright smile, bowing slightly in the manner of a junior.

As for Xiao Yan, there was no need for thanks between them.