The Woe Poison Body had no bottlenecks before Dou Zong. All it needed was enough poison. Knowing this, Xiao Chen dared to try swallowing four Poison Pills at once.
As the four Poison Pills went down, their terrifying toxicity exploded inside him. Xiao Chen had deliberately refined them to be deadly, with medicinal properties that counteracted one another. Taken together, they could kill even a Dou Emperor in an instant.
Yet in the face of the Woe Poison Body, even the most terrifying poison was nothing but a little lamb, utterly at its mercy.
Pure energy poured continuously into Xiao Chen's dantian, like the water Xiao Yi Xian had poured into his mouth, flowing without pause. The Battle Qi in his body shot upward as if riding a rocket.
Two-Star Dou Wang, Three-Star Dou Wang, Four-Star Dou Wang. After surging three stars in one breath, the energy in his body gradually settled.
Xiao Chen took a Dou Ling Pill. The poison that had quieted down was roused once more, mixing with the pill's pure energy as he launched into his final push.
Four-Star Dou Wang, Five-Star Dou Wang. In the end, he stopped at the level of a Six-Star Dou Wang.
"Whew! Just as expected, I've gotten stronger. Too bad the Alchemist Association and the Imperial Family don't have any stronger poisons!"
Xiao Chen compressed his Battle Qi again and again, finally managing to hold his cultivation at the Five-Star Dou Wang level. Only when he found he could compress it no further did he stop.
Xiao Yi Xian didn't know that Xiao Chen had broken through to Five-Star Dou Wang. She could only faintly sense that he seemed much stronger. "Brother Xiao Chen, what level are you at now?"
"Hmm... I should be a Five-Star Dou Wang. As for my combat strength, without using my trump cards, I should have no trouble taking on a Two- or Three-Star Dou Emperor!"
Xiao Chen wasn't exaggerating. After swallowing the Fallen Heart Flame and the Green Lotus Core Flame, the Flame Mantra had already brushed against the threshold of the Heaven Tier. With the fully mastered Low Earth Tier movement Dou Technique Flame Shadow and the High Earth Tier Dou Technique Emperor Seal Technique, ordinary Two- or Three-Star Dou Emperors really wouldn't be enough to challenge him.
If he brought out the Buddha Fury Fire Lotus, he could probably even contend with a Four- or Five-Star Dou Emperor. After all, this Buddha Fury Fire Lotus fused the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame, the Fallen Heart Flame, and the Green Lotus Core Flame. Wasn't it more than twice as powerful as the one Xiao Yan had in the original story?
Thinking of the Emperor Seal Technique reminded Xiao Chen of Xiao Xun'er. When he left the Xiao Family, he had sworn that he would return within three months at the latest.
Now there were only about ten days left before the three months were up. It was time to go back to the Xiao Family. But first, he needed to visit the Alchemist Association and the palace to repay the favors he owed.
"Xian'er, come with me to the Alchemist Association!"
Xiao Yi Xian nodded without asking why, obediently wrapping her arms around Xiao Chen's. After two months together, she had grown ever more reluctant to leave his side and was especially clingy in their day-to-day life.
Imperial Capital, Alchemist Association, third-floor VIP room.
"Brother Chen, you finally decided to leave the house?"
Fama glanced at Xiao Yi Xian sitting beside Xiao Chen, his eyes full of teasing. "Well, with such a beauty by your side, it's no wonder you don't feel like going out. It's good to be young—you've got energy to spare!"
"You old lecher. I came to say goodbye. I was even thinking of refining an Imperial Extreme Pill for you..." Xiao Chen rolled his eyes and made as if to get up and leave. Fama quickly stopped him. "Oh, Brother Chen, my dear brother, my good friend! I was only joking!"
"What did you just say? You can refine an Imperial Extreme Pill? Have you broken through to the sixth grade?"
Fama stared at him in disbelief. Breaking through to become a sixth-grade alchemist was no easy feat. Otherwise, Fama wouldn't have been stuck at his current level for decades.
If Xiao Chen had truly reached the sixth grade, Fama wouldn't give a damn about an Imperial Extreme Pill. He'd enshrine Xiao Chen first. The pill was valuable, but it was still just an external aid. For Fama, watching Xiao Chen refine pills would be far more important.
Xiao Chen clicked his tongue and brushed Fama's hand off his shoulder, looking disgusted. "Who's your brother? You're old enough to be my father. I can't be your 'good brother'!"
"I haven't broken through to the sixth grade yet, but I can refine one. Do you have the ingredients?"
Fama was a little dumbfounded. He hadn't broken through to the sixth grade, but he could refine a peak sixth-grade pill?
If anyone else had said that, Fama would've slapped him and mocked him. What kind of nonsense are you dreaming up?
But Xiao Chen was the one saying it. Even though Fama didn't want to believe him, he couldn't help letting his imagination run wild. "Wait, let me get this straight. You mean you're still a fifth-grade alchemist, but you can refine sixth-grade pills? Wouldn't that make you a sixth-grade alchemist?"
Fama suspected Xiao Chen was messing with him. In the world of alchemy, there was no rigid rating system. If you could refine a certain grade of pill, then you were an alchemist of that grade.
Besides, the Imperial Extreme Pill was a peak sixth-grade pill. If you could refine a peak sixth-grade pill, calling yourself a fifth-grade alchemist was just messing with him, wasn't it?
Xiao Chen sighed helplessly. "Come on, Fama. I never said I'd be the one refining the Imperial Extreme Pill. So, do you have the ingredients or not?"
Xiao Chen definitely couldn't refine it himself just yet. But he knew someone who could: more precisely, a wisp of a remnant soul.
That's right. Xiao Chen planned to have Yao Chen refine it for him. As for how he would get Yao Chen to do it willingly, he had his own way.
Fama froze for a moment, then seemed to realize something. His eyes flew wide open. "Hey, kid, don't tell me you're planning to have Gu He refine it for you?"
"But if you went to Gu He, he'd probably be more than happy to help!"
Fama had no idea what Xiao Chen was thinking. The only person he could think of was Gu He.
He hadn't considered the possibility of a powerful force backing Xiao Chen, and for good reason. Xiao Chen had been in the Imperial Capital for two months. If Fama still couldn't figure out where he came from, he had no business being the association's president.
But precisely because he knew Xiao Chen had no powerful force supporting him, Fama's attitude toward him hadn't soured. If anything, he'd become even friendlier.
After all, a place as rundown as Wutan City had produced a true dragon. Fama was starting to wonder whether the Xiao Family's ancestral graves had been smoking with good fortune.
But in a way, Fama wasn't wrong. The Xiao Family's ancestral graves weren't just smoking—they were billowing smoke. It was practically a lively scene down there.
"Gu He? What's he worth? He's only a sixth-grade alchemist. Does he even deserve to refine pills for me?"
Xiao Chen curled his lip and spat out a wildly arrogant line. Fama's eyelid twitched as he heard it. Seriously, buddy, what size pants do you wear? How did I never realize before how much of a braggart you were?
He kept that thought to himself, of course. He understood perfectly well why Xiao Chen wanted to help him refine the Imperial Extreme Pill: Xiao Chen was simply repaying a favor.
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