Battle Through the Heavens: I Can Solidify All Talents

Xiao Qing shook his head. His gaze was calm and undisturbed, even carrying a trace of barely perceptible indifference.

With the [Innate Spirit Body] and the Heaven Grade [Law of Fire], Xiao Qing's horizons and ambitions had long surpassed the meager boost granted by a mere First-Grade Emperor Dou Bloodline.

On this path, destined to transcend the mundane and touch upon laws and the pinnacle, only absolute power held in one's own hands was fundamental.

This bloodline was merely better than nothing.

"Is this... an Emperor Dou Bloodline?!"

Suddenly, a slightly surprised voice carrying a hint of age and weariness rang beside Xiao Qing's ear without warning, shattering the silence of the mountains.

There was no one around, only the rustling of leaves in the wind.

Had an ordinary person been here, they would likely have been scared out of their wits, thinking they had encountered a ghost in broad daylight.

Deep within this desolate Back Mountain, another person's voice suddenly appearing was indeed especially unsettling.

Though, in a sense, it really was haunted!

A powerful soul body!

Yet Xiao Qing's face showed not the slightest panic, not even a trace of surprise.

Xiao Qing slowly turned around. His calm gaze swept over the empty surroundings before finally settling on the ancient black ring upon his finger. His tone was as casual as if he were speaking normally to someone.

"Senior, you have been observing this junior in secret for over two months. Shouldn't you show yourself now?"

His voice was steady, devoid of curiosity or fear. There was only an insight and composure that did not belong to someone his age.

As his words fell, the air around the ring rippled faintly.

Immediately afterward, a somewhat illusory elderly figure slowly floated out of the black ring, hovering in midair before Xiao Qing.

The figure was quite translucent, but his features could still be seen clearly. The old man had white hair and beard, with a gentle and refined face.

Though he was only in a soul state, his eyes, filled with profound meaning, contained the weathered wisdom of one who had experienced the world. They faintly carried the majesty that had once belonged to a powerful expert.

His ancient robes added several shades of mystery.

This was the "grandpa" who had changed Xiao Yan's fate in the original story!

Once the foremost alchemist famed throughout the Central Plains, a genius born into the Yao Clan, one of the Eight Ancient Clans, only to be cast aside—Yao Chen, Venerable Yao!

"How should this junior address you, sir?" Xiao Qing revealed a suitably faint trace of inquiry. He clasped his hands toward the illusory figure before him, his tone carrying the basic courtesy due an elder without becoming overly familiar.

The old man's illusory arm seemed to shake his nonexistent sleeve. His voice was mild, yet naturally carried an air of pride. "You may call this old man Old Yao."

"Senior Old Yao!" Xiao Qing readily followed suit and bowed once more.

Old Yao's profound gaze carefully examined Xiao Qing, particularly astonished by his abnormal calmness. "You... seem to have long ceased being curious about my existence?"

Logically speaking, a nine-year-old boy seeing a soul body emerge from a ring should not have reacted this way.

Hearing this, Xiao Qing merely shook his head lightly. "Curious?"

"With Senior's abilities, being able to reside within a ring, you must have been a figure capable of reaching the heavens and shaking the earth in life!"

"This junior is merely a small Dou Shi. Even if I had a thousand questions, could I possibly do anything to Senior?"

His words were coherent and composed, so calm that they did not sound like a child's.

Old Yao fell silent for a moment after hearing this. Many complicated emotions flickered through his cloudy eyes before ultimately turning into an almost inaudible sigh.

Old Yao no longer dwelled on the matter and instead turned the conversation toward the discovery that had shocked him most.

"Do you know that a bloodline... the noblest bloodline in the Dou Qi Continent, flows within your body!"

Old Yao: Xiao Qing, Would You Take Me as Your Master?

Old Yao's voice carried an indescribably complicated emotion.

His gaze seemed to pass through Xiao Qing and see certain long-buried memories. Reminiscence and melancholy surfaced on his face.

Once upon a time, he too had possessed such an enviable bloodline...

"Senior, are you referring to this?"

Xiao Qing's expression remained unchanged as he spread open his palm once more.

With a slight movement of his thoughts, the strand of blood-red vitality carrying a noble aura appeared in his palm again.

"This... this really is an Emperor Dou Bloodline!"

Old Yao stared fixedly at the strand of vitality. Sensing the pure pressure within it, shock appeared on his face.

He could never mistake the unique aura permeating before him!

This was precisely what he had once possessed and later lost—an Emperor Dou Bloodline!

When Xiao Qing had first broken through and the bloodline revived within his body, only an extremely faint aura had leaked out. Old Yao had thought his senses were mistaken.

After all, how noble and rare was an Emperor Dou Bloodline? How could it appear in a youth from some small clan in a remote place like the Jia Ma Empire?

In truth, Old Yao's soul had awakened long ago.

Over the past three months, whenever Xiao Qing began cultivating, the tides of natural energy he triggered were simply too terrifying and pure. Even while Old Yao had been asleep, his soul instinctively absorbed the scattered energy on its own.

Though this energy was not as refined as the energy directly drawn into Xiao Qing's body and purified by the [Law of Fire], it was still far purer and denser than ordinary natural energy outside, thanks to the unconscious purification from the fiery aura naturally emitted by Xiao Qing's body while cultivating.

It was precisely after absorbing this high-quality energy for nearly a month that Old Yao had finally been able to awaken completely from his prolonged slumber.

After waking, Old Yao discovered that this youth named Xiao Qing possessed exceptionally sharp soul perception. He actually had Soul Power at the Mortal Realm Mid-Stage!

Moreover, Xiao Qing had long noticed Old Yao's presence within the ring.

A subtle understanding had formed between them: I know you are hiding in my ring, and you know I have discovered you, but neither of us will say it aloud.

Old Yao observed in secret, assessing Xiao Qing's temperament, character, and perseverance.

Meanwhile, Xiao Qing had patiently waited for this "grandpa" to lose his patience and reveal himself voluntarily.

Thus, the two spent more than two months together in this peculiar state of "knowing each other's secret yet tacitly leaving it unspoken."

Only today, when Xiao Qing broke through to Dou Shi and actively awakened and displayed the Emperor Dou Bloodline, was this silence finally broken.

Old Yao's decision to reveal himself had certainly been influenced by his shock at the Emperor Dou Bloodline, but the deeper reason was Xiao Qing's cultivation speed, which left even him, the widely experienced Venerable Yao, dumbfounded and unable to comprehend it!

This was simply not how normal people cultivated!

Who cultivated by plundering natural energy like a whale swallowing the sea?

Who could soar all the way from a Three-Star Dou Zhe to Dou Shi within three months?

What was more, Xiao Qing cultivated only a lowest-grade Yellow Rank: Mid-Grade technique!

It was as outrageous as if heaven and earth were actively pouring power into Xiao Qing, forcibly raising his cultivation!

What Old Yao found most inconceivable was that this cultivation gained through such "empowerment" was not remotely unstable or inflated. Instead, it was terrifyingly condensed, heavy, and solid, with a foundation stable to an outrageous degree!

By comparison, the Dou Qi ordinary people painstakingly cultivated step by step seemed as unstable as if it had been piled up with medicinal pills before Xiao Qing's cultivation!

In Old Yao's long years of cultivation and experience, when had he ever seen such a freak?

This brat had simply been born to shatter common sense!

Perhaps some unknown, exceptionally powerful fire-attribute special constitution is at work?

Old Yao could only speculate this much. That must be it... the Dou Qi Continent is boundless. It is hardly strange for some heavenly geniuses with defying special constitutions to be born.

Thinking of special constitutions, Old Yao could not help sighing. His expression became somewhat complicated, and a trace of reminiscence and sorrow flashed through his eyes.

Old Yao thought of a former friend, that woman with the Woe Poison Body... Had she not also relied on the inconceivable method of Devouring Venom to rapidly raise her cultivation?

And her foundation had likewise been stable, with no side effects whatsoever.

The world was vast, and all manner of wonders existed.

Suppressing his tangled thoughts, Old Yao looked intently at Xiao Qing. Solemnity appeared on his gaunt face.

Old Yao saw the youth's tremendous potential, as well as conditions incomparably suited to the profession of an alchemist.

"I see that your Dou Qi attribute is fire with wood mixed within. Yin and yang complement each other; wood feeds fire, making it flourish. This is exceptional potential for becoming an alchemist." Old Yao's voice carried an authoritative certainty, along with a barely detectable temptation.

"As it happens, this old man was, in life, a Grade 8 Alchemist, with a modest reputation in the Central Plains. With my attainments, I can teach you every aspect of alchemy cultivation and lead you to the pinnacle of the alchemical path..."

At this point, Old Yao paused slightly.

Though he possessed extreme confidence in his alchemy, he was only a soul body now. Asking such a monstrous genius to become his disciple still made even Old Yao feel a slight unease and... embarrassment?

Yet he ultimately swallowed his pride. With sincerity and expectation in his eyes, he spoke the most crucial words.

"Little Friend Xiao, would you... be willing to take me as your master?"

Old Yao unconsciously stroked his illusory beard, his eyes filled with hope.

He truly wished to take Xiao Qing under his wing.

A youth with a clean background, seemingly steady temperament, and such peerless constitution and talent—what righteous senior could see him without feeling fondness?

Of course, Soul Hall would probably be very fond of him too...

Furthermore, this brat's soul talent was absurdly powerful!

Even while still at the Dou Zhe stage, his Soul Power had already reached the Mortal Realm Mid-Stage. After breaking through to Dou Shi, it had directly soared to the peak of the Mortal Realm Mid-Stage, only one step away from the Late Mortal Realm!

One had to know that advancing one's soul realm was far more difficult than raising one's Dou Qi cultivation. Most peak Dou Zong experts on the continent had Soul Power that only remained at the Late Mortal Realm stage!

Yet Xiao Qing, a nine-year-old Dou Shi, was already nearing the Late Mortal Realm in soul realm!

What kind of terrifying aptitude was this?

Old Yao was almost certain that if such unpolished jade were placed in the Central Plains, even the ancestral-level figures within the mysterious Little Pill Tower would be moved and rush out to take him as a disciple!

At this moment, Old Yao waited eagerly for Xiao Qing's answer.

He believed that anyone aspiring to walk the path of alchemy would be unable to refuse the personal guidance of a Tier 8 Alchemy Grandmaster.

Xiao Qing's gaze flickered slightly, and his eyelids lowered as though he were seriously weighing the pros and cons, engaged in a fierce internal struggle.

He was silent for a moment, allowing a suitable amount of hesitation and contemplation to appear on his face.

Yet deep within Xiao Qing's heart, the answer had long been clear.

The Old Yao before him was not only once a Tier 8 Alchemy Grandmaster, but also a Venerable-level soul body with extensive experience and top-tier cultivation techniques.

Taking him as a master was undoubtedly the best current choice for Xiao Qing, who urgently needed high-level techniques, systematic alchemy knowledge, and a powerful guide.

As for the possible master-disciple karma and whatever bonds might arise in the future, they were not unacceptable when weighed against tangible benefits and guidance.

After a brief silence, the hesitation on Xiao Qing's face completely faded, replaced by determination and solemnity.

Xiao Qing stepped forward and straightened his robes. Then, toward Old Yao's soul body floating in the air, he solemnly performed a standard disciple's bow. Every movement was meticulous and filled with respect.

After completing the ceremony, Xiao Qing raised his head. Looking at Old Yao with clear, earnest eyes, he spoke in a distinct and firm voice.

"This disciple, Xiao Qing, greets Master!"

Beginning to Cultivate the Burning Mantra

That single "Master" was spoken cleanly and decisively, without the slightest reluctance, carrying the respect a disciple should have for his teacher.

Seeing Xiao Qing perform the disciple's ceremony so decisively and solemnly, delight instantly burst from Old Yao's eyes. Even his illusory body rippled faintly with excitement.

Old Yao had initially worried that Xiao Qing might hesitate because he was only a soul body. He had not expected Xiao Qing to be so resolute!

"Good! Good! Good!"

Old Yao clapped and laughed heartily, saying "good" three times in succession. Even the wrinkles on his face seemed to relax as he beamed with delight. "I never expected that after awakening, this old man would receive such an excellent disciple in this remote place! Heaven has treated this old man well!"

The more Old Yao looked at Xiao Qing, the more satisfied he became. His temperament was steady, his talent peerless, and even more rarely, he understood propriety without arrogance or impatience.

"Since you have taken me as your master, I will certainly teach you everything I know and nurture you into the Dou Qi Continent's foremost alchemist and expert!" Old Yao declared boldly, before his tone turned somewhat wistful again.

"However... your master is now only a soul body, and many matters will require your assistance... Furthermore, on the path of cultivation, a master can lead one through the door, but cultivation depends on the individual. How far you can ultimately go will still depend on yourself."

Xiao Qing respectfully replied, "This disciple understands! I will cultivate diligently without pause in the future and will not disappoint Master's expectations. Should Master have any instructions, this disciple will certainly do his utmost!"

Old Yao nodded approvingly. "Good, good, good! The most urgent matter is to find you a suitable cultivation technique first. That Yellow Rank: Mid-Grade technique of yours is truly an insult to your talent and constitution! Once you have achieved something in your technique, I will formally begin teaching you the art of alchemy!"

With their master-disciple relationship established, the distance between them instantly shortened, and a new bond quietly formed.

At the mention of cultivation techniques, Old Yao fell silent. Reminiscence, struggle, and a barely noticeable trace of guilt appeared on his illusory face.

Only after a long while did he sigh softly, his voice carrying several complicated emotions.

"Your master does indeed possess an exceedingly strange cultivation technique. It does not advance through ordinary means of cultivation, but rather..."

"It can evolve and transform by absorbing and refining all kinds of flames in the world, especially powerful Heavenly Flames!"