Heaven-Defying Cultivation Speed in the Fire Domain

Ning Wuqian clenched and then opened his five fingers.

A series of fine cracks sounded from his knuckles. The strength lurking beneath his flesh felt so solid that it seemed unfamiliar to him.

Five hundred and sixty kilograms.

Half an hour ago, the sheer force this body could unleash would have been nothing but a madman's dream.

Tang Potian cast him a sidelong glance without so much as raising his eyelids.

"Look at you. Is this little bit of strength really worth shouting about?"

A yellowed piece of beast hide flew at him, smacking against Ning Wuqian's chest with a slap.

"The breathing method left by the master. Practice according to it."

Ning Wuqian hurriedly caught the hide. Spreading it open, he found several crude, twisted lines drawn upon it. The annotations beside them were ancient and difficult to decipher, and there was not even a complete meridian circulation diagram.

It reeked of some primitive, rough-and-ready wild method.

Beyond the heavenly screen, words scrolled past.

[Yan: So after all that, they're fobbing him off with this junk? This meditation method would be too uncomfortable even as a table leg prop in Spirit Hall's library.]

[Feng Xiaotian: The truth. This is one of the earliest methods of drawing in soul power. Its efficiency is abysmal, and it was completely phased out thousands of years ago.]

[Dugu Bo: I thought it was some peerless secret manual. Meditation schools are flourishing all across the continent now, yet they're bringing out this antique to make fools of themselves?]

Shrek Academy.

Yu Xiaogang let out a cold snort through his nose. Much of the frustration from being humiliated by the Whale Glue earlier had dissipated. He clasped his hands behind his back, slightly raised his chin, and recovered the bearing of a teacher.

"An idiot is still an idiot. Innate level-one talent paired with this trash method abandoned by the times—if he can even reach the threshold of level ten within ten years, it'll be because Heaven has gone blind!"

Tang San stood silently beside him.

His gaze remained fixed on the heavenly screen as he calculated the medicinal potency of that Ten-thousand-year Whale Glue. Could it truly be that simple? That mysterious person could casually throw out Whale Glue—would he really use some worthless cultivation method to fool someone?

The scene on the heavenly screen shifted.

Deep beneath the Clear Sky Sect. Tang Potian carried the Clear Sky Hammer in one hand and led Ning Wuqian farther underground.

After passing through seven or eight massive dragon-severing stone gates, the temperature around them rose sharply.

At the end of his vision, crimson filled Ning Wuqian's eyes.

Underground magma churned, and crisscrossing fissures split the ground. Fire poison rose with the searing heat. The moment Ning Wuqian stepped onto the edge, his sweat evaporated before it could form, while his airways burned with pain.

"Senior, this place..." He swallowed, his throat dry and hoarse.

Tang Potian stopped.

"A training ground."

Ning Wuqian froze. Cultivating soul power required a calm mind, so how was anyone supposed to enter meditation in a place that roasted living people?

Tang Potian saw through his thoughts and spoke evenly. "The density of soul power here is twenty times that outside."

"The master extracted the source of the underground Strange Fire and forcibly created this place."

Twenty times.

The moment those words were spoken, the breathing of every major power beyond the heavenly screen became ragged.

The chat group froze strangely for several seconds.

[Yan: How much? Twenty times?! Is something wrong with my ears?]

[Ma Hongjun: Who are you trying to fool?! You could turn Douluo Continent upside down and still never find a blessed land like this!]

Spirit City, Papal Hall.

Bibi Dong abruptly rose to her feet, driving her scepter heavily into the floor. Her violet eyes stared fixedly at the heavenly screen, her chest rising and falling.

Spirit Hall had gathered resources from across the entire continent to nurture its simulated training sanctuaries, yet even in their most central areas, the soul power density was at most three times that of the outside world!

Twenty times? That was a divine miracle! Human power simply could not accomplish it!

Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect.

Yu Yuanzhen tore out a tuft of beard from his chin, hissing from the pain.

"My sect's Dragon Abyss Secret Realm has been passed down for a thousand years, yet it barely reaches twice the normal density... Twenty times—what kind of monster is this?"

Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.

The teacup in Ning Fengzhi's hand fell to the floor and shattered. He did not even notice, his eyes shining brightly.

"Extracting the source of a Strange Fire to forcibly create a secret realm of heaven and earth... No wonder! No wonder Ancestor Wuqian could defy fate and change his destiny back then! Such methods are simply horrifying!"

At the center of the Fire Domain.

Ning Wuqian found a relatively level rock and sat cross-legged upon it. The fire-attributed soul power around him was so dense it was nearly liquid, drilling into his body through every pore.

The temperature of his body surged again. He did not dare waste any time and hurriedly circulated the crude breathing method according to the lines on the beast hide.

Light and shadow flickered across the heavenly screen.

[Feng Xiaotian: What good is high density? That lousy method can't possibly digest such enormous energy. It's like a cow chewing peonies.]

[Dugu Bo: If he forcibly pours it into his body, his meridians won't withstand it. This kid is about to explode and die.]

Yu Xiaogang laughed even louder, even raising a hand to point at the heavenly screen.

"Greed is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant! The circulation route of a primitive meditation method is exceedingly crude and cannot filter out fire poison at all. Within half an hour, he'll suffer qi deviation!"

Before his words had even faded.

A faint layer of white light appeared over Ning Wuqian's body on the heavenly screen. The white light flickered like breathing, stripping away all the violent fire poison and leaving only the purest soul power to merge into his dantian.

The sun rose and the moon fell. Time passed at an incredible speed on the heavenly screen.

Only one day passed.

Ning Wuqian opened his eyes and exhaled a long stream of white breath. It shot out like an arrow, striking the rocks with sharp popping sounds.

He sprang to his feet and clenched his fists.

"Level two! I've reached level two Soul Scholar!"

Beyond the heavenly screen, utter silence reigned.

[Yan: ...What did he just say?]

[Ma Hongjun: He rose a level in one day? That garbage meditation method actually works?]

No one answered, because the scene continued.

On the second day, the white light grew brighter.

On the third day, fluctuations of soul power spilled outward.

The seventh day!

The air around Ning Wuqian surged, making his clothes snap violently in the wind. He threw back his head and let out a long howl. Soul power burst from his body, faintly forming a small tower behind him.

Level four Soul Scholar!

In just seven days, he had been forcibly raised from innate level one to level four!

The entire Douluo Continent fell deathly silent.

[Feng Xiaotian: What the hell! Breaking through three levels in seven days just by meditating? Even someone with full innate soul power couldn't be this absurd!]

[Dugu Bo: I have cultivated for most of my life. The only time I've ever seen someone leap several levels in a single day was when absorbing a soul ring! Are this kid's meridians forged from iron?]

[Huyan Zhen: Damn it, this is called a trash martial soul? Compared to him, every genius in my sect is a good-for-nothing who only knows how to eat!]

Shrek Academy.

The smile on Yu Xiaogang's face froze completely. His twisted features made him look almost comical. He desperately clutched at his hair, speaking incoherently.

"Fake... an illusion! It must be an illusion! This violates the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Souls! An outdated cultivation method can never have such conversion efficiency!"

Tang San stood beside him, watching his teacher descend into madness before looking back up at the heavenly screen.

A Fire Domain with twenty times the density. A crude yet bizarre cultivation method. Three levels in seven days.

Images of himself painstakingly cultivating the Mysterious Heaven Skill day and night flashed continuously through his mind. Every day, he sat in meditation and practiced breathing exercises while facing the rising purple qi, year after year for a decade. He had once believed that his diligence and the Tang Sect's supreme arts were unmatched on the continent.

But now?

Tang San's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed his bitterness.

"Talent... cultivation methods..." he muttered, biting heavily into every word. "Before absolute resources and a heaven-defying environment, they're all worthless."

What full innate soul power? What Mysterious Heaven Skill? They could casually toss out a secret realm and erase years of your hard work in seven days!

Just as the worldview of soul masters across the continent was being ground into dust.

A comment carrying an unusual spiritual ripple slowly drifted through the chat group.

[Skydream Iceworm: A bunch of frogs at the bottom of a well. Do you really think he's practicing some primitive meditation method? You've all been fooled by that scrap of hide.]

Deep within the Extreme North.