Planning

On a mountain covered in maple trees, fiery red leaves dyed the entire mountain crimson. When the breeze swept by, the rustling collision of leaves sounded like a mysterious melody, mingled with the calls of all kinds of birds, as though they were accompanying it.

However, Yao Feng was in no mood to admire the beautiful scenery. He only wanted to return to his residence as quickly as possible and thoroughly examine his current situation.

Halfway up the mountain, before a small courtyard, Yao Feng looked at the ancient charm of the place and thought that the previous owner's tastes were somewhat similar to his own.

In front of the courtyard lay an open space, where a towering tree stood. Its shade covered most of the clearing. In the distance was a cliff, and looking down from here, one could see the mist winding through the mountains. Yao Feng silently called it a paradise on earth.

Sitting down on a bamboo reclining chair beneath the tree, he slightly curled his right hand into a claw and extended it forward. Under the guidance of his will, the Dou Qi within his body swiftly passed through several specific meridians and acupoints in his palm. At last, a burst of suction erupted, drawing a stone rapidly toward Yao Feng.

Yao Feng caught the stone firmly, a smile appearing at the corner of his lips. If he remembered correctly, this should be the Profound Tier Dou Technique hidden within the black iron shard that Xiao Yan, the protagonist of Dou Po, had picked up at a market. He had never expected it to end up in his hands. He wondered whether it was still there, but since he had come to the world of Dou Po, how could he not go see the protagonist for himself? Otherwise, wouldn't this trip have been for nothing?

He had no idea what year it was now, nor whether Xiao Yan had risen to prominence yet. Back when he had read Dou Po, he had agonized over it terribly. The endings of Yun Yun, Ya Fei, and Xiao Yi Xian had saddened him for quite some time. But now that he was here, he definitely could not let the story repeat itself. Besides, he also wanted to see what Yun Yun actually looked like!

Yao Feng thought somewhat wickedly. Now that he had the Check-in System, wasn't the whole world open for him to explore?

"Right, System, I want to open the Novice Gift Pack!"

Yao Feng abruptly sat upright. The System had just rewarded him with a Novice Gift Pack. Although he did not know where it was, based on his experience reading countless novels, systems generally came with their own storage space, so there was no need for him to worry.

"Ding! Opening the Novice Gift Pack. Congratulations, Host, for obtaining the Five Elements Spiritual Body and Second Grade Alchemy."

The System's voice rang out. A mysterious force enveloped Yao Feng's body, and he felt an incomparable power surge from within him like an erupting volcano. He could clearly sense Dou Qi of various attributes floating around his body. With a thought, his consciousness guided the Dou Qi into his body, where it flowed toward his Dantian and slowly strengthened his Dou Qi Vortex.

A moment later, the power receded, and Yao Feng's eyes were filled with astonishment. On the Dou Qi Continent, the overwhelming majority of Dou Zhe could cultivate only one attribute of Dou Qi. Even the rare alchemists merely possessed a primary fire attribute mixed with a trace of wood attribute. Yet a single Novice Gift Pack had given him all five elemental attributes—and even a Spiritual Body. This meant Yao Feng's affinity for Dou Qi of every attribute had reached the absolute limit. His cultivation speed would undoubtedly be among the best. Moreover, the Second Grade Alchemy had arrived at just the right time. Now that he was in the Yao Clan, which specialized in alchemy, alchemy was especially important. Though this body's former owner had possessed extraordinary talent in life, he had only been a first-grade alchemist. Yet Yao Feng had become a second-grade alchemist the moment he arrived. With the System's enhancements, the pills he refined would likely all be of supreme quality.

"System, where is the next check-in location?"

Although Yao Feng had read some check-in novels before, he was still somewhat confused when it actually happened to him, so he asked inwardly.

"This System's check-in locations are not fixed and must be explored by the Host. A friendly reminder: the more special a location is, the higher the chance of successfully checking in. Upon reaching a location, the System will automatically notify the Host."

"That's not bad." Yao Feng nodded. Although there was no clear objective, that made it more surprising. Besides, since he had stumbled into the world of Dou Po, he could take the opportunity to admire the sights of the Dou Qi Continent.

"Now, let me first see just how miraculous this alchemy is!"

Excited, Yao Feng took a pill cauldron from the previous owner's Spatial Ring. Though the cauldron had no name, it had once been used in the youth of an alchemy grandmaster from the Yao Clan, and its quality was still exceptional.

Looking at the ancient and imposing pill cauldron, Yao Feng's thoughts stirred, and the pill formula for a second-grade medicinal pill, the Spirit Nurturing Pill, surfaced in his mind.

Alchemists were exceedingly rare on the Dou Qi Continent. They could refine all kinds of miraculous pills that increased one's strength. Any alchemist would be courted at any cost by all factions, and their status was exceptionally lofty.

The reason alchemists were so valuable was naturally related to their scarcity. The requirements for becoming an alchemist were extraordinarily harsh.

First, one's natural attribute had to be fire. Second, within that fire attribute, there had to be a trace of wood energy to serve as a catalyst during alchemy!

However, possessing both fire and wood attributes alone still did not make one a true alchemist, because another essential requirement was equally indispensable: Soul Perception!

The three most important conditions for refining pills were materials, a flame source, and Soul Perception.

Materials naturally referred to all kinds of Heavenly Treasures. Alchemists were not gods, after all. Without top-quality materials, even the most skillful woman could not cook without rice, so materials were of utmost importance.

For Yao Feng, this was not a problem. The Yao Clan, which specialized in alchemy, lacked nothing less than medicinal herbs. The Yao Clan Small World alone contained several herb gardens, where most of the medicinal ingredients recorded on the continent could be found.

The flame source referred to the flames needed during alchemy. Ordinary fire could not be used to refine pills; one had to use Dou Qi flames catalyzed from fire-attributed Dou Qi. Of course, the most famous flames on the Dou Qi Continent were the Heavenly Flames. Like the many Heavenly Flames the protagonist devoted himself to collecting, they were all immensely powerful.

Yao Feng did not have one at present. Although the Yao Clan was powerful, in the original novel it had merely been a minor supporting faction. It only possessed two Heavenly Flames—far too poor, Yao Feng grumbled inwardly.

However, since he had the System, he did not need to worry too much about that.

The final requirement was Soul Perception. When refining pills, control over the heat was the highest priority. Sometimes, if the heat was even slightly too intense, the entire batch of pills would turn to ashes, wasting all previous effort. Therefore, controlling the heat was something every alchemist had to learn. Yet to control the heat properly, one needed powerful Soul Perception. On the Dou Qi Continent, Soul Perception was divided into the Mortal, Spirit, Heaven, and Emperor realms. Most people could spend their entire lives and still only reach the Mortal realm. However, Yao Feng was a transmigrator, and his soul had fused with that of his previous life. Furthermore, as the son of the Yao Clan Chief in his previous life, he had possessed extraordinary talent and exceptional Soul Perception. Now that the two had fused, even the protagonist might not be able to compare to him.

"Right, the protagonist... I seem to remember that Xiao Yan was also transmigrated from Earth. Looks like I really need to meet him!" Yao Feng thought excitedly. As a veteran bookworm, when transmigration had actually fallen upon him, it was easy to imagine just how thrilled he was.