A Hundredfold Return for Taking Disciples: Starting from Battle Through the Heavens

Qin Hao gave a half-true, half-false explanation.

"Is that so? Is this what they mean by surviving a great calamity and receiving great fortune afterward?"

After hearing Qin Hao's explanation, Zi Yan did not press the matter further. On the Dou Qi Continent, cultivation methods and combat skills were absolute taboos for cultivators. Unless they were master and disciple or father and son, people rarely asked about such private matters.

Although Zi Yan had something of a childlike temperament, she still understood what she should and should not ask.

Half an hour later, Qin Hao and Zi Yan arrived outside a valley.

"This is the place!"

Looking at the valley before him, Qin Hao spoke. His predecessor had discovered a Purple Spirit Fruit Tree within this valley. Purple Spirit Fruit was one of the main ingredients for refining the fifth-grade Fighting Spirit Pill.

Unexpectedly, before he could even approach the Purple Spirit Fruit Tree, he had been attacked by an Azure Shadow Eagle.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go in and find it! It's just a scruffy bird!"

Zi Yan said indifferently, taking the lead into the valley. Seeing this, Qin Hao spread the dou qi wings on his back and followed after her.

Before long, the two reached the deepest part of the valley, and Qin Hao's gaze was instantly drawn to a small tree less than three meters tall.

Nine purple fruits hung from the little tree, releasing a rich fragrance. It was indeed the Purple Spirit Fruit Tree.

"Chirp chirp..."

At that moment, a piercing bird cry rang out from the sky. A terrifying gale swept over them, followed by a gigantic bird over five meters long, with a wingspan exceeding ten meters and its body covered in azure feathers, swooping down with a howl.

It was none other than the fifth-tier flying Magic Beast, the Azure Shadow Eagle.

In terms of strength, the Azure Shadow Eagle was only average among fifth-tier Magic Beasts, but its speed was incredibly terrifying, placing it among the very best of its rank.

The Azure Shadow Eagle's gaze instantly fell upon Qin Hao, ferocity blazing in its eyes. Clearly, it still remembered Qin Hao, its defeated opponent.

At the same time, its gaze repeatedly swept over Zi Yan beside Qin Hao. A flicker of wariness flashed through its eyes. Clearly, it sensed no small amount of danger from her.

"Scruffy bird, take this!"

Once Zi Yan saw the real target appear, she wasted no words. Waving her fist, she instantly transformed into a streak of light and charged forward.

"Chirp chirp..."

The Azure Shadow Eagle let out a shrill cry, violently flapping its wings. Countless wind blades gathered in an instant, forming a storm that engulfed Zi Yan.

At the same time, its massive body used the force of that gust to shoot into the sky. Clearly, it wanted to widen the distance between itself and Zi Yan rather than engage her in close combat.

"Hmph!"

Facing the storm of wind blades ahead, Zi Yan advanced rather than retreated. Purple light flashed over her body, and her figure flickered. As though she had teleported, she instantly crossed the storm.

With a single flash, she appeared directly before the Azure Shadow Eagle. Under its incredulous gaze, Zi Yan's seemingly harmless little fist carried a terrifying sonic boom as it smashed fiercely toward the Azure Shadow Eagle.

Caught off guard, the Azure Shadow Eagle had no time to dodge. It could only swing its sharp talons toward Zi Yan's small fist.

Bang! Bang!

Crack...

In an instant, the wildly disproportionate claw and fist collided. Two dull impacts rang out first, followed by the scalp-numbing sound of bones breaking.

Zi Yan stood there completely unharmed, without even the slightest mark on her tender little fist.

Meanwhile, the Azure Shadow Eagle's pair of talons dangled limply in the air, stark white bones exposed.

A miserable scream also erupted from the Azure Shadow Eagle's beak.

Crimson Sun Palm!

At that moment, Qin Hao arrived close behind her.

His gaze instantly locked onto the Azure Shadow Eagle. Without the slightest hesitation, dou qi surged wildly within him as he activated his combat skill. A crimson palm formed from condensed dou qi slammed viciously toward the Azure Shadow Eagle's left wing.

This Crimson Sun Palm was the combat skill that came with the Blazing Sun Profound Flame Technique he had cultivated before. It had reached the high Xuan rank and was the highest-grade combat skill Qin Hao currently possessed.

As for Earth-rank combat skills, Qin Hao did not possess any of that level for the time being.

After all, he had only just graduated from Canaan Academy and had only recently broken through to the Dou King realm. Though his wealth was somewhat greater than that of an ordinary Dou King because of his status as an alchemist, Earth-rank combat skills were still not easy to obtain.

Take Hai Bo Dong, one of the Jia Ma Empire's ten strongest experts and known as the Ice Emperor in the original story. Despite being a Dou Emperor-level powerhouse, his cultivation method and combat skills were only Xuan rank.

Throughout the Jia Ma Empire, only the Misty Cloud Sect, which had once produced top-tier experts, possessed Earth-rank cultivation methods and combat skills, and those were merely low Earth rank. Other factions, even the imperial family, could not produce Earth-rank cultivation methods or combat skills.

This showed just how rare Earth-rank cultivation methods and combat skills were. Even within Canaan Academy's mysterious library, there were likely no more than two handfuls of cultivation methods and combat skills that had reached the Earth rank, perhaps even fewer.

The Blazing Sun Profound Flame Technique he had cultivated before was obtained from the library after he passed the selection for the Inner Academy and earned one opportunity to enter it.

Already enraged by its injuries, the Azure Shadow Eagle's eyes flared with ferocity when it saw Qin Hao attack.

Seeing that Qin Hao, a "fleeing dog" it had nearly killed while pursuing him before, actually dared to attack it again, its azure wings instantly carried a terrifying gale as they met Qin Hao's attack head-on.

Its impression of Qin Hao's strength remained fixed on their previous battle, so it did not take Qin Hao's attack seriously at all.

Bang!

Very quickly, the Azure Shadow Eagle paid a heavy price for its carelessness. The instant the crimson palm formed from dou qi collided with the gale, the violent winds were forcibly scattered. The massive palm continued without losing momentum and smashed directly into the Azure Shadow Eagle's left wing.

Bang!

Crack!

Another dull impact rang out as the enormous palm collided fiercely with the azure wing, followed by another sharp crack.

The Azure Shadow Eagle's left wing, over five meters long, twisted at an unnatural angle. Qin Hao had forcibly shattered it with a single palm strike.

Under normal circumstances, it would have been easy for the Azure Shadow Eagle to dodge Qin Hao's attack if it had wanted to.

Unfortunately, its savage nature had first been stirred by the destruction of its talons. Then, it had underestimated Qin Hao's strength, believing Qin Hao to be as vulnerable as he had been during their previous encounter.

Thus, not only did it fail to dodge, it even wanted to use the opportunity to heavily injure Qin Hao and vent its anger.

The result was naturally a complete tragedy.

After cultivating the Chaotic Heaven-Devouring Art, Qin Hao's strength was already vastly different from before. Furthermore, when he activated the same high Xuan-rank Crimson Sun Palm with his current dou qi, its power was several times greater than before.

With one side prepared while the other was completely unaware, and with such a severe imbalance of information between them, the Azure Shadow Eagle suffered grave injuries after only a single exchange.

If only its talons had been crippled, its strength would have been affected, but its speed would not have suffered in the slightest, and it would still have had a chance to escape.

But now that one of its wings was broken, its final sliver of hope for survival had been completely cut off.

After losing one wing, it would not lose the ability to fly like an ordinary bird. After all, the Azure Shadow Eagle was a fifth-tier Magic Beast, equivalent to a Dou King. It could still fly by relying on the dou qi within its body.

However, it no longer possessed the terrifying speed that allowed it to look down upon other fifth-tier Magic Beasts. Its final fate was naturally obvious.

Kill!

Qin Hao understood well the principle of striking when an enemy was down. After crippling one of the Azure Shadow Eagle's wings, he did not pause for even a moment. He rushed forward, dou qi churning madly within him as attack after attack swept toward the Azure Shadow Eagle.

Zi Yan was clearly stunned by the terrifying strength Qin Hao had displayed. This was completely different from the Qin Hao she remembered. His formidable power and ruthless fighting style made it difficult for her to connect him with the Qin Hao she had known before.

However, Zi Yan was only distracted for a moment before throwing those messy thoughts to the back of her mind. She knew very well that now was not the time to think about such things.

Her body became a streak of light as she instantly joined the battle, her fists raining down madly upon the Azure Shadow Eagle.

With Zi Yan joining the fight, the already heavily wounded Azure Shadow Eagle completely lost its ability to retaliate. It became nothing more than a huge punching bag, allowing Qin Hao and Zi Yan's attacks to fall upon it.

Faced with their storm-like barrage, the Azure Shadow Eagle had no power to fight back. It could only desperately use its wings to shield its vital points while letting out miserable cries.

"It's over. Die!"

Crimson Flame Finger!

Under Qin Hao and Zi Yan's relentless assault, the Azure Shadow Eagle's wings finally gave way, exposing its vital point.

Seeing this, Qin Hao's eyes flashed with icy light. He thrust out a finger, and the surging dou qi within him erupted, transforming directly into a sharp beam of finger energy.

Although the Crimson Flame Finger was only mid Xuan rank, one grade below the Crimson Sun Palm, it possessed extremely powerful piercing force.

Pfft!

A muffled sound rang out.

The finger beam formed from dou qi forcibly pierced through the Azure Shadow Eagle's skull, leaving behind a bloody hole as wide as a bowl.

Driven by the dou qi refined through the Chaotic Heaven-Devouring Art, the Crimson Flame Finger unleashed far more terrifying power than before.

The instant its skull was pierced, the Azure Shadow Eagle's body trembled violently. It released a mournful cry before its enormous body crashed heavily onto the ground. After twitching twice, it no longer moved. It was unquestionably dead.

"So it's finally dead..."

Looking at the Azure Shadow Eagle lying motionless on the ground, its life force already gone, Qin Hao suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of exhilaration, as if he had broken free from some kind of shackle. The gloom that had weighed upon his heart seemed to vanish without a trace.

He felt as though some obsession deep within him had dissipated, and his thoughts had never felt so clear.

Soul Transformation! Spirit Realm Soul!

At that moment, Qin Hao's soul finally fused completely with this body.

At the same time, his soul began to merge perfectly with that of the body's original owner. During this fusion, his soul underwent a mysterious transformation.

He had been able to become an alchemist before, so his soul strength was naturally not weak. Moreover, at such a young age, he had already reached the peak of the fourth-grade alchemist realm, only a step away from becoming a fifth-grade alchemist.

His soul realm was clearly much stronger than that of ordinary alchemists.

Originally, his soul realm had already reached the late stage of the Mortal Realm.

In this world, cultivators' souls were also divided into ranks. From low to high, they were the Mortal Realm, Spirit Realm, Heavenly Realm, and the legendary Emperor Realm.

"Zi Yan, protect me!"

After sensing the transformation of his soul, Qin Hao instructed Zi Yan beside him before hurriedly sitting down cross-legged.

Although Zi Yan did not understand what was happening to Qin Hao, as a top-tier Magic Beast, she could clearly sense the powerful soul fluctuations emanating from him.

She did not dare hesitate. Her figure shot into the sky, and she hovered directly above Qin Hao. Her gaze swept warily over their surroundings while she pushed her senses to the limit, afraid that someone might come and disturb him.

As for Qin Hao, as his soul continued to merge, his soul realm began to rise without end.

Before long, his soul realm had reached the great completion of the Mortal Realm, yet it showed no sign of stopping.

Powerful soul fluctuations continued to radiate from Qin Hao, gradually forming a terrifying soul pressure.

After sensing this terrifying, almost tangible soul pressure, Zi Yan in the air felt intensely uncomfortable. Her body unconsciously moved farther away from Qin Hao once again.

Buzz!