Refining a Magic Core, Flame Bullets

Of Dou Qi, physical strength, and soul power, Xiao Yan's Dou Qi was the weakest, while his soul power was the strongest.

Even after advancing into a second-tier magical beast, the Blazing Fire Mad Leopard found it difficult to evade Xiao Yan's perception.

His powerful soul perception gave Xiao Yan the ability to anticipate his enemy's moves.

The Blazing Fire Mad Leopard's strength was close to Xiao Yan's while he was suppressed by the Black Heavy Ruler, but Xiao Yan could see through its attacks at any moment, instantly widening the gap between them.

Hidden force converged into a single line. A dark yellow radiance surged from within the Blazing Fire Mad Leopard's body, and with a thunderous boom, its entire body exploded. Flesh, blood, and shattered bones scattered in every direction.

Only a fiery red magic core spun on the grass.

"What is this?!" Yao Lao suddenly shot out from the Bone Flame Ring. Seeing the once tranquil forest covered in a bloody haze, he was greatly shocked.

If Xiao Yan had not merely been a two-star Dou Practitioner with such limited Dou Qi, it was hard to imagine how great its power would have been!

Xiao Yan dropped onto the grass and panted heavily. "Eight Extremes Sky Cannon connects the hidden force of Eight Extremes Collapse into a single line, eliminating the timing gap between each burst of hidden force."

Xiao Yan also stared in shock at the pile of flesh where not even a corpse remained. "Its power really is terrifying. This magical beast's hide, bones, and flesh have all been ruined. Only its magic core remains."

Pressing down the spinning magic core, Xiao Yan picked it up. Its warm sensation felt wonderfully soothing against his slightly numb palm.

Using this move placed strict demands not only on Dou Qi, but also on one's physical constitution—demands even greater than those of Eight Extremes Collapse.

"To have cultivated Eight Extremes Collapse to this level in such a short time... what a terrifying little fellow!" Yao Lao said in astonishment.

This was a high-grade Profound-tier Dou Technique. Eight Extremes Collapse placed extremely high demands on the body, making it difficult for ordinary people to even meet its cultivation requirements.

Although its demand for Dou Qi was not high, that only applied to the simplest use of Eight Extremes Collapse. To use hidden force and unleash the complete Eight Extremes Collapse required no small amount of Dou Qi.

Its supposedly low requirement was only in comparison to other powerful Dou Techniques.

Otherwise, high-grade Profound-tier Dou Techniques, Dou Techniques comparable to the Earth tier, would be as common as wild potatoes by the roadside, available for anyone to cultivate and use.

In such a short time, Xiao Yan had not only mastered the extremely difficult hidden force, but had also made a breakthrough and created something new. Yao Lao had never encountered such talent before.

Ordinary geniuses could at most quickly cultivate existing cultivation methods and Dou Techniques. Those capable of innovating upon what they had learned were all terrifying experts who had advanced greatly in strength.

Xiao Yan was only a Dou Practitioner, still at the beginning of his cultivation, yet he had already improved upon what he had learned within a single day. His comprehension was truly heaven-defying!

As his teacher, Yao Lao was delighted for him, but he also solemnly warned, "This consumes even more of your Dou Qi. After using it, you won't have any Dou Qi left."

Xiao Yan blinked. Even if he reached the level of a Dou Master, unless his cultivation method advanced, he would likely find it difficult to perfectly unleash Eight Extremes Sky Break by converging all eight bursts of hidden force into one line.

After all, he had only barely managed to converge three bursts just now.

To add more hidden force on top of that would require increasingly greater amounts of Dou Qi.

With a soft hum, Xiao Yan put away the two medicinal herbs, took the first-tier fire-attributed magic core, and quickly left the area.

The dense smell of blood here might attract any number of magical beasts, and he no longer had any Dou Qi to fight them.

After walking for more than twenty minutes, Xiao Yan found a concealed spot and circulated the Flame Mantra to recover his Dou Qi.

This was proper cultivation. As Yao Lao carefully observed Xiao Yan absorb the energy of heaven and earth and confirmed that his speed was comparable to a high-grade Yellow-tier cultivation method, he was once again shocked by Xiao Yan's terrifying talent.

If he were not held back by the Flame Mantra, then with Xiao Yan's talent, switching to any Profound-tier cultivation method would make his cultivation speed even more terrifying.

After swiftly restoring his Dou Qi to its peak, Xiao Yan felt that his strength had noticeably improved following the battle.

It seemed that combat did not merely temper Dou Techniques; it also brought immense benefits to cultivation. The saying that one must break before rebuilding likely referred to stimulating cultivation under the threat of life and death.

Xiao Yan slowly opened his dark eyes and took out one of the spoils of this battle: the fire-attributed magic core of the Blazing Fire Mad Leopard.

Xiao Yan was no stranger to magic cores. It could almost be said that he had played with them since childhood.

He had even made magic-core puppets as a child to amuse Xun'er and the others.

Unfortunately, he had possessed only Dou Qi at the time, and the Xiao Clan's limited resources could not provide more advanced materials, so his research had reached a bottleneck.

Comprehension and resources were both indispensable to cultivation.

[Drawing upon your years of experience researching puppets and using magic cores, along with fire-attributed Dou Qi, you gained an epiphany and comprehended the Flame Bullet Crafting Method.]

[Flame Bullet Crafting Method: Use fire-attributed Dou Qi to connect with the energy within a fire-attributed magic core, draw runes, and guide the violent energy.

Crafting this Flame Bullet places extremely high demands on soul power. Otherwise, there is a risk of being burned by one's own fire.

Once activated, a completed Flame Bullet will produce a violent explosion shortly afterward.]

Xiao Yan knew well that the Dou Qi within his body was far too scarce because of his cultivation method. Naturally, the more trump cards he possessed, the better.

Slowly closing his eyes, Xiao Yan cautiously sensed the magic core's energy with his soul power as a thread of pale yellow Dou Qi was gradually sent into it.

He had drawn energy-conducting patterns on puppet bodies countless times as a child. Now that he was doing it on a magic core, his increased strength meant that he was not overly unfamiliar with the process.

After the time it took to finish a meal, Xiao Yan's intense concentration had covered his forehead in a layer of bead-sized sweat.

Watching Xiao Yan, who seemed quite tense at the moment, Yao Lao muttered in confusion, "What is this brat doing instead of cultivating?"

However, Yao Lao did not rashly interrupt him.

When all the patterns on the magic core connected as one, the round magic core burst forth with a dazzling red glow. Xiao Yan slowly opened his eyes and let out a long breath of turbid air.

Looking at the glowing magic core in his hand, Xiao Yan smiled in satisfaction. Blowing a Dou Master to death might be somewhat difficult, but if a Dou Practitioner took a hit, they would certainly die without any chance of survival.

Yao Lao spoke at this moment. "Don't even think about using magic cores for cultivation. The energy in these things is extremely violent, unless you have mastered an alchemist's methods."

Teacher, just wait and watch the show. Xiao Yan rose with a smile and pulled up the Black Heavy Ruler beside him. "Let's continue looking for medicinal herbs. We've only found two kinds so far."

Seeing Xiao Yan's exceptional comprehension, Yao Lao said no more and instead pointed out the nearest location with usable medicinal herbs. "You are rather lucky this time. Those herbs are unclaimed, so there will be no need to fight, and we can gather them a little faster."