Breakthrough in Battle

At Xiao Yan's low shout, the flame mark between his brows suddenly surged with spirituality.

A blazing red glow spread from his brow. In the blink of an eye, Xiao Yan seemed to be clad in a faint red mantle of energy.

The red light flashed and sank into Xiao Yan's body. The red energy mantle became hazy and indistinct, as though it might shatter and disperse at any moment.

Pure Dou Qi flowed through his body, granting Xiao Yan's exhausted frame a fresh surge of strength.

His foot stomped heavily against the ground, and a rebounding force shot up his wrist. Borrowing that force, Xiao Yan swung the Black Heavy Ruler in a sweeping arc with the force of a thousand pounds.

The five mercenaries had never expected Xiao Yan, whose strength should have already been spent, to suddenly produce an even greater burst of power. They were violently knocked back, as if swept away by raging winds and monstrous waves.

"Dou Qi gauze robe—a Dou Shi?!" A middle-aged mercenary steadied himself as though he had seen some savage magical beast and cried out in terror.

Hemon froze, but having just been fooled once, his mind was much sharper now. He slapped the middle-aged mercenary across the face and roared:

"A Dou Qi gauze robe is the first thing every Dou Shi uses before a battle. If this brat were a Dou Shi, he would have used it long ago. Why wait until he was driven into a corner? Besides, could someone this young have cultivated since he was in his mother's womb?"

The middle-aged mercenary did not dare show the slightest temper after being slapped. It really did not make sense.

Hemon analyzed it based on his experience. "This must be some secret technique that burns vitality in exchange for power. It cannot last long."

"Form up! Drag him down until he dies!" Hemon grew increasingly excited. Just how many good things did this black-robed youth have on him?

Yao Lao's voice sounded in Xiao Yan's heart. "Your second Dou Qi vortex truly is impressive. The Dou Qi you expended was restored in an instant. You are only a Dou Zhe now, but if you reach the realms of Dou Shi, Da Dou Shi, and beyond in the future, and can keep using it, you will hold an enormous advantage in battle."

Having personally unleashed something he had created himself, Xiao Yan did not rush to attack. Instead, he carefully sensed the difference between theory and practice.

That mercenary had a point. After the Flame Seal released all his Dou Qi at once, he really did have an extra layer around him resembling a Dou Qi gauze robe. Unfortunately, he had too little Dou Qi, so it was almost powerless. If his Dou Qi increased in the future, perhaps it could display an effect surpassing the Dou Qi gauze robe.

Yao Lao gave one final stern reminder. "The remaining six mercenaries are no pushovers either. Do not capsize at the very end."

Looking at the six mercenaries lined up in a straight row, Xiao Yan roughly understood their intentions. It was indeed a relatively safe way to deal with him now.

"Let's try it." Taking a deep breath, Xiao Yan charged forward with the Black Heavy Ruler in hand.

His ghostlike speed meant Hemon could only rely on his sharp instincts to strike in advance. "Yellow-tier High-Grade Dou Technique, Rock Crystal Gauntlets!"

He slowly spread his fists before him, braced his feet, and every strand of hair atop Hemon's head stood upright. Slightly pale Dou Qi flashed rapidly through his eyes.

The pale muscles on his body bulged continuously as fierce power rapidly gathered in his fists, each as large as a sandbag. Dyed by the pale Dou Qi, his bare fists seemed to be covered in crystal gauntlets.

The instant Hemon completed his Dou Technique, Xiao Yan had already arrived within three feet of him. Stomping the ground hard, he raised the Black Heavy Ruler high over his head and chopped down at Hemon with all his strength.

A fierce gust bore down on him, and Hemon immediately swung up his arms to block.

Hemon felt an irresistible force travel from his fists throughout his entire body. The ground beneath his feet caved in, and rings of cracks spread rapidly outward.

That power swept over him like a violent gale, battering Hemon's body with an unprecedented impact. He clenched his teeth and struggled to steady himself, tightening his fists as he pushed the power of the crystal gauntlets to its limit.

As the two remained deadlocked, the two spear-wielding mercenaries behind Hemon thrust forward savagely. Their wind-attributed Dou Techniques stabbed toward Xiao Yan's shoulders with incredible speed.

The Black Heavy Ruler spun sharply in Xiao Yan's hand. With two ringing clangs, its heavy body acted like a thick shield, blocking another deadly attack for him.

Using the force of their attacks, Xiao Yan drifted gracefully backward by more than ten meters.

Seeing Xiao Yan forced back, Hemon smiled smugly, as though he were looking at prey that was about to be caught.

"More than twenty Wolf Head Mercenaries died by your hand. You have every reason to be proud. But even if you are a Dou Shi, do not dream of breaking through my formation!"

What a sturdy Dou Technique! Xiao Yan stared in surprise at Hemon's slightly dimmed hands.

"Do not think you are invincible just because you are some heaven-blessed genius. He has cultivated for twenty or thirty more years than you have." Yao Lao smiled as he analyzed the situation. "With this man taking the lead, it will be a hard battle unless you can move fast enough to pass through all six of them at once and reach their backs."

"There is no need for that much trouble." Xiao Yan slowly closed his eyes and swiftly reviewed the experiences of his battles over the past day or so. A spark of insight in his heart suddenly expanded.

[Using your experience with the force-generating method of the Eight Extremes Sky Cannon, you deduced and comprehended a new Dou Technique: Stellar Transformation: Wolf Fang Shatters the Sky!]

[Stellar Transformation: Gather the flow of eight meridians into the vortex; focus the mind on a single thought, and strength becomes as heavy as a mountain. Once activated, it concentrates all power onto a single point for an explosive assault. It rapidly strikes opponents through sudden attacks, fierce assaults, and uninterrupted pressure, almost completely abandoning defense for all-out offense. Its principle is to strike first and seize the initiative.

Specific technique: Wolf Fang Skybreaker!]

Xiao Yan suddenly opened his eyes and lowered his body slightly. Dou Qi surged forth like crashing waves, and his entire body shone with star-like brilliance.

The Black Heavy Ruler in his hand instantly became the eye of a storm as Dou Qi gathered around it like brilliant stars in the night.

Countless streams of Dou Qi converged upon the Black Heavy Ruler. Xiao Yan concentrated his power to the utmost, then shot toward Hemon with a whoosh like an arrow leaving the bow. He moved as fast as lightning, leaving behind an afterimage.

"Stellar Transformation: Wolf Fang Shatters the Sky!"

In that lightning-fast instant, Hemon only saw a blur before his eyes and instinctively raised his fists to block.

Yet at that very moment, an overwhelming force erupted from the Black Heavy Ruler.

It was a dazzling blast of force, as spectacular as a falling star. It tore through the air in a long streak, destroying every obstacle before it.

Until his death, Hemon had never imagined it. He cultivated rock-attributed Dou Qi, the strongest in defense! Yet Xiao Yan's attack had undergone a heaven-shaking transformation in just a few breaths!

"What?!" Even Yao Lao had not reacted in time. The six mercenaries... all died in an instant!

Only after the mercenaries' corpses had completely fallen to the ground did Yao Lao discern from the Dou Technique Xiao Yan had used the same thunderous charge-and-release characteristics of the Eight Extremes Sky Cannon, though it was even more extreme.

Xiao Yan had spent nearly ten years cultivating Dou Qi. He had only begun coming into contact with Dou Techniques recently.

Yet after such a short time, he could draw inferences from one example and create a new technique of his own.

His talent for comprehending Dou Techniques was truly astonishing.

Xiao Yan let out a rough breath. This was another technique that consumed enormous amounts of Dou Qi, but thinking of the loot from all the mercenaries in the camp, he said excitedly, "Time to collect the spoils."