Realm Breakthrough

Realm Breakthrough

The heavy rain lasted the entire morning. It was not until the afternoon that the blazing sunlight finally tore through the layers of dark clouds.

Inside the cave, Huo Yuhao gently took out a clean set of bedding from his storage ring and carefully settled the sleeping Xiao Yi Xian onto it.

Taking out several monster cores, Huo Yuhao shaped his spiritual power into blades and, with a few strokes, set up a simple warning formation around Xiao Yi Xian.

After finishing all this, Huo Yuhao slowly walked out of the cave. He took a deep breath of the post-rain air, looked into the distance, and his gaze traced the rainbow in the sky.

After a long while, Huo Yuhao lowered his head and spread open his right hand. He studied the lines on his palm for a moment, then slowly curled his fingers into a fist.

[Heart of Undead Annihilation—Release]!

The gray mist deep within his soul suddenly dispersed. It was not just the gray mist that had only recently fused into him; another identical mist, which had occupied the depths of his soul for who knew how many years, vanished as well.

Huo Yuhao clutched his chest, allowing that familiar tearing agony to blaze through him.

This time, however, it did not continue spreading. Instead, it gradually died away, becoming a seed that sank deeply into Huo Yuhao's heart.

For some reason, Huo Yuhao suddenly wanted to laugh, so he did. The laughter was soft enough that it did not wake Xiao Yi Xian, who was right beside him. Yet it carried a strange rhythm and spread far into the distance.

Every living thing that heard it, whether lurking magical beasts or rain-dappled plants, seemed to be infused with vitality, becoming far more lively in an instant.

Huo Yuhao looked up at the sky again. The sun had already begun to set. He turned and returned to the cave, his gaze falling on Xiao Yi Xian's sleeping face. Suddenly, he slapped his forehead and laughed at himself. "Why did I even set up a formation for such a short walk? It's not like this cave is dangerous."

He sat down beside her, took out a blank scroll from his storage ring, gathered spiritual power at his fingertips, and began drawing a formation onto it.

The sunset had gone home, and the bonfire at the cave entrance danced, driving away the surrounding darkness.

Inside the cave, Xiao Yi Xian threw back the covers and sat up, smoothing her slightly disheveled hair. Then she rubbed her eyes and followed the firelight and fragrant smell toward the entrance.

"Why didn't you call me to eat?" Her voice was groggy, carrying a hint of mild complaint.

"You were sleeping so soundly that I couldn't bear to wake you." Huo Yuhao turned to look at Xiao Yi Xian and waved her over. "Hungry? The fish just came off the fire, and it's still hot. Come eat."

Seeing Xiao Yi Xian sit down in a daze, Huo Yuhao raised a brow. With a flick of his nail, he sent out a wisp of cold air and lightly tapped the back of her neck with perfect accuracy.

"Ah!"

"Hehe, awake now?" Huo Yuhao chuckled. At the same time, he grabbed a pebble, flicked his wrist, and struck Xiao Yan's hand just as he was about to sneak another bite.

"What are you doing? Ow, I'm not full yet!" Xiao Yan clutched his wrist and glared at Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao curled his lip and rolled his eyes. "Eat less. You need to lose weight. Look at that round chin of yours—keep eating, and you'll turn into a ball!"

"What did you say? Which eye of yours saw me getting fat?" Xiao Yan lifted his shirt and showed off his well-defined abs.

"Anyway, you're not getting any more. If you want some, roast it yourself."

Xiao Yi Xian rested her chin in both hands and watched the two of them bicker and laugh. She watched quietly for a long while, until her stomach protested. Only then did she pick up a grilled fish and take a huge bite, her eyes curving into crescents.

Beside them, Yao Chen gnawed on a grilled fish while shouting, "Unbelievable, unbelievable! Yuhao, your cooking skills can still improve?"

After eating and drinking their fill, Huo Yuhao sat cross-legged atop the cliff. Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian sat a little farther away. Xiao Yan had a blade of grass in his mouth, his face full of sour envy. Xiao Yi Xian, meanwhile, made no attempt to hide her happiness, a smile lingering on her lips.

"This is absurd! Completely inhuman! How is he breaking through already? I'm still just a little short of nine stars!"

"Yuhao, breaking through to Da Dou Shi is the most important stage for a Dou Qi cultivator. If your Battle Crystal is not pure enough, everything afterward will be a castle in the air." Yao Chen wore a grave expression as he explained the precautions for breaking through to Da Dou Shi.

"Those elders of your Xiao Clan are precisely like that. Their Battle Crystals were not pure enough, so even breaking through to Dou Ling was incredibly difficult for them. As for the Dou Wang stage, that is nothing but a fool's dream."

Listening to Yao Chen's earnest instructions, Huo Yuhao nodded. "Rest assured, Teacher. I understand."

With that, Huo Yuhao closed his eyes and focused, circulating the Heavenly Cycle Art with all his strength. In an instant, the world's elemental energy surged toward him wildly, impatient to burrow into his body.

In the night sky, specks of starlight descended, pouring into him together with the world's elemental energy.

"Master." Xiao Yan poked Yao Chen in the waist, his voice curious. "Didn't you say there was a pill for breaking through to Da Dou Shi? The kind without side effects. What was it called again—the Three-Stripe Green Spirit Pill?"

"It has no side effects in my eyes." Yao Chen rolled his eyes at Xiao Yan and said solemnly, "Didn't you say that you wanted to keep climbing higher, that even Dou Emperor would not be enough and you wanted to go beyond it?"

"So, for the sake of your futures, I will not let you touch a single pill that directly increases your strength."

Unaffected by the outside voices, Huo Yuhao's consciousness had completely sunk into his sea of qi. At this moment, the Dou Qi vortex within his body had fully transformed into a liquid whirlpool. Its Dou Qi had become so condensed that it resembled thick glue.

Huo Yuhao had long mastered the energy transformations between gas, liquid, and solid. At this moment, Yao Chen's teachings flashed through his mind: It is not enough to simply compress it into a solid state. You must condense it into a crystal and arrange the structure of the Dou Qi within it. Only then can you go far.

Huo Yuhao guided the world's elemental energy into himself and refined it, making his Dou Qi increasingly dense. Then, at the core of the liquid vortex, a brilliant speck of light suddenly lit up! The enormous mass of Dou Qi around it, so vast it was nearly impossible to contain, rushed madly toward that tiny point as if summoned. In mere moments, an ice-blue diamond-shaped crystal quietly floated at the center of his sea of qi.

Battle Crystal—formed!

Huo Yuhao examined it and thought to himself, Indeed, this Battle Crystal has far greater potential than the Soul Core I formed through random compression back then. No wonder this world has no concept of a second Battle Crystal. One perfect Battle Crystal is already enough.

Having completed his breakthrough, Huo Yuhao opened his eyes. A sharp gleam flashed through them before quickly fading.

"Normally, breaking through to Da Dou Shi takes a long time. With Yuhao's Dou Qi capacity, it may take even longer." Yao Chen had only said a few words before preparing to turn back and continue observing Huo Yuhao's condition, when Huo Yuhao's voice rang out.

"The breakthrough is complete."

"Huh?"

Nothing happened that night. Early the next morning, Xiao Yan emerged from the cave and saw Huo Yuhao standing at its entrance with his back to him, doing something unknown.

Xiao Yan had always heard Yao Chen say that Huo Yuhao had reached the realm of Heaven-Human Unity, but he had never truly experienced it for himself. Until this moment. As he silently stared at Huo Yuhao's back, he finally understood what Heaven-Human Unity truly was.

Huo Yuhao was simply standing there, yet he gave Xiao Yan a sense of perfect harmony, naturally "flowing" into the background. The edges of his silhouette were soft, as though blurred by the surrounding light. If he left this place, it would feel as if this stretch of heaven and earth were missing a piece.

The breeze, sunlight, and thin mist surrounded Huo Yuhao like old friends greeting one another.