The Secret of Cultivation Arts

Two months had passed since that horrific incident. During this time, the topics circulating through Wutan City's streets, alleys, and marketplaces—aside from the Xiao Clan's grand spectacle two months ago and Xiao Yan's restored talent—were that the Xiao Clan's patriarch had accumulated strength for many years and broken through to Dou Ling, reaching Three-Star Dou Ling in one leap.

In the back mountain, a nimble figure leaped between the trees.

"Eight Extremes Collapse!"

A sharp shout rang out. The figure abruptly stopped before a massive tree a full meter thick, planted his feet, leaned forward, and drove a fierce elbow into the trunk.

Bang! With a muffled crash, wood chips flew everywhere. Spiderweb-like cracks spread from the point of impact. The tree, snapped by that single elbow strike, toppled toward the figure.

"Qi Control Art!"

The figure changed his elbow into an open palm, blasting Qi from his palm. Struck by that force, the falling tree's trajectory shifted, barely brushing past him as it crashed down without hitting him.

"Haha!" Xiao Yan stood with his hands on his hips and laughed at his achievement. In the past two months, this was the first time he had managed to stack the Qi required by Eight Extremes Collapse. Though it was only two layers of Qi for now.

"Phew—I've finally recovered to One-Star Dou Zhe. Looks like I'll catch up to Huo Yuhao soon." Xiao Yan looked rather pleased with himself.

"Mm, you've indeed improved quite a bit lately. But your Qi Control Art is terrible. Huo Yuhao said that you should use spiritual power or soul power in conjunction with Dou Qi to control the surrounding air and even Heaven and Earth Origin Qi—not use it to blow your own Dou Qi around for fun!" A gentle breeze swept past, and Yao Chen appeared. Compared to two months ago, his form had become far more solid.

"Come on, when have I had the time lately? I'll practice it later. Anyway, it's time to find Huo Yuhao. We agreed that once I broke through to Dou Zhe, we'd go out and train together."

Xiao Clan, Huo Yuhao's courtyard.

Ever since joining forces with Yao Chen to trick Xiao Yan two months ago, Huo Yuhao had been avoiding Xiao Yan whenever possible.

After successfully crafting his first Spirit Artifact two months ago, Huo Yuhao had also tried making other types, including weapons and protective gear. Every morning after finishing his cultivation, he would start smithing, preparing spirit liquid and drawing Spirit Runes without pause.

After improvements he had made a few days ago, he no longer needed to use the spirit liquid immediately after refining it during the artifact-crafting process. He could prepare the spirit liquid in advance. As a result, Huo Yuhao's success rate had increased greatly. He had already crafted quite a few First-Grade Spirit Artifacts, giving nearly every member of the Xiao Clan one.

At that moment, Huo Yuhao held a scroll and studied the Spirit Runes he had mastered.

"It seems that if I want to reach the standard of a Second-Grade Spirit Artifact, I'll need to improve the efficiency of the core Qi-Gathering Spirit Inscription further," Huo Yuhao muttered.

He then picked up his brush and drew a few strokes on a blank scroll before stopping and rubbing his temples.

"The core formations on Douluo Continent simply don't have anything that can absorb Heaven and Earth Origin Qi. The only thing I can use as a reference for creating something myself is this Qi-Gathering Spirit Inscription. There's too little information!"

After pondering for a long time and using up several blank scrolls, Huo Yuhao still found no answer.

"How long will it take if I keep testing stroke by stroke like this?"

He tossed the brush aside. Feeling some hunger in his stomach, Huo Yuhao rose to head for the kitchen and make food.

Suddenly, Huo Yuhao froze. A flash of inspiration crossed his mind.

"Right, Teacher Rong Nianbing taught me... Most magic formations can manipulate Heaven and Earth Origin Qi, and the Necromancy my teacher taught me also has formations that can..."

Forgetting all about food, Huo Yuhao immediately took out a new brush and blank scroll, then began sketching.

Boom! A burst of flames flashed. With his face coated in soot, Huo Yuhao opened the doors and windows and swept the ashes of the scroll and table outside.

"Cough, cough! I forgot not to inject spiritual power while drawing. Good thing it was only an ignition spell. Still, I didn't expect magic could be used on this Battle Qi Continent too!"

He took out a new table, learned from his mistake, and redrew the Spirit Runes and magic formation. Then Huo Yuhao stood before the table, holding a blank scroll in one hand while staring at his reference materials, murmuring, "This circuit can be added here... and this one can be replaced..."

After a long while, Huo Yuhao drew and revised the blank scroll until he finally settled on a design, creating a Spirit Rune more intricate and elegant than before.

"Alright. I should be able to craft a Second-Grade Spirit Artifact now."

He walked to the forging furnace and completed the entire process in one go: heating, purifying, gathering spirit energy, shaping, and inscribing.

A spiritual light flashed, and Heaven and Earth Origin Qi rapidly gathered.

"Success! A Second-Grade Spirit Artifact!" A smile appeared on Huo Yuhao's face.

"Huo Yuhao—" A figure flashed over, and Xiao Yan stopped before Huo Yuhao's table.

"Huo Yuhao, I've broken through to Dou Zhe, so we... What are these?" Xiao Yan looked at the pile of scrolls on Huo Yuhao's table.

"These are Spirit Runes engraved onto Spirit Artifacts. This one reinforces the artifact, this one assists the circulation of Dou Qi, and that pile contains core Qi-Gathering inscriptions," Huo Yuhao explained.

Xiao Yan glanced over them briefly before losing interest. "Huo Yuhao, if you keep researching this stuff, how will you have time to cultivate? I've already returned to Dou Zhe now. We're at the same level again, and I'll definitely catch up to you soon."

"Oh, oh. Congratulations. Right, I broke through to Dou Master." Huo Yuhao recited the words expressionlessly.

"That's great... Mm, mm, mm? How did you break through already?!" Xiao Yan slumped forward in despair.

"Huo Yuhao, you aren't even fourteen yet, are you? With this talent, even in the Central Plains—or even among the Ancient Eight Clans—you would be outstanding." Yao Chen exclaimed in amazement, then looked at a certain person sprawled on the ground with half-lidded eyes. "Some people, on the other hand, act like they've ascended to heaven just because they broke through to Dou Zhe."

"It's all because of you! Give me back my Dou Qi!"

After eating, Xiao Yan said to Huo Yuhao, "Huo Yuhao, now that I've broken through too, there's no need to wait any longer. Let's leave for the Magic Beast Mountain Range as soon as possible and help you find suitable medicinal ingredients."

Ever since learning of the problem in Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Sea two months ago, Xiao Yan had lost his usual calmness when it came to cultivation. He had trained with all his might over the past two months and quickly broken through to Dou Zhe.

"Huo Yuhao, you said this Spiritual Sea could still shatter. Should I use the Spirit Condensation Formula to open up a Spiritual Sea? What if, later on..."

"What are you worried about? Your teacher has cultivated it too. Even if you don't open up a Spiritual Sea, don't you still face the risk of your soul shattering? Don't give up eating for fear of choking," Yao Chen said irritably.

Huo Yuhao put the scrolls and forging furnace into a newly crafted storage ring, then said to Xiao Yan, "Alright. Go say goodbye to Father. I'll finish packing up here, and then we can set out."

"Don't rush. Xiao Yan, cultivate your art first. We'll leave after you finish converting your Dou Qi."

Yao Chen took out a black scroll and asked once again, "Xiao Yan, are you certain you want to cultivate the Burning Incantation?"

"I'm certain. I still need to help Teacher refine a body, and I still need to be with Xun'er... Cough, cough. Anyway, I won't regret it." Xiao Yan took the Burning Incantation from Yao Lao. The moment it touched his palm, the scroll transformed into a stream of information and poured into Xiao Yan's mind. Once he fully understood it, Xiao Yan sat cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes, and began converting his Dou Qi.

As Yao Chen watched Xiao Yan, a trace of warmth rose in his once-battered heart. He murmured, "Don't worry. I'll definitely train you into the greatest alchemist..."

Huo Yuhao watched them quietly, feeling somewhat moved by the scene. He rubbed his eyes and said, "Teacher, believe in Xiao Yan. He will definitely succeed."

Several hours later, Xiao Yan opened his eyes as he sat cross-legged. Looking at the unusually clear surroundings, he smiled faintly.

"Teacher, I succeeded!" Xiao Yan extended his fair palm. The Qi vortex within him, now entirely pale yellow, rapidly circulated and sent a stream of Dou Qi out through his palm using the Qi Control Art.

Huo Yuhao looked at the pale yellow Dou Qi with some confusion.

"It feels like the Dou Qi cultivated from the Burning Incantation, aside from its color, isn't any weaker than Father's Mad Lion Fury. Could it be Black Grade the moment you start cultivating it? Didn't you say it began at low-level Yellow Class?"

Yao Chen shook his head and said mysteriously, "There are actually some secrets concerning cultivation arts. Long ago, the more powerful a cultivation art was, the slower it was to cultivate."

"Huh? How is that possible?"

"Don't rush to refute me. Pay attention—I said powerful cultivation arts, not high-grade cultivation arts. Whether a cultivation art is powerful can be judged through the traits it cultivates. The stronger the traits, the stronger the Dou Qi, and the more powerful the cultivation art. However, stronger traits are more difficult to merge into Dou Qi. Cultivators long ago had to constantly spend time integrating those traits while cultivating. Thus, the stronger the cultivation art, the slower its cultivation."

Yao Chen paused before continuing, "Then, a senior came up with a method."

"What method?"

"Through the Dou Qi vortex. In other words, at the initial stage of cultivation, a large quantity of traits would be gathered into the rapidly spinning vortex, using the force of rotation to merge them with the foundation of Dou Qi. From then on, it would be done once and for all, with no need for additional adjustment later."

"This is also why cultivation arts can only be replaced from low to high. Going from high to low requires dispersing one's cultivation and starting over. It is simple for powerful traits to replace weak ones, but impossible for weak traits to replace powerful ones."

Reverence appeared on Yao Chen's face. "Later, that senior freely spread this method throughout the entire Battle Qi Continent, driving reforms in cultivation arts and creating the multi-tiered grading system you see today."

"Teacher, how do you know that? Could it be that you are...?"

"Hehe, your teacher is still far from that."

Yao Chen waved his hand and produced three Dou Qi vortices, which then merged into a pale yellow medicinal flame.

"The first complete cultivation art created through this method was called the Three-Flower Gathering Flame Art, which is the cultivation art your teacher practices. And that senior was the ancestor of the Yao Clan, the Medicine Emperor."

"The Yao Clan of the Ancient Eight Clans? Teacher, you actually have such an impressive background?" During one previous conversation, Xun'er had let something slip. Under Xiao Yan's questioning, he had learned that the strongest forces on the Battle Qi Continent were the Ancient Eight Clans. However, Xun'er had not revealed many specifics, merely introducing the Yao Clan, Thunder Clan, and Flame Clan. Xiao Yan had never expected this unreliable soul body to have such a formidable background. His voice was therefore filled with the excitement of winning a grand prize.

"That is all a meaningless past now." A trace of loneliness appeared on Yao Chen's face.

"Back to the point. The Burning Incantation should have been created before those reforms. I classified it as low-level Yellow Class according to the current cultivation art system only because, before it merges with Heavenly Flames, its Dou Qi isn't sufficiently dense and its recovery speed isn't very good. It certainly isn't because its power is lacking."