Dou Wang

On his second day at the Inner Academy, Wu Yan's life returned to its usual peace.

The energy within Cultivation Room One was incredibly dense. Even without inserting a crystal card, some of the energy had already condensed into mist and seeped out.

With the help of Falling Heart Flame, known as a "cultivation cheat," the quality of Wu Yan's already exceptionally pure Dou Qi rose another level.

Although each time ten strands of Dou Qi passed through the heartfire, only one strand was removed, making the effect seem rather insignificant.

However, Wu Yan's Dou Qi quality had already reached a certain level. Even the slightest improvement was still an enormous gain.

Over the next month or so, aside from leaving once on the day he collected his Fire Energy, he remained in secluded cultivation within Cultivation Room One.

Until one day, the final spine on the fist-sized sea urchin-like Dou Crystal within Wu Yan's body retracted.

This meant that Wu Yan had broken through to the Nine-Star Dou Spirit.

"It's time to change my cultivation method, and I've used up all the third-tier energy liquid. There's also that fire poison. Though I can barely feel it now, to be safe, I should go out and get some fresh air..."

With that thought, Wu Yan rose to his feet and walked out of Cultivation Room One.

The instant he stepped out of the Sky-Burning Qi Refining Tower, brilliant sunlight flooded Wu Yan's vision, making him blink instinctively.

A light, cool breeze brushed against his face, bringing a faint smile to his otherwise indifferent features.

Returning to his villa, which had stood empty for over a month, Wu Yan took a hot bath and then enjoyed a proper afternoon nap.

Calling it an afternoon nap was inaccurate. By the time Wu Yan woke up, it was already the following morning.

After waking, Wu Yan took another cold bath, instantly clearing his mind.

Arriving at the washroom, Wu Yan checked his Storage Ring and discovered that he had used up every Magic Core below the fourth tier.

He had clearly prepared so many before.

But then again, a whole year had passed.

Without hesitation, Wu Yan tossed a fourth-tier Magic Core into the Little Blue Bottle.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Wu Yan had completed the Extraction of all eight fourth-tier Magic Cores.

After a brief hesitation, Wu Yan set aside the Cold Marrow Branch.

He planned to use that Cold Marrow Branch together with the fifth-tier ice-attributed Magic Core to break through the barrier between Dou Wang and Dou Emperor.

Leaving the washroom, Wu Yan picked up a teacup and took a sip of water. After closing his eyes and sensing the purity of the fourth-tier Magic Core Energy Liquid, he felt that he would soon become a Dou Wang expert!

Condensing a recliner from ice, Wu Yan basked in the sun on the balcony while opening that Earth Tier cultivation method and slowly comprehending its true essence.

If he could thoroughly understand this mid-level Earth Tier cultivation method, the time it would take for Wu Yan to become a Dou Wang expert would be shortened even further.

And so, more than half a month passed...

After fully comprehending the Icebound Secret Manual, Wu Yan also completed the conversion of his Dou Qi.

Just as he finished tidying up and prepared to head to the Sky-Burning Qi Refining Tower for secluded cultivation, Wu Yan sensed the natural energy within the Inner Academy suddenly stir. However, it quickly returned to calm.

Looking toward the source of that disturbance, Wu Yan shook his head.

"It has nothing to do with me."

After collecting his thousand Heavenly Fire Energy for the month, Wu Yan shut the stone door of Cultivation Room One. Taking a sip of ice water, he entered a cultivation state.

With an Earth Tier cultivation method and the aid of fourth-tier Magic Core Energy Liquid, Wu Yan's cultivation speed could be described as advancing by leaps and bounds.

Two and a half months later...

That fist-sized Dou Crystal transformed into boundless Dou Qi and merged into Wu Yan's body.

Pure energy nourished every corner of his body without pause. Every single cell was undergoing transformation.

From this moment onward, every meridian in Wu Yan's body could store Dou Qi, and he could also resonate with the surrounding natural energy over a small area.

From this moment onward, Wu Yan truly began to shed his mortal form and transcend the ordinary!

From the moment he became a Dou Wang expert, Wu Yan's lifespan began to increase.

Most importantly, as though by instinct, two special meridians appeared along Wu Yan's back, with Dou Qi extending outward through them.

Whoosh!

A pair of wings formed from condensed Dou Qi unfurled behind Wu Yan.

With a thought, the pair of icy-blue wings behind Wu Yan trembled slightly, and his entire body lifted off the ground.

"So this is a Dou Wang expert?"

Feeling the abundant power within his body, Wu Yan, who had always lacked a sense of security, finally gained a measure of confidence.

From this day forward, he could go anywhere in this vast Dou Qi Continent!

After being happy for a while, Wu Yan quickly regained his composure.

Dou Wang was merely the starting point on the path to becoming a true expert. As a mere one-star Dou Wang, he was still at the very bottom among the strong.

He still had to continue cultivating!

Thus, another four months passed.

It had to be said that Cultivation Room One's effects were truly powerful.

Wu Yan secretly estimated that Cultivation Room One might be even better than some of the cultivation rooms used by Inner Academy elders.

Combined with the cultivation speed granted by an Earth Tier method and the aid of fourth-tier Magic Core Energy Liquid, Wu Yan took only four months to consecutively break through two levels in the Dou Wang realm, reaching the three-star Dou Wang level.

Two months to raise one star within the Dou Wang realm.

If other Dou Wang experts heard of it, it would be utterly shocking!

Did they think cultivating in the Dou Wang realm was as easy as before?

The energy required for a Dou Wang to advance one star was an astronomical amount to a Dou Ling.

For ordinary Dou Wang experts, taking two or three years to raise their cultivation by one star was considered a normal pace.

Someone like Wu Yan was clearly not normal.

Condensing an ice mirror, Wu Yan looked at the faint reddish tint in his eyes. He shook his head, feeling rather strange.

"It isn't Falling Heart Flame's fire poison that's affecting my cultivation. It's actually the Magic Core Energy Liquid..."

That was right. The fourth-tier Magic Core Energy Liquid he had refined half a year ago was about to run dry again.

Wu Yan's rapid progress in the Dou Wang realm owed much to this fourth-tier Magic Core Energy Liquid.

In theory, the energy contained within a fourth-tier Magic Core was enough to raise a Dou Wang expert by one star. Even advancing from eight stars to nine stars would be possible.

That was, if they dared to absorb it directly without fear of their bodies bursting apart.

But when it came to Wu Yan, it was not enough.

The reason was that Wu Yan had madly increased his own stats throughout the previous realms.

As a result, these eight fourth-tier Magic Cores could only allow him to cultivate from the Nine-Star Dou Spirit to the three-star Dou Wang level.

Correspondingly, this made Wu Yan an overwhelmingly powerful existence among those of the same rank.

Even if he encountered someone a full realm above him, Wu Yan would not fear them.

Don't ask. His stats were the source of his confidence.

Before opening the stone door, Wu Yan looked at the Little Blue Bottle within his soul. Seeing no major changes, he instead felt excited.

No change was good!

No change meant that breaking through to Dou Wang was nothing to the Little Blue Bottle.

At the same time, it meant that the Little Blue Bottle's upper limit was extremely high. In its eyes, a Dou Wang was nothing special...