Advancing to Dou Master

"600 points? System, you're ruthless. I'm not drawing anymore."

Mu Chen cursed inwardly. This system never followed the usual rules. The points required for the fourth draw had actually doubled.

After withdrawing his consciousness, Mu Chen sat cross-legged on the spot. Much of the Dou Qi in the vortex within his body had been depleted. After the battle in the cave, he had keenly realized the importance of strength.

"The energy level of a Dou Zhe is too low. Using just two or three Dou Techniques drains more than half of my Dou Qi. One-on-one is manageable, but if I get surrounded and beaten by a group, things will get serious."

To be honest, only after reaching Da Dou Shi and mastering the external release of Dou Qi could the true power of Dou Techniques be brought out. Before Da Dou Shi, battles were mostly close-quarters brawls.

"Forget it. I'll break through to Dou Master first. No matter what, I can't fall in this beginner village of Qing Mountain Town."

Having made up his mind, Mu Chen cast aside all distracting thoughts. He formed a hand seal, half-closed his eyes, and connected his mind to the Origin Space. The tightly sealed Fire-Attribute Space opened, and the vast energy belonging to the Xuan Huang Flame was controlled by Mu Chen at an appropriate pace, slowly flowing into the red-and-green vortex. Using the Origin Qi Manipulation Art, he transformed it into his own Dou Qi.

The Dou Qi depleted in battle was fully restored in about ten minutes, yet more Dou Qi continued to fill him, steadily piling up his cultivation and pushing him toward a higher threshold.

Twenty minutes later, Seven-Star Dou Zhe.

One hour later, Eight-Star Dou Zhe.

Three hours later, Nine-Star Dou Zhe.

Another two hours later, Mu Chen had reached the peak of Nine-Star Dou Zhe.

Inside Mu Chen's body, the cloud-like two-colored vortex had nearly solidified. Dense Dou Qi swirled through it, with pale red Fire Attribute Dou Qi accounting for more than seventy percent. Faint specks of dark yellow flame could be seen mixed within the Dou Qi, like dazzling stars decorating a nebula. It was extraordinarily mystical.

Within the Fire-Attribute Space, the Xuan Huang Flame's energy continued to flow. Mu Chen's expression turned strange. The Dou Qi in his vortex should have long since reached capacity, yet the newly converted Dou Qi did not begin assaulting the Dou Master bottleneck as he had expected. It continued increasing in quantity instead.

As a result, the red Fire Attribute Dou Qi surged wildly. Before long, the vortex had almost turned entirely red, with only a faint ring of green Dou Qi visible at its outermost edge.

Within the vortex, the dark yellow star-like specks suddenly lit up. Strands of dark yellow flame swept through the entire vortex in the blink of an eye. The once-full Dou Qi rapidly melted away beneath the flames' scorching heat, like water being squeezed from a sponge. Even the fist-sized vortex shrank several times over.

Mu Chen was startled at first, thinking something had gone wrong with his cultivation. But once the vortex stopped shrinking, the burning Dou Qi began to produce tiny droplets, like evaporating water.

After sensing them slightly, Mu Chen discovered that the Dou Qi energy contained within those tiny droplets was terrifyingly pure, far beyond anything from before.

Mu Chen suddenly understood and muttered, "From One-Star Dou Zhe to Nine-Star Dou Zhe, my strength was forcibly raised entirely through the Xuan Huang Flame's energy. It was never compressed or refined at all. That left far too much excess in my Dou Qi and made my foundation unstable.

"If I had just tried to break through the Dou Master bottleneck, I would certainly have failed. Now, with the Xuan Huang Flame acting within the vortex, the scorching of a Heavenly Flame is gradually removing the moisture and impurities from my Dou Qi. My Dou Qi foundation has become much sturdier as well. Only this can support my breakthrough into the Dou Master realm.

"Cultivation really isn't as easy as I imagined! Without a good teacher carefully guiding me through all these details, cultivating alone would truly mean taking countless detours.

"Heh, Heavenly Flames really are good treasures. No wonder so many people know they're dangerous yet still insist on subduing them."

Seeing that the energy in the Fire-Attribute Space had fallen below half, Mu Chen could not determine whether the remaining energy would be enough to let him break through to the Dou Master realm smoothly.

His hand seal changed, and the Origin Qi Manipulation Art was pushed to full power! The natural energy around the cave was continuously drawn in from every direction, pouring into the cave and gathering around Mu Chen. With every breath he took, it entered his meridians and was guided by him into the vortex.

The energy absorbed from the outside world was naturally impure, but protected by the Xuan Huang Flame's fiery net, it began burning the instant it touched the net. Only after being reduced by more than half was it completely integrated into the vortex, replenishing Mu Chen's Dou Qi.

Inside the cave, Mu Chen sat cross-legged with his eyes tightly shut, his mind entirely immersed in cultivation. Dense natural energy surrounded his body, and upon closer inspection, faint traces of green light could be seen within it.

Within the Magic Beast Mountains, Wood Attribute energy was naturally more abundant than the energies of other attributes. As Mu Chen cultivated with all his strength, the dense energy formed a hazy halo that slowly revolved around him, continuously devoured and absorbed by Mu Chen like a vortex.

Mu Chen was surprised to discover that, under the dual cleansing of energy outside and within his body, his physical body had grown much stronger. His meridians, which had already been expanded to their limit, became tougher once more. The same was true for his bones and even his internal organs.

The sensation brought by the strengthening of his body nearly made Mu Chen moan. It was simply too comfortable. Power continuously welled up within him, and he could feel that his physical body was now at least twice as strong as before.

Within the vortex, under the Xuan Huang Flame's continuous tempering, Mu Chen's Fire Attribute Dou Qi had turned dark yellow due to absorbing such a large amount of the Xuan Huang Flame's origin.

Finally, a droplet-like strand of liquid energy was refined. Yellow and green intertwined with each other, Fire Attribute and Wood Attribute completely indistinguishable, without the slightest rejection.

Dou Qi had liquefied! This was a transformation that only appeared in the Dou Master realm. That droplet of liquid energy was merely the beginning. After that, yellow-green liquid energy was continuously refined.

At the same time, a faint veil appeared over Mu Chen's body, also woven from yellow and green. However, dark yellow was its dominant color, while the green resembled inlaid stripes.

"Dou Qi Veil!" Another transformation that only appeared in the Dou Master realm.

Finally, with the sound of a shackle breaking, Mu Chen at last stepped into the Dou Master realm.

Within the Fire-Attribute Space, after the final wisp of Xuan Huang Flame energy was completely absorbed by Mu Chen, a dark yellow flame at the very center of the space transformed into a burning seed that took root there.

Mu Chen knew that it was the "Flame Origin Seed" recorded in the cultivation art, a flame seed born when the absorption of Fire Attribute energy reached a certain limit.

The flame seed could increase Mu Chen's affinity with Fire Attribute energy. When using Dou Techniques, their power would also be slightly enhanced. Most importantly, with the flame seed present, Fire Attribute energy could be converted into Dou Qi much faster. Mu Chen even had a bold idea in his heart.

If I store Fire Attribute energy in the Fire-Attribute Space beforehand, then open the spatial gateway to connect it to my vortex during battle, can my depleted Dou Qi recover quickly?

Going a step further, if I use a Dou Technique or secret art that consumes an enormous amount of Dou Qi, would having this space, essentially a power bank, let me achieve the effect I have in mind?

Mu Chen pondered these two ideas for a long time and felt that they were highly feasible. However, at his current level of strength, he should only be able to manage the first one.

"My strength is still too low. I'll test these things once I become stronger."

Mu Chen suddenly opened his eyes, and dark yellow flames flashed through them before vanishing.

He slowly exhaled a breath of white air and released his hand seal. The energy halo around him abruptly dispersed into chaotic natural energy, eventually fading within the cave and returning to nature.

He moved his body and felt the abundant strength inside him. Mu Chen grinned and muttered, "I'm finally a Dou Master. My liquefied Dou Qi can now display a little of the Xuan Huang Flame's terrifying power, and the same goes for my Dou Techniques. If I use Blazing Prairie Hundredfold Slashes now, I should be able to release flames externally."

Although external Dou Qi release was an ability normally mastered only after reaching Da Dou Shi, this was not absolute.

The Dou Qi Continent was vast. There were always some unusual Dou Techniques that allowed people below Da Dou Shi to accomplish this, much like flight Dou Techniques. They were simply far rarer than flight Dou Techniques.

"Detected that the host has advanced to Dou Master. The 'Points Shop' has been unlocked."

The system's voice rang out in his mind. Mu Chen raised an eyebrow. The Points Shop? A new function of the system?

With a mere thought, the Points Shop interface appeared before Mu Chen.

The shop contained a dazzling array of items in many varieties, but Mu Chen sharply noticed that there was a "countdown" beneath every item. Furthermore, the quantity of each item was not unlimited as he had imagined.

"The countdown is seven days, which means all items refresh once every seven days.

"And this is kind of a scam. The highest-quality items are only blue quality, and there aren't many of them either—not even one-tenth of the total. The entire shop is practically a sea of 'white,' nearly blinding me. There isn't even a single rare purple-quality item.

"One word: absurd."

Mu Chen vaguely understood that the quality of the items in the shop was probably linked to his own realm of strength.

"Having a shop like this is pretty good. It has things available in the outside world, and it also has things that aren't available outside.

"More importantly, it's convenient. Once I buy something, it gets sent directly to my inventory. As long as the item is available, I can buy it whenever I want.

"I just wonder whether the prices in this shop are outrageous or not!

"Let me see what good things are worth buying."