Brutal Training

"Ah..."

The miserable cries soared into the sky, startling the birds in the forest into scattering in all directions.

A young man had both hands tied to separate trees. Wearing only a pair of shorts, he kept his eyes half-closed and his head drooped. His entire body was battered and bloody, with blood slowly dripping down as if he were enduring some terrible torture.

Behind him, an old man sat cross-legged atop a huge rock. Looking at the young man wailing endlessly before him, he felt a little reluctant as well. He slowly asked, "Can you still hold on?"

The young man's half-closed eyes suddenly snapped open. Clenching his fists, he shouted, "Again!"

Hearing his reply, the old man slowly exhaled and nodded faintly. He stretched out his palm, and a pale red streak laced with wisps of white flame shot fiercely from Medicine Elder's hand. Like a whip, it struck Xiao Yan's body heavily, instantly leaving a long bloody mark.

"Ah..."

Xiao Yan cried out again from the blow. His hands violently tugged at the ropes, making the trees as thick as an adult's waist tilt slightly. That pain, which pierced straight into the soul, was simply unbearable. No matter how strong one's endurance was, it was impossible to remain standing still, so he had to rely on external support to hold himself in place.

The intense pain blurred Xiao Yan's consciousness. He desperately wanted to give up this inhuman training. At that moment, the scene of Nalan Yanran coming to break off the engagement surfaced in his mind, but it was as if someone in his consciousness told him it was nothing. If she wanted to break it off, then let her. Clearly, he had used that reason too many times, and it no longer worked.

Then he thought once more of that figure who woke before dawn every morning to prepare breakfast for him. The image grew clearer, and Xiao Yan's consciousness gradually returned.

"Ha! Again!" Xiao Yan shouted, his body seeming to return to full strength once more.

Hearing Xiao Yan's shout, Medicine Elder sighed. "Has this little fellow gone mad? He's even crazier than I was back then. What exactly is making him persist until now? Could it really be because of that girl Xun'er? I never thought this brat would be such a hopeless romantic."

Shaking his head helplessly, he extended his palm again. A pale red streak shot out violently, laced with wisps of white flame. It was the Heavenly Flame he had subdued, the eleventh-ranked flame on the Heavenly Flame Ranking—the Bone Spirit Cold Flame. Using a Heavenly Flame to temper the body—if Medicine Elder had not sensed that mysterious thing within Xiao Yan's body, he truly would not have dared to carry out such devilish training.

Taking a deep breath, Medicine Elder controlled the flame streak and lashed it ruthlessly against Xiao Yan's body again.

Bang...

"Ah..."

The sounds alternated without end. When the final streak lashed fiercely against Xiao Yan's body, he finally fell unconscious.

Seeing Xiao Yan lose consciousness, Medicine Elder slowly exhaled. A full hundred lashes—he truly did not know what had supported this brat through it all. Beating Xiao Yan pained him as well. He had wanted Xiao Yan to give up this devilish training, but Xiao Yan had persisted time and again. He murmured softly, "Why is this kid so good at enduring hardship? Could he really have masochistic tendencies?"

Medicine Elder raised a finger and lightly traced through the air twice. The ropes binding Xiao Yan instantly snapped. He dragged Xiao Yan toward a wooden barrel prepared beforehand. The liquid inside was no longer green, but red. He gently placed Xiao Yan into the barrel.

"Ah..." A pig-slaughtering scream rang out once more.

Xiao Yan thrashed inside as though he had been thrown into a pot of boiling oil.

"Quiet!" Medicine Elder roared. Watching Xiao Yan flop about in the barrel like a fish, he thought that if this continued, would not all the precious medicinal liquid he had prepared spill out?

Medicine Elder's thunderous voice rang in Xiao Yan's heart. Xiao Yan gradually calmed down, gripping the sides of the barrel tightly with both hands as he did his utmost to withstand the medicinal liquid's erosion.

After a while, Xiao Yan gradually adapted. He painfully crossed his legs inside the barrel and lowered his head slightly, allowing the red liquid to cover his entire body. A burning, stinging pain spread across his face, making his expression somewhat twisted.

After soaking for some time, Xiao Yan slowly raised his head. His hands formed a strange seal before his chest, and he shut his eyes tightly, entering cultivation.

As Xiao Yan cultivated, part of the red liquid entered his body through his skin, strengthening his physique. Another part transformed into strands of pale red airflow that entered his body through his nose and mouth, strengthening his bones and meridians.

This red liquid had been refined from dozens of precious medicinal herbs and had cost Xiao Yan nearly a hundred thousand gold coins. If not for Xun'er, he truly could not have afforded it unless he auctioned off the Foundation-Building Elixir.

This red medicinal liquid was far more violent than the Foundation-Building Elixir, but naturally its effects were also much greater. Not only could it increase cultivation speed, but it could also broaden the meridians and strengthen the body.

As Xiao Yan cultivated, the red airflow wrapped around his entire body and was continuously absorbed and refined by him.

Suddenly, the red airflow began to slowly rotate around Xiao Yan. At this moment, Xiao Yan seemed to have become a giant magnet. Not only was the Dou Qi in the surrounding air being rapidly drawn toward him, but tiny whirlpools also began to form in the red liquid within the barrel.

"Hm? Is he about to break through? It seems only ten days have passed since he broke through to the fourth stage of Dou Qi!" Medicine Elder stared at Xiao Yan cultivating in the barrel in surprise.

Under Xiao Yan's endless absorption, the red liquid in the barrel faded at a visible rate. As a massive amount of energy poured into him, Xiao Yan's small face flushed slightly, and a faint pale red glow began to seep from his body.

When the final strand of pale red airflow entered his body with his breath, Xiao Yan's body fell slightly still. Then it suddenly trembled violently. His lower abdomen contracted faintly, and Xiao Yan's eyes abruptly flew open. Cyan and white light flashed through his dark pupils as his mouth opened slightly, expelling a breath of somewhat turbid air.

He leaped out of the wooden barrel and struck fiercely at the large tree before him with his palm.

Blazing Fire Palm!

A powerful gust of wind burst wildly from Xiao Yan's palm. Many leaves were blown from the tree, and its power was countless times greater than when he had first used it.

"Hahaha! Teacher, I've reached the fifth stage of Dou Qi! My body has also become much stronger," Xiao Yan said excitedly.

"Not bad! Not bad! You've broken through twice in less than a month." Medicine Elder stroked his beard in satisfaction.

"Then is there any reward?" Xiao Yan asked expectantly.

"Hehe, I prepared one for you long ago. Close your eyes and focus your mind. I'll pass it on to you." Medicine Elder casually instructed him, then extended a finger and lightly touched Xiao Yan's forehead.

A slight pain shot through his head, and Xiao Yan suddenly sensed a great deal of information flooding into his mind. The abrupt influx immediately made his head swell.

"Eight Extremes Collapse: a high-grade Xuan-tier Dou Technique, a close-combat technique famed for its ferocious attack power. When mastered, each strike contains eight layers of force. With all eight layers stacked together, its power rivals a low-grade Earth-tier Dou Technique!"

"I finally have Eight Extremes Collapse! With my current physical strength, I should be able to unleash considerable power with it!"

Under Medicine Elder's guidance, Xiao Yan gradually mastered the circulation route and techniques of Eight Extremes Collapse.

Standing before a large tree, he circulated the Dou Qi within his body along the meridians and acupoints required for Eight Extremes Collapse.

Eight Extremes Collapse!

His fist, carrying ferocious force, slammed heavily into the trunk.

Bang! With a muffled sound, wood chips flew everywhere, while spiderweb-like cracks spread from the point of impact. The tree held on for a moment, but when a faint breeze swept past, it finally collapsed powerlessly.

Seeing the tree fall, Xiao Yan sighed. "This is the true power of a Xuan-tier Dou Technique!" Thinking of the Blazing Fire Palm, which could only blow wind, he immediately felt it was rather useless. He did not yet have the Sucking Palm, so he could not combine them to increase their power.

"Eh... right." A thought arose in Xiao Yan's mind. Why could Dou Techniques not be used together? He quickly asked, "Teacher, can Dou Techniques be fused together?"

"Hehe, fused together? It is not as if no one has tried that before, but most only dared to do so after reaching extremely high realms. Do you know why?" Medicine Elder understood Xiao Yan's intention and spoke teasingly.

"Why?" Xiao Yan asked.

"That is because fusing Dou Techniques is even harder than creating one. It is extremely dangerous. A single mistake can damage your meridians and leave you crippled. Only after one's realm is high enough and one's knowledge broad enough would one dare try to create a Dou Technique. Of course, some people accidentally create Dou Techniques too, such as the Blazing Fire Palm," Medicine Elder explained.

Hearing that fusing Dou Techniques was so difficult and could even damage his meridians, Xiao Yan immediately felt discouraged. He had wanted to mix some of Eight Extremes Collapse's force into the Blazing Fire Palm. That would definitely have increased its power greatly.

Seeing Xiao Yan's disappointment, Medicine Elder smiled. "But you are different. Try boldly! Even if your meridians shatter, you only need some time to recover."