Fusion of Dou Techniques

In the woods behind the Xiao Clan estate, Xiao Yan stood before a large tree, his eyes slightly narrowed. He slowly circulated the Dou Qi within his body along the meridians and acupoints of both Blazing Fire Palm and Eight Extremes Collapse.

Two different Dou Techniques were being activated in his right arm at the same time. The impacts produced where they crossed would damage his meridians, and if the damage became severe, his arm would be crippled.

Xiao Yan knew there were tigers on the mountain, yet he headed straight for them anyway. Although the collisions in his meridians and acupoints caused excruciating pain and made his arm bulge slightly, he still gritted his teeth and endured it.

His right hand suddenly struck out with a palm. A powerful wind pressure swept wildly from Xiao Yan's palm, making the tree sway and knocking down countless leaves.

That strike battered Xiao Yan's meridians even more fiercely. He could no longer endure the piercing pain from his arm and crouched halfway down, clenching his right wrist tightly with his left hand. Only that could ease the pain a little. His arm had swollen horribly by now, his right arm visibly a whole size thicker than his left.

"Ah! Failed again! Why is fusing Dou Techniques so hard?" Xiao Yan felt his right arm grow much heavier, while his palm had become thick and swollen. His entire arm had completely lost sensation. Eight Extremes Collapse placed extremely high demands on the body. Although Xiao Yan's physique was already quite tough, he still felt indescribable soreness all over.

"Hmph, I refuse to believe it. Today, I have to fuse Eight Extremes Collapse and Blazing Fire Palm. Even if my right arm is ruined, I still have my left arm." Once the pain eased slightly, Xiao Yan stood up and prepared to try with his left arm.

This time, however, Xiao Yan was not so reckless. He first reviewed the causes of his failure, memorized every incorrect circulation route, and eliminated them one by one.

Blazing Fire Palm was only a low-grade Profound-tier Dou Technique, after all. Its acupoint and meridian routes were simple, so Xiao Yan slowly modified Blazing Fire Palm to suit Eight Extremes Collapse.

After lowering his head in thought for a while, Xiao Yan slowly raised his left palm and circulated the Dou Qi within him along the newly devised acupoint route.

His left palm suddenly swung out. A powerful wind pressure swept wildly from Xiao Yan's palm, but this time, it carried threads of forceful Qi.

"Bang!"

When the forceful Qi struck the surface of the thick tree, a large piece of hard bark was blasted off.

"Ha! It worked!" Xiao Yan laughed happily, but the movement tugged at the injury in his right arm, making him bare his teeth in pain.

"Not bad! Not bad! I never expected you to actually succeed." Medicine Elder emerged from the ring in soul form, stroking his beard as he smiled.

"I'm impressive, right?" Xiao Yan said excitedly. This was the direction his path to strength would take in the future.

"You are impressive, but your arm has swollen up like a pig's trotter." Medicine Elder looked at Xiao Yan's thick right arm and teased him.

"What did a little price matter as long as I succeeded?" Xiao Yan said indifferently.

"You really did not need to care. Only you would dare do something like this. If anyone else tried it, their right arm would already be ruined. Crippling an arm just to fuse a Dou Technique—only an idiot would do that." Medicine Elder rolled his eyes.

"Teacher, didn't you say I would be fine doing this?" Xiao Yan said with a smile.

"You will be fine, but if you do not treat your injury soon, then you really will have a problem." Medicine Elder spoke calmly.

"All right, all right! I'll deal with it right away." Xiao Yan walked over to a huge rock and sat cross-legged on it. His right arm was practically useless, so he could only form hand seals with one hand to cultivate, looking rather comical.

Wisps of pale white Dou Qi in the air entered Xiao Yan's body through his mouth and nose, continuously strengthening his body and repairing his injuries. He felt a warm current pass through his right arm. His swollen arm gradually began to subside, eventually returning to normal.

When the last wisp of Dou Qi in the air entered his mouth and nose and was refined, Xiao Yan abruptly opened his eyes. A flash of white light flickered through his pupils and vanished. Feeling the abundant Dou Qi within him, Xiao Yan slowly raised both palms and circulated his Dou Qi along the newest route he had devised, then fiercely struck at the tree before him.

"Cloud-Discharging Palm!"

With a loud bang, wood chips flew everywhere. The tree held on for a moment before crashing down once more.

The tree said, "You really know how to hold a grudge."

"Hehe, the power is not bad! And the name is pretty good too—much better than Blazing Fire Palm." Medicine Elder praised him without holding back.

"Not bad, right?" Xiao Yan chuckled foolishly. He had not come up with that name at all. When he swung his palms, he thought the movements resembled Bu Jingyun using Cloud-Discharging Palm, so he had shouted it instinctively.

"All right. I had originally intended to let you rest today, yet you spent the day researching Dou Techniques. The results are indeed pleasing, but you cannot cultivate nonstop. You need to balance work and rest. Even if you beast do not need rest, your body does." Medicine Elder shot Xiao Yan a glare, then turned into a streak of light and entered the ring again.

Xiao Yan stretched, rolled his neck, and loosened up his entire body. His bones immediately crackled. Once he was done, he quickly headed down the mountain.

Xiao Yan had just descended the mountain when an extremely furious voice suddenly rang out behind him.

"Xiao Yan!"

Hearing the somewhat familiar voice, Xiao Yan turned around and saw that it was Xiao Ning. His brows furrowed slightly. Over the past three years, Xun'er had not deliberately kept her distance from him, which made Xiao Ning deeply jealous. Back when Xiao Yan still possessed his cultivation talent, Xiao Ning naturally did not dare do anything.

But after Xiao Yan's cultivation regressed, Xiao Ning frequently caused him trouble, openly or in secret. He had even once gathered people to attack him directly. When his father, Xiao Zhan, saw Xiao Yan covered in injuries from the beating, he flew into a rage and wanted to personally teach Xiao Ning a lesson. However, the three elders firmly held him back. They guaranteed that Xiao Ning would never trouble Xiao Yan again and confined Xiao Ning for a month. Only then did his father let the matter go.

Looking at Xiao Ning, who resembled an enraged lion, Xiao Yan said flatly, "What is it?"

"Xiao Yan! Tell me, has Xun'er been bringing you breakfast every morning lately?" Xiao Ning glared at Xiao Yan with a twisted expression.

That morning, when Xiao Ning had gotten up early to relieve himself, he saw Xiao Xun'er carrying a food box with a rather joyful expression. She was clearly bringing food to someone. Xiao Ning had long regarded Xiao Xun'er as his future other half, so he naturally could not bear to see the goddess in his heart serving someone else.

Xiao Ning followed Xiao Xun'er from afar and discovered that she had actually gone to the room of Xiao Yan, the Xiao Clan's worthless trash. After placing the food box outside Xiao Yan's door, she quietly left.

After Xiao Xun'er left, Xiao Ning sneaked over and opened the food box. Seeing that it contained delicious dishes, the jealousy burning in his heart became unbearable. He kicked open Xiao Yan's door, intending to teach him a brutal lesson. But Xiao Yan had spent the previous night thinking about how to fuse Dou Techniques and had barely rested. Before dawn, he had impatiently climbed the back mountain to experiment with Dou Techniques, so he was not in his room. Since he had failed to teach Xiao Yan a lesson, Xiao Ning naturally refused to let it go. He lingered nearby, waiting for Xiao Yan to return.

"Hehe, what does that have to do with you? What business is it of yours if Xun'er and I are close?" Xiao Yan sneered. He did not want Xun'er to bring him breakfast every day either, because he was afraid Gu Yuan would slap him to death.

"You worthless trash, do you deserve Xun'er treating you so well? Do you?" Xiao Ning said with a somewhat savage expression.

"Xun'er treats me well. What can you do about it?" Xiao Yan deliberately provoked Xiao Ning. Even without me, Xun'er would never be yours, so go mind your own business!

"I'll kill you!" Xiao Ning roared. His hands curled into claws as he prepared to attack directly.

"Hehe, aren't you afraid of punishment under the clan rules?" Seeing that Xiao Ning wanted to attack outright, Xiao Yan showed no fear.

"You worthless trash, all you know is relying on your father. You have disgraced the clan completely. Do you even deserve to call yourself a descendant of the Xiao Clan? You're nothing but a coward, a weakling..." Unable to attack and teach him a lesson, Xiao Ning began hurling insults, each one uglier than the last.

"Enough! Put away that little act of yours. Don't you just want an excuse to beat me up? I'll give you the chance!" Seeing Xiao Ning prattle on endlessly, Xiao Yan did not indulge him.

"Since you want to test my newly fused Dou Technique so badly, I'll grant your wish."

Hearing Xiao Yan agree so readily, Xiao Ning froze for a moment, thinking he had misheard. Wasn't the reason he had insulted Xiao Yan so viciously to provoke him into a duel? The clan did not permit private fights, but sparring was allowed. Broken arms and legs were normal in a spar. Even if he crippled Xiao Yan, his father, Xiao Zhan, would have nothing to say. Though Xiao Zhan was the clan head, he still had to follow the clan rules.

"Are you sure you want to duel me?" Xiao Ning asked uncertainly.

"Hehe, isn't that exactly what you wanted?" Xiao Yan sneered.

"Good!" Seeing that Xiao Yan had truly agreed, Xiao Ning was delighted. He could finally teach Xiao Yan a lesson openly and fairly. Every time he saw Xiao Yan together with Xiao Xun'er, fury surged within him, yet there was nothing he could do except force himself to swallow the humiliation.

This time, he would definitely teach Xiao Yan a savage lesson—preferably beat him until he could not take care of himself. As for Xiao Yan winning, Xiao Ning had never even considered it. He was already at the seventh stage of Dou Qi and nearly at the eighth. Xiao Yan had only reached the third stage; even if his talent had recovered, he would be at most at the fourth stage. There was absolutely no possibility that he could win.