After becoming a Dou Zhe and cultivating the Flame Mantra, Xiao Yan finally possessed fire-attributed Dou Qi and could barely begin learning alchemy.
To learn alchemy, he could not do without medicinal ingredients and a cauldron.
Both required a large amount of gold, and Xiao Yan's savings were clearly insufficient.
However, for an alchemist, making money could not have been easier.
Xiao Yan brought ten bottles of Foundation-Building Spirit Liquid refined by Medicine Elder to the Mittel Auction House, intending to auction them off.
The preciousness of the Foundation-Building Spirit Liquid caught the attention of Ya Fei, the chief auctioneer, and it was also Xiao Yan's first time meeting this enchantress.
Her voluptuous figure and soul-stirring brows and eyes made Xiao Yan, who possessed the Vajra Saint Body, burn hotter than ordinary people. At that moment, his Supreme Bone began to stir restlessly as well.
Fortunately, Xiao Yan was wrapped in a black cloak, avoiding an embarrassing display.
Under Ya Fei's superb auctioneering, the ten bottles of Foundation-Building Spirit Liquid sold for nearly 500,000 gold coins. After the commission was deducted, it was enough for Xiao Yan to buy a two-eared cauldron and a large quantity of low-grade medicinal ingredients.
Under Ya Fei's fiery gaze, Xiao Yan fled the Mittel Auction House as though escaping for his life.
"Look at you. Once you become a high-grade alchemist, what woman won't be yours?"
Inside the Portable Space, Medicine Elder noticed the vigorous fire burning in Xiao Yan's body and scolded him in exasperation.
"If you want to deal with it, don't you already have one ready in your space?"
Medicine Elder pointed toward the courtyard where Nalan Yanran was imprisoned in the distance and said with a strange laugh.
"Teacher, stop scolding me."
Xiao Yan said awkwardly.
Having lived four lives, he was still a virgin. With the Vajra Saint Body, wasn't it normal for his urges to be a little stronger?
As for Nalan Yanran, his preconceived impression of her made him instinctively dislike her, and he had never considered her in that way.
After Medicine Elder mentioned it, Xiao Yan suddenly felt that Nalan Yanran was not entirely unacceptable either.
Once that thought arose, it became serious.
Within the Portable Space, Xiao Yan could do whatever he wanted, and Nalan Yanran had no way to resist.
His Supreme Bone instantly hardened like steel.
Xiao Yan's face flushed crimson, and he panted heavily through his mouth and nose.
"Go on. Don't suppress yourself."
Medicine Elder said with a strange grin from the side.
Xiao Yan was so overheated that he could no longer bear it. With a casual wave of his hand, a pool appeared out of thin air, and he immediately jumped in.
The icy water gradually extinguished the fire within him.
After staying in the pool for more than ten minutes, Xiao Yan climbed ashore dripping wet beneath Medicine Elder's odd gaze.
Ever since imprisoning Nalan Yanran, Xiao Yan had been treading on thin ice, proceeding with extreme caution.
The Misty Cloud Sect was not frightening. What was frightening was the Soul Hall force lurking behind it.
In the original story, if Xiao Yan had not gone to the Misty Cloud Sect for the three-year agreement and drawn the Soul Hall's attention, the Xiao Household in Wutan City would never have been exposed.
The Xiao Household would not have suffered such devastating casualties, nor would Xiao Zhan have been captured by the Soul Hall.
Therefore, Xiao Yan's strategy was to keep a low profile.
His current priority was increasing his strength. He could not become a slave to desire. The big head was the big head; he could not let the little head take control.
Moreover, Xiao Yan was lustful but principled. Between men and women, it had to be mutual and filled with shared desire. That was what made it meaningful.
Casting women from his mind, Xiao Yan changed into dry clothes and began studying alchemy under Medicine Elder's guidance.
Alchemy emphasized refining techniques and control over the temperature of one's flame.
The former required guidance from a famous teacher, while the latter required exceptionally strong soul perception.
Xiao Yan's soul perception was extraordinarily outstanding, and as the possessor of the Myriad Flame Emperor Physique, after just over a dozen attempts, his temperature control had already reached an extremely high level.
Even Medicine Elder clicked his tongue in amazement, declaring that Xiao Yan was a born alchemist.
After that, Xiao Yan divided each day into three parts: one for studying alchemy, one for cultivating Dou Qi, and one for cultivating Dou Techniques.
At present, the Dou Techniques Xiao Yan had mastered were Rock-Splitting Palm, Absorption Palm, Flame-Blowing Palm, and Eight Extremes Collapse.
Knowing that the marketplace had Absorption Palm, Xiao Yan naturally had no reason to give it up. He searched the marketplace for three days before finding it.
There were no shortcuts to cultivating Dou Techniques. It was all about practicing them over and over again.
Every Dou Technique had its own unique meridian circulation route. Cultivating a Dou Technique meant directing the Dou Qi in one's Qi Vortex through those meridians.
When one wanted to use a Dou Technique, the Dou Qi in the Qi Vortex had to swiftly travel along those meridian routes, reach the corresponding acupoints, and unleash its unique power.
The first aspect of cultivating Dou Techniques was opening up the corresponding meridian routes for Dou Qi, and the faster, the better.
The second was enabling the meridians to withstand repeated bursts of Dou Qi in a short period.
The third was becoming proficient at controlling the amount of Dou Qi used, using however much one intended to use.
All of this required a great deal of time and practice.
With the Qi-Recovery Pills refined by Medicine Elder, Xiao Yan could rapidly recover his Dou Qi whenever it was exhausted, giving him more time to cultivate Dou Techniques and study alchemy.
Time passed in the blink of an eye, and another half year went by.
Xiao Yan was nearly sixteen and needed to attend the upcoming Xiao Household coming-of-age ceremony.
After half a year of cultivation, Xiao Yan had already become a Six-Star Dou Practitioner.
Xiao Yan frowned slightly. In the original story, Xiao Yan had only reached the eighth stage of Dou Qi at the coming-of-age ceremony.
Yet even the eighth stage of Dou Qi had shocked the Xiao Household members and the invited guests.
Breaking through five stages in a single year—such talent was rare even at Jia Nan Academy.
If he tested as a Six-Star Dou Practitioner, everyone's jaws would surely drop, and his name would spread throughout the Jia Ma Empire.
That ran completely contrary to his strategy of keeping a low profile.
"Teacher, is there any way to suppress my Dou Qi realm?"
Xiao Yan voiced his concern.
"I originally planned to give you this weapon when you went to train in the Magic Beast Mountain Range."
Medicine Elder nodded. Then, with a wave of his hand, a black object fell from the sky and crashed heavily into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Once the dust settled, a broad giant ruler could be seen embedded in the ground. Its body was covered in strange patterns, and the upper end had a hilt like that of a sword, making it look quite peculiar.
"This was forged from extraterrestrial meteorite iron and was something I obtained by chance. It is extremely hard and heavy. More importantly, it can suppress Dou Qi."
Medicine Elder said, stroking his beard.
Slightly excited, Xiao Yan stepped forward and gripped the ruler's handle with both hands. Sure enough, a strange force enveloped his body. Even the rotation of his Qi Vortex slowed, while the Dou Qi moving through his meridians became as sluggish as a snail.
"Up!"
He shouted and exerted force with both hands, slowly pulling the ruler free. Sure enough, there was no sword tip at the end, only a smooth, flat cross-section.
"What a fine Profound Heavy Ruler!"
Xiao Yan raised the ruler with both hands as though lifting a small door panel.
"Profound Heavy Ruler? That is quite a good name."
Medicine Elder said with a smile.
"With this Profound Heavy Ruler, my realm should be suppressed to the level of a One-Star Dou Practitioner. It is still a little too high, but there is nothing to be done about it."
Feeling the aura of Dou Qi within his body, Xiao Yan spoke with slight regret.
Xiao Yan swung the Profound Heavy Ruler around in the space, familiarizing himself with its weight.
He also made a back harness that could secure it to his back.
Medicine Elder required Xiao Yan to keep the Profound Heavy Ruler on his back at all times from then on, even holding it while he slept.
This was weight training. It could temper not only his body, but also his Dou Qi.
"Brother Xiao Yan!"
Inside the Portable Space, Xiao Yan heard a young girl's clear, nimble voice from outside the door and hurriedly flashed back into his room.
He took a deep breath, then walked over and opened the door.
Outside stood a girl in a purple dress, her hands clasped behind her back and her skin as white as snow.
The moment Xiao Xun'er saw Xiao Yan, her brows curved into crescents and her eyes brimmed with laughter. "Brother Xiao Yan, the coming-of-age ceremony is about to begin. Let's go."
It was Xiao Xun'er.
Xiao Yan chuckled softly. "Let's go."
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