Dou Technique Compendium

Though reluctant to part, Xiao Yan and Xun'er's farewell could not last forever.

At this moment, Xiao Yan was already in the spatial passageway back to the Xiao Clan.

"Kid, you need to understand that some people are beyond your station. Do you understand?" Gu Kong said.

"I understand." Xiao Yan answered respectfully. He did not argue, because any rebuttal without strength behind it would ultimately be nothing more than a joke.

"Humph!"

Night had already fallen, and the moon hung high in the sky.

Swoosh! A spatial wormhole suddenly appeared in the sky, and a thin figure was tossed out of it.

By the time Xiao Yan got to his feet, the spatial wormhole had already vanished from the sky.

Xiao Yan curled his lips and did not dwell on it. After all, he had flirted with the clan chief's daughter right in front of him. Was he supposed to not get angry?

After brushing the dirt from his clothes and getting his bearings, Xiao Yan quickly found the direction of his room and raced down the mountain.

After returning to his room, he swiftly shut the door tight. Once he confirmed no one was around, Xiao Yan carefully moved his bed aside and pried up the third brick from the left beneath the head of the bed. Under the brick lay a silver Storage Ring, glittering beneath the moonlight.

Xiao Yan carefully picked up the silver Storage Ring and sent his consciousness into it. When he saw a pale white Heavenly Flame radiating bone-piercing cold resting safely inside, he could not help letting out a long breath.

That was right. This silver Storage Ring was Yao Lao's relic, the Bone Flame Ring.

Before heading to the Gu Clan, he had deliberately left it here, since the Bone Spirit Cold Fire within the Bone Flame Ring might expose something. After all, it would be very strange for someone who already possessed a Heavenly Flame to go asking for another one. Even if it had been discovered, someone of Gu Yuan's strength and status might not have cared, but this was not something he could gamble on. If anything went wrong, losing a Heavenly Flame would be a minor matter; losing the Flame Mantra would be the end of everything. Fortunately, everything had gone smoothly. At the thought of this, Xiao Yan could not stop himself from trembling with excitement.

He now possessed two Heavenly Flames, and neither ranked particularly low. Once he refined them, he could immediately raise the Flame Mantra to the level of an Earth-tier cultivation technique. That meant he would not need to worry too much about his cultivation technique until he reached the Battle Venerable realm.

He did not even need to worry about cultivation resources, because the Volcanic Rock Flame Gu Yuan had given him was intact, with its Heavenly Flame energy undamaged. It was not like the Green Lotus Core Flame from the original story, whose Heavenly Flame energy had been nearly exhausted during Medusa Queen's bloodline transformation, raising his cultivation by only two stars as a Dou Master.

In the original story, the Three Thousand Burning Flame, with power at the Battle Venerable level, had directly allowed Xiao Yan to soar from a four-star Battle Ancestor to a Nine-Star Battle Ancestor! The Pure Lotus Demon Flame was even more outrageous. With the strength of a six-star Dou Saint, it directly raised Xiao Yan from a two-star Dou Saint to a Five-Star Dou Saint. Do not be fooled by the smaller number of stars gained; that was within the same realm!

This showed that the energy of an intact Heavenly Flame was enough to raise Xiao Yan by two or three stars when he was in the same realm, or by five or six stars when he was one realm lower. If he was two realms lower, he could practically skip an entire realm outright.

By that logic, was it unreasonable for the Volcanic Rock Flame, which already possessed the strength of an early-stage Battle Ancestor, to raise Xiao Yan directly to the Dou Spirit realm?

Do not underestimate a Dou Spirit. Xiao Yan's father, Xiao Zhan, was only a Five-Star Great Dou Master!

So Xiao Yan could hardly be blamed for being excited. This trip to the Gu Clan had helped him far too much.

At noon the next day, Xiao Yan, who had been excited all night, climbed out of bed. He had originally wanted to begin cultivating immediately, but he had been too excited to enter meditation. He could only lie in bed all night, trying desperately to fall asleep. Fortunately, he had finally managed to do so before sunrise.

Inside a secret chamber of the Xiao Clan, Xiao Zhan and Xiao Yan's two brothers, Xiao Li and Xiao Ding, had all been summoned by Xiao Yan.

"Yan'er, you called me and your two brothers here so urgently. Is something the matter?" asked a middle-aged man dressed in magnificent gray robes, his voice deep and resonant. He was Xiao Yan's father, Xiao Zhan.

"Yes, Little Yan. What exactly did you call us here for? You even had to speak in secret. Why so mysterious?" said a tall young man beside him. He was Xiao Yan's second brother, Xiao Li.

His eldest brother, Xiao Ding, was naturally there as well, watching with a curious expression.

"Father, Eldest Brother, Second Brother, no matter what happens next, you must not let it spread. Not even to the other clan members!" Xiao Yan said gravely.

Hearing this, Xiao Zhan and the other two grew solemn as well. They believed Xiao Yan would never joke with them under such circumstances, so what came next had to be extremely important.

"This is... an Earth-tier cultivation technique! And a High Earth-tier one at that!" Xiao Ding shot to his feet and cried out in shock.

"Th-this... Yan'er, where did you get this?" Xiao Zhan could not help asking.

As for Xiao Li, he was already dumbstruck, his mouth hanging open and his eyes vacant, looking completely foolish.

"Father, Eldest Brother, Second Brother, do not worry. There is no problem with the origins of these cultivation techniques and battle techniques. You can cultivate them without concern," Xiao Yan said.

Xiao Zhan looked at the calm-faced Xiao Yan and tried his best to suppress the turbulent emotions in his heart, but he still could not help asking, "Yan'er, it is not that I do not trust you, but you have to tell me where these came from. Otherwise, I simply cannot put my mind at ease."

Xiao Ding and Xiao Li nodded in agreement.

Seeing the reactions of the three, Xiao Yan pondered for a moment before ultimately choosing to tell them the truth.

"Father, Eldest Brother, Second Brother, this is what happened..."

"I never expected our Xiao Clan ancestors to have possessed such glory," Xiao Zhan said with a sigh.

"Indeed. And that little girl Xun'er is actually the daughter of someone as important as the Gu Clan chief. It is truly unexpected!" Xiao Ding agreed, then turned to look at Xiao Yan with some concern. He knew about Xiao Yan and Xun'er's feelings for each other, and he sincerely felt they were a match made in heaven. Though he had long guessed that Xun'er's background was extraordinary, their Xiao Yan was no worse either. He had become a Dou Fighter at twelve! He simply had not expected her background to be this immense.

Unlike Xiao Zhan and Xiao Ding, whose thoughts were focused on the clan's history and Xiao Yan's marriage prospects, the more hot-blooded Xiao Li was already rubbing his hands together as he stared at the two jade slips on the table. He was not some pedantic man. Even if the origins of these cultivation techniques and battle techniques had been questionable, he would have cultivated them first and worried later. Of course, Xiao Zhan and Xiao Ding were the same. They had only asked about their origins so they could make proper preparations in advance if there were any problems.

"Quick, look at what is in the second jade slip!" Xiao Li said eagerly, his eyes unconsciously gleaming green.

At his words, Xiao Zhan and Xiao Ding were quickly pulled back from their thoughts. Even Xiao Yan was somewhat curious, since he had not yet seen exactly what battle technique was inside. After all, he had long decided on his primary battle techniques, and he believed that the battle techniques carried by the Gu Clan chief could not possibly be poor. Surely Gu Yuan would not deliberately find some worthless battle technique just to trick him. Xiao Yan did not think he had that much face.

The father and three sons eagerly sent their consciousness into the jade slip together. An enormous flood of information instantly surged into their minds.

"Dou Technique Compendium—Earth Tier Section. On the Dou Qi Continent, battle techniques are countless, but only self-created battle techniques are truly powerful. The Dou Technique Compendium records the experiences and lessons in creating and perfecting battle techniques, compiled by the powerful experts of the Gu Clan across generations through their study of countless battle techniques. Those who master the Dou Technique Compendium may create their own battle techniques. Those whose self-created battle techniques reach great mastery may become invincible within their realm and fight above their level!"

"Dou Technique Compendium. What grand claims," Xiao Yan muttered. He had not cared much about battle techniques before, but he had not expected Gu Yuan to give him such a great gift. Do not think the Dou Technique Compendium was not precious just because it was not a specific battle technique that could be used directly. On the contrary, its value was so high that even ordinary Heaven-tier battle techniques could not compare! As the Dou Technique Compendium itself said, self-created techniques were the best. Moreover, since it explained the essentials of creating battle techniques, it naturally had to provide examples. The Dou Technique Compendium alone listed ten examples of Earth-tier battle techniques, while examples of Black Tier and Yellow Tier techniques were too numerous to count! It could be said that the Dou Technique Compendium was an enormous treasury of battle techniques!

Xiao Zhan and the other two were also beaming with excitement. Xiao Li and Xiao Ding had already begun discussing the specific details of cultivating the two techniques.

But at this moment, Xiao Yan poured a bucket of cold water over the excited trio. "Father, Eldest Brother, Second Brother, there is something I need to tell you in advance. The four of us cannot cultivate these two cultivation techniques and battle techniques at home."

"What?!" Xiao Zhan and the other two looked over in shock.