For most people, reaching Dou Ling required years of accumulation—sometimes more than a decade.
Even in the Inner Academy of Jia Nan Academy, where geniuses gathered, Dou Ling was a dividing line. Only a minority of students managed to cross it.
Xiao Yan had only recently reached Nine-Star Great Dou Master. Now, with the help of Earth Core Tempering Milk, he had once again reached the threshold for advancement.
Using the Nine Yang Divine Art, Xiao Yan refined a vast amount of energy and poured it into his Dou Crystal. The egg-sized crystal grew rounder before his eyes.
An ordinary Nine-Star Great Dou Master cultivating an Advanced Profound Rank method could advance with six or seven drops of Earth Core Tempering Milk. But Xiao Yan cultivated an Earth Tier Cultivation Method, which demanded far more energy.
With that in mind, even after blending more than a hundred ingredients into the medicinal liquid, Xiao Yan added fifteen drops of Earth Core Tempering Milk.
He had used more than twice the usual amount, so the marrow-cleansing, body-tempering benefits naturally more than doubled as well.
Cultivating a higher-level method brought many advantages. Some came from the method itself; others were incidental, as this moment showed.
Xiao Yan kept his cultivation method running. The colorful liquid in the medicine barrel gradually faded until it turned clear. He had absorbed every trace of its medicinal power.
When he refined the last wisp, Xiao Yan, who had been observing his body from within, found that his meridians, bones, and organs glowed faintly. His physique had grown vastly stronger.
As the medicinal power became energy and flowed into his Dou Crystal, the jadeite-bead-like crystal reached the limit of what it could hold. It trembled slightly and gave off a series of hums.
The Dou Crystal's glow waxed