Returning to Jia Ma

"Nalan Chenfeng, this time our recruitment team is heading to Wu Tan City in the Jia Ma Empire, not Jia Ma Sacred City. You didn't board the wrong ship, did you?"

On the flying vessel's cloud deck, a woman in a long aqua-blue dress looked at Nalan Chenfeng with hesitant eyes and asked.

"Mentor Ruolin, I'm going to the Jia Ma Empire this time, but I'm not returning to the Imperial Capital. I'm only making a trip to Wu Tan City. I didn't board the wrong ship."

Nalan Chenfeng smiled slightly at the beautiful mentor before him, her figure voluptuous and her cheeks dewy.

Ruolin was Mentor Ruohai's younger sister. He had only learned that after arriving at Jia Nan Academy. This year, Ruolin had taken over from Ruohai in leading recruitment efforts for the region around Wu Tan City in the Jia Ma Empire.

"You're not returning to your clan..."

Ruolin froze for a moment and gave Nalan Chenfeng a strange look, but she did not ask any further questions.

The youth before her was the most outstanding genius Jia Nan Academy had seen in many years. The dean of the Outer Academy and several elders held him in high regard. She could not even fathom his true strength; it was likely above her own. He could not be regarded as an ordinary student.

"The recruitment team will only remain in the region around Wu Tan City in the Jia Ma Empire for half a month. If you plan to leave then, don't forget to return on time."

Ruolin paused before offering Nalan Chenfeng this reminder.

"Mm."

Nalan Chenfeng nodded in acknowledgment, then entered the room prepared for him.

This return to the Jia Ma Empire was mainly to see how Xiao Yan was doing and make some arrangements and preparations in advance, not to return to the Nalan Clan in the Imperial Capital.

He exchanged letters with his grandfather, Nalan Jie, every year. There was no need for them to meet in person this time.

In the Jia Ma Empire, given the talent and strength he currently displayed, going to the Jia Ma Imperial Capital might provoke wariness and entail certain risks.

The Imperial Family and the Misty Cloud Sect were the two colossal forces of the Jia Ma Empire, and neither was something he could contend with at present.

Especially the Imperial Family. Given the precedent of the former Imperial Family of the Jia Ma Empire, and since they themselves had risen from one of the empire's clans, they had always remained wary of the major clans of the Jia Ma Empire.

His identity as a member of the Nalan Clan was destined to make the Imperial Family apprehensive. Jia Xing Tian's character was hardly worth betting his life on.

Of course, it was not as though there was no way for him to return to the Imperial Capital openly. As long as he brought in the Misty Cloud Sect to keep the Imperial Family in check, they would not dare act rashly.

But there was no need for him to be dragged into the vortex of conflict among the Imperial Capital's major forces so early. He had been eager to leave the Imperial Capital in the first place precisely to avoid such trouble.

The time was still not right for him to return to the Imperial Capital. His own strength still needed improvement.

"Time to cultivate..."

Nalan Chenfeng let out a soft breath, then closed his eyes and circulated his cultivation art. The free energy between heaven and earth began flowing steadily into his body.

On the Dou Qi Continent, cultivation realms were clearly distinguished, and breakthroughs at different levels manifested differently.

For a Dou Zhe, the qi vortex was like a balloon, with Dou Qi stored inside it like air. Its capacity was exceedingly limited.

For a Dou Shi, the Dou Qi within the qi vortex transformed into a liquid lake. This was the first qualitative transformation.

For a Da Dou Shi, even without using a Dou Technique, a casual strike could release Dou Qi externally. The Dou Qi lake that supported this would compress into solid crystals.

Upon reaching the Dou Ling stage, things became even stranger. The solid crystal of a Da Dou Shi would transform into the shape of a nine-spined sea urchin.

As for the Dou Wang realm and above, Dou Qi spread throughout the entire body, allowing one to absorb and mobilize the energy of heaven and earth at any time. There was no longer any need to gather and store it in the dantian, making it fundamentally different from cultivation in the initial stages.

At this moment, what Nalan Chenfeng needed to do was improve both the quantity and quality of his Dou Qi and dissolve the second spine on his Dou Qi sea urchin.

A nine-star Dou Ling had one fewer sea urchin spine for each star, and so on.

When the sea urchin became smooth and spineless, it was a nine-star Dou Ling!

Time quietly slipped by as Nalan Chenfeng cultivated.

One month later.

Nalan Chenfeng sat cross-legged on his bed, his eyes half-closed and his hands forming seals. Every breath he took followed an exceptionally steady rhythm.

As the energy between heaven and earth around him was slowly drawn into his body and absorbed and refined through the Flame Yang Art, the amount of Dou Qi within Nalan Chenfeng's diamond-shaped sea urchin grew somewhat larger.

Eight spines gleamed upon the sea urchin, radiating a lustrous emerald glow.

Yet upon closer inspection, one could see that the spine nearest the sea urchin was gradually dimming.

After a full month of continuous cultivation, Nalan Chenfeng was not far from breaking through to the Two-Star Dou Ling realm.

He cultivated for another dozen or so days.

On this day, Nalan Chenfeng slowly opened his eyes. The corners of his lips rose slightly, and a smile appeared on his refined, handsome face.

After more than a month of cultivation, he had finally dissolved the second spine on his Dou Qi sea urchin and successfully broken through to Two-Star Dou Ling.

"My strength has improved quite a bit again."

Nalan Chenfeng clenched his fists, sensing the much more powerful Dou Qi within his body, and laughed heartily.

At his current cultivation speed, he should be able to break through to Four-Star Dou Ling before participating in the Inner Academy Selection Tournament.

Without realizing it, he was drawing ever closer to the Dou Wang realm.

However, compared to before, his cultivation speed had slowed somewhat. Although his soul strength far surpassed those of the same realm due to having lived two lives and his special ability, which greatly aided his cultivation—

His cultivation art was still the High Mystic Rank Flame Yang Art. As his strength rose, it was inevitable that his cultivation speed would slow compared to before.

Although this was within his expectations, if things continued like this, it would undoubtedly waste a great deal of time.

Fortunately, in a little over four months, he could participate in the Inner Academy Selection Tournament. If he obtained one of the top five spots, he could enter Jia Nan Academy's Library Pavilion and select an Earth Tier cultivation art.

Originally, he had been qualified to participate in the previous Inner Academy Selection Tournament more than seven months ago. But at that time, his strength was still at the Da Dou Shi level, and he could not have secured a top-five spot with certainty.

Most students who came to Jia Nan Academy did so for the Library Pavilion. They all wanted one of those five spots.

Every Inner Academy Selection Tournament drew seasoned veterans seeking entry into the Inner Academy. Some even waited specifically for one or two years, or until Jia Nan Academy's stipulated deadline, just for those top-five spots. The competition was exceptionally fierce.

Among them were quite a few eight- or nine-star Da Dou Shi. At the time, he had not been their match.

The Inner Academy Selection Tournament involved more than a single match. His special ability could only be used once a day, so claiming a top-five spot back then would still have been very difficult.

"Half a month until we reach Wu Tan City. I wonder how the Xiao Clan is doing..."

Nalan Chenfeng breathed softly and looked toward the sky beyond the window, his thoughts churning.

The Tou She Ancient God Jade of the Xiao Clan concerned the course of heaven and earth on the Dou Qi Continent. If possible, it would be best to hide it away in advance.

That way, he would have ample time to cultivate, and the entire continent could retain a measure of peace.

But the Gu Clan had always watched the Xiao Clan's every move, and the Ancient Jade was the inherited token of the Xiao Clan's patriarch. If the Gu Clan and the Soul Clan failed to find it in the future, they would surely suspect everyone connected to the Xiao Clan.

"Looks like Xiao Yan can only keep serving as a target and drawing their fire..."