Dou Qi Continent? The Myriad Heavens and Worlds!

"So that's what I meant by being so profound?"

That night, lying in bed, Xiao Yan recalled Yao Lao's wild interpretation of his words from earlier that day, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

Although he wanted to say that he had merely been talking trash, Yao Lao probably would not believe him.

This minor matter did not linger in Xiao Yan's mind for long before he tossed it to the winds.

Feeling the Dou Qi flowing through his body, Xiao Yan was in an exceptionally cheerful mood.

Three years. Three whole years! He could finally experience the feeling of being filled with Dou Qi again on the Dou Qi Continent!

He rejoiced at having regained his lost Dou Qi.

Lowering his head to glance at the ring where Yao Chen had once again fallen into a light slumber to recover from his injuries, Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow.

Unlike before, when he had not known the reason, Yao Chen was now merely absorbing the Third Stage of Dou Qi that leaked from his body. It would no longer hinder his cultivation in the slightest.

"Now I can finally cultivate Dou Qi in the main world. I won't have to cultivate it from scratch every time I project myself into the myriad heavens..."

With a sigh in his heart, Xiao Yan closed his eyes and shook his head.

His consciousness entered the depths of his spiritual world and gradually followed that vague connection deeper within.

When Xiao Yan opened his eyes again, the scenery around him had changed drastically.

This was a mysterious space blanketed in gray mist.

With his hands clasped behind his head, Xiao Yan strolled forward and surveyed the familiar scene. It was exactly as he had seen it three years ago, when his Dou Qi had vanished.

The entire space was boundlessly vast. Endless gray mist churned in every direction, above and below, while even the ground beneath his feet was formed from condensed gray mist.

Compared to the image in his memories, the gray mist had visibly thinned with the passage of time since his previous visit, allowing him to see what lay beyond it.

There were countless passages blocked by layer upon layer of mist, packed together like a honeycomb.

Most of the passage entrances were completely obscured, but there was no thin mist at the entrances of two of them.

"I knew I was the protagonist. Turns out this isn't a genius story or a useless-trash story. It's a fucking myriad-heavens story..."

As he examined the two visible passages, the sentiment he had felt upon first arriving here three years ago still seemed to echo in his ears, and Xiao Yan's thoughts drifted back to the past.

It had been nearly fifteen years since he had transmigrated here. Rather than transmigration, though, Xiao Yan felt it was more like reincarnation. Family and friendship had allowed him to completely integrate into this world, and the unfamiliar continent was no longer unfamiliar.

Other than the foundations of his worldview that had been branded into him by his previous life, Xiao Yan figured he was not much different from anyone born in this world.

Sometimes, he also sighed that if he had transmigrated a few years earlier, his personality probably would not have become as unrestrained as it was now. He probably would have been more like a native of the Dou Qi Continent.

And his current state... was probably the dying rant brought about by the beautiful mental state of that absurd era from his previous life...

This symptom had become much more obvious after his Dou Qi vanished three years ago and his cheat activated. It had originally been recessive, but then it became dominant. The trait distribution was probably 9331... Ahem.

Recalling the random thought that had suddenly popped into his head back then, Xiao Yan's mouth twitched slightly. It's all Mendel's fault. Instead of researching married women, he went and studied peas...

Casting those random thoughts aside, Xiao Yan raised his head and looked around the Gray Mist Space.

When his Dou Qi had vanished, he had followed that vague connection in the depths of his spiritual world and arrived in this mysterious space.

But this time, Xiao Yan felt something entirely different from before.

The corners of his mouth rose uncontrollably.

Debt-free and light as a feather! The mountain weighing on him was gone.

Yao Lao's appearance meant that he could cultivate Dou Qi even in the main world. With no more shackles restraining him, his state of mind naturally became much more relaxed.

Looking at the increasingly thin gray mist and comparing it to the image in his memories, Xiao Yan was in high spirits.

"The cooldown before I can project into the myriad heavens again is indeed just as I guessed. It's still around half a year, unrelated to whether the projection clone dies or not. I just don't know whether it depends on my strength."

Since awakening his cheat, he had projected himself into the myriad heavens twice through this Gray Mist Space in the depths of his spiritual world.

Xiao Yan had yet to figure out the exact rules. After activating the ability each time, the cooldown varied, lasting as long as a year and as short as half a year. It seemed to be related to his spiritual power and cultivation.

And when he went to other worlds, he would receive a projection completely identical to his original body.

Just like Xiao Yan's current state.

It was as though he had personally arrived there. There was no difference whatsoever from his original body, except that external objects could neither be brought over nor taken back.

The duration of the projection was not fixed. He could only vaguely sense it, and it fluctuated between half a year and a year. During the projection, time in his original world was relatively equivalent to standing still.

When the time came, or if he died, his consciousness would return.

However, there was a difference between the two. If the time limit ended and he was still alive, the state he had attained in that world would merge back into his body. The most obvious result was that the Dou Qi cultivation he had cultivated there, along with things integrated into his body, could be brought back.

This had been of little use to Xiao Yan in the past. After all, any Dou Qi he brought back would just be sucked away by Yao Lao. Only his physique and spiritual power could become somewhat stronger...

But if he died, he would return early, and aside from his memories, he could bring nothing back.

That was precisely where Xiao Yan's confidence had come from before, and also why he had been so frustrated.

Why the hell could he cultivate Dou Qi in other worlds as if he had installed mods? Even in the Gray Mist Space, which seemed to exist outside the worlds themselves, he could simulate cultivation. So why would every bit of Dou Qi he cultivated on the Dou Qi Continent disappear?!

This was completely upside down!

Couldn't cultivate Dou Qi in the main world?

Then cultivate it in the myriad heavens!

He could even cultivate in the Gray Mist Space, but unlike projecting into the myriad heavens, cultivation here was truly nothing more than a simulation.

The more Xiao Yan thought about it, the more his teeth itched. He added another mark to the little ledger in his heart for Yao Lao.

He would have to tease the old man more later.

"But I have to admit, that old man's Flame Mantra really is something else. Even though I've exploded to death countless times, the suppression from all that experience still can't compare to the Flame Mantra's innate ability to suppress and absorb that violent energy..."

Recalling how it had felt during the day, Xiao Yan clicked his tongue repeatedly.

In the Gray Mist Space, since he could die freely without worrying about any consequences, Xiao Yan had simulated all sorts of dangerous operations here.

But because of the Third Stage of Dou Qi restriction, if he wanted to simulate high-intensity cultivation every night, he first had to spend time recultivating.

That was why he had dared to swallow such a vast amount of violent energy in one go during the day and refine it.

He had already recultivated from the Third Stage of Dou Qi more times than he could count.

But from now on, his cheat could finally display its true power. This setting, where he could continuously simulate real circumstances, could only truly shine once he possessed a certain level of strength.

And according to Yao Lao, the Flame Mantra seemed to require absorbing violent energy such as Heavenly Flames. It was incomparably dangerous, but Xiao Yan had countless chances to simulate it.

It was like a smiling tiger and a two-horned black shark—this Flame Mantra seemed tailor-made for him.

And beyond that, the most important thing was that without Yao Lao limiting him, and with the cheats he had obtained from other worlds, he was finally about to enter a period of rapid growth.

His fingers brushed through the gray mist as he looked toward the two worlds he had once visited, and Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow.

This time, he was like a fish entering the sea, a bird soaring into the sky. He would no longer be bound by anything.

As he looked at the two passages flickering with light and shadow, a trace of reminiscence flashed through Xiao Yan's eyes. "The Outcast and Naruto..."

"[Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements], [Samadhi True Fire], [Eight Gates], [Compendium of Forbidden Techniques]... Heh heh, I, Xiao, haven't used any cheats. These are all perfectly legal and proper techniques."

Recalling his experiences back then, a smile unconsciously appeared on Xiao Yan's lips.

All those days gone by... Ahem.

In the world of The Outcast, he had spent nearly a year with Ma Xianhong, the chief of Biyou Village. Xiao Yan had sincerely regarded him as a close friend, so naturally, he had not held anything back.

Not only had he helped clean house, but he had also adjusted several strategies. Through his unique artifact refining, he had reached cooperation agreements with several reclusive families and sects. He had also casually set a Hongmen Banquet for Qu Tong. Although he had failed to kill her, his goal had still been achieved.

And because of the butterfly effect, a certain person surnamed Qing had joined Biyou Village ahead of time and had not yet been trampled, so Samadhi True Fire had been ignited early. Wang would probably have to suffer a bit.

And in the world of Naruto.

"I wonder if Teacher Orochimaru believed I wasn't dead after I got carried away and accidentally blew myself up with an explosive tag... Nawaki is still alive, so it should be fine... right?

"And that guy Might Duy, with Teacher Orochimaru's help..."

The more Xiao Yan recalled, the more he wanted to return to those two places where he had once formed such bonds.

But unfortunately, he had tried before, and the passages had resisted him with an invisible force. From that vague sensation, Xiao Yan had made a rough guess: once his strength rose to another level, perhaps he could project himself there again.

And judging from the thin mist before him, his next projection into the myriad heavens would be happening soon.

"Heh heh, no point thinking about all that for now. Rather than dwelling on that random stuff, I should think about the expressions on those fools' faces tomorrow at the clan's testing ceremony when they see my Dou Qi recover to the seventh stage overnight."

His consciousness returned to his body. Xiao Yan glanced at the other bottle of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid by his bedside and lightly raised an eyebrow.

"Heh heh heh heh, it'll be fun just thinking about it..."