Popping a Pill, Reaching Peak Dou Ling!

"Suicide, my ass! Where's the justice in that?!"

"Gu Yao, you son of a bitch! Don't think I don't know it was you!"

Lin Chen cursed through gritted teeth, seething with fury. He had finally managed to cling to Lady Xun'er's coattails and enjoy a nice, warm meal off her patronage, only for that bastard to murder him behind his back!

"Time waits for no one. Gu Yao actually wants to steal my meal ticket. Looks like I'll have to make a move."

Lin Chen calmed down and carefully considered his chances of becoming a guest elder of the Gu Clan in reality.

As someone with the Gu Clan's divine-grade bloodline, Xun'er had no control over her own marriage. That problem would be difficult to resolve in the short term. At the very least, someone her age would need to reach Dou Sheng and propose marriage at the Gu Clan before he could suppress Gu Yao's arrogance.

But in this life, Xiao Yan and Xun'er had not formed a strong enough bond. That route was clearly a dead end.

The only other route was to strengthen Xun'er herself, helping her become a Dou Sheng as quickly as possible. Then, if any Dou Zun dared propose, she could reject him outright on the grounds that his cultivation was insufficient.

Even among the Ancient Eight Clans, a Dou Sheng possessed considerable status and prestige. No Dou Sheng Expert would offend another Dou Sheng merely for the sake of a younger Dou Zun.

In the next simulation, I'll try the second route. The stronger Xun'er becomes, the better I can live in the Gu Clan and the more benefits I can secure.

That was what Lin Chen thought. He understood his own capabilities very clearly. With his talent, reaching Dou Zun would not be difficult, allowing him to barely participate in the final world-ending war.

But reaching Dou Sheng in a mere dozen years or so was beyond an ordinary person. He would have to squeeze a mountain of gold out of the Ancient Eight Clans and use their strength to fuel his own before he could succeed.

Now that the greatest pillar of support in the Gu Clan, one of the Ancient Eight Clans, was right before him, how could he let this opportunity slip away?

"Too bad Hun Tiandi doesn't have a daughter. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind selling myself a little and joining the other side outright. Once my father-in-law became an emperor, he could sacrifice those old fossils of the Hun Clan and make some room for his son-in-law."

"For now, let's pop a pill."

With a thought, a pill bottle suddenly appeared in Lin Chen's hand. He pulled out the stopper and saw a blood-red pill inside.

The pill was extraordinarily strange, like a transparent bead filled with blood. A speck of bloody light flickered at its center, resembling a vertical pupil and sending a chill down his spine.

"So this is the Lesser Life Devouring Pill?"

Lin Chen examined the pill curiously. Of the three options, there had naturally been little reason to hesitate.

He had yet to gather the three essentials required to refine Heavenly Flames, so taking the Green Lotus Core Flame would have been useless. Trying to refine it recklessly would mean gambling with his life, hardly a wise man's choice. It was better left for next time.

Besides, refining Heavenly Flames with the cultivation of a Nine-Star Great Dou Master was far from safe. With the simulation at his disposal, he could obtain Heavenly Flames again at any time. There was no need to take the risk.

The mid Earth-tier Ninefold Phoenix Flame Art was currently in Jia Nan Academy's library. As the first-place winner of the Inner Academy Selection Tournament, he had earned the right to choose any one item from the library. Vice President Hu Gan would arrange for him to claim that reward in a few days.

Thus, only the Lesser Life Devouring Pill suited his present needs best. Swallowing it would take him straight to Peak Dou Ling, leaving him free of worries about breaking through to Dou Wang within three years. It truly was an essential shortcut through life for an unaffiliated cultivator.

"On the Dou Qi Continent, lifespan is the most useless thing of all. Unless Hun Tiandi dies, no one will live another twenty years anyway. Why begrudge a little lost lifespan?"

Comforting himself with that thought, Lin Chen picked up the bottle, tipped out the blood-red pill, and tossed it into his mouth.

Boom!

The pill melted the instant it entered his mouth. Vast surges of blood-red energy erupted from it, turning into translucent threads of blood. Like a spiderweb, those threads rooted themselves in his flesh and wriggled faintly, as though extracting something. The sight was terrifyingly gruesome.

Whoosh!

A moment later, the bloody threads merged into his meridians and streamed endlessly into the crimson Dou Crystal within his dantian. They soon filled the Nine-Star Great Dou Master's Dou Crystal to the brim, causing nine spikes to sprout from it like a sea urchin.

Thump, thump!

Deep, muffled sounds echoed within Lin Chen's body. The sea-urchin-shaped Dou Crystal pulsed continuously, radiating blood-red light. Eventually, it fell into perfect rhythm with his heartbeat.

With every beat, one spike contracted, and immense ripples of energy spread outward. A faint crimson glow began shining through Lin Chen's skin from within, growing increasingly dazzling, like a newly rising sun!

His aura also grew stronger and stronger, soaring step by step as though riding a rocket!

Two-Star Dou Ling!

Three-Star Dou Ling!

Four-Star Dou Ling!

At last, every spike had contracted. The Dou Crystal hovered deep within his dantian, smooth and round as a crimson pearl, without a single edge. It radiated searing heat, like the blazing sun hanging high in the heavens, looking down upon all living beings!

Peak Dou Ling!

"Phew..."

Lin Chen exhaled a breath of stale air that still carried a little warmth and slowly opened his eyes. A streak of crimson flashed through them, lighting the empty room and adding a touch of brilliance.

"So this is Peak Dou Ling!"

Lin Chen lightly clenched his fists. Feeling the strength coursing through his body, dozens of times greater than before, he could not help smiling.

Then he opened his hand. Countless streams of crimson Dou Qi surged toward it, extending forward to form a blood-red saber three feet long.

Its blade was long and narrow, entwined with countless fine blood-colored patterns, and it radiated scorching crimson saber energy.

Swish, swish!

He swung the weapon formed from Dou Qi a few times, experiencing the ability unique to Dou Ling experts: condensing Dou Qi into weapons. Then Lin Chen stretched his body, his joints letting out a series of muffled pops like beans roasting in a pan. He had finally begun to adapt to this hard-won strength.

"This is all cultivation I earned through tireless effort!"

Lin Chen slowly stood up, unable to keep that heartfelt remark to himself.

This is the difference between people. How could the Dou Qi you gained through arduous cultivation compare to my noble Dou Qi, obtained by popping a Sixth-Grade Pill?

Your Dou Qi is weak and unstable simply because you haven't popped any pills!

"But I've only just reached Peak Dou Ling, and that leap was too sudden. I still need to polish my cultivation and get used to this power. Otherwise, people might think I'm a sham Dou Ling. Wouldn't that put me at the same table as Yun Shan?"

With that thought, Lin Chen sat cross-legged, formed hand seals, and began circulating his cultivation method. He slowly regulated his Dou Qi, adapting to the power that had surged so abruptly.

Several days passed without incident.

In a private courtyard at Jia Nan Academy.

"Crimson Flame Palm!"

Boom!

A gigantic palm of crimson flame shot forth, radiating terrifying heat. Like a crimson meteor, it traced a graceful red arc through the air and struck a massive blue rock nearby.

Bang!

With a sharp crack, the Blue Steel Rock, sturdy enough to withstand a Fourth-Order Magical Beast, instantly filled with countless spiderweb-like fractures. Another crack rang out, and the fissures suddenly spread. The rock burst apart in an instant, scattering countless blue fragments.

Seeing this, Lin Chen exhaled softly and formed a complicated hand seal. The crimson flames burning around him abruptly withdrew into his body, and his terrifying aura slowly subsided.

"After days of practice, I've finally mastered this power."

"I just don't know how far I fall short of those experts on the Inner Academy's Strong Ranking."

Lin Chen rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Just then, steady footsteps approached from afar.

A young man wearing the academy's uniform stood outside the courtyard. He bowed respectfully and cupped his hands. "Senior Lin Chen, Vice President Hu Gan has asked you to come over. He says there's an important matter to discuss."