Xiao Mo could now clearly see his attributes, as well as his constitution, the Ice Soul Body.
He had never found the time to carefully examine the changes in his body. Although his strength had already risen dramatically, he also wanted to try the wondrous cultivation arts of the Douluo World.
"System, start learning the Ice Cold Art."
[Ding. The Ice Cold Art is a high-grade cultivation art. Practicing it at your current level carries significant risks. Please think carefully before proceeding.]
Xiao Mo froze. After hesitating for a long while, he decided against cultivating it and quickly opened the System Shop instead.
He remembered seeing something called a Spirit-Gathering Pill in the System Shop. If he could buy one and use it to advance, then once he broke through to Dou Zhe, he could practice the Ice Cold Art.
But when he saw the string of zeros in the pill's exchange price, he immediately gave up.
"This thing costs that much?"
At his current strength, he had only 600 Shop Points, nowhere near enough to buy it.
Besides, if Xiao Yan unlocked the Good Brothers mission, he might need to buy some support items from the System Shop. He had better not squander his points.
"Forget it. Pulling seedlings up to help them grow clearly isn't the way. I'll get a feel for this icy constitution and see how strong I am now."
Last time, he had been trying to save Xiao Yan and had not carefully sensed the energy inside his body at all.
Now, after closing his eyes and examining himself, he realized that a cold energy filled his body. When he directed it, it circulated through his entire body.
He tried condensing that cold energy, then shooting it out of his palm.
An icicle instantly pierced the rock ahead, shattering it into fragments.
He turned and aimed another icicle at the ground. Dirt flew everywhere, leaving a large pit more than a meter deep.
"Damn, that's powerful."
He could already do this without practicing a cultivation art. Once he mastered one in the future, he might truly be able to command the wind and clouds.
Just as he aimed at the nearby stream, preparing to fire another icicle, his head suddenly grew heavy. A sharp pain stabbed through his brain.
"It hurts!"
He cried out in agony and immediately stopped.
The buzzing in his head persisted, and nearly a minute passed before it eased.
He rubbed the side of his nose, and blood trickled into his palm.
He knew he had pushed too far. His body's basic conditioning was still poor. He had used the system's pills to forcibly pull the seedlings up to help them grow, but his physical foundation remained far too weak.
"If I take another pill and force my strength higher, I might register as a Dou Zhe during the test, but my body definitely won't be able to withstand it."
"Right now, I'm only bleeding a little. Who knows how much worse the consequences could be in the future? Looks like I need to build a solid foundation before thinking about anything else."
Once he understood this, he stopped fixating on forcibly increasing his Dou Qi. He decided to train his physique first and gradually improve his strength alongside Xiao Yan.
Only then could he progress steadily, one step at a time.
He found a clean rock, sat down, and began considering his future path.
Although Yao Lao had already set him a task for the time being-helping Xiao Yan refine pills in the future so they could advance side by side-
He was not content to stop there. Since he had such a powerful cheat in the form of the system, he naturally had to make the most of it.
"For now, I'll take things one step at a time. Once I'm strong enough, perhaps I'll have a chance to stand on the same level as Xiao Yan."
With a direction in mind, he stood up to head back.
But the moment he stood, he sat right back down. He had almost forgotten that he still had a ten-draw pull.
"Ever since I got that ten-draw pull last time, I haven't had a chance to see what good stuff I can get. Most of the items in the shop are still beyond my budget anyway. Maybe I can pull something useful."
After a moment's thought, he immediately opened the system's lottery interface. Soon, a prize wheel appeared before him.
All sorts of rewards appeared on the wheel, including high-grade cultivation arts, low-grade cultivation arts, and everything in between.
Countless narrow segments filled the wheel, each in a different color. Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple were arranged around it.
He carefully examined the categories. Purple rewards were the highest grade, and they even included extremely rare Dou Techniques.
But those things had little to do with him for now. He could easily imagine how difficult it would be to draw them.
His gaze settled only on the red and orange segments.
There was nothing particularly good in those, mostly rewards such as 10 Shop Points and low-grade Dou Techniques.
In short, they did not seem especially valuable.
Still, he had a ten-draw pull. Surely drawing ten at once would get him at least one high-grade reward?
He refused to believe his luck was that bad.
He closed his eyes and silently made a wish.
I won't ask for a high-grade purple reward. At least meet me halfway-a yellow-grade reward would do.
Opening his eyes, he pressed the ten-draw button.
The next second, the system began chiming with notifications.
[Congratulations, host. You have received 10 Shop Points.] [Congratulations, host. You have received 10 Shop Points.] [Congratulations, host. You have received 10 Shop Points.] ... [Congratulations, host. You have received 10 Shop Points.] [Congratulations, host. You have received a total of 100 Shop Points from this draw.]
"..."
Was it too late to smash this damned system?
That enormous wheel was packed with a dazzling array of seven-colored rewards. The red rewards were not just points-there were basic Dou Techniques too, weren't there?
Yet the shop had somehow given him nothing but 100 points across all ten draws. Did this thing have a grudge against him?
The points occupied at most one-thousandth of the wheel. Were the odds of landing on them really that high?
He roared in frustration, but he knew arguing with the system would only waste his time and energy.
He could only force himself to find some consolation.
"At least this is enough to exchange for two pills. Forget it, forget it. It's still better than nothing."
Time flew by, and a year of cultivation passed.
Both of them had made considerable progress.
Xiao Yan and Xiao Mo were cultivating, with Yao Lao seated beside them. He suddenly opened his eyes and looked at his two disciples, his gaze filled with satisfaction.
"I truly never imagined that you two would reach this level in just one year. Xiao Mo, you've already reached Dou Zhe."
Yao Lao turned to Xiao Yan.
"You've done well too. You've reached the Dou Qi Eighth Stage, and you're only a little short of becoming a Dou Zhe yourself."
Both nodded, their expressions calm.
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