The energy within a sixth-rank beast flame was immense. In almost an instant, Xiao Yan broke through from the peak of Eight-Star Dou Zhe to Nine-Star.
Yet that had consumed only a tiny fraction of the beast flame's energy.
Xiao Yan's aura kept climbing without pause-mid Nine-Star, late Nine-Star, peak Nine-Star...
While she was still some distance from the peak of Nine-Star Dou Zhe, Xiao Yan suddenly released her soul power and forcibly hit "pause."
The docile multicolored flames within her instantly "rioted," suppressing the Ganlan Water Flame and "driving" it back into her meridians.
Since Xiao Yan had already refined the Ganlan Water Flame, it behaved quite obediently.
Although it remained vigorous, with plenty of energy still unreleased and enough strength for several more surges, it obediently withdrew from the vortex.
Then, under the multicolored flames' "escort," the Ganlan Water Flame obediently "swam" slowly through her meridians, releasing rippling waves of energy to temper Xiao Yan's body.
Xiao Yan devoted a smaller portion of her attention to "watching" the beast flame, while focusing most of it on the vortex, ruthlessly compressing the energy the Ganlan Water Flame had just poured into it.
Her aura, which had barely reached the peak of Nine-Star Dou Zhe, was forced straight back down to late Nine-Star before finally settling at mid Nine-Star.
Only once this portion of Dou Qi had been condensed until it could no longer be compressed did Xiao Yan summon the Ganlan Water Flame roaming through her meridians and have it pour fire-attribute energy into the vortex again, repeating the cycle.
After this repeated process of injection, compression, injection, compression... Xiao Yan's aura finally reached the peak of Nine-Star Dou Zhe.
-the kind that could not be compressed any further.
Her foundation could be described in one word: solid.
It had to be solid. If she did not ruthlessly compress her Dou Qi now and left behind the hidden danger of unstable Dou Qi, it would be difficult to remedy once she broke through to Dou Shi.
The Dou Zhe stage was, after all, entirely about laying the groundwork, and the importance of a foundation went without saying.
So even after her cultivation reached the peak of Nine-Star Dou Zhe, Xiao Yan still felt uneasy enough to compress it for another two rounds, ensuring that her Dou Qi was sufficiently solid.
Once there was "no further room to advance," Xiao Yan finally stopped suppressing it and began her breakthrough to the Dou Shi realm.
Under her meticulous guidance, she carefully poured a tiny strand of fire-attribute energy into the multicolored vortex.
Without the suppression of her soul power, the addition of this strand of energy was like throwing a massive boulder into a tranquil lake, sending enormous waves splashing up.
The vortex, which had previously been spinning leisurely, suddenly began rotating at high speed as this wave of energy poured into it.
As it spun more and more fiercely, a tiny "whirlpool" formed, and a ferocious suction surged out from within.
Knowing that a breakthrough required a substantial supply of energy, and that insufficient energy could lead to failure, Xiao Yan did not stop it. In fact, as though worried there would not be enough, she threw the "doors wide open," welcoming the beast flame's energy inside.
With the addition of the Ganlan Water Flame, rings of energy rippled through the vortex.
The multicolored beast flame within the vortex also grew a little bluer, while Xiao Yan's vortex, still spinning ceaselessly, began to shrink slowly in a strange fashion.
Xiao Yan was not overly worried, however, because she could also sense the Dou Qi contained within it growing increasingly dense.
Although this was her first breakthrough to Dou Shi, and she lacked the "experience" she had possessed when breaking through to Dou Zhe, Apothecary was watching right beside her.
Apothecary hasn't said anything, so it's probably fine.
At this point, Xiao Yan could barely intervene at all. Everything was being controlled by the vortex.
Or rather, all she needed to do was have the beast flame pour its energy into the vortex and leave the rest to it...
Was breaking through really this simple?
Still, since Apothecary hasn't said anything, I must be on the right track. And if I'm on the right track, just go for it!
Xiao Yan gathered her focus and stopped overthinking, immersing herself in the pleasure of growing steadily stronger.
The Dou Qi within her vortex gradually turned into multicolored droplets, gently revolving along with it.
After all the beast flame's remaining energy had been "liquefied" and absorbed, Xiao Yan's vortex had shrunk to smaller than her palm.
All the Dou Qi within it had turned into droplets, suspended amid the multicolored beast flame.
This coexistence of "water and fire" was quite miraculous, and the multicolored flames over the droplets grew increasingly rich.
At a certain moment, the rapidly spinning vortex abruptly stopped. After pausing briefly, it actually began rotating in the opposite direction.
However, this did Xiao Yan no harm. A portion of the pure liquid energy was hurled in every direction by the force of the reverse rotation.
The droplets shooting outward spread to every part of Xiao Yan's body. Upon touching her meridians, bones, and flesh, they slowly merged into them.
"Whew..." Xiao Yan let out a long breath, feeling so comfortable that she wanted to roll her eyes back.
Who would have thought breaking through could feel so wonderful?
Of course, hers was an exceptional case. Not everyone had liquid energy nourishing them during a breakthrough.
Not long afterward, as the vortex gradually stopped spinning, Xiao Yan abruptly opened her eyes.
In an instant, her long, raven-black hair streamed behind her without a breeze, and her clothes billowed without any wind. Even her chest... ahem, there was not much change there.
All one could say was that the future held promise. The future held promise.
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