With everything ready, Chen Cang still did not rush to take the Qi Gathering Powder. Instead, he recalled those dozens of fragments in his mind.
Although this was his first attempt to break through to Dou Zhe, he possessed dozens of precious memories of successful breakthroughs. Recalling them now felt as though he had experienced them himself, mysterious beyond description.
As he reviewed and learned from those memories, Chen Cang's hands began moving unconsciously. His index fingers met his thumbs, his middle fingertips touched, and his ten fingers formed a strange hand seal.
As though drawn by the hand seal, the surging Dou Qi within him suddenly contracted toward his lower abdomen at tremendous speed.
Chen Cang could not see any of this, yet he could feel it clearly.
Opening his eyes, he glanced at the jade bottle beside him. Chen Cang's gaze was calm, without a trace of lingering attachment.
A breakthrough came naturally when the water flowed and the channel formed.
At that moment, Chen Cang felt clearer and more refreshed than ever before.
The Qi Gathering Powder was already unnecessary!
Closing his eyes again, Chen Cang focused entirely, using his extraordinary soul perception to compress the Dou Qi gathered in his dantian and form a Dou Qi Vortex.
The process was tedious and fraught with resistance, but under the control of his powerful soul perception, everything advanced steadily.
Compression...
Relentless compression.
Over and over again.
After an unknown length of time, a soft, muffled sound finally came from within him. At that very instant, all of Chen Cang's fatigue was swept away.
"It worked!"
His taut nerves relaxed completely, and an irrepressible smile rose to his face.
Not only had he succeeded, he had saved a dose of Qi Gathering Powder!
Suppressing his joy, Chen Cang sank his awareness into his dantian again.
Unlike his previous attempts to sense it, this time he could see everything within his dantian.
This was Inner Sight!
An auxiliary skill that could only be mastered upon reaching the Dou Zhe level.
Of course, with Chen Cang's current strength, he could only perceive things as though looking with his eyes. Only when he grew stronger would he be able to examine his internal condition more thoroughly, even discerning every pore and every inch of his blood vessels.
At that moment, a palm-sized, milky-white vortex slowly revolved within Chen Cang's dantian.
Though small, the vortex contained more than ten times the energy he had possessed before.
Concentration distilled the essence!
I wonder what my attribute is?
Observing the milky-white vortex through Inner Sight, Chen Cang inevitably found himself pondering the question.
Advancing from the Dou Qi stages to Dou Zhe was a qualitative leap.
Only after breaking through to Dou Zhe could one absorb true Dou Qi rather than its preliminary form.
Only after breaking through to Dou Zhe could one practice cultivation methods and enter a stage of rapid growth in strength.
Cultivation methods had many different attributes, and practicing one of a particular attribute would change the color of the Dou Qi within the body accordingly.
Early morning.
Despite staying awake all night, Chen Cang was still brimming with vigor.
After briefly saying goodbye to the companions he knew well, Chen Cang left with the dose of Qi Gathering Powder tucked against his chest.
It was the only valuable thing he owned.
Having already broken through to Dou Zhe, Chen Cang no longer had any use for the Qi Gathering Powder. He had intended to give it to Lü Guan, but abandoned the idea after careful consideration.
It was not that he was stingy. There were now around a hundred people in the estate, including four or five at the eighth stage of Dou Qi, and the atmosphere throughout the estate was no longer as harmonious as it had been a few years ago.
Things were fine while Chen Cang remained there, since no one was his match.
But once he left, with no tiger in the mountains, the monkeys would crown themselves kings. With Lü Guan's current strength, he would never be able to hold on to the Qi Gathering Powder.
Human nature had never stood up to testing.
Besides, Lü Guan still needed at least a few years to reach the Ninth Stage of Dou Qi, so Chen Cang was in even less of a hurry. He could simply find time to return then.
Putting everything in the estate behind him, Chen Cang stepped through the gates into the morning sunlight.
The rising sun brimmed with vitality, just like the journey ahead of him.
Chen Cang did not choose a road blindly. He waited quietly where he stood.
As expected, after only a few breaths, two soldiers in silver-white armor hurried over.
"You must be Chen Cang. I heard Brother Liu and the others mention you. A Dou Zhe at nine and a half-your talent really is extraordinary. Come with me. I'll take you to see the city lord," the slightly taller soldier said with a friendly smile.
Whatever Chen Cang's past had been, breaking through to Dou Zhe at nine and a half was enough to make the soldier see him in a new light.
Chen Cang nodded in thanks. "Sorry for the trouble..."
"My name is Jiang Wenjie. You can call me Brother Jie."
After they left the estate, Jiang Wenjie did almost all the talking, chatting about inconsequential matters. Occasionally, he introduced novel sights they encountered along the road or pointed out the continuous black mountain range at the edge of their vision, shaped like a goshawk. He was like the most dedicated of guides, endlessly patient.
Most of the time, Chen Cang listened quietly, his gaze constantly surveying the world outside.
After walking for roughly ten minutes, the two finally arrived beneath the walls of a city, which stood six or seven meters high.
"Tianying City..."
"Yes, this is the city under our city lord's jurisdiction. Our Sky Star Empire has thirty-six major cities in total. Though Tianying City isn't as prosperous as the imperial capital, Sky Star, it still ranks among the top ten."
When someone put it that way, it usually meant tenth.
The name Tianxing Empire, however, briefly distracted Chen Cang.
Only a few passing words had mentioned this empire in the original course of events. Fortunately, Chen Cang had learned something about it from the instructors' memories. Otherwise, he would have been completely in the dark. His foreknowledge was of little use here.
I still need to find out about the Jia Ma Empire as soon as possible. Ideally, I should make direct contact. Only then can I determine where we are in the timeline.
Looking up at the towering city, Chen Cang pondered silently.
He had to establish the point in the timeline. It was crucial to his future plans.
However, Chen Cang had found no information related to the Jia Ma Empire in the instructors' memories. This also suggested that nothing major was happening there at present, and the Flame Emperor's Flame Alliance most likely had yet to be founded.
Based on that, he could roughly conclude that they were still in the early stages of the story. It was even possible that the story had not yet begun.
"Let's go. We'll head straight to the City Lord's Residence."
They entered Tianying City, merged into the crowd, and made their way toward the city center.
Before long, they reached their destination.
Jiang Wenjie stepped forward to speak with the guards at the entrance and asked them to announce their arrival.
Within moments, Chen Cang was granted an audience.
Only after escorting him all the way to the reception hall did Jiang Wenjie bid him farewell.
"You can go in on your own from here. With such a promising youngster emerging from the Western Suburb Courtyard, all of us get to bask in your reflected glory. We're off to collect our rewards."
"Thank you for showing me the way."
"It's my duty. I'd love to show someone the way every day, hahaha."
With a hearty laugh, Jiang Wenjie waved and left.
Chen Cang withdrew his gaze, took a deep breath, and stepped into the hall.
Rows of chairs stood neatly arranged within the spacious hall. Sweeping his gaze across it, he saw only two people seated there.
One wore luxurious blue robes and occupied the seat of honor. He appeared to be around forty, sported a small mustache, and carried the natural bearing of someone in authority. An intangible pressure flickered around him.
Without a doubt, this was most likely the city lord.
In the first seat to his right sat an old man in black robes. His back was slightly hunched, but his eyes shone brightly as he studied Chen Cang with curiosity.
"Chen Cang pays his respects to the city lord."
Before you continue