The aching pressure in his head slowly faded with time.
Xiao Ce opened his eyes and found that the sky had already darkened. Hazy moonlight spilled over him through the gaps between the leaves.
An inexplicable peace settled in his heart.
He did not get up to leave. Lying on the stone slab, he began looking through the Spirit Refining Art in his mind.
This Beyond Heaven Tier cultivation method that he had created-or rather, that his avatar had created-actually started at only Initial Yellow Tier.
Like the Flame Mantra, it needed to keep devouring things to evolve to its limit.
And this, too, had been a deliberate choice by his avatar.
After all, its Initial Yellow Tier rank was both a drawback and an advantage.
If the cultivation method's rank were too high, he would not be able to practice it directly even after reaching the Dou Zhe stage.
Low Yellow Tier was just right for him to begin practicing it at the Dou Zhe stage.
Moreover, Xiao Ce could sense the wisp of Emperor Flame essence within him. Once he reached Dou Zhe and absorbed it, the Spirit Refining Art would definitely rise straight to at least Xuan Tier.
It was worth mentioning that the origin of this wisp of Emperor Flame essence was quite interesting.
Tou She Ancient God had devoured every other Heavenly Flame besides him. In the end, he had seized a wisp of essence from Tou She Ancient God and combined it with his own nihility devouring flame essence to form this wisp of Emperor Flame essence.
Thus, this Emperor Flame essence was actually a creation of his Nihility Devouring Flame avatar, and was very close and obedient to him.
Because of this, the instant this wisp of Emperor Flame essence entered his body, Xiao Ce understood all its effects.
As the top entry on the Heavenly Flame Ranking, formed by fusing all the Heavenly Flames, the emperor flame held a higher standing than ordinary Heavenly Flames and could suppress them.
At the same time, the emperor flame possessed the traits of every Heavenly Flame and could reproduce the effects of all the Heavenly Flames on the Heavenly Flame Ranking.
For instance, the fallen heart flame's ability to temper Dou Qi, the life spirit flame's ability to accelerate medicinal herbs' growth, the nihility devouring flame's devouring power, and the purifying lotus demon flame's purifying power.
However, because this wisp of essence was far too weak, its effects naturally could not match the original Heavenly Flames, much less surpass them.
Xiao Ce understood that the simplest way to strengthen the Emperor Flame essence was to devour other Heavenly Flames, which happened to align perfectly with his Spirit Refining Art.
"So there's still no escaping the green lotus core flame, number one on Battle Through the Heavens' must-eat list?" Xiao Ce smiled helplessly.
He did not actually feel much guilt about taking Xiao Yan's Heavenly Flames.
Absorbing Heavenly Flames was a life-threatening affair. In the original story, even with the Flame Mantra, Yao Lao's guidance, and all sorts of pills and ice spirit cold spring prepared, Xiao Yan had still barely survived absorbing them.
This was a real world. Xiao Ce did not believe Xiao Yan could successfully absorb a Heavenly Flame every single time as he had in the original story.
If Xiao Yan practiced an Earth Tier Cultivation Method instead of the Flame Mantra, he could switch to a Heaven Tier cultivation method later on. His upper limit would not necessarily be lower, but his cultivation would definitely progress faster.
As for the burden of becoming a Dou Di, he would shoulder it himself.
"Unfortunately, no matter what, I have to break through to Dou Zhe before I can practice the Spirit Refining Art. The Fifth Stage of Dou Qi is still far too low."
As he spoke, Xiao Ce extended his hand. The brilliantly colored emperor flame shifted, taking on the fallen heart flame's transparency as an extremely faint wisp of flame rose from his palm.
"But fortunately, the emperor flame can transform into the fallen heart flame and produce heart fire to help me cultivate. Although I haven't absorbed this wisp of emperor flame, it's my own flame and won't hurt me, so it won't cause fire poison.
With the fallen heart flame, my cultivation speed will at least more than double.
Once I break through to Dou Zhe and absorb the emperor flame, it should increase even more."
The next day.
Xiao Ce got up early and washed up. Not long after he finished breakfast, someone knocked on his courtyard gate.
He opened the gate, and Xiao Yan walked in, rubbing his hands together somewhat sheepishly. "Third Brother, do you have any Gold Soul Coins? Could you lend me some?"
A trace of understanding surfaced in Xiao Ce's eyes. He immediately realized that Yao Lao had already appeared and taken Xiao Yan as his disciple.
He was probably here to borrow money to buy medicinal ingredients and prepare Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid.
That Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid was a rare medicine that could take effect even during the Dou Qi stage.
If he could get some, then with his own diligent cultivation, he might be able to break through to Dou Zhe in about a year!
Of course, all of this depended on Xiao Yan first having enough money to buy the ingredients for the first batch of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid.
At this thought, Xiao Ce went straight back to his room and gave Xiao Yan all the gold coins he had saved over the years. "Take it."
Looking at the savings card Xiao Ce handed him, Xiao Yan felt a surge of gratitude.
"Thank you, Third Brother!" Xiao Yan said, moved.
Xiao Ce patted Xiao Yan on the shoulder. "There's no need for that between brothers."
"I'll go cultivate now. Spend the money however you like. It's not as though I usually have much to spend it on anyway."
Xiao Yan nodded emphatically, already resolved to set aside some Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid for Xiao Ce later, even if it meant revealing a little!
Xiao Yan left the courtyard, and Xiao Ce headed to the mountain behind the clan grounds.
Starting that morning, he cultivated without a moment's rest. The fallen heart flame formed heart fire within him, continuously tempering his Dou Qi and helping his cultivation slowly improve.
Night fell, and the sky grew completely dark.
Xiao Ce returned to his residence and immediately spotted a bottle outside his bedroom door, with a note beneath it.
The note said little. It merely explained that the liquid in the bottle was called Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid, that it accelerated cultivation, and that it should be dripped into a bathtub when used.
Xiao Ce smiled at the sight. "Fourth Brother, I haven't doted on you for nothing."
Time passed in the blink of an eye.
The supply of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid never stopped. Every so often, Xiao Ce would find another bottle outside his door.
With this, coupled with the fallen heart flame's automatic cultivation effect, his cultivation grew rapidly.
In the blink of an eye, a year passed, and the Xiao Clan's coming-of-age ceremony was just around the corner.
Over that year, Xiao Ce had barely gone out, spending most of his time cultivating in his room with Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid.
Occasionally, Xiao Yan and Xiao Xun'er would come to see him, chat about things that had happened in the Xiao Clan, or go shopping with him to unwind.
Aside from that, his father, Xiao Zhan, would also find time amid his busy schedule to visit and show his concern, telling him not to push himself too hard.
The result was that after every visit, Xiao Ce cultivated even harder.
After a year of effort, he had successfully reached the Ninth Stage of Dou Qi, only one step away from Dou Zhe.
An increase of four stages of Dou Qi in one year-was that slow?
No.
But this was with the combined support of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid and the emperor flame's fallen heart flame.
Using the same Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid, Xiao Yan had risen a full five stages in one year, even without the help of the emperor flame's fallen heart flame.
The gap in their talent was plain to see.
Still, Xiao Ce was not discouraged.
Both the emperor flame and the Spirit Refining Art required him to reach Dou Zhe before they could show their true effects, and he also needed to break through to Dou Zhe to gain a second deployment opportunity.
If he wanted to truly take flight, he still had to break through to Dou Zhe.
And to break through to Dou Zhe, aside from attempting it on his own, which was extremely time-consuming and difficult, the best option was to use Qi Gathering Powder. In the original story, Xiao Yan had relied on Qi Gathering Powder to quickly break through to the Dou Zhe realm.
Xiao Ce did not have Yao Lao to help refine it, but he remembered that when Nalan Yanran broke off the engagement, she had left behind a portion of Qi Gathering Powder.
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