In the pitch-black world, time slipped silently through our fingers. In the blink of an eye, the soul of the Hei Mu being refined was almost entirely gone...
At that moment, yet another ball of light appeared inside the medicine cauldron.
The ball of light contained the sealed Dou Qi of Hei Mu.
The appearance of this ball of light brought Xiao Yan an unexpected surprise.
If one can refine and absorb all the Dou Qi within this ball of light, the combined Dou Qi of a Nine-Star Half-Emperor would be a considerable cultivation resource.
Of course, as before, to safely absorb this Dou Qi, it was necessary to refine it repeatedly; otherwise, Xiao Yan would be quite uneasy.
The same repeated steps were performed again and again in the cauldron in front of Xiao Yan. After being refined and purified by the Heavenly Flames, Dou Qi Dou Qi, which was originally as thick as an arm, was reduced to a thin rope as thick as a thumb.
Although it looks much worse than before, the purity and content of Dou Qi Dou Qi are not much different from before.
Of course, there is bound to be some consumption during the refining process. The power of the Heavenly Flames is absolute. Although the sheer quantity of these Dou Qi is equivalent to an ocean of Dou Qi, under the continuous refining by the Heavenly Flames, it has transformed from an ocean of Dou Qi into a lake of Dou Qi qi.
The saying goes, "To gain something, you must first lose something," and this is exactly what is happening in the cauldron right now.
However, this didn't matter to Xiao Yan. After all, he didn't cultivate this Dou Qi. As long as it was proportional to his strength, he didn't care how much he consumed.
As for Gu You, after playing around with Qing Mu for a while, he set off again to explore the depths of this space.
Qing Mu watched Gu You's departing figure and finally breathed a slight sigh of relief. Cold sweat instantly poured out of his forehead like a spring. Facing Gu You, he could always feel a faint but powerful pressure.
This might be the demeanor of a strong person, or it might be because Gu You itself is Heavenly Flames.
Faced with the Heavenly Flames, even these ancient races, all born of heaven and earth, could hardly compare.
Gu You's departure gave Qing Mu enough time to recover; otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to be as relaxed and indifferent as Xiao Yan.
Therefore, at this moment, apart from the wandering Gu You, Xiao Yan and Qing Mu in the arena were both in a state of focused cultivation.
After an unknown amount of time, the silence in the arena was suddenly broken by a gust of wind.
Qing Mu, who was slowly recovering in a meditative state, was almost blown over by a gust of wind coming straight at him.
However, Qing Mu was still a powerful figure, and although he was currently at a low point, this bit of gale force was not enough to harm him.
The figure sitting cross-legged in the void suddenly flashed and retreated to a hundred feet away, its gaze instantly fixed on the center of the storm.
With his keen senses, he instantly knew that the source of the gale was right there!
But when Qing Mu glanced over, he was slightly startled by what he saw. The very source of the gale was Xiao Yan!
At this moment, Xiao Yan's aura had already reached the peak of the Peak of the Late Three-Star Half-Emperor Stage. He was just one step away from truly breaking through to the four-star Three-Star Half-Emperor!
The terrifying gale surrounding Xiao Yan is the best proof of this!
Seeing that Xiao Yan seemed to be about to break through, Qing Mu's expression changed slightly, and he quickly looked at the medicine cauldron in front of him.
The cauldron was now completely empty; the blazing Heavenly Flames had long since dissipated, and the two orbs of light within had vanished entirely.
Seeing this, Qing Mu instantly understood why Xiao Yan was on the verge of a breakthrough; it seemed he had absorbed all the Dou Qi...
Despite this, Qing Mu was not pleased. Instead, he frowned, staring intently at Xiao Yan with a strange glint in his eyes.
A moment later, just as the storm around Xiao Yan intensified, Gu You's aged figure swiftly arrived from the distant void.
Although they were thousands of miles apart, Gu You had already fixed his gaze on Xiao Yan in the center of the storm.
Sensing the increasingly violent storm surrounding him, Gu You looked worried, but even so, he still held a glimmer of hope.
Upon approaching, Gu You and Qing Mu stood side by side, their gazes both fixed on Xiao Yan in the arena.
When Qing Mu saw Gu You return, he naturally dared not be careless and hurriedly bowed to Gu You. However, Gu You was in no mood to play with him anymore and just waved his hand haphazardly before ignoring him.
"This kid, why are you in such a rush? You've advanced four stars in a year! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"
Sensing the increasingly powerful aura emanating from Xiao Yan's body, Gu You frowned deeply and uttered a string of curses.
When Gu You's words reached Qing Mu, Qing Mu's expression instantly became even more intense.
He had just heard the person next to him say with his own ears that Xiao Yan had risen four stars in a single year...
If someone else had said this, he might have taken it as a joke, but since it was Gu You in front of him, he couldn't think of the word "joke" at all.
To advance four stars in a single year, and even reach the level of Half-Emperor —isn't this cultivation speed defying the heavens?
The path of cultivation is arduous, Qing Mu knew all too well how difficult it was. Although his current strength far surpassed Xiao Yan's, he was also well aware of how difficult it was to advance to the level of Half-Emperor.
At the Half-Emperor level, each star of cultivation requires terrifying Dou Qi that is dozens of times stronger than that of Dou Sheng!
To advance, both the required Dou Qi and the depth of one's own cultivation are far more terrifying!
Generally speaking, Half-Emperor rarely rely solely on the energy of heaven and earth for their cultivation. This is because all Half-Emperor know that relying solely on their own absorption of the energy of heaven and earth to enhance their strength is extremely slow, and achieving a breakthrough would require several Suiyue effort.
Of course, if the cultivation technique is powerful enough, then that's a different story.
After all, a powerful cultivation technique allows a cultivator to absorb the energy of heaven and earth more quickly. High-level cultivation techniques are effective even for powerful individuals like Half-Emperor!
The reason why Xiao Yan was able to break through so quickly was firstly because when he broke through, he was limited by the rules of heaven and earth of the Dou Qi Continent, and the potential of the Heavenly Flames was not fully displayed.
Secondly, it was because of that Heavenly Que Demon Flower.
The Heavenly Que Demon Flower, nurtured by heaven and earth for a thousand years, was originally an excellent cultivation resource. Xiao Yan devoured and refined it, which is how he reached the Mid-Stage Three-Star Half-Emperor.
However, as Xiao Yan's strength Half-Emperor continued to increase, he had never been able to completely stabilize it over the long term.
If Xiao Yan breaks through again today, then it will likely take him a much longer time to make up for the gap in his cultivation over the past few days...
Therefore, Gu You's only hope right now is that Xiao Yan can pull back from the brink and stop in time; otherwise, the outcome would be something Xiao Yan would absolutely not be able to accept.