Breaking Through to Dou Zhe

Ye Chen's private courtyard stood in Ye Family Manor's rear bamboo forest.

A tiny figure stood there, eyes slightly closed. After a long while, his hands trembled faintly, and a burst of Silver Flame instantly appeared between them...

The Silver Flame quickly wrapped around both his hands. Its scorching temperature made Ye Chen's childish face seem faintly distorted.

The flames slowly gathered, their color growing denser and their temperature climbing higher and higher.

But once they reached a certain critical point, they could no longer change...

Ye Chen's delicate brows could not help furrowing. Clearly, this was already the limit he could reach right now.

Then next, it was time to see just how far his control over the flames could go...

With a thought, the flames on Ye Chen's hands seemed to be pulled by some invisible force from the Netherworld. Their shape began to change constantly, stretching longer...

In the end, the two masses of flame actually formed Two Fiery Lines, then began circling Ye Chen's body from left and right, forming rings of fire one after another.

When more than ten layers of fire rings had wrapped around him, Ye Chen's face suddenly went pale. Then the flames on his hands instantly trembled before vanishing completely with a bang...

Looking at the silver sparks drifting through the air, a trace of helplessness flashed across Ye Chen's little face.

There was no helping it. His strength was still too weak!

If he had Dou Master level strength right now, then this Resisting Fire Ring would be able to take perfect shape...

"Looks like it's time to break through to Dou Zhe..."

Because of his age, Ye Chen's focus at this stage had always been on studying alchemy and absorbing Star Essence, while his Dou Qi cultivation had instead been placed second.

But now it seemed that whether he was cultivating alchemy or practicing Fire Control Skill, both required sufficient Dou Qi to support them. Breaking through his realm had already become urgent.

However, before breaking through, he still needed to first cultivate the Dou Qi within his body to the state of perfection.

Once he had made his decision, over the next half year...

Although Ye Chen still practiced Refining Medicinal Materials every morning, practiced Fire Control Skill every afternoon, and absorbed Star Essence at night...

While absorbing Star Essence, he would also spend an equal amount of time cultivating Dou Qi. On top of that, he woke up an hour earlier every day and cultivated Dou Qi then as well.

Was this kind of life tiring?

Tiring!

But how did the old saying go...

Only by enduring the bitterest hardship could one rise above others!

Now that he had come to this Dou Qi Continent, Ye Chen did not want to muddle through his whole life in a daze.

In this world, if one did not want to be bullied, one had to work hard to become someone truly above others!

In half a year, even though Ye Chen did not use any of the Ye family's resources and relied only on bitter cultivation, he still polished his Nine Stage Dou Qi to perfection.

At this moment, the Dou Qi stored in his Dantian could no longer increase by even the slightest bit.

And perhaps because he had been repeatedly washed and tempered by Dou Qi, Ye Chen's small body had also shot up wildly over the past half year...

Although he was only a little over seven years old and not yet eight, his height had already reached one and a half meters.

In half a year, he had grown more than ten centimeters, directly transitioning from a little brat into a graceful Youth. This change also left Mother Ye Song Chun'er badly startled...

How had her adorable Xiao Bao grown up after only half a year apart?

Of course, Ye Chen did not care about these things right now.

"Looks like my Dou Qi has already been tempered to the limit. Even if I keep cultivating, there won't be any more changes. It's time to break through to Dou Zhe!"

Sensing the power that filled his body at all times, Ye Chen felt that his foundation had already reached its limit.

When he told Ye Zhong and the Ye Family Old Ancestor about this decision, he also received their support.

"Chen'er, you're different from other kids. You've been steady and opinionated since you were little. Since this is what you want, then go do it. We all support you."

Ye Family Old Ancestor Ye Xun, who had aged several decades compared to half a year ago, said with a smile.

Half a year had passed, and Ye Chen had clearly seen the changes in his family's Old Ancestor. Although he had never said it, Ye Chen understood very well that this old man likely did not have much time left.

"Old Ancestor, don't worry. Once I break through to Dou Zhe, I'll definitely be able to successfully refine my first furnace of pills. When the time comes, I'll still need you to check them for me," Ye Chen said, his eyes slightly red.

"Good, good. Then this Old Ancestor will wait..."

Ye Xun's aged face was filled with a gentle smile.

"This Qi Gathering Powder was personally refined by me. Now is just the right time to give it to you..."

Taking the White Jade Medicine Bottle that Ye Xun handed over, Ye Chen nodded heavily.

"I won't let you down!"

After returning to his own little courtyard, Ye Chen directly shut himself inside his room.

Right now, he needed to calm his emotions, adjust his state to its best, then condense a Dou Qi Vortex and break through to Dou Zhe!

With everything prepared, Ye Chen slowly drew in a breath, then took out the Jade Bottle holding the Qi Gathering Powder from his Storage Ring. The mouth of the bottle tilted slightly, and a pill alternating between blue and green rolled out.

Smelling that refreshing, extraordinary fragrance, Ye Chen no longer hesitated in the slightest and put it into his mouth in one gulp...

The moment the Qi Gathering Powder entered his mouth, a faint coolness spread across his tongue. A moment later, a warm current of pure energy rushed straight from his mouth into his body, and Ye Chen's body suddenly trembled.

His expression calm, Ye Chen ignored the upheaval inside him. His hands formed the seals for absorbing Dou Qi, and he began rapidly converting the green medicinal power within his body into white Dou Qi.

The Dou Qi inside Ye Chen had already reached perfection to begin with. Under such an infusion, the Dou Qi in his Dantian instantly swelled, constantly squeezing the meridians throughout his body and sending out waves of tearing pain.

Fortunately, Ye Chen's meridians had long since been refined to the utmost, and were far tougher than those of ordinary people. Only because of that could he withstand the pressure of such vast energy...

This is the moment!

With a low shout in his heart, Ye Chen's hand seals suddenly changed, forming a strange seal...

As the hand seal changed, the surging Dou Qi inside Ye Chen seemed to be seized by a fierce suction force and abruptly contracted toward his lower abdomen at high speed.

A powerful surge of Soul Power began pouring out from between Ye Chen's brows, then sank deep into his Dantian and began controlling the Dou Qi, making it rotate and compress.

This was the crucial step in condensing a Dou Qi Vortex. If he failed, he would drop straight back to the eighth stage of Dou Qi, and would then need to spend a year recovering his Dantian...

When the Dou Qi had contracted to the size of a palm, it seemed to have reached its limit and could no longer continue.

Ye Chen frowned, but he had no intention of stopping here...

Compress again!

He roared inwardly, and even more immense Soul Power surged out from between his brows. Then, controlling the Dou Qi within his body, he continued making it rotate and compress.

Boom!

A muffled sound rang out from within his body. Then Ye Chen discovered that the original mass of Dou Qi in his Dantian had vanished. In its place was a single Dou Qi vortex, slowly rotating on its own, looking just like a cluster of stars...