Suspicions Confirmed! A Soaring Rise in Strength

Rustle, rustle!

Just after midnight, the diary's doubled reward arrived right on time.

Soul power, Dou Qi, physical energy, and memories and knowledge: four torrents poured from the diary as before, disappearing entirely into Ye Qingzhou's body.

The various transformations that had occurred after he fused with the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame seed counted as a reward from the diary, so they were not doubled.

The first torrent was insight into cultivation methods and Dou Techniques. He had spent the entire previous morning guiding Ye Xinlan in cultivating the Crimson Flame Bodhi Scripture, which was much the same as cultivating it several times himself. Those experiences now became his gains once more.

His understanding of the Crimson Flame Bodhi Scripture seemed to deepen another level. The route Dou Qi took through the meridians, the points where the acupoints intersected with the natural energy of heaven and earth, and the rhythm of tempering the body from the outside in-all of it became clearer in his mind.

The second torrent was a warm current from the soul. He received the benefits he had gained from the ancestral hall's plaque the day before once more through the diary, and his soul underwent a complete qualitative transformation.

His Soul Origin was now thoroughly consolidated. Without even circulating the Xuan Heaven Soul Technique, he could faintly sense the spiritual Qi drifting between heaven and earth outside the secret chamber. With his soul talent alone, he could directly absorb spiritual Qi to strengthen his soul.

Of course, it would be slower than cultivating a method!

His physical energy did not increase by much. The final torrent was the main event.

My guess was right. The positive effects of swallowing pills can also be doubled through the diary.

That means any pills I take to increase my cultivation will give me twice the benefit through the diary!

The previous night, Ye Qingzhou had swallowed a Purple Heart Barrier-Breaking Pill and a Three-Pattern Green Spirit Pill in succession. He had used the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame seed to refine all their medicinal power and ensure success, raising his cultivation from three-star Da Dou Shi to seven-star Da Dou Shi-a full four stars.

Now, the diary delivered those gains to him again. It was as if he had taken both pills a second time, allowing him to raise his cultivation by four stars in one go.

Boom!

Dou Qi churned through his body like a tsunami, and Ye Qingzhou's whole body shuddered.

He settled into meditation and looked inward, "watching" the sea-urchin-shaped Dou Crystal in his dantian, which had originally borne nine spikes, continuously transform. Its spikes visibly dwindled, until the Dou Crystal finally took on a perfectly round, jade-like form.

As time passed, the nine spikes that had originally drawn together on the sea-urchin-shaped Dou Crystal spread out once more. This time, however, instead of extending outward, they contracted inward and completely merged with the Dou Crystal.

With such a concentrated infusion of energy, the entire Dou Crystal grew ever rounder and smoother, like a piece of fine mutton-fat jade polished a thousand times over.

When it was all complete, a surge of abundant power unlike anything Ye Qingzhou had ever possessed or felt before poured out of the Dou Crystal. It flowed through the meridians throughout his body, rapidly strengthening and widening them from head to toe.

One-star Dou Ling. I've broken through.

He slowly opened his eyes, a brilliant light shining in them.

He raised a hand, and pink-gold Dou Qi rose from his palm. Under his control, it formed a sharp spear of flame.

Shaping Dou Qi into a weapon, combining it with Dou Qi Armor, or fusing it with a weapon for use-these were the marks of a breakthrough to Dou Ling!

Who could have imagined that, in just four hours, he had relied on two pills and fleeced the diary to forcibly raise his cultivation from three-star Da Dou Shi to one-star Dou Ling?

"That feels good!"

Ye Qingzhou stood and stretched his limbs.

Dou Ling-level Dou Qi surged through his body, making him want to throw back his head and let out a long cry.

Sure enough, cheating feels good for a moment, and cheating all the time feels good all the time.

A life of cultivation is meaningless without cheats.

At this rate of cultivation, wouldn't his breakthrough to Dou Di be just around the corner?

Leaving everything else aside, there was the Emperor Grade Nascent Pill in Tou She Ancient God's Cave Mansion, which possessed Origin Emperor Qi.

Hun Tiandi had spent a thousand years laying his plans, all to use the Spirit-Devouring Life-Ending Formation to raise the Emperor Grade Nascent Pill into a true Emperor Pill.

But if it were him, there would be no need for all that trouble. He could simply swallow it directly. If one was not enough, he could wait for the diary to provide another round the next day. With the effects of two Emperor Grade Nascent Pills stacked together, it would definitely be enough.

So I have to keep writing in the diary diligently.

Ye Qingzhou sat cross-legged again and took out the diary with a thought, then began to write.

He had gained a great deal today and was in a good mood, so he planned to write a little more.

["Those who humiliate others"... "will always be humiliated in turn"... "challenge"... "confirmation"... "turning things around"... "ceremony retest"... "shock"... "Qi Increasing Powder"... "formidable"... "Jia Nan Academy"]

[Xiao Yan: "Jia Nan Academy? Studying in a classroom with a bunch of little brats, like flowers in a greenhouse? I have no interest in going."]

[Yao Lao: "There are Heavenly Flames in Jia Nan Academy."]

[Xiao Yan: "But then again, its reputation has spread throughout the entire Dou Qi Continent, so Jia Nan Academy must have its merits. It wouldn't hurt to go and see it for myself."]

[Yao Lao: "Little Yanzi, you change your face so quickly."]

[Xiao Yan: "I call that following my heart."]

The women: "..."

"Pfft."

Reading that passage, Cao Ying lay on her bed and burst out laughing, raising her hand again and again to slap her pillow.

She really didn't know whether to say the diary's owner was talented for making the story so entertaining,

or that this Xiao Yan was an interesting person.

But the next moment, Cao Ying could no longer laugh.

She tried to turn the page, but couldn't, which meant today's update was already over.

"Who's supposed to be satisfied with an update this short?"

"If the people who know me found out I only read this much each day, they'd think I couldn't afford more."

Although today's update in the diary was longer than the previous two days' combined, Cao Ying was still dissatisfied.

She was just that greedy a woman: having gained Long, she set her sights on Shu.

It was just like asking the "diary's owner" for more.

However much someone gave her, she would take it all. She could handle every bit.

"As usual, I'll put this on The Light Boat Has Passed Ten Thousand Mountains' tab. I'll settle the whole account when I get the chance." Cao Ying puffed out her cheeks and made a note in the little notebook in her heart.

Meanwhile, at the Xiao Clan in Wutan City.

Xun'er finished reading all the updated content, a thoughtful look appearing on her face. "Judging by what's been written so far, Xiao Yan may go to Jia Nan Academy to study later."

At that thought, Xun'er softly summoned her shadow guard and said, "I'm going to Jia Nan Academy. If the clan wants me back, they can send the Black Annihilation Army to fetch me. Otherwise, I won't return of my own accord."

"Yes, young lady." The shadow guard accepted the order and withdrew.

Xun'er closed her eyes and continued looking through the diary in her mind.

She had a persistent feeling that the eagerness Xiao Yan showed toward Heavenly Flames exceeded an ordinary alchemist's desire for them.

The earlier entries said that once Xiao Yan breaks through to Dou Zhe, Yao Lao will give him two cultivation methods to choose from.

By rights, Yao Lao could simply give him the most suitable method. He couldn't possibly be unaware that cultivating a High Xuan Tier method is best for laying a foundation early on, and that switching to an Earth Tier Cultivation Method at the Dou Ling level is better.

It seems there's something fishy about one of those two methods. Is it related to Heavenly Flames?

There were too few useful clues, and she could not casually reveal the diary's contents to outsiders, so Xun'er could only make limited guesses.

But if Ye Qingzhou knew what she was thinking, he would surely have been generous with his praise.

Xun'er truly was clever as ice and snow.