A Cultivation Method Connected to the Pill Tower

"Blazing Sun Palm!"

Having pinpointed the weak spot, Ye Qingzhou drew the five fingers of his right hand together and gathered power in his palm.

"Hah!"

Instead of retreating, Ye Qingzhou advanced, leaping into the air to meet the flames raining down from the sky.

His palm strike carried scorching Dou Qi, which condensed into a blazing palm imprint above his head and met the second stream of heavenly fire from the left head-on.

"Boom!"

The palm imprint collided with the heavenly fire. The stream split apart from its center, shattering into sparks that scattered in every direction.

Ye Qingzhou plunged straight into the heavenly fire. His body swiftly dissolved in the terrifying heat, but a smile remained on his face.

"Fire gives birth to Bodhi; through death, one finds life."

"Descendant of the Ye Clan, if you ever gain entry to the Pill Tower's Scripture Repository, seek out the Blazing Flame Bodhi Scripture!"

The instant his consciousness and body dispersed, a more lifelike aged voice rang out in Ye Qingzhou's mind.

"Thank you for your guidance, ancestor."

Ye Qingzhou replied in his heart, and his surroundings suddenly shattered inch by inch like a mirror.

It seemed like ten thousand years, yet also like a single instant. Ye Qingzhou found himself back on the fourth floor of the Scripture Repository, his hand still resting on the scroll of the "Crimson Flame Bodhi Scripture," as though the heavenly fire tribulation had been nothing but a dream.

"I did it."

Ye Qingzhou picked up the "Crimson Flame Bodhi Scripture," then walked over to the nearby shelves of Dou Techniques.

This time, he hesitated for a while. After comparing his options, he made his choice and picked up a beast-hide scroll with a fiery red sheen. Six small gilded characters were written on it: Fire Python Heavenly Dance Spear Technique.

It was a High-grade Profound Tier Dou Technique, a spear technique that allowed the user to wield a spear to control Dou Qi and condense it into a Fire Python for battle. The user could also wield the spear as a Fire Python with the ease of moving a limb. It excelled at both offense and defense, fierce and overbearing.

The Dou Technique was powerful, but it was also difficult to cultivate. It required extremely strong soul power to control the fire and give it form, but that was no problem for Ye Qingzhou.

With his chosen cultivation method and Dou Technique in hand, Ye Qingzhou went downstairs to register them with the elder guarding the repository.

Just as she reached the corridor leading from the third floor to the second, she came face-to-face with a group of young men and women.

Leading them were three young people, all dressed as disciples of the Ye Clan's direct line.

The girl on the far left had a cool, aloof face and delicately arched brows. She wore a pair of glasses.

In the middle was a young man of about eighteen or nineteen, with a distinguished bearing and a jade ornament at his waist. He was Ye Xintian, the fourth young master of the Ye Clan's third generation of direct descendants.

The one on the right was sturdily built and dark-faced. He was Ye Xinlan's cousin, Ye Xinhuo.

Nearly ten young disciples followed the three, all members of the Ye Clan's branch families, just like Ye Qingzhou.

Ye Qingzhou glanced at them and thought of the core disciple assessment held a few days earlier. These people were probably disciples who had ranked well in the competition and been rewarded with permission to choose items from the Scripture Repository and the Treasure Repository.

"Ye Qingzhou!"

Ye Qingzhou had intended to step aside and avoid them, but Ye Xintian spotted him first. The smile on his face faded, replaced by a touch of arrogance and mockery.

"You didn't take part in the core disciple assessment this time. Were you afraid?"

Ye Qingzhou couldn't be bothered with him and went straight downstairs, avoiding the group.

A few years ago, Ye Xintian had wanted to make him a lackey, only to be defeated by him in a fair contest.

Who would have thought he'd hold a grudge all this time and run his mouth every time they met? It was truly speechless.

"Ye Qingzhou!"

Seeing Ye Qingzhou ignore him, Ye Xintian clenched his fists and said coldly, "You didn't take part in the core disciple assessment, so why were you allowed onto the third floor? Did you sneak in?"

Ye Qingzhou stopped and turned to look at Ye Xintian. After a moment's silence, he gave a very soft laugh. "Ye Xintian, if you like picking on me and asking for a beating, do as you please, but could you at least use your brain?"

"You say I snuck into the Scripture Repository. Setting aside the fact that you're slandering my character, are you saying there's something wrong with the Ye Clan's restrictions?"

"Or are you questioning the strength and character of the elder guarding the repository?"

Those words froze the expression on Ye Xintian's face.

At its peak, the Ye Clan had produced a Dou Zun and more than one Eighth-Tier alchemist. The person who left those restrictions behind had been immensely powerful; even a Dou Zong expert could not break through them and force their way into the Scripture Repository.

Questioning the elder guarding the repository was certainly not something a junior disciple like him could do.

Ye Xintian immediately fell silent, and the atmosphere grew awkward for a moment.

Just then, a branch-family disciple stepped forward to speak for Ye Xintian. "Ye Qingzhou, don't make such a big issue out of it. The fourth young master was only joking with you. You take everything too seriously."

"Let me tell you, the fourth young master has already cultivated to Nine-Star Dou Shi, and he even took an impressive third place in the clan's core disciple competition."

"Once he receives his reward, he'll break through to Da Dou Shi before long. By then, you won't be able to catch up to him even on horseback."

"If you know what's good for you, apologize right now. Maybe the fourth young master will still give you a chance."

"You're just a branch-family disciple who didn't even dare take the assessment. If you bow your head and apologize now, it's not too late."

"About to break through to Da Dou Shi?" Ye Qingzhou looked Ye Xintian over. The latter immediately puffed out his chest and raised his chin, wearing an expression that said, "Now you finally know how impressive I am."

"Ye Qingzhou, as long as you bow your head, I can still give you the position of my second most trusted subordinate," Ye Xintian said.

What bad intentions could Ye Xintian have?

He only wanted to make Ye Qingzhou his lackey.

It was like playing house, and Ye Qingzhou found it utterly dull.

"What an impressive fourth young master. You're actually about to break through to Da Dou Shi?"

Ye Qingzhou raised his hands and clapped softly, then said, "But if you want to throw your weight around in front of me, wait until you've actually broken through to Da Dou Shi."

As his words fell, Ye Qingzhou stirred his mind and circulated his cultivation method, drawing on his Dou Qi.

A layer of crimson Dou Qi burst from his body and condensed over him into a complete suit of armor.

Immediately afterward, Ye Qingzhou seemed to turn into a crimson spark. Leaving a faint afterimage in the stairwell, he swept past the crowd and vanished around the corner of the corridor in the blink of an eye.

An intermediate Profound Tier movement Dou Technique, Spark Step.

The armor was dark crimson, with faint golden patterns flowing along its edges. Its pauldrons, breastplate, and arm guards overlapped in layers, enveloping him as though firelight had taken solid form. The Dou Qi Armor shimmered faintly, giving off a powerful, scorching pressure that made even the air in the stairwell warp slightly from the heat.

Ye Xintian and the others' pupils contracted sharply.

The sight plunged the stairway entrance into deathly silence.

After a long while, a disciple's voice rang out quietly. "Dou Qi Armor!"

"He's already broken through to Da Dou Shi?"

"No wonder he could enter the third floor of the Scripture Repository. Maybe he even went to the fourth floor."

"He's only sixteen, isn't he?"

"Before branch-family disciples break through to Dou Zhe, the resources they get are nowhere near what the direct descendants receive."

"Ye Qingzhou is a true genius!"

Ye Xintian: "..."

Why was the gap getting wider and wider!?

It looked like he would never catch up in this lifetime.

But it didn't matter. Someone else was the most talented among this generation's direct descendants.

"Hm?" Ye Xintian shifted his gaze but couldn't find Ye Xinlan.

At the same time, Ye Qingzhou made a nimble turn in midair, dodging a slender, jade-like hand reaching for him from behind, then landed steadily on the ground.

Brushing nonexistent dust lightly from his clothes, Ye Qingzhou turned to the bespectacled girl in a blue dress who had followed him. "Cousin Xin Lan, are you standing up for Ye Xintian?"