In the bamboo forest behind the Ye Family Manor, within Ye Chen's private courtyard.
A small figure stood there, eyes slightly closed. After a long while, his hands trembled slightly, and a silvery flame instantly appeared between them…
The silver flame quickly enveloped his hands, and its scorching temperature made Ye Chen's tender face appear somewhat ethereal.
The flame slowly condensed, its color deepening and its temperature rising.
When it reached a certain critical point, it could no longer change…
Ye Chen's delicate brows furrowed, clearly indicating that this was the limit he could currently achieve.
So, next was to see how far his control over the flame could reach…
With a thought, the flames on Ye Chen's hands seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, their shape constantly changing and elongating…
Finally, the two masses of flame formed two lines of fire, which then began to circle Ye Chen's body, one on the left and one on the right, forming Rings of fire.
When the fire Rings had wrapped around him for more than ten layers, Ye Chen's face suddenly turned pale, and then the flames in his hands instantly trembled, before disappearing with a 'bang'…
Looking at the scattered silver sparks in the air, a trace of helplessness flickered across Ye Chen's small face.
No choice, his strength was still too weak!
If he had the strength of a Dou Master now, then this Repelling Fire Ring would have been perfectly formed…
"It seems it's time to Breakthrough to Dou Disciple…"
Due to his age, Ye Chen's focus at this stage had always been on researching Alchemist techniques and absorbing Star Essence, while his Cultivation of Dou Qi was placed second.
However, it now seemed that whether it was Cultivating Alchemist or Cultivating fire control techniques, both required sufficient Dou Qi support, so a Breakthrough in Realm was imperative.
But before the Breakthrough, he still needed to Cultivate the Dou Qi within his body to the Perfection Realm.
After making his decision, over the next half year…
Although Ye Chen still spent his mornings practicing refining Medicinal Pills, his afternoons practicing fire control techniques, and his evenings absorbing Star Essence…
While absorbing Star Essence, he also spent the same amount of time Cultivating Dou Qi, and he also woke up an hour earlier each day to Cultivate Dou Qi.
Were such days tiring?
Tiring!
But as the old saying goes…
Those who endure hardship become superior!
Having come to this Dou Qi Continent, Ye Chen did not want to live a muddled life.
In this world, if you don't want to be bullied, you must strive to become a truly superior person!
In half a year, even without utilizing any of the Ye Family's resources, and relying solely on arduous Cultivation, Ye Chen still refined his nine-stage Dou Qi to Perfection.
At this point, the Dou Qi stored in his Dantian could not increase by even a single iota.
And perhaps due to the repeated flushing and refining by Dou Qi, Ye Chen's small body had also been growing rapidly over the past half year…
Although he was only a little over seven and under eight years old, his height had already reached one meter fifty.
He grew more than ten centimeters in half a year, directly transitioning from a small child to a handsome youth. Such a change also greatly surprised Ye Mother Song Chun'er…
How could my adorable little treasure have grown so much in just half a year?
Of course, Ye Chen didn't care about these things right now.
"It seems my Dou Qi has been tempered to the extreme, and further Cultivation will not bring any more changes. It's time to Breakthrough to Dou Disciple!"
Feeling the constantly abundant power within his body, Ye Chen felt that his Foundation had reached its limit.
When he told Ye Zhong and the Ye Family Old Ancestor about this decision, he received their support.
"Ye Chen, you are different from other boys. You have been steady and opinionated since childhood. Since it is your own idea, go for it. We all support you."
Ye Family Old Ancestor Ye Xun, who had aged decades compared to half a year ago, said with a smile.
It had been half a year, and Ye Chen had clearly seen the changes in his Old Ancestor. Although he had never said anything, he knew very well that this old man probably did not have much time left.
"Old Ancestor, please rest assured. Once I Breakthrough to Dou Disciple, I will definitely be able to successfully refine the first furnace of Medicinal Pills. At that time, I will still need you to oversee it," Ye Chen said with slightly red eyes.
"Good, good, then I, the Old Ancestor, will wait…"
Ye Xun's aged face was filled with a gentle smile.
"This Qi Gathering Powder was personally refined by me, the Old Ancestor. Now it's just right to give it to you…"
Receiving the white jade Medicinal Pill bottle Ye Xun handed over, Ye Chen nodded heavily.
"I will not disappoint you!"
Returning to his small courtyard, Ye Chen directly locked himself in his room.
He now needed to calm his emotions, adjust his state to the best, and then condense the Dou Qi vortex to Breakthrough to Dou Disciple!
With everything ready, Ye Chen slowly took a breath, then took out the jade bottle containing the Qi Gathering Powder from his Ring. With the bottle tilted slightly, a blue-green interchanging Medicinal Pill rolled out.
After sniffing the refreshing and unique fragrance, Ye Chen no longer hesitated and put it into his mouth…
As soon as the Qi Gathering Powder entered his mouth, a faint coolness spread, and after a moment, a warm, pure energy rushed directly from his mouth into his body, causing Ye Chen's body to tremble violently.
With a calm expression, Ye Chen ignored the drastic changes within his body. He formed the hand seal for absorbing Dou Qi and began to rapidly convert the green medicinal power in his body into white Dou Qi.
The Dou Qi within Ye Chen's body had already reached Perfection, and with such further infusion, the Dou Qi in his Dantian instantly swelled, continuously compressing his entire body's Meridians, causing waves of tearing pain.
Fortunately, Ye Chen's Meridians had long been refined to the extreme, many times tougher than those of ordinary people, which allowed him to withstand such a massive energy compression…
"Now's the time!"
With a low shout in his heart, Ye Chen's hand seals suddenly changed, forming a peculiar hand seal…
As the hand seals changed, the surging Dou Qi within Ye Chen's body seemed to be subjected to a fierce suction force, rapidly contracting towards his lower abdomen.
A powerful Soul Power began to surge from Ye Chen's glabella, then penetrated deep into his Dantian, beginning to control these Dou Qi to rotate and compress.
This was a crucial step in condensing the Dou Qi vortex. If he failed, he would directly fall to eight-stage Dou Qi, and then he would need to spend a year to recover his Dantian…
When the Dou Qi contracted to only the size of a palm, it seemed to have reached its limit and could no longer continue.
Ye Chen frowned, but he was not prepared to stop there…
"Press again!"
With an angry roar in his heart, an even larger Soul Power surged from his glabella, then controlled the Dou Qi within his body to continue rotating and compressing.
Bang!
A muffled sound came from within his body, and then Ye Chen discovered that the original Dou Qi mass in his Dantian had disappeared, replaced by a faint Dou Qi vortex, slowly rotating on its own, looking like a Star Essence…