The swamp was a graveyard of ancient trees and stagnant water, but for Xiao Chen, it had become a laboratory of life and death. The Frost-Fire Python didn't just move; it glided through the mire with a terrifying elegance, its dual-colored scales refracting the dying light of the sunset.
On the left, the air cracked with frost—the swamp water turning into jagged shards of ice. On the right, the water boiled, sending plumes of sulfurous steam into the air.
"System," Chen's voice was a low growl, his lungs burning from the toxic mist. "Status check on the 4x Expansion."
[Warning: Expansion Imminent]
Current Vessel Capacity: 98%.
Meridian Stress: Critical.
Time to 'Geometric Burst': 142 seconds.
Advice: Exhaust current Qi reserves immediately to create a vacuum for the incoming power.
"Exhaust my reserves? Gladly."
The Dance of Thermal Shock
Chen didn't wait for the python to strike. He initiated. Using the [Rippling Silk Step], he didn't just run; he moved in a zigzag pattern, his feet barely touching the surface of the black mud. Each step left a scorched footprint of emerald flame.
The python hissed, a sound that felt like needles scraping against Chen's eardrums. It opened its massive maw, and a dual-beam of blue ice and red fire spiraled toward him.
Normal 4-Star Dou Zhes would have been vaporized or frozen instantly. But Chen's 4x Neural Processing saw the "seam" between the two elements—the point of instability where heat and cold fought for dominance.
He leaped. In mid-air, he spun his black iron sword, coating it in his Green Wood Flame.
"Break!"
He slashed at the exact center of the dual-beam.
BOOM!
The reaction was violent. The sudden collision of his high-density Fire-Wood Qi with the snake's unstable breath caused a localized explosion. The shockwave sent Chen flying backward, but it shattered the snake's attack, sending shards of red-hot ice raining down on the swamp.
The Constriction of Fate
Chen hit a rotted tree trunk, the wood splintering behind him. Before he could recover, the python was there. It didn't use its breath again; it used its weight.
Fifteen feet of armored muscle coiled around Chen in a heartbeat. The pressure was instantaneous.
Creeeak.
Chen's Doubled Ribs groaned under the strain. The cold scales on his legs began to numb his nerves, while the heat on his chest threatened to melt his Alchemist robe.
"You... overgrown... worm..."
Chen's vision blurred. The System's timer was ticking down.
[60 seconds to 4x Expansion.]
[Heart Rate: 190 BPM.]
[Blood Pressure: Triple Human Maximum.]
He could feel his Dantian—the core of his power—vibrating so hard it felt like it was going to tear his stomach open. The golden liquid droplet was spinning at a frequency that generated a high-pitched hum only he could hear.
"If I'm going to explode," Chen spat, a trail of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth, "I'm taking you with me!"
The Geometric Burst
He stopped fighting the constriction. He stopped trying to push the coils away. Instead, he pulled all his Qi back into his heart. He became a void.
The Python, sensing the lack of resistance, tightened its grip further, intending to crush the life out of this troublesome human.
Then, the timer hit zero.
[Activating Second Doubling Sequence: 4x Multiplier Initialized.]
It didn't feel like a breakthrough. It felt like a supernova.
Inside Chen's Dantian, the "Vacuum" he had created was suddenly flooded with a power that was four times greater than anything he had ever felt. His meridians didn't just grow; they were forcefully reconstructed into jade-like channels.
SHHH-BOOM!
A pillar of emerald-green light erupted from Chen's body, piercing through the snake's coils like they were made of paper.
The Python didn't even have time to hiss. The sheer physical expansion of Chen's muscles and the sudden eruption of his Qi tore the snake's midsection apart. Fragments of cobalt and crimson scales flew into the air, sizzling as they hit the water.
Chen stood in the center of the crater, his eyes glowing with an intense, haunting emerald light. His skin was translucent for a moment, showing the glowing "circuits" of his 4x-powered meridians.
[Doubling Complete]
Talent Grade: King (4x Baseline)
Strength: 4x Baseline (Equal to 9-Star Dou Shi)
Soul Perception: Spirit Realm (Middle Stage)
Special Note: Your Qi now possesses 'Life-Fire' properties due to the Wood-Fire doubling.
The Final Strike
The Python was still alive, though its body was nearly severed. It tried to slither away, its bi-colored eyes wide with a very human-like fear.
Chen moved. He didn't use a step technique; he simply walked. Each step displaced the swamp water as if he were a giant. He reached down and gripped the snake's head.
"The Doubling System doesn't just give me power," Chen whispered into the beast's ear. "It gives me the right to be the apex predator."
He tightened his fingers.
Snap.
The skull of the 2nd-Tier beast crumbled like a dry eggshell.
Chen reached into the gore and pulled out the pulsing, bi-colored core. As he held it, the residual energy of the 4x breakthrough began to settle. The emerald light faded from his skin, leaving him standing there in his shredded, blood-soaked silver robes.
He was a 4-Star Dou Shi. At age eleven.
But as the adrenaline faded, his 4x Soul Perception suddenly spiked. He felt a gaze. A powerful, icy, and beautiful gaze coming from the canopy above.
"I guess the show is over," Chen muttered, wiping blood from his forehead. He looked up, his new emerald eyes locking onto the hidden figure of the Dou Huang. "You've been watching for a while, Senior. Don't you know it's rude to stare at a lady—or a monster—while they're changing?"
From the shadows of the trees, Yun Yun stepped out, her face a mask of profound disbelief. She had seen Dou Shi before, but she had never seen a child grow four times stronger in the span of a single breath.
"What... are you?" she whispered.
Chen smiled, his touch of wit returning even in the middle of a blood-stained swamp. "I'm just a boy with a very fast metabolism, Senior. Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe you have a seal that needs breaking, and I happen to be the only Alchemist for fifty miles."