"Is it because of Xiao Yan?"
Yao Lao glanced at Xiao Yan, who was cultivating diligently while soaking in a wooden barrel, and a seemingly reasonable guess arose in his heart.
Xiao Yan had been born with a powerful soul force. When cultivating, he would draw in more heaven and earth energy, and after he broke through to Dou Practitioner, it allowed Yao Lao, who had been asleep, to borrow the Bone-Flame Ring to absorb the heaven and earth spiritual qi.
At first, this absorption had been unconscious, which led to Xiao Yan's cultivation regressing. After Yao Lao woke, he'd wanted to test and temper Xiao Yan's mind, so he'd let the boy be a waste for three years and experience the warmth and coldness of the human world.
Over these years, Yao Lao was also very clear how deep the feelings between Xiao Ting and Xiao Yan ran.
In order to take care of his genius-turned-waste cousin's feelings, Xiao Ting had deliberately hidden his own cultivation and talent. This was indeed something Xiao Ting would do.
"Such feelings are truly excellent and trustworthy." The more Yao Lao thought about it, the more convinced he became.
He also recalled his own half-brother by different parents, Feng Xian, who was probably searching for him all over the continent now.
Xiao Yan's strength was still insufficient at the moment; otherwise, they could head to Central Plains and ask Feng Xian for help, letting him recover faster.
"Xiao Ting is also worth cultivating." Yao Lao pondered in secret.
Xiao Ting's soul talent was no weaker than Xiao Yan's; and now, judging from his cultivation talent, he was not bad in that area either.
It was just a pity that Xiao Ting's Battle Qi attribute was not fire with a trace of wood, but a dual attribute of lightning and fire.
Even though thunder was born from wood, and thunder and wood originated from the same source, he would have to master a kind of Heavenly Flame with both wood and fire attributes to have a chance of becoming an alchemist.
For now, he didn't need to consider the path of alchemy for Xiao Ting. But thunder-and-fire attribute cultivators were naturally born warriors.
As for Xiao Yan, he hoped this disciple could cultivate Flame Mantra, since it concerned his own resurrection.
But the choice would still be left to Xiao Yan.
For Xiao Ting, however, he could directly give him high-rank fire-attribute or lightning-attribute cultivation methods.
Raise the two brothers together, so they could watch each other's backs in the future.
…
Xiao Ting himself knew nothing about Yao Lao's intentions to cultivate him.
This moment, he was seizing the opportunity brought about by the introductory stage of Thunder-Flame Body Tempering Art to attempt a breakthrough.
Boom!
It was as if the roar of tigers and leopards and the rumbling of thunder echoed imperceptibly in the air.
Heaven and earth energy, dense yet full of impurities, gathered madly around Xiao Ting.
He devoured it greedily. His meridians were like a thundercloud suffused with the might of heaven and earth; the lightning and flame they contained smelted the heaven and earth energy. Under the control of his mid-Mortal-Realm soul strength, it flowed through a special route, then merged into the Battle Qi cycle in his dantian in an extremely pure state.
The silver-violet cycle welcomed every trace of heaven and earth energy that entered, devouring and refining it all, then feeding it back into Xiao Ting's meridians and every inch of his body, tempering and polishing him in reverse, making his physique stronger and his meridians tougher.
When the Dou Practitioner cycle had accumulated to a certain density, it finally underwent a qualitative change, condensing into liquid energy. Then, following a particular path, it surged into every inch and every cell of Xiao Ting's body, as if coating them with a unique layer of energy crystals.
This process lasted nearly a minute. Then the cycle in Xiao Ting's dantian abruptly stopped. He opened his eyes suddenly as a surge of aura rushed out from within his body.
"I broke through successfully!" Xiao Ting smiled.
He clenched his fists, feeling a surging sense of power that could easily make one blindly confident. If he were to return to Earth now, he could practically be considered a humanoid missile.
With a thought, a stream of silver-violet Battle Qi surged out, covering the surface of his body and clinging tightly to his cultivation clothes. This was the hallmark ability of a Dou Master—Battle Qi cloak.
Once activated, it enhanced speed, defense, attack, and more; it was the true watershed that put Dou Practitioners far ahead, making it difficult for those of lower ranks to challenge them across realms.
"After my relentless efforts for a whole day and night, I've finally gone from newly advanced Dou Practitioner to newly advanced Dou Master." Xiao Ting gave himself a thumbs-up in his heart.
Becoming a Dou Master still left him in the lower tier of the Battle Qi Continent's cultivator pyramid, but at least he'd separated himself from the masses.
In small cities like Qingshan Town, he'd be qualified to found a mercenary group and become an overlord, or establish a small family.
Within the three great families of Wu Tan City, he'd be considered middle-to-upper tier. In the Jia Ma Empire's army, he could also serve as a junior officer.
This was a joyful event worth recording.
[In Xiao Yan's sixteenth year…]
[With my current cultivation talent and comprehension, even I find myself terrifying. In just one night, I successfully learned the introductory stage of the low-tier Earth-rank cultivation method Thunder-Flame Body Tempering Art, and have the following insights…]
[After successfully learning the low-tier Earth-rank cultivation method, I converted the ordinary Battle Qi in my body and seized the fleeting opportunity to break through to Dou Master.]
[This is a historic moment worth commemorating.]
[The plane's blessing acted as a courier of resources and told me how to pick up a Grandmaster Pill. I ended up not needing it, so I can take it back to the clan and have Uncle exchange it for other resources.]
After he finished recording, Xiao Ting left the cultivation chamber, planning to wash up and then go find Xun'er.
…
At the same time, all the girls who possessed copies of the Journal received a notification that the Journal had updated content.
Since their current affairs were not urgent, they chose to pause and open their Journal copies to read—and then fell into silence.
Dou Master? Didn't he just break through to Dou Practitioner yesterday?
Are Earth-rank cultivation methods really this terrifying?
"He must have gotten some other fortuitous encounter after we got the Journal, which made his cultivation surge."
"And then he received the Earth-rank cultivation method Xun'er gifted him, and once he formally began cultivating it, he completed his breakthrough."
In Misty Cloud Sect's private courtyard in Jia Ma Sacred City, Yun Yun gently rubbed her temples.
Breaking through to Dou Master at fifteen, cultivating a low-tier Earth-rank method—setting aside the Journal's blessing and Xun'er, he'd still be able to break through to Dou Emperor before the age of thirty.
"What is Sect Master Yun Yun thinking about?" An elderly voice suddenly sounded in the courtyard.
Yun Yun restrained her expression, folded her hands on her lap, and looked at the old man descending from the sky. "I'm thinking about the matter of Hall of Souls."
"Hall of Souls?" A flicker of doubt flashed in Jia Xing Tian's eyes as he slowly said, "I've heard of it. It's one of the top powers in Central Plains. Why would you mention them?"
The Jia Ma Empire had no Dou Ancestor experts. In the northwest region, it was only a second-rate power; across the entire Dou Qi Continent, it was third-rate.
In front of top-tier forces, the Jia Ma Empire was like an ant—roughly equivalent to a small mercenary group facing an empire.
Jia Xing Tian's vision was limited, so that was the only way he could understand things.
"Senior Jia, have you ever heard of any Hall of Souls members appearing in the Jia Ma Empire and its surroundings?" Even without the constraints of the Journal, Yun Yun wouldn't reveal the whole truth. She held back as she answered, "I learned from a special channel that our sect might have some connection with Hall of Souls, so I want to find some of their people to verify it."
"My understanding of the neighboring empires is far inferior to yours, so I invited you here to talk."
"Oh?" Jia Xing Tian stroked his beard. It was unclear whether he believed her words, but after a moment's thought he nodded. "What a coincidence."
"I do know some information related to Hall of Souls."
"However, you definitely won't be able to go seek them out."
…
A Hall of Souls Protector who had just left Misty Cloud Sect and was passing through the capital of the Jia Ma Empire: "…"
Jie jie jie, the moment this Protector arrives, I hear someone talking about Hall of Souls.
…