Battle Through the Heavens

Though Xiao Yan had obtained the Qi Gathering Pill, he did not immediately consume it. Rather, he let out a deep sigh as he forcefully suppressed his impatience and made himself get into bed to rest.

Xiao Yan knew that if he started the process to become a Dou Zhe in his current state, the chances of failure were over 70%. Although Yao Lao could easily create another Qi Gathering Pill, Xiao Yan did not want to take an unnecessary risk that could be easily avoided.

Seeing that Xiao Yan was able to resist the enticement of immediately breaking through the Dou Zhe level, Yao Lao nodded his head with a sense of satisfaction. With that gratified look on his face, his body dazzled as he transformed into ray of light and disappeared into the ring.

……

After the completion of the Qi Gathering Pill, Xiao Yan’s training pace gradually slowed into a stable rhythm. Everyday, he did an hour of Dou Qi training before going to the mountains at the back of the Xiao Clan to practice his Dou Skills. If he had time, Xiao Yan would accompany Xun Er to stroll about Wu Tang City. All in all, an extremely satisfying leisurely life.

When five days of this easy going life had passed, Xiao Yan finally felt that he was at the peak condition. It was now the best time to try to become a Dou Zhe.

……

In the mountains behind the Xiao Clan estate, there existed a hidden cave under a cliff. This cave was about a meter wide and had been specially chosen by Xiao Yan as his training ground. On the other side of the cliff were misty clouds while further down under the mist was the Devil Beast Mountain Range, filled with many fierce beasts. Below the cliff was a precipice so deep you could not see into its depths. The only entrance to the cave was a narrow trail which had already been concealed by Xiao Yan using branches and stones. Thus Xiao Yan was very sure that if he chose this place to make a breakthrough, he would not be interrupted by anyone.

Slowly breathing in, Xiao Yan brought out the jade bottle. Tilting the bottle, a blueish green pill rolled out.

Gazing upon the glossy and smooth Qi Gathering Pill, a small smile formed on Xiao Yan’s face. He once again inhaled the fragrance that would ease one’s heart. Licking his lips, Xiao Yan unhesitantly popped the pill into his mouth.

As the Qi Gathering Pill entered his mouth, an ice-cold sensation could be felt transmitting from his mouth. A split second later, a luke warm pure energy essence started transferring from his mouth into his body, eliciting a violent jerk of Xiao Yan’s body.

With a serene face, Xiao Yan used both hands to quickly form the hand seal of absorbing Dou Qi. His breathing steadily eased as the Dou Qi within his body responded to his thoughts and started to rapidly tangle with the strong and pure essence from the pill to rapidly refine it.

Within the small cave, the originally tranquil air suddenly heaved as lines of white Dou Zi Qi gathered from the air and surged continuously into Xiao Yan’s body.

Biting his lip in pain, the two energies collided within his body and caused waves of pain to emanate from the channels all over his body. Thankfully, Xiao Yan’s channels were much tougher than an ordinary person’s and thus even though it was painful, it would not cause too much damage to him.

In his body, the Dou Qi surrounded the pure green energy essence, rapidly refining it. Green energy was continuously being changed into white Dou Qi and with the newly formed Dou Qi to propel the process, the Dou Qi within Xiao Yan’s body rapidly expanded to the point where it could be seen growing with the naked eye.

Even though the pure essence from the pill was being refined unceasingly, the essence kept flowing endlessly. Everytime the Dou Qi managed to refine a batch of essence, a new and bigger batch of green energy would gush forward.

With both Dou Qi being refined within his body and absorbed from outside, the Dou Qi within Xiao Yan’s body gradually filled a large portion of his body’s channels.

As before, the refining process continued. When the pill essence finally started to diminish, Xiao Yan who was drunk on the rapid growth of his power suddenly realised that the Dou Qi in his body had swelled to a critical point and could no longer be increased.

The increasing Dou Qi caused Xiao Yan’s channels to twitch as the corners of Xiao Yan’s mouth split open in response to the waves of intense pain.

“Quick! Condense the Dou Qi cyclone! Before it explodes!” Yao Lao shout was like a clap of thunder, exploding out in Xiao Yan’s heart.

Taking in a deep breath of cool air, Xiao Yan’s hand seals suddenly changed in a flash of understanding. Touching his thumbs and middle fingers at the same spot, the ten fingers in his hand formed a weird hand seal.

Xiao Yan had taken this step years before and therefore when he used it once again, it flowed like water, smooth and undeterred.

Following the change in hand seal, the surging Dou Qi within Xiao Yan’s body suddenly flooded downwards under a wild and ferocious sucking force from the abdomen.

When all of the Dou Qi had gathered into the abdomen area, the white Dou Qi started turning to a milky white color.

“Quickly compress the Dou Qi! Use your soul perception to compress it, if the Dou Qi fails to be condensed into a cyclone, you will once again drop to the 8 Duan Qi!” Yao Lao’s shout resounded once again in Xiao Yan’s heart.

Slightly nodding his head, Xiao Yan concentrated his mind to the task. In an instant, his outstanding soul perception acquired control over the Dou Qi. The rapid compression started……

The milky white Dou Zi Qi resisted the guidance of the soul perception, violently churning about.

Though the resistance was in no way weak, Xiao Yan’s soul perception had shocked even Yao Lao. Thus the Dou Qi resistance was akin to a praying mantis trying to block a car, only slightly resisting before grudgingly pulling back.

When the Dou Qi was compressed to the size of a palm, it froze and stopped moving.

“Compress again!” Yao Lao shouted.

Gritting his teeth, Xiao Yan screwed his eyes shut. The spiritual perception surrounding the white Dou Qi abruptly peaked in power before ruthlessly pressing down!

“Bang!”

A light muffled noise quietly sounded within Xiao Yan’s body……

Following this, the resistance from the Dou Qi finally dissipated, leaving behind a drained Xiao Yan.

A heavy sigh escaped as Xiao Yan fell powerlessly to the ground, his chest rose and fell rapidly due to exhaustion.

As he laid on the cold floor of the cave, Xiao Yan yet again experienced abundant energy that he had not felt for four years. A smile floated upon his lips, growing wider and wider until at last it became a chuckle, a hearty laughter, a howling laughter……