To celebrate their reunion and first meeting, Lin Yuan personally cooked a lavish feast. Using his exceptional alchemy skills and culinary talent, he combined various precious medicinal ingredients and food materials to create dishes that were not only visually appealing and aromatic but also packed with energy.
The moment Zi Yan saw the energy-rich dishes, her eyes lit up. She immediately dug in, as if she wanted to devour all the delicacies at once.
Watching this familiar scene, Lin Yuan couldn't help but smile nostalgically.
While eating, Zi Yan suddenly turned her head to Lin Yuan, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. "Lin Yuan, tell me about the outside world." Having stayed in the inner courtyard after her transformation, the world beyond held a strong allure for her.
Lin Yuan smiled faintly and nodded, beginning to recount his experiences during his travels.
Qing Lin chuckled softly beside him, occasionally helping pour wine for Lin Yuan or filling in details to make the story more complete.
Through Lin Yuan and Qing Lin's storytelling, Zi Yan heard many interesting tales and met many intriguing figures, among whom the Medusa Queen and Xiao Cai, both magical beasts in human form piqued her curiosity the most.
"Medusa and Xiao Cai? I want to see them! Next time you go out, you have to take me with you," Zi Yan said excitedly.
Lin Yuan nodded and smiled. "Don't worry, I'll take you along."
"That's great! By the way, Lin Yuan, after you left, some magical beasts bullied me at the back mountain… no, that's not right…" Zi Yan gave a playful smile, as if she had an idea brewing.
At night, after Zi Yan and Qing Lin had gone to sleep, Lin Yuan sat alone at the stone table, his expression relaxed. He propped his left hand under his chin, while his right hand gently swirled the wine in his cup. His gaze followed the moon reflected in the liquid, his mind considering his next moves.
"From the attitudes of Elder Su Qian and the Vice Principal, Qing Lin should be regarded as one of the future pillars of the academy, just like me. That means if, in the future, she faces pressure from some magical beast families in the Beast Domain due to her Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils, the Dean should be able to offer protection."
"The heavenly-grade treasures I prepared for Zi Yan should allow her to break through to Sixth-Grade once consumed."
"Next, the focus will be on breaking through to Dou Emperor. After that, it will be time to handle some matters in the Black Corner Domain. Han Feng, third incomplete map…"
"First, I'll go to the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower to temper my Dou Qi. After refining the Dou Qi there and preparing the Sovereign Emperor Pill, it will be time to enter seclusion."
Over the next few days, Lin Yuan devised a training plan for Qing Lin, ensuring she could steadily improve her strength. He then accompanied Zi Yan to the back mountain where magical beasts gathered, helping her retrieve several treasured items she had long desired. With everything in place, Lin Yuan proceeded to the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower to temper his Dou Qi.
In the training chamber on the lowest level of the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower, Lin Yuan split off two shadow clones—one studied the incomplete soul technique Heavenly Heart Soul Art, while the other continued researching the subtle applications of soul power from the eighth-grade alchemist inheritance.
He inserted the Fire Crystal Card into its slot, sat cross-legged on the stone platform, closed his eyes slightly, and activated his cultivation technique. As the Heavenly Fire Codex circulated, he gradually entered a state of deep training, fully immersing himself in the tempering of his Dou Qi.
At that moment, deep in the endless sea of flames beneath the tower, an enormous invisible fire python's triangular snake eyes suddenly snapped open. A ferocious, murderous aura radiated outward, causing the surrounding molten lava to ripple. It was the Fallen Heart Flame itself.
Sensing something, the snake eyes displayed a strangely human-like greed, probing for the source of the enticing energy.
The invisible flame within Lin Yuan's body became lively, as if searching for something, moving through his meridians.
"Has it come? Fallen Heart Flame… it must have sensed the aura of the Green Lotus Core Flame within me," Lin Yuan said with a faint smile, releasing the aura of his hidden flame.
As Lin Yuan actively released the aura of the Green Lotus Core Flame, the Fallen Heart Flame at the tower's bottom became fully aware of the heavenly flame inside him. Its snake eyes widened, as if spotting a long-awaited prey.
Then the Fallen Heart Flame began projecting more heart fire into Lin Yuan's body, attempting to destroy the host of the Green Lotus Core Flame.
This was exactly what Lin Yuan intended. He carefully guided the Green Lotus Core Flame inside him, making its strength slightly stronger than the invading heart fire, allowing the two to clash. Through the unique interaction between the flames, Lin Yuan continually provoked the Fallen Heart Flame, forcing it to intensify its attacks and project more energy.
The Fallen Heart Flame, enraged by Lin Yuan's provocation, indeed became more ferocious, projecting more heart fire into him to try to annihilate him. These heart fires, like countless fiery serpents, traversed Lin Yuan's meridians, clashing with his Green Lotus Core Flame while also tempering his Dou Qi.
Lin Yuan could feel his Dou Qi becoming more refined under this intense tempering, and his bottlenecked strength began to increase gradually.
Time passed unknowingly, and Lin Yuan was completely immersed in this extraordinary state of cultivation. The battle between his Green Lotus Core Flame and the Fallen Heart Flame continued, slowly pushing his Dou Qi to the limits of Dou King.
Half a month later.
The Green Flame and Heart Flame within Lin Yuan's body intertwined into a magnificent spectacle. Countless invisible heart fires, manipulated by a lively, murderous invisible fire serpent, opposed the surrounding Green Flame.
"Is this the limit? Seems this is the maximum power the Fallen Heart Flame can project," Lin Yuan thought.
"Time to wrap this up." He moved his mind, changing the hand seals in his palm, forming several profound seals.
Under the astonished gaze of the Fallen Heart Flame's fire serpent, the Green Lotus Core Flame in Lin Yuan's body, previously maintaining a delicate balance with the heart fire, suddenly expanded. It absorbed all the heart fire projected over the past half month and surged toward a blue lotus imprint, which greedily devoured the incoming Flame until it solidified into a seal.
As the seal gradually formed, the vast amount of heart fire and the residual soul of the Fallen Heart Flame were tightly compressed, restrained, and consolidated. Soon, these heart fires and the residual soul were condensed into a single transparent fire orb.
Lin Yuan opened his eyes sharply, a glint of brilliance flashing within. A solid aura burst forth from his body, and his presence became deeper and more enduring than it had been half a month ago.
"Have I reached the Dou King limit? To advance further, I must now break through the Dou Emperor bottleneck."
"The Fallen Heart Flame is clever. It tried to slowly project its strength into me via the soul fragments to eliminate me. It likely intends to destroy me, then trigger the hostless Green Lotus Core Flame above to explode, breaking the seal. But it underestimated my strength, I'm not so easily eliminated by remote projections or soul fragments."
He exhaled lightly, and a colorless, transparent fire orb flew into his hand. "A fire orb containing the sealed Fallen Heart Flame's residual soul, a fine item."
Lin Yuan tossed the orb in his hand, reflecting on the past few days of remote clashes with the Fallen Heart Flame. He thought, Although it's powerful, its soul doesn't seem particularly strong. If I target its soul directly, handling it might be much simpler. But first, I must break through to Dou Emperor, then I'll figure out how to deal with it.
The time I promised the Master Huo is almost up; it's time to refine the Sovereign Emperor Pill. Hopefully, this batch will help him break through to sixth-grade Alchemist soon.
Lin Yuan reabsorbed his two shadow clones, taking in their insights on soul power, then rose and left the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.
Upon returning to his small courtyard, he opened the gate and immediately saw Qing Lin sitting at the stone table, focused on studying the Heavenly Phantasmal Spiritual Clarity True Pupil.
Seeing Lin Yuan return, Qing Lin's face brightened with joy. She stood and moved to greet him.
"Young Master, you're back!"
Lin Yuan smiled and nodded, asking, "Qing'er, have you been adjusting well to life at Jia Nan Academy?"
Qing Lin nodded, her face bright with a radiant smile. "Yes, I really like it here! While you were in seclusion, Zi Yan took me to many interesting places, and Elder Su Qian has been very kind to me."
"By the way, the students here still seem a bit afraid of Zi Yan," she added, recalling how the older disciples had trembled in fear before Zi Yan. She couldn't help but giggle. "Zi Yan is so cute, I really don't see what there is to be afraid of."
"Is that so? It seems you've gotten used to it here, that's good," Lin Yuan said with satisfaction, pleased to see Qing Lin and Zi Yan getting along so well. Then he asked, "How about Zi Yan?"
Qing Lin pointed toward Zi Yan's room. "After taking several pills yesterday, Zi Yan said she wanted to sleep for a few days, and she's been resting in her room ever since."
"I'll go check on her," Lin Yuan said, walking to Zi Yan's room. He gently pushed the door open and saw her sleeping peacefully.
He carefully examined her to ensure everything was normal before closing the door with relief. The girl had consumed many pills and high-grade treasures recently, and her body was now fully digesting their medicinal power. He estimated that when Zi Yan woke up, her strength would have significantly increased, possibly reaching the level of an eight-star Dou King or even a nine-star Dou King.
"The Ancient Void Dargon Royal Clan truly has extraordinary talent," Lin Yuan murmured to himself. "With sufficient resources, Zi Yan's advancement speed will be incredibly fast."
Returning to the stone table, Lin Yuan suddenly remembered something. He took out the fire orb that sealed a fragment of the Fallen Heart Flame's soul and handed it to Qing Lin. "Qing'er, see if your Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils can control the serpent-shaped soul within this orb."
Qing Lin immediately activated her Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils and attempted to manipulate it but eventually shook her head. "Young Master, although the soul in the orb is serpent-shaped, it is not a serpent-type magical beast. My Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils cannot control it."
Lin Yuan was not disappointed. He had not expected too much. "As expected, the Fallen Heart Flame that manifests as a fire python is essentially fire, not a python," he said with a faint smile, putting the fire orb away.
Refocusing his thoughts, Lin Yuan turned to Qing Lin with a gentle smile. "Qing'er, regarding training with Heavenly Phantasmal Spiritual Clarity True Pupil, there's no need to be overly anxious at this stage. This Dou Technique has a high entry threshold and demands exceptional soul power. As the saying goes, sharpening the axe won't delay the work of chopping wood. For now, you should focus on improving your cultivation. As your cultivation grows, your soul power will naturally strengthen. I will teach you techniques to specifically train your soul power. Once your cultivation and soul power reach a certain level, learning this Dou Technique will become much easier, almost instinctive."
Qing Lin nodded in understanding. "I understand, Young Master."
Lin Yuan slightly nodded and continued, "Good. Now, I will explain in detail how to strengthen your soul power."
Two days later, in an advanced alchemy chamber within the inner courtyard.
At the edge of the chamber, Elder Huo stood with his hands behind his back, eyes sharp, quietly observing Lin Yuan's entire alchemy process.
Lin Yuan sat cross-legged in front of a massive alchemy cauldron. Around him were more than twenty jade boxes, each containing a precious ingredient.
He closed his eyes slightly, recalling the methods and details required to refine the Sovereign Emperor Pill. After a moment, his eyes snapped open. Black pupils glimmered as blue flames surged forth.
With a flick of his right hand, a streak of grren flame shot into the cauldron.
The small flame instantly expanded, quickly turning into a roaring blaze inside the cauldron. The intense heat spread throughout the chamber, gradually raising the cauldron's temperature.
Once the temperature inside the cauldron stabilized, Lin Yuan took out a medicinal ingredient—Earth Spirit Root—from one of the jade boxes and tossed it into the cauldron.
He then enveloped the Earth Spirit Root with the Green Lotus Core Flame, and with a thought, the temperature around the root rose sharply.
Under the extreme heat of the extraordinary flame, the Earth Spirit Root slowly melted. After about half an hour, it became a dense, jade-green liquid, exuding rich, pure energy.
After refining, Lin Yuan began tempering it, removing impurities and leaving only the purest essence, a process that took another half hour. The first ingredient was finally processed.
He waved his sleeve, adding the next ingredient to the cauldron, repeating the refining and tempering process.
Time passed slowly, and the ingredients in the jade boxes gradually decreased. A thick, intertwined medicinal fragrance filled the chamber like drifting clouds.
Once all the ingredients were refined, Lin Yuan's expression turned serious. The truly delicate steps were about to begin.
"Purifying Spirit Art: Void Clarity!"
Activating the technique, Lin Yuan entered the Void Clarity state. His gaze became lofty, his soul perception fully awakened, sensing everything within the cauldron. He poured immense soul power into it, carefully controlling the precise fusion of the many pure medicinal liquids.
In this state, under his meticulous manipulation, the liquids merged orderly, forming a half-fist-sized, multicolored mass in the cauldron.
Following the Sovereign Emperor Pill formula, Lin Yuan used his powerful soul force to precisely control the temperature, allowing the medicinal power within the mass to intermingle. Then he skillfully adjusted the heat to solidify the mass.
After about half an hour, the medicinal power was fully blended, and a rough, green embryo of the Sovereign Emperor Pill finally took shape.
At the moment the embryo formed, the surrounding world's energy surged violently.
Lin Yuan's expression did not change as he focused intently on the pill inside the cauldron.
At a moment's notice, he changed his hand seals.
The Green Lotus Core Flame, like a living blue serpent, surged into the cauldron, compressing and condensing into a blue flame lotus, tightly enveloping the pill. The energies of heaven and earth poured in, nourishing the embryo.
Over time, the initially uneven green pill embryo gradually became smooth, radiating a gentle azure glow.
Not long after, a clear exclamation rang out:
"Sovereign Emperor Pill, complete!"
Inside the cauldron, the blue pill was fully formed, radiating a powerful energy ripple that spread outward in waves.
A beam of blue light shot into the sky, cutting across the horizon, signaling the extraordinary quality of the pill.
Lin Yuan exited the Void Clarity state, fatigue briefly crossing his expression but quickly replaced by joy.
With a light wave of his sleeve, the blue Sovereign Emperor Pill floated from the cauldron into his palm. He examined it carefully, satisfaction evident in his eyes, nodding gently. "Excellent pill."
His gaze then turned to Elder Huo, who now wore an expression of sudden enlightenment, as if he had just grasped a crucial insight. Excitement shone in his eyes as he murmured, "I see now… I finally understand! Lin Yuan, thank you. I'll take my leave first."
With that, Elder Huo hurriedly bade Lin Yuan farewell and left the chamber, eager to test his newfound understanding.
Watching him go, Lin Yuan silently wished him success in breaking the bottleneck that had long hindered him.
Turning back to the Sovereign Emperor Pill in his hand, Lin Yuan's lips curved slightly.
"My Dou Qi has reached its current limit, and the Sovereign Emperor Pill is complete. Next, it's time for seclusion, to strengthen soul power and break through to the Dou Emperor realm."
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