Seeing that he couldn't extract even the slightest information from the mysterious stone, Xiao Feng finally shook his head and put it back into his storage ring.
"No rush… whatever it is, I'll figure it out sooner or later."
Letting that matter go for now, his expression slowly turned serious again.
"I've already reached 8-star Dou Spirit… and I haven't used a Dou Spirit Pill yet."
He flipped his hand, and a perfect-grade Dou Spirit Pill appeared in his palm. The surface of the pill was smooth and radiant, with clear pill patterns flowing across it, releasing a faint but powerful medicinal fragrance.
"For others, this pill might only raise one or two levels at most… but for me…"
A faint smile appeared.
"…this should be enough."
Without hesitation, Xiao Feng sat down cross-legged, adjusted his breathing, and swallowed the pill.
The moment the pill entered his body, it dissolved instantly.
Boom!
A surge of pure and violent energy exploded within his meridians.
Xiao Feng's expression remained calm as he quickly circulated his cultivation technique, guiding the energy through his body again and again, refining it, compressing it, and merging it into his Dou Qi core.
Time passed slowly…
Half an hour later—
A loud energy fluctuation burst out from his body, causing the surrounding air to tremble.
Boom!
The Dou Qi around him surged wildly before suddenly stabilizing.
Xiao Feng slowly opened his eyes, a sharp light flashing through them.
"9-star Dou Spirit… achieved."
He clenched his fist slightly, feeling the stable and dense Dou Qi flowing through his body, and nodded in satisfaction.
However, he didn't rush out immediately. Instead, he continued sitting there, carefully stabilizing his foundation, ensuring that the breakthrough left no hidden flaws.
After completely stabilizing his realm, Xiao Feng stood up and went outside.
"Yi Xian," he called.
Xiao Yi Xian walked over quickly.
"What is it?"
"I'm going into closed-door refinement again," Xiao Feng said calmly. "This time, it'll take about half a month. Make sure no one disturbs me."
Xiao Yi Xian nodded without hesitation.
"Don't worry, I'll handle everything."
Returning to his room, Xiao Feng took a deep breath.
"This time… I'll refine everything at once."
He had too many things to prepare—pills for the elders, special pills for Xiao Yi Xian, body-strengthening and transformation-supporting pills for Zi Yan, and various reserves for future use.
Normally, this amount of work would take at least two months.
But Xiao Feng didn't plan to take that long.
Activating his Heavenly Flame once again, his eyes became focused and sharp.
"Let's begin."
For the next fifteen days, Xiao Feng remained completely immersed in refining. Flames danced day and night, medicinal fragrances filled the courtyard, and batch after batch of pills were successfully created under his precise control.
Not a single moment was wasted.
When he finally stepped out, his face showed a trace of exhaustion—but also deep satisfaction.
"This should be enough for now…"
Without thinking about anything else, Xiao Feng decided to rest completely.
For the next four days, he did absolutely nothing—no cultivation, no refining.
He simply ate, slept, and spent time with Xiao Yi Xian.
Xiao Yi Xian, knowing how rare such free time was for him, also set everything aside. She stayed by his side, cooking for him, talking with him, and quietly enjoying the peaceful moments.
At one point, she smiled softly and said,
"You finally look like a normal person for once."
Xiao Feng laughed lightly.
"What, I wasn't before?"
She shook her head gently.
"No… before, you were always pushing yourself too hard."
Xiao Feng didn't reply immediately. Instead, he looked at her for a moment and then smiled faintly.
"Then I guess… I'll stay like this a little longer."
And for those few days, the usually busy courtyard was filled with nothing but quiet warmth and rare peace.
=======
After those few peaceful days, Xiao Feng couldn't forget the slight sadness in Xiao Yi Xian's eyes from before. It lingered in his mind more than anything else.
Standing alone for a moment, he let out a quiet breath.
"…I've been neglecting her."
From that day on, he made a silent promise to himself.
"No matter how busy I get… I'll have dinner with her… and at least once or twice every couple of days, we'll sit together and have some peaceful tea time."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Not everything is about cultivation."
After settling that in his heart, Xiao Feng's expression turned serious again.
"It's time."
He raised his hand and took out the remaining Beast Flames he had collected—ten 5th-tier beast flames, each one violent and difficult to control, yet perfectly meeting the requirements of his cultivation technique.
"The final step…"
Without hesitation, he began refining them one by one.
Each flame was suppressed, purified, and slowly absorbed into his body. The process was extremely painful—each flame felt like it was tearing through his meridians—but Xiao Feng endured it silently, using his powerful control and foundation to refine everything steadily.
One flame… two flames… five flames…
Time passed.
After two full days, the final flame was completely absorbed.
At that moment—
Boom!
A terrifying energy wave erupted from Xiao Feng's body.
The Ten Thousand Beast Innate Flame Technique inside him began to transform rapidly, its aura rising sharply.
"It's evolving…!"
The technique broke through its limits and successfully advanced into an Earth Rank Mid-Level Cultivation Technique.
And at the same time—
The accumulated energy inside Xiao Feng's body exploded outward.
Boom!
His aura surged violently.
From 9-star Dou Spirit, he directly broke through—
Dou King!
Not stopping there, the energy continued to rise.
1-star… 2-star Dou King!
Within moments, Xiao Feng had completely stabilized at 2-star Dou King.
Outside, the sky suddenly changed.
Dark clouds gathered rapidly, thunder roared, and a massive amount of Heaven and Earth Dou Qi converged toward the Fire Faction courtyard.
The sudden phenomenon shocked the entire Inner Academy.
"What is this aura?!"
"Who's breaking through?!"
"This… this isn't normal!"
Students and elders alike looked toward the sky in shock.
Very quickly, several elders rushed over, followed by Su Qian himself.
At the courtyard entrance, Xiao Yi Xian was already standing there, her expression filled with worry and anticipation.
Seeing her, the elders slowed down slightly.
They all knew about her special constitution and talent. Not only that, she was already a 3rd-grade alchemist and a 3-star Dou Grandmaster, with terrifying potential for the future.
So their tone remained polite.
"Xiao Yi Xian," one elder asked gently, "do you know what's happening here?"
She shook her head slightly, her eyes still fixed on Xiao Feng's room.
"I… I think it's Xiao Feng, but I'm not sure…"
At that moment, Su Qian arrived.
He glanced at the phenomenon in the sky, then at the room, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
"No need to guess."
Everyone turned toward him.
Su Qian spoke calmly,
"Xiao Feng has broken through to the Dou King realm."
"He's currently stabilizing his cultivation."
"For now… no one is allowed to disturb him."
Silence fell instantly.
The elders were stunned.
Xiao Yi Xian's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Dou… King?"
One of the elders couldn't help but speak,
"But… he only entered the Inner Academy about six months ago, right?"
"Back then… he was only a 3-star Dou Spirit…"
Another elder muttered in shock,
"In just half a year… he crossed an entire realm?"
"That's practically… one star per month…"
Xiao Yi Xian stood there quietly, her heart filled with shock—but also pride.
"…as expected of him," she whispered softly.
Above them, thunder continued to roar, and the gathered energy slowly began to calm.
Inside the room, Xiao Feng sat still, eyes closed, completely focused on stabilizing his newly gained power.
And outside—
No one dared to take a single step forward.
After some time, the violent phenomenon in the sky gradually calmed down, and the gathered Dou Qi slowly dispersed. The courtyard returned to silence—until the door finally opened.
Xiao Feng stepped out.
His aura was completely restrained now, but anyone present could clearly feel the difference. The pressure, the depth… it was unmistakably that of a Dou King.
Seeing him, Xiao Yi Xian was the first to step forward.
"You're… alright?" she asked softly.
Xiao Feng smiled slightly.
"More than alright."
The elders and Su Qian also walked closer, their expressions filled with curiosity and shock.
One of the elders couldn't hold back.
"Xiao Feng… that phenomenon just now… was it really you?"
Xiao Feng nodded calmly.
"Yes. I just broke through to the Dou King realm. Sorry for the disturbance."
"Sorry?" another elder laughed helplessly. "You call that a disturbance? You almost gave us all a heart attack!"
Su Qian looked at him deeply, then asked,
"And your condition now?"
"Stable," Xiao Feng replied. "I've already consolidated my foundation."
After a brief pause, he continued,
"Actually… there's something else I wanted to inform everyone about."
The moment he said that, all the elders focused on him.
"I will soon attempt to break through to a 6th-grade alchemist."
Silence.
Then—
"What?!"
"6th-grade?!"
Even Su Qian's eyes flickered slightly.
Xiao Feng remained calm.
"I'm confident in it. But for that, I'll need a large amount of high-grade medicinal materials."
He looked at the elders.
"So I'd like the academy to begin preparations. Within the next few months… gather as many required materials as possible."
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then suddenly—
"Haha! Good! Good!"
An elder burst out laughing, unable to hide his excitement.
"Do you know what this means?!"
Another elder nodded vigorously.
"A 6th-grade alchemist… even in the entire northern region, they are extremely rare!"
"Yes!" someone added. "Even in the Black-Corner Region, there's only one well-known 6th-grade alchemist—Han Feng, the so-called Medicine Emperor!"
At the mention of that name, several elders frowned slightly.
Su Qian's expression also turned a bit cold.
"That man… is not on good terms with our academy."
Everyone understood what that meant.
Another elder spoke with a sigh,
"In the past, whenever we needed a 6th-grade pill, we either had to send people far away or request help through outside channels…"
"And even then, we had to wait for months… sometimes years," another added bitterly.
"And there's no guarantee we'd even get the pill."
"Not to mention," someone else continued, "we can't stay there personally to supervise. Everything depends on luck and connections."
Su Qian nodded slowly.
"That's one of the reasons why the academy has maintained a delicate balance all these years… thanks to the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower."
"If not for that…" he paused slightly, "…there would have been many more conflicts by now."
The atmosphere shifted.
All the elders looked at Xiao Feng again—but this time, their eyes were filled with excitement and expectation.
"If you really succeed…" one elder said slowly,
"…then our academy will no longer need to rely on outsiders."
Another added with a smile,
"And our position in the Black-Corner Region will rise even further."
Su Qian looked at Xiao Feng and said firmly,
"The academy will fully support you."
"Whatever medicinal materials you need—we will gather them."
Xiao Feng nodded slightly.
"Thank you, Dean."
As the elders gradually dispersed, still discussing excitedly among themselves, Xiao Yi Xian stood beside Xiao Feng quietly.
She looked at him for a moment, then smiled softly.
"You really don't give people time to catch up…"
Xiao Feng chuckled lightly.
"Then don't try to catch up."
He glanced at her and added,
"Just stay by my side."
Xiao Yi Xian's face turned slightly red, but she didn't look away this time.
"…I was planning to do that anyway."
The courtyard slowly returned to its usual calm—
But everyone knew…
Something big was about to happen.