On the surface of the pitch-black giant ruler, there were some blurry, strange patterns. These patterns extended from the hilt, almost covering all parts of the ruler's body. Combined with the ancient, pitch-black color, it looked quite mysterious.
Looking at this giant black ruler in front of him, after much recollection, Xiao Yan finally stretched out his hand and grasped this black giant ruler.
"Rise!"
Xiao Yan let out a low shout. The terrifying strength he had gained from nearly five months of arduous cultivation had long since surpassed that of ordinary people. Even just his current physical strength alone could contend with a Dou Zhe.
Even so, the moment he picked up the Heavy Xuan Ruler, he felt a sense of exertion.
Especially his Dou Qi, even after being polished and solidified, still felt somewhat heavier the moment it was injected into the Heavy Xuan Ruler.
Towards this change, Xiao Yan's face showed no fluctuation. After all, he had long since become accustomed to the feeling of holding the Heavy Xuan Ruler.
The reason he had Yao Lao summon the Heavy Xuan Ruler was precisely to use this characteristic of the Heavy Xuan Ruler to perform the final polishing of his Dou Qi, and then achieve the goal of cultivating his newly created cultivation technique.
In the following month, Xiao Yan continued his arduous cultivation day after day. Only after polishing the Dou Qi in his body to an extreme, and even his physical strength had improved by another small increment, did the fifth bottle of Foundation Establishment Divine Liquid completely run out under his consumption.
Winter had completely arrived. A thin layer of solid ice began to form on the water surfaces of Wutan City. Yet, under such cold conditions, Xiao Yan quietly found a cave in the back mountain of the Xiao family and finally sat cross-legged inside, bare-chested.
After these six months of polishing, his Dou Qi had solidified to a degree that even Yao Lao found incredible. And his not-yet-adult physical body, beneath the clearly defined muscle lines, also concealed a terrifying explosive power.
Along with the strengthening of his physical body, and the continuous visualization of himself over the past six months, Xiao Yan's soul power had long since surpassed what it was when he was first reborn. At this moment, his soul power was already somewhat stronger than most second-grade alchemists.
Once he stepped into the Dou Zhe realm, he would be comparable to a third-grade alchemist or even stronger. At that time, he would undergo a heaven-and-earth-shattering change.
"Six months of arduous cultivation, all for this moment."
With a light laugh, Xiao Yan felt the incomparably solid Dou Qi, and his pair of eyes also looked towards Yao Lao at the side.
"Teacher, let's begin!"
Hearing Xiao Yan's words, Yao Lao was stunned for a moment, then still looked at Xiao Yan with some worry and said: "Are you really going to use that method to break through to Dou Zhe?"
"Naturally. Only by using my method to break through to Dou Zhe can my future path be smoother."
Xiao Yan smiled calmly, his eyes filled with confidence.
When it came to playing with fire, who in this universe was his opponent? The name of Emperor Yan had long since spread beyond the Great Thousand World in later generations.
Back then, after he became a Heavenly Sovereign, during the repeated great wars against the extraterritorial evil race, he had deduced and evolved the Flame Mantra, ultimately deriving a cultivation technique even more powerful than the Flame Mantra after becoming a Sovereign – the "Flame God Art"! Seeing Xiao Yan so confident, Yao Lao didn't say much more. With a flick of his finger, a longan-sized, earthy-yellow medicinal pill landed in Xiao Yan's hand.
This pill was named Small Earth Spirit Pill. It was a weakened version of the Earth Spirit Pill that Xiao Yan had prepared to refine the Fallen Heart Flame in his previous life. All the materials used were substitutes with lower medicinal effects.
Even so, refining this one Small Earth Spirit Pill had still squandered the three hundred thousand gold coins Xiao Yan had earned earlier.
Fortunately, he later gave Ya Fei twenty bottles of Foundation Establishment Spiritual Liquid, which allowed his financial situation to recover somewhat.
"After I advance to Dou Zhe, I can also refine medicinal pills myself."
A brilliant light flashed in his eyes, and Xiao Yan reached out and swallowed that Small Earth Spirit Pill. After the Small Earth Spirit Pill entered his stomach, a stream of pure, thick, and vast energy began to spread within Xiao Yan's body.
Over the past six months, every drop of Earth Core Spiritual Milk left over from Xiao Yan's refinement of Foundation Establishment Spiritual Liquid had been accumulated and invested by Xiao Yan into this Small Earth Spirit Pill.
Such thick and vast energy could only be withstood by Xiao Yan's polished and tempered body. Otherwise, even if it was relatively gentle, an ordinary youth in the Dou Qi stage would still have their meridians burst in an instant.
Only after his already considerable soul power sensed that the energy of the Small Earth Spirit Pill had completely protected his body did Xiao Yan look towards Yao Lao.
Seeing this, Yao Lao's expression turned serious. After hesitating for a moment, he finally condensed a wisp of Bone Chilling Flame from his fingertip. With a flick of his finger, he sent that wisp of Bone Chilling Flame in front of Xiao Yan.
Just this wisp of Bone Chilling Flame made Yao Lao's face turn slightly pale, and his figure became somewhat illusory.
Clearly, this wisp of Bone Chilling Flame was no ordinary flame, but a wisp of subsidiary flame, or rather, a wisp of the Bone Chilling Flame's source flame.
Looking at the wisp of Bone Chilling Flame floating in front of him, Xiao Yan didn't even think about it. He directly grabbed that wisp of Bone Chilling Flame subsidiary flame, which even Dou Ling experts would be extremely wary of, and then, under Yao Lao's slightly shrinking pupils, slapped it into his mouth.
The moment the Bone Chilling Flame was caught by Xiao Yan, it was already madly incinerating the layer of energy light film covering Xiao Yan's body from the Small Earth Spirit Pill with its terrifyingly high temperature.
If it were an ordinary person, even with the protection of the Small Earth Spirit Pill, they would probably be quickly burned to ashes. Fortunately, Xiao Yan was incredibly familiar with Heavenly Flames.
The moment the Bone Chilling Flame entered his mouth, Xiao Yan had already begun to mobilize his soul power to quickly refine this wisp of flame along the path of his Flame God Art.
As if sensing this danger, that wisp of flame immediately began to struggle frantically. Its terrifying might caused even Xiao Yan's meridians, despite being protected by the Small Earth Spirit Pill, to experience excruciating pain.
"Behave yourself!"
Xiao Yan snorted coldly. The soul power that was being violently consumed by the Bone Chilling Flame suddenly became incomparably solid. Although there was no flame, an even more terrifyingly high temperature vaguely appeared in the void.
Invisibly, a wisp of incomparably splendid flame phantom quietly emerged above his head.
The moment that wisp of phantom appeared, that wisp of source flame seed immediately trembled, and then became as docile as a mouse encountering a cat.
Yao Lao, who was watching from the side, couldn't help but have his face change drastically upon seeing this scene. Because the moment this wisp of flame phantom appeared, even the complete Bone Chilling Flame within his body was trembling slightly, as if it were paying homage to this wisp of flame phantom.
After using that wisp of simulated Emperor Flame aura to intimidate that wisp of source flame seed, Xiao Yan quickly mobilized his soul power and Dou Qi together to push the Bone Chilling Flame, which had become incomparably docile in a short period, to rapidly travel through his meridians.
A sleepless night passed. When the sky the next day was already faintly showing a fish-belly white, Xiao Yan's face was pale, but his pair of eyes showed no fatigue at all. Instead, they were incomparably bright.
In his lower abdomen, a wisp of the Bone Chilling Flame's source flame seed was quietly floating. It had now been completely tamed.
However, after being refined by Xiao Yan, although this wisp of flame seed still possessed the attributes of the Bone Chilling Flame, it vaguely had an even more terrifying essence.
This essence would, as Xiao Yan's strength continuously improved and the number of Heavenly Flames he devoured increased, eventually grow into the Emperor Flame once more.
"Emperor Flame Seed, complete!"
(End of this chapter)