Xiao Yan sat cross-legged with his eyes closed and took slow breaths to adjust himself to his optimal state.

  He had been learning alchemy teiques since he was ten years old. It took him over three years to refine a 1st-tier medial pill, and he hadn't been able to refine a 2nd-tier pill in the past year. However, this time around, he was fident he would be able to refine a 2nd-tier medial pill within two to three months.

  Now, his Dou Qi tained a strand of Bone Chilling Fme. This would greatly speed up the purification process of the medial pills.

  His mind tinually repyed the se of Hun Huzi refining a pill from the previous night. Though it sted only a few seds, those few seds were bought with his life on the line.

  The advantage of having a powerful Spiritual Strength was having a strong memory. It made it possible for oo observe subtle details more clearly.

  This was especially true when alchemy, as alchemy itself relied on Spiritual Strength.

  Those few seds were slowed doyed over and ain. It was like watg a movie at ten times slow motion, not willing to miss a siail.

  'Let's try.'

  Xiao Yan pced his hands in front of the medial cauldron, gathered a ball of Dou Qi fme, and threw it into the cauldrohen trolled the iy of the Dou Qi fme with his Spiritual Strength.

  Different medial ingredients required different temperatures to be purified. Most medial pills required their ingredients to be purified and then immediately fused together. There was no room for error.

  Boom!

  The temperature was too high and the medial ingredients were spoiled.

  "Again."

  Boom!

  Due to a ck of trol over the pt of the ingredients during the purification process, a premature fusion occurred and the cauldron exploded.

  "Again!"

  Boom!

  The Spiritual Strength weakened. As a result, the fme could not be trolled properly, causing it to overflow and the cauldron to explode. The Spiritual Strength was depleted in the process.

  "Damn! I'll... I'll try again tomorrow!"

  Xiao Yan could only resort to the most idiotic method of practice without the hands-on guidance of a master.

  Day after day, week after week, and month after month. Every day, a young man practiced and taught himself alchemy in this secluded cave.

  Three months passed in the blink of an eye.

  …

  'Oe Bst!'

  Xiao Yan aimed his right fist at the deepest part of the cave wall, twisted his body, and trated all his strength to deliver a powerful punch.

  Boom boom boom boom! Boom boom boom boom!

  The solid rock yer caved i times! Eight yers of force, Oe Bst had achieved a major level of mastery!

  He had actually cultivated a High Xuan Dou Teique to a major level of mastery!

  This was something pletely unimaginable!

  Even though Xiao Yan had reached the 4-star Dou Practitioage, he was still within the Dou Practitioner realm. Even his father, Xiao Zhan, had only just cultivated the Low Xuan Dou Teique, Lion Mountain Split, to a major level of mastery!

  "Sigh, it took me eleven years to cultivate it to a major level of mastery. Am I too slow?" If outsiders were to hear this, they would probably vomit blood.

  Normally, High Xuan Css Dou Teiques were not meant for Dou Practitioo cultivate. Xiao Yan was pletely iegory of practig beyond his realm. If it weren't for the Oe Bst being a special teique that required physical strength rather than Dou Qi, he wouldn't even be able to get started.

  Xiao Yan dispelled the gloom, wiped his hand, and pulled out a huge bck ruler from his ste ring—the Heavy Xuan Ruler, along with a Dou Teique Scroll.

  Some obscure and straterns were drawn on the surface of the pitch-bck ruler. The patterended as far as the handle, c almost every part of the ruler's body. bined with the a bck color, it looked quite mysterious.

  'Now I finally cultivate Fme Splitting Tsunami!'

  The Low Di Dou Teique, Fme Splitting Tsunami, had been coveted by Xiao Yan for a long time.

  If one could cultivate it to a major level of mastery, one would be able to split mountains, break waves, and sweep through thousands of troops with a wave of one's hand or foot!

  Initially, Xiao Yan actually preferred to cultivate the Low Di Css Fme Splitting Tsunami rather thaa, because just like the Oe Bst, the prerequisite for learning the Fme Splitting Tsunami was not cultivation level, but physical strength.

  The Fme Splitting Tsunami was a Dou Teique that plemented both Dou Qi and physical strength. Moreover, in order to cultivate the Fme Splitting Tsunami, it had to be paired with the Heavy Xuan Ruler, which could achieve twice the result with half the effort.

  However, the problem was that with his strength and physical dition at the age of four, he couldn't even lift the Heavy Xuan Ruler, let alone practice with it. Hence, he chose to practice the Oe Bst first.

  The moment Xiao Yan firmly grasped the Heavy Xuan Ruler, a powerful suppression spread throughout his body. This Heavy Xuan Ruler was not oremely heavy but also capable of suppressing Dou Qi.

  Normally, when a Dou Practitioner lifted a heavy object, they would fill their body cells with Dou Qi to enhaheir strength. However, the Heavy Xuan Ruler suppressed the Dou Qi, making it incredibly heavy to lift.

  Xiao Yan, who was now a 4-star Dou Practier, had been forcibly suppressed to the strength of a 1-star Dou Practier.

  "Lift!"

  Whoosh! The massive Heavy Xuan Ruler, like a giant bck iron sword, was suddenly lifted as Xiao Yan unleashed all his strength bined with the surge of Dou Qi. A gust of wind swirled around, sweeping up the surrounding debris.

  "It's really heavy! Truly worthy of a Di Css Dou Teique's plementary on. Just lifting it is incredibly difficult."

  He hadn't expected that this unremarkable-looking object could be so terrifying. Not only could it suppress the fast-flowing Dou Qi within his body to a crawl, but its abnormally heavy weight made it almost impossible for him to lift it, even if he used his Dou Qi to the fullest.

  "Thankfully, I've cultivated the High Xuan Css Oe Bst to a major level of mastery; otherwise, I really wouldn't be able to hahis thing."

  The css of a Dou Teique not only represes power but also the difficulty of cultivating it. High Xuan Css Dou Teiques could still be purchased at the Miteer Au House in Wu Tan City for about four to five huhousand gold s. However, Di Css Dou Teiques had never appeared there.

  Only at the annual au held by the Jia Ma Empire's royal family might Di Css Dou Teiques appear, and their prices would be iens of millions of gold s. Sometimes they could only be exged for items of equal value.

  "1."

  "2."

  Whoosh! Xiao Yan swung the Heavy Xuan Ruler. The prerequisite for cultivating the Fme Splitting Tsunami was the ability to swing the Heavy Xuan Ruler freely. If one couldn't even swing it freely, let alone practice further teiques.

  Xiao Yan now felt as if he was running with tires tied to him. Not only did he have to move, but he also had to move quickly. Not only did his body have to be strong, but he also had to use his Dou Qi to withstand the suppression of the Heavy Xuan Ruler. As a result, his ption of Dou Qi was several times higher than usual.

  With a thunderous sound, his hands trembled on the fiftieth swing and lost his grip, causing the ruler to fall to the ground. He realized his limit was fifty swings as he looked at his trembling hands.

  Each swing ed a siderable amount of his Dou Qi. After fifty swings, his Dou Qi was pletely depleted.

  Xiao Yan smiled wryly and shook his head, 'It seems that I 't tinue practig this Dou Teique today. I'll recover my Dou Qi first and then focus on alchemy.'

  He would not even think of returning home until he had exhausted all his Dou Qi, Spiritual Strength, and physical strength!

  Xiao Ya aside the Heavy Xuan Ruler, released the Bone Chilling Fme, and sat dowo it, slowly cirg the Fme Mantra. His daily practivolved using the Fme Mantra to absorb the waves of heat emitted by the Bone Chilling Fme.

  Now, he could absorb the heat waves from as close as oer away from the Bone Chilling Fme.

  'Huh? Why has the circution of my Dou Qi accelerated so much?'

  Xiao Yan remembered something and looked at the Heavy Xuan Ruler that was embedded in the ground.

  In his extremely tired state, Xiao Yan could clearly sehat the almost sore muscles and the Dou Qi cye inside his body were greedily abs the heat waves released by the Bone Chilling Fme.

  He felt that the explosive power tained within his muscles and cells seemed to have subtly strengthened pared to before. Moreover, he felt he could get even closer to the Bone Chilling Fme.

  'It's a pity. If I could refine a 3rd-tier Qi Recovery Pill and use it in jun with my practice, the effects would probably be eveer.'

  Xiao Yan took out a 2nd-tier Small Recovery Pill and Foundation Building Pill. Although their effects were not as strong as the 3rd-tier Qi Recovery Pill, they could still help him restore his Dou Qi. The Foundation Building Pill could also soothe his muscles and prevent him from getting sore, allowing him to tinue his rigorous training the day.

  Ehe pain, enjoy the gain.

  Xiao Yan licked his lips, his eyes burning with fervor as he looked at the Bone Chilling Fme. No medial pill could pare to this Heavenly Fme. His strength would surely skyrocket if he could devour this fme with the Fme Mantra!