At the headquarters of the Miter Family.
Under the moonlight, Hai Bodong and Tengshan sat at a stone table in a spacious courtyard, drinking together.
Hai Bodong poured a cup of wine for Tengshan and said with a smile, "Tengshan, you've always been quite curious about the person I mentioned before. Today, you've finally met him in person. What do you think?"
Tengshan drained his cup and replied in a deep voice, "He's impossible to see through—but he is certainly an extremely terrifying individual. As a friend, he inspires great reassurance. As an enemy, he inspires great fear. It's clear that he acts with very definite goals in mind, and therefore does not concern himself with minor gains or losses."
He paused briefly before continuing, "If one can become his friend, or lend him assistance, he will surely be generous in return. However, if anyone dares to stand against him, or disrupt his plans…"
"He would be extremely ruthless—wouldn't he?" Hai Bodong picked up the thread of his words, refilling his cup as he sighed. "When I first met him, I experienced this firsthand. His decisiveness, his cold-blooded resolve, and that indifferent, icy gaze of his, those impressions still make my heart tremble even now."
He looked at Tengshan, several strands of wisdom flashing through his eyes. "That's why I told you: since you've already placed your bet on him, then do things wholeheartedly. As long as the tasks he assigns are completed properly, he is very generous. If handled well, cooperating with him could become a tremendous opportunity for the Miter Family. From here on, it will depend on your wisdom as clan head."
"I understand, Elder Hai," Tengshan replied.
With complicated thoughts in their minds, the two raised their cups under the bright moonlight, clinking them together before drinking deeply.
In a secluded courtyard of the Miter Family, Lin Yuan had already inspected the surroundings. It perfectly suited his requirements—hidden, quiet, and completely free from disturbance.
After a rare day of leisure, Qing Lin had already returned to her room to rest.
Meanwhile, under the moonlight as gentle as flowing water, Lin Yuan sat focused and intent, carefully reading a pill formula that radiated an ancient aura, the Sovereign Emperor Pill.
The Sovereign Emperor Pill was a Sixth-Grade High-Tier medicinal pill. When a peak Dou King attempted to break through to the Dou Emperor realm, this pill increased the success rate by forty percent. Moreover, after the breakthrough, it could help stabilize the realm, allowing the user to firmly consolidate their cultivation at one-star Dou Emperor.
This pill formula was one of those Lin Yuan had obtained from the inheritance of an Eighth-Grade alchemist. Its effects were considered quite outstanding. However, the drawback was that although it was a Sixth-Grade pill, its ingredients while rare were not impossibly difficult to obtain. Additionally, breaking through from Dou King to Dou Emperor was not nearly as difficult as advancing from Dou Emperor to Dou Ancestor. As a result, the pill never gained widespread fame.
Looking at the pill formula, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Lin Yuan's lips.
"I couldn't find Earth Spirit Root in either the Snake-People Tribe's medicinal vault or the Mu Lan Valley's stores. I thought I wouldn't be able to gather all the ingredients and would miss out on the Sovereign Emperor Pill. Who would've thought I'd receive such a pleasant surprise here? Truly, heaven is helping me."
As he stared at the Sovereign Emperor Pill formula, Lin Yuan sank into deep contemplation, thinking over his breakthrough to Dou Emperor and his future plans.
"With my soul power's breakthrough combined with the Sovereign Emperor Pill, this time I will definitely advance to Dou Emperor."
"Once I obtain the Seven Magical Green Spirit Saliva, it will be time to return to Jia Nan Academy. Breaking through outside always carries too many variables, Jia Nan Academy is the most suitable place to advance my realm."
Normally, breaking through to Dou Emperor took a long time—several months, or even up to a year and could not be interrupted or disturbed by any external factors. After careful consideration, Lin Yuan concluded that Jia Nan Academy was indeed the optimal location.
"Now that I've already used the Miter Family to establish a communication route, having them regularly transmit Yun Shan's coded messages to the Black-Corner Region means that even if I'm not in the Jia Ma Empire, I can still keep track of certain developments."
Gazing at the bright moon, Lin Yuan let out a soft sigh.
"All the schemes that can be laid have already been set in motion. I've done all that can be done on the human side—whether I can obtain the Ancient Jade will depend on fate. I can't place all my hopes on the Xiao Clan's Ancient Jade, nor can I allow my cultivation to stagnate because of it."
"I promised Zi Yan that I would return early, it's about time. And it's also time to take Qing'er back to the academy."
After thinking things through, Lin Yuan finalized his plans for the upcoming period.
He then took four scrolls out of his storage ring and studied them thoughtfully. These were the sound-wave-type and illusion-type Dou Techniques collected by the Miter Family.
Black-Class High-Tier Dou Technique — Illusory Sound Bewitching Heart.
Uses various sound waves as the trigger, combined with soul power to assault the enemy, causing sensory disorientation and creating opportunities for the practitioner to strike.
Black-Class High-Tier Dou Technique — Phantom Pupil:
Uses the gaze as the medium, pulling the enemy's spirit into an illusion woven from soul power, causing the target to fall into a brief dazed state.
Black-Class Low-tier Dou Technique — Lion's Roar Heaven-Shaking Wave:
Imitates the furious roar of a mad lion, unleashing sound waves with extremely destructive force.
Black-Class Mid-Tier Dou Technique— Mad Dragon Howl:
Based on profound Dou Qi, and through special vocalization techniques and breathing methods, Dou Qi is condensed within the vocal cords to release a dragon's roar that shakes heaven and earth. When mastered to great perfection, it even has a chance to disperse the Dou Qi condensed both inside and outside an enemy's body.
After giving it some thought, Lin Yuan took out another sound-based Dou Technique from his storage ring, one he had obtained from the Mu Lan Valley treasury.
Black-Class High-Tier Dou Technique — Heavenly Dragon Chant:
Cultivating this technique not only requires powerful Dou Qi and soul strength, but also a trace of dragon qi within the body. Through special techniques, the practitioner stimulates the dragon qi inside their body to emit a soul-stirring dragon chant. This Dou Technique not only possesses formidable offensive power, but can also intimidate an enemy's mind and soul. When cultivated to the extreme, it may even stimulate the practitioner's latent potential, allowing them to display strength surpassing their own limits in battle.
Looking at the two illusion-type Dou Techniques, Lin Yuan pondered inwardly, "Just as I suspected, most illusion-type attacks need to work in coordination with soul power. Nowadays, the soul-based offensive techniques—soul skills of ancient alchemists have largely been lost. Only a small number remain preserved within forces of the level of ancient clans or the Pill Tower. Before obtaining true soul skills, I can only explore through illusion-type Dou Techniques that have some relation to them."
Thinking of soul skills, Lin Yuan could not help but think of the Soul Hall. The Protectors of the Soul Hall were clearly not in possession of Spirit State souls, yet they could still display combat power on the level of a Dou Ancestor while in soul form. Lin Yuan suspected that what they were using were special soul skills.
"Should I find some time to capture a few of those 'jie-jie' fellows and obtain some research on soul-related matters from them? If I can fully utilize the powerful soul strength of an alchemist, my combat power should undergo a qualitative transformation in a short period of time."
"Forget it. No need to overthink it—better to focus on what's right in front of me." Shaking his head, Lin Yuan reined in his wandering thoughts and continued looking at the five Dou Techniques laid out on the table.
His gaze fell on the Phantom Pupil scroll. "This Phantom Pupil is quite suitable for Qing'er to cultivate. Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils complement it perfectly. I'll have her learn this in the next stage of her training."
After that, he put away Lion's Roar Shattering Wave and turned his attention to the remaining three Dou Techniques. "Illusory Sound Bewitching the Heart, Mad Dragon Howl, and Heavenly Dragon Chant—these three all use sound as their medium. There should be common ground between them, allowing them to complement one another."
Moreover, as he looked at the remaining three scrolls, a trace of satisfaction appeared in Lin Yuan's eyes. These three Dou Techniques would not only be of great use in combat—"their cultivation requirements are also very well suited to me."
Summed up, the cultivation requirements of Illusory Sound Bewitching the Heart, Mad Dragon Howl, and Heavenly Dragon Chant were: powerful Dou Qi cultivation, sufficient soul strength, and dragon qi within the body.
Lin Yuan perfectly met all these conditions. As someone on the verge of breaking through to Dou Emperor, his Dou Qi was strong enough; as a high-tier alchemist, his soul strength was outstanding; and with the Hundred Beast Refining Spirit Art already cultivated to great completion, his natal Blood Pill contained a wisp of extremely pure Ancient Void Dragon royal bloodline qi.
"Since my cultivation level won't be breaking through anytime soon, I'll use the journey back to study these Dou Techniques and enhance my combat power."
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