The air in the small, sealed room was thick with the scent of herbs and nervous tension. Feng Jiuge stood before his simple cauldron, his young face beaded with sweat. This was his third attempt at concocting the "Qi Liquefaction Pill." The first two had ended in failure.
The first time, in his eagerness, he had added the Spirit-Guiding Flower a fraction of a second too early. The delicate balance had shattered, resulting in a puff of acrid black smoke and a cauldron full of useless, charred sludge. The second attempt had seen his Dou Qi Inner Flame waver for a split second, overheating the Iron-Heart Tree sap and rendering it inert. Two sets of precious Second Tier ingredients, wasted.
'Alchemy is a cruel mistress,' Feng Jiuge thought, taking a deep, centering breath. 'One mistake, and hours of effort turn to ash. But failure is the best teacher.'
This time, he was a statue of perfect focus. His Spiritual Strength extended like a thousand invisible threads, monitoring every minute change within the cauldron. His Heavenly Perception Pupils were active, giving him an unparalleled view of the energy interactions as the medicinal essences merged.
He fed the flame with a steady, unwavering stream of Dou Qi. The herbs melted, their impurities burned away, their essences swirling into a multi-colored liquid. The moment of truth arrived. He added the final ingredient, the Moonpetal Bloom pollen, with the precision of a surgeon.
The liquid in the cauldron began to bubble violently. This was the critical point where everything could fall apart. Drawing on the control he had honed through countless failures—both in alchemy and in his own brutal cultivation—Feng Jiuge masterfully manipulated the flame, raising and lowering the temperature, coaxing the chaotic energies into a state of harmony.
Slowly, miraculously, the violent bubbling subsided. The swirling liquid began to condense, coalescing at the center of the cauldron. A rich, medicinal fragrance filled the room, so potent it was almost intoxicating. With a final surge of Dou Qi, the process was complete.
Lying at the bottom of the cauldron was a single, pea-sized pill. It was a smooth, milky-white color, with faint, almost imperceptible green lines swirling across its surface. It pulsed with a gentle, inviting energy.
He had succeeded.
A wave of exhaustion and relief washed over him. He carefully retrieved the pill, its warmth spreading through his palm. 'Now for the second, and more dangerous, part of the plan.'
He didn't hesitate. He sat in the center of the room, placed the Third Order Wood Attribute Beast Core in front of him, and swallowed the Qi Liquefaction Pill.
The pill melted the moment it hit his stomach, releasing a torrent of pure, nourishing medicinal energy that surged through his meridians. It was a gentle but powerful river, preparing his body for the coming storm. At the same time, he activated his refined absorption technique, drawing upon the beast core.
This time, he didn't pull a mere sliver. He opened the floodgates.
A tidal wave of savage, emerald-green energy, the entire remaining power of a Dou Grandmaster beast, slammed into his internal 'crucible.' His body shuddered from the sheer impact. The carefully constructed filtration system groaned under the strain, but it held. The Tri-Unity Genesis Art roared to life, its three elements working in a furious, synchronized dance to break down, purify, and digest the immense power.
The Qi Liquefaction Pill's energy acted as a harmonizing agent, smoothing the process and guiding the purified energy towards his Dantian. Inside his spiritual sea, the swirling cyclone of his 9-star Dou Practitioner Dou Qi began to spin at a dizzying speed under the immense pressure.
It compressed. Tighter and tighter, the gaseous energy was forced together. The pain was immense, a crushing pressure from within, but Feng Jiuge gritted his teeth, his will a fortress of iron.
Then, with a sensation like a star collapsing in on itself, the center of the cyclone condensed. A single, tiny, almost imperceptible drop of liquid emerald Dou Qi formed.
He had broken through. He was a Dou Master.
But it wasn't over. The beast core was not yet depleted. The torrent of energy continued to pour into him. The single drop of liquid Dou Qi grew, fed by the endless river of power. His Dantian expanded, his meridians widened and toughened under the strain.
One-star Dou Master… Two-star Dou Master…
The energy from the core finally began to wane. When the last dregs of power were absorbed and the storm within him finally subsided, Feng Jiuge slowly opened his eyes. The beast core in front of him had turned to dull, grey dust.
He felt… reborn. He could feel the dense, liquid Dou Qi in his Dantian, a reservoir of power that made his previous state feel like a child's plaything. He checked his level.
'Three-star Dou Master,' he thought, a sense of profound shock and elation washing over him. 'One breakthrough… and I jumped three entire stars.' The combination of a perfect pill, his unique cultivation art, and the raw power of a full Third Order core had yielded results beyond his wildest dreams.
The door to his room creaked open. Qing Lin stood there, her eyes wide. She had felt the powerful, sustained fluctuation. "Jiuge-gege… you…?"
Feng Jiuge stood up, a genuine, unburdened smile on his face. "I broke through, Xiao Lin."
Her face broke into a grin of pure joy, and she ran to hug him. "That's amazing! I knew you could do it!"
For the next month, life settled into a new rhythm of consolidation. Feng Jiuge and Qing Lin spent hours every day stabilizing their new realms. He was a 3-star Dou Master; she was a 1-star Dou Practitioner. Their small, unassuming house now secretly harbored two cultivators whose true strength far outstripped their peers.
Feng Jiuge, now a proficient Second Tier Alchemist in all but name, began refining pills for Qing Lin. He would concoct simple energy-boosting First Tier pills, but before they were fully formed, he would use his exquisite control to infuse them with a trace of the pure, refined wind Dou Qi he siphoned from his Third Order wind core.
For Qing Lin, taking these pills was like receiving direct, personalized drugs that brought her unimaginable benefits without much harm. Her cultivation soared, her foundation remaining rock-solid under his careful guidance.
His apprenticeship with Alchemist Fei continued. He performed his daily tasks diligently—sweeping floors, sorting herbs, and minding the shop. He would watch the old man concoct pills, his Heavenly Perception Pupils dissecting every movement, every flicker of the flame, every subtle application of Spiritual Strength. He absorbed knowledge like a sponge.
When he returned home, he would try his own alchemical experiments. He had theories, novel approaches to refining that combined principles from his past life's chemistry with his current understanding of Dou Qi.
'If I introduce the essences in a vortex instead of a layered merge, could it increase purity?' he'd wonder, attempting to create a swirling Dou Qi pattern in his cauldron. The result was a minor explosion that covered him in soot.
'What if I use my lightning-attribute Dou Qi to micro-shock the impurities out of the mixture?' This attempt nearly electrocuted his herbs and ruined another batch of ingredients.
His novel approaches were, for now, spectacular failures. But they weren't without benefit. The constant, precise manipulation required for these experiments dramatically improved his control over his Dou Qi Inner Flame.
His wood-attribute Dou Qi, used to soothe and stabilize the medicinal properties, became as dexterous as his own fingers.
He realized that while his own inventions failed, his ability to execute standard alchemy techniques was improving at a terrifying rate. He could now refine most Second Tier Pills with a high success rate, as long as he stuck to the established methods.
Once his wood-attribute beast core was exhausted, he turned his attention to the next in his collection: a fiery red, Third Order Flame Attribute Beast Core.
The energy within this core was noticeably more violent and chaotic than the wood core's. It was a wild, angry inferno. But Feng Jiuge was no longer a mere Dou Practitioner. He was a 3-star Dou Master. The liquid Dou Qi in his Dantian was a powerful anchor, and his Tri-Unity Genesis Art had been further fine-tuned through a year of painful trial and error.
Handling the flame energy was still challenging, but it was manageable. He absorbed it, refined it, and felt his power climb once more. The fire element within his unique cultivation art grew stronger, bringing his three elements into an even greater, more potent harmony.
His cultivation, once again, took off.
Three-star Dou Master… Four… Five… Six…
In another two months of intense, secluded cultivation, he reached the staggering level of a 7-star Dou Master. He was twelve years old. A 7-star Dou Master. Such a thing was unheard of, a monster of talent that would put the most celebrated prodigies of the entire Jia Ma Empire to shame.
And he knew, with this newfound power, that the time for hiding and purely cultivating was coming to an end.
'I have the power of a high-level Dou Master,' he assessed himself one night, 'but the combat skills of a novice. A true powerhouse could kill me with technique alone. It's time to learn how to fight.'
His first step was not the Monster Mountain Range. That was a final exam, not a classroom. His classroom would be the sparring grounds of Wu Tan City.
He formulated a plan. The next day, he once again suppressed his cultivation, this time sealing it at the level of a 5-star Dou Practitioner. It was a level that was talented for his age, but not unbelievable. It would attract attention, but not the kind that brought Dou Spirit grandmasters knocking on his door.
He went to a training area on the outskirts of the city where young, unaffiliated cultivators and mercenaries often practiced. He spotted a group of youths, mostly fourteen or fifteen years old, all of them Dou Practitioners.
Feng Jiuge approached them, his expression polite. "Greetings," he said.
One of them, a burly youth who was clearly the leader and an 8-star Dou Practitioner, looked him up and down. "What do you want, kid?"
"I wish to spar," Feng Jiuge said calmly. "I need to improve my combat skills. I am willing to pay for your time." He opened a small pouch, revealing several perfectly round, fragrant First Tier energy-boosting pills. "I am a new alchemist's apprentice. I can provide ten of these every month to anyone who will spar with me seriously every day."
The youths' eyes widened. First Tier pills weren't priceless, but for struggling Dou Practitioners, ten a month was a significant boon. It meant faster cultivation and less money spent on their own supplies.
"You want to spar with us?" the leader scoffed, sizing up Feng Jiuge's 5-star practitioner aura. "We'll wipe the floor with you."
"That's fine," Feng Jiuge replied with a shrug. "I'm here to learn, not to win. All you have to do is fight me. So, do we have a deal?"
The prospect of free pills was too good to pass up. "Deal," the leader grinned. "My name's He Jin. Don't come crying to us when you get bruised."
The spars began.
And Feng Jiuge was, as he expected, terrible.
His first match was against a 6-star Dou Practitioner. He tried to use "Wood Vine Bind," but his timing was off. The vines erupted from the ground a full second after his opponent had already moved, grasping at empty air. He raised a "Bark Shield," but it was too slow, and a solid punch to his shoulder sent him stumbling back.
He attempted to use "Thunderflash Step" to close the distance, but his footwork was clumsy. He ended up too close, his rhythm broken, and was easily tripped.
He lost. Badly.
His opponents laughed, but they didn't hold back, eager for their payment. And Feng Jiuge didn't complain. He just got up, dusted himself off, and fought again.
But he wasn't just fighting blindly. With every exchange, his Heavenly Perception Pupils were active, his analytical mind working at lightning speed.
'My "Wood Vine Bind" failed because I initiated it after he began his movement,' he analyzed internally after a loss. 'I need to anticipate, to cast it where he will be, not where he is. I need to observe the shift in his hips, the tensing of his calf muscle.'
'The "Bark Shield" is a defensive skill, but I'm using it reactively. It should be preemptive. If I see him channel Dou Qi to his fist, the shield should already be forming.'
He wasn't a combat genius from the start. But he was a learning machine. Every failure was a necessary step for his success. Every bruise was a lesson.
By the third day, the youths who sparred with him noticed a change. He was still losing, but he was becoming harder to hit. His "Thunderflash Step" was becoming smoother, his dodges more precise.
By the end of the first week, he managed his first win, against the same 6-star Dou Practitioner who had dominated him initially. He used a feint, drawing out an attack, and then, at the perfect moment, his "Lightning Serpent's Fang"—a crackling spear of Dou Qi—struck his opponent's exposed flank, ending the match. The attack was still at a 5-star Practitioner's power level, but its timing was flawless.
His rate of improvement was terrifying. The youths stopped laughing and started watching him with a mixture of awe and confusion.
'His control is becoming insane,' He Jin, the 8-star leader, thought as he watched Feng Jiuge spar. 'He's only using the bare minimum Dou Qi needed for each skill, no waste at all.'
Feng Jiuge was now not just learning to use his skills, but to master them. He learned to condense the Dou Qi in his "Lightning Serpent's Fang," making the spear smaller, faster, and far more piercing without increasing its overall energy output. He learned to weave his "Wood Vine Bind" into his footwork, making the ground an unpredictable trap for his opponents.
Within two weeks, the unthinkable happened. He faced He Jin, the 8-star Dou Practitioner. He Jin was faster, stronger, and his Dou Qi was denser. But Feng Jiuge was a phantom.
He used "Thunderflash Step" not just to move, but to create after-images, confusing his opponent. His Heavenly Perception Pupils allowed him to read He Jin's every move before it was even fully formed.
He Jin launched a powerful fist attack. Feng Jiuge didn't dodge. Instead, he took a small step to the side, letting the attack graze past him, and in that split second, a perfectly condensed "Lightning Serpent's Fang" shot forward, tapping He Jin on the wrist, right on the channel that was feeding Dou Qi to his fist.
The energy flow was disrupted, and He Jin's attack dissipated. The match was over. Feng Jiuge had won, not through power, but through absolute, perfect technique.
He could now consistently defeat every Dou Practitioner in the group, even those at the peak 9-star level. He had mastered the essence of combat at this level.
But this was all with his power suppressed.
On the days he didn't spar, he would take Qing Lin deep into the mountains, far from any prying eyes. There, he would finally unleash his true strength.
"Stand back, Xiao Lin," he'd say.
He would take a deep breath and let his full 7-star Dou Master aura erupt. The sheer pressure made the leaves on the trees tremble. He would punch the air, and a visible shockwave of compressed Dou Qi would shatter a boulder ten meters away. He would use "Thunderflash Step," and he wouldn't just be fast; he would vanish, reappearing fifty meters away in the blink of an eye, leaving a crackle of lightning in his wake.
He practiced getting used to this immense power, learning to control the devastating output of his skills, to move his body which was now many times stronger and faster. The gap between a Dou Practitioner and a Dou Master was a chasm, and he was bridging it, making this incredible power an extension of his will.