Battle through the heaven: Azure Emperor

In the quiet courtyard room, the calm air suddenly began to ripple. Threads of pale white energy seeped out of the air and continuously entered Yan Aoyama's body, strengthening his Dou Qi.

Yan Aoyama clenched his teeth and endured the collision of the energies inside and outside his body. The Qi Gathering Liquid in his body had already started to take effect. The large amount of energy began to compress his Dou Qi. Even though this process could be considered safe, it was still extremely painful, especially for the meridians in his body.

Silently enduring the throbbing pain from his meridians, his many days of training were not in vain. After a long period of medicinal baths, his body was greatly strengthened. Even though the pain was unbearable, for the time being, it didn't cause too much of a burden on his body.

Within his dantian, streams of pure energy from the Qi Gathering Liquid were being rapidly refined by his Dou Qi, assimilating and strengthening his Dou Qi and continuously compressing it.

This was a necessary process to become a Dou Zhe. To accumulate enough energy to break through to Dou Zhe, even someone at the peak of 9th Duan Qi would need at least a month of preparation before attempting to break through.

If one were to fail to become a Dou Zhe, their Dou Qi would drop to 8th Duan Qi and months of hard work would be wasted. Thus, many people would attempt to break through to Dou Zhe dozens of times before succeeding.

The third tier Qi Gathering Powder contained a large amount of energy that was useful even for a Da Dou Shi, but its medicinal properties were mild and could be used even by Dou Qi cultivators. Of course, Dou Qi cultivators would waste most of the medicinal properties.

The Qi Gathering Powder contained a large amount of energy, enough for a Dou Qi cultivator to break through to Dou Zhe hundreds of times.

The medicine that Yan Aoyama made may not be as effective as the real Qi Gathering Powder, but the energy contained in it was more than enough for a Dou Zhe to break through to Dou Zhe. Thus, this time, his chances of success were still very high.

In Yan Qingshan's body, his Dou Qi continued to expand until it reached a limit. When the Dou Qi in his body expanded to a point where it could no longer increase, a change finally occurred in his Dantian Qi Sea. The surging Dou Qi in his body followed the movements of his hand seals and fiercely shrank towards his Dantian Qi Sea.

It was as if a whirlpool had appeared in his Dantian. Countless amounts of Dou Qi were compressed into a single point. When that point slowly rotated, it was as if his entire being had ascended to another state. Instantly, he felt as if the heavens and earth were different.

"This is … a fighter!!!"

Yan Aoyama lay down in the ice-cold bathtub. The ice-cold bath water made him a little more awake. He didn't have time to rejoice and regained his calm. He closed his eyes and sensed the condition of his body.

Inner Vision, this was an ability that only warriors who had reached the Dou Zhe level could master. The higher one's strength, the more they would be able to grasp the situation within their body.

Currently, within his Dantian, a palm-sized milky white cyclone was slowly rotating. Surrounding the cyclone was a layer of milky white energy that resembled a nebula.

Dou Zhe and 9 stages of Dou Qi are fundamentally different. What a Dou Zhe cultivates is called Dou Qi, but what a Dou Zhe cultivates is called true Dou Qi. Although there was only a difference of one word between the two, the actual difference was like heaven and earth.

"Dawn, show me my stats!"

Yan Aoyama's heart moved, and a stream of information quickly appeared in his mind.

Host: Yan Aoyama

Cultivation: One Star Dou Zhe

Strength: 1.3

Status: Tired

Agility: 1.2

Mental Power: 13

(Data collection target: Aoyama Town's average of one star Dou Zhe. The median of one star Dou Zhe is 1.0 for each indicator)

"There's not much time left, I have to hurry and prepare!"

After Yan Aoyama sensed the strength within his body, his tightly shut eyes suddenly opened. His mouth slightly opened, and a mouthful of turbid air was spat out. His face also regained some color.

Yan Aoyama quickly got up and used his fastest speed to tidy up everything. After leaving a letter on the table in the room, he took out the luggage that he had prepared beforehand. When the sun began to appear on the horizon, he took advantage of the darkness to leave Wanyao Zhai and headed north into the Magic Beast Mountain Range.

Yan Aoyama left Wanyao Zhai without saying goodbye. This was something that he had prepared for a long time ago. Before today, he had already packed his luggage and the letter. Once he successfully broke through to Dou Zhe, he would leave and try to minimize contact with others.

As a cautious person, he had already prepared a plan before breaking through to Dou Zhe. He did not want to cause any trouble. Aoyama Town was a small town. It could be considered as the lowest level human settlement in the Dou Qi Continent, second only to the villages that were even worse. However, such a small town had a large number of Dou Zhe and even Dou Shi.

In Aoyama Town, most of the Dou Zhe people broke through after they were twenty years old. Even the so-called geniuses of the past were only eighteen or nineteen years old. There had never been someone like Yan Aoyama, who was only fifteen years old.

Once the news of his breakthrough spread, he would be at the heart of the storm and would attract countless covetous eyes.

He did not have the strength to protect his secret. Since he had just broken through to Dou Zhe, his breath would be unstable. It would be difficult to guarantee that he would not be recognized. Therefore, before breaking through to Dou Zhe, he had already planned to leave a letter and leave for a period of time. When he was confident, he would return to Aoyama Town.

Yan Aoyama had prepared for this for a long time. Every month, he would leave Aoyama Town for a few days. Today, leaving a letter and leaving again would not be too abrupt and suspicious.

… …

Winter in the Magic Beast Mountain Range was quite desolate. Especially after the snow had fallen, the ground would be covered in silver frost. Only a few oily evergreen plants could be seen in this silver snow, embellished with bits of green.

Between the yellow and the white snow, a series of footprints could be seen leading into the depths of the Magic Beast Mountain Range. A youth wearing a grey fox robe, holding a war blade, was carefully walking through this desolate forest. This person was naturally Yan Aoyama.

"Based on this speed, I should be able to reach around noon."

Yan Aoyama compared the route to his memory and confirmed that he was heading in the right direction.

Yan Aoyama was currently disguised as a herbalist going into the mountains during the snowy season. On the way to his destination, his harvest was not small. The leather pouch on his back was bulging. In this short period of time, he had at least earned a thousand gold coins.

Yan Aoyama was very cautious as he walked. The route had been planned in advance, so the journey could be considered safe. There were a few times when he might have encountered danger, but he was able to avoid it in advance.

At noon, he arrived at a dense forest. Behind the forest was a cliff, and between the cliff and the forest was a flat open space. He stopped here.

"Let's set up camp first!"

Yan Aoyama stood at the top of the cliff and looked into the distance. What entered his eyes was a vast expanse of snow. Being careful, he was not in a hurry to move. Instead, he found some firewood and began to set up camp in the open space.

After a careful inspection, he did not discover any spying eyes in the surroundings. However, being cautious, he did not directly descend the cliff. Instead, he did what a herbalist would do in winter. After finding a suitable place to set up camp, even though it was a little early in the afternoon, his actions were not out of place.

In winter, the sun set quickly. Herbalists and mercenaries who went into the mountains in winter were different. Mercenaries' targets were mostly magical beasts, while herbalists were there for the herbs. They were even more concerned about their own safety. Basically, they planned to set up camp early, unlike mercenaries who waited until they were ready to rest before finding a place to set up camp.

After Yan Aoyama finished setting up camp, he hid behind the cover of the camp and began to prepare the things he needed. After confirming that no one was spying on him, he tied one end of the rope to his own camp. He came to the edge of the cliff and slowly slid down the cliff.

Yan Aoyama carefully slid down the cliff and stopped in front of a strange precipitous mountain wall. There was a strange pine tree that extended out of the cliff. It could be considered a place where he could barely rest his feet.

Behind this strange tree, there was a messy cluster of withered vines and shrubs. If one were to carefully observe, they would be able to hear the sound of wind in the gaps between the shrubs. Behind the shrubs, there was a large cave entrance. It was a cave that was very difficult to find. If Yan Aoyama did not know the target beforehand, he might have missed it that day.

"Danger!!!"

Yan Aoyama had just brushed aside the vines with one hand when all the pores on his body abruptly shrank. His heart was alarmed. The tip of his foot abruptly stepped on the cliff and pulled on the rope. His whole body moved up three feet, and a porcelain bottle was thrown out by his other hand, smashing towards the sneak attack.

Amidst the whooshing sound, a long snake-like object that was similar in color to the rock wall darted out and tried to bite Yan Qingshan. It failed to bite Yan Qingshan, but it happened to bite the porcelain bottle that he had thrown over into pieces. A fragrant powder spread out in the air.

"A Rock Snake!"

Yan Qingshan leaned against the rock wall due to inertia. After twisting his body and adjusting himself, he was able to clearly see the attacker. It was a Class 1 Magic Beast, Rock Snake. This was a snake-like Magic Beast that lived in the rock walls.

The Rock Snake's body was soft and flat. Not only could it easily climb between the crevices of the cliff, but because its body was as flat as wings, it could also glide between the cliffs. Moreover, this magical beast's attribute was a variation of the earth attribute and the stone attribute. Its body was as hard as stone, and it was difficult for ordinary swords to injure it. It was extremely difficult to deal with.

After the Rock Snake's attack missed, it circled in the air and took advantage of the situation to turn and hissed at Yan Aoyama. Its triangular eyes emitted a bloody cold light, and its body emitted a dark yellow halo.

"Chi ~ ~ ~"

The Rock Snake let out another hiss, and with a flap of its flat and narrow wing-like organs, it spun around and charged towards Yan Qingshan. The sharp white teeth in its huge mouth flickered with a cold light, making people tremble in fear.

"Peng …"

When the Rock Snake was less than a foot away from Yan Aoyama, he stomped his foot and grabbed the rope to dodge, using inertia to avoid his position. Because the distance was too close, the Rock Snake did not have time to adjust its position. It smashed into the cliff like a flying knife, and the flying rocks scraped against Yan Aoyama's body, causing his skin to hurt.

Yan Aoyama did not dare to be careless. As he turned, a cloud of powder was shot from his hand, and the powder covered the entire area where the Rock Snake was located.

The Rock Snake's frantic struggle was suddenly greatly affected. After twisting and swaying in the white powder for a moment, its body stiffened and was stuck in the crevice, motionless.

Yan Aoyama did not dare to be careless. He took out his saber and chopped from a distance. The Rock Snake's body outside the crevice was almost cut in half, and half of its spine was exposed. But even with this kind of injury, it only twitched slightly. It looked like it really couldn't make it.