In the peculiar room, the air around Li Yi swirled with his breathing, as a vast amount of natural Yuanqi filled his meridians. Slowly, Li Yi directed the Yuanqi within his body again towards the Dou Qi Seed in his dantian. Perhaps due to the abundance of Yuanqi this time, a violent vibration occurred at the moment they first met. This almost caused Li Yi to lose his focus, but with gritted teeth, he directed his Yuanqi like a tide towards the small Dou Qi Seed. Finally, the Yuanqi resisted the suction of the Dou Qi Seed and enveloped it entirely. Under Li Yi's guidance, the Yuanqi slowly extracted and refined the pure energy from the Dou Qi Seed. The icy Dou Qi that had just emerged from the Seed was instantly refined by the surrounding Yuanqi into the purest energy. However, the Dou Qi in the Seed seemed infinite, growing denser as more was refined. Towards the end, Li Yi had gradually adapted to the refining process, speeding up significantly. Eventually, his dantian was filled with extremely dense Yuanqi.
The abundant Yuanqi began to slowly move through his meridians, as if undergoing a final bone cleansing. With the flow of Yuanqi, black sweat droplets emerged from his skin and quickly evaporated into the air. When the last drop turned to mist, Li Yi felt his body brimming with Yuanqi, almost to the point of bursting. The Dou Qi Seed in his dantian had been almost completely refined, save for a slight cold imprint. Without this, Li Yi would hardly believe that there had been a Dou Qi Seed there.
Feeling powerful, Li Yi's previously frozen left half gradually recovered amidst sharp pain. This feeling of fullness was so intense that he couldn't help but wonder if his body would burst. From the outside, Li Yi's skin turned red, with sweat droplets continually emerging but quickly evaporating. This scene made the watching Snake Venerable frown slightly, murmuring, "Could it be this kid doesn't know how to break through to Fighter level?" Even the Snake Venerable himself found it hard to believe, but seeing Li Yi's condition, he finally couldn't help but shout, "Quick! Form the Dou Qi vortex, refine the imprint of the Dou Qi Seed, or you're done for!"
Li Yi opened his eyes with difficulty, smiling bitterly inside. He wanted to form the Dou Qi vortex, but how could he without guidance? At that moment, Li Yi had an epiphany. He closed his eyes, ignoring the abundant Yuanqi in his body, focusing instead on his consciousness. There, the information flow of the Heavenly Demon Nine Transformations seemed clearer, and several characters jumped into his vision. Realizing this new content, Li Yi couldn't help but smile. As his cultivation level increased, the next layer of the Heavenly Demon Nine Transformations naturally revealed itself, including the method to break through to Fighter level.
With a low shout, Li Yi's hands moved rapidly, changing through seven or eight seals, finally forming a strange seal with his left hand clasping his right thumb. As his hand seals changed, the Yuanqi that had spread throughout his body crazily rushed towards the center of his dantian. All the Yuanqi converged into a point, transforming from a gaseous state into a viscous liquid, slowly rotating in his dantian.
Li Yi changed his hand seals again, and the viscous liquid continued to compress. Finally, under Li Yi's last hand seal, it began to spin rapidly. Li Yi trembled, a rich black aura enveloping his entire body. With his breath, the black aura penetrated his skin.
"Boom—" It seemed like an explosion occurred in Li Yi's dantian. When he sensed his internal condition again, he was astonished to find that the abundant Yuanqi had disappeared, replaced by a small black vortex in his dantian, spinning rapidly. Li Yi felt his strength multiply. With a slight flex of his finger, a black Qi flowed from the vortex in his dantian to his fingertip, shooting out rapidly. The black Qi was incredibly sharp, purer and more controllable than before. At this moment, Li Yi finally smiled with satisfaction... He had finally advanced to Fighter level, stepping onto the threshold of the strong!
After sitting cross-legged for a while longer, feeling the rapid flow of Dou Qi in his body, Li Yi took a satisfied breath and slowly stood up. But upon standing, he paused in surprise. The broken ribs in his chest had healed unknowingly, and his previously frozen left half had completely recovered. Could it be... Suddenly, Li Yi looked up at the Snake Venerable floating in mid-air and asked, "Old Coot, has my technique..."
The Snake Venerable nodded peculiarly, speaking lightly after a moment, "Lucky kid, not only did you succeed in your first attempt to break through to Fighter level, but due to the abundance of Yuanqi in your body, you even promoted the first transformation of the Heavenly Demon. You have entered a new realm... Kid, you are now several times stronger than before."
Li Yi narrowed his eyes slightly, unsure of the exact effects of the evolution of his technique. He took a slow breath and moved slightly to the side, striking his palm towards the wall. "Thump—" Without even using any Dou Qi, a clear palm imprint appeared on the wall, fingerprints and all, which greatly reassured Li Yi. After so long, he had finally regained the full prowess of his past life, no longer the bullied and useless young master, but the unparalleled king of the underworld! A smile slowly appeared on his lips, and after a moment, Li Yi laughed softly...
"What, just the evolution of your technique and you're this happy?" The Snake Venerable looked at Li Yi with a smirk.
Li Yi laughed for a while before shaking his head slightly, speaking faintly, "What's there to be happy about the evolution of a technique? It's just a low-tier Vermilion Bird technique... But now, I am a Fighter, even if just a One Crystal Fighter. It's time to teach those old fools a lesson... They sent people to kill me, so wouldn't it be rude not to return the favor?"
The Snake Venerable was slightly taken aback, then said, "Kid, although you've advanced to Fighter level, picking a fight with several Warriors seems a bit overambitious..."
"Old Coot, you once said that even the people from the Martial Deity Temple couldn't stand in your way, so those old fools in my Li family can't be more troublesome than them, right?" Li Yi sneered coldly, "Besides, who says I don't have a way to deal with them?"
The Snake Venerable gave a wry smile, then shook his head and vanished into the Yunhuang Ring in Li Yi's hand. "Kid, if you really can't hold up, wake me up. Although my strength is not even a tenth of what it used to be, a few Warriors are still not a big deal to me..."
Hearing this, a smile appeared on Li Yi's lips. Having dealt with the old coot, he now had a trump card to turn the tables. The grievances he had suffered these days were enough. Today, he would use his strength to show the people of Wantide City that targeting Li Yi was a death wish! But next...
Li Yi glanced at the unconscious Li Nana. Leaving her here might be dangerous; it might be more convenient to take her with him. With that thought, Li Yi flicked his finger, sending a stream of Dou Qi to Li Nana's chest. She moved slightly, followed by a bout of violent coughing, and then slowly regained consciousness. Li Nana, still somewhat confused, struggled to sit up, glanced at Li Yi, and then looked around as if she had just remembered what had happened. She couldn't help but ask, "Did you kill those two assassins?"