Chapter 27: Five-Star Battle Master
Whoosh!
With a wave of his hand, Xiao Tian summoned a small, purple pill, about the size of a dragon's eye, into his palm. A faint mist, full of spiritual energy, surrounded the pill, almost turning into a tangible aroma of medicinal fragrance.
Xiao Tian placed the purple pill into a jade bottle, then began refining a second one. After successfully creating the second pill, he paused to rest for a moment. His eyes then turned to Yao Lao, saying, "Master, I only have two types of flames now. Later, during the third flame transformation, I'll need your help with refining."
"Don't worry, leave it to me," Yao Lao nodded in agreement.
During Xiao Tian's days of training and refining pills, Yao Lao hadn't been idle. Xiao Tian had used a stone talisman to refine a grade six spiritual herb and two grade five spiritual herbs, which Yao Lao consumed. After fully absorbing them, Yao Lao's soul power had recovered to a level comparable to the peak of the Dou Zong stage.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Tian approached the cauldron and sat down cross-legged. He swallowed a few Yang Yuan Pills, but didn't refine them immediately. Instead, he used their energy to activate his flames. This was one of the two flames he had mentioned earlier.
Boom!
In an instant, a faint red flame appeared inside the cauldron. Xiao Tian infused it with wood energy and began the first stage of refining. As various medicinal essences were added to the cauldron, the pill began to form at a visibly fast pace.
About half an hour later, a light medicinal fragrance wafted out. A round, jade-green pill rotated steadily inside the cauldron. Xiao Tian's expression grew serious as he carefully controlled the retreat of the red flame and injected purple flames from another source. His soul power had already infiltrated the cauldron, ensuring that the two flames were completely separated to prevent them from clashing.
Once the red flame was fully withdrawn, the purple flame enveloped the pill, beginning the second stage of refinement.
After a long while, Xiao Tian slowly opened his eyes and said to Yao Lao, "Master, you can start the third transformation now."
As he spoke, Xiao Tian withdrew his soul power and the purple flame. At the same time, Yao Lao's soul power, along with a pale white flame, merged into the cauldron. As the Bone Spirit Cold Flame appeared, thin strands of white frost began to seep out from the cauldron, causing the surrounding temperature to drop significantly.
With Yao Lao's expertise in alchemy, he seamlessly handled this phase of refinement. After some time, Yao Lao retracted the Bone Spirit Cold Flame. As the pale white flame fully dissipated, a green, perfectly round pill flew out of the cauldron.
Xiao Tian grabbed the pill from the air with a gesture. It was about the size of a dragon's eye and completely green, with one red, one purple, and one white stripe on its surface. Just holding it, Xiao Tian could feel the immense power contained within.
"Once I break through this time, and after I master the Great Sun Thunder Body, I'll go and absorb the Green Lotus Core Flame!" Xiao Tian thought to himself as he held the three-striped green spirit pill. "By then, I won't even need Yao Lao's help to refine the three-striped green spirit pill."
With that thought in mind, Xiao Tian sat down cross-legged and swallowed the three-striped green spirit pill in one gulp. The pill melted in his mouth, transforming into three surges of pure energy, each stronger than the last. Like a rushing river, the energy surged down his throat and into his meridians.
In an instant, Xiao Tian trembled. He noticed that two of the energy surges were like flames, radiating intense heat, while the white energy was as cold as ice, leaving a thin layer of frost on the walls of his meridians as it passed. This sudden shift between extreme heat and cold almost forced Xiao Tian out of his meditative state.
Fortunately, he wasn't an ordinary person. He quickly stabilized himself and began to refine the three streams of energy with all his strength. As he refined them, the vast energy gradually turned into liquid form, flowing into his Dou Qi vortex. At the same time, his flesh, meridians, and even bones were being toughened by the medicinal power.
Xiao Tian's Dou Qi vortex had already reached its limit, but as the liquid energy continued to pour in, it began to swell. Xiao Tian knew that if it kept expanding, it would eventually burst. So, he decided to use this opportunity to break through to the level of Battle Master.
Compressing gaseous energy into liquid form signified the breakthrough to a Battle Master, while compressing liquid energy into solid form indicated the leap to a Great Battle Master. Every Battle Master, upon filling their Dou Qi vortex with liquid energy, would compress it further, turning it into solid energy.
As Xiao Tian's hand seals changed, ripples of energy appeared within his Dou Qi vortex. As soon as the ripples formed, the liquid energy began to bubble like boiling water. Simultaneously, the slowly rotating vortex started to speed up quietly.
Within just ten breaths, the Dou Qi vortex had transformed into a wildly spinning spiral. During this rapid rotation, a solid object filled with immense energy began to form slowly. Once it took shape, the liquid energy in the Dou Qi vortex was rapidly absorbed, enhancing the object.
At the same time, a faint purple glow enveloped Xiao Tian's body, forming a Dou Qi veil. As the purple glow twisted and solidified further, it began to resemble armor.
No one knew how much time had passed, but eventually, all the liquid energy in Xiao Tian's Dou Qi vortex had vanished. In its place was a purple diamond-shaped crystal, no bigger than a thumb.
Xiao Tian understood that this crystal was the hallmark of a Great Battle Master—Dou Crystal!
In the eyes of many powerful individuals, only those who possessed a Dou Crystal were considered to have truly entered the path of cultivation. This also meant that Xiao Tian had now become a one-star Great Battle Master.
The three-striped green spirit pill, which even had an effect on Dou Spirit-level practitioners, had only used one-third of its energy to help Xiao Tian break through to the Great Battle Master stage.
As he refined the remaining two-thirds of the pill's energy, Xiao Tian's cultivation level continued to rise.
Two-star Great Battle Master!
Three-star Great Battle Master!
After fully refining the three-striped green spirit pill, Xiao Tian didn't stop cultivating. He took out a Purple Heart Barrier-Breaking Pill and swallowed it.
Four-star Great Battle Master!
After a long while, he took out another Purple Heart Barrier-Breaking Pill.
Five-star Great Battle Master!
At last, Xiao Tian finished his cultivation. Feeling an unprecedented surge of power within him, he couldn't help but smile.
(End of Chapter)