The next day, just as the sun rose in the east, Xiao Hai awoke. The discoveries he had made within the Devouring Pearl yesterday had left him restless, unable to sleep through the night. So, he chose to rise early and continue his practice.
After washing his face, he stepped out of his courtyard. The morning was still quiet, and the soft sunlight felt like a warm embrace. After some stretching, he began to run. Since the start of his cultivation, his routine had been simple yet rigorous: physical exercise in the morning until both mind and body felt fully awakened, followed by cultivating Dou Qi beside the stream. After an hour of cultivation, he would return home for lunch and head to the training grounds. There, he trained until nearly exhausting his strength before once again immersing himself in cultivation. This routine stretched until evening, and even after dinner, he continued cultivating deep into the night.
Through these physical exercises, his rate of Dou Qi absorption increased noticeably. This was the secret to his rapid progress. Another reason lay in his reincarnation—his soul was far stronger than others of the same age, making it easier for him to sense and draw Dou Qi into his body.
After nearly six years of following this gruelling routine with only the rarest of breaks, it had long become second nature to him. Thus, even though he had already stepped into the Dou Zhe stage, Xiao Hai continued to follow his regimen without fail.
As Xiao Hai ran, he soon noticed the changes brought about by his recent breakthrough. Before, his body would begin to feel that warm sensation after just fifteen minutes of running. But now, even after half an hour, the feeling remained steady and unchanged. Realizing the difference, he finally slowed down and stopped once he reached the mountain stream at the back.
Taking a deep breath to steady his restless mind, he settled onto a nearby stone. After his thoughts calmed, he flicked his hand, and a scroll appeared in his palm. It glimmered with a deep blue light, radiating a calm yet weighty aura that seemed to press upon the surroundings.
Gazing at the scroll, Xiao Hai closed his eyes and extended his soul power toward it, seeking to comprehend the essence hidden within. In the Dou Qi Continent, cultivating a Qi Method required more than simply reading words from a scroll. Each method was inscribed with profound mysteries that could only be grasped through the use of soul power. Without that, the techniques remained nothing more than lifeless ink, impossible to truly learn.
After fully grasping the concepts within the scroll, Xiao Hai's lips curved into a faint smile. Though he now understood the theory behind this Qi Method, actual practice required patience and persistence. After all, this was no ordinary method—it was an Earth-rank Qi Method.
He immediately sat down cross-legged and began cultivating according to its instructions. On his first attempt, he failed. On the second as well. Again and again, he stumbled, unable to align his Dou Qi with the method's profound flow. Yet, instead of frustration, his eyes grew sharper. Finally, on his eleventh attempt, a spark of comprehension bloomed within him. He had grasped the essence.
The moment he stabilized the feeling, the surrounding Dou Qi surged violently, flooding into his body like a tide. In an instant, he felt as though he were submerged in the depths of a vast ocean. The waters appeared calm and tranquil on the surface, yet the immense pressure hidden within could easily crush an ordinary person into dust. But Xiao Hai's body remained firm, unshaken under the weight.
For two full hours, he cultivated, guiding the ocean-like flow through his meridians. When he finally opened his eyes, his Dou Qi had completely transformed. What was once formless and attribute-less now carried the essence of water—not just ordinary water, but the profound might of the Deep Sea: serene on the surface, yet harbouring lethal power within.
When Xiao Hai awoke from cultivation, he slowly stretched his body. A surge of vitality coursed through him, and he felt as though his limbs were brimming with boundless strength.
As he marvelled at this newfound power, a sudden thought flashed through his mind. He walked over to a nearby tree, its trunk as thick as an elephant's leg, and clenched his fist. With a sharp exhale, he struck.
Crack!
The massive tree split apart instantly, toppling with a heavy crash. Xiao Hai's eyes widened in shock. He hadn't even circulated his Dou Qi—this was pure, raw physical strength.
"Whoa… my strength has increased this much?" he muttered in disbelief. "It seems not only is my foundation unharmed, but it's even sturdier than before. The Spiritual Liquid is truly miraculous…"
The display of power left him both astonished and delighted. Yet, despite recognizing the liquid's extraordinary effects, Xiao Hai had no thought of selling it. Wealth was not his concern—for now. After all, he had already counted his savings: nearly ten million gold coins. More than enough to sustain him for the foreseeable future. If the day came when he truly lacked money, only then would he consider parting with such a treasure.
Since there was still some time before noon, Xiao Hai decided to practice a few Dou Qi skills. With a flick of his hand, three scrolls appeared in his palm. Out of the fifteen skills he possessed, these three were the lowest ranked—yet even so, they were high-grade Yellow-rank techniques. Their greatest advantage was their versatility: anyone could practice them, regardless of their Dou Qi attribute.
Extending his soul power into the scrolls, Xiao Hai quickly absorbed their concepts. The first was a palm technique known as Heavy Strike Palm. The second was an agility technique called Flowing Steps. And the last was a defensive art named Unbreakable Spirit.
The palm and agility techniques posed no special requirements; they could be practiced anywhere with enough space. The defensive technique, however, was different. To temper the body and spirit in the way it demanded, one had to stand beneath a waterfall, enduring the crushing weight of the falling torrent.
Shaking his head slightly, Xiao Hai put away the last scroll. He would attempt it when conditions allowed. For now, he focused his attention on the other two, preparing to engrave their essence into his body through practice.
Although the original Dou Qi Continent had no clear concept of comprehension realms for techniques, this was the real-world Xiao Hai now lived in. To truly wield a Dou Qi skill to its fullest, one required not just power, but also comprehension.
For instance, just now he had grasped the concepts of the two techniques and could perform them, but his execution only reached the Small Success Realm.
The comprehension of Dou Qi skills was divided into three distinct realms:
Small Success — when one could perform the skill, but not yet display its full potential.
Great Success — when the skill could be executed to its greatest extent, unleashing all the power it was designed to hold.
Perfection — the highest realm, where the skill no longer felt like a technique at all. Instead, it flowed as naturally as instinct, as if it were an extension of the user's body and soul.
For example, from the information he gained about the Heavy Strike Palm, Xiao Hai learned that once truly mastered, this technique could shatter every bone in an opponent's body with a single strike. At first, such a claim seemed exaggerated, yet it wasn't baseless. If a one-star Dou Shi executed the Heavy Strike Palm against a nine-star Dou Zhe, the technique's might be indeed capable of breaking every bone in the opponent's frame.
Thus, even though he had only reached the Small Success Realm in both techniques, Xiao Hai was determined to keep practicing until he touched Perfection. To most people, such persistence would seem laughable, even wasteful. But Xiao Hai knew otherwise. In a true battle of life and death, even the smallest difference could decide victory or defeat. That was why he trained so diligently, refusing to settle for mediocrity.
After all, in the original story, even Yao Lao had tempered Xiao Yan in the same way—pushing him to refine his techniques beyond mere usability, until they became instinct.