The next morning, in a room within the Miteer Family estate.
Lin Yuan felt an itch at the tip of his nose, as though something were brushing across his face. His nostrils twitched, and the sensation quickly built into a sneeze.
"Ah-choo—!"
Lin Yuan ended one of his rare nights of sleep and slowly opened his eyes.
The ominous scene from his dream was gone. Instead, what entered his sight was a room decorated in familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar shades of purple. He was lying on the bed in his own chamber.
Beside him, Medusa was acting like an ordinary young woman. Seeing that he had awakened, she mischievously used her silky hair to tickle his face.
"Awake?"
With a teasing smile, Medusa said playfully,
"You were so energetic last night, so full of spirit, and played quite boldly too. Yet you ended up sleeping longer than this 'defeated opponent' of yours. Little man, are you exhausted already?"
"I—"
Lin Yuan immediately wanted to retaliate and remind her that men were creatures who could not tolerate provocation.
However, the moment he sat up, a strange sense of weakness washed over him. At the same time, he felt completely uninterested in anything, as though he had entered a state of detached tranquility.
Well, perhaps he really was not in condition at the moment.
The consecutive battles yesterday had taken an enormous toll on both his body and mind. In particular, despite suffering the backlash of the Dual-Origin Secret Technique, he had still forced himself to continue and defeat the lifelong rival beside him. That had consumed no small amount of energy.
Although he had fully recovered with the aid of medicinal pills and dual cultivation techniques, his excessive experimentation with those techniques had left him in a state of sage-like detachment.
"I'll check what time it is first."
As he spoke, he glanced outside and estimated the hour.
"It won't be long before our meeting with Venerable Yao and the others."
A serious expression appeared on his face as he rose from the bed.
Seeing the look of surrender hanging over Lin Yuan like a white flag, Queen Medusa revealed a smug smile.
Though she had been careless and suffered another defeat last night, this morning she had managed to subdue the enemy without even fighting, successfully reclaiming a point.
After getting dressed, Lin Yuan sat back down on the edge of the bed and looked at the beauty before him with a faint smile.
"Your Majesty, I have something for you."
His gaze focused slightly.
Placing a hand on his forehead, he slowly extracted an extremely condensed strand of Soul Strength and pressed it against Medusa's chest.
Immediately afterward, he formed several profound hand seals.
The strand of Soul Strength seemed to awaken, gradually transforming into a faint cyan mark. Once it took shape, it slowly faded from sight.
Seeing the confusion in Medusa's eyes, Lin Yuan placed a hand over the location of the seven-colored mark on his own chest and smiled.
"This is a special Soul Imprint of mine. If you burn it, I will be able to sense your direction and approximate location."
"If you ever need my help, simply activate it, and I will immediately know."
"When that time comes, I will rush to your side without delay."
"I developed it by studying the seven-colored imprint you left on me. What do you think?"
Hearing this, a trace of warmth appeared in Medusa's enchanting eyes.
Gently touching the location of the cyan mark, she nodded.
"Not bad. This gift is quite to my liking."
"That's good."
Lin Yuan stood up with a smile and extended his hand toward her.
"Come, Your Majesty. Let's go meet Senior Yao Chen. I suspect we can obtain quite a few benefits from him today."
"Oh?"
Placing her hand into his palm, Medusa rose to her feet and glanced at the colorful shattered dress scattered across the floor.
A stream of seven-colored light flowed around her.
In an instant, a perfectly fitted purple dress materialized and wrapped itself around her exquisite figure.
"Benefits?"
After thinking for a moment, realization flashed across her eyes.
"So that's it."
She looked at him with amusement.
"Little man, you're truly cunning."
"You intend to use Xiao Yan and the Xiao Clan as leverage to conduct further negotiations with Venerable Yao."
"You'll offer protection to the Xiao Clan through the Seven-Star Alliance and your subordinate factions within the Jia Ma Empire, then exchange that favor for something far more valuable to you."
Lin Yuan looked at her approvingly.
"Your Majesty, your intelligence makes you even more captivating."
"However, I prefer to call it mutual benefit."
"They genuinely need someone to protect the Xiao Clan for a period of time. That costs me very little."
"Meanwhile, there are things in Venerable Yao's possession that I need, but which are of little consequence to him."
"And how can you be certain they won't simply strike a deal with someone else? For example, that old monster from the imperial family."
"Heh."
Lin Yuan smiled confidently.
"Because I am the most suitable choice."
"As for Jia Xing Tian..."
"Based on what I know of him, he's a very cautious man."
"After everything that happened yesterday, he likely won't have the courage to become deeply involved with Xiao Yan and Venerable Yao."
Medusa raised an eyebrow.
"You seem to understand Old Jia quite well. Did Hai Bodong tell you that?"
"You could say that."
Lin Yuan reached out and smoothed the slight frown between her brows.
"Enough thinking about it."
"Let's take today's matters easy. Whether the cooperation succeeds or not doesn't matter."
"If it works, all the better."
"If not, no great loss."
"After all..."
"The momentum I've accumulated over the past several years is finally enough to let me soar into the heavens."
After speaking, Lin Yuan turned and pushed open the door.
His deep eyes flashed with brilliance as he gazed toward the vast sky.
His will moved with his body.
A proud and unyielding aura erupted from within him and shot directly into the clouds.
At that very moment, the Dou Qi within his body became extraordinarily active.
The Heavenly Flame Scripture suddenly began circulating on its own.
Massive amounts of energy gathered into a dense vortex and poured toward Lin Yuan at its center.
At the same time, the residual medicinal power from the numerous high-tier pills he had consumed recently also surged forth, eager to erupt.
A look of realization appeared on Lin Yuan's face.
Following his instincts, he sat down cross-legged.
The Heavenly Flame rose within him.
Inside his body, the surrounding Heaven and Earth Energy mixed with the immense residual medicinal power.
Refined by the Green Lotus Core Flame and the Fallen Heart Flame's Seed Flame, they transformed into pure Dou Qi, which was greedily absorbed by his meridians and flesh.
His aura began rising rapidly.
Before long—
Crack!
Like bamboo splitting before a blade, he broke through the late Five-Star Dou Emperor stage.
Yet his advancement did not stop.
As more Heaven and Earth Energy and medicinal power were refined and absorbed, his aura continued climbing steadily and firmly upward.
"Hm?"
At this moment, Medusa stepped out of the room and noticed the situation.
A trace of surprise flashed through her eyes.
"A breakthrough after a great battle?"
"Little man, you really never let me rest easy."
Though her words carried a hint of reproach, the faint joy hidden within her voice was impossible to conceal.
"Spatial Lock!"
Moments later, her cold voice rang out.
A mysterious spatial barrier enveloped Lin Yuan's residence, protecting him as he advanced.
Half a day later.
When the final trace of wandering fire-attributed energy within the barrier entered Lin Yuan's body, the powerful aura radiating from him suddenly withdrew completely.
Everything converged back into his body.
At this moment, the energy and Dou Qi within him had reached complete saturation.
He remained seated motionlessly in the courtyard.
Silence filled the barrier.
His breathing became extraordinarily deep and steady.
With every inhalation and exhalation, it seemed as though an immense momentum was gathering within him.
The silence lasted for roughly half an hour.
Finally Lin Yuan's eyes snapped open.
A sharp light flashed through them.
The momentum was complete.
He rose to his feet and looked directly at the heavens.
His gaze sharpened.
"ROAR—!"
A dragon-like cry erupted from him like a hidden dragon emerging from the abyss.
The aura he had accumulated for so long exploded forth.
The sound waves and violent pressure stirred layer upon layer of spatial ripples across Medusa's barrier.
"BREAK FOR ME!!!"
With a furious roar, his overwhelming aura and sky-piercing momentum launched a fierce assault against the bottleneck between Five-Star and Six-Star Dou Emperor.
Crack!
Somewhere beyond perception, an invisible barrier shattered.
The aura Lin Yuan had accumulated for so long finally broke through the Five-Star realm and stabilized firmly at the Six-Star level.
After the explosive breakthrough came the inevitable weakness.
The newly advanced Six-Star Dou Emperor's aura receded like a retreating tide.
His body softened and fell against Medusa, who had instantly appeared beside him.
He breathed heavily.
Yet his eyes were brighter than ever, overflowing with unconcealed joy.
"Six-Star Dou Emperor achieved!"
More than ten minutes later, after the brief period of weakness passed, surging Dou Qi continuously flowed through his body.
The sensation of exhaustion rapidly disappeared.
Thinking back on the breakthrough, he could not help sighing inwardly.
"Essence, energy, and spirit, each complements the others."
"Cultivation truly is a fascinating thing."
With that thought, Lin Yuan straightened his body and stretched.
A series of crackling sounds erupted from his bones.
The comfortable sensation brought by immense power flooding every corner of his body stimulated his spirit, causing him to burst into hearty laughter.
"Cultivation feels amazing!!!"
"Enough celebrating."
Seeing that he had recovered, Medusa reminded him,
"It's nearly evening. If we don't leave now, we'll be late for the meeting."
"You're right."
Lin Yuan nodded.
"Your Majesty, let's go."
"Time to keep our appointment."
Before long, a streak of cyan light and a streak of rainbow-colored light rose from Jia Ma Holy City and flew toward the Magical Beast Mountain Range.
At dusk, inside a cave deep within the Magical Beast Mountain Range.
Xiao Yan sat cross-legged atop a stone platform in the center of the cave.
His eyes were tightly shut, and his hands formed cultivation seals.
Judging by the fluctuating aura emanating from him, he too was on the verge of advancing another star.
Ding—
At a certain moment, a soft chime rang out from within Xiao Yan's body, breaking the cave's silence.
As the sound echoed, his aura suddenly surged.
"He's broken through to a Four-Star Dou Grandmaster?"
Yao Lao stroked his beard, his expression growing more serious.
"The real test begins now. The energy within your body is sufficient to raise you another star. But that extra star would be poison."
"Little Yan, what choice will you make?"
"Resist the temptation. Suppress your anger. Don't let temporary emotions cloud your judgment. Don't disappoint your teacher."
Finally, under Yao Lao's somewhat worried gaze, the rise in Xiao Yan's aura abruptly halted. It then compressed inward before gradually stabilizing as he began thoroughly refining the cultivation he had just gained.
In the end, Xiao Yan suppressed the fury in his heart and restrained his overwhelming desire for power, recalling Yao Lao's teachings.
Several minutes later, he released his cultivation seals and slowly opened his eyes.
The emotions that had filled his gaze after learning about the Hall of Souls and the affairs of the Xiao Clan, anger, helplessness, resentment, and hatred were now gone.
He had buried them deep within his heart, and his mind had regained its calm.
Looking toward Yao Lao, he saw the old man watching him with a gentle expression. The worry on his face had been replaced by relief.
Xiao Yan immediately rose and gave a deep bow.
"Teacher, thank you. I've made you worry over the past two days."
"Don't worry. Whether it's my cultivation or the Hall of Souls, I won't act recklessly anymore."
Yao Lao nodded in satisfaction and patted his shoulder.
"Good. Remember, haste makes waste."
"Fighting the Hall of Souls and rescuing your father are both long-term endeavors. Don't become impatient. Focus on what you can control right now and steadily improve your strength."
"Yes, Teacher."
Xiao Yan nodded.
Seeing that Xiao Yan had returned to his usual state, Yao Lao relaxed and regained some of his usual humor.
"Fortunately, you didn't let your emotions overwhelm you and recklessly force another breakthrough."
"Otherwise, I was prepared to make you spend three months tempering your Dou Qi, with no cultivation progress whatsoever during that time, as punishment. It would've helped cool your head down."
Xiao Yan rubbed his nose and smiled bitterly.
"Teacher, isn't that a bit excessive?"
Yao Lao shot him a glance.
"Think about what you were like yesterday, then ask yourself whether that statement is convincing."
"I still vividly remember how you wanted to charge straight into the Hall of Souls and fight them to the death."
"I have no desire to collect your corpse, nor do I want to storm the Hall of Souls to rescue you. The only thing I could do was make sure you calmed down."
Xiao Yan scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
He still remembered, at least vaguely, the irrational rage he had fallen into after learning that Xiao Zhan had been captured.
Looking at the still-irritated Yao Lao, Xiao Yan rolled his eyes and quickly changed the subject.
"By the way, Teacher, we've already been waiting here for a day. Are we still going to keep waiting for Tianshu?"
Yao Lao glanced at him before turning his gaze toward Jia Ma Sacred City.
A familiar aura was approaching.
"Our future plans depend heavily on the intelligence Tianshu possesses."
He waved his hand casually.
"Besides, he's already here. Let's head outside."
With that, Yao Lao floated out of the cave first, and Xiao Yan followed close behind.
After leaving the cave, just as Xiao Yan greeted Ling Ying, who had been standing guard outside, two streaks of light appeared in the distance and rapidly shot toward them.
Within only a few blinks, Lin Yuan and Medusa arrived before the three of them.
As comrades who had fought side by side in a bloody battle just yesterday, Yao Lao was about to greet them when Lin Yuan suddenly spoke first.
"Hm? Senior Yao, how did you know that I broke through?"
"To be honest, after yesterday's intense battle, I gained some insights and seized an opportunity for advancement."
"Today, after spending some time cultivating, I was fortunate enough to break through by one star. I am now a Six-Star Dou Emperor."
Hearing Lin Yuan speak as if carrying on a conversation with himself, Yao Lao could not help but stare blankly.
"Uh I don't think I've said anything yet."
----
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