"Winner of the first one-on-one duel… Yao——Chen!"
Time flew.
In the blink of an eye, Yang Fan had already spent a full month in Tian Dou City.
Thanks to the Blue Emperor Soul Bone Pill's extraordinary self-recovery ability, he could train all day and still compete in nightly duels at the Great Spirit Arena without fatigue.
Over this month, both his Dou Qi and soul power had grown significantly denser—and his coin purse had steadily fattened. His rank had climbed from Iron-tier to Bronze-tier.
Since defeating Huo Wushuang, he hadn't seen that fiery brother-sister duo again.
Not surprising, really.
Both were students of Blazing Flame Academy—and most academies strictly forbade students from participating in private arena fights without permission.
Though sparring matches weren't meant to be lethal, serious injuries—or even deaths—were not uncommon.
"Get out of the way!"
Just as Yang Fan exited the arena, seven soul masters of varying heights and builds approached head-on.
Their arrogance radiated from meters away.
They were the newly arrived Mad Battle Team, a group that had only been in Tian Dou City for a few days. Every member was in their twenties, all above Level 27—and their captain, Raging Rhino, was a hulking Level 29 Soul Grandmaster who looked like a minotaur chieftain.
Despite their short stay, their brutal fighting style had already drawn a cult following.
Everyone else quickly scattered to avoid them.
…
Yang Fan's luck held today.
His first scheduled duel was the very first match—meaning he'd have ample time afterward for his nightly Foundation-Building Spirit Liquid regimen.
"Master, how was my Flame Splitting Tsunami today?" he asked eagerly.
"Barely passable," Yao Lao replied dryly.
"Can't you give me one compliment?"
"With your current Dou Qi reserves, you can barely handle opponents at this level. If you can't finish them in one move, you'll just stand there getting pummeled."
Though they bickered, Yang Fan knew Yao Lao spoke truth.
His Dou Qi had grown stronger—but he remained stubbornly stuck at Dou Qi Ninth Stage.
A single use of an Earth-Tier technique still drained him completely.
That hadn't changed—only the technique's power had slightly improved.
"Focus!" Yao Lao snapped, flicking a tiny Dou Qi whip against Yang Fan's back as he dropped several drops of Foundation-Building Spirit Liquid into the bath.
Yang Fan stilled his breath, circulating Dou Qi through his meridians…
In that moment—
His body became a vast vortex. The diluted spirit liquid seeped into his skin at a visible pace.
Suddenly, Yang Fan shuddered violently. "Master, I…"
When he opened his eyes, Yao Lao was smiling down at him—a smile filled with warmth, satisfaction, and pride.
"I… I can form my Dou Qi Vortex now?!"
This must be what Yao Lao meant: When the time comes, your body will tell you.
It was a sensation beyond words.
"Congratulations, little one," Yao Lao said gently. "Tomorrow, we've got plenty of work ahead."
From the day they left Yunluo City, Yao Lao had already mapped out Yang Fan's cultivation path.
He never intended to let Yang Fan attempt forming the vortex on his own.
Even if Yang Fan's physical strength made success likely, Yao Lao refused to risk it.
Failure at Dou Qi Ninth Stage meant falling back to Eighth Stage—and even under ideal conditions, the next attempt would take at least two months… or longer. Some unlucky souls failed ten times before succeeding.
Repeated failures didn't just waste precious cultivation time—they shattered a cultivator's spirit.
Many prodigies' downfall began precisely with a failed vortex formation.
But in Yao Lao's spatial ring lay a formula that could solve this perfectly.
"Tomorrow, buy the herbs on this list."
Yang Fan took the sheet—and his eyes lit up. "Qi-Gathering Powder!"
This pill guaranteed 100% success in forming the Dou Qi Vortex for any Ninth Stage cultivator.
- Four stalks of 50-year Ink Leaf Lotus
- Two ripe Snake Saliva Fruits
- One 20-year Spirit-Gathering Grass
- One Grade-2 water-attribute demon core
The first three ingredients were expensive but purchasable.
"Master… this Grade-2 water-attribute magic core—isn't that equivalent to a 2,000-year water-attribute soul bone?"
Soul bones were exceedingly rare in Douluo.
Most soul masters went their entire lives hearing only rumors of them.
If Blazing Dragon Gallbladder Grass was "available but priceless," then soul bones were "unavailable and priceless."
"Tomorrow, we'll secure the first three herbs first," Yao Lao said decisively.
He'd long anticipated this hurdle.
Demon cores were soul bones.
And soul bones were far rarer here than on the Dou Qi Continent.
If they couldn't find one, they'd hunt a 2,000-year water-attribute soul beast and refine it with Heavenly Flame. The effect wouldn't match a true soul bone—but it would still boost Yang Fan's success rate.
This couldn't wait.
Unlike soul masters—who could keep training even at a bottleneck—Dou cultivators hit a hard wall.
Without forming the vortex, Yang Fan couldn't advance.
Yao Lao set a deadline: two weeks max.
If they couldn't find a water-attributed soul bone by then, they'd head straight to the Great Star Dou Forest to hunt one.
"Got it!"
Yang Fan carefully stored the formula in his soul tool—the ingredients already memorized by heart.
Dou Zhe…
So close he could almost touch it—yet agonizingly out of reach.
Reaching Dou Zhe meant he could finally become an alchemist, learn pill refining from Yao Lao, and study the cultivation techniques he'd dreamed of.
Just thinking about it made his heart race…
"Don't even think about trying it on your own," Yao Lao warned sharply.
He knew exactly what Yang Fan was feeling.
He remembered his own youth—lying awake all night at Ninth Stage, trembling with the urge to force the vortex.
Though he'd never had a Qi-Gathering Powder, he'd waited for the perfect moment to break through.
That night, Yang Fan couldn't sleep.
He was even more excited than on his martial soul awakening day.
Soul bones…
In Douluo, such treasures were found only by fate.
He'd been overjoyed for two months after obtaining the hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor soul bone—but that was because he'd known where to look.
Now? He had no clue where to find a water-attributed soul bone.
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