That very day, Xiao Se forced himself to endure the nausea and used the Taixu Ancient Dragon essence blood that Zi Yan had spat out. Not only did he successfully cultivate the second layer of the secret art "Wrath of the Fire God," he also relied on the enormous energy contained within the essence blood to push his cultivation all the way up to Nine-Star Dou Ling.
As evening approached, Xiao Se walked out of his room.
In the living hall, Little Medical Fairy, Zhu Zhuqing, and Han Yue were already eating dinner together.
"You're done cultivating? Come eat something. We just finished making dinner," Little Medical Fairy said, looking at Xiao Se's somewhat pale expression.
"N-no, it's fine. I don't really have much of an appetite today." Xiao Se still felt slightly queasy and waved his hand.
"What's wrong with him?" Little Medical Fairy turned to look at Zhu Zhuqing.
Zhu Zhuqing's face flushed red first, then her lips twitched. She put down her bowl, leaned close to Little Medical Fairy's ear, skipped over the part about Xiao Se bullying her in the morning, and quietly explained Zi Yan's situation.
Pfft.
Little Medical Fairy failed to hold back and laughed. "Isn't that a good thing? At least you succeeded in your cultivation."
"More or less," Xiao Se said with a dry laugh.
Perhaps to change the subject, Xiao Se looked at Han Yue and asked, "By the way, Han Yue, how's the formation of your 'Tian Yue' group coming along?"
"It's going fairly smoothly. After screening, we already have more than twenty members," Han Yue replied coolly, her tone calm and detached as ever.
The atmosphere grew awkward. For a moment, Xiao Se didn't know what else to say, so he simply went outside the pavilion to practice swordsmanship.
An hour later, Xiao Se returned to the main hall. Han Yue had already gone back to her room, leaving only Little Medical Fairy and Zhu Zhuqing.
Seeing Xiao Se come in, the two girls showed gentle smiles. "You should be hungry now, right? We saved you some food. It's warming in the kitchen—we'll bring it out for you."
As they spoke, the two beauties walked into the kitchen and brought the dishes out.
Xiao Se touched his stomach. He really was hungry now. Smiling slightly, he sat down and started eating.
After taking a bite, Xiao Se casually said to Little Medical Fairy, "Xian'er, tomorrow I'll accompany Zi Yan to retrieve the Earth Core Tempering Milk. After that, come with me to Douluo Continent. Your external spirit bone came from the Man-Faced Demon Spider—we'll hunt down a few Man-Faced Demon Spider Emperors and help you upgrade it to god-tier. That way, before you reach Dou Zun, your Woeful Poison Body shouldn't pose any risk of eruption."
"Your secret art can be used again?" Little Medical Fairy asked in surprise. In the understanding of the girls, Xiao Se's ability to travel to other worlds was due to some ancient secret technique he possessed.
"Yes." Xiao Se nodded, his face completely calm as he spun nonsense without blinking. "This technique is closely tied to the user's soul. As my soul realm improves, I can now use it freely."
Then he smiled and turned to Zhu Zhuqing. "Zhuqing, will you come with us, or will you stay here and continue cultivating in the Heavenly Blazing Qi Refining Tower?"
"I'll go with you," Zhu Zhuqing replied. "Ever since I broke through to Great Dou Shi, I've had a vague feeling that my martial soul can add more spirit rings."
"Add more spirit rings?" Xiao Se froze, then asked in surprise, "If you don't add spirit rings, will it limit your cultivation progress?"
Zhu Zhuqing shook her head. "It won't affect it."
"That's good, then." Hearing this, Xiao Se finally relaxed and smiled. "I'll take you both over tomorrow."
The last time he was in Douluo Continent, he hadn't awakened a martial soul precisely because he was worried about this issue. Awakening a martial soul could indeed bring a tremendous boost in strength early on, but if it became a shackle that restricted future growth, it simply wouldn't be worth it.
The next morning, the sun shone brightly, and the sky was clear and cloudless.
Following behind Zi Yan, Xiao Se flew deep into the Inner Academy, arriving at a bamboo forest. Beyond the bamboo forest lay a small valley backed by the mountains. The terrain of the valley resembled a gourd, with only a single narrow passage leading inside. Ignoring the factor of flight, among cultivators of the same level, it could truly be described as one man guarding the pass against ten thousand.
At the entrance of the passage, a massive white giant ape lay on the ground, resting. Its shoulder height exceeded ten meters, its body robust and powerful.
The white giant ape emitted a terrifying aura of icy cold. Thick breaths poured from its nostrils like twin streams of white mist. Its arms were exceptionally long—when fully spread, their length was nearly twice its shoulder height, making it look incredibly imposing.
"So this is the Snow Sky Demon Ape at the Dou Wang level?" Xiao Se murmured softly, his gaze fixed on the massive beast.
Zi Yan stood with her back to Xiao Se and viciously pointed at the Snow Sky Demon Ape. "Xiao Se, let's go kill this stinking monkey! It bullied me!"
She had come here several times before, trying to take the treasure inside the cave, only to be beaten back by this Snow Sky Demon Ape each time. Now that she had help, the so-called brute-force king was naturally here to reclaim her dignity.
Neither Xiao Se nor Zi Yan bothered to hide their auras. Very quickly, they alarmed the Snow Sky Demon Ape. When it saw Xiao Se and Zi Yan in the sky, it immediately recognized Zi Yan.
"It's you again?! You're back again!" The Snow Sky Demon Ape's eyes nearly split open in rage. It swung its claws, sending several powerful gusts of wind that shattered nearby boulders into powder. When it looked at Xiao Se and Zi Yan again, its eyes were bloodshot, filled with killing intent and frenzy.
"Xiao Se, make a move! Teach this stinking monkey a proper lesson!" Zi Yan waved her small fists and urged him from behind.
"Don't worry, leave it to me. Ever since I broke through to Dou Ling, I haven't had a real fight in a long time. You stand aside—I'll handle it." Xiao Se interlocked his fingers and cracked his wrists, bones popping loudly.
"You're only at peak Dou Ling. Is it really okay? This guy is a genuine fifth-rank magical beast, equivalent to a human Dou Wang," Zi Yan said hesitantly.
"It won't take much effort." A dazzling pink flame flashed in Xiao Se's pupils. With a thought, massive pink flames suddenly surged over his body.
He raised his left hand in a sword-finger gesture and lifted it above his head. In an instant, his entire arm erupted with brilliant red light.
Fire Dragon King Left Arm Soul Bone—First Soul Bone Skill: Fire Attribute Amplification, activated!
In the next moment, the pink flames around Xiao Se exploded in intensity. Instantly, the sky filled with tens of thousands of enormous strange-fire swords, each more than three meters long.
"Using fused strange fire at ten times its power to unleash the Crimson Flame Sword. I hope you can handle this little gift."
As he spoke, Xiao Se slashed downward with his sword finger. In an instant, the countless strange-fire giant swords turned into afterimages, descending like a natural catastrophe as they viciously shot toward the Snow Sky Demon Ape below.
This move not only startled Zi Yan beside him—it nearly made the Snow Sky Demon Ape's jaw drop in shock. It hurriedly waved its claws, erecting a Dou Qi barrier in front of itself.
However, as an ice-attribute magical beast, it was inherently suppressed by strange fire. Faced with an attack resembling heavenly calamity, it was completely pinned down, barely able to move.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
At last, under the relentless bombardment of tens of thousands of strange-fire swords, cracks spread across the Snow Sky Demon Ape's Dou Qi barrier. With a thunderous explosion, it shattered completely.
Xiao Se seized the opening. A dazzling golden light flashed in his eyes as the pink flames clung tightly to his body surface.
(End of Chapter)
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