Xiao Xue's final level stopped at the five-star Dou Wang rank.
It wasn't that she couldn't advance straight to the peak of the Dou Wang rank; the cold energy from this icy earth vein could even injure a Dou Zong, so the sheer power contained within was immense.
But Xiao Xue wasn't an ice-attribute cultivator after all, and even though she had refined the Bone Chilling Flame, absorbing too much ice energy at once was unwise.
Moreover, it took Xiao Yan over a year to refine the energy from the Heavenly Flame space and advance from Dou Ling to the peak of Dou Wang.
During that process, the pills, medicinal ingredients, and even the lotus platform of the Green Lotus Core Flame within his storage ring were melted down and absorbed to solidify his foundation.
Otherwise, even if Xiao Yan managed to reach the Dou Wang peak, his Dou Qi would have been extremely unstable.
Whether he would have survived is another question entirely.
Absorbing external energy is different from leveling up via the system; if one isn't careful, it can easily lead to an unstable foundation.
Just like Feng Qing'er in the original work, who only focused on raising her rank during advancement, resulting in unstable Dou Qi.
A three-turn Dou Zun couldn't even withstand a single palm strike from the newly promoted nine-star Dou Zun Xiao Yan.
Therefore, even though the Dou Wang stage presented no bottlenecks for Xiao Xue, who possessed [Aptitude 8];
and she could break through as long as the energy was sufficient, she didn't blindly push her advancement.
Reaching five-star Dou Wang in one go was already Xiao Xue's current limit.
If she absorbed any more, she might not even be able to perfectly control her own state.
If she hadn't had the Bone Chilling Flame, which possesses both ice and fire attributes, helping to temper her Dou Qi within her heart;
she likely would have stopped after advancing to three-star Dou Wang by absorbing the energy from the icy earth vein.
There was no need to rush the matter of advancement.
Although she only reached five-star Dou Wang, this speed was already quite astonishing.
She had essentially advanced by nearly a whole major rank in a very short period.
This pace was certainly fast enough.
In any case, this location wasn't going anywhere, and the energy in the earth vein wouldn't dissipate much.
At worst, she could just return and absorb more before leaving the Northern Cold Land.
Xiao Xue slowly withdrew from her cultivation state, looked around, and asked, "Where is Medusa?"
Just as she was about to release her soul power to investigate, Medusa appeared before her as if teleporting.
Previously, when Medusa's bloodline still contained yin and cold energy, this ice plain was quite pleasant for her.
But now that Medusa possessed a pure Heavenly Flame serpent body, the ice plain was no longer so welcoming.
Although her strength and bloodline had increased, general low temperatures wouldn't affect her at all;
staying on the icy earth vein for extended periods still caused Medusa some slight discomfort.
Therefore, Medusa had set up a barrier around the gorge and watched from outside the boundary.
Sensing that Xiao Xue had finished her secluded training, Medusa immediately appeared beside her 'boss' like a professional bodyguard and dismantled the barrier.
Xiao Xue summoned her Dou Qi wings, looked at Medusa, and said, "Let's go. Let's check out the place where you found the Ice Spirit Cold Marrow."
As things stood, even if she turned back now, this trip to the ice plain would have been profitable.
But since she had come all this way, she might as well see everything.
Medusa scrutinized Xiao Xue from head to toe, sighed, and said, "Follow me."
She remembered first meeting Xiao Xue in the desert only a few months ago.
At that time, Xiao Xue was merely a one-star Dou Ling.
And now, she was... a five-star Dou Wang.
Medusa felt like she had wasted all these years of her life.
Sure enough, the gap between people was wider than the gap between humans and pigs.
Medusa decided that after returning to the Snake People race, she absolutely had to enter secluded cultivation and would not emerge until she broke through to Dou Zun.
Even if she was destined to be surpassed by Xiao Xue in the future, she, Medusa, still had the dignity of an Empress.
—To be surpassed one day later was one day gained.
There was no helping it; with Xiao Xue's talent, as long as she didn't perish prematurely, being surpassed was inevitable.
And since she was currently Xiao Xue's bodyguard, even if she died, she would die before Xiao Xue.
Therefore, Medusa had resigned herself to fate.
She struggled, but not much.
Nothing is impossible in the world, as long as you are willing to give up.
Regarding being surpassed by Xiao Xue, I've accepted it.
Meanwhile, Xiao Xue followed Medusa in flight, fiddling with a black token in her hand.
It was a 'Venerable' (Zun) token, a "trinket" she had acquired from Ah Li.
These tokens were useless to ordinary people, but Xiao Xue could use the system to view hidden information within them.
The information in this 'Venerable' token required a strength level of 50 or above to view.
"I hope this time, it gives me some useful information."
The previous'Soul' token only gave Xiao Xue the coordinates of the Misty Cloud Sect.
Besides letting her know that Yun Shan had contacted the Hall of Souls, it served no other purpose.
It wasn't entirely useless, but it was practically a chicken rib.
The status of a Venerable Elder in the Hall of Souls was far higher than that of a Protector.
She figured this time's information wouldn't disappoint her.
The'Soul' token's information stated it was viewable at level 30, with a recommendation to proceed after reaching level 50.
This 'Venerable' token was viewable at level 50, with a recommendation to proceed after reaching level 70.
Following this pattern, would the contents of the 'Heavenly Venerable' token only be solvable once she reached Dou Sheng?
Actually, the system's recommendations made sense.
After all, level 50 was just a Dou Wang.
While a Dou Wang could be considered a powerhouse, try comparing that to the influence of the Misty Cloud Sect?
Could an ordinary Dou Wang go? They couldn't go to the Misty Cloud Sect; they wouldn't stand a chance.
Xiao Xue clicked [View] on the system interface and began reading the hidden information.
After reviewing the information in the 'Venerable' token, Xiao Xue felt that even a Dou Zong might struggle if they decided to go.
This time's information was related to Yao Lao's demise, and also to the ring he possessed.
However, it only provided a general outline; some crucial details required her own investigation.
Furthermore, the later the stage of cultivation, the greater the gap in strength between each star rank.
For a Dou Zong to try and interfere in the grievances between Dou Zuns, or even peak Dou Zuns, was undoubtedly wishful thinking.
"Is the system confident in me, or is it just being unreasonable?"
She had some confidence in fighting a Dou Zong as a Dou Wang; even if the opponent was a High-level Dou Zong, she had trump cards and could at least protect herself.
But trying to engage a peak Dou Zun while only at the Dou Zong stage was genuinely suicidal.
A Dou Zun could tear you apart along with the surrounding space with a single spatial claw.
"Forget it. The system gave the information, but when I go is up to me."
Xiao Xue closed the system interface and began recalling details from the original novel.
"Han Feng colluded with the Hall of Souls and betrayed Yao Lao—I know that. But why was that ring in my mother's hands?"
Xiao Xue felt that this might be the key to the entire matter.
After all, her grandfather, Xiao Lin, was a Dou Wang, yet he barely left behind any Profound-tier cultivation methods.
How could a Dou Wang not acquire Profound-tier cultivation methods?
Furthermore, several elders of the Xiao family were still alive, suggesting the Xiao family's decline was likely peaceful.
Something was wrong, very wrong.
It couldn't be that Xiao Lin took the Xiao family's cultivation methods and Dou Skills, met with an accident outside, and perished, thus leaving nothing behind for the family, could it?
If the things Xiao Lin left for the Xiao family had been divided up by other powers, would Nalan Jie, given his personality, have just stood by and watched?
There must be some things she didn't know, which she needed to uncover slowly.
While she was deep in thought, Medusa's voice sounded, "Xiao Xue, we've arrived."
Xiao Xue snapped out of her thoughts and looked down.
What greeted her eyes was a massive lake, dozens of kilometers in diameter.
An Ice Spirit Cold Spring Lake!
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