Battle Through the Heavens: Top Talent

Chapter 42 Three Years

Time marches on silently, slipping away quietly from everyone.

Since Xiao Yun broke through to the Dou Ling realm, his cultivation speed has slowed down, and he is no longer as easy to break through as he was in the previous realms.

Such daily life is undoubtedly monotonous and boring, unlike the fun and excitement of adventures outside. Every day is just a repetition of training, accumulating internal fighting energy, progressing slowly like water grinding. Most people cannot persevere at this stage and begin to seek pleasure and give up on themselves. But this is reality; to become stronger, one must endure hardships that ordinary people cannot bear.

Fortunately, Xiao Yun was used to this kind of austere life in the Xiao family. Moreover, there were no teaching courses in the inner courtyard, so he could freely control his time. In his spare time, he would occasionally go to the back mountain to be struck by lightning, sometimes fight in the arena, or help Zi Yan and other inner courtyard students refine some pills, so it wasn't too boring.

As spring turned to autumn, and Xiao Yun devoted himself to arduous cultivation in the inner courtyard, a major event also occurred in the Xiao family of Wutan City, Jiama Empire.

Because of Xiao Yun, the Xiao family, which was not even considered the number one family in Wutan City, gradually became famous throughout the entire Jia Ma Empire. People knew that Xiao Yun, the genius who became a Dou Zhe at the age of seven and a Dou Ling and a fourth-grade alchemist at the age of ten, came from the Xiao family.

Recently, however, Xiao Yan, the second genius of the Xiao family and cousin of the genius Xiao Yun, has caused quite a stir due to the matter of being punished by heaven. Originally, he had the potential to become a Dou Huang, but when he became a Dou Zhe, his Dou Qi vortex inexplicably dissipated, and the Dou Qi in his body regressed to the level of the eighth stage of Dou Qi, and he could no longer improve.

"Father, can't you and the three elders see anything wrong with my body?"

In the council hall of the Xiao family, Xiao Zhan and three elders sat in the upper seats, while Xiao Yan, with a pained expression, sat in the lower seats, grieving.

Seeing Xiao Yan, who was once full of vigor, become like this, Xiao Zhan, as his father, was heartbroken. But even if he and the three elders investigated together, they could only come to one conclusion: Xiao Yan's body was perfectly healthy and there was absolutely no problem with him.

"Yan'er, don't worry, don't be sad. Perhaps it's because your father and the elders are not strong enough to see what's wrong with your body." Xiao Zhan looked at Xiao Yan, who looked hopeless, and gently comforted him. "But don't lose heart. Although we can't see it, your cousin Xiao Yun will definitely have a way. He was already a fourth-grade alchemist several years ago, and now his strength is definitely much greater. He will surely be able to find out why your battle qi is dissipating!"

"Yes, Xiao Yan, your father is right. Even if we old folks can't do anything, Xiao Yun will definitely have a way."

"Yes, yes, I heard that Xiaoyun broke through to the Douling realm three years ago, and her strength far surpasses ours."

The three elders nodded in agreement. Although they usually fought with Xiao Zhan for power, this matter concerned the second genius of the family. Even though Xiao Yan was Xiao Zhan's son, they still hoped that Xiao Yan's talent could be restored.

"Cousin Xiao Yun, do you think he can do something? But he's still far away at Canaan Academy and hasn't been home for several years. Will he come back for this?" Upon hearing Xiao Yun's name, Xiao Yan's eyes lit up, but then immediately dimmed. Canaan Academy is far away in the Black Corner Region, which is very far from the Jia Ma Empire. Would Xiao Yun really be willing to spend a month or two to come back for him?

Hearing Xiao Yan's somewhat doubtful words, the First Elder immediately puffed out his beard and glared, saying, "You brat, Xiao Yun is a kind-hearted child. He brought back so many cultivation techniques for the family before, and even the breakthroughs in our cultivation were thanks to him. He certainly won't forget the Xiao family!"

Even Xiao Zhan nodded in agreement, saying, "The Grand Elder is right, Yan'er. You must not speak ill of your cousin again. As for your matter, I will write a letter and send it to Canaan Academy. Xiao Yun will definitely come back after seeing it!"

……

In an attic within the inner courtyard of Canaan College.

Warm sunlight streamed through the gaps in the leaves, illuminating the entire room. Inside, a young man in black sat cross-legged on the bed, his eyes slightly closed, his hands forming a strange mudra in front of him, immersed in cultivation.

The surrounding天地能量 (heaven and earth energy) was continuously absorbed into the boy's body as his chest rose and fell.

After a long while, the boy opened his eyes, a flash of red light passing through them like lightning. A powerful aura erupted from within him. "Alas, the three-year period has come to an end, but I have only reached the level of a two-star Dou Wang. I am indeed no match for Xiao Huohuo." His calm words were tinged with a hint of helplessness.

If Versailles' words were heard by others in the inner court, especially the elders who had been stuck at a small level of the Dou Wang realm for a long time, they would probably be so angry that they would vomit blood.

In three years, Xiao Yun went from a one-star Dou Ling to a two-star Dou Wang. Although he spent a considerable amount of time mastering alchemy, such a cultivation speed was unimaginable for ordinary people. However, Xiao Yun still felt it was a bit slow. After all, Xiao Yan's cultivation was like child's play. In twenty years, he had completed a journey that others couldn't finish in several lifetimes or even a dozen lifetimes, becoming the youngest Dou Di on the Dou Qi Continent.

As expected, we still have to go out and take risks; burying ourselves in cultivation won't save the Dou Qi Continent!

Xiao Yun thought to himself that since breaking through to the Dou Ling level, his cultivation speed had inevitably slowed down. Even though he spent every day in the Heavenly Flame Refining Tower, his cultivation speed could never return to what it used to be. After all, he wasn't using the real Fallen Heart Flame, but only a sub-flame. For someone at the Dou Ling level, unless they were at the very bottom, the acceleration effect of the Heavenly Flame Refining Tower was negligible.

The Dou Wang level is the watershed for the strongest people on the continent. Countless peak Dou Ling level experts are stuck at this level and can never break through. Although Xiao Yun has a cheat system that makes him free from bottlenecks, this cheat system cannot accelerate his cultivation speed.

After breaking through to the Dou Wang realm, Xiao Yun spent five months successfully advancing to the second-star Dou Wang realm. At this rate, it would take him nearly four more years to break through to the Dou Huang realm, not to mention that future realms would become increasingly slower. If he continued to cultivate in seclusion like this, by the time he was in his thirties and finally broke through to the Dou Zun realm, the Soul Emperor might have already begun his world-ending demise.

Compared to Xiao Yun's slow progress in Dou Qi, his alchemy skills have skyrocketed. In just three years, his alchemy abilities have almost surpassed those of his own teacher. A pharmacist's talent is largely related to their soul power. Many pharmacists, including Elder Huo, are stuck at a certain level because their soul power is insufficient. Take Elder Huo as an example: if he could break through to Dou Huang, the breakthrough in cultivation would drive an increase in soul power, allowing him to easily become a sixth-grade pharmacist.

Xiao Yun's soul power was naturally very strong, which destined him to have an exceptionally high talent in alchemy. When he broke through to the Dou Ling realm, Xiao Yun had already become a fourth-grade alchemist. Then, in just one year, he broke through to the fifth-grade alchemist realm. Now, he can be considered a peak fifth-grade alchemist. He even has a 30% success rate in making sixth-grade pills, while Elder Huo only has a pitiful less than 10%.

Back when Xiao Yun was still a fourth-grade alchemist, Elder Huo had nothing left to teach him. This was because alchemists at that level and above had already mastered most of the alchemy techniques, and the competition was simply about who had the better flames and the stronger soul power.

As for how to refine pills, one can only rely on one's own understanding; there's no way to teach him anything. Therefore, all Elder Huo could do was pass on all the pill formulas he knew to him. Xiao Yun lived up to Elder Huo's expectations and quickly learned all the pill formulas he was taught.

Dong dong dong

A knock on the door interrupted Xiao Yun's thoughts, followed by a deep voice, "Cousin Xiao Yun, the family has sent you a letter."

"Okay, I'll be right down. Come in." Xiao Yun replied, stood up, lightly touched the ground with his feet, and gracefully landed. He then pushed open the door and walked out.

Standing in the second-floor corridor, Xiao Yun watched a tall figure enter the hall. It was Xiao Long. Over the past few years, with his help, Xiao Long and his two brothers had made significant progress in their cultivation. The Xiao brothers, Xiao Long and Xiao Hu, had both reached the seventh-star Dou Shi level. In this year's inner court selection competition, they barely made it into the inner court, ranking last and second-to-last respectively. After entering the inner court, Xiao Yun immediately had them join the Xiao Clan, providing them with protection and certain cultivation resources. As for Xiao Ding, he was still young, and it was estimated that it would take him several more years to reach the minimum standard for entering the inner court.

"Who sent it? Has something happened in the family?" Xiao Yun asked, looking up at Xiao Long as he walked down the stairs.

After respectfully handing the envelope to Xiao Yun, Xiao Long scratched his head and chuckled, "It was sent by the clan leader. I came to find you, cousin, as soon as I received the letter, but I don't know what it is about yet."

"Alright, here's a little gadget to speed up your cultivation. Take it and start cultivating." He casually tossed a jade bottle to Xiao Long. Xiao Yun sat on the sofa in the hall and opened the envelope to read it.

A look of joy appeared on Xiao Long's face as he quickly accepted the jade bottle. To him, even a small trinket casually given by the powerful Xiao Yun was a rare treasure. Seeing Xiao Yun's actions, Xiao Long didn't disturb him any further and quietly left the hall.

(End of this chapter)