[Completion of subsequent steps is required before the next advance can be made. Current available advances: Zero!]
Looking at the list of subsequent steps provided by the advance in his mind, Chen Xiao felt they could be categorized into three types.
First, find a way to kill Han Feng.
Second, inform those who care about Yao Chen and use them to kill Han Feng.
Finally, cooperate with Han Feng, which would be like seeking a tiger's skin.
As for the option of going to the Northern Continent Extremely Cold Land, Chen Xiao directly ignored it.
None of these options were particularly suitable for Chen Xiao's current situation, and completing them would be quite difficult.
"The cycle for this advance will be a bit long."
Chen Xiao sighed softly, feeling a little helpless, but he didn't regret the choice.
The success of the Heart Flame Origin Tempering meant that there would be no bottlenecks in his breakthrough to Dou Wang; all he lacked was a bit of accumulation.
And after breaking through to Dou Wang, to continue improving his strength quickly, he would need the assistance of pills.
But the deadlock was that these pills were of high grade. Even the most widely circulated Dou Ling Pill, which could only increase a one-star Dou Wang's strength, was a sixth-grade pill.
Furthermore, even if he obtained a Dou Ling Pill, taking it at a low-level Dou Wang stage would be extremely wasteful.
Chen Xiao had seen the subsequent steps for advancing a Dou Ling Pill. Although many options were listed, without exception, all required dealing with sixth-grade or even higher-grade Alchemists.
Among them, the most likely people he could contact were Han Feng, Gu He, and Yao Chen.
Considering Han Feng's character and his own strength, Chen Xiao directly gave up on that option.
As for Yao Chen and Gu He, they had one thing in common: they were both in the Jia Ma Empire.
Therefore, to complete the subsequent steps for those pills, he would need to return to Gama.
However, returning to the Jia Ma Empire, even without relying on the advance, he had ways to obtain these pills.
Under this premise, there was no need to waste the advance opportunity on pills. Advancing the Heavenly Cold Qi was much more practical.
Heavenly Cold Qi could enhance the power of Dou Qi, which was a permanent benefit directly linked to combat strength.
For this, even if the completion cycle for the subsequent steps was slightly longer, Chen Xiao could accept it.
"Let's look at the Heavenly Cold Qi first..."
Gathering his thoughts, Chen Xiao looked at the two ice-blue jade bottles that had appeared out of thin air on the table.
He had already felt the chilling aura emanating from the jade bottles. Placing his hand on the table, the surface was frozen like ice.
In the scroll given by Xun Er, it was mentioned that special items like Heavenly Cold Qi could not be stored for long periods in low-grade Storage Rings of poor quality. Otherwise, the extreme cold they emitted had a high probability of damaging the items in the Storage Ring, and even the Storage Ring itself could be rendered useless.
Of course, ten days to half a month was fine.
His internal Dou Qi circulated, and a layer of ice crystals attached to Chen Xiao's right hand as he picked up the jade bottles.
But even so, Chen Xiao could still feel the biting cold, causing his entire right arm to stiffen slightly.
"As expected of something that can extinguish ordinary flames upon approach and is even feared by Heavenly Flames, it truly is extraordinary!"
He murmured in his heart, then put the two jade bottles into a separate Storage Ring used for miscellaneous items, feeling even more anticipation for refining the Heavenly Cold Qi.
"Chen Xiao, your Fire Crystal Card has arrived."
Suddenly, Cao Hui's voice came from outside.
Chen Xiao's face lit up with joy. He quickly got up, changed his clothes, then pushed open the door and went downstairs. Amidst the envious gazes of several people, he took the Red Fire Crystal Card handed to him by Cao Hui.
They were all new students, but the gap between them was huge. They were still using the lowest-grade Black Fire Crystal Cards, while Chen Xiao had already reached the top. How could this not make them envious?
Chen Xiao didn't pay attention to their thoughts. At this moment, he only noticed that the number on the Red Fire Crystal Card was two hundred.
This meant that Grand Elder Su Qian had advanced him a full three hundred days of Fire Energy!
"I feel like your Fire Crystal Card is a bit wasted. You usually don't cultivate in the Inner Academy. It's a pity, it would be great if we could borrow Fire Crystal Cards."
Cao Hui sighed, feeling helpless about the rule that Fire Crystal Cards in the Inner Academy could not be borrowed.
Chen Xiao couldn't help but chuckle, "What you get yourself is better than what you borrow. With your cultivation speed, it won't be long before you catch up and surpass those older students. By then, changing Fire Crystal Cards will be simple."
Hearing this, the others didn't refute.
Being among the top five in their batch of new students, although their talent couldn't be compared to Chen Xiao's, they were definitely at the upper level among all students in the Inner Academy. They had some capabilities and were not lacking in confidence.
"That's true. We're spectators in this Strong Ranking Tournament. In the next one, we must at least qualify to participate. Maybe I can even get into the top ten of the Strong Ranking by then."
Mu Boshan, the strongest among the three at the moment, patted his chest and said.
Hearing this, Fu Tong and Cao Hui also looked forward to it.
Chen Xiao couldn't help but laugh. In the next Strong Ranking Tournament, there would be Xiao Yan, the biggest dark horse, as well as rising stars like Lin Xiuya and Liu Qing.
With these people around, the competition in the Strong Ranking Tournament would likely be even more intense than this one.
However, Chen Xiao only knew a few of the top ten in the next tournament. As for the others he didn't have an impression of, it was possible that one of them could be someone present.
Thinking this, Chen Xiao didn't say anything to dampen their spirits.
He encouraged them more.
"Yes, I'll support them spiritually."
...
Stealing half a day of leisure was an extremely rare occurrence for Chen Xiao.
The next day.
With his Dou Qi fully recovered and even his reserve hidden energy replenished, Chen Xiao arrived early as soon as the Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower opened, heading straight down to the eighth floor.
There were far fewer cultivation rooms on the eighth floor compared to the upper levels, but finding an empty one was much easier.
After all, the threshold to cultivate here was quite high.
Chen Xiao chose a cultivation room close to the central deep hole. The closer to this deep hole, the better the cultivation effect, and even the temperature was slightly higher than the outer areas.
He locked the cultivation room door tightly and inserted his Fire Crystal Card into the adjacent slot. The sounds from outside were instantly cut off. Even if he shouted loudly inside, no one would hear him.
With everything ready, Chen Xiao circulated his cultivation technique and adjusted his state.
A quarter of an hour later, his essence, energy, and spirit reached their peak. Chen Xiao slowly opened his eyes and took out two jade bottles from his Storage Ring.
Taking a deep breath, Chen Xiao no longer hesitated and decisively opened one of the bottles.
In an instant, the temperature in the cultivation room plummeted, causing Chen Xiao to shiver involuntarily.
The small jade bottle now seemed like a smoke bomb. Wisps of ice-blue mist drifted out from it, like ribbons floating in the air. Although they were gaseous, it was clear that these ice-blue mists did not immediately blend with the air, maintaining distinct layers.
Under Chen Xiao's gaze, the ice-blue mist became denser and denser, and the temperature in the cultivation room continued to drop, making people shiver from the cold.
Seeing this, Chen Xiao dared not delay any longer and immediately mobilized the Dou Qi within his body to circulate throughout.
The scroll given by Xun Er mentioned that Heavenly Cold Qi, if left undisturbed, would automatically seek cold and avoid heat.
This was why Heavenly Cold Qi could only be found in extremely cold lands.
It had to be said that the scroll Xun Er gave him that day was of great help to Chen Xiao.
With this gift, even though Xun Er had returned to the Ancient Clan, separated by thousands of mountains and rivers, every time Chen Xiao opened that scroll, he would remember this sentiment.
Just as Chen Xiao's Dou Qi flowed over his body surface, the drifting ice-blue mist seemed to have suddenly found a place to reside. It surged violently towards Chen Xiao, frantically drilling into his body through the pores all over his body, his ears, nose, and mouth.
It truly penetrated every crevice!
-----------
This high quality machine translation is powered by: https:// randomtranslator.com/
To read the full translation, as well as more than 444+ fanfic and original translations or request new translations, check out: https:// randomtranslator.com/
You can also join the RandomTranslator community on Discord to connect with other readers: https:// discord.gg/NSWvfN7vua
-----------