Black-Corner Region.
Within a mountain range in the northeast direction.
Zi Yan skillfully rummaged through the nest of a fifth-tier Magical Beast. From the way her eyes curved into a smile, it was evident that today's harvest was good.
Not far away, a figure was sitting with eyes closed, hands positioned in a cultivation posture.
Above his head, the energy of heaven and earth gathered into a vortex, which surged madly into his body as he circulated his cultivation technique.
After a long while, the energy vortex suddenly dispersed. The body of the seated figure trembled slightly, and a powerful aura instantly erupted outwards from him, spreading in all directions.
Watching him slowly open his eyes, Zi Yan flashed forward.
"If those guys in the Inner Academy saw your breakthrough speed, they'd probably be green with envy."
"Seven-star Dou Wang in two years, that's not fast."
Chen Xiao shook his head, his tone still calm.
Since he condensed his Dou Qi Cyclone at the age of eight, he had gone from Dou Zhe to nine-star Dou Ling in just over five years, crossing more than thirty minor realms.
But this time, it had taken a full two years to advance from nine-star Dou Ling to seven-star Dou Wang.
Although this speed was enough to make people envious, in Chen Xiao's eyes, it was merely satisfactory.
"Anyway, I think it's very fast. I can't even beat you now."
Zi Yan pouted slightly, finding this fact a bit hard to accept.
The nest she had just searched originally belonged to a peak fifth-tier Magical Beast. She had fought with it and couldn't defeat it for a long time.
But after Chen Xiao made his move, he killed it without much difficulty.
Comparing the two, Zi Yan easily realized the problem.
Over the past two years, the two of them had spent most of their time traveling in the Black-Corner Region. Thanks to Chen Xiao's understanding of the Black-Corner Region, they hadn't openly provoked any powerful enemies.
But in private, there had been many battles between Dou Wang powerhouses and two mysterious individuals.
Due to not having advanced yet, Zi Yan's strength was steadily increasing. Every time she chewed on a medicinal herb, she would improve a little. However, compared to her, Chen Xiao's improvement was even greater.
After breaking through to Dou Wang, Chen Xiao had opened the Emperor Seal Technique left by Xun Er.
As expected, it only contained the Mountain Splitting Seal and the Sea Flipping Seal.
The cultivation threshold for the former was Dou Wang, while the latter was best cultivated after reaching the Dou Huang realm.
From then on, in addition to cultivating Dou Qi daily, Chen Xiao had taken the time to open up the meridians required to cultivate the Mountain Splitting Seal.
Two years had passed, and he had now mastered it.
Since then, with the Mountain Splitting Seal and the Three Thousand Lightning Movement by his side, he could attack when advancing and defend when retreating. Coupled with the significant increase in Dou Qi power after refining the Heavenly Cold Qi,
Under this configuration, Chen Xiao's current combat strength could no longer be judged by his surface realm. He truly possessed the ability to suppress Zi Yan.
Of course, this was assuming Zi Yan chose not to escape.
With her unique spatial talent, if this girl was determined to leave, even ordinary Dou Huangs would have no way to stop her.
"One advancement for you is equivalent to decades of cultivation for an ordinary Dou Wang powerhouse. There's no need to rush."
Hearing this comfort, Zi Yan finally smiled with satisfaction.
Her true form was a Magical Beast, and she couldn't be compared to humans. She understood this in her heart.
Her usual complaints were simply because she was a little envious, stimulated by Chen Xiao's repeated breakthroughs.
"Hehe, that's true. Now that your breakthrough is finished, should we go back to the Black-Corner Region?" Zi Yan asked.
Entering the deep mountains this time was originally because Chen Xiao wanted to find a place where he wouldn't be disturbed by the powerhouses of the Black-Corner Region to break through.
After a moment of thought, Chen Xiao shook his head.
"We won't go to the Black-Corner Region for now. Let's go back to the Inner Academy and tell the Grand Elder. I'll take you to a more interesting place. When we get there, you won't have to keep chewing on medicinal herbs anymore. I also need to get a Dou Ling Pill."
The Dou Ling Pill could allow a Dou Wang level powerhouse who consumed it to increase by one star level.
However, even though it was one star level, the difference between one star to two stars and eight stars to nine stars was huge.
Chen Xiao had long planned to use the Dou Ling Pill to take a shortcut. Now that he had reached seven-star Dou Wang, it was time to prepare for it.
In addition, he calculated carefully, and this time was just right to return to the Jia Ma Empire.
Yao Chen was about to appear, and Xiao Yan's reputation as a waste would gradually be shed. He could go back and slowly reap benefits.
If he made good use of the old man Yao Chen, the benefits he could obtain at this stage would definitely be no less helpful to Chen Xiao than the premonitions in his mind.
Moreover, regarding the aftermath of Han Feng, Chen Xiao also needed to return to the Jia Ma Empire.
"Let's go, let's go quickly. I've been chewing so much these past two years I'm almost going to throw up. When I came out, I even specifically asked Chen Rong to get more pills, but who knew they'd be finished in less than half a month."
Hearing about the tangible benefits, Zi Yan's eyes seemed to sparkle. She didn't even ask where they were going, eagerly preparing to set off.
Chen Xiao chuckled softly and stood up. In an instant, Zi Yan could only look up to talk to him.
Two years had passed, and Zi Yan's appearance had changed very little, almost negligibly.
In contrast, Chen Xiao's height had increased again, and the childishness on his face had completely disappeared. Now, if he walked in a crowd, he would no longer be immediately seen as a child.
At the age of fifteen, in this world, one is already close to adulthood!
"Let's go then."
With a thought, a pair of massive, azure Dou Qi wings unfurled from Chen Xiao's back. Like solid wings formed from ice crystals, they appeared incredibly magnificent under the sunlight.
Every time he unfurled his Dou Qi wings, it would make Zi Yan beside him incredibly envious.
The mountain range they were in was not far from the Inner Academy of Jia Nan Academy. Under Zi Yan's urging, they reached their destination in less than an hour.
After two years away, the atmosphere in the Inner Academy was still as lively as before.
However, upon closer comparison, one could notice that the changes were not small.
A little less than half of the group from the Strong Ranking back then had officially graduated and left Jia Nan Academy. The freshmen from that year had now become seasoned veterans, and the freshmen who had entered the Inner Academy in the past two years were completely unfamiliar to Chen Xiao and Zi Yan...
While the students had changed significantly, the Elders were almost the same group as before.
Grand Elder Su Qian's appearance hadn't changed at all, as if the past two years had left no trace on him.
Looking at the Grand Elder who suddenly appeared in his line of sight, Chen Xiao bowed slightly and cupped his fists, offering a sincere salute from the bottom of his heart.
This Grand Elder had helped him immensely on his path of growth and could be considered a benefactor.
Both in terms of strength and character, he was worthy of respect.
"Greetings, Grand Elder."
Zi Yan, on the other hand, was as casual as ever, only her smile was brighter as she waved her small hand and called out her unique affectionate address.
"Hehe, Old Man Su!"
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