The swelling pain coming from his dantian made Xiao Bai acutely aware that his Dou Qi could no longer be suppressed.
If he continued to hold back and refused to break through, any damage to his dantian could hinder his future cultivation. He had to advance immediately.
However, his emotions were mixed—both anticipation and unease filled his heart. He was eager to see what his new Thunder Seed would be, yet he wasn't looking forward to enduring another round of pain.
This reminded him of something a friend from his past life used to say— "Wanting to fall in love but not wanting to get dumped." A sentiment that perfectly captured his current state of mind.
Gritting his teeth, Xiao Bai muttered fiercely, "Since it's going to hurt anyway, as long as I don't die, I'll just have to endure it!"
He released the suppression on his Dou Qi, forming hand seals as he focused his mind's eye on his dantian.
As his cultivation method circulated, the surrounding heaven and earth energy surged toward him. Xiao Bai hurriedly guided the energy into his body. However, the energy was too chaotic and impure, so it needed to be refined and purified before being absorbed into his dantian.
The sheer volume of energy flooding in was immense, but thanks to his powerful soul, he could control it with relative ease. Carefully, he channeled the first purified strand of Dou Qi into his dantian.
Instantly, it was as if a spark had been thrown onto dry wood—
The previously slowly rotating Dou Qi cyclone within his dantian began accelerating rapidly. At the same time, the massive external energy found a new outlet, surging into his dantian like an unstoppable tide.
"Shit!"
Xiao Bai hadn't expected this reaction. The descriptions in the cultivation method were always vague and cryptic, full of profound and mysterious wording.
He had often heard people say that breaking through realms required a teacher or elder to protect the process, but he had always scoffed at the idea. Now he finally understood why.
No time for regrets—he couldn't allow the impure energy to enter his dantian, or clearing it out later would be a nightmare.
Using his soul power, he wrapped his dantian in a protective barrier, letting the chaotic energy roam freely through his meridians for now.
Only then did he resume refining the heaven and earth energy inside his dantian, carefully purifying it bit by bit.
Suddenly, the Daoist Righteous Thunder of Yi Wood inside his liver seemed to sense something—and without warning, it surged out!
Seeing this, Xiao Bai's heart nearly leaped out of his chest.
"No, no, no—don't mess around, big guy! I've got enough trouble already!" He screamed internally.
But Yi Wood Thunder completely ignored him. It charged straight into his dantian, effortlessly shattering the soul barrier he had placed around it.
In an instant, his dantian was flooded with blue-green lightning.
"I'm doomed."
Xiao Bai closed his eyes as if accepting his fate, his face contorted into a mask of pain.
Thankfully, when the Yi Wood Thunder broke through his soul barrier, it didn't harm him. But the chaotic energy in his meridians immediately went wild, all of it rushing into his dantian at once.
There was nothing he could do but watch as the torrent of energy surged inward.
However, something unexpected happened—
The heaven and earth energy didn't immediately merge with the accelerating Dou Qi cyclone. Instead, it was forced to pass through the sea of lightning that now filled his dantian.
With each pass-through, the impurities were stripped away—by the time the energy reached the cyclone, it was already completely purified.
Not only that, but the refinement process was far faster than what Xiao Bai could achieve on his own.
From hell to heaven—his despair turned into overwhelming joy.
But when he recalled what had just happened, his expression darkened.
Was his Yi Wood Thunder looking down on him?
The way it had forcefully taken over seemed to say— "This master is too useless. Step aside. Let me handle it."
But wasn't this thunder his own power? He had refined it, he had branded it with his soul imprint…
So why did it feel like it had a mind of its own?
"Looks like there's still a lot more to discover about my Thunder." Xiao Bai thought, while continuing to circulate his cultivation technique.
Looking inward at his dantian, he saw that his Yi Wood Thunder stood like a majestic fortress, calmly refining the incoming energy, no matter how violent the external force.
As the purified energy entered the Dou Qi vortex, the energy within it grew denser, spinning faster and faster. Gradually, the gaseous energy began to thicken, transitioning into a liquid state.
It was as if a critical point had been reached—suddenly, a drop of liquid energy, the size of a fingertip, appeared within his dantian. The moment this droplet formed, it seemed to activate some hidden mechanism. More and more tiny droplets of liquid energy emerged within the dantian.
With the addition of these liquid energy droplets, the suction force of the vortex increased significantly. The external energy surged even more fiercely, converging toward Xiao Bai.
Under the relentless impact of this energy, Xiao Bai could feel his meridians becoming wider and more resilient, while his bones and muscles grew stronger and sturdier.
After a long while, the high-speed spinning Dou Qi vortex gradually slowed, and the external energy flow ceased. The Daoist Righteous Thunder of Yi Wood returned to his liver.
A distinct aura of a Dou Master radiated from Xiao Bai. Feeling the newfound power coursing through his body, he smiled in satisfaction.
"A Dou Master now—one step closer to Dou Di. Worth celebrating!"
In the Dou Qi Continent, cultivation was divided into eleven realms: Dou Disciple, Dou Practitioner, Dou Master, Dou Grandmaster, Dou Spirit, Dou King, Dou Emperor, Dou Zong, Dou Zun, Dou Saint, and Dou Di.
Each major realm was further divided into nine sub-levels.
Thinking about it, in some worlds, one could ascend to godhood at level 100. Even in Battle Through the Heavens, reaching level 100 meant ascending to the upper realm—it seemed easy enough.
When one was in a good mood, it was easy to let one's thoughts wander.
However, Xiao Bai's expression soon turned serious. He sat cross-legged, calming himself as his mind sank into his spiritual sea, waiting for what he called the "A sack of rice, how many floors?" moment.
Sure enough, he didn't have to wait long. A section of the Symbol Talisman began to glow with a deep red light.
A crimson bolt of lightning shot out from the talisman, streaking directly toward his heart.
"Bing Fire Yang Thunder, corresponding to the heart?"
As soon as the lightning appeared, its information automatically surfaced in Xiao Bai's mind.
Bing Fire Yang Thunder: The lightning is crimson in color, incredibly explosive, and not only contains the sheer power of lightning but also carries an overbearing fiery force.
Just as he finished absorbing this information, a wave of excruciating pain erupted from his heart. This pain was several times worse than what he had endured with the Daoist Righteous Thunder of Yi Wood—the suffocating sensation made it difficult for him to breathe.
His heart was now engulfed in crimson lightning. With each beat, the blood flowing through it instantly evaporated by more than half.
"Hngh… Ah…"
Xiao Bai's face turned deathly pale, sweat pouring down his face. His lips moved as if to scream, but the unbearable pain left him unable to make a sound—only hoarse, gasping noises escaped.
At first, he struggled slightly, but as time passed, even those feeble attempts faded. To anyone watching, he would have looked like a lifeless corpse.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, his hair turned gray, his head drooped, and his exposed skin lost all color. His body appeared significantly thinner, and his clothes now hung loosely on him.
Xiao Bai's consciousness had plunged into a void of darkness. A sense of despair crept over him—he hadn't expected this talisman's bestowed lightning to be so tyrannical. He hadn't even begun refining it, yet he was already on the brink of collapse.
"Am I really going to die like this?" Xiao Bai murmured into the darkness.
"No! I won't die—there has to be a way!"
He refused to give up. Desperately, his mind raced, searching for a way to save himself.