After obtaining the Gathering Spirit Powder, Xiao Yan did not choose to take it immediately. He took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the eagerness that was surging in his heart, forcing himself to roll onto the bed and rest.

  Xiao Yan was very clear in his mind that with his current state, the probability of failure in attacking Dou Zhe would be over 70%. Although refining the Qi dispersing pill wasn't difficult for Yao Lao, Xiao Yan didn't want to take such an unnecessary risk.

  Seeing Xiao Yan able to withstand the temptation of immediately breaking through to the Dou Zhe, Yao Lao nodded in satisfaction, a hint of relief floating on his old face, his body flickering as he transformed into a ray of light and entered the ring.

  ……

  After successfully refining the Gathering Air, Xiao Yan's cultivation began to become calm and composed. Every day, he would cultivate for an hour, then head to the back mountain to bitterly practice his Dou Technique. Whenever he had some free time, he would accompany Xun Er on a leisurely stroll around U Tan City, living a carefree life that was extremely enjoyable.

  After passing five days in such a relaxed manner, Xiao Yan finally adjusted his physical condition to its peak. It was only at this time that he could make the best impact on the Dou Zhe.

  ……

  Xiao Yan sat cross-legged in the narrow cave, which was only over a meter wide, under the steep cliff behind Xiao's house. This cliff was his carefully chosen place for cultivation. Opposite the cliff, clouds and mist swirled, hiding the extremely dangerous Magic Beast Mountain Range below. Under the cliff was an abyss that could not be seen from the bottom, and the only path to enter this place had been covered by him in advance with branches and broken stones. Therefore, Xiao Yan felt very confident that his breakthrough would not be interrupted by anyone this time.

  Xiao Yan slowly took a deep breath and pulled out the jade bottle from his bosom. The bottle's mouth was slightly tilted, and a blue-green pellet rolled out.

  Looking at the surface gloss rounded gas scattered, Xiao Yan smiled slightly, sniffed again that kind of refreshing fragrance, licked his lips, and without any hesitation, he took a mouthful into his mouth.

  The air gathered at the entrance, and a faint coolness spread in his mouth. A moment later, a warm and pure energy surged into his body from his mouth, causing Xiao Yan's body to shudder violently.

  His face calm, Xiao Yan's hands quickly formed the hand seal to absorb the Dou Qi, his breathing gradually becoming stable. The faint Dou Qi within his body responded to his will, rapidly entwining itself around that powerful pure medicinal power before beginning its frantic refinement.

  In the small cave, the calm air suddenly surged violently, a faint white aura seeped out from the air, and then continuously drilled into Xiao Yan's body.

  His teeth clenched his lips, and the collision of two energies inside his body made Xiao Yan's meridians continuously transmit aching pain, but fortunately, his meridians were much tougher than ordinary people, so although he felt painful, it had not caused too much damage for the time being.

  Inside his body, the Dou Qi was wrapped around a mass of pure green energy. As he frantically refined it, more and more green energy was assimilated into the pale white Dou Qi. With the support of this new power, the scale of Dou Qi within Xiao Yan's body was expanding at an alarming rate that could be seen with the naked eye.

  The pure medicinal power was constantly being refined, but it seemed to be endless, and every time the Dou Qi refined a group of medicinal power, an even larger green energy would rush over.

  Under the refinement and absorption of the aura in his body, as well as the constant injection of the aura from outside, Xiao Yan's body had already been filled with a large amount of aura, which had gradually occupied most of his meridians.

  Refining was still ongoing, when the residual force of the pure medicinal power began to weaken, Xiao Yan suddenly discovered that the fighting spirit in his body had expanded to an irreducible critical point.

  The expansion of Douzhi's energy directly caused Xiao Yan's meridians to twitch slightly, and a severe pain made Xiao Yan's mouth crack open.

  "Hurry up and condense the vortex of Dou Qi! Otherwise, it's going to explode!" Yao Lao's shout was like a thunderclap, resounding loudly in Xiao Yan's heart.

  Taking a deep breath of cool air, Xiao Yan's hand seal changed suddenly, his thumb and index finger intersecting, his middle fingers touching, and all ten fingers forming a strange hand seal.

  Xiao Yan of that year had once walked this path, so now when he used it again, it was second nature to him, and there wasn't the slightest bit of awkwardness.

  As Xiao Yan's hand seal changed, the surging Dou Qi within his body was like being subjected to a fierce and violent suction force, rapidly contracting towards the position of his lower abdomen.

  The pale white Qi in the meridians all over the body, without exception, began to withdraw, and when all the Qi had withdrawn to the lower abdomen, the pale white Qi had already begun to transform into milky white.

  "Hurry, compress the Dou Qi! Use your Spiritual Sense to compress it, if you fail to condense the Dou Qi vortex again, you will fall back to the Eighth Level of Dou Qi!" The old man's shout was extremely timely and echoed in Xiao Yan's heart.

  He nodded slightly, Xiao Yan concentrated his mind, and his excellent soul perception instantly gained control over the fighting spirit in his body. Then, he began to compress it crazily...

  Under the drive of spiritual perception, that white milk-colored Dou Qi began to resist and was fiercely churning.

  The power of resistance was not weak, but Xiao Yan's soul perception ability had surprised even Yao Lao at the time, so the protest of Dou Zhi's energy was undoubtedly a futile struggle, and after a brief stalemate, it began to shrink reluctantly.

  When Douzhi's aura shrinks to the size of a palm, it solidifies again and remains motionless.

  "Press again!" Old Medicine shouted.

  Gritting his teeth, Xiao Yan's eyes tightly closed, the soul perception surrounding that ball of milky white Dou Qi suddenly opened to its maximum, then fiercely compressed downwards!

  "Boom!"

  A faint muffled sound, quietly rising within...

  As the muffled sound rose, that feeling of desperate resistance that had left Xiao Yan exhausted suddenly dissipated.

  Chong Chong let out a sigh of relief, Xiao Yan's body went limp and he fell to the ground, his chest heaving violently.

  Lying in the cool mountain cave, Xiao Yan sensed the abundant energy that had been absent for four years within his body. A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and after a moment, the smile gradually expanded into a gentle laugh, then loud laughter, and finally, maniacal laughter...