Btth: The Rise of Qingshan

Tager Desert, Earth's Core Lava Lake.

In the lava lake, a red light flickered, and the reversed lava mixed with spiritual energy formed a large cocoon.

The large cocoon pulsed like a heart, and the aura inside constantly changed and strengthened.

As time passed, the phenomenon became more and more magnificent. Fire attribute spiritual energy surged from all directions through the underground cave passages, like clouds and rivers, beautiful and mesmerizing.

Yan Qingshan and Qing Ling watched this scene, clearly sensing the abundant energy within. With this step, the Flame Spirit Serpent's advancement was basically guaranteed.

"Qing Ling, the environment here is not very good. Let's leave first!"

After confirming that the Flame Spirit Serpent would not be disturbed during its evolution, Yan Qingshan took Qing Ling away from the lava lake.

Although advancing from the fourth rank to the fifth rank wouldn't take a whole year, it would take some time to truly succeed.

The underground passage was filled with the smell of sulfur and poisonous white smoke, and the temperature was unusually high. It was fine to come here for adventure and find some treasures, but no one could bear to stay here all the time.

Yan Qingshan took Qing Ling back to the ground through the passage they came from, using the rope. One after another, snake-like magical beasts with strong auras appeared around them, including two or three third-rank snake kings.

Before the Flame Spirit Serpent advanced, Yan Qingshan and Qing Ling had swept through the surrounding area, subduing almost all the snake-like magical beasts in this area. They also harvested a batch of unique treasures and spiritual herbs from the desert, many of which were used in the Flame Spirit Serpent's advancement ceremony.

Yan Qingshan and Qing Ling returned to the sparse forest lake area to cultivate and wait for the Flame Spirit Serpent's transformation. The numerous snake-like magical beasts dispersed to their respective activity areas, but the snake kings above the second rank stayed in the forest to secretly protect Yan Qingshan and Qing Ling's safety.

…

Yan Qingshan and Qing Ling continued to live a semi-secluded life in the forest. Except for a trip to Rock Desert City in the middle to buy some living supplies, they had been cultivating and living in the forest for nearly two months. The days passed like this.

The autumn and winter seasons in Rock Desert City didn't have as obvious changes as the Magical Beast Mountains. Only some of the forest's vegetation began to wither and yellow.

The temperature was slightly lower on weekdays, but the feeling during the day was not very obvious. It was colder at night.

Yan Qingshan and Qing Ling built a small wooden house in the forest. Because it was close to the area where the Green Lotus Core Flame existed, the temperature in the forest at night wouldn't drop too low. With plenty of firewood in the forest, they wouldn't feel cold after lighting the stove.

"Dawn, data analysis!"

Host: Yan Qingshan

Cultivation: Nine-Star Dou Zhe

Technique: Xuan High-Grade Lion Heart King Technique (One Lion Heart Baptism)

Dou Technique: Xuan High-Grade Mad Lion Roar, Xuan Low-Grade Phoenix Flight Steps

Strength: 9.6

Status: Healthy

Agility: 9.0

Mental Power: 35

Main Attribute: Wood

Secondary Attribute: Thunder (Thunder Eyes)

(Data collection target: One-Star Dou Zhe calculation average, the median of each item is 1.0)

Yan Qingshan nodded slightly as he looked at his data. Although he was only a beginner Nine-Star Dou Zhe, his specific data was more than three times that of ordinary peak Dou Zhes, and his combat power could be one against ten of the same level.

Advanced techniques brought cultivators not only cultivation speed but also Dou Qi quality and other aspects. The difference could be seen by refining the data.

An ordinary One-Star Dou Zhe, practicing a Huang Low-Grade technique, would have a data of 1.0. Huang Middle-Grade to High-Grade techniques would have data between 1.1 and 1.4, not exceeding 1.4.

Dou Zhes would cross a small threshold every three stars, with significant strength growth. A Nine-Star peak Dou Zhe would need to practice at least a Huang Middle-Grade technique to break through.

The average data would fluctuate around 3.0. The strongest Dou Zhe practicing a Huang High-Grade technique would have data close to 4.0.

Of course, the above data only calculated the explosive data of Dou Qi. The power of Dou Qi Skill had to be calculated separately. If Dou Techniques were used, the data would double.

The comprehensive data of a Nine-Star peak Dou Zhe practicing a Huang technique was only close to 4.0, which was much different from a Dou Zhe of the same level practicing a higher-level technique.

A One-Star Dou Zhe practicing a Xuan Low-Grade technique, if the compatibility was high enough, could reach 2.0. Theoretically, a Four-Star Dou Zhe practicing a Xuan Low-Grade technique could reach 4.0.

Of course, techniques also had a compatibility problem, and the higher the technique, the higher the requirements. It was difficult to develop the efficiency of the technique to the extreme.

So few people practicing Xuan techniques could reach the data of ordinary Huang techniques for Nine-Star Dou Zhes at the Four-Star level.

However, after Yan Qingshan's Lion Heart Baptism, his compatibility with this technique was very high, almost comparable to a high-compatibility Xuan High-Grade technique of the same attribute. So his data was much higher than before the baptism.

Theoretically, a Hut Low-Grade technique could be practiced to break through to Dou Master. The comprehensive data of breaking through to Dou Master in this way was the lowest among all Dou Masters, about 5.0.

But in fact, most practitioners of Huang Low-Grade techniques couldn't break through to advanced Dou Zhes.

Yan Qingshan had seen many Dou Masters along the way and collected some relevant data. The lowest cultivation technique for Dou Master level was Xuan High-Grade.

Even if you didn't start with Huang High-Grade, it wasn't difficult to get a suitable Huang High-Grade technique after breaking through to Dou Master.

The top brass only blocked techniques above the Xuan level. There were so many ways to get Huang techniques on the continent. Ordinary people could get Huang High-Level techniques with some effort.

A One-Star Dou Master practicing a Huang High-Grade technique would initially break through between 6.5 and 7.0. After fully stabilizing the realm, they could basically reach 7.0.

Yan Qingshan's current data was comparable to low-star Dou Masters. He also mastered Xuan Dou Qi Skill and more precious flying Dou Techniques.

His flexibility and combat power were stronger. Ordinary low-level Dou Masters who hadn't practiced Xuan techniques and Dou Qi skill were not his opponents.

…

In the sparse forest outside Rock Desert City, Yan Qingshan sat under a sand date tree. A faint blue halo surrounded his body, and wisps of it seeped into his body, increasing his foundation.

There was still a short period of gradual refinement between a Nine-Star Dou Zhe and a Nine-Star Dou Zhe peak.

Theoretically, a Nine-Star Dou Zhe could directly break through to Dou Master. But in reality, no one would do this. Although broke through a major realm after Dou Zhe didn't have the risk of cultivation regression like the Dou Zhi Qi stage, failure to break through Dou Master could leave hidden injuries, burying risks for future cultivation.

Generally, Nine-Star Dou Zhes would try to accumulate Dou Qi and wait for the feeling of opportunity to appear. If they couldn't find the feeling of opportunity for a long time, they would use the method of forcibly breaking through.

The success rate of forcibly breaking through in this way completely depended on the depth of Dou Qi, so they had to accumulate Dou Qi as much as possible.

Although Yan Qingshan was still a long way from the peak of Dou Zhe, it was just a matter of gradual refinement. So he had been focusing on cultivation and accumulating Dou Qi recently.

"Hmm!!!"

Yan Qingshan suddenly moved his ears and opened his eyes, looking out of the forest. The whistling wind faintly mixed with calls, as if calling for himself and Qing Ling.

The sound was a bit familiar. The slight vibration on the ground seemed to be from camels. Someone was riding a camel towards this side.

"Qing Ling!"

With a call from Yan Qingshan, a cute and graceful beautiful girl walked out of the small wooden house next to him and landed beside Yan Qingshan. As she made calls, snake-like magical beasts with powerful auras appeared everywhere in the forest.

"This voice... seems a bit familiar!"

The sound source in the distance was getting closer. A hint of realization flashed across Yan Qingshan's puzzled face. He grabbed Qing Ling's wrist, pulled her into his arms, spread his Purple Cloud Wings, and flew towards the side of the forest near Rock Desert City.

"Qing Ling! Qingshan! Qing..."

In the desert east of Rock Desert City, a graceful figure riding a camel was anxiously driving the camel towards the southeast, shouting loudly to attract the attention of the two people who might be nearby.

"Sister Xue Lan!"

Just as she was aimlessly shouting and trying her luck, a familiar and surprised girl's voice suddenly came from the opposite sand slope. Xue Lan quickly drove her camel over.

"Sister Xue Lan, how did you find us?"

Qing Ling and Xue Lan, two beauties of different sizes, hugged each other. They were filled with joy at their reunion. Qing Ling rubbed her head in Xue Lan's arms and asked curiously.

"You little girl look down on people, don't you? I drew the map for you guys back then. How could I not know this place?"

Xue Lan tapped Qing Ling's nose with her slender fingers. She had always been very fond of this little sister. Otherwise, she wouldn't have come alone at the risk this time.

"Why did you come?"

Yan Qingshan frowned and looked at Xue Lan. The heroic female knight looked a little embarrassed. She had successfully broken through to Dou Zhe after a few months, and she was still a two-star Dou Zhe.

But her aura didn't seem very stable. She should have broken through to two stars recently.

Xue Lan suddenly said anxiously, "Quick, you guys leave quickly. Someone is coming to find you."

"What's going on? Explain clearly!"

Yan Qingshan grabbed Xue Lan's jade wrist and sent her pure wood attribute Dou Qi to help her recover from her fatigue. The healing effect of wood attribute Dou Qi was second only to water attribute, and it could help other cultivators clear negative states.

Xue Lan hurriedly said, "Someone, someone is catching mixed-blood snake people. All the mixed-blood snake people in Rock Desert City have been caught by the Sand Mercenary Group.

I also saw Luo Bu, the leader of the Sand Mercenary Group, being very respectful to some strangers. These people are also inquiring about the whereabouts of other mixed-blood snake people. They have already learned the news that Qing Ling left with you..."

"Looking for mixed-blood snake people... Luo Bu... could it be... the Mo family?"

A strange light flashed in Yan Qingshan's eyes. The Sand Mercenary Group suddenly looking for mixed-blood snake people must be looking for some special targets among the mixed-blood snake people.

Apart from the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils, Yan Qingshan couldn't think of anything else.

Moreover, in Battle Through the Heaven, the Mo family had secretly controlled the Sand Mercenary Group, trying to erase the Desert Metal Mercenary Company that had taken in Qing Ling to eliminate traces. This seemed to match the target.

As for why the Mo family didn't directly kidnap Qing Ling like in the original story but searched extensively, it was very simple. Most mixed-blood snake people died young.

In the original story, Qing Ling was the only mixed-blood snake people over ten years old in Rock Desert City. A little inquiry in Rock Desert City could determine the most likely target.

Now that Qing Ling had been taken away by him, the people behind the Sand Mercenary Group weren't sure that the taken Qing Ling was the owner of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils. So they arrested mixed-blood snake people throughout the city.

However, he was more curious as to why the Mo family from Yan City suddenly came to the Tager Desert and with such a clear goal!