The second update is complete; tomorrow will be a massive release. I have two matters to discuss, starting with the first.

In the dead of night, a time so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, Gao Lou was lying down reading when his phone suddenly rang with an eerie sound!

It was jarring in the silent room. I looked down—it was a text message from that scoundrel Bai He.

I sent a reply and was just about to open my book when the phone rang again! And again! I picked up; Bai He’s honest crane cry came through the speaker. Because the room was so quiet, it sounded like an old crane calling.

I chatted with Bai He for about an hour... the phone was burning hot... an hour of my sleep time was commandeered by Bai He... Bai He! At the annual meeting, you owe me an hour of sleep! Otherwise, we’re not done! Even if you can only drink water, I’ll force-feed you until you loosen your belt, hahaha.

The fun of fighting for monthly tickets is that when you run into friends, you can conveniently develop some illicit affair, haha.

Today, I was first put on the defensive by Bai He's Zhan Tian—day by day—and then your votes made Gao Lou feel satisfied again, day by day. I wonder if he’s going to put me on the defensive again later... Bai He, if our [Redacted Term] continues like this, when we meet at the annual gathering, it’s certainly going to be ruined... haha. Let me mention the other thing: tomorrow, I’ll explode with updates, a massive burst. I hope friends will vote for monthly tickets so that Bai He and I can enjoy a few more days in a [Redacted Term] position, haha.

Give me monthly tickets!!!!!

Qian Jin listlessly grabbed a notebook, smiling bitterly and shaking his head. Truly, two completely different treatments!

In the Pan family, he was so glorious; those so-called Senior Apothecaries or even Master Apothecaries treated him with utmost respect. But here, under Uncle Adams, he was suddenly reduced to a fool.

Sigh! Qian Jin sighed inwardly. When would he ever hear the word 'fool' removed from Teacher Adams's vocabulary?

Time flew when reading. Two hours passed almost without him noticing.

Qian Jin put down the notebook, feeling that reviewing the lessons and sparring sessions with the Pan family apothecaries from the past few days, while cross-referencing them with the notes, was far more beneficial than just burying his head in the book. He felt an urge to personally attempt brewing a potion that only a Master Apothecary could make.

“Teacher, I'll be leaving now.”

“Go on. Remember to close the door.” Adams didn't look up, his gaze intently fixed on various containers. Qian Jin cast a curious glance at the potions being brewed and shivered. If the Pan family apothecaries saw this scene of mixing medicine, they would probably be scared to death instantly, right?

They were all using the simplest, common medicinal herbs easily bought on the market, mixed and processed in a special way, seemingly creating an extraordinary potion.

Qian Jin walked back onto the village street, quietly recalling the battle against the Flame Berserk Cactus in the Ancient Desolate Sand Sea. The Po Di Zhan technique, practiced for days within his Battle Heart, which had only faint traces of formation, had its Dou Qi sequence rapidly activated, causing it to detonate—yet its power was far, far greater than before. What exactly was happening?

The Enlack Dou Qi Hall—only here could he resolve questions regarding his Dou Qi cultivation.

“Oh? Young man, back again?” Enlack sat cross-legged in the center of the great hall and beckoned gently. “Come in. You look quite strange today; another incomprehensible situation?”

“Yes,” Qian Jin replied, bowing slightly. “I’ve come to challenge the sparring partners.”

Enlack clapped his thighs with delight. “Very good, very good! The twins you beat last time have improved significantly. You fight them again.”

Qian Jin watched the two warriors, one tall and one short, enter the training ground, asking cautiously, “Uncle, if I win against them, I can ask my questions?”

“That’s for sure,” Enlack said, flying back to a side of the hall without shifting his posture. “Don't underestimate them; those two lads have gotten much stronger.”

Qian Jin shook his shoulders, looking at the pair whose eyes betrayed a desire for revenge. “Then let’s stop wasting words and start quickly. I’m eager to find the answers I seek.”

“Very well!” Enlack waved his hand overhead and shouted, “Begin!”

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Before Enlack’s shout had even faded, Qian Jin’s figure vanished from where he stood. The wooden floor suddenly convulsed, shattering into thousands of fragments.

In just an instant, four craters were blasted into the massive floorboards, each bearing an afterimage of Qian Jin’s body, none of which were the real thing.

A flicker of surprise and shock crossed the eyes of the two warriors. Qian Jin’s body appeared behind one of them, and the Fen Jin Lian Zhan instantly shattered his opponent's legs.

Fast! The remaining warrior stiffened, and Qian Jin’s figure appeared in his pupils! In an instant, Qian Jin stood before him, moving so fast he couldn't react at all. The Sheng Feng Shiba Chui slammed down from above.

Bang! Crack... The warrior raised both arms high, but it couldn't stop the Sheng Feng Shiba Chui from shattering his shoulder bone. He then took a knee strike from Qian Jin and was sent flying backward.

Fast! Faster than ever before! Enlack’s voice was still echoing in the hall, yet Qian Jin had already struck, completely ending the fight. Support Gao Lou, click subscribe and vote.

Qian Jin paused, watching his own phantom afterimage slowly fade. He took a long, shaky breath, forcing his legs to stop twitching, but still unable to completely control the muscular spasms.

The battle with the Flame Berserk Cactus had ignited the Dou Qi rotation within his Battle Aperture and Battle Meridian, reaching 45,000 rotations—a figure he had previously never dared to imagine.

Now, with the expansion of his Battle Aperture and Battle Meridian, the adaptation of his Wind and Cloud Golden Body, and the miraculous effects of Adams's potions, his body could completely handle and unleash a super Dou Qi rotation speed of 45,000 revolutions.

“Impressive!” Enlack stood up, applauding repeatedly. “Your Wan Ying is finally starting to look like something, and the first strike of the Sheng Feng Shiba Chui was beautiful. What’s more surprising is that your Dou Qi is at 45,000 rotations! Combined with your exceptionally powerful physique, winning against both instantly isn’t strange. However, your decisive momentum forces me to treat you more seriously now.”

Qian Jin regulated the slightly rapid flow within his body, the Dou Qi soothing the spasms and fatigue in his thigh muscles. He bowed ninety degrees again. “I took advantage of an opening. If you had forbidden the use of Wan Ying and Sheng Feng Shiba Chui...”

“You still could have beaten those two trash, though it might have required a bit more effort,” Enlack waved his hand. “Tell me, what don't you understand?”

Qian Jin adjusted his emotions slightly. “It’s like this: the Po Di Zhan Dou Qi sequence I painstakingly built in my Battle Heart hadn't fully formed, only showing a very shallow prototype, when I engaged in combat with the demonic beast. At the most critical moment, I over-activated the Dou Qi arrangement within my Battle Heart...”

“And the Dou Qi sequence exploded, is that it?” Enlack shifted slightly, leaning his spine against the wall, speaking lightly. “And the power of the resulting Po Di Zhan was stronger than you anticipated, correct?”

Qian Jin nodded repeatedly. This Enlack hadn't witnessed it, yet his words seemed as if he had seen it firsthand. It seemed coming to ask him questions today was the right choice.

“Heh heh, actually,” Enlack tapped the ground with his toe and moved in front of Qian Jin. “Even if the Dou Qi sequence arrangement achieves true mastery and becomes a technique you can deploy at will, it can still shatter.”

Qian Jin stared at Enlack blankly. If that were true, why bother cultivating it so painstakingly? While it certainly increased the speed of deployment in combat, its value would be greatly diminished.

A Dou Qi sequence cultivated diligently for a year or more could be lost in a single fight!

If that were the case, it would be better to spend the time cultivating the Dou Qi sequence on simply cultivating more Dou Qi, and the resulting strength wouldn't be much weaker. Moreover, as time passed, excessive practice of the Dou Qi sequence would slow down the improvement of the Dou Qi itself. In the long run, those who just buried their heads in cultivating Dou Qi would be the correct path.

“Kid, I know what you’re thinking,” Enlack said, walking slowly around the training ground with his hands clasped behind his back. “First, I must explain: the arrangement sequence of these techniques is branded in the Battle Heart. It has a special name: the Dou Yin (Battle Seal)!”

Dou Yin? Qian Jin nodded slightly. So, this also had its own unique name.

“The Dou Yin is far more important than you imagine.” Suddenly, a colossal Battle Soul erupted behind Enlack—a sword!

An immense sword! Within its blade, one could visibly see numerous Dou Qi arrangement sequences—the Dou Yin that Enlack mentioned.

These Dou Yin existed separately, yet they maintained a subtle connection with each other. The sword-shaped Battle Soul moved slightly in the air, and every hair on Qian Jin’s body stood on end.

Though both were Battle Souls, Fabridis’s Battle Soul exerted nowhere near the pressure that Enlack’s did! This sword truly gave the impression that if it wished, it could easily cleave apart the earth, the sky, or the sea.

Enlack gently raised an index finger, and the giant sword-shaped Battle Soul pulsed at his fingertip. “Have you seen warriors possessing a Battle Soul besides me?”

Qian Jin subconsciously nodded. He had seen Fabridis’s Saint-level Battle Soul, Mu Gui Wuxin’s non-Saint-level one, one from an assassin of the Dark Division that Fabridis defeated, and the Battle Soul of the Lei family head. Counting them up, he had indeed seen quite a few—a number most people would never see in a lifetime.

“How do their Battle Souls compare to mine?” Enlack looked proud, a subtle curve to his lips revealing indescribable confidence. Although he was asking a question, it sounded more like showing off.

Qian Jin smiled lightly and repeatedly shook his head. The pressure exerted by all those other Battle Souls combined was far less than the might of Enlack’s sword-shaped Battle Soul, and this sword-shaped Battle Soul hadn't even unleashed its full power yet.

“Do you know why?” Enlack snapped his fingers, and the Dou Yin within the sword-shaped Battle Soul suddenly flared brightly. “These Dou Yin, during combat and when releasing the Battle Soul, are not visible to others. You can see them because I am telling you that a crucial reason my Battle Soul possesses such formidable power is related to these Dou Yin.”

“These Dou Yin?” Qian Jin fell silent, watching Enlack curiously, knowing this verbose teacher wouldn't stop explaining now.

“How is a Battle Soul generated?” Enlack flicked his finger, drawing a thread of Dou Qi from the Battle Soul, which rotated to form a state similar to a Battle Heart. “It is nurtured and generated from the Battle Heart.”

“Then why is there such a vast difference in the might, or quality, of Battle Souls nurtured by the Battle Heart?”

“Because...” Qian Jin tentatively interjected, “the Dou Yin?”

Enlack snapped his fingers again. “From a certain perspective, you can say that. The Dou Yin is the key to determining the quality of the Battle Soul you will possess in the future.”

Qian Jin grimaced. Today, he had intended to ask why shattering the Dou Yin increased its power, but he hadn't expected Teacher Enlack to pull the subject so far afield, yet in a way that made him intensely want to listen further.

Warriors from bloodline families and scions of noble houses were stronger than ordinary warriors not only due to superior innate physical conditions but also due to postnatal familial support. When they encountered doubts, they could always find their ancestors for answers.

Qian Jin knew that apart from Fabridis and Mu Gui Wuxin, the path of the warrior relied on self-exploration. Now, being able to hear Teacher Uncle Enlack's explanations, he gathered all his focus to listen intently.