The Demon Core! Qian Jin finally understood what he had been missing. It turned out that back in the Endless World, Huang Quan had taken the Demon Core from him—a core useless to a warrior, but incredibly valuable to a mage.

Qian Jin shrugged indifferently, watching the absolute magic prodigy with keen interest. He secretly wondered if, using just one Demon Core, she could achieve the heaven-defying feat of condensing mental power into magical force, something that normally required a Mana Condensation Array.

After watching Huang Quan practice for a while, Qian Jin grew bored. He stretched and stood up, noticing that his Dou Vessels had doubled in size compared to when he first awakened them. His current Dou Vessels were now eleven times their original capacity! His strength had also increased significantly.

Qian Jin quietly slipped out of the cave. Gazing at the stars that hadn't completely vanished, he looked towards the direction of the Oakland Magic Academy. "Who would have thought? I, who failed the bloodline awakening ceremony, have undergone such a tremendous transformation in such a short time? I increasingly yearn to leave this valley now!"

How long is one night? At most, it's the length of ten days.

In one night, a bamboo shoot can grow from barely an inch long to over half a person's height. In a single night, the Fire Copper Tree transforms from half a foot tall to a massive tree so tall that three men could barely link arms around it.

This kind of phenomenon is common knowledge, whether among the humans of the Zhence Dynasty, the northern Barbarians, or even the young demons. But in the span of a single night, a person whose strength already stood at the peak of a Tenth-Level Warrior has made new progress—and a significant leap at that!

The old man stared blankly at Qian Jin before him. In just one night, his strength, Dou Jin, spirit, and even his lower body strength—which had always been relatively weaker—had all seen massive improvements!

"You..." The old man circled Qian Jin twice, scrutinizing him as if he were a complete stranger, his brow unconsciously furrowed in a look of deep contemplation, his index fingers tapping against each other behind his back.

"Is this kid a monster?" the old man secretly suspected. He had assumed that the Fengyun Golden Body, the Stone Body Realm he had just mastered yesterday, would require considerable time to be polished to a state of perfect integration. How could he have reached full mastery of the Stone Body Realm overnight? How did he do it? It had taken the old man a full month back in his day!

"One night..." The old man muttered to himself with a bitter, self-deprecating laugh. "It can't be, right? This is too demoralizing. My master praised me as a genius every single time when teaching me."

Unable to believe what he was seeing, the old man’s tightly knitted eyebrows parted, transforming his grave expression into one of joy.

Qian Jin felt unnerved by the old man's stare. Standing near the high-temperature lake water, he actually broke out in goosebumps, the kind usually reserved for a sudden cold front.

"Interesting, truly interesting," the old man nodded repeatedly with a smile. "I originally thought it would take some more time before you could truly enter the Dou Spirit Grand Array, but I didn't expect you to be ready this quickly."

The Dou Spirit Grand Array? Qian Jin had long known this day would come, but hearing it spoken aloud still filled him with excitement, tension, and nervousness.

To break through and become a Demon-Slaying Warrior! It was a single step, yet in the eyes of a warrior, it represented a chasm between heaven and earth!

"Before you enter the Dou Spirit Grand Array, I believe you know the most important thing you need to do?" The old man adopted the posture of an examiner.

Qian Jin nodded proudly. Having spent years working odd jobs in the Qian family library, he had read countless books.

The greatest difference between a Demon-Slaying Warrior and a Tenth-Level Warrior lay in the distinction between Dou Qi and Dou Jin! Without a secret method to condense Dou Jin into Dou Qi, one would remain stuck at the Dou Jin level for life!

To become a Demon-Slaying Warrior, one must learn a special secret method capable of refining Dou Jin into Dou Qi. These secret methods—whether held by noble houses, the royal family, academies, or the military—were all unique and strictly kept secret from outsiders.

"Kid, I didn't realize you knew so much," the old man remarked, looking at Qian Jin's calm demeanor with a mixture of admiration and surprise. "Then do you know what the highest level of Dou Qi cultivation method is in the current Zhence Dynasty?"

Qian Jin frowned, sighed, and shook his head. While this knowledge wasn't strictly classified to the point where outsiders had absolutely no clue, very few people actually knew it. Even the Qian family, adhering to unwritten rules set by the major powers, had not recorded such details in their collection of texts.

"There are quite a few secret methods in the Zhence Dynasty for condensing Dou Jin into Dou Qi," the old man said, looking up at the falling snow, an aura of proud confidence emanating from him. "Such as the Twelve Dou Aperture Circulating Heaven Secret Method, the Thirty-Six Dou Aperture Circulating Heaven Secret Method..."

Unknowingly, Qian Jin nodded frequently along with the old man's exposition. A person's Dou Apertures are divided into Dead Apertures and Living Apertures; there are 108 Living Apertures and an equal number of Dead Apertures.

When a Tenth-Level Warrior condenses Dou Jin into Dou Qi, the cultivation method used for condensing Dou Qi is a crucial step, alongside their own effort and the aid of the Dou Spirit Grand Array, in determining their future potential.

A widely circulated ancient saying in the warrior world heavily underscores the importance of the Dou Qi cultivation method: when refining Dou Jin into Dou Qi, whoever’s refinement method can develop more Dou Apertures will have a better future.

"The top students at the Zhence Dynasty Warrior and Magic Academies can learn..." The old man deliberately drew out his words, his hands making a subtle gesture indicating a number: "The Seventy-Two Dou Aperture Circulating Heaven Secret Method..."

"Seventy-Two Dou Apertures?" Qian Jin visibly shuddered, so shocked he almost bit his tongue off, unable to believe the immense number he had just heard!

Even without having read any true secret methods, Qian Jin understood that achieving even a single additional aperture in any Dou Jin to Dou Qi condensation method was an incredibly difficult feat.

The Twelve Dou Aperture Circulating Heaven Secret Method was the standard for any slightly advanced warrior academy. However, having only twelve apertures when condensing Dou Jin into Dou Qi—just two more than a Tenth-Level Warrior practices—placed significant limitations on their future. Those who chose this path usually had compelling, unspeakable reasons.

Secret methods at the level of the Twenty-Four Dou Aperture Circulating Heaven Secret Method and above were strictly guarded secrets among academies, noble houses, and even the royal family.

Even among methods sharing the Twenty-Four Dou Aperture Circulating Heaven Secret Method, the specific execution techniques varied, though the locations of the twenty-four apertures remained identical.

For a method as advanced as the Seventy-Two Dou Aperture Circulating Heaven Secret Method, it wasn't simply a matter of possessing the right talent to be taught it, whether in the royal family, academies, or noble houses. It required passing layers of tests assessing not only strength but also absolute loyalty to the organization.

Any warrior who successfully cultivated the Seventy-Two Dou Aperture Circulating Heaven Secret Method was absolutely an elite among the elites of the major powers!

The Fengyun Dou Qi turned out to be a towering structure, capable of condensing all one hundred and eight Living Dou Apertures! Qian Jin felt dizzy, overwhelmed by good fortune. The One Hundred and Eight Dou Aperture Circulating Heaven Secret Method was priceless!

The old man watched Qian Jin’s expression with smug satisfaction. Seeing Qian Jin's drastic change overnight had startled him, but now, finally, he felt he had gotten a small measure of revenge by revealing the aperture count of the Fengyun Dou Qi.

"Take this." The old man flicked his wrist, producing a red stone from seemingly nowhere and tossing it into Qian Jin's hand. "Inject your Dou Jin into it, memorize everything carefully, and then jump into the lake to refine your Dou Jin into Dou Qi."

"Oh, and this too—the unlocking circuitry map for the Secret Method Memory Stone," the old man added, flicking his wrist again to produce a piece of paper, which he threw over as well.

Qian Jin gently stroked the red stone in his palm. His hands, which could handle a several-hundred-pound blacksmith's hammer without even a tremor, now shook slightly with excitement.

The Secret Method Memory Stone! The basic prerequisite for unlocking it was possessing the Tenth-Level Dou Jin of a Tenth-Level Warrior. Without that strength, it was nothing more than a useless rock in hand.

The difficulty in activating a Secret Method Memory Stone varied depending on the strength of the warrior who created it. Stones containing legacies from powerful figures would possess a unique Dou Jin unlocking circuit pattern. If one attempted to force it open without knowing this pattern, even a super-bloodline warrior with ultimate awakening would only succeed in destroying the Memory Stone.

Possessing the ciphered circuitry instantly made Qian Jin more convinced of the legends surrounding the ancestor who created the Fengyun Dou Qi.

Quickly memorizing the circuit diagram, Qian Jin gave a slight shake of his wrist, transmitting his Tenth-Level Dou Jin into the Secret Method Memory Stone.

Instantly, the interior of the dark-red stone ignited as if catching fire, emitting faint, subtle light. This light intertwined and twisted, floating out of the stone and circling Qian Jin's wrist. Gradually, it unfolded like a sheet of paper, square and three meters wide. The script was small and dense, yet perfectly legible, without any sense of crowding or disorder. Every character seemed carved into solid rock, sharp and distinct!

Upon looking at them, one felt as if the red characters were being imprinted directly onto the mind.

"Mighty and vigorous, as if alive..." Qian Jin marveled repeatedly. "The Qian family possesses many calligraphic masterpieces, but before these characters, they all appear utterly powerless."

In the center of the three-meter-square red script floated a warrior with long, flowing hair, suspended as if in the high heavens. The surrounding red light transformed into clouds and mist, giving him an impossibly transcendent aura.

This warrior moved his hands and feet slightly, allowing his entire body to be carried along. With each step and gesture, he was sometimes as swift and forceful as a gale, and other times as gentle as a breeze brushing the face. His movements constantly defied Qian Jin's expectations, yet upon reflection, they were steeped in logic and revealed an aura of natural flow.

"Wind is born of nature, formless and unseen, entering the sea to churn the waves and reaching the heavens, advancing like sand to obliterate all things. Clouds sit high in the firmament, ever-changing, lacking a fixed abode or constant state; meeting the wind, they scatter or rain down..."

PS: What an astonishing coincidence! In Chapter 108, we are detailing the cultivation of the 108 Dou Apertures for the Fengyun Dou Qi. It's too coincidental to be anything else! Brothers and sisters, let's cast our monthly votes to celebrate this incredible synchronicity!