Chapter 1: Wei Yang

Northwest of the Dou Qi Continent.

Jia Ma Empire, Wu Tan City.

«One-star Dou Practitioner!»

In a modest room in the western part of the city, the light was somewhat dim.

A handsome boy, about twelve or thirteen years old, dressed in black, slowly opened his eyes, a flash of brilliance in his gaze.

Sigh~ He slowly exhaled a mouthful of turbid air.

Wei Yang's eyes were a bit dazed.

In the blink of an eye, six years had passed since he came to this world…

He started cultivating Dou Qi at the age of six, and now, six years later, he had finally broken through to become a Dou Practitioner.

«With my talent, I should not be inferior to Xiao Yan, perhaps even slightly better,» Wei Yang thought to himself.

Xiao Yan began cultivating at the age of four and broke through to Dou Practitioner at about eleven or twelve years old.

As for himself, he started at six and also broke through at around twelve.

Judging by this alone, he was slightly better than Xiao Yan.

Of course, their mindsets might be different.

After all, Xiao Yan, as the son of the Xiao clan leader, grew up with wealth and praise, lacking a sense of urgency.

But Wei Yang was different. When he arrived in this world, his mercenary parents had already perished in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, leaving him an orphan. Upon realizing he was in the Dou Qi Continent, he felt a pressing sense of crisis.

Without a system or golden finger, his only advantage was knowing the plot and many opportunities.

But without strength, knowing those opportunities was useless.

Therefore, he did not dare slack off for a moment in the past six years.

Today, he finally broke through and became a Dou Practitioner.

Currently, Xiao Yan was only nine years old with eight stages of Dou Qi, his genius reputation already spreading.

Wei Yang, on the other hand, remained very low-key, almost unknown in Wu Tan City, a mere small presence.

«Xiao Yan, I'm three years older than you and already a Dou Practitioner.»

«When you become a Dou Practitioner in three years, I might already be a Dou Master.»

«And later, when your Dou Qi disappears, and your realm plummets, you'll be stagnant for three years. That's a six-year gap!»

«As a fellow transmigrator, my talent is not inferior to yours. Even if you have cheats later, this six-year gap will be tough for you to close,» Wei Yang chuckled internally.

Of course, he would never admit he was actually jealous.

After all, he also wanted cheats but had none.

«Dou Practitioner!»

Wei Yang shook his head, dispelling his thoughts, and closed his eyes, focusing inward.

Inner Vision.

After reaching the Dou Practitioner level, one could master an auxiliary skill, allowing a deeper exploration of one's body as their strength increased.

Wei Yang's mind sank to his lower abdomen, where he 'saw' a palm-sized milky white vortex slowly rotating.

Surrounding the vortex was a nebula-like layer of milky white energy.

Gazing at the palm-sized vortex, Wei Yang couldn't help but feel a trace of joy. This was the result of six years of hard work.

«This is Dou Qi.»

He could clearly feel the energy contained within it, which was ten times stronger than the previous nine stages of Dou Qi.

The Dou Qi of a Dou Practitioner and the nine stages of Dou Qi were fundamentally different.

Before becoming a Dou Practitioner, the energy absorbed was called Dou Qi, which was for strengthening the body and laying a foundation.

After becoming a Dou Practitioner, the energy absorbed was the true Dou Qi.

Though differing by just one character, the disparity between the two was like heaven and earth, incomparable in both quality and quantity.

As Wei Yang continued to control the vortex to absorb and refine the faint red energy from the surroundings, time passed.

When he became more proficient in controlling the vortex, he finally stopped and withdrew his consciousness.

Opening his eyes, a milky white light flashed in his pitch-black pupils before gradually fading.

«Next, it's time to cultivate a suitable technique.»

Wei Yang stood up and stretched his body, his bones making cracking sounds like frying beans.

Squeak~ Opening the door, he stepped out into a simple and clean courtyard.

Under the rising morning sun, Wei Yang stood in the courtyard, contemplating his future plans.

After breaking through to Dou Practitioner, to quickly improve his cultivation speed, he needed to cultivate a technique that suited his attributes.

Techniques and Dou Skills were divided into four ranks: Heaven, Earth, Xuan, and Huang, each rank further divided into three levels: Low, Middle, and High.

Wei Yang's attribute was fire, with a hint of mutated yang attribute, which had been tested long ago.

But unfortunately, he did not have any wood attribute.

This was quite frustrating.

As a transmigrator, his powerful soul due to the fusion was a given, making him an excellent candidate to become a noble Alchemist.

However, his fire attribute lacked even a trace of wood attribute, replaced instead by the mutated yang attribute.

Wasting his powerful soul force.

Alchemists were highly sought after!

But there was still hope.

Wei Yang had some ideas. If he could achieve them…

Attributes could be acquired through special natural treasures or techniques, granting other attributes later on.

Of course, the primary attribute couldn't be changed.

But acquiring a trace of another attribute was possible.

Like in the original work, Xiao Yan, through cultivating the Earth-tier movement Dou Skill Three Thousand Lightning Movement, which contained the power of thunder, acquired a trace of thunder attribute by drawing lightning during thunderstorms.

Green Lotus Core Flame! Ranked nineteenth on the Heavenly Flames list.

This flame contained wood attribute.

Even if he couldn't obtain the Green Lotus Core Flame, the eleven lotus seeds that accompanied it could potentially grant him a trace of wood attribute upon absorption and refinement.

Whether it would work remained to be seen.

For now, this was far in the future and required sufficient strength.

Currently, the most important issue was cultivating a suitable technique.

After a simple wash and a quick meal, Wei Yang returned to his room and sat at the desk.

On the desk were many books.

Titles included: Basic Herbal Knowledge, Common Herb Properties, Introduction to Medicine, How to Become an Alchemist, Alchemist Fundamentals, Basic Hemostatic and Healing Recipes, Record of Rare Treasures, etc.

These were all basic knowledge books on Alchemy, collected by Wei Yang and read daily. Even if he couldn't become an Alchemist, gaining more knowledge was beneficial.

After all, cultivation often required pills and herbs, so having some understanding was never a bad thing.

With a strong soul, sharp mind, good comprehension, and excellent memory, he found these basics easy to grasp and remember.

Wei Yang opened a drawer and took out a light red book.

Huang-tier High-grade Technique: Crimson Fire Art.

This was a technique left by his late parents.

Wei Yang shook his head helplessly and put the book down.

A Huang-tier High-grade technique was too low-level.

This technique could only be cultivated to the peak of Dou Master, with slow cultivation speed and low-quality Dou Qi.

The Dou Qi cultivated from this technique offered no advantage in battle at the same level.

But Wei Yang had no other choice for now and had to cultivate this Crimson Fire Art until he found a better technique.

Better to wait a couple more years.

He was only twelve, just becoming a Dou Practitioner. Leaving Wu Tan City now would be unsafe.

No need to take unnecessary risks.

Better to be cautious in this life.

With that in mind, Wei Yang picked up the book again. He had read it countless times, to the point of memorization, but he carefully read it once more.

After ensuring he hadn't missed anything, he finally put the book down.

«Let's begin!»

Wei Yang stood up, returned to the bed, sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes.

(P.S.: The protagonist and Xiao Yan are not enemies but rather friends and collaborators. It's not about sycophancy but mutual benefit. Given the future threat of Hun Tiandi sacrificing all beings, internal strife is unnecessary. If some consider befriending Xiao Yan as sycophantic, so be it. New readers, please watch carefully.)

(Finally: Everyone has their own views and preferences, which is normal and respected. If you don't like it, simply leave without harsh words. There are many Dou Po fanfics, plenty of choices. I write Dou Po fanfics because I like the original. I don't particularly like Xiao Yan but don't dislike him either. I started reading Dou Po at the end of 2012, my beginning in web novels. Subconsciously, I don't want to antagonize Xiao Yan. I hope readers understand. I never antagonize the original protagonists, including my last Devour fanfic. It's respect for the books I like and the original works.)

(End of Chapter)