Chen Mo retracted the Kunpeng Wings and silently opened his status panel.
[Cultivation: One-Star Dou Shi]
[Host Level: Lv1 (29/100)]
[Bound Goddess: Die (Affection: 29) – Can form a Dao companion once Affection reaches 100.]
[Cultivation Technique: Supreme Primordial Art]
[Skills: Kunpeng Wings (Upgradeable)]
[Bloodline: Ordinary]
Chen Mo's heart stirred—his Affection had already reached 29 in just a single day. At this rate, it wouldn't take long before he could embrace his beauty.
He then glanced at his inventory.
He still had two uses of Enlightenment Incense left.
Since they couldn't start a fire during the day, he and Die had eaten sashimi in the morning before he immersed himself in cultivation.
Closing his eyes, he assumed a meditative posture, focusing his mind on that divine-level cultivation technique.
Supreme Primordial Art.
It was created by a Saint who observed the evolution of chaos.
It allows one to become as elusive as a mirage—like the moon reflected on water, visible yet untouchable.
Once mastered, it renders the practitioner unfathomable; every thought and action embodies the profound truths of the world.
The technique was divided into nine levels.
Chen Mo began cultivating according to the first level's mantra.
Within his lower abdomen, his qi cyclone spun rapidly. The surrounding Dou Qi surged toward him, flowing through his meridians before merging into the cyclone.
After over a dozen circulation cycles, afternoon arrived. Chen Mo abruptly opened his eyes.
"You finished cultivating?" Die, who had been drawing circles on the ground out of boredom, immediately stood up excitedly upon seeing his movement.
"Not yet," Chen Mo replied.
"Oh..." Die pouted and sat back down in disappointment.
If Chen Mo's qi cyclone were a water jar, then each bit of Dou Qi he absorbed was like a ladle of water.
His cultivation speed was simply too fast.
Even he couldn't help but marvel at the Supreme Primordial Art's power.
It had only been a few hours.
Yet, progressing too quickly naturally led to bottlenecks.
Having read over a thousand cultivation novels, Chen Mo understood—he had encountered a bottleneck.
He took a sharp breath. He had only just broken through to One-Star Dou Shi, yet he was about to advance again?
From his experience reading novels, there were three ways to break through bottlenecks:
2. Background and resources.
The first two were self-explanatory.
As for enlightenment, it was usually a rare, uncontrollable occurrence—something entirely dependent on fate and fortune.
But that only applied to ordinary people.
He immediately activated one use of the Enlightenment Incense.
At that moment, a mysterious sensation descended upon him.
His mind became clearer than ever, countless flashes of inspiration illuminating his thoughts.
It was as if a blocked waterway had suddenly been dredged, waiting for the current to flow through.
He didn't even need to cultivate deliberately. The Supreme Primordial Art began operating on its own, and the previously slow-moving Dou Qi around him now surged toward him like a roaring river.
He was only a One-Star Dou Shi, his qi cyclone still small, and his internal Dou Qi not yet abundant. However, at this moment, it felt like a raging torrent, growing at an astonishing speed.
At the same time, throughout the valley—
Immense energy from heaven and earth suddenly flooded into the cave.
If a Dou Huang expert had been present, they would have immediately realized that even a Dou Ling's breakthrough wouldn't cause such an enormous disturbance.
Chen Mo's expression darkened.
He had vastly underestimated the Supreme Primordial Art. Even at its first level, his body was behaving like a black hole, continuously devouring the surrounding energy.
This kind of commotion would definitely attract the people searching for Die.
Chen Mo pushed the Supreme Primordial Art's first level to its absolute limit.
A middle-aged man searching for the snake-woman depicted in the portrait suddenly turned his gaze toward a nearby valley.
There, massive amounts of heaven and earth energy were rushing inward.
The man's eyes narrowed. He put away the portrait and sprinted toward the valley.
At the same time, a small group of people also noticed the unusual phenomenon.
"Almost there... it's coming!"
Despite pushing the Supreme Primordial Art to its peak, Chen Mo instinctively poured in even more effort.
A faint, almost imperceptible shattering sound from within his body.
The previously restrained Dou Qi burst forth like a breached dam, surging wildly. At the same time, his Qi cyclone expanded significantly.
Two-Star Dou Shi—just like that.
For ordinary cultivators, bottlenecks were obstacles.
For someone with Enlightenment Incense, they were meaningless.
"W-What are you doing?!"
Before Die could react, she suddenly found herself being lifted into Chen Mo's arms. Her face pressed against his chest, her heart pounding as his hands tightly supported her waist and under her arms.
Die's snake tail was long, so Chen Mo had no choice but to carry her princess-style.
[Ding! Affection +1. You have gained 1 Affection Coin. Intimacy Bonus triggered: Acquired Yellow-Rank Intermediate Dou Technique – Mysterious Thunder Palm.]
Chen Mo had no time to question it. He simply said, "We have to go. Our location is exposed.
Without hesitation, he rushed out of the cave.
"Brat! Put that snake-woman down!"
A rough, gravelly voice rang out from not far behind them.
Die's expression changed. They were after her again.
A pair of golden wings over half a meter long burst out from Chen Mo's back.
Without a second thought, he soared into the sky with Die in his arms. His flight was still unsteady, but there was no time to worry about that.
His system had warned him—that man was a Da Dou Shi. Chen Mo was no match for him.
"A Dou Wang?! Senior, please spare me! I didn't know—"
The moment the middle-aged man saw the golden wings, he fell to his knees, trembling as he desperately begged for mercy.
Yet, when he looked up moments later, Chen Mo and Die were already gone.
The man froze. Then, realization dawned.
That wasn't a Dou Wang. It was a rare flying Dou Technique!
"Motherf—! You dare trick me?!"
Furious, he gave chase.
Amidst the yellow sands—
A group of mercenaries was approaching the valley when a whooshing sound tore through the sky.
One of them exclaimed, "B-Boss! Someone's flying!"
Another recognized the figure. "It's the snake-woman from the portrait!"
Their leader, a sinister-looking man in his thirties and a Four-Star Dou Shi, narrowed his eyes.
"Wait, he has Dou Qi Wings! Boss, what do we do? He might be a Dou Wang!"
"No... those aren't Dou Qi Wings. Shoot him down!"
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