Douluo: I, the Sun God

Xu Yang was just one step away from achieving Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, Five Energies Returning to the Origin. At this stage, his cultivation level was equivalent to the eighth layer of the Mysterious Heaven Technique. The usual bottleneck posed by soul rings didn't exist for him—so long as he took the next step, he would fully master it.

Currently, Xu Yang's soul power was at Rank 68, but he was holding back his breakthrough, intending to push directly through Rank 70 during core formation.

According to his plan, once the Great Sun Manual reached completion and he achieved the legendary state of Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, Five Energies Returning to the Origin, he would break through Rank 69, then use Inner Core Technique to ascend to Rank 70. In doing so, his essence, energy, and spirit would merge into one, and his Martial Soul True Body would reach unprecedented levels of strength and endurance.

Two months flew by, and the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament began right on schedule.

As a seeded team, Emperor Team was granted direct entry into the finals. They didn't need to participate in the preliminaries or the qualifier rounds. However, the whole team still came to watch the matches from the stands, observing their future opponents closely in order to prepare for the finals.

The number of teams in the preliminaries was enormous, but most of them were one-and-done—eliminated in the first round. Despite being full teams of Soul Elders, these so-called "advanced" academies simply lacked the real competitive edge.

Xu Yang specifically paid attention to Shrek Academy's battles. Overall, their strength wasn't bad. While they couldn't compare to top-tier academies like the Four Elemental Academies, they were on par with second-tier institutions like Balak Academy.

It was clear that Yu Xiaogang had gone all in for this tournament. However, Xu Yang noticed something unusual—several unfamiliar faces in the Shrek lineup had unstable soul power fluctuations, clear signs of using drugs to force a breakthrough to the Soul Ancestor level.

While the dosage was small and side effects minimal, it still left lingering consequences. These soul masters would need much more time to purge the impurities, wasting the most valuable phase of their cultivation—what soul masters called the "golden age."

Soul cultivation wasn't like immortal cultivation—it was more akin to martial arts. The golden period of growth demanded a solid foundation. Without it, higher achievements became exponentially harder to reach.

"Seems like after Tang San left, Yu Xiaogang really lost his mind. He's using drugs just to prove himself…"

Even though most of Blue Tyrant Academy's students were commoners with limited future prospects, those selected for the tournament were top of their class. With proper guidance, they had a fair shot at reaching Soul Sage level—maybe not Title Douluo, but definitely respectable. Now, thanks to Yu Xiaogang's methods, Soul King would likely be their ceiling.

Still, that wasn't Xu Yang's concern—just a passing thought.

The preliminaries lasted a full month and eventually selected fifteen teams—just like in the original timeline. The process differed, however. For example, Shrek had ranked first in the preliminaries in the original story, but now they barely managed fourth. Without the immortal herbs, it was nearly impossible for someone like Ma Hongjun, given his age, to shine on this stage.

Oscar, while also a Soul Elder, was a food-type support soul master, not meant for direct combat. His weaker cultivation wasn't a problem.

Next came the qualifier round.

This year's qualifiers were hosted by the Heaven Dou Empire, and Emperor Xue Ye went so far as to arrange for the matches to be held in a military base to ensure the students' safety.

The qualifiers lasted 14 days and followed a round-robin format, focusing on individual strength. No team battles, no eliminations. It served as a talent evaluation mechanism for the Empire.

Additionally, the results would determine seeding for the finals.

Xu Yang thoroughly enjoyed watching the qualifiers. While the fights had flaws in technique, the battles were dazzling and spectacular—definitely entertaining.

He was especially impressed by Skywater Academy's Martial Soul Fusion Technique. When activated, the entire battlefield transformed into a snowy realm, and a phoenix made of pure crystalline ice danced through the sky—absolutely stunning.

It was just a shame that Shui Bing'er, the main user of the fusion skill, wasn't an Ultimate attribute soul master.

After the qualifiers ended, the participating teams were given three days to rest, followed by twenty-two days of travel, and another three days to recover—then the finals would begin.

Yang Eye Region, Ice-Fire Yin Yang Well, Sunset Forest

Xu Yang sat cross-legged near the blazing Yang Eye. His entire body was now emitting scarlet-golden mist from his pores. Within just two breaths, the mist had completely engulfed him, hiding his figure from view.

Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan stood nearby, watching in astonishment.

As a Title Douluo who had painstakingly cultivated his way up, Dugu Bo had never seen anything like this.

It was his first time witnessing such a phenomenon—he could sense the pure Yang energy of the Yang Eye continuously pouring into Xu Yang's body.

As time passed, the mist slowly began to fade, drawn in with every breath Xu Yang took. Eventually, it vanished completely.

Inside Xu Yang's Spiritual Sea—his Upper Dantian—the scarlet-golden mist gathered and merged with the radiant Sun orb that floated there. The orb's light burst forth with newfound brilliance.

At the same time, the Five Energies—from the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys—began to gather in his Middle Dantian, coalescing into a vibrant, multicolored energy sphere.

This was Xu Yang's realization of Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, Five Energies Returning to the Origin—completely different from Tang San's external manifestation of three lotus flowers hovering above his head.

Xu Yang remembered clearly from his previous life that according to traditional inner alchemy theory, "Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown" referred to the union of essence, energy, and spirit—focusing them into the Upper Dantian.

"Five Energies Returning to the Origin" meant gathering the energies of the five internal organs into one, merging them in the Middle Dantian, and then guiding them upward.

To form the legendary Golden Core, one must draw the Three Flowers and Five Energies downward into the Lower Dantian, and—using the spirit as flame, essence and energy as medicine, and the body as the furnace—refine the core itself.

At this moment, Xu Yang had reached Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown and Five Energies Returning to the Origin—meaning his essence, energy, and spirit were now in perfect harmony. He was complete, without flaw. His soul power had smoothly risen to Rank 69.

Still, Xu Yang didn't plan to push further just yet. This breakthrough had only just occurred, and the state hadn't stabilized. He wanted to consolidate everything before moving on.

By his estimate, it would take two more months. Just enough time to win the tournament and then use that momentum to break through to Rank 70—and then head for the South Sea to hunt the Golden Crow.

Xu Yang opened his eyes. Divine light flickered and disappeared in an instant. His essence, energy, and spirit had reached an astonishing peak.

Looking around, he saw Dugu Yan standing guard nearby. But Dugu Bo was nowhere in sight. Strange—he had been here before the breakthrough.

Xu Yang asked, puzzled, "Yan'er, where's Senior Dugu?"

Dugu Yan rolled her eyes. "You've been cultivating for three full days. Grandpa went back to pack our things. It's almost time to leave. If you hadn't woken up soon, I was going to drag you out of seclusion myself!"

"Three days already? I didn't even notice…"

"Then let's hurry up and go! We don't want to keep Tianheng and the others waiting."

Feeling a bit sentimental, Xu Yang rose to his feet and took Dugu Yan's hand, walking toward the Ice-Fire Yin Yang Well with a calm but determined look.

PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin