The thick drop of blood swiftly entered his Qi Pathways, slowly began to travel through them, and unknowingly it began to follow the 'Battle Budha Art' route. The blood drop released red-colored mist as it passed through Xiao Ning's Qi Pathways. 

His Qi Pathways took the initiative to greedily absorbed the mist, like a thirsty person who found water in the middle of the desert. 

The drop of blood constantly sprayed the red-colored mist as it circulated through his Qi Pathways, and the latter absorbed it. This odd cycle continued for a while. 

Under the constant absorption, his Qi Pathways became stronger and broader. Finally, after an unknown period, the drop of blood stopped circulating and stayed in the severely damaged Qi Pathway. 

Even in his peak state, Xiao Ning failed to control the drop of blood, let alone use it. It seemed as if it possessed a consciousness of its own, the drop of blood slowly began to fuse with his damaged Qi Pathway. 

It deformed into a thick red-colored liquid and enveloped his damaged Qi Pathway. Slowly, it released a massive amount of energy. Under the nourishment of such pure energy, his Qi Pathway began to heal quickly. Moreover, a portion of the energy overflowed into other Qi Pathways and entered his body. 

Even though it was a part of the energy; still, it was too much for the current Xiao Ning. As the pure essence flooded throughout his body, the natural energy present in the valley rioted and began gathering around Xiao Ning. 

At present, Xiao Ning was in no condition to prevent the natural energy gathering around him from entering his body. As a result, his body started inflating like a balloon. 

Soon, Xiao Ning became a three-meter tall giant, yet, there was no sign of stopping, and at this rate, his body would burst open. Even now, his height continued to increase, yet it showed no signs of stopping. 

Luckily Xiao Ning cultivated a unique Qi Method, the 'Battle Budha Art,' which increased his physical fitness several times compared to other Dou Masters; otherwise, he would have died more than a hundred times already.  

As his body approached its limit, Xiao Ning's skin became golden and finally stopped at four-meter height. Fortunately, a white-colored mist covered him; otherwise, his current appearance would scare Xiao Xi Yian. 

At this moment, Xiao Ning's Qi Cyclone began spinning at a rapid pace as if a dragon woke up from its slumber, and the green-gold colored Dou Qi within it started to boil. Like a ferocious beast, the Dou Qi rushed out of the cyclone, and following the 'Battle Budha Art's route, it began to circulate in a complex path. 

As the Dou Qi passed through the Qi Pathways, it absorbed, refined a portion of the energy, and finally deposited into the Qi Cyclone. As the process continued, the number of Dou Qi droplets present in the Qi Cyclone increased rapidly. So did his imposing manner. 

'Thump!' With the sound of a glass shattering, Xiao Ning broke through from 2-star Dou Master to 3-star Dou Master, and it was only the beginning. 

With this breakthrough, his Qi Cyclone pumped Dou Qi at an even faster rate and thus refined energy more quickly. More and more drops of green-gold colored Dou Qi formed. At the same time, 'Battle Budha Art's' Dou Qi began tempered his physique. 

Slowly, Xiao Ning's body returned to three-meter from the staggering four-meter giant. Simultaneously, the golden color on his skin began to darken. 

After an unknown period, Xiao Ning's body returned to its original appearance. The only difference was that his original light golden skin became dark-gold. 

At the first glance, he looked like a carefully carved golden statue. Yet the regular thumping of his heart proved otherwise. As his heart pumped the blood, his body would release a mighty imposing manner of a 9-star Dou Master. 

In this unconscious state, Xiao Ning's cultivation base rose drastically. Not only did he successfully refined the portion of 'Bone Chilling Flame.' Xiao Ning benefited from this disaster and also absorbed the drop of blood present in his Qi Cyclone. 

If Xiao Ning probed his body with the inner view, he would be shocked to find his Qi Pathways glittering in green-gold color except for one transformed by the drop of blood. The newly repaired Qi Pathway sparkled in black-gold color and was sturdier than the others. Moreover, his Qi Cyclone was at least ten times larger compared to other 9-star Dou Masters.

Yet, there was no sign of awakening; with a serene look on his face, he slept like a baby. It seemed as if he had become a part of nature itself as the energy surrounding him did not disperse; instead enveloped his body.

After an unknown period, Xiao Ning's eyelids trembled, and he groaned. Still, it took him some time to regain control of his body. He controlled a wisp of Dou Qi, circulated it to warm his body. 

Soon, Xiao Ning got up and sat cross-legged. He closed his eyes and began to feel the changes in his body. After a while, an excited expression appeared on his face, and he laughed loudly. 

"Haha! Finally, my aptitude does not lose to Xiao Yan's." After successfully refining the wisp of 'Bone Chilling Flame,' not only did he got a unique physique, but his body's talent also increased. 

Before even, with the uniqueness of 'Budha Battle Art,' Xiao Ning did not have absolute confidence that he could beat Xiao Yan in the future, but now he has this confidence. 

Soon, he recovered from his excitement and started thinking about the next step. He resolutely decided to break through the next big level and impact the Dou Grandmaster realm. 

Xiao Ning closed his eyes and began swallowing the energy from his surroundings. Soon, his body became akin to a black hole devouring an endless amount of energy.

At the same time, his Qi Cyclone slowly increased its pace of spinning. With a thrumming sound, his Qi Cyclone began to compress the liquid Dou Qi present within. 

Slowly, with each compression, his body trembled, and the liquid Dou qi within began to condense. As the Dou Qi condensed, newly refined energy took its place.