The outrageous pain caused Xiao Ning to roar in agony. 

Who could endure the pain of their Qi Pathway rupturing? No one! 

Xiao Ning gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to rip himself apart.  

After a while, Xiao Ning noticed no change in his Qi Pathway and became anxious. The ruptured Qi Pathway became more mutilated and could disintegrate at any moment. 

Xiao Ning frantically began to think of a solution. If there is a way, who would want to die? 

Suddenly, Xiao Ning's eyes lit up. He mobilized the transformed Qi Pathway to attract and direct the Dragon-phoenix energy stored in his body towards the ruptured Qi Pathway. 

Xiao Ning's idea was simple; yet overbearing. If the ruptured Qi Pathway couldn't absorb the golden essence itself, then he will force it to swallow it. 

In desperation, Xiao Ning could only be cruel towards himself. 

Who knew, at this moment, a miracle was about to happen. Xiao Ning's willpower overpowered the pain and agony he had been enduring. 

'Argh!' "Fuse for me!" Xiao Ning roared; he used every ounce of his spiritual energy to merge the golden essence with his Qi Pathway. 

After an unknown period, as Xiao Ning's spiritual energy was almost exhausted, he saw a black-golden color flashing on his Qi Pathway. 

The initial fusion was a success, and now his ruptured Qi Pathway began to swallow the golden essence on its own. 

Xiao Ning's heart calmed, and he carefully looked at the transformation taking place inside his body. 

......

What Xiao Ning didn't know was that there was another person carefully looking at his performance. 

The Behemoth had transformed back to its human form. He sat on his throne on top of the corpse mountain. 

"How many years have passed?" The blurry figure's eyes flickered, and a confused look appeared on his face. 

There was a rare trace of appreciation in the eyes of the blurry figure. At the same time, his face showed an expression of relief. 

"A good seedling; he might actually succeed," the blurry figure muttered to himself. 

......

Xiao Ning had no idea that the mysterious Dou God had such high evaluation about him. 

He focused on the evolution of his Qi Pathway; Xiao Ning regarded it as an opportunity and began studying it. 

In a few seconds, Xiao Ning deeply immersed himself into comprehending the source of the golden essence and its effects. 

He completely forgot about his life and death crisis. As his Qi Pathway transformed, from time to time, Xiao Ning, compared it with the evolved Qi Pathway. 

Finally, Xiao Ning found some clues, and his heart was full of joy. 

He mobilized his remaining spiritual energy, tried to manipulate the golden essence, and the result satisfied him. 

While Xiao Ning could only control it roughly, still, the progress satisfied him. 

So, Xiao Ning controlled the golden essence and increased the speed of fusion. 

The process, which would have lasted for hours, was over in a few minutes. 

As the second Qi Pathway finished evolving, it joined with the first black-golden Qi Pathway Xiao Ning felt his heart twinge. 

Before he could figure it out, everything returned to normal, as if nothing had happened in the first place. 

Xiao Ning stopped for a moment, glanced at the remaining golden essence present in his body. 

He faintly felt that it was not an illusion; after pondering for a moment, Xiao Ning continued to swallow the golden essence.

His current priority was to get rid of the ticking time bomb inside his body. He would deal with the aftermath later. 

Xiao Ning continued to control and guide the golden essence towards his other Qi Pathway and repeated the process.

......

After a while, Xiao Ning completely refined the golden essence and transformed one-third of his Qi Pathways. 

On the outside, Xiao Ning may look the same. Yet inside him, an earth-shattering change was brewing. 

Xiao Ning estimated that only after evolving the remaining Qi Pathways would he get the answer he was looking for. 

The next moment, Xiao Ning looked around in confusion and thought, 'What now?'

After checking his body's condition, Xiao Ning felt bitter. 'It will at least take a few months for me to recover,' he thought. 

He looked around and felt as if the whole world's malicious was targeting him. 

Xiao Ning's mood worsened after he failed to find a way out of this ghost place. 

The next moment, a similar archaic voice sounded in his mind, 'Qualification trial cleared.' 

At the same time, a gentle energy began repairing his broken body. 

Xiao Ning was too tired to bother with the origin of this energy. He felt as if he had entered a hot spring and immersed himself in this feeling. 

After a while, the gentle energy receded, and Xiao Ning woke up.

He stood up, lazily stretched his waist, and clenched his fist in excitement. 

Xiao Ning noticed that apart from healing his body, the gentle energy also strengthened him. 

"Pity!" Xiao Ning muttered. Xiao Ning felt that if he had another chance, he would have broken through.

The archaic voice once again appeared in his mind and brought Xiao Ning back to reality. 

'Dragon-phoenix's first stage trial begins!'

"Huh!" A shock appeared on Xiao Ning's face, and before he could respond, the scenery in front of him changed. 

Xiao Ning clutched his head, and it took him a white to notice that everything around him had changed. 

He curiously looked around and thought whether it was his illusion or he arrived in another space. 

After glancing, Xiao Ning saw he was standing on a training ground made of unknown material. Moreover, he noticed symbols carved in a strange pattern. 

After seeing the symbols, a thoughtful expression appeared on Xiao Ning's face. 

He pondered for a while and concluded that the symbols were carved in an ancient language. 

Xiao Ning's eyes glowed; he mobilized his Dou Qi, and his left arm shone. At the same time, a green-golden-colored gauntlet enveloped his left fist. 

It was the first time Xiao Ning summoned his Dou Qi armor after entering the Dou Grandmaster realm. 

'Radiant Fist!' Xiao Ning punched the floor with all his might. 

Yet, something unexpected happened. 

There was not a single crack, let alone a crater Xiao Ning had imagined in his mind. 

Xiao Ning looked surprised and wondered what kind of material was used to create such a sturdy training ground. 

As he punched, Xiao Ning felt as if he had hit cotton and all his power disappeared. Yet, his face remained calm as if he had already predicted this result.