Chapter 237: Douluo Number Two

Li Xuan set the Fake Dummy aside, then returned to the desk, gathered all the techniques he had created on the desk, organized them together, and brought them near the Fake Dummy.

The long experiment is about to begin.

This time Li Xuan's design of the technique is rather wild, mainly because Douluo Number One is far too stable, so he needs a distinctive technique and wants to correct all of Douluo Number One's shortcomings.

This pioneering design is necessarily bold, and of course the price is greater danger; to succeed, a large amount of experimentation is still required.

"No choice, I have to try them one by one." Li Xuan rubbed his head, sighed helplessly, and even before starting the selection, could feel how complex the upcoming work would be.

Li Xuan selected a relatively better technique from a stack of techniques and began testing it on the Fake Dummy.

As the flame simulated soul power and the meridians recorded in the technique began to flow, Li Xuan watched the Fake Dummy's changes with full concentration.

The Fake Dummy was fashioned from Li Xuan's own body and filled with soul power, so it is much like a real person; if the technique has a flaw, the Fake Dummy can react normally, allowing Li Xuan to use it in place of a real person to test the technique.

Suddenly, Li Xuan noticed the Fake Dummy's meridians beginning to deform, and cracks also appeared.

"Bad!" Li Xuan shouted, hurriedly controlling the flame to stop.

But before Li Xuan could restrain the flame, the meridians inside the Fake Dummy's body shattered instantly, and a wave of fire surged forward.

Boom!

In an instant, Li Xuan was blown up into a tube of black toothpaste.

"Whoa! If this were inside a human body, it would probably kill them instantly." Li Xuan took a wet towel, wiped his face, and said with a hint of lingering fear.

The previous technique had only run for three cycles before the meridians gave out; it seems Li Xuan's design is still too daring.

After calming down, Li Xuan took out several sheets of paper, recorded the problems that occurred during the technique's run, attached them to the technique, annotated them, then sealed it away, setting it aside for now.

"Sigh, I have to keep going." Li Xuan shook his head helplessly; a thought sparked, and a new Fake Dummy appeared before him.

The Fake Dummy is only difficult to create the first time; the second time, one can simply use memory to produce another Fake Dummy, saving a lot of effort.

Li Xuan rummaged through the surrounding books, found a technique he considered reliable, and gave it a try.

…

One month slipped by in an instant.

During that month, the area beside the Hot Spring was exceptionally lively—explosions after explosions.

However, the gains were also huge; in a month, Li Xuan simulated over a hundred self-designed techniques, ninety percent caused the Fake Dummy to explode, making formal cultivation impossible, and the remaining ten percent inflicted varying degrees of meridian damage, also unsuitable for cultivation, but some of them held value for improvement.

So after the first round of testing, only eight techniques showed potential for refinement.

Next, Li Xuan will conduct further research and refinement on those eight techniques until they are flawless, after which deeper study can proceed.

Li Xuan scrambled to his feet, glanced around, and saw the surroundings a wreck caused by his own mishap.

Li Xuan fetched a box and placed the discarded techniques inside one by one; although these techniques failed, they still hold some reference value for future study when Li Xuan has time, but right now he has no time for those failed techniques.

After sipping Enlightenment Tea, Li Xuan began cleaning up, packing away the charred black soil and paper around him.

Can't help it; the explosion frequency has been too high lately…

During the month Li Xuan spent inside the Palm Sky Bottle, there was no news from Small Cave Heaven, so Li Xuan felt there was nothing for him in Ladi Canyon and didn't consider leaving the Palm Sky Bottle's space.

"Finally finished the first step; I didn't expect it to be so arduous." Li Xuan sighed helplessly, then found a lounge chair to lie down and rest for a while.

But at that moment, Li Xuan suddenly thought of something, jumped up from the lounge chair, waved his hand, and a drop of Green Spirit Liquid appeared in his hand.

Li Xuan arrived at a patch of land not far from the Hot Spring.

The ground here was covered with a thin layer of ice.

In the center of the ice stood a delicate light‑blue flower, as if carved from crystal.

This is the Extreme Spirit Ice Core, a top‑tier Immortal Grade dual‑element (ice‑fire) spirit plant.

Plant: Extreme Spirit Ice Core

Quality: Immortal Grade

Cultivation: 31,000 years

Description: One of the top Immortal Grade spirit plants, it grows for three thousand years, blooms after three thousand years, and can be consumed after three thousand years; eating it clears the heart and brightens the spirit, forges meridians, and greatly enhances them. It contains Ice Soul Flame; after consumption there is a chance to obtain a special fire.

"I'm still short of seventy‑thousand years of cultivation; it will take two more months to break through to a Hundred‑Thousand‑Year cultivation." Li Xuan nodded approvingly at the Extreme Spirit Ice Core.

This is my Fourth Soul Ring; not only can I obtain a Hundred‑Thousand‑Year Soul Ring, but also a Hundred‑Thousand‑Year soul bone—truly many benefits.

After settling the Extreme Spirit Ice Core, Li Xuan had no desire to continue resting; he turned back to his seat and kept refining the technique—time was tight and the task heavy, leaving no room for rest.

…

Another month passed, and the number of techniques in Li Xuan's hands rose to twenty; after testing with the Fake Dummy, only two remained.

Immediately following, another month of hard fighting ensued; after more than a dozen revisions, this technique finally succeeded on the Fake Dummy!

Now the flame inside the Fake Dummy's body ran smoothly and harmoniously, causing no meridian damage and remaining unusually docile; it seemed this technique was essentially successful.

Li Xuan looked at the Fake Dummy before him, which also flashed a brilliant smile; after three months of relentless effort, Li Xuan finally created this technique.

"The technique now runs normally on the Fake Dummy; next we'll experiment on a real person. If it succeeds again, the technique will be a complete success." Li Xuan looked at the Fake Dummy, nodded satisfied, waved his hand, and the Fake Dummy transformed into soul power and returned to Li Xuan's body.

During this period, although the Fake Dummy's explosions caused Li Xuan to lose some soul power, he also gained something: by continuously controlling soul power to create Fake Dummies, Li Xuan managed to absorb a portion of soul power, strengthening his own. Sitting at the desk, Li Xuan let out a sigh, then stood up, stretched his limbs, drank a sip of Enlightenment Tea, and felt much more relaxed.

After a short rest, Li Xuan took the final drafted technique and approached the bandits he had previously bound.

During this time, besides cultivating the Extreme Spirit Ice Core, Li Xuan also had to feed each of those bandits a Fasting Pill daily to keep them alive.

This was to test the viability of live‑subject experiments for the technique.

Since there were no issues with the Fake Dummy, there should be none with a real person either.

However, Li Xuan is rather cautious; the live experiment must succeed before he can cultivate himself.

Grabbing ten bandits, he had them sit cross‑legged; Li Xuan sat in the center, and through precise control of the Burning Heart Divine Flame, he could use his soul power to draw the bandits' soul power, thereby practicing the technique.

Li Xuan's ultimate mastery over soul power, honed during Alchemy, allowed him to guide ten people to run the technique simultaneously.

Time passed slowly, and ten days flew by; the bandits' soul power within their bodies became abundant, and several even broke through to higher soul power levels.

During those ten days, Li Xuan continuously controlled the ten people, having them practice the technique he created; when hungry they ate Fasting Pills, when thirsty they drank cool water, and thus he tormented them for ten days.

Li Xuan finally collapsed from exhaustion, but before withdrawing his soul power, he carefully inspected the meridians and soul power within those people's bodies.

The meridians of these ten people showed no problems, and there were no internal injuries.

This proves that this cultivation method is safe!

"Hahaha, I've made it, I've made it!" Li Xuan leapt up from the ground, shouting excitedly.

For three full months, Li Xuan studied the method daily, nibbling a bite of Steamed Bun when hungry and sipping a mouthful of Enlightenment Tea when thirsty, until today he finally completed the method.

After the excitement, Li Xuan suddenly felt dizzy and faint, then collapsed to the ground and fell unconscious.

For more than three months, Li Xuan slept less than three hours each day, fully devoting himself to testing and refining the method; now he could no longer sustain it and fell to the ground.

Li Xuan is cautious by nature and rarely loses consciousness completely; this time was indeed an accident.

……

Time slipped by a day and a night, and Li Xuan finally drifted back to consciousness.

Rubbing his swollen temples, Li Xuan got up from the ground; by then the bandits used for the experiment had turned to ash. It seemed that during his slumber those guys tried to kill him, activating the Fenxin Array in his body, which was incinerated by the Burning Heart Divine Flame.

After loosening his arms and legs, Li Xuan picked up the method from the ground. He had been exhausted enough during this period; otherwise he wouldn't have collapsed into sleep so quickly.

Nevertheless, that sleep did restore a great deal of Li Xuan's stamina and energy.

"Next, I will cultivate it myself; if the method is still problem‑free, I can let others practice it," Li Xuan said with a satisfied smile, then went to the Hot Spring, sat cross‑legged, and began to run the meridians recorded in the method.

Li Xuan quickly entered cultivation mode; as the method gradually activated, the surrounding soul power was drawn into his body.

Thus, Li Xuan cultivated continuously for a full day and night before stopping.

"All right, all right, the method is safe, no mishaps," Li Xuan said after exiting cultivation, nodding with satisfaction.

"Since it succeeded, its name shall be... Douluo Number Two," Li Xuan said, nodding contentedly, then took a brush and wrote the four characters Douluo Number Two on the cover.

Douluo Number Two differs from Douluo Number One; this book improves the previous generation's limitation of only two hours of cultivation, now achieving continuous twenty‑four‑hour cultivation.

It also adds many traits: strengthening meridians, strengthening blood, and increasing soul power purity.

More importantly, the cultivation speed is one‑third faster than the previous generation!

These contents are partly drawn from the Shura Killing Codex and partly from Li Xuan's own research; after continual experimentation, this method was created.

Then, Li Xuan did not rush to exit the Palm Sky Bottle's space; after tidying the surroundings, he sorted the previously prepared method's ingredients, repackaged and sealed them, awaiting future research.

Nevertheless, Douluo Number Two is highly complete and versatile, having corrected Douluo Number One's flaws; in a short time, Li Xuan no longer needs to refine the method.

Looking at the tidy Palm Sky Bottle space, Li Xuan nodded with satisfaction.

Then Li Xuan stepped out of the Palm Sky Bottle space.

Having secluded himself for over three months, Ladi Canyon must have accumulated many matters needing his attention; as the lord of this domain, it is time for him to step in.

Moreover, Li Xuan needs to tidy his personal hygiene; three months of bathing left his hair quite long.

Just after exiting the Palm Sky Bottle, Li Xuan saw dozens of neatly arranged letters on the desk—messages from his domain.

"Fine, I'll deal with these first," Li Xuan said, tossing his hair back, then opened the letters one by one, read them carefully, wrote his handling notes, refolded them, and arranged for someone to deliver them later.

Two hours later, Li Xuan had processed all the backlog of documents.

"Come," Li Xuan called to the people outside.

"Yes, Young Master!" Two six‑ or seven‑year‑old children quickly pushed open the study door and entered.

"Distribute these letters according to the recipients and deliver them to each person," Li Xuan said to the two young servants.

"Yes, Young Master!" the two servants replied, then lifted the letters Li Xuan had just processed and left the study.

After watching them leave, Li Xuan returned to his own room to rest; having stayed in the Palm Sky Bottle space for three months, he already missed his large bed.

(End of Chapter)