Breakthrough Before the Clan Competition

Gu Yuan looked at Xun'er before him with a smile, utterly satisfied.

He had watched the entire battle. When he saw Four Star Dou Zhe Xun'er send Ling Ying, whose strength had been suppressed to the Dou Zhe level, flying with a single palm strike, even he found it unbelievable.

"Daddy~~"

Xun'er ran over with a sweet laugh and threw herself into Gu Yuan's arms.

"Ah~~ Good Xun'er, even Daddy is very pleased with that palm strike just now." Gu Yuan scooped Xun'er up in his arms, lifting her as he spoke with a smile on his lips.

Gu Yuan was in quite a good mood. His little girl had been extremely introverted since childhood. Unlike other girls her age, she had been exceptionally quiet during the years when she should have been playing and frolicking.

Now that she had finally become as lively as an ordinary little girl, Gu Yuan got to experience the mischievousness Xun'er should have had at her age.

"Xun'er, the internal Clan Competition of our Gu Clan will be held in a month. Daddy thinks that with your Four Star Dou Zhe strength, along with your two minor mastery Mystic Rank Dou Skills, you should be able to achieve a rather good result." Gu Yuan smiled.

At seven years old, she was already a Four Star Dou Zhe—the best among the Gu Clan's elite. Of course, there were still quite a few powerful juniors among the Gu Clan's prodigies. Although Gu Yuan had confidence in Xun'er, he was not certain what rank she could achieve among them.

Gu Qingyang, Gu Yao, Gu Hua, and Gu Xing were all roughly at the Dou Shi level. Though they were somewhat older than Xun'er, Gu Yuan believed that when Xun'er reached their age, she would absolutely be far stronger than them.

Having just watched Xun'er send Ling Ying flying with one palm strike, Gu Yuan understood that such a killing move was enough for Xun'er to place in the top five.

Gu Yuan had thought that setting a top-five goal for Xun'er was already quite difficult, but what he did not know was that Xun'er's goal had always been first place.

Listening to Gu Yuan, Xun'er felt waves of contentment. However, her goal was first place.

"Alright, Xun'er. Cultivate here for now. Ling Ying, stay here as her sparring partner. Help Xun'er master the Heavenly Flames and become proficient in her Dou Skills." Gu Yuan first spoke softly to Xun'er before giving Ling Ying his instructions.

"Okay, Daddy."

"Yes, Clan Chief."

Xun'er nodded, and Ling Ying beside her accepted the task as well.

"Mm." Seeing this, Gu Yuan nodded slightly, then vanished from the spot with a flicker of his body.

"Yun Xi, Daddy didn't keep questioning me about how I went to Ancient Realm Forest..." Watching Gu Yuan disappear before her eyes, Xun'er communicated with Yun Xi inside her through her spiritual power.

She had originally thought that Gu Yuan would ask further questions, such as how she had gone to the Ancient World or how she had concealed her aura. Yet he had asked nothing at all, leaving Xun'er somewhat puzzled, because in her memories, Gu Yuan had always been very stern.

Hearing this, Yun Xi teased, "You little girl, isn't it better that he didn't ask? Do you insist on him getting to the bottom of it and then selling me out? Honestly."

"Hmph~"

With a soft snort, Xun'er stopped chatting with the silly Yun Xi inside her and prepared to continue familiarizing herself with her Dou Skills and combat techniques.

"Old Ling, could you spar with me again?"

"Haha, of course, Miss." Ling Ying smiled faintly. He did not mind at all; as long as he could help Xun'er cultivate, he was willing to do anything.

Xun'er continued, "Then use the Dou Huang level to defend, and I'll use my Dou Skills. Is that alright?"

Lowering his head and looking at Xun'er's sparkling eyes, Ling Ying suddenly felt as if he had been completely arranged.

But after thinking it over, he felt relieved. With Xun'er's Four Star Dou Zhe strength, it was impossible for her to break through his defense. Every stage of a Dou Huang was a tremendous leap, and the saying that one Dou Huang could fend off thousands of troops was no exaggeration.

Ling Ying rapidly retreated, appearing more than thirty meters away in an instant. He then waved his sleeve and said to Xun'er in the distance, "Miss, come."

After speaking, he activated his Dou Qi, forming a layer of dark black Dou Qi Armor over his body.

"Dou Qi Armor? Isn't that the exclusive skill of a Da Dou Shi?" Xun'er's eyes brimmed with envy as she looked at the armor covering him.

Dou Qi Armor was the symbol of a Da Dou Shi. When activated with Dou Qi, it formed a suit of armor over the body that could withstand most Dou Skills below the Da Dou Shi level.

"Miss, use your strongest attack and see whether you can break it," Ling Ying said again.

Xun'er nodded. Dou Qi surged as she swung her arms and pressed her palms together. Two more palm imprints emerged beside her, but unlike before, the phantom palms were now adorned with tiny stars.

At that moment, golden light shone in Xun'er's eyes. Upon closer inspection, tiny stars could be seen gleaming within them. Clearly, this was the phenomenon that appeared when she activated the Starry Radiance Art.

"Guarding... Eight Trigrams Palm!"

With a delicate shout, she thrust both palms out, one before the other. The palm imprints gathered in her hands shot forth at the speed of light, while the two palms condensed behind her also flew toward Ling Ying at astonishing speed.

Facing Xun'er's full-force attack, Ling Ying drove the Dou Qi within him to its limit as well. His already sturdy Dou Qi Armor grew even thicker.

The palm imprints rapidly approached, and as the distance continuously shrank, sonic booms gradually drew nearer. Ling Ying knew that was the sound of the air rupturing.

"Bang!"

Before Ling Ying's astonished eyes, the palm imprints slammed heavily into the Dou Qi Armor, producing an ear-splitting boom.

"Crack!"

Ling Ying raised his brow as a crack began to appear in the Dou Qi Armor. That faint sound was like thunder in his ears.

"Boom!"

At last, before his disbelieving eyes, the Da Dou Shi-level Dou Qi Armor was shattered into pieces, turning into specks of light that filled the sky.

Releasing his Dou Huang strength, Ling Ying gave a light wave of his hand. The palm imprints before him, still radiating golden light, finally dissipated slowly.

"Is this the highest output Miss can achieve with her current strength? It truly is unbelievable. With the strength of a Four Star Dou Zhe, she shattered a frontally defended Dou Qi Armor with one palm strike. She is truly invincible!" Recovering from his shock, Ling Ying exclaimed in admiration.

His gaze turned toward Xun'er.

"Mm? What is this?"

Xun'er was now seated cross-legged with her eyes slightly closed. Streams of pure natural energy entered her body through her Dou Qi Cyclone, then were refined into even purer energy and absorbed.

"She's about to break through?" Ling Ying was clearly experienced in such matters and immediately saw that Xun'er was in the midst of a breakthrough. She could not be disturbed during this time, or it would cause unimaginable damage to her foundation.

Dou Qi Emission burst forth as Ling Ying's gaze gradually turned cold. He scanned the surroundings, his spiritual power probing everything nearby. At this moment, the slightest disturbance would trigger the full-force attack of this Eight Star Dou Huang.

With him here, no one could disturb his Miss's breakthrough!