The Fallen Genius

Wu Tan City, outside the Xiao Family residence.

Zhang Tian looked at the imposing yet ancient Xiao Family compound and sighed softly. Within this extraordinary, heavily guarded family was another transmigrator just like him.

Stubborn, tenacious, blessed with exceptional talent—despite suddenly suffering a drastic change, enduring the disdain and ridicule that even many adults could not bear, and being maliciously battered by life time and again, he remained unyielding, clinging to a conviction as inseparable as bone and sinew.

Zhang Tian was also a transmigrator. Unlike Xiao Yan, who would later meet the greatest benefactor of his life, Yao Lao, and soar unstoppably to greatness, Zhang Tian had lost both parents, been abandoned by everyone close to him, and become utterly alone. Countless phrases that Chinese teachers would criticize as redundant still would not seem excessive when used to describe him.

In this era without flashy technology or magic, there was only Dou Qi, developed to its peak. Zhang Tian had no talent for cultivating Dou Qi, and his life had been miserable. With both parents dead, his living conditions had been far worse than those of other children since childhood.

Less than three days after his wife ran off with his sworn brother, she was hacked to death by enemies. His best brother had also been brutally dismembered.

Zhang Tian did not feel the slightest regret or sadness over this. Instead, he found himself a little happy.

Penniless and surviving by begging since childhood, Zhang Tian's childhood friend had been chopped apart by bandits on the very first day after he awakened. At the time, Zhang Tian had been completely dumbfounded, though they had only just met and did not really share any deep feelings.

He had been beaten, cursed at, and showered with the world's malice without restraint. No one acknowledged him, and he had no true friend who could understand him and share his heart.

False lies, two-faced people—friends were absolutely not just casual words exchanged for appearances' sake. They were the deepest expression of human emotion, proof of mutual trust and bonds between people.

Zhang Tian believed that one day, like-minded people would join him in searching for the most sincere and profound human emotions. An age of mutual trust between people would eventually arrive.

Zhang Tian smiled, as though he had cast off every burden in the world.

"Unfortunately, I've stopped making friends."

After more than a decade of struggle, Zhang Tian did not have a trace of unwillingness or anger in his heart. His miserable background had not affected him in the slightest.

Because...

He was a Dou Ling.

The strongest person in all of Wu Tan City.

A Two-Star Dou Ling.

About eight years ago—Zhang Tian could no longer judge the passage of time very accurately. After all, living each day without knowing whether he would survive the next, he had not been bored enough to keep track of dates and festivals.

That should have been around the time Xiao Yan had just begun cultivating Dou Qi, when Xiao Yan sat cross-legged on his bed and condensed the First Stage Dou Qi beneath Xiao Zhan's expectant gaze.

At that time, Zhang Tian had been beside a trash bin on the streets of Wu Tan City. The Dou Qi vortex within his body spun madly as he broke through twenty-seven entire realms in one unstoppable surge.

The crazy one was not a person. When Xiao Yan reached the First Stage Dou Qi, fifteen-year-old Zhang Tian went from First Stage Dou Qi... Second Stage Dou Qi... Third Stage Dou Qi... One-Star Dou Zhe... Seven-Star Dou Zhe, all the way to a One-Star Great Dou Shi overnight!

Only later did Zhang Tian learn that whenever the protagonist cultivated diligently and broke through, it would drive him to break through as well. Moreover, his realm would always be three major realms above the protagonist's.

The days that followed became even crazier. Xiao Yan broke through a minor realm almost every two or three months. Zhang Tian had forgotten how old Xiao Yan had been when he began cultivating. In any case, eight years had passed—or perhaps nine.

Since breaking through to One-Star Dou Ling, Zhang Tian's cultivation had not budged for nearly three years. Logically speaking, Xiao Yan's talent made it impossible for him to go three years without a breakthrough. There was only one possibility: the plot had begun.

Zhang Tian's own cultivation talent was ordinary. Over the past eight years, he had constantly searched for various medicinal herbs and consumed some Grade 2 Pills, yet he had only raised his strength by one star.

And that one-star increase had come while he was still a Great Dou Shi. Thus, when Xiao Yan later broke through to the Dou Zhe realm, Zhang Tian had also reached Two-Star Dou Ling.

The higher one's realm, the harder it became to break through. If Zhang Tian had cultivated for eight years on his own, he could at least have raised five or six stages of Dou Qi. Even as a Dou Zhe, he could have raised two or three stars.

Unfortunately, Xiao Yan's talent was genuinely too good. Zhang Tian had broken through almost every year. If he wanted to use his own ability to gain more breakthroughs, the only way was for his cultivation speed to surpass Xiao Yan's.

After much thought, Zhang Tian carried all his savings with him and secretly came to the Xiao Family. Only by helping Xiao Yan diligently could he continuously use Xiao Yan to raise his own cultivation.

As a Two-Star Dou Ling and the strongest combatant in all of Wu Tan City, Zhang Tian feared no one except the still-sleeping Yao Lao and Gu Xun'er's guard.

Sneaking into the Xiao Family, Zhang Tian searched household after household. He saw quite a few Xiao Family members engaged in the act of making children, but he had no interest in watching and moved on. Xiao Zhan was still in the family hall, seated in the patriarch's chair and rubbing his brow as he handled the Xiao Family's various affairs.

His once-genius son had become trash, bringing him no small amount of worry.

Zhang Tian had no interest in the old man. Aside from a piece of Tou She Ancient God Jade, even selling Xiao Zhan would not be worth as much as the Grade 3 Pill in Zhang Tian's bundle.

After making some inquiries, Zhang Tian had no intention whatsoever of visiting Gu Xun'er's courtyard. He went around her residence and finally found a household with its door slightly ajar. The fourteen-year-old Xiao Yan was still extremely youthful.

He was currently sitting cross-legged on his bed, cultivating with his five centers facing the sky.

Feeling Xiao Yan's weak Third Stage Dou Qi, Zhang Tian's face darkened. No wonder his cultivation had not improved in three years. As expected, the plot had already begun.

An ancient black storage ring hung from Xiao Yan's finger. Zhang Tian knew it was a relic left behind by Xiao Yan's mother. Within it was a soul body as vast as the ocean, yet incomparably weak. If the ocean was solid and condensed, then this soul body was scattered like a sea of smoke.

After hesitating again and again, Zhang Tian decided to maintain an air of mystery. However, how to approach Xiao Yan gave him a headache. Xiao Yan, as a transmigrator, would not be so easy to fool.

Watching Xiao Yan continue his struggle against Yao Lao, Zhang Tian could not help admiring his talent. Xiao Yan's rate of absorbing the world's energy could barely keep up with Yao Lao's rate of absorbing his Dou Qi.

However, the remaining Dou Qi was truly too little. It was completely insufficient to maintain the Dou Zhe realm, and could only barely remain at the Third Stage Dou Qi, teetering on the verge of collapse.

Seeing this, Zhang Tian decided to toss in some pills first to assist Xiao Yan's cultivation, which could also be considered an expression of goodwill.

A Grade 1 Qi Gathering Pill was tossed inside by Zhang Tian. It made several light sounds as it landed on the wooden table by the window in front of Xiao Yan.

"Hm?" Xiao Yan, who had been cultivating, opened his eyes. Unlike Zhang Tian, a Two-Star Dou Ling, the energy contained in a Qi Gathering Pill was less than the world's energy he could absorb with a casual breath of cultivation. Yet for Xiao Yan, the energy within this pill was far greater than the Dou Qi in his body.

Xiao Yan stopped cultivating, sat up from the bed, and picked up the Qi Gathering Pill with a puzzled look.

"This is a Qi Gathering Pill?" Xiao Yan had consumed quite a few Grade 1 Pills before, but after his talent disappeared, he no longer received such treatment.

"I don't remember hiding pills on the roof."

Xiao Yan picked up the pill and was about to stick his head out the window when a gust of wind sliced through the air. A round, pearl-like pill shot toward him at bullet-like speed.

Xiao Yan froze, then hurriedly caught the pill with one hand. However, the force jolted him back several steps.

"That person doesn't want me to see him?" Xiao Yan frowned and muttered as he looked at another Qi Gathering Pill in his hand.

He would not think someone was so bored that they wanted to smash him to death with pills. Even a Grade 2 alchemist could not afford to be that extravagant.

Xiao Yan hesitated for a while, but curiosity ultimately prevailed. Rising onto his toes, he stuck his head out the window.

He cautiously guarded against an ambush from all around, but all he saw was darkness.

Shaking his head, Xiao Yan retreated into the room. It seemed the visitor's strength far surpassed his own. Although he did not know the person's purpose, the person did not seem malicious.

Then why had that person gone to the trouble of bringing him pills?

After thinking it over, Xiao Yan swallowed the Qi Gathering Pill and sat cross-legged again to resume his cultivation.

"This person was able to infiltrate this place without alerting anyone. He is truly terrifying. If he wanted to kill me, it would probably be as easy as flipping his hand, and my father would never be alerted. Even if I called Father over, it would likely only lead to a fierce battle, and who knew how many clansmen would die or be injured. My talent is ruined, so no one would want to harm me. I might as well accept these pills." Although Xiao Yan cultivated with his eyes closed, countless thoughts had already raced through his mind in an instant. He then focused on refining the medicinal energy within his body.

Xiao Yan was mature beyond his years. After all, an adult soul was hidden within his body, so acting recklessly had almost nothing to do with him.

However, as Xiao Yan refined the pills, the sleeping Yao Lao seemed to sense something. The storage ring on Xiao Yan's hand appeared to flash with black light as an even stronger suction force emerged, continuously devouring the Dou Qi within Xiao Yan's body.

Seeing Xiao Yan begin refining the pills, Zhang Tian sighed in relief and prepared to leave quietly. When he saw this scene, he was dumbfounded.

"Yao Lao is way too shameless." Zhang Tian stamped his feet in anger. He had originally thought Xiao Yan might rise one stage after refining the pills, allowing him to reach Three-Star Dou Ling as well. He had not expected Yao Lao to live poorly when poor and greedily when rich.

If there was Dou Qi to absorb, he absorbed it. If there was none, he simply absorbed less.

Though his teeth itched with hatred, Zhang Tian could only leave quietly. He would find a suitable opportunity another day to awaken Yao Lao.

An hour later, Xiao Yan had refined the two pills. Though his cultivation had not improved, the Dou Qi within his body had stabilized at the Third Stage.

"Thank you, Senior." After cultivating, Xiao Yan felt refreshed. He exhaled a breath of turbid air, cupped his hands toward the window, and spoke gratefully.

By then, Zhang Tian had long since left the window. Why didn't you thank me earlier? You waited until you finished cultivating to thank me.