The Three Great Families

For half a month straight, Zhang Tian brought Xiao Yan pills every day, and Xiao Yan grew increasingly grateful to him.

Even so, Zhang Tian knew that these pills were extremely precious to someone like Xiao Yan, who had not even reached the Dou Zhe realm. But trying to awaken Yao Lao with Grade 1 or Grade 2 pills alone was somewhat difficult. He could only keep pouring in large quantities.

Zhang Tian had no plans to awaken Yao Lao too early. With his own schemes in mind, he only gave Xiao Yan one pill a day.

After half a month, about a quarter of Zhang Tian's pills had been used up. This made him realize he could not continue like this. He needed more resources to nurture Xiao Yan.

A plan gradually took shape in his heart: establish a force. A force was insignificant before absolute strength, but it would make gathering resources much faster.

Xiao Yan's growth would also speed up. Zhang Tian had already set his sights on Wu Tan City's Three Great Families. The Xiao Family ran too deep for him to completely control, but the Ouba Family and Jia Lie Family would be easier targets.

What troubled Zhang Tian now was whether he should put on a black robe and threaten the two families, or simply march in, massacre them, and force them into submission. Playing the mysterious figure meant he could only act from the shadows, which was inconvenient. But if he massacred the two families, the Wu Tan City Lord might be displeased.

As the City Lord's Mansion stood above the Three Great Families, the City Lord should at least possess the cultivation of a One-Star Dou Ling.

And the City Lord's Mansion had many people.

After thinking it over, Zhang Tian decided to find himself an identity. In a small, remote city like this, nothing was more intimidating than the imperial family and the sects that stood above the continent.

Zhang Tian decided to join the Yun Lan Sect.

The strength of a Three-Star Dou Ling was neither particularly strong nor particularly weak. At the very least, it surpassed the clan leaders of some small cities.

Once he made up his mind, he prepared to act. As long as he joined the Yun Lan Sect, he could return and subdue the two families, perhaps even the City Lord's Mansion. Then, once he helped Xiao Yan break through to Dou Zhe in a short time, his own strength would rise along with the tide to Nine-Star Dou Ling.

Wait, Nine-Star Dou Ling?

Zhang Tian's face darkened. That night, he climbed into the Xiao Family's rear courtyard without alerting Ling Ying. Arriving outside Xiao Yan's door, he released the faintest trace of Dou Ling aura. Xiao Yan did not notice it, but Yao Lao inside the storage ring instinctively sensed danger. The speed at which he devoured Dou Qi suddenly increased.

In a short time, Xiao Yan fell once more to the Third Stage Dou Qi realm.

Sitting cross-legged on his bed, Xiao Yan looked utterly dumbfounded, despair surging in his heart. Why was his Dou Qi disappearing faster and faster?

Feeling somewhat guilty, Zhang Tian hurriedly tossed in another Grade 2 Qingxin Hongqi Pill. This pill, which cleared the pill toxins from the body, was not exceptionally effective, but it was not bad either. It could also stabilize Xiao Yan's cultivation.

Though there was not much to stabilize at the Third Stage Dou Qi.

After refining the pill, Xiao Yan felt that the suction in his Dantian had weakened slightly. His cultivation broke through once more and stabilized at Four Duan Dou Qi.

Meanwhile, Zhang Tian wore a blissful expression as he sensed the increasingly vast Dou Qi within his body. Four-Star Dou Ling.

They had both broken through, but each increase in Zhang Tian's Dou Qi was more than a thousand times greater than Xiao Yan's.

After finishing all this, the guilty Zhang Tian immediately left the Xiao Family estate, silently muttering to himself.

"Xiao Yan, don't blame me. I promise this is the last time."

"Xiao Yan, I'm a fan of Potato, which means I'm a fan of your father. You'll definitely forgive me."

Only after leaving the Xiao Family estate did Zhang Tian finally set his mind at ease. Once Xiao Yan broke through to Dou Zhe, he would possess the strength of a Dou Wang. Only with that level of strength would he have even a little security.

It would only let him rampage freely through a dozen or so cities. Several of the Gama Empire's ten strongest experts were merely Dou Wangs. Even Lionheart Marshal Nalan Jie was only a Dou Wang.

With the weight lifted from his heart, Zhang Tian left Wu Tan City overnight and traveled day and night toward Yunlan Mountain.

Over the next seven days, Xiao Yan's cultivation became increasingly smooth. Yao Lao devoured less and less Dou Qi, while Xiao Yan had absorbed so many pills that his accumulated foundation finally erupted, allowing him to condense the Fifth Stage Dou Qi in one stroke.

Zhang Tian, who was already on his way back, sensed his own cultivation break through on the road. After beating a group of bandits to death, he grinned.

Other transmigrators suffered through bitter cultivation, constantly suppressing the protagonist out of fear that the protagonist would surpass them. Yet he hoped the protagonist cultivated as quickly as possible.

"This feels great."

"Watch me chain my second skill into my ultimate and finish him with one slash." Zhang Tian caught the saber of a Great Dou Shi expert with one hand, then twisted it back. The man's hand bones snapped, and his own saber slashed into his stomach.

"Take a pill, take a pill." Zhang Tian wiped away his cold sweat. The bandit gang entrenched on Qinglong Mountain was the largest bandit den within several miles. Both chieftains had reached the Great Dou Shi realm, while several other leaders possessed peak Dou Shi strength.

After killing so many people, he had consumed quite a bit of Dou Qi. He placed a Grade 2 Healing Pill in his mouth, where it melted instantly.

Feeling the Dou Qi within his body rapidly recover, Zhang Tian wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve. At this moment, he wore a Yun Lan Sect disciple uniform of blue trimmed with azure, white showing beneath.

Zhang Tian looked twenty-three or twenty-four, yet he already possessed the strength of a Four-Star Dou Ling. The Yun Lan Sect naturally welcomed him. Although they suspected his loyalty, Zhang Tian said he only wanted to be an ordinary disciple. He would not join the upper ranks, inquire into secrets, or involve himself in anything. Only then did the Yun Lan Sect accept him.

Still, he was treated better than ordinary disciples. The Yun Lan Sect had even issued him several bottles of Grade 2 pills.

Zhang Tian accepted them with a clear conscience. The Yun Lan Sect had a Fifth Grade Alchemist simp, so naturally they were not lacking in Grade 2 pills. Speaking of which, Gu He was really pathetic. Middle-aged already, yet still weak as hell, spending every day thinking about chasing women.

Besides, he might lend them a hand in the future and keep Yun Shan from dying quite so miserably. Perhaps the Yun Lan Sect would then avoid provoking such a powerful enemy who might become a Dou Di in the future.

If the Yun Lan Sect was not destroyed by his little brother—no, by the future Yan Di—then taking just two bottles of Grade 2 pills from them would practically be an act of boundless merit that saved all living beings. So what was wrong with wearing a few of their clothes?

Oh, he had forgotten. He had been talking about the clothes just now.

Zhang Tian's clothes were different from what Nalan Yanran had worn. There were no stars and no moon.

A silver little sword shaped like a cloud was embroidered on his cuffs, and four little suns gleamed brightly. Zhang Tian could not help criticizing the design. With stars, moons, and suns like this, would Dou Wangs wear crowns?

Like a level sixty-four one?

When he reached Wu Tan City's gates, Zhang Tian, dressed in splendid robes, received no trouble whatsoever from the guards. They even politely invited him inside and enthusiastically waved goodbye afterward.

Among the residents entering and leaving the city, some knowledgeable people gazed at the silver little sword and four little suns on Zhang Tian's chest with faces full of envy and longing.

Unable to bear their gazes, Zhang Tian stopped at a snack stall by the roadside. The owner was a simple woman in her thirties, her face marked by the wear of daily life. She was a housewife who labored tirelessly for her family.

The owner's cooking was excellent: wontons, noodle soup, hot vermicelli, rice cakes, and dumplings, all steaming hot and fragrant.

As Zhang Tian ate, he observed Wu Tan City's surroundings. Not much had changed over these seven days. He guessed the Xiao Family had probably changed the most. Xiao Yan had regained his talent, and with the mature soul of someone who had lived two lives, he was surely beating the younger members of the family black and blue.

Even the elders would no longer dare look down on this Young Clan Leader.

Speak of the devil. Zhang Tian had just finished eating when he saw a large group emerge from the Xiao Family. At the head were a handsome young man and a beautiful young woman. Pedestrians all around stepped aside. The display was enormous, terrifyingly so!

Zhang Tian was so shocked that he drew in a breath of Liang Pi.