Something's Off About You

"I'm not even eighteen yet, and I've already surpassed the eighth stage of Dou Qi. There shouldn't be any problem with me going to Jia Nan Academy, right?"

"...The instructor who came to Wutan City to recruit students is my teacher, Ruo Lin. She's only a five-star Da Dou Shi right now." Xiao Yu said with a conflicted expression.

"Oh, then I'll bring her two Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pills as a gift when the time comes." Xiao Yan nodded, instantly "understanding" what Xiao Yu meant.

"Huh? That's not what I meant. Don't give them to her—the instructor can't accept gifts. I mean, you're already stronger than the instructor. Wouldn't going to Jia Nan Academy be a waste of time?"

"Oh, then I'll just take leave until the assessment for entering the Inner Courtyard."

"...Then why don't you just apply to enter the Inner Courtyard directly without taking the exam, using your identity as an Alchemist?"

"I have my own plans for that." Xiao Yan smiled mysteriously. The top five in the assessment could get a free item from the Library Pavilion, and he could also reasonably rob fifty senior students of their Fire Energy. Wouldn't skipping the exam be a huge loss?

"Fine, then." Xiao Yu rubbed her forehead. "I'll take you there when the time comes."

After chatting a little longer, Xiao Yan made a Jade Slip for Xiao Yu. In the future, if anyone from the Xiao Family encountered trouble at Jia Nan Academy, they could contact Xiao Yan directly through Xiao Yu.

Xiao Yan simply made a few more and gave them separately to his father and Xiao Yi Xian.

"It was about time to develop Qing Lin's Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils. Me, Xiao Yi Xian, and Qing Lin—that's three spots. We can take three good things from the Library Pavilion."

With the help of the Foundation Building Spirit Liquid, Qing Lin had already broken through to the fourth stage of Dou Qi. However, she was still a long way from the eighth stage, so Xiao Yan took Xiao Lan and captured several Second and Third Tier Snake Magical Beasts for Qing Lin.

Qing Lin naturally obeyed Xiao Yan in everything. Though terrified, she obediently met the gazes of those Snake Magical Beasts and tried to gather her Dou Qi in her eyes.

After using the "Eye Drops" Xiao Yan had concocted, the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils were finally activated.

The three tiny green dots in Qing Lin's pupils suddenly shone with an eerie radiance, transforming into three tiny green flowers.

As the green flowers appeared, a powerful eerie light shot from Qing Lin's eyes, enveloping the Snake Magical Beasts before her.

With the aid of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils, Qing Lin smoothly controlled those Snake Magical Beasts and began absorbing their Dou Qi to cultivate.

For Qing Lin, who was at the fourth stage of Dou Qi, her cultivation rose by the day. But breaking through to the eighth stage before the recruitment team arrived was still rather difficult.

"Forget it. I was going to take leave anyway. At worst, I'll bribe her to list it as the eighth stage of Dou Qi. With Qing Lin's cultivation speed, overtaking everyone on the curve won't be a problem."

Xiao Yan felt that his reasoning was sound, so he caught several more Snake Magical Beasts and tossed them to Qing Lin. He also asked Queen Medusa for the Snake People Clan's cultivation technique.

Qing Lin was so moved that her eyes reddened. She immediately threw herself into Xiao Yan's arms. Fortunately, she still remembered that her young master had not yet undergone his Coming of Age Ceremony, so she merely rubbed against him in his embrace.

This caused Xiao Yi Xian to stare at Xiao Yan for quite a while before taking Qing Lin away. Xiao Yan only vaguely heard words like, "You're still young, don't let men trick you with a little filthy money."

A few days later, Xiao Yu brought a group of Xiao Family disciples who had reached the eighth stage of Dou Qi to find Xiao Yan—the Jia Nan Academy recruitment team had finally arrived.

Although this recruitment team was stationed in Wutan City, its jurisdiction also covered several nearby cities. As a result, the recruitment plaza was packed with people.

Across the enormous plaza, countless young people desperately squeezed their way inside. Clearly, Jia Ma Empire had not popularized quality education; these people simply had no idea how to queue.

However, the royal family had directly deployed troops around the edges of the plaza to maintain order. Thus, the plaza ultimately did not descend into chaos, nor did any serious incidents occur.

"If we try to fight our way in from here, who knows how long it would take. But I'm the prized student of a recruitment instructor, so naturally I have my ways." Xiao Yu proudly straightened her back and waved a hand. "Follow me."

Xiao Yu led everyone around half of the enormous plaza before stopping at its western side. This was already near the rear of the plaza. There were no applicants here, only heavily guarded troops.

Before Xiao Yu could step forward, a Middle-aged Man dressed like an officer approached them. "You must be from the Xiao Family, correct? My apologies, but even the royal family has no special privileges before Jia Nan Academy."

Though he spoke to everyone, the officer's gaze never left Xiao Yan. Clearly, he had recognized Xiao Yan and come over specifically to apologize.

Rather smugly, Xiao Yu took a jade-green token from her robes and stepped forward to speak with the officer.

The officer's tense expression finally relaxed. He had clearly found an excuse to open a back door. He immediately waved his hand and shouted, "Let them through!"

The troops that had tightly encircled the plaza in layers immediately moved, quickly clearing a passage roughly ten meters wide.

Everyone soon passed through the passage and arrived at the center of the plaza.

"Yu'er!" As they approached the large tent, a woman's delighted laugh rang out, followed closely by a red blur.

She grinned as she wrapped her arms around Xiao Yu, running her hands all over her while teasing her verbally.

After the two fooled around for a while, Xiao Yu turned to introduce her. "This is my good sister from Jia Nan Academy. Her name is Xue Ni. She's a four-star Dou Zhe—she's even stronger than me!"

"They're all members of my clan. This is Xun Er. Hehe, pretty, right? But don't get any ideas about her. She won't be interested in you. This is Xiao Mei, she's pretty good too. This is my younger brother, Xiao Ning, and this..."

Xiao Yu continued introducing the Xiao Family members to Xue Ni. Only when she reached Xiao Yan did she lower her voice. "This is the Young Clan Leader of our Xiao Family, Xiao Yan. The Xiao Family is where it is today largely because of him. The one beside him is his fiancée, Xiao Yi Xian. She's also a Dou Ling expert."

Xue Ni first fixed her attention on Xiao Xun Er and Xiao Mei. She was quite interested in the two delicate young ladies. Then she looked at Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin beside Xiao Yan before finally turning to Xiao Yan.

"This will make things difficult for our instructor. A student has already reached the Dou Ling level, stronger than the instructor herself. What grade should she use to evaluate you?"

"Call it Saint Grade—the talent grade that has a chance of producing a Dou Sheng in the future." Xiao Yan gave his answer with complete seriousness.

"..."

Xue Ni opened her mouth but did not know what to say. For a moment, she was completely choked up—she felt like Xiao Yan was showing off, but on second thought, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with what he said?

"As expected of the Young Clan Leader!" Xiao Ning was once again conquered by the confidence Xiao Yan had inadvertently revealed.

The rest of the Xiao Family members also wore expressions of worship. Not a single one doubted that Xiao Yan was bragging.

Xiao Yu had anticipated this already. She knew that if this continued, they would probably start an impromptu praise session, so she could only change the subject. "Let's go into the tent."