A Dou Zhe in One Year

"Dou Qi: Stage Seven!"

"Xiao Mei, Dou Qi: Stage Seven! Level: High!"

"Yeah!" Hearing the result shouted by the tester, the young girl's cheeks lifted in a smug smile.

On the Training Field paved with bluestone, the huge Testing Stone Tablet stood tall.

This was the clan's annual Dou Qi test, held to see whether the younger generation's talent met the standard, and to assign their future positions within the clan according to their level.

"Tsk, tsk, Dou Qi Stage Seven. Truly impressive. At this rate, I'm afraid she'll only need three years at most before she can become a real Dou Zhe, right?"

"As expected of a Seed Level figure in the clan."

Walking down the bluestone steps, listening to the waves of envious voices coming from the crowd, the smile on the young girl's cheeks grew even deeper. Vanity was also a temptation many girls could not resist.

"Next, Xiao Xun'er!"

Amid the noisy crowd, the tester's voice rang out again.

As that somewhat elegant name sounded, the crowd abruptly quieted down. Every gaze suddenly shifted.

Where everyone's eyes gathered, a young girl dressed in a purple gown stood gracefully. Her calm, tender Pretty Face did not change in the slightest because of everyone's attention.

With a slight shift of her Lotus Steps, Xiao Xun'er walked to the foot of the stone tablet. Her small hand reached out, and the Purple Sleeve inlaid with Black Gold Silk slid down, revealing a section of snow-white, delicate Fair Wrist. Then she lightly touched the stone tablet.

After a brief stillness, dazzling light once again bloomed from the stone tablet.

"Dou Qi: Ninth Stage! Level: High!"

"She actually reached the Ninth Stage. The younger generation truly is fearsome. The number one among the clan's younger generation probably belongs to Miss Xun'er and no one else."

After the silence, the surrounding boys and girls, as well as some clan elders watching from the side, could not help swallowing. Their eyes were filled with awe.

Looking at the information on the stone tablet, the indifferent face of the middle-aged tester at the side actually revealed a rare trace of a smile. He spoke to the young girl with slight respect: "Miss Xun'er, in half a year, you should be able to condense a Dou Qi vortex. If you succeed, then by becoming a true Dou Zhe at fourteen years old, you will be the second person in the Xiao Clan in a hundred years!"

"Thank you."

The young girl nodded slightly. Her calm Pretty Face showed no joy because of his praise. She quietly turned around, then, under the burning gazes of the crowd, looked toward the young man who was waiting.

"...Xiao Yan Gege."

"Next, Xiao Yan!"

Xun'er's words were completely cut off by the tester's call. The young man who had originally been resting with his eyes closed finally opened his black eyes and breathed out a mouthful of Stale Air.

He slowly stood up, yet was in no hurry to go forward for the test. Instead, he looked toward the high platform, at the seats where the elders and the Clan Leader sat.

Noticing the look his son cast over, Xiao Zhan nodded with relief and silently waited for this result.

From beside his ears, rustling whispers kept coming. Most of them were either sighs over a fallen genius, or mockery.

"Go."

Suddenly, Xiao Yan heard a familiar voice.

He turned his head and looked over, seeing that Beautiful Figure wearing a bamboo hat that covered her face.

A plain-colored long dress paired with the bamboo hat made everything seem so out of place that people could not help casting their gazes onto her.

"Wan Guniang...?"

"Wan'er Guniang came today too?"

Xiao Zhan and the elders froze for a moment. At some unknown point, Yao Wan had already stood beside them, quietly watching everything happening on the Training Field below.

Xiao Zhan subconsciously said to the young girl.

"Mm, it has been a long time, Uncle."

Yao Wan answered. Sensing Xiao Zhan's current cultivation, she said, "Congratulations, Uncle, on taking your cultivation one step further over the past half year."

"Hehe... Not at all, not at all. This is all thanks to the pills Wan'er Guniang generously gifted me."

Xiao Zhan, who was already a Seven Star Da Dou Shi at this moment, said with a smile.

During this half year, he had taken one of the Shi Ling Pills, and his cultivation had steadily risen. In only half a year, he had jumped from a Five Star Great Dou Shi to a Seven Star Da Dou Shi.

This was an achievement Xiao Zhan had only made because he had not been greedy for quick results.

Once he completely refined the Medicinal Property in his body, he probably would not even need three Shi Ling Pills. Two would be enough for him to break through to Dou Ling.

At that time, within Wutan City, the Xiao Clan would have no rival, and inside the Xiao Clan, he would no longer be checked by several elders.

Both inside and outside, Xiao Zhan could be said to have finally held his head high. How could he not thank the girl who had bestowed such an enormous opportunity?

The Second Elder watched eagerly from the side. To say he did not care or was not jealous would be lying to himself.

Although they had indeed benefited from the Shi Ling Pill this time, in the end, where had this Shi Ling Pill come from?

Had it not been refined by her?

Gaining a benefit once was still only a pill, but what Xiao Yan and his father had obtained was the favor of this Dou Wang alchemist herself. The difference between the two was simply that between the bright moon and firefly light.

"...As long as Uncle likes Wan'er's gift, that is best."

Yao Wan did not say much either. A gift for an elder... was that not something one ought to do?

"Then did Wan'er Guniang come this time to watch Yan'er?"

Xiao Zhan knew that an old man like him did not have much to chat about with a young girl like her, so the topic naturally fell to the young man below the platform.

"Yes. Xiao Yan has been silent for almost three years. Now it is time for him to take back everything he lost over these three years."

Yao Wan's gaze dropped from the high platform. She watched the young man slowly walk up the bluestone steps, then place his hand on the stone tablet and pour in his own Dou Qi.

The stone tablet was silent at first, then once again erupted with intense light.

The fluctuations and intensity of the light almost instantly exceeded the strength that the previously tested Dou Qi Stage 3 should have possessed, and it was soaring at an unbelievable speed.

He ignored the idle gossip of the people behind him, ignored their initial disdain, ignored their shock and awe when they finally saw the stone tablet undergo a drastic change.

Dou Zhe: One Star!

Looking at the four large golden characters glittering on the black stone tablet, the Training Field fell into a brief silence. Immediately after, huge waves of sharp inhales rang out like spasms. The expressions of everyone present froze at this moment.

With a crisp crack, up on the high platform, the teacup in Xiao Zhan's hand—he who had just been chatting and laughing with Yao Wan—was crushed directly into powder by one slap of his palm. Tea mixed with powder slid down his hand in dripping streams, soaking his clothes.

"Dou Zhe... Dou Zhe!"

Xiao Zhan murmured subconsciously, paying no mind to the tea on his body. Aside from shock, there was only relief and heartache in his heart.

Yan'er must have paid far too much for this day.