Xiao Ming

"Dou Qi Power, Stage One!"

As he gazed at the five large, gleaming characters on the Magic Stone Tablet—so bright they were almost dazzling—the young child on the stand let out a soft breath. He held his little head high, a somewhat smug smile curling at his lips, while his previously clenched fists slowly relaxed.

"Xiao Yan, Dou Qi Power, Stage One! Grade: Low!" Beside the Magic Stone Tablet, a middle-aged man glanced at the information displayed on it and announced it in a shocked tone...

The moment the middle-aged man's words left his mouth, a commotion unsurprisingly broke out across the crowded square.

"Dou Qi Power, Stage One? Did I hear that right? Pinch me, quick, so I can wake up."

"Hiss... You actually pinched me!"

"Wasn't it you who told me to? Did it hurt?"

"It really hurt! This isn't a dream! Good heavens, if I remember correctly, Young Master Xiao Yan is only four years old. He only started cultivating not long ago, right?"

"That's right. Young Master Xiao Yan cultivated Dou Qi so quickly—his talent must be extraordinary. Our Xiao Family is about to gain another Genius Youth renowned throughout Wu Tan City!"

"Hahaha, I always said Young Master Xiao Yan had an extraordinary appearance and would surely rise above the ordinary in the future! See? I was right."

"Oh, give it a rest. I remember you saying that this brat, as the Xiao Family's Third Young Master, smiled so lecherously that he would damage the family's image. Let me tell you, Young Master Xiao Yan is so talented, and the old Clan Leader arranged an engagement for him a few years ago. He will definitely inherit the position of Clan Leader in the future. You'd better stop involving yourself in the struggle between the elders and Clan Leader Xiao Zhan."

"Hehe, I know. Young Master Xiao Yan is so talented—I can't flatter him enough."

Listening to the praise, fawning, and admiration coming from all around him, the child standing there like a proud peacock raised his little head even higher.

Amid a lively crowd, there would always be someone who seemed out of place.

[That must be Xiao Yan, the one who would someday declare, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river—never bully a poor young man," right?]

At the edge of the crowd, Xiao Ming calmly watched the little guy being welcomed down like the moon surrounded by stars by a group of children. He couldn't help feeling somewhat emotional, but he did not go up to greet him like the other children.

As one of the Three Great Families in Wu Tan City, a near first-tier city of the Jia Ma Empire, the Xiao Family had quite a number of clan members. The clan was divided into two major factions in its struggle for power: the elders' faction, led by the Great Elder, and the Clan Leader's faction, led by Xiao Zhan.

Of course, none of that had anything to do with why Xiao Ming did not go flatter Xiao Yan. No matter how fierce the Xiao Family's internal power struggle became, it would not affect children too greatly.

The reason Xiao Ming did not want to go over was that, like Xiao Yan, he was a transmigrator.

If anyone asked how Xiao Ming had transmigrated, he could only say that the Dimensional Truck driver had chosen him to meet his quota.

By the time he Came Back to His Senses, he was already in the Xiao Family, transformed into an orphan whose parents had both died.

Fortunately, the Xiao Family was still one of the Great Families. Clan Rules required servants to care for orphans within the clan whose parents had died, especially someone like Xiao Ming, whose parents had sacrificed themselves while working for the clan. He even received compensation money.

Thanks to that, Xiao Ming had grown up safely instead of dying outright from having no one to look after him. It was also because of this that, as a transmigrator, he still felt a strong sense of belonging toward the Xiao Family.

As a transmigrator with mature thoughts, Xiao Ming would not run off to play childish games of making friends.

Even though he was the same age as Xiao Yan, looked like a child to outsiders, and was very cute, asking him to join a noisy group of chattering children like Xiao Yan did...

He was afraid he truly could not do it.

Besides, this group of children was gathered around Xiao Yan to flatter him. At present, Xiao Yan was the children's king of the Xiao Family.

Why should a dignified transmigrator lower himself to flatter another transmigrator?

As for walking up to Xiao Yan and acting out some tearful reunion between fellow countrymen, he had never even entertained that idea.

He would have to be crazy to do something like that. There was no benefit whatsoever, so why would he expose his secret to Xiao Yan?

As for relying on his foreknowledge to pretend to approach Xiao Yan and build a relationship with him, then secretly steal the ring around his neck—the one containing the old grandfather, Yao Chen—he had not considered that either.

Because Xiao Ming would never believe that Yao Chen in the ring had been asleep the entire time.

He felt that, no matter what, Yao Chen had some perception of the Outside World and was not truly unconscious.

His future absorption of Xiao Yan's Dou Qi was definitely deliberate as well. Otherwise, he could absorb Xiao Yan's Dou Qi right now.

He could also have absorbed Xiao Zhan's wife's Dou Qi before, yet Xiao Ming had never heard any rumors about the Clan Leader's wife being unable to cultivate.

After going through all the trouble of stealing the ring, only for Old Man Yao to tell him that his character was improper and that he was unworthy of becoming his disciple, wouldn't he become a complete clown?

For all he knew, his life might even be in danger.

Flattering was impossible, and stealing was not an option.

Then Can Only cultivate properly and treat Xiao Yan as a passerby.

If they were truly compared in terms of talent, Xiao Yan was no match for him. Feeling the Dou Qi Inside the Body, which was clearly beyond Dou Qi Power Stage One, Xiao Ming revealed a faint smile.

Perhaps because he was also a transmigrator, Xiao Ming's Cultivation Talent was equally outstanding. Don't Know whether it was because he had crossed a dimensional barrier, but his Soul Perception was even stronger than Xiao Yan's.

A few days ago, after pestering the servants who cared for orphaned children like them to teach him the cultivation methods for the Dou Qi Power stage, he had quickly gotten started and cultivated to Dou Qi Power Stage Two without encountering any bottlenecks.

Given time, even if future breakthroughs became more difficult, Xiao Ming was confident he could break through to Dou Zhe within two years.

A six-year-old Dou Zhe.

Tsk, tsk, tsk. By then, he might just shock everyone in the Jia Ma Empire senseless!

Xiao Ming was now somewhat hesitant about whether to step up and test his Dou Qi, exposing his Cultivation Talent. After all, the Xiao Family was too small; if his talent were exposed, it would be extremely dangerous.

Not to mention anything else, Wu Tan City had two other families no weaker than the Xiao Family. Unlike Xiao Yan, he was not the Xiao Family's Third Young Master and did not have guards accompanying him whenever he went out.

But if he did not reveal it, he had no means of concealing his strength. While everyone was still young and had not cultivated for long, they could choose whether or not to go test their Dou Qi. But once they were a couple of years older, they would have to test at the Magic Stone Tablet.

Do I have to deliberately cultivate more slowly?

Yet Xiao Ming was undoubtedly unwilling to delay his cultivation for that reason.

"Ah, I won't test today. I'll think about it later. If it really comes down to it, I can only expose my talent. Then I'll just stay hidden in the Xiao Family and avoid going out. When Jia Nan Academy starts recruiting, running straight there would not be a bad option either."

Xiao Ming sighed helplessly.

He truly envied those transmigrators with systems. They had whatever they wanted.

Storage Space, methods for concealing their level, and things like that were all basic features.

They could casually swallow Spiritual Pills and Wonderful Medicines and level up even while lying down.

How was he supposed to compare? He did not even dare cultivate diligently. Was there any transmigrator more miserable than him? He truly was the shame of transmigrators.

[ Ding, the Life Simulator has been activated. ]