Selection

After chatting idly with Xiao Zhan and the others in the hall for quite a while and hearing plenty of experience about traveling the martial world, Xiao Ming returned to his private courtyard with much to think about.

This trip had brought him not only thirty thousand gold coins, but also a Fire Attribute Profound Tier Low Grade Dou Skill, along with several other Yellow Tier High Grade Dou Skills.

There were also the low-grade healing pills and Qi Recovery Medicinal Pills sold in the Xiao Family Marketplace.

In short, they had prepared everything thoroughly for him, leaving nothing overlooked.

Sitting on the bed, Xiao Ming stored these items in the Na Ring hanging around his neck, stretched lazily, and lay back down.

The familiar aura lingering at his nose made Xiao Ming wonder why Xiao Zhan, the Great Elder, and the others had suddenly given him so many good things.

When Xiao Yan left the Xiao Family in the Original Work, it seemed like he had taken nothing with him.

Oh, no. Xiao Ming suddenly remembered that, before leaving, Xiao Yan had claimed he had a mysterious powerful teacher and had helped the Xiao Family refine medicinal pills, earning them hundreds of thousands of gold coins in profits. No wonder he had not taken anything when he left.

In truth, Xiao Ming did not need these things now. The Xiao Family's thirty thousand gold coins were neither here nor there to him. During one Life Simulation, one of the options had been a million gold coins, and with nothing better available, he had chosen it.

In terms of cash flow, it could be said that no one in Wu Tan City could compete with him.

Thirty thousand gold coins were better than nothing. As for those medicinal pills, Xiao Ming had long since stocked up on them.

Only that Profound Tier Dou Skill held any value for Xiao Ming; the rest were merely better than nothing.

Even so, Xiao Ming was quite grateful to the family. After all, they had considered many things for him and cared for him with meticulous attention.

Xiao Ming was not cold-blooded, so he was naturally moved.

"Come to think of it, did the family give me so much because they were afraid I'd run off and never come back?" Xiao Ming's eyes froze as this thought suddenly sprang to mind for no apparent reason.

As it happened, Xiao Ming had guessed correctly. Xiao Zhan and the others truly were afraid that he would not return.

In their eyes, although Xiao Ming behaved with the composure of a little adult, he was only six years old, and his personality had yet to take shape.

Who knew whether, after wandering outside for a while, he might lose himself and become unwilling to return home?

Especially since he was the only heir of his branch of the family and had no close relatives. In other words, he had no attachments within the Xiao Family.

If he stayed outside for ten or twenty years without returning, that was something he might genuinely do.

Perhaps he might get carried away having fun, be whisked off by some young girl from another family, and never return for good.

Jia Nan Academy was unimaginably far from the Xiao Family. By then, they might not even be able to find him.

How could that possibly be acceptable?

Xiao Ming was a genius of the Xiao Family. If he ran away, where would they go to seek justice?

It was not that they wanted to cling to Xiao Ming and suck him dry, but once he grew strong, merely standing there would provide deterrence and bring enormous benefits to the family.

It was fine if he did not stay with the family, but surely he could return during holidays, or even once every year or two?

For that, they needed Xiao Ming to remember the Xiao Family's kindness. Giving him money, medicinal pills, and Dou Skills was all for this purpose.

Such thinking might have been somewhat utilitarian, but this was what the continuation of a family depended on.

Setting that aside, concentrating resources on geniuses had always been tradition. It was perfectly normal to give something to one's own family genius before he went out into the world.

If their family genius went around in tattered clothes with barely any money on him, having to carefully budget even when buying small items, people would feel ashamed just hearing about it.

It would make the Xiao Family seem poor.

Xiao Ming had no way of knowing these thoughts.

However, if Xiao Ming truly knew what they were thinking, he would probably only say, "You're overthinking it."

Once his cultivation rose, he would definitely return to the Jia Ma Empire. After all, there were quite a few useful people and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures here.

Moreover, the Xiao Family might later be targeted by the Hall of Souls, who would send people from the Misty Cloud Sect to wipe out the family. How could he possibly stand by and do nothing in such a situation?

Tomorrow was the Jia Nan Academy preliminary selection, and Xiao Ming had no mind to cultivate. He lay lazily on the bed, wrapped in soft, comfortable bedding, and eventually fell into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning, clear birdsong drifted in from outside. Beams of light shone through the window onto the floor before the bed, casting scattered shadows, perhaps because the leaves in the courtyard were so lush.

On the bed, Xiao Ming half-closed his eyes, calmed his mind, gathered his qi, and meditated with his eyes shut, sinking his consciousness into his body.

Internal Sight was an auxiliary skill that could only be mastered at the Dou Zhe level. The higher one's strength, the more thoroughly one could explore the condition inside one's body.

After breaking through to Dou Zhe, he had learned this skill naturally without a teacher.

His consciousness sank toward his lower abdomen, where a palm-sized milky-white Qi Cyclone slowly rotated. Around its exterior was wrapped a layer of milky-white energy resembling a nebula.

As his consciousness observed that tiny Qi Cyclone, Xiao Ming nodded in satisfaction. Although the Qi Cyclone was still small, the energy contained within it was several times greater than that of others in the Xiao Family at the same level. Naturally, this was thanks to the Spirit Nourishing Technique.

When he broke through to Dou Zhe, he had chosen to cultivate the Spirit Nourishing Technique rather than the Yellow Tier High Grade Cultivation Technique, Flame Refining Burning, given by the family. With the help of the Spirit Nourishing Jade, he had ultimately succeeded in cultivating both techniques at once.

With Internal Sight, one would discover that compared to others, there was one extra thing inside his Qi Cyclone. At the center of the milky-white Qi Cyclone was a thumb-sized mass of similarly milky-white luminous substance.

That was the Ling Xiao Ming had cultivated using the Spirit Nourishing Jade.

With a slight movement of his consciousness, the Ling inside the Qi Cyclone, which had been exchanging energy with it, vanished.

Xiao Ming opened his eyes and raised his hand. The Ling that had just disappeared danced joyfully at the tip of his index finger as though alive.

Suddenly, Xiao Ming flicked his index finger. Ling shot out at high speed, trailing a white afterimage before sinking into the stone tiles of the floor.

With a thought, the vanished Ling reappeared at his fingertip. Looking at Ling, whose color had dimmed, Xiao Ming felt somewhat helpless.

"After all, Ling has never devoured a Heaven and Earth Strange Object. Although Ling can be summoned outside the body to fight and is quite powerful, Ling's endurance is still lacking. After one or two attacks, Ling can't keep going. For now, Ling can only be used as a trump card. And Ling only has faint spirituality at present. Who knows how long it will take for intelligence to be born?"

Letting out a soft breath, Xiao Ming tucked away the matter of devouring strange objects, recalled Ling into his body, and glanced outside.

"About time. The Jia Nan Academy selection should have already begun by now. It's time to set out."

Xiao Ming got up, dressed himself, and left the courtyard. As he walked along the path and looked at the family estate, which had suddenly become much emptier, he was struck by a bad feeling.

Today, Jia Nan Academy's recruitment team had arrived in Wu Tan City. Could it be that more than half the people in the family had gone to watch?

Xiao Ming felt that was probably the case. If the Xiao Family was like this, people from elsewhere were likely no different. The gates of Wu Tan City and the selection venue were probably already completely blocked by crowds.

When he arrived at the selection venue, Xiao Ming's mouth twitched. Things were indeed exactly as he had imagined.

Waves of clamor rose into the sky above the enormous plaza. Countless young people desperately pushed toward its interior. Had the troops dispatched by the City Lord's Mansion not been maintaining order around the edges of the plaza, these excited crowds would likely have already rushed in without restraint.

Staring blankly at the sea of people, Xiao Ming let out a sigh after a long while and shook his head in frustration. Judging by this situation, getting through the test smoothly today would be rather difficult.