Xiao Se

"Xiao Yan, One-Star Dou Zhe, level: high."

Silence. The entire venue fell into a deathly hush.

Almost everyone stared blankly at the Magic Stone Stele atop the platform, where four large glowing words shone brightly.

"Gulp." After their stunned silence came the sound of people swallowing hard.

An eleven-year-old One-Star Dou Zhe—what did that even mean?

He was the youngest Dou Zhe in the entire Xiao Clan, even in all of Wutan City, in the past century.

"With this child, the Xiao Clan is afraid to soar to great heights." A leader of some major faction in the guest seats spoke with a trace of envy.

He had begun training at four, reached Ninth Stage Dou Qi at ten, broken through to Tenth Stage Dou Qi at eleven, condensed a Dou Qi Cyclone, and advanced to Dou Zhe. Why was such a genius not his son?

This was not merely the thought of that powerful faction leader, but the thought shared by every middle-aged and elderly person present.

At the same time, the Xiao Clan's young men and women in the square began discussing it among themselves.

"Xiao Yan truly deserves to be the greatest genius our Xiao Clan has seen in a hundred years. No, he should be called Wutan City's greatest genius of the past century."

"Tsk, tsk... As expected of the Xiao Clan's soul-level figure. His title as a genius is well deserved. Xiao Yan will definitely lead our Xiao Clan to glory..."

On the high platform, beside the testing Magic Stone Stele.

Listening to the waves of envious praise from below, Xiao Yan's lips curled upward slightly. His vanity was immensely satisfied.

In his previous life, he had merely been an ordinary young man who accomplished nothing. Only through a twist of fate had he transmigrated to this vast and boundless Dou Qi Continent.

Relying on the strength of a reincarnator's soul, Xiao Yan had become a rising star of the Xiao Clan. That star was growing increasingly dazzling, to the point where it faintly seemed ready to replace the sun.

Clearly, the sun was more than happy to see that happen.

Because the sun was his father, the Xiao Clan's patriarch, Xiao Zhan.

When a son brought honor to the family, his father naturally had face.

Staring at the four glowing words, "One-Star Dou Zhe," on the testing Magic Stone Stele, the middle-aged examiner remained dazed for a long while before finally recovering. He respectfully said to Xiao Yan, "Young Master Xiao Yan, congratulations on becoming a Dou Zhe. In a few days, you may go to the Dou Qi Pavilion and choose a Dou Qi Technique."

"Mm." Xiao Yan nodded faintly. He was clearly quite satisfied with the middle-aged examiner's respectful attitude. With a slight smile on his face, he turned around and slowly walked toward the two young women under everyone's gaze...

However, at the very back of the line in the square stood a lonely figure who seemed completely out of place with his surroundings.

He was a handsome young man dressed in the ordinary attire of a Xiao Clan disciple. He was about the same age as Xiao Yan.

While everyone's attention was focused on Xiao Yan.

He alone remained composed, leaning quietly against the tree trunk behind him with his eyes half-closed, seemingly lost in thought...

Glancing at Xiao Yan, who was surrounded by numerous female Xiao Clan disciples led by Xiao Mei and Xiao Xun'er, the young man curled his lips in disdain.

As the saying went, what goes around comes around.

Xiao Yan's prestige within the Xiao Clan had now reached its peak. Other than before his father, Xiao Zhan, he treated everyone with an air of superiority.

No wonder that during the coming three years when his Dou Qi vanished, he would be subjected to the mockery and ridicule of nearly everyone in the Xiao Clan.

"Next, Xiao Se." The middle-aged examiner's voice rang out again from the platform.

As expected, everyone's eyes were drawn by Xiao Yan's brilliance. No one paid any attention to this nearly invisible young man of the Xiao Clan.

Hearing the middle-aged man call him, the young man opened his eyes and slowly walked toward the platform.

Then, with practiced ease, he placed his hand on the testing Magic Stone Stele. After channeling half of the Dou Qi within his body into it, he stopped.

The next second, five large words lit up on the Magic Stone Stele—Fifth Stage Dou Qi.

"Xiao Se, Fifth Stage Dou Qi, level: middle."

Compared to when he had tested Xiao Yan, the middle-aged examiner's attitude was noticeably colder. Still, he did not show any mockery.

Eleven years old and at Fifth Stage Dou Qi might not make him some peerless genius, but it was enough to rank him above average within the Xiao Clan.

"Your talent is fairly good. You still have five years left. As long as you break through to Seventh Stage Dou Qi before turning sixteen, you may remain in the clan and continue cultivating."

Following the usual procedure, the middle-aged examiner offered the young man some encouragement.

"Thank you." The young man nodded slightly. His calm face did not change in the slightest because of the middle-aged examiner's encouragement. He quietly turned around and walked down from the testing platform.

Passing through the crowd surrounding Xiao Yan, he returned to the tree trunk he had been leaning against and waited for the testing ceremony to end.

Yet no one knew that when the young man passed a girl in a purple dress beside Xiao Yan, she cast him an appraising glance and thought, He is clearly at Ninth Stage Dou Qi, yet the result showed Fifth Stage Dou Qi. Is he hiding his strength?

Leaning against the tree trunk, the young man called Xiao Se by the middle-aged examiner snapped off a drooping branch and sighed inwardly. Sigh, has it already been eleven years?

Like Xiao Yan, Xiao Se had a secret that no one knew: he was a transmigrator from Blue Star.

In his previous life, he had been a front-end programmer. After getting off work, he spent an entire night reading the Soul Land fan novel "Douluo: Stealing the Myriad Realms System," then suddenly died from overwork.

When he woke again, he discovered that he had transmigrated into the world of the novel "Battle Through the Heavens" that he had read in his previous life, and had even become a member of the Xiao Clan.

Most importantly, both of his parents had been Great Fighter-level experts.

Unfortunately, when he was three years old, Xiao Lin, the former patriarch of the Xiao Clan, fell. From then on, the Xiao Clan lost the protection of a Dou Wang-level expert.

As the saying went, when a wall collapsed, everyone pushed it. When you possessed immense wealth but lacked the strength to protect it, the outcome was obvious.

The Xiao Clan was forced to withdraw to Wutan City, a small border city of the Gama Empire.

They fell from being a Dou Wang clan to one of Wutan City's so-called three great clans.

Xiao Se's parents had fallen while escorting the Xiao Clan's women, children, elderly, and weak during their evacuation, staying behind to cover the clan's retreat.

What was even more tragic was that Xiao Se's father had overseen the Xiao Clan's laws and punishments during his lifetime. He had been too impartial and uncompromising, offending many people.

As a result, when a Butler under Xiao Se's parents risked his life to escort the young Xiao Se back to the Xiao Clan in Wutan City, villains interfered and they were turned away at the gates.

Left with no other choice, the elderly Butler could only raise Xiao Se by himself.

They remained outside for three years.

It was precisely those three years that caused Xiao Se to miss his chance to intercept Xiao Xun'er.

Of course, Xiao Se did not take it too much to heart.

A tool girl whom Xiao Yan had already groped for two years was not worth his interest.

As Xiao Se gradually grew up, under the Butler's guidance, he learned to cultivate Dou Qi and displayed extraordinary cultivation talent.

He began training at four and possessed Three Stages of Dou Qi at six.

When several Xiao Clan elders who had always been at odds with Xiao Zhan learned of this news, they were overjoyed and immediately welcomed Xiao Se back into the Xiao Clan.

Xiao Zhan's prestige had simply grown too high in recent years, crushing the Xiao Clan's elders until they could barely breathe.

That was because he had given birth to a gifted son, Xiao Yan. He too had begun training at four, yet had reached Four Stages of Dou Qi by six, making him even stronger than Xiao Se.

So when they learned that Xiao Se had reached Three Stages of Dou Qi at six under the guidance of only a Dou Zhe household servant and without any cultivation resources whatsoever.

They knew their chance to strike back had arrived.

Thus, under the joint efforts of the several elders, Xiao Se was pushed forward and compared with Xiao Yan in order to undermine Xiao Zhan's prestige within the Xiao Clan.

As a transmigrator, Xiao Se naturally could not sit still and serve as the elders' puppet.

Moreover, he deeply understood the principle that a tree rising above the forest would be destroyed by the wind.

So over the past five years, Xiao Se had concealed his talent.

He raised his Dou Qi by one stage every two years. His talent was neither too high nor too low, enough to avoid being looked down on without being praised like Xiao Yan.

It was precisely because Xiao Se hid his abilities that the plans of the Xiao Clan's elders to contend with Xiao Zhan came to nothing.

Now, Xiao Se's Dou Qi had already reached Ninth Stage Dou Qi. He was only one step away from breaking through to Tenth Stage Dou Qi, condensing a Dou Qi Cyclone, and becoming a Dou Zhe.

Casually waving the willow branch in his hand, Xiao Se glanced at Xiao Yan and sighed. "Xiao Yan really does have good luck."

Remembering how Xiao Zhan had secretly embezzled clan funds a month ago to buy a Qi Gathering Powder for his son, Xiao Se could not help feeling envious.

And that ring containing the greatest opportunity in Battle Through the Heavens made Xiao Se yearn for it even more.

But unfortunately, Xiao Yan was not stupid.

That ring was a relic left behind by his mother, and he treasured it more than anything.

Xiao Se could not possibly risk attacking him and taking it by force.

Setting aside whether he could defeat him, Xun Er, the biggest female simp in Battle Through the Heavens, circled around Xiao Yan all day long.

If she discovered that he had attacked Xiao Yan, he would probably lose his life.

As for stealing the ring during Xiao Yan's three years of decline, like those transmigrators before him.

Xiao Se was even less willing to consider that.

Yao Lao had already awakened. If Xiao Se still tried to swindle Xiao Yan out of the ring, Yao Lao might regard him as a second Han Feng and kill him on the spot. Xiao Se knew that after being betrayed by Han Feng, the old man had become extremely suspicious.

Even when accepting Xiao Yan as his disciple, he had observed him for three full years before making up his mind.

Over time, Xiao Se gave up on the idea of taking the ring.

"So be it. Even without Yao Lao, I can still grow stronger. With my foreknowledge, I'll intercept all the opportunities I know of first."

Suddenly, a clear and pleasant female voice rang out in Xiao Se's mind.

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