The Fallen Genius

Two hours later, Xiao Se successfully transformed the colorless milky-white Dou Qi within his body into Dou Qi unique to the Burning Art.

He stretched out his fair palm. As the Dou Qi within his body circulated, the Dou Qi in his vortex traveled through the acupoints in Xiao Se's arm and gathered in his palm. A faint yellow glow gradually appeared over his fair hand.

A bitter smile appeared on Xiao Se's face. The Burning Art was still only Yellow Rank Low Level. Using a Dou Zhe's inner sight, he could clearly see that the colorless milky-white Dou Qi in his body had completely transformed into faint yellow Dou Qi.

"The revolution has yet to succeed; comrades must still strive on." Xiao Se could not help sighing.

Putting away the now-blurry black scroll, Xiao Se took out the three scrolls from earlier.

The first was a red scroll:

Swordsmanship Dou Technique, Crimson Flame Sword. Breaking Point. Rank: Mysterious High Rank.

Fire Control Incantation. Condense flaming longswords and wield them against enemies. The number depends on the user's strength. When cultivated to a profound realm, it could turn complexity into simplicity and fuse into a single giant sword, its power nearly rivaling an Earth Low Rank Dou Technique. If used in conjunction with a Heavenly Flame, its power would be comparable to Earth Middle Rank.

The second was a white scroll:

Movement Dou Technique, Ethereal Smoke Step. Rank: Mysterious High Rank.

Illusory yet real, real yet illusory. Its footwork was like wisps of faint smoke, making it impossible to distinguish reality from illusion. It was divided into two levels. The first focused on evasion, while the second focused on speed. The former could avoid danger in advance, while the latter could greatly increase the user's speed. When combined, one could tread upon snow without leaving a trace amid a heavy snowfall, with not even melted snow touching one's body.

The third was a black scroll:

Secret Dou Technique, Aura Concealing Art. Rank: unknown.

It could directly conceal one realm of cultivation. At its highest level, it could completely hide one's cultivation, making it impossible for others to discern the truth. Unless one encountered another cultivator of the Aura Concealing Art, no one below the Dou Zong realm could see through it.

Looking at the three Dou Techniques, a radiant smile appeared on Xiao Se's delicate young face.

These three Dou Techniques had arrived at exactly the right time.

They completely made up for the offensive and movement Dou Techniques he lacked.

Especially the last secret Dou Technique. He had originally worried that after breaking through to Dou Zhe, he would no longer be able to conceal his strength. After all, Dou Qi and Dou Qi of the Fighter realm were vastly different.

Now, everything had been resolved.

Having made up his mind, Xiao Se began his intense cultivation.

The next morning was bright and cloudless.

Inside the stone chamber in the cave, Xiao Se sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion.

Warm sunlight shone through the ventilation opening at the top of the stone chamber, falling upon Xiao Se's fair, youthful cheeks.

Xiao Se slowly opened his eyes. "My cultivation has been fully stabilized. Next, I can gather the herbs from Podocarpus's memories and try refining some Hemostatic Powder and Recovery Pills."

Hemostatic Powder and Recovery Pills were both first-grade medicinal pills with certain healing effects.

The former had been formulated by Podocarpus himself. It was viscous and could rapidly stop a wound from bleeding. Its effect might not compare to the Blood Coagulation Powder formulated by Yao Lao, that Eighth Grade Peak Alchemist from the original work, but it certainly would not be far inferior.

The latter had been passed down by Podocarpus's teacher, Gu Lao. It came in pill form and could be taken orally to treat internal injuries or crushed and applied externally to accelerate wound recovery.

Having made up his mind, Xiao Se walked straight out of the stone chamber and headed toward the Xiao Clan. Before that, he still needed to see Xiao Yu off. Canaan Academy's recruitment had ended yesterday, and if nothing unexpected had happened, Xiao Yu had already been accepted.

By both reason and sentiment, Xiao Se ought to see her off today.

As he used the Ethereal Smoke Step, Xiao Se moved as swiftly as if flying, darting rapidly toward the Xiao Clan. Although he had only grasped the bare basics of the first level's evasion, it was enough to let him walk over the winding, rugged mountain paths as if they were level ground.

After returning to the Xiao Clan, Xiao Se resumed his usual low profile.

As he walked down a small path paved with bluestone, Xiao Se heard several members of the Xiao Clan's younger generation chattering in the neighboring courtyard, seemingly discussing something.

He could vaguely make out the names Xiao Yu and Xiao Yan.

Xiao Se could not help slowing his steps and straining his ears to listen.

"Hey, hey... have you heard? Canaan Academy came to Wutan City yesterday to recruit students. Cousin Xiao Yu passed the assessment and officially became a student of Canaan Academy."

"Wow, Cousin Xiao Yu truly deserves to be called the clan's genius second only to Xiao Yan. She broke through to the 8th Stage of Dou Qi at just fifteen and was accepted by Canaan Academy. Canaan Academy is a renowned institution on the Dou Qi Continent. They say its strength surpasses even the Gama Empire's imperial family and the Yun Lan Sect."

"That's right, Cousin Xiao Yu is undoubtedly a genius of the Xiao Clan too. But speaking of which, wasn't Xiao Yan supposed to take part in Canaan Academy's recruitment as well? Why haven't we heard that he was accepted?"

"Ah... you don't know. Yesterday morning, I saw Xiao Yan hurriedly go meet the clan leader. Even when I accidentally bumped into him, he unusually didn't get angry. Then, not long after, the clan leader announced within the clan that Xiao Yan would not be going to Canaan Academy because he was still too young."

"How could this be? Didn't the clan leader praise him at the clan's testing ceremony just two days ago? 'My son, Xiao Yan, has the potential to become a Dou Huang. He will definitely pass Canaan Academy's assessment.'"

As he listened to their fading conversation, a strange curve formed at the corner of Xiao Se's lips. As expected, Xiao Yan's Dou Qi had "disappeared." That meant Yao Lao had already awakened.

Xiao Yan, Xiao Yan... he was truly looking forward to seeing what your next three years of life would be like...

Xiao Yan's residence.

At that moment, Xiao Xun'er stood anxiously outside Xiao Yan's door. Her bright eyes were full of worry as she lightly knocked on the door. "Brother Xiao Yan, you haven't left your room for two days. You haven't touched the food Xun Er prepared and left outside either. If this continues, your body won't be able to hold on."

Why? Why has the Dou Qi in my body disappeared? Xiao Yan roared inwardly from within the room.

Overnight, his cultivation had fallen from a one-star Dou Zhe to the ninth stage of Dou Qi. In just two days, it had dropped another stage, becoming the 8th Stage of Dou Qi.

For Xiao Yan, this was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue, as well as an unbearable humiliation.

He had neither eaten nor drunk for two days, and had not slept or rested.

His body had already entered an extremely weakened state, but that no longer mattered.

His mind was suffering relentless torment. He could fully imagine how humiliating it would be once others learned that his cultivation had regressed.

He seemed to see everyone laughing at him, humiliating him, mocking him. Even those girls who had once fawned over him and constantly surrounded him would gradually leave him, believing that he was no longer worthy of the title of the Xiao Clan's greatest genius in a century.

I refuse to accept this. Why... why is the Dou Qi in my body growing less and less? Why does every bit of Dou Qi I absorb disappear from my body for no reason...

He bit through his lower lip, letting blood spill out, yet he had long since ceased to notice it.

His extreme unwillingness caused Xiao Yan to fall into an almost pathological state of cultivation. Yet no matter how much Dou Qi he absorbed, it vanished without a trace before he could refine it.

"Xun Er, leave! Don't disturb my cultivation." After a long while, Xiao Yan's weak voice came from the room. None of his former high spirits remained; there was only gloom and desolation.

P.S. Let me explain Xiao Yan's age here:

In the original work, Xiao Mei recalled that Xiao Yan broke through to Dou Zhe at eleven. When Nalan Yanran broke off the engagement, Xiao Yan also said that he had broken through to Dou Zhe at twelve. The setting by Potato-sama was somewhat inconsistent, so I set it as Xiao Yan having already turned eleven and being a few months short of twelve. Since it would take some time for the public to discover that his Dou Qi had disappeared, he would be exactly twelve by then, followed by the engagement being broken off three years later.

The protagonist and Xiao Yan were about the same age. Fantasy novels like Battle Through the Heavens and Douluo Dalu generally count age by full years, while many places on Blue Star count nominal age. Both the protagonist and Xiao Yan were still a few months away from turning twelve, so there is no need to dwell on the issue of Xiao Yan losing his Dou Qi at eleven...

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