Don't Bully a Young Man When He's Poor!

"Tsk, tsk. Looks like this Xiao Family isn't much after all! Though the strong devouring the weak and all beings admiring the powerful are natural laws, to kick one of their own while he's down—and a mere boy at that—such a family is doomed not to last!"

"Yeah! Still, this little fellow named Xiao Yan seemed to have truly possessed terrifying talent in the past. Look at the scene just now—those people were clearly fifteen or sixteen years old, yet their cultivation was only at the so-called seventh or eighth stage of Dou Qi. And they were considered geniuses, aside from Xun'er! One can only imagine how frightening Xiao Yan's talent was, to reach the next major realm, the Dou Practitioner realm, at merely eleven years old!"

"What a pity. A fallen genius is no longer a genius!"

Within Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong's violet-pink eyes narrowed slightly as she thought to herself, "Then, as someone who was once considered trash as well, let me see what choice you will make."

At Shrek Academy, Zhu Zhuqing pressed her lips together before finally murmuring in a cold voice only she could hear, "Keep going. Don't give up!"

The scene reappeared. Late at night, when the candles in every other room of the Xiao Family had gone out, Xiao Yan—the third son of the Xiao Family's patriarch—sat cross-legged on his bed with his eyes shut tight. A faint current of air coiled around his body and circulated through him!

Boom!

Something seemed to resound from within Xiao Yan's body. In an instant, the aura around him abruptly became far more powerful!

Opening his eyes, Xiao Yan calmly muttered, "I broke through again!"

The next moment, the aura of Xiao Yan's cultivation unexpectedly began to weaken little by little in a strange manner, until it vanished completely!

At that instant, Xiao Yan's expression became slightly dazed. Only after a long while did he let out a long breath, then sit cross-legged once more and resume cultivating.

Outside the video, within the Pope's Palace, Bibi Dong felt an inexplicable ache in her heart when she saw the faintly dazed look on Xiao Yan's face.

She murmured inwardly, "So this is you. Every time your cultivation improved, it would mysteriously disappear again, yet you endured the title of trash for three whole years..."

At that moment, Bibi Dong admitted that he was the young man from her previous life.

As that thought arose, Bibi Dong's heart suddenly began pounding rapidly. But when she thought of her filthy life in this lifetime, she abruptly felt somewhat inferior.

At Shrek Academy, within the dense forest, Zhu Zhuqing's eyes reddened slightly as she watched the scene on the Heavenly Dao Rankings. Thinking of her own difficult life, as well as Dai Mubai, who had fled here and chosen to drown himself in pleasure, a thought suddenly arose in her heart.

"I can't give up! I won't give up again!"

"So what if Dai Mubai has completely given up and chosen to rot away? Only I can decide my Life, my future!"

"I will cultivate diligently and live well. I'll break through to level seventy as soon as possible, and then I'll be able to find you..."

Watching the young man in her mind who had repeatedly lost his cultivation yet continued to persevere, Zhu Zhuqing seemed to have finally found a goal in life.

Within the crown prince's chambers of Heaven Dou City, Qian Renxue, disguised as Xue Qinghe, sat before her desk. As she watched the young man fail time and again, only to start over each time, approval could not help but appear in her beautiful eyes.

"With such an unyielding temperament and such extraordinary talent, as long as he resolves the issue of his cultivation disappearing, he will surely accomplish great things in the future!"

"As for this so-called disappearance of cultivation... heh. Since that cultivation did not simply disperse into heaven and earth, it means it must be flowing somewhere and accumulating. Once that accumulation reaches a certain point, it will surely erupt, and he will soar into the heavens from then on!"

"A person like this is the true talent Spirit Hall needs! No—he should be talent that belongs to me!"

"I will definitely find you, win you over, and make you serve me!"

The scene shifted. The next day, people from the Cloud Mist Sect arrived. Back when Xiao Yan had still possessed his talent, Nalan Jia of the Jia Ma Empire had heard of Xiao Yan's deeds. Since the two families had also shared a good relationship in the past, they arranged a childhood betrothal between them.

Now, Nalan Yanran—the girl betrothed to Xiao Yan by Nalan Jia—not only had joined the Cloud Mist Sect, the empire's greatest sect, but had also become the disciple of Yun Yun, the Cloud Mist Sect's leader and a Dou Emperor expert.

This time, she had come to the Xiao Family to annul her engagement with Xiao Yan!

Faced with that lofty young woman, his father trembling with rage, and the fawning attitudes of his clansmen, the calm eyes of the young man finally turned fierce and crazed. It was as though all the rage and hatred he had accumulated over three years erupted at this very moment.

"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river—do not mock a young man for being poor!"

"Nalan Yanran, three years from now, atop Cloud Mist Mountain, we will settle all our grudges!"

Thus, the oath of the three-year agreement came into being!

At that moment, the entire Douluo Continent erupted.

"Gasp! I've got goosebumps—I'm getting fired up!"

"'Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river—do not mock a young man for being poor'! This Xiao Yan really is something else! His future will definitely be extraordinary, mark my words!"

"As expected, this young man's pride has never disappeared!"

Within the Pope's Palace, ripples stirred in Bibi Dong's eyes.

"This is the kind of young man I like—proud and unyielding, never giving up."

At this moment, that so-called Grandmaster, that Yu Xiaogang, was not even worthy of carrying this young man's shoes!

"And that Nalan Yanran is utterly incapable of appreciating what she has. Hmph!"

The scene shifted again. At the Xiao Family's back mountain, Xiao Yan sat atop the summit, gazing at the sea of clouds below as he muttered to himself.

"You thieving heavens, you brought me into this world, yet made my life rise and fall so drastically. Are you making a joke out of me? Or are you treating me like a monkey for your amusement?!"

"I never want to experience today's humiliation a second time in my life!"

As the young man's words fell, the figure of an old man slowly rose into the air, floating before him.

"Young man, it seems you need help!"

So this old man was once the continent's foremost alchemist, a Nine-Star Dou Venerable, the Pavilion Master of Starfall Pavilion—and the true culprit behind Xiao Yan's lost cultivation!

At the same time, the Heavenly Dao Rankings revealed the cultivation ranks of the Dou Qi Continent for the first time: beginning with Dou Practitioner, then Dou Master, Great Dou Master, Dou Spirit, Dou King, Dou Emperor, Dou Sovereign, Dou Venerable, Dou Saint, and Dou Emperor! Each major realm also contained nine minor levels!

After a round of bickering, Xiao Yan ultimately chose to take Old Ya as his master, while also promising to refine a body for him someday!

The screen darkened, then image after image appeared. Under Old Ya's guidance, the young Xiao Yan was either fighting all kinds of ferocious monster beasts in the Monster Beast Forest, or maneuvering against enemies before turning the tables and killing them!

At the same time, Xiao Yan's cultivation rose rapidly: one-star Dou Practitioner, two-star Dou Practitioner, three-star Dou Practitioner... one-star Dou Master, two-star Dou Master, three-star Dou Master!