Nourishing Meridians

When Xiao Ling reached the door to Xiao Xun'er's room, he gently pushed it open and entered. Seeing that no one had noticed him, he quietly approached the bed. By the moonlight, he saw Xiao Xun'er's adorable face. Compared to her rosy complexion that morning, however, she was now somewhat pale. Her brows were tightly furrowed, as though she were enduring some kind of torment.

Xiao Ling had more or less guessed the reason. It was probably because the Golden Emperor Blazing Heaven Flame had been directly sealed within a young child's body. She still had not adapted to it, and the Ancient Clan had not even had time to examine her before bringing her straight to the Xiao Family. It was indeed quite taxing on her. Once she grew up and her body fully developed, this condition would ease somewhat.

He slowly walked to the bedside. Seeing the fine sweat on Xiao Xun'er's forehead, he had no time to think of anything else. He placed his hand on her wrist and began helping her nourish her meridians.

He injected a thread of Dou Qi, sensing warm currents within his body flow through his fingers and into Xiao Xun'er's body. Xiao Xun'er, whose body had initially been somewhat tense, relaxed slightly. Her brows loosened as well.

He examined Xiao Xun'er's current condition. Her breathing was steady now, and she looked like a sleeping beauty. Though her lovely face was still somewhat childish, it already showed the beginnings of extraordinary beauty.

A few minutes later, Xiao Ling's face was pale and his head drenched in sweat. The Dou Qi within his body had become so thin that it was almost imperceptible. First Stage of Dou Qi really isn't enough. It was used up all at once. After withdrawing his hand from Xiao Xun'er's wrist, he wiped away the sweat covering his head and let out a breath. Seeing that Xiao Xun'er was already sleeping soundly, he got up and left. He quietly opened and closed the door, then used a Sparrow Hawk Turn to flip out of the courtyard and dashed back to his little wooden hut.

What Xiao Ling did not know was that the moment he walked out of the room, Xiao Xun'er opened her eyes. She stared in the direction he had left, a complicated expression flashing through her eyes.

Inside the wooden hut, Xiao Ling lay on his bed, still shaken.

When he had left Xun'er's room, he had felt someone's gaze fixed on him the entire time. It had scared him into breaking out in cold sweat. Xiao Ling had been born with extremely powerful Soul Power, so he was highly sensitive to being watched.

"Could Ling Ying have returned to the courtyard, or had he never left at all?"

"After all, Xiao Xun'er's safety should be more important than a fragment of the Tou She Ancient God Jade. He might have been staying by Xiao Xun'er's side the whole time."

Rubbing his chin, Xiao Ling pondered.

"Still, things went rather smoothly today. Hopefully everything can be completed smoothly tomorrow."

"Ah, I really can't figure it out."

Feeling exhaustion wash over him, Xiao Ling stopped thinking about it. He closed his eyes and drifted into sleep.

Early the next morning, Xiao Ling got up, tidied his room for a while, washed his face, then opened the door and headed out to eat breakfast.

On his way to the dining hall, he noticed someone staring at him from behind. When he turned around, he found Xiao Xun'er watching him with a complicated look in her eyes. Xiao Ling felt uneasy and hurried into the dining hall.

After breakfast, Xiao Ling left the dining hall and headed back to his wooden hut, intending to begin a new day of cultivation.

Back in the wooden hut, he sat on the bed, formed the cultivation hand seal, and began meditating to cultivate Dou Qi.

Night descended beneath a bright moon and sparse stars.

After the daytime bustle, the Xiao Family also fell into silence.

Within the Xiao Family compound, a pitch-black figure nimbly darted through the courtyards. In moments, he had reached the outside of Xiao Yan's courtyard. Xiao Ling looked into the room and saw that Xiao Yan was already sleeping soundly in bed.

Xiao Ling let out a sigh of relief. "It seems that after what happened yesterday, Xiao Yan has given up on experimenting with Dou Qi." He then turned and headed for Xiao Xun'er's courtyard.

The second time was much easier. This time, Xiao Ling easily arrived outside Xun'er's room.

After confirming that Xiao Xun'er was asleep inside, he entered, circulated the Dou Qi in his body, and nourished Xiao Xun'er's meridians.

Only after using up all the Dou Qi in his body did Xiao Ling turn and leave. He returned to his wooden hut, fell onto the bed, and went straight to sleep.

Time flew by like a galloping white horse. Before he knew it, four years had passed in cultivation.

In a courtyard in the Xiao Family's rear compound, Xiao Ling formed the hand seal to end his cultivation and awoke from his meditative state. He let out a long breath, then called up the system panel with a thought.

"System, open my personal panel."

"Ding, automatically opening the host's personal panel."

Host: Xiao Ling

Gender: Male

Cultivation: Ninth Stage of Dou Qi

Age: 8

Cultivation Method: None

Dou Techniques: Rending Claw Strike (Yellow Grade Mid-Level), Mountain Splitting Palm (Yellow Grade Mid-Level), Stone Crushing Palm (Yellow Grade Mid-Level)

Items: Twenty-Four Bridges Moonlight Night, Qi Gathering Powder

Draws Remaining: 8

Rising from the cultivation cushion, Xiao Ling patted the dust from his clothes, pushed open the door, and walked to the pavilion in the small courtyard to rest. He recalled everything that had happened over the past four years.

Since he had never intended to hide his cultivation talent, Xiao Ling had taken the stage for the annual Dou Qi tests every year after he began cultivating.

He still remembered the scene of the younger generation's test when he was five. On the Test Magic Stone Tablet, the other younger members of the family were all at the First Stage of Dou Qi, while some had not even cultivated any Dou Qi. Even Xiao Yan, the Xiao Family's greatest genius at the time, was only at the Second Stage of Dou Qi. Yet when it was Xiao Ling's turn to step before the stone tablet, the result was directly revealed as the Third Stage of Dou Qi. Xiao Yan, who had just stepped down, stood there dumbfounded, while even the middle-aged elder conducting the test was too shocked to speak.

At first, they thought the Test Magic Stone Tablet was broken. But after testing it three times in a row and receiving the same result of Third Stage of Dou Qi each time, they confirmed that the Test Magic Stone Tablet was functioning normally.

The younger members of the family around them all looked as though their worldviews had collapsed, their jaws dropping to the ground. The family elders collectively sucked in cold breaths and exclaimed, "This child is terrifying beyond belief."

Xiao Ling was secretly rather pleased as well, and he could understand their shock. A five-year-old at the Third Stage of Dou Qi had never even been heard of in the Jia Ma Empire, let alone in tiny Wutan City. At such a cultivation speed, he would certainly become a Dou Zhe before the age of ten. Just imagine it—a Dou Zhe not yet ten years old. His future achievements would surely be limitless, and the family might rise again because of him.

Xiao Yan had only just secured his position as the Xiao Family's number one genius, yet it changed hands after only a year. Xiao Ling received more and more attention within the family, and his treatment steadily improved. Even his living quarters had changed from a small wooden hut to an independent courtyard, with two maidservants assigned to care for his daily needs.

After Xiao Ling's exceptional talent gained the family's recognition, the benefits were obvious, and more people began flattering him. Yet Xiao Ling did not become arrogant, conceited, or overbearing because of it. He treated others with great gentleness and often guided peers who came to seek his advice. While such talent could be considered formidable in tiny Wutan City, before the Ancient Races, special physiques, and Divine Bloodlines, it was not worth mentioning at all. At best, it could barely compare to those geniuses of the Central Plains. Even within the Jia Ma Empire, there were several people more talented than him.

Because Xiao Ling had taken away the position of the family's number one genius, and because Xiao Xun'er and Xiao Ling were becoming closer and closer, Xiao Yan was deeply unconvinced. He often came to challenge Xiao Ling, though he lost almost every match against him.

Instead, Xiao Yan vented his anger during sparring matches with some of the younger family members, especially Xiao Ning, who was often beaten up. Xiao Yan's personality also grew increasingly overbearing. However, because of his extraordinary talent, Xiao Ling would not take the initiative to challenge him. With the Clan Leader as his father, no one dared to say anything against him.

Xiao Ling saw all of this clearly. All he could say was that the ridicule Xiao Yan would receive during his later low point was inevitable. If Xiao Yan had not been so high-profile, perhaps the people in the family would not have thought only of mocking him. More of them might have felt sorry for him instead.