Inheritance

"Thank you, Young Clan Leader, thank you, Young Clan Leader, thank you, Young Clan Leader."

Xiao Ning kept bowing in thanks. If there had not been so many people around, he would have dropped to his knees and kowtowed to Xiao Yan. In Xiao Ning's heart right now, Xiao Yan was practically his father!

Second Elder and Third Elder were green with envy. They both had grandsons and sons too, but in terms of potential, age, and Cultivation Level, Xiao Ning was indeed the best candidate. If Xiao Ning really could reach the ninth stage of Dou Qi within a year, his cultivation speed would rank in the top ten in the Xiao Clan's history.

Great Elder was already laughing inside, the corners of his mouth nearly stretching to his temples.

The reason Great Elder had been able to so quickly judge that the pill was the Fourth Grade Pill Qi Gathering Powder was precisely because, in his youth, he had once obtained a half-finished Qi Gathering Powder by chance. Relying on that half-finished Gathering Qi Pill, he had successfully advanced to Dou Zhe.

Without the aid of a pill, there was a chance of failure when condensing a Qi Vortex. Once one failed, one would fall from the ninth stage of Dou Qi back to the eighth stage. What was wasted was not just time, but the youngest, most golden period of a person's cultivation.

Without a doubt, Xiao Ning, who had obtained Qi Gathering Powder, was certain to reach Da Dou Shi in the future. Reaching a nine-star Da Dou Shi would be no problem at all, and he might even have a chance to charge into the Dou Ling realm, which no one in all of Wutan City had ever reached! Once the Xiao Clan produced a Dou Ling, the entire Wutan City would become the Xiao Clan's possession. Even founding their own sect would not be impossible.

Xiao Zhan clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention, his expression imposing without anger as he said, "Everything that happened today stays buried in your stomachs. If anyone lets even half a word slip, they will be punished without mercy!"

Whether for the Misty Cloud Sect, for Nalan Yanran, or for their Xiao Clan, what had happened today could be considered a family disgrace. Once word got out, it might even cause unnecessary trouble.

"Understood, Clan Head!" *N "All right, dismissed." Xiao Zhan waved his hand, and all the clan disciples left in orderly fashion like an army.

Just as Xiao Yan was also preparing to get up and leave, a fair hand grabbed his sleeve.

"Xun Er?"

Xun Er took out a bottle of wound medicine and gently applied it to Xiao Yan's injury, asking softly, "Xiao Yan Gege, you..."

"Mm?"

Xun Er looked shy, as if she wanted to speak but stopped herself. She had originally wanted to ask whether the sweetheart Xiao Yan had mentioned just now was her, but when the words reached her lips, she swallowed them back down.

"Xiao Yan Gege, when did you start practicing combat techniques? You were so amazing. No wonder you didn't want the combat techniques and Qi Methods Xun Er gave you."

Cowardly! Xun Er's cheeks were as red as ripe honey peaches.

Xiao Yan froze for a moment, then pretended he had no idea what she was talking about and said, "Huh? Combat technique? What combat technique? I didn't use any combat technique. My body's just relatively sturdy, that's all."

Xun Er rolled her eyes at Xiao Yan. Although Xiao Yan had used his combat technique very subtly, and the circulation of his Dou Qi had been extremely quick, making it look as if Xiao Yan had defeated Nalan Yanran purely with his tough body, it had not escaped Xun Er's eyes.

Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Isn't Xun Er the same? Every month, you disappear for a few days without a trace, and when you come back, your Cultivation Level has improved quite a bit."

Xun Er copied Xiao Yan's manner and pretended not to know anything as she said, "Huh? What disappearance? Xun Er only went to the marketplace to buy things."

That evening, after Xiao Yan finished cultivating on the Back Mountain, he dragged his exhausted body back to his room and sat on the bed. With a light touch to the ring on his hand, a combat technique book instantly appeared in his grasp.

A Storage Ring, a spatial ring specifically used to store items. This Storage Ring was a keepsake left behind by Xiao Yan's mother.

On the cover of the combat technique book, three large words were impressively written: Eight Extremities Collapse.

"Eight Extremities Collapse: Mystic High-Rank combat technique. A close-combat attacking technique famed for its fierce offensive power. When refined to great completion, its attacks contain eight layers of hidden force. With all eight layers stacked, its might is comparable to an Earth Rank Low-Level combat technique!"

This was the combat technique Xiao Yan had used to defeat Nalan Yanran. Nalan Yanran's loss had been inevitable. Their Cultivation Levels were similar, her combat technique rank was inferior to Xiao Yan's, and her degree of mastery was far below Xiao Yan's. How could she possibly not lose?

Xiao Yan took off his clothes. If one had to describe Xiao Yan's body in a single sentence, it would be a body like steel.

Xiao Yan's body was not covered in bulging muscles like a bodybuilder's, but every muscle was incomparably firm, each one taut and compact.

Ever since Xiao Yan had begun practicing Qi at the age of four and accidentally opened this ring, obtaining the Eight Extremities Collapse combat technique, he had gone to the Back Mountain almost every day to practice Eight Extremities Collapse, constantly tempering his body.

After all, Eight Extremities Collapse did not demand too much Dou Qi, but it placed extremely high requirements on the user's physical strength.

From running, push-ups, and weightlifting every day at the start, to chopping trees barehanded later on, to now, when Xiao Yan could leave fist imprints in stone without relying on Dou Qi, strength was gained one step at a time.

Even after practicing for a full ten years, Xiao Yan still had not reached great completion.

After Xiao Yan read through the cultivation outline of Eight Extremities Collapse again, he shook his head with a bitter smile. To cultivate the eight layers of force, he could only rely on hard work. There were no shortcuts.

There was not only one combat technique inside the ring. The number of Skill and Combat Techniques inside was simply astonishing. Even the lowest-ranked Skill and Combat Techniques were Mystic Rank, there were quite a few Earth Rank ones, and there were even several of the legendary Heaven Rank Dou Techniques.

What made even a genius like Xiao Yan smile bitterly and shake his head was that he could not understand them! He wanted to cultivate Earth Rank Dou Techniques and Heaven Rank Dou Techniques too! The vast majority of the combat techniques were like heavenly scriptures to Xiao Yan. The sheer amount of specialized terminology, and even ancient language, made his head spin. What was more, many combat techniques had strict requirements for the cultivator's Cultivation Level, and some even required specific ranks and attributes of Qi Methods.

It was not that Xiao Yan wanted to cultivate Eight Extremities Collapse. Rather, among combat techniques that had no requirement for Qi Method, no requirement for Cultivation Level, and whose cultivation method Xiao Yan could actually understand, Eight Extremities Collapse was the only one left.

Xiao Yan had once thought about asking his father to guide his cultivation, but after thinking it over, he still gave up on the idea.

Jade itself was innocent; possessing it was the crime. Xiao Yan had understood this principle in his previous life.

If news of the Storage Ring spread, forget the Xiao Clan—probably the entire Jia Ma Empire would be plunged into a storm of Foul Wind and blood.

"I just happen to have enough materials. Today, I'll try refining a second-grade Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid."

With a thud, a Pill Furnace was released from the Storage Ring. This Pill Furnace had not originally been inside the Storage Ring. A one-mouth Pill Furnace, the lowest grade of Pill Furnace, was not worthy of being placed in this ring.

This was a Pill Furnace Xiao Yan had bought himself from the largest auction house in Wutan City, Mittel Auction House.

The conditions to become an alchemist were exceptionally harsh. First, one's own attribute had to be fire. Second, within that fire constitution, there also had to be a trace of wood Qi mixed in to serve as a catalyst for refining medicine!

On the Dou Qi Continent, the attribute of a human body depended on the soul. A soul would forever only possess a single attribute, and it was impossible for other attributes to be mixed in. Therefore, it was basically impossible for one body to possess two attributes of differing strengths.

Of course, nothing was absolute. Among billions of people, there would always be some mutated souls, and those who possessed mutated souls had the potential to become alchemists!

In addition, an alchemist also needed powerful soul perception! Xiao Yan seemed as though he had been born to become an alchemist. He had every condition!

And his soul perception was outrageously powerful.