Born Useless

Born Useless

"Dou Zhi Li, Third Stage."

The youth stared at the five glowing, almost blinding words on the Testing Magic Stone Tablet. His face remained expressionless, though a self-mocking curve touched his lips. His clenched hand tightened slightly before soon relaxing, and he calmly let out a breath of pent-up air.

This result was entirely within his expectations.

He just wondered about Third Brother later... "Xiao Yan, Dou Zhi Li, Third Stage! Rank: Low!" Beside the Testing Magic Stone Tablet, a middle-aged man glanced at the information displayed on it and announced it in an indifferent tone.

The moment the middle-aged man spoke, mocking commotion erupted across the crowded square, just as expected.

"Third Stage? Heh, just as I thought. This 'genius' has made no progress at all this past year!"

"If the clan leader weren't his father, trash like him would've been driven out of the clan long ago and left to fend for himself. How could he still have the chance to stay here and eat and drink for free?"

"Sigh, how did that genius youth once famous throughout Wutan City fall so low?"

The disdainful ridicule and regretful sighs from all around fell upon Xiao Yan's ears, yet they stirred no waves within him. Over the years, he had long grown accustomed to such mockery.

As Third Brother put it, there was no need to let a bunch of snobbish bastard dogs affect his mood. Life had to go on.

Xiao Yan slowly raised his head, revealing a somewhat delicate and youthful face. His dark eyes swept indifferently over the peers around him who were mocking him.

"How boring."

Xiao Yan shook his head, turned around, and quietly returned to the last row of the line. Crossing his arms over his chest, he stood there "shamelessly."

"Next, Xiao Yuan!"

At the examiner's call, a graceful youth with sword-like brows and starry eyes strolled out from the crowd. The nearby discussions gradually quieted, and gazes of varying meaning turned toward the white-robed figure.

The youth's features bore a three-tenths resemblance to Xiao Yan's, but the remaining seven-tenths took his looks straight to perfection. Among the crowd, quite a few girls stared fixedly at his handsome face.

Though still young and not yet fully grown, his striking, well-defined features formed a flawless combination. His smiling eyes had stolen the hearts of countless young girls.

His snow-white robe, tailored to fit him perfectly, further emphasized his otherworldly, immortal-like aura. Throughout Wutan City and the nearby city-states, Xiao Yuan's reputation for beauty was widely known.

Yet under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Xiao Yuan unhurriedly approached the Testing Magic Stone Tablet and, with practiced ease, placed his hand upon it. "Dou Zhi Li!"

"Xiao Yuan, no Dou Zhi Li detected!"

"What?!"

At the examiner's announced result, the entire venue instantly erupted! "Heh, just as expected. After all these years, the Xiao Clan's Third Young Master hasn't improved in the slightest. He's even more useless than Xiao Yan!"

"Heh, if you ask me, it's not so bad for him. With Xiao Yan, the former genius, drawing all the attention for him, he's probably thrilled inside!"

"Shh, don't talk nonsense. Xiao Yuan is the manager of the Xiao Clan marketplace. Be careful, or he might refuse to sell you anything!"

"Tch, there are plenty of marketplaces. Who cares?"

"Exactly! If Xiao Yan is a fallen genius, then Xiao Yuan is a born useless good-for-nothing! Hahaha!"

As one mocking remark after another rang out, Xiao Yuan did not react in the slightest.

That's it?

The keyboard warriors he had argued with were far more vicious than this. Whoever lost their temper first had already lost.

"Fuck your mother! Would you have dared to insult my Third Brother like this when I was a Dou Zhe three years ago?"

Suddenly, the youth's furious curse exploded like thunder, and the venue immediately fell silent.

Xiao Yuan turned his head and saw that Xiao Yan had somehow leapt down from the platform. He was grabbing the collar of one of the loudest mockers, his eyes bloodshot and face twisted in fury, as though he wanted to tear the man apart and devour him alive.

"Xiao Yan!"

Seeing this, Xiao Yuan immediately shouted sternly. He then leapt down from the platform and pulled Xiao Yan away.

Though the other man was merely an old fool at the Nine Stages Dou Qi, with Dou Zhe as the limit of his lifetime, he was still not someone Xiao Yan could deal with now.

"Brother!"

Xiao Yan gritted his teeth, his face full of unwillingness and shame. If his strength had not regressed, how would these people dare speak so freely and mock Third Brother?

Although Xiao Yuan was only a few minutes older than him, his twin brother had been discovered at the age of three, when he began cultivating qi, to be unable to absorb Dou Qi or condense a Dou Qi Cyclone. Yet Xiao Yan had been able to cultivate at such a genius-like pace and reach Dou Zhe not through talent alone, but also through the share of resources the clan had allocated to Xiao Yuan.

Later, when Xiao Yan's strength began to regress, Third Brother had applied to their father and entered the marketplace's management early. Even so, he continued to endure the criticism and collect the clan's resources, all to support Xiao Yan's cultivation.

Not only that, but whenever Xiao Yan felt depressed, Third Brother would often comfort him and encourage him.

There were only five people in the entire clan who had treated him as before after his fall from grace. Yet whether it was his father, his eldest and second brothers who were away, or even Xun'er, all of them held a slightly lower place in his heart than Third Brother.

Insult Xiao Yan, and he could let it go. But insult his Third Brother, and you had chosen your own death!

"Heh, we're still young, but some people may die in the streets someday and never get to see our future. Why get angry with them?"

Xiao Yuan smiled and patted Xiao Yan's shoulder. Then he put an arm around him and led him back toward the line on the platform. From beginning to end, he did not spare the rat-faced man who had spoken so rudely a single glance.

Xiao Yan naturally listened to his brother. Hearing this, he suppressed his anger and left with Xiao Yuan.

"Hmph!"

Seeing that the two Xiao Clan brats had actually ignored him, the rude man was filled with anger. Earlier, when Xiao Yan had grabbed him by the collar and cursed at him, it had felt as though he had seen once more that peerless genius who had become a Dou Zhe at eleven years old.

Though he was unwilling to admit it, the youth's ferocity had truly frightened him.

Naturally, the people around them did not care about the earlier farce. Instead, this display of brotherly affection made quite a few people regard the Xiao brothers more favorably. One was fierce, the other steady; if they could both cultivate normally, the Xiao Clan would surely become a renowned force in Wutan City and even the Jia Ma Empire.

As for this clown ignored by the Xiao brothers, no one cared how he felt.

Feeling the surrounding gazes treating him like a clown, the rat-faced man lowered his head, and a trace of venom flashed through his eyes.

Yet he never noticed a pair of scorching eyes with a faint golden tint sweeping over him from the platform.

The minor farce was immediately forgotten once Xiao Mei, at the Seventh Stage of Dou Qi, took the stage.

The next to step up was Xiao Xun'er, an even more formidable figure. Her beauty was second only to Xiao Yuan's, while her talent was second only to Xiao Yan's.

Fourteen years old, Ninth Stage Dou Qi! Within the Xiao Clan, she was a genius second only to Xiao Yan before his "fall."

As expected, such results immediately caused an uproar among the crowd.

But Xiao Xun'er did not care much about it. There were very few things and people capable of catching her attention.

She turned around calmly and walked toward the two brothers standing at the end of the line with their arms around each other's shoulders.

"Brother Xiao Yan, Brother Xiao Yuan!"

Seeing Xiao Xun'er, who usually appeared indifferent but now slightly bowed and showed respect toward the two youths, everyone suddenly felt the same thing: these two bastards really deserved to die!

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