The moon hung high in the sky, bright and gentle. Its soft light lent the night an air of peace and tranquility, falling upon the branches and casting mottled shadows that hung from them like scattered strips of fabric.
Within the Xiao Family compound, Xiao Xun'er stood by the window, gazing up at the bright moon. Holding a lollipop, she elegantly extended her tongue and gave it a lick. At once, a rich, mellow energy seeped into her gums, entered her bloodstream, and finally nourished every part of her body with the flow of her blood.
"This is truly amazing. It is clearly just a lollipop, yet it can actually increase Dou Qi. Elder Ling, have you ever heard of such a thing?" Xiao Xun'er spoke toward the empty air, though there was nothing there.
"Young Miss, this old man has never heard of it either. Dou Zhes at the Dou Qi stage have extremely fragile bloodlines and cannot withstand the medicinal power of any pill. At the very least, this old man has never heard of an alchemist capable of refining pills that could rapidly raise one's cultivation during the Dou Qi stage."
An aged, hoarse voice drifted into the room as lightly as a breeze.
Before humans could cultivate, they first needed to temper their bodies. On the Dou Qi Continent, the body-tempering stage was divided into nine levels: Fighting Qi, First Stage through Ninth Stage. Only after the ninth stage, when one condensed a Fighting Qi Vortex, could one become a true Dou Zhe.
Because the human bloodline was exceedingly fragile and could not endure the impact of medicinal power, Dou Zhes at the Dou Qi stage cultivated very slowly. If one could condense a Fighting Qi Vortex within their body at the age of eleven, they could already be considered a one-in-ten-thousand genius. Most people still could not condense a Fighting Qi Vortex even after coming of age at sixteen.
Take Jia Nan Academy, renowned throughout the Dou Qi Continent. Its admission requirement was to possess the cultivation of Fighting Qi, Seventh Stage upon reaching adulthood. Yet this single rule shut countless cultivators out. That alone showed just how difficult it was to raise one's cultivation at the Dou Qi stage.
"Just who is Brother Han Hun? How could he possess such a miraculous item?" Xiao Xun'er (Gu Xun'er) examined the lollipop in her hand. Even the mighty Ancient Clan did not possess such a treasure. She was filled with curiosity about Hun Han's identity.
The lollipop in Xiao Xun'er's hand had naturally been given to her by Hun Han. She had a whole small box of them, enough to raise her cultivation to Fighting Qi, Seventh Stage in a short time.
"Young Miss, should this old man follow him and find out exactly where he came from?" The aged voice drifted into the room again. Ling Ying was also deeply curious about Hun Han's identity.
"Better not. As friends, sincerity is what matters most!" Xiao Xun'er refused without a second thought.
"Actually, Young Miss, this old man has a bold guess about his identity!" After a brief silence, the aged voice drifted into the room again.
"Elder Ling, what have you discovered?" Xiao Xun'er asked curiously.
"Young Miss, have you ever heard of the Primordial Sacred Body?"
"The Primordial Sacred Body?"
"Yes. A ninth-tier alchemist was once born on the continent. Not only did she establish the Pill Tower and possess extraordinary alchemy skills, she was also obsessed with ancient history. The Primordial Sacred Body was one of her research subjects."
"You mean Brother Han Hun is that person's test subject?" Xiao Xun'er asked in surprise.
"This old man cannot be certain of that either. At the very least, he definitely has some connection to that person. It is said that person had an ambiguous relationship with Hun Tiandi. This old man even dares to boldly speculate that your Brother Han Hun may not be surnamed Han at all. His surname may well be Hun!"
If Ling Ying did not have a friend who loved collecting gossip about powerful figures, he would never have heard of these matters, much less known them so clearly.
"Not Han, but Hun. Han Hun, Hun Han. He actually played a word game with me!"
A triumphant look flashed in Xiao Xun'er's eyes, as though she had seen through everything. Smiling, she said, "This must be the matter he wanted me to forgive him for!"
"Young Miss, these are merely this old man's guesses. Whether that is truly the case can only be confirmed after my friend has seen him. The reason this subordinate did not act on the official road today was because I sensed that his physique was extremely unusual. I hope Young Miss can forgive me."
"Mm. Someone is coming!"
Through the window, Xiao Xun'er caught sight of a dark figure walking toward her.
"Young Miss, shall I act and drive him away?"
"Let us watch first. Perhaps he is not here for me. He may simply be passing by."
Xiao Xun'er gave the order, but the short figure in the alley walked straight toward her room.
Seeing this, Xiao Xun'er lay down on the bed. With a soft creak, the door was gently pushed open.
Suddenly, Xiao Xun'er recalled what had happened during the day. Could someone have set their sights on me?
Hun Han had told Xiao Xun'er that Wutan City had not been peaceful lately. In the middle of the night, a short person would sneak into other people's rooms, especially those of women—and particularly rooms belonging to little girls like her.
At this sight, Xiao Xun'er tensed. She narrowed her eyes to a slit and secretly watched him. The room was very dim, and she could only roughly make out from his outline that he was male.
The figure quietly walked to Xiao Xun'er's bedside, completely unaware that she was still awake. He reached out and lightly waved his hand before her eyes a few times. Only after seeing no reaction from Xiao Xun'er did he extend both hands.
Xiao Xun'er could no longer endure it. She raised her foot and kicked him, sending him stumbling back several steps. Her kick knocked him flat onto the floor, and he stared up in bewildered shock at Xiao Xun'er, who was now sitting on the bed.
"You shameless pervert! You dare molest a little girl? You are asking for a beating!" Xiao Xun'er was furious. Her body had nearly been touched by someone else. Before she left, Gu Yuan had told her that men were not allowed to touch a woman's body. Otherwise, she would have children.
Thinking of that, Xiao Xun'er's anger flared. She launched a barrage of kicks at the bewildered figure.
"Ah, stop hitting me! Stop hitting me! It is me, it is me! Ow, where did you kick me? Ah, it hurts so much!"
The figure clutched his groin with both hands, his face twisted in agony. He wailed as he retreated all the way to the windowsill, tears streaming from the pain.
"You are... Xiao Yan? Uncle Xiao's son?" Xiao Xun'er stared at Xiao Yan in astonishment. With the moonlight shining into the room, she could finally see the visitor's face clearly.
"Yes, I am Xiao Yan," the figure replied.
"So you are the one Brother Hun Han was talking about!" Xiao Xun'er put her hands on her hips and glared at Xiao Yan.
"Who?" Xiao Yan asked doubtfully.
"Let me ask you: why are you sneaking into my room in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?" Xiao Xun'er asked.
"I... I came to use Dou Qi to nourish your meridians," Xiao Yan explained haltingly.
"Nourish my meridians? Who told you that Dou Qi could nourish meridians?" Xiao Xun'er asked.
"What? Dou Qi cannot nourish a person's meridians?" Xiao Yan retorted.
"You cannot even come up with a proper excuse when doing something bad." Xiao Xun'er mocked him.
"I really did come to nourish your meridians," Xiao Yan argued again.
"Nonsense. We only met today. There are so many women in the Xiao Family, so why did you have to come nourish my meridians? Get out. For Uncle Xiao Zhan's sake, I will spare you today. If there is a next time, I will kick you all the same!"
Meanwhile, in a room several hundred meters away, the system's voice rang out.
"Ding!" "The time to check in has arrived. Would you like to check in?"
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