Southern Wilderness Domain's Number One Family, Ximen Family

"Coo, coo!"

The Nine-tailed Celestial Fox, seemingly unaffected by the pressure, leaped towards Xiao Yao, nuzzling his left cheek with its fluffy head.

Xiao Yao narrowed his eyes, enjoying the affection, and happened to see Dai Tianwei standing frozen nearby.

He wrapped his right arm around the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox and gently patted Dai Tianwei's tender shoulder with his left hand.

Instantly, Dai Tianwei's delicate body trembled. She suddenly looked at Xiao Yao, and after a moment, asked with a trembling voice, "Brother Xiao Yao, why did you pat my shoulder?"

"I saw you spacing out," Xiao Yao replied.

Dai Tianwei wanted to ask Xiao Yao more, but she was afraid that asking too much would annoy him, causing their relationship to become even more distant in the future.

At that moment, Xiao Yao's hearty voice reached her ears, "If you have something to say, just say it. Keeping it bottled up will only make you sick sooner or later!"

Encouraged, Dai Tianwei finally mustered her courage, raised her head, and looked at Xiao Yao with piercing eyes.

"Brother Xiao Yao, aren't you the Divine Son of the Tai Chi Pavilion? Then why do you have that artifact?"

"So it's about this!" Xiao Yao exclaimed, a look of realization dawning on his face. He then smiled slightly and said, "Pavilion Master Li gave it to me."

Dai Tianwei immediately showed a look of disbelief.

Pavilion Master Li of the Tai Chi Pavilion was a Saint Realm expert. How could he possibly give a Saint tier artifact to a cultivator in the Sea Opening Realm?

It made no sense at all!

"It's normal for you not to believe me. Ask your Master when we get out. He was there too, and he also gave me something no less valuable than that artifact."

Xiao Yao didn't intend to convince Dai Tianwei, as it would be a time-consuming and effort-consuming task with no guarantee of success.

Dai Tianwei had a sliver of belief at the moment, but only a sliver.

After all, neither her Master Sun Weihao nor Pavilion Master Li had any reason to give Brother Xiao Yao something so precious.

Just then, exclamations of surprise erupted from all around.

"It's only been less than five minutes, and the Divine Son of the Tai Chi Pavilion has already reached the 100th step. Amazing!"

"As expected, cultivators who can become the Divine Son of the Tai Chi Pavilion are not trash."

"This is so exciting right from the start, I can't wait to see what happens next!"

Ten minutes later, Miao Feihong stepped onto the 200th step, but he was already breathing heavily, his speed significantly reduced.

This showed how immense the pressure was beyond the 200th step.

"Look, another one has reached the 100th step!"

"Wow! It's a voluptuous older sister, I like her!"

"Sister Xueyu is amazing!"

Sister Xueyu?

Xiao Yao's gaze fell upon the 100th step. He saw Xiao Xueyu, dressed in a light blue dress. Her cultivation had surprisingly advanced to the fifth level of the Sea Opening Realm.

She looked very relaxed, clearly having encountered some fortunate encounter after they parted ways.

Good!

Just as this thought surfaced in Xiao Yao's mind, a familiar voice reached his ears, "I've found your Young Clan Leader!"

He glanced in the direction of the voice and saw the maiden Zhuo Dongxuan, who was both pure and charming.

Beside her were Xiao Yang, Xiao Juan, cultivators from the Mysterious Moon Society, and members of the Xiao Family.

In the blink of an eye, Zhuo Dongxuan brought everyone to Xiao Yao.

"Xiao Yao, did you just arrive?"

Xiao Yao shook his head gently. "No, I've been here for a while!"

"Then why aren't you climbing?" Zhuo Dongxuan found it incredible.

Of course, there was also a highly unlikely possibility: that Xiao Yao had tried to climb but gave up after reaching a point where he could go no further!

Xiao Yao rolled his eyes and replied irritably, "There's only one chance, so I have to be fully prepared."

"That's true!" Zhuo Dongxuan nodded in agreement. She glanced at Dai Tianwei beside Xiao Yao and asked with confusion, "Why is the Divine Maiden of the Shocking Heaven Tower beside you?"

Instantly, Xiao Yao knew Zhuo Dongxuan recognized Dai Tianwei.

So he calmly explained, "I met her at Sword Mark Peak. What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Zhuo Dongxuan pouted discontentedly.

In her mind, Dai Tianwei was not someone to be trifled with and needed to be guarded against.

At this moment, Xiao Juan asked, "Young Clan Leader, how many steps do you think Sister Xueyu can climb?"

Xiao Yao didn't answer directly. Instead, he looked at Xiao Xueyu, who had already reached the 110th step. She still looked relaxed, showing no signs of panting.

Based on his previous observations, if the pattern continued, Xiao Xueyu could reach the 450th step. He wasn't sure about beyond that!

"At least the 450th step!"

As the words fell, they drew the gazes of the surrounding people towards Xiao Yao.

You wouldn't know until you looked, but one glance was enough to shock you.

The Divine Maiden of the Shocking Heaven Tower was beside Xiao Yao, and the Saintess of the Mysterious Moon Society was pouting in front of him.

"Am I hallucinating? Why are the Divine Maiden of the Shocking Heaven Tower and the Saintess of the Mysterious Moon Society both near this young man?"

"Who knows! But I know for sure it's not a hallucination, because everything feels so real."

"We'd be satisfied with just one of them, but this young man has both the Divine Maiden and the Saintess. He's too lucky!"

Xiao Yao was speechless. He and Dai Tianwei, Zhuo Dongxuan were just ordinary friends.

But he didn't bother to explain. Explaining to people with such dirty minds would only make their imaginations even dirtier.

Twenty minutes later.

Xiao Xueyu appeared beside Miao Feihong, who was already kneeling on one knee.

Despite facing immense pressure, she took another step, landing on the 315th step.

Instantly, the rankings on the stone tablet began to change.

The information for the 10,000th place was updated to Xiao Xueyu [Southern Wilderness Domain], 315th step, Xiao Family of Xuanzhou City.

"The Xiao Family of Xuanzhou City has produced a genius!"

"This woman hasn't joined any sect yet. Once she leaves, many sects will probably go to the Xiao Family of Xuanzhou City to invite her."

"In comparison, the Divine Son of Tai Chi Pavilion seems a bit lacking. He's not even as fast as Xiao Xueyu, who started climbing later."

Xiao Yao looked at Zhuo Dongxuan and asked curiously, "Saintess, did Xiao Xueyu obtain any fortuitous encounters later on?"

"It can't really be called a fortuitous encounter. She just took a Dao Fruit in the Valley of Dao Origin, which cleansed her meridians and marrow, improving her cultivation aptitude and talent, advancing her cultivation, and allowing her to forge her own Sword Dao ahead of time."

Although Zhuo Dongxuan's words were concise, they were enough to shock anyone who heard them.

Xiao Juan giggled, "Young Clan Leader, this is all your credit. Otherwise, Sister Xueyu wouldn't have had the chance to obtain the Dao Fruit."

"The Dao Fruit was just a catalyst. What truly caused such a transformation in her was her own fortune," Xiao Yao said.

He found Xiao Xueyu to be very likable and comfortable. In the future, he would have the First Elder promote her well and make her a pillar of the Xiao Family.

Tap, tap, tap!

After a series of hurried footsteps, over a hundred cultivators at the Sea Opening Realm arrived at the foot of Neon Light Peak.

Most of these people were wearing orange robes with the word "Ximen" written on them.

The two in the center were wearing black brocade robes, looking very noble, with the word "Ximen" rendered in silver-white dragon patterns.

Before Xiao Yao could ask, Zhuo Dongxuan introduced, "The two in black brocade robes, the one in front is the second young master of the Ximen Family, Ximen Zhengxiong, and the one behind is the eldest young master of the Ximen Family, Ximen Zhenghao!"

"Ximen Zhengxiong's cultivation aptitude and talent are inferior to mine. The one you truly need to pay attention to is Ximen Zhenghao. This person is rumored to be a cultivator who truly possesses Emperor's Bearing."

Xiao Yao merely responded with a faint "Oh," appearing completely unconcerned.

The Ximen Family was ranked first on the list of prominent families in the Southern Wilderness Domain.

While it seemed only one rank higher than the Xuanyuan Family from before, the actual difference was immense.

This was because the Ximen Family was on par with the three great super sects of the Southern Wilderness Domain, collectively known as the Four Hegemons of the Southern Wilderness Domain. They were arguably the strongest force below the Emperor Tier cultivators.

Zhuo Dongxuan was puzzled and quietly asked Xiao Juan, "Why is your Young Clan Leader so calm?"

"Because..." Xiao Juan was about to speak when Xiao Yang covered her mouth and said, "Saintess Sister, we can't talk about this. You need to ask the Young Clan Leader."

Xiao Yao naturally heard them, but he felt that revealing his Master was the Lotus Sword Emperor might also make him seem like a clown.

So he explained, "I'll tell you after we leave the Giant Spirit Secret Realm."

"Okay!" Zhuo Dongxuan didn't press further.

A while later, Ximen Zhengxiong said disdainfully, "Brother, those climbing now are all trash!"

"If you want to go up, then go. I won't stop you this time."

Ximen Zhenghao's gaze was fixed on Xiao Yao. He couldn't understand why the Divine Maiden of the Shocking Heaven Tower and the Saintess of the Mysterious Moon Society were standing near him, when he was just a piece of trash at the peak of the sixth level of the Sea Opening Realm!

This was a perfect opportunity for his brother to climb and shock the Divine Maiden of the Shocking Heaven Tower and the Saintess of the Mysterious Moon Society, letting them know who the real star of the show was!