Four Years, Gu Yuan Sends His Daughter

"This... how is this possible? Don't I still have twenty years of lifespan left?"

Xiao Ling could hardly believe it, because the system had just stated that he only had ten years of lifespan remaining.

No one would believe that he, a peerless prodigy, only had ten years left to live...

[Ding, the host need not worry. After a system scan, the host's constitution is unique throughout history; it simply requires lifespan to cultivate.]

"This..."

Xiao Ling listened to the voice in his mind, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes.

He finally understood why his original self's talent was so strong; it turned out it was all exchanged for his life.

This was even more terrifying than the E'nan Poison Body...

He could already imagine how difficult his path ahead would be.

"Forget it, let's deal with the problem at hand first."

Xiao Ling shook his head, turned around, and walked back into the house to begin consolidating his cultivation.

The night passed in the blink of an eye, and Xiao Ling had thoroughly consolidated his cultivation, a sharp glint flickering in his eyes.

He planned to clear out the back mountain of the Xiao Clan first; at the very least, he needed to restore his lifespan to eleven years.

Otherwise, if he encountered danger, he wouldn't even have the minimum lifespan required to trade for life-saving measures, and wouldn't that just be the end of him?

Various thoughts flashed through his mind as Xiao Ling rose and headed toward the family Martial Arts Arena.

Along the way, every junior of the Xiao Clan he met greeted him, and Xiao Ling responded to each one. Although his actions were indifferent, he didn't seem aloof, fully embodying the demeanor of a leader.

On the Martial Arts Arena, Xiao Ling looked down at the group of Xiao Clan disciples and said calmly.

"For today's morning lesson, I will teach you an auxiliary cultivation technique called the Zi Wu Body Tempering Technique. It was passed down to me by a senior expert and can increase your cultivation speed."

This technique was actually the one he had traded for earlier; it was divided into a parent and child volume, where those who cultivated the parent volume could gain one percent of the cultivation from the child volume.

Upon hearing this, the group of Xiao Clan juniors below were completely shocked. They never imagined that a technique to increase cultivation speed existed, let alone that Xiao Ling would actually be willing to teach it to them.

"Xiao... Brother Xiao Ling, are you really willing to teach it to us?" one of the Xiao Clan juniors asked, still unable to believe it.

"Of course. You are all disciples of my Xiao Clan. Only when you are strong will the future of our Xiao Clan become stronger and stronger."

Xiao Ling said righteously.

Hearing this, the gazes of the Xiao Clan juniors below began to change. If they had previously felt mostly awe toward Xiao Ling, now it was respect and admiration.

Xiao Ling naturally noticed this, as it was entirely within his expectations.

They were just a bunch of brats; having lived two lives, he could naturally make them willingly work for him by using a few simple methods.

Next, he spent some time guiding these juniors in their cultivation hand-in-hand. Under his careful instruction, the juniors quickly mastered the hand seals and footwork of the child volume.

On the arena, dozens of Xiao Clan disciples aged four to eight were seen constantly changing their hand seals and footwork. After running through it once, they were all drenched in sweat, yet no one complained because they had all gained benefits from it.

As the morning lesson ended, Xiao Ling felt the slight increase in the Dou Qi within his body and nodded with satisfaction. He then slipped into the family's back mountain to begin capturing various living creatures, preparing to plunder their lifespan.

Under Xiao Ling's large-scale hunting, the vitality in the back mountain of the Xiao Clan grew thinner and thinner. This naturally attracted the attention of many, but no one questioned Xiao Ling, clearly because the high-level members of the Xiao Clan had already given the word.

He had anticipated this long ago, as it was something he had earned with his strength.

He still remembered the shock and excitement of Xiao Zhan and the others when he first revealed his cultivation as a Dou Practitioner before the four high-level members of the Xiao Clan. Afterward, his strength was not made public, which was a testament to Xiao Zhan's thoughtfulness.

After a month of plundering, he finally succeeded in restoring his lifespan to eleven years.

Although it had only increased by one year, these were merely ordinary animals, and Xiao Ling was already satisfied with such results. He believed that once he broke through to become a Dou Master and went to the outskirts of the Magic Beast Mountain Range to plunder, his lifespan would surely break the hundred-year mark.

With these thoughts passing through his mind, Xiao Ling began to plan his next cultivation steps: first his Dou Qi cultivation, then alchemy, and finally, the plundering of lifespan.

Just like that, under Xiao Ling's frantic cultivation, time slipped away quietly like the years between one's fingers.

In the blink of an eye, four years had passed.

On this day, while Xiao Ling was in his small courtyard thinking about the various improvements and gains he had made over the past four years, a voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

"Brother Xiao Ling, the elders want you to go to the reception hall. I heard there is a big shot who wants to see you."

Xiao Yu trotted in and said hurriedly to the young man in white who was sitting on a lounge chair, lost in thought.

Hearing this, a trace of surprise appeared on Xiao Ling's face.

"A big shot wants to see me?"

He didn't recall having any contact with any big shots.

Even during the time he left the Xiao Clan a year ago, he had only been plundering lifespan near the Magic Beast Mountain Range, and he had never killed anyone, let alone offended any big shots.

"No, according to my memories, there is indeed one big shot who comes to their Xiao Clan at this point in time..."

"But, with his status, he shouldn't be able to come into contact with someone like the patriarch of the Ancient Clan. Why would the other party want to see him?"

Could it be that he saw through my cultivation? That shouldn't be possible... no matter how flawed the system is, it shouldn't be seen through by a Dou Sheng...

Various thoughts flashed through his mind, but Xiao Ling couldn't quite puzzle it out, so he simply stopped overthinking it; he intended to go and meet this pinnacle figure of the Dou Qi Continent.

He looked at Xiao Yu before him and smiled, "Girl, lead the way."

Hearing this, Xiao Yu rolled her eyes at him, flicked her ponytail, and strode off with her long, shapely legs toward the Xiao Clan reception hall, urging Xiao Ling to hurry up the entire way.

Xiao Ling gave a helpless smile at this and quickly followed.

On the other side, inside the Xiao Clan reception hall, Xiao Zhan and the three elders were smiling obsequiously at the middle-aged man in yellow robes who was resting with his eyes closed in the seat of honor, as well as the little girl beside him.

"Senior Gu, please wait a moment, Xiao Ling will be here soon."

"No rush!"

The middle-aged man in yellow robes waved his hand.

Aside from completing the clan's plan, he had another purpose in coming here: he wanted to see the youth from back then. He had discovered the other party the moment his consciousness enveloped the Xiao Clan earlier. He had intended to see what the little fellow's current cultivation level was, but to his surprise, even he couldn't see through it, which had given him quite a shock.

This situation could only mean that the little fellow had encountered some fortuitous event and possessed some kind of treasure to conceal himself.

Thinking this, he glanced at his daughter beside him, his eyes flickering with an inexplicable light.

At this moment, the quiet hall was suddenly interrupted: "Xiao Ling greets the Clan Head and the three elders."

A youth in white strode into the reception hall, showing absolutely no signs of stage fright. He first bowed slightly toward Xiao Zhan and the others.

Only then did he look at the middle-aged man in yellow robes and the little girl beside him, who had been staring at him ever since he entered.

"May I ask, who is this?"

Although he had already guessed the other party's identity in his heart, he still feigned ignorance.

"Ling'er, this is Senior Gu. Why don't you come over and pay your respects?" Xiao Zhan gave him a wink and stood up to introduce him: "Senior Gu, this is the genius of our Xiao Clan, Xiao Ling."

"Xiao Ling greets Senior Gu."

Xiao Ling rolled his eyes inwardly while maintaining a respectful bow on the surface.

"Haha, little friend, no need for formalities. We have met before; the momentum of your breakthrough back then was quite significant..."

Gu Yuan smiled gently.

Hearing this, a look of confusion crossed Xiao Ling's face, but then, as if he had remembered something, a flash of insight crossed his eyes, and he tentatively asked.

"Could it be that you were the one who protected me back then, Senior?"

"Yes and no. I was merely passing by and did it as a convenience." Gu Yuan waved his hand, then smiled warmly: "I wonder if little friend Xiao Ling could do me a favor? Help me look after my daughter. Naturally, there will be no shortage of rewards for you."

Gu Yuan looked warmly at the youth before him. He had his reasons for doing this; in his eyes, Xiao Ling was not only monstrously talented but also someone possessed of great fortune.

After all, while a six-year-old Dou Practitioner was rare, he had seen them before.

But a foundation ten times stronger than others of the same level... such an existence was something he had never heard of throughout history.

"This..."

Looking at Gu Yuan, who didn't seem to be joking, Xiao Ling was stunned. He hadn't expected the other party to say something like that; could it be that he was using a honey trap on him?

But he was just a poor kid; what could he possibly be worth for the other party to do this?

Could it be... he thinks the Tou She Ancient God Jade is on me?

Various thoughts flashed through Xiao Ling's mind, while on the surface, he maintained all the reactions appropriate for his age.

"Senior, you must be joking. I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to look after her properly."

As he spoke, he glanced at the little girl in the purple dress before him, only to see that she was also looking bewildered. Seeing him look over, she gave him a slight smile, her little face as exquisite as a porcelain doll.