A figure suddenly appeared behind Yao Lao as the voice rang out.
Hearing the familiar voice, Yao Lao turned around in disbelief. When he saw that it was Xiao Yan—
Yao Lao's lips moved, his expression caught between shock and joy. After a long moment, he finally managed to say, "You shouldn't have come. You'll die!"
In Yao Lao's understanding, only four years had passed. No matter how talented Xiao Yan was, he could at most have reached the ninth level as a warrior by now, and was probably only an eighth-level warrior. He couldn't possibly make any difference to the situation.
Xiao Yan smiled lightly and stepped forward with confidence, his sharpness on full display. "Don't worry, Teacher. From now on, with me here, no one will dare lay a hand on you again!"
"Let me borrow your sword."
Before Yao Lao could react, Xiao Yan reached out with one hand and snatched the crimson longsword from him.
"Clang—"
Dou Qi surged forth, and the longsword let out a ringing cry.
Theodore's expression turned grave. As a Saint Domain warrior, he hadn't even been able to see how fast Xiao Yan had appeared.
"Who are you?" Theodore asked warily. Holy white Dou Qi enveloped him, his body tense and ready to strike at any moment.
"Whoosh!"
Xiao Yan answered Theodore with a cold, emotionless slash.
The crimson longsword carried a chilling killing intent as it traced a mournful crescent through the air. In the blink of an eye, it was right in front of Theodore.
"Damn it!"
Confronted by the attack, Theodore flipped his hand, and a black greatsword suddenly appeared in it. He prepared to meet Xiao Yan's strike head-on.
Just as their weapons were about to clash—
Xiao Yan abruptly vanished.
"Oh no!" A chill rose from deep within Theodore at the sight. His hair stood on end, and his whole body turned cold.
"You're too slow."
"Also, thanks for the Spatial Ring!"
Xiao Yan's icy voice sounded behind Theodore, accompanied by blood floating through the air.
"Pfft—"
His head fell to the ground, and blood sprayed into the sky.
The Saint Warrior Theodore was dead!
The battle ended far too quickly. In almost no time at all, Xiao Yan had killed Theodore.
The members of the Church of Light nearby and Yao Lao hadn't even reacted before Theodore had already returned to the Underworld.
"You—" Dialuo stared at Xiao Yan in disbelief.
Dialuo had seen Xiao Yan's portrait and recognized him by now. But he couldn't believe—or rather, didn't want to believe—that a boy of just seventeen could be a Saint Domain warrior.
"And the rest of you!"
Hearing the commotion, Xiao Yan swept his cold gaze across the members of the Church of Light around him.
Dialuo came to his senses, his expression instantly turning fearful. He put on a show of bravado and threatened, "I'm a Grand Priest of the Church of Light. If you kill me, you'll make an enemy of the Church for life!"
"Idiot!" Xiao Yan couldn't help laughing at Dialuo's threat.
"You think you can threaten me with the Church of Light?"
"Enemies for life?"
"Do you think I care?"
Pfft!
Dialuo's body exploded into four pieces.
After finishing all this, Xiao Yan walked over to Yao Lao.
Yao Lao stared at him in disbelief, his mouth hanging wide open. "You... you... broke through into Saint Domain?"
"Got lucky." Xiao Yan rubbed his nose.
His gaze swept over the surroundings almost unconsciously. In the darkness, he sensed quite a few figures moving about.
They were spies from various factions. After tonight, Xiao Yan's strength probably wouldn't remain a secret.
It wasn't that Xiao Yan hadn't considered killing all the spies. But on second thought, even if he killed them all, he probably couldn't keep the truth hidden for long. After all, given a Saint Warrior's pride, Theodore must have flown openly into Starfire City. Who knew how many people had seen him?
Now that Theodore was dead, the death of a Saint Domain warrior would draw attention during such a sensitive time. Even if Xiao Yan killed every spy, he would only delay things by a few days. Sooner or later, they would still trace it back to him.
"Forget it. I'll spare them."
"Once I refresh my talent to something higher-grade, even if the Pope of Light comes here, I won't fear him." After a moment's thought, Xiao Yan abandoned the idea of going on a killing spree.
As a Clone, now that Xiao Yan's cultivation had reached Saint Domain, he could refresh his once-fixed talent again. Not only that, but the increase in his level of life meant his talent ceiling had risen as well. If Xiao Yan refreshed his talent now, he wouldn't be limited to white talents; higher-grade ones could appear.
"Even the white talent [Fallen Genius] let me comprehend a Law when I broke through into Saint Domain. How incredible would a higher-grade talent be?"
"I'm not expecting it to make me a god outright, but if it helps me make further progress in comprehending the Law and reach the second tier of Saint Domain strength, so I can stand unafraid before the Pope of Light, that should be well within reach!"
...A few days later, news spread from Starfire City, shaking the Azeron Continent.
Xiao Yan, the peerless genius hunted by the Church of Light four years ago—
had appeared again after four years. A Saint Domain warrior at seventeen!
In his first battle, he'd killed a veteran Saint Domain warrior, slaying Theodore, who had cultivated for hundreds of years, with a single sword strike. He'd also slaughtered the top officials of the Church of Light's branch in Starfire City.
The news spread across the continent at astonishing speed. As people passed it from mouth to mouth, Xiao Yan's reputation rose just as rapidly.
In the end, he was even hailed as the greatest genius the Azeron Continent had seen in ten thousand years!
"My disciple Xiao Yan has the bearing of a god." Yao Lao said this to everyone he met.
The Imperial Capital Magic Academy of the Roland Empire.
"Good grief..." In dormitory 9527, Lynn and Taylor both gasped as they listened to the news Kasa had brought.
"He's seventeen. Doesn't that mean he's the same age as me?" Lynn couldn't help sighing. "Sometimes, the gap between people is even bigger than the gap between people and dogs."
"At the same age, I'm still fretting over how to break through to Level Seven Mage, while Xiao Yan has already reached Saint Domain and become famous across the continent!"
"Exactly, exactly!" Taylor nodded nonstop, his face full of envy.
"If I had half his talent... no, even a tenth of it, I wouldn't be afraid of old John anymore!" Taylor muttered the last part under his breath, as if badmouthing some old man.
"With a tenth of Xiao Yan's talent, you'd be at least an eighth-level warrior at seventeen. At that point, old John would be the one afraid of you." Kasa gave Taylor an exasperated look.
Taylor scratched his head sheepishly and didn't reply.
Kasa turned to Lynn again. "Boss, it's fair enough for Taylor and me to complain about our lack of talent. But you're different. You became a Level Six Mage at fifteen, and now, at seventeen, you've reached the peak of Level Six and are preparing to break through to Level Seven. Across the entire Roland Empire, there's no one else who cultivates as quickly as you do!"
"You're practically the Xiao Yan of mages."
"Heh heh... Keep it low-key, keep it low-key." Listening to Kasa's praise, Lynn scratched his head and chuckled, his gaze drifting over to the panel.
[Host: Lynn] [Strength: Level Seven Mage, Eighth-level Warrior!]
As a transmigrator, you always had to keep a few tricks up your sleeve.
You didn't have to use them, but you couldn't go without them.
Before you continue