Xiao Yan

"Xiao Yan, Soul Power, level three!"

Looking at the dim light radiating from the crystal ball before him, the youth remained expressionless.

Beside the crystal ball, the middle-aged man wearing intricate robes and sporting a thick beard read out the result with a blank face.

"Level three? Are my ears playing tricks on me? That Xiao Yan, he actually only has level three soul power?"

"Hahaha, the Xiao Clan has truly fallen. Is this what they call a genius? Just this level?"

"Sigh, this waste of space. Back then, he even claimed he would snatch the recommendation letter for Shrek Academy from young master Xiao Yulü. How about that? Now he's not even a Soul Master, let alone a Great Soul Master—he's actually dropped to level three soul power!"

"He's completely disgraced the Xiao Clan!"

As the rustling, tide-like mocking voices surrounded him, the black-haired youth withdrew his palm and prepared to walk off the plaza, but his footsteps faltered.

"Heh, Xiao Yan, do you intend to just walk away like that?"

Xiao Yan raised his head to see a man in luxurious silk robes, smiling with an incredibly arrogant air, blocking his path.

Xiao Yulü.

The most dazzling rising star of the younger generation of the Xiao Clan main branch, hailed as the scorching sun destined to rise.

At the same time, he was also Xiao Yan's rival—or rather, his former rival.

"It's you, Xiao Yulü."

"Is there something you need?"

Xiao Yan looked up, his tone flat, bordering on indifferent.

"Something I need? Of course I have something to say!"

Xiao Yulü stepped forward, practically pointing at Xiao Yan's nose.

"Three years ago, when you awakened your Martial Soul, although it wasn't our Xiao Clan's Heavy Profound Ruler, it was an Innate Full Soul Power that shook the entire Xiao Clan!"

"I, Xiao Yulü, stood before all our clansmen and declared that you were the role model I would pursue for the rest of my life!"

His voice suddenly rose, drowning out the clamor of the entire plaza.

"But what about now?"

"Three years! Three whole years! Your soul power hasn't advanced; it has regressed, falling all the way from a level ten Soul Master back to level three!"

"Where is your century-old soul ring? Where is your first soul skill? Just how much longer is that damn broken egg of yours going to remain dead silent!"

Xiao Yulü's voice was loud—so loud that the entire plaza seemed to fall silent in that moment, as if his angry roar were the only thing left in the world.

Xiao Yan's expression stiffened. Just as he was about to retort, he saw Xiao Yulü's face turn dark and somber.

However, before Xiao Yan could speak, Xiao Yulü's expression shifted abruptly, turning from rage into a kind of bleak, self-deprecating mockery.

"Xiao Yan, I respect you, which is why I waited for you."

"You said your Martial Soul was flawed and couldn't break through for the time being. Fine, I, Xiao Yulü, chose not to break through either, staying at level ten just to keep you company!"

"You said you couldn't obtain a second soul ring. Fine, I, Xiao Yulü, used only one soul ring, waiting for you to catch up!"

"I waited for you for three years!"

"How many years does a Soul Master have in their golden period of cultivation? You and I have wasted far too much time!"

"I can't wait anymore!"

Xiao Yulü turned abruptly, his back to Xiao Yan, his voice filled with a sense of finality.

"In three days, I will have the clan elders organize a duel—just you and me."

"The winner will receive the recommendation letter for Shrek Academy. I think that even if your soul power hasn't made an inch of progress, you still know what kind of place that is."

"The most authoritative academy on the entire continent, the place that cultivates monsters."

"Xiao Yan, I hope you can give me a fair and square fight."

Watching the figure gradually walk away, the smile at the corner of Xiao Yan's mouth slowly cooled until he returned to his expressionless, dead-fish face.

Heh, three years, is it?

So, it has already been three years since his own Martial Soul awakening.

Nine years ago, Xiao Yan was just an ordinary student from China who had transmigrated into this world.

In his previous life, he was also named Xiao Yan. After transmigrating, he was fortunate enough to keep the name Xiao Yan in this life as well. Back then, he believed he would surely make a name for himself in this world.

Had he not seen the Flame Emperor Xiao Yan and the majestic Endless Fire Territory? Since he was also named Xiao Yan, he figured he wouldn't be any worse.

Sure enough, in the year he turned six, a Soul Master from the Xiao Clan main branch came to awaken the Martial Souls of the children in Xiao Family Village.

At that time, when he, Xiao Yan, awakened, the spectacle was unprecedented. Intense fire elemental energy gathered, the temperature rose sharply, and the crystal ball used to test soul power shone with brilliant light.

Such an anomaly made everyone exclaim that this child was destined to be extraordinary.

But he did not awaken the Xiao Clan's ancestral Martial Soul, the Heavy Profound Ruler; instead, he awakened an egg with fire-cloud patterns.

Innate level ten full soul power, yet he awakened an egg?

Everyone was shocked, and everyone fell silent.

Xiao Yan remembered how complex the expressions of the Xiao Clan elders were when they looked at him back then.

Joy, excitement, elation, followed by disappointment and pity.

"Alas, Innate Full Soul Power, what a great talent!"

The elder trembled. It had been a long time since the Xiao Clan had produced a genius with their ancestral martial spirit. Now, even this genius with Innate Full Soul Power had awakened a different martial spirit, not the Xiao Clan's ancestral martial spirit, the Heavy Profound Ruler, which possessed extremely high talent and a mature cultivation method.

What a pity, what a pity.

Xiao Yan knew he had failed the elders' expectations, but martial spirits were innate, and he couldn't decide which one he would awaken.

However, he had a premonition that his martial spirit had life, and it was definitely not a flawed martial spirit.

After that, the elder took him to hunt soul beasts in the forest and obtained an excellent quality hundred-year soul ring.

On the way back, Xiao Yan asked the elder if, even if he cultivated diligently, he would never be able to help the Xiao Clan return to the Xiao family's circle of power.

The elder replied that as long as he put in the effort and cultivated well, even if he wasn't core to the Xiao family in the future and couldn't revitalize the Xiao family's glory, he could at least become a powerful figure in his own right.

Xiao Yan believed this and had been cultivating diligently ever since.

However, his soul power had not advanced at all!

Not only that, no matter how hard he cultivated, Xiao Yan's soul power not only failed to increase but even began to drop!

Level one, level two, level three!

From level ten Innate Full Soul Power, from a soul master with a hundred-year soul ring, he began to fall!

His soul ring disappeared, his soul power plummeted, and now, he had fallen to level three soul power!

Everyone believed that this genius of the Xiao Clan had fallen before he could even rise.

Even if a non-ancestral martial spirit mutated, it would still have flaws.

But Xiao Yan knew that his soul power had definitely not disappeared.

He had read similar descriptions in novels in his past life. In such situations, there was usually an old man, or something else, constantly draining his life force.

As long as he persisted and allowed that thing to develop, it would become a great help to the protagonist's growth.

Didn't the Flame Emperor have such an existence in his ring, the old man Elder Yao?

Therefore, from the day he obtained his soul ring, he had been cultivating diligently, day and night, without rest.

The soul power absorbed from heaven and earth, after integrating into his body, was continuously absorbed by his martial spirit.

And the Red Cloud Egg became more and more vibrant with each passing day of soul power irrigation.

Now, a thumping sound could be heard from within the egg.

Xiao Yan knew that

this black hole that had devoured his soul power for a full three years was finally filled.

"Buzz—"

A scorching power, almost enough to melt his soul, was madly surging out from the cracks in the eggshell!

Xiao Yan's fist, hanging by his side, suddenly clenched.

This was the moment of breaking free!