Five Years of Waiting, The System Finally Arrives

On the bluestone slabs in the backyard of Xiao Zhan's residence, Xiao Feng stared blankly at the falling pear blossoms. His fingertips tapped the edge of the stone table unconsciously; the calluses from his palms five years ago, back when he first transmigrated, had long since vanished, replaced by the smooth skin of a youth—yet, a soul tortured by the 996 work culture still resided within him.

"Damn it, I transmigrated just from watching Battle Through the Heavens, so why couldn't I have transmigrated into Xiao Yan?" he muttered to himself, his gaze sweeping over the children playing in the distance. Five-year-old Xiao Yan was chasing after Xun Er, a petal caught in his hair, his youthful face full of laughter. Though they were meant to be identical twins, the intrusion of a transmigrator's soul had caused them to grow into vastly different people: Xiao Yan inherited the resolute brow of Xiao Zhan, while Xiao Feng was born with slightly upturned eyes, his gaze hiding a gloom that did not belong to a child.

His thoughts drifted back to the decline of the Xiao Clan. The image of Xiao Xuan failing his breakthrough to the Dou Di realm flashed in his mind, and the sinister face of Hun Tiandi sent a chill down his spine. In the original story, the Xiao Clan was nearly wiped out, with only Xiao Yan rising from the ruins—but now he was Xiao Feng, one of the "background characters" destined to be crushed by the Soul Clan.

"Without a system, what do I have to turn the tables?" He looked at his own palms, as if he could see the void of Dou Qi circulating within. Lacking even the most basic golden finger of a transmigrator, he had found even the pretense of cultivation exhausting over the past five years. He had spent his days hiding in the courtyard, attempting to use modern physics to improve Dou Qi cultivation methods, but the results were, of course, futile.

"What is Brother Feng thinking about?" A youthful voice interrupted his thoughts. Xiao Yan brought a gust of wind as he ran over, the petal from his hair falling onto the stone table. "Xun Er says she's going to catch butterflies; do you want to come?"

The boy looked up at his older brother, the light of the spring day reflected in his eyes. Xiao Feng suddenly recalled the despair Xiao Yan felt when he lost his family in the original story, and his throat tightened. He forced a smile, "You go ahead, Little Yan, Third Brother wants to be quiet for a moment."

Watching Xiao Yan skip away, the smile on Xiao Feng's face vanished instantly. He stared at the pear tree, suddenly remembering a record he had seen in the library last night: after the Xiao Clan's Dou Di bloodline withered, the average age for children in the clan to awaken Dou Qi was delayed until eight, yet both he and Xiao Yan had reached the ninth stage at five—could this innate talent be a "side effect" of being a transmigrator?

Just then, a mechanical voice suddenly rang out in his mind:

Ding! Strongest System activated. Detected that the host has been stranded in the Battle Through the Heavens world for five years. Compensation rewards are being issued—

Xiao Feng's pupils constricted, his heart pounding like a drum. Over the past five years, he had imagined the appearance of a system countless times, but now that he actually heard it, he was somewhat stunned.

Do you wish to receive the five-year compensation reward?

"Receive! Of course, I receive it!" he roared in his heart, his fingertips gripping the edge of the stone table tightly.

The next second, a massive amount of information poured into his consciousness like a mountain torrent. Lists of Heavenly Flames, high-level Dou Techniques, pill formulas... Xiao Feng felt his brain swelling, but he snapped to full alertness when he saw the words "Burning Mantra"—wasn't this Xiao Yan's core cultivation technique? The system was actually giving it away for free?

Detected that the host's realm is too low. Activating Devour System function.

Before the words faded, the rewards in his consciousness transformed into streams of light, pouring into his limbs and bones. Xiao Feng let out a muffled groan, feeling as if magma were surging through his veins. His Dou Qi surged like a burst dam, climbing crazily from the ninth stage of Dou Qi: Dou Practitioner, Dou Master, Dou Grandmaster, Dou Ling, Dou King... it did not slow down until it reached the nine-star Dou Emperor realm.

He stood up abruptly, his robes fluttering without a breeze. With a light flick of his finger, the pear blossoms on the stone table were reduced to powder—this was the wind pressure accompanying the Heaven-tier Dou Technique "Heavenly Demon Wings"! He then channeled "Soul Movement Three Thousand," and his soul power spread out like transparent ripples, allowing him to hear the chirping of insects and birds within a hundred meters with perfect clarity.

"A sixth-tier alchemist... peak Heavenly-tier soul power..." Xiao Feng muttered to himself, his gaze falling on the Heavenly Flame within the system space. The red glow of the Fallen Heart Flame pulsed, creating a strange resonance with the Dou Qi in his body. Suddenly, he remembered something and hurriedly spoke:

"System, hide my cultivation!"

Full-domain camouflage has been activated for the host. Current displayed realm: three-star Dou Practitioner.

Xiao Feng let out a long breath, his fingertips brushing his brow. Now he looked like an ordinary Xiao Clan youth, yet he hid power within his body capable of shattering mountains. He looked up at the sky, where lightning flickered faintly within the clouds—this was the natural phenomenon triggered by his breakthrough to Dou Emperor, now forcibly suppressed by the system.

"Hun Tiandi... Hun Dan..." He silently recited the villain's name, a cold arc forming on his lips. In the original story, the Soul Clan conspired to frame Xiao Xuan, and now there was an extra transmigrator named Hun Dan; this game of chess was becoming increasingly interesting.

Footsteps approached from outside the courtyard, and Xiao Zhan's voice carried a hint of concern: "Feng'er? Your mother said you haven't eaten all day..."

Xiao Feng immediately restrained his aura, turning around with a well-behaved expression: "Father, I was just researching Dou Qi circulation paths and lost track of time."

Xiao Zhan examined his son, his gaze lingering for a moment on the boy's flushed earlobes. As a five-star Dou Grandmaster, he naturally sensed the energy fluctuations from just moments ago, but he assumed it was merely the movement of a youth making a breakthrough: "Follow me to the training grounds tomorrow. The clan elders want to see the cultivation progress of you and Yan'er."

"Yes." Xiao Feng lowered his head in agreement, his fingertips crushing a pear blossom inside his sleeve. The training grounds? It would be the perfect place to test the power of the "Flame Splitting Wave-Devouring Ruler"—though he would have to hold back his strength to maintain the facade of a three-star Dou Practitioner.

As night fell, Xiao Feng sat cross-legged on his bed, the system panel unfolding in his consciousness. The icon for "Billion-fold Gift Return" shimmered with golden light. He raised an eyebrow with a faint smile and tapped the "Check-in" function.

Ding! Host checked in at the Xiao Clan training grounds. Obtained the Xuan-tier high-level movement technique Snow-Treading Trace-less.

"Interesting," he muttered to himself, the image of Hun Dan appearing in his mind. As fellow transmigrators, that guy's system certainly wouldn't be simple, but in terms of comprehensive functionality... Xiao Feng's finger slid over icons like "Devour" and "Lie Flat," a look of determination flashing in his eyes.

Outside the window, a crescent moon climbed onto the branches. Xiao Feng closed his eyes to meditate, but his soul power spread out like a spiderweb until it touched the boundaries of the Xiao Clan before suddenly retracting—in a dark corner, he "saw" a strange figure.

The man was wearing the black robes unique to the Soul Clan, fiddling with a jade slip under the moonlight. Xiao Feng's pupils constricted as he recognized it as the secret "Soul Guiding Technique" jade slip of the Soul Clan—and the aura on the jade slip resonated faintly with the aura of the transmigrator in his memories.

"Hun Dan..." he whispered the name, his lips curling into a dangerous arc. "It seems you can't wait to make your entrance either."

The system notification sounded suddenly:

Warning! Parallel transmigrator energy fluctuations detected. It is recommended that the host increase their strength as soon as possible.

Xiao Feng opened his eyes, a cold glint appearing in them. Five years of waiting had finally led to a true opponent. He raised a hand to his chest, feeling the surging Dou Qi within—this time, the Xiao Clan would not be reduced to background characters, and he would be the one holding the pieces to rewrite history.

"System," he whispered in his heart, "next, it's time to let the Soul Clan taste the feeling of being crushed."