The Martial Arena's Sudden Upheaval, the Youth Conceals His Edge

When the bronze bell in the Xiao Clan's martial arena rang, Xiao Feng was following Xiao Zhan through the moon gate. Morning light skimmed the brows he had deliberately lowered, hiding the sharpness in his eyes in shadow. On the stone platform at the center of the arena, Third Elder Xiao Lei stroked his goatee as he lectured. More than twenty children stood lined up, with Xiao Yan at the head, rising onto his toes to wave at him.

"Don't be nervous in a moment," Xiao Zhan said quietly, resting a hand on his shoulder. "You only need to show how well you can gather Dou Qi. Don't push yourself."

Xiao Feng lowered his gaze and nodded, but the corner of his eye swept over the shadows in the arena. A faint smell of rotting grass lingered there, mixed with a trace of the Soul Clan's distinctive chill. That black-robed man from last night had indeed come again.

"Third son, Xiao Feng, and fifth son, Xiao Yan, step forward for the test!"

The Third Elder's voice interrupted his thoughts. Xiao Yan bounced forward, pale-green Dou Qi shining in his palm as nine rays of light rippled outward. The watching elders murmured their praise, and a smile lifted Xiao Zhan's lips. But when Xiao Feng stepped forward at an unhurried pace, only three faint wisps of light emerged from his palm.

"Three-Star Dou Zhe?" The First Elder paused in the act of stroking his beard. "A five-year-old should still be at the Dou Qi stage. Your progress..."

"Reporting to the First Elder, your nephew is dull-witted and only broke through recently." Xiao Feng lowered his head as if in trepidation, though the corner of his eye caught Xiao Yan staring at him in confusion. A system notification rang out in his mind:

Ding! A special area in the martial arena has been detected. Sign-in function activated. You have obtained the Profound Tier Middle Grade Dou Technique, Wind Blade Technique.

"In that case, let's see how you do in actual combat." Second Elder Xiao Lie waved his hand, and two boys were called onto the arena. Xiao Feng raised his eyes to meet his opponent Xiao Lin's taunting gaze. He was a sixteen-year-old from a collateral branch, a Four-Star Dou Zhe.

"Be careful, Third Brother." Xiao Lin rolled his wrists, his knuckles cracking. Earth-yellow Dou Qi surged in his palm. It was the opening stance of the Yellow Tier High Grade Dou Technique, Rock Fist.

Xiao Feng retreated half a step, lightly touching the ground with his toe. Snow-Treading Trace-less began to circulate automatically in the system space. His figure suddenly blurred, streaking across the arena like an afterimage. Xiao Lin's punch struck empty air. When he turned, Xiao Feng was already standing three paces away, a pale-green wind blade gathering at his fingertip—the Dou Technique he had just obtained.

"Wind attribute Dou Qi?" the Third Elder exclaimed. Most members of the Xiao Clan cultivated fire-attribute techniques, so wind attribute was exceedingly rare. Xiao Feng kept his edge hidden. Just before the wind blade could hit his opponent, he shifted it a fraction to the side. It skimmed past Xiao Lin's ear, slicing off a few strands of hair.

"My apologies." He cupped his hands in salute, his breathing as steady as before. Xiao Lin's face flushed red. He opened his mouth, but had nothing to say. His opponent had clearly used only the strength of a Three-Star Dou Zhe, yet had precisely suppressed his Four-Star Dou Qi.

Xiao Zhan's gaze darkened slightly. He had clearly sensed that the power contained in that wind blade had far exceeded the level of a Three-Star Dou Zhe. But when he saw his son's lowered eyes, he ultimately said nothing. A sudden commotion swept through the arena as Xiao Yan leaped onto the platform, flames blazing in his palm. "I want to spar with Third Brother too!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Xiao Zhan frowned, but the First Elder raised a hand to stop him.

"They're just children. Let them play," the First Elder said with a smile and a wave. "But make sure you pull your punches."

Looking at the fighting spirit in Xiao Yan's eyes, Xiao Feng suddenly remembered the way the boy had fought with people in the streets of Wutan City in the original story. He sighed softly and deliberately let his Dou Qi defenses fall. "Xiao Yanzi, come on."

Xiao Yan froze for a moment, then broke into a sly grin. Flames gathered at his fingertips, forming an arrow. It was the Xiao Clan's basic Dou Technique, Fire Lotus Arrow—a move that should have been Yellow Tier Low Grade, but Xiao Yan's pure Dou Qi had made it a solid streak of crimson light.

Just as the arrowhead was about to touch Xiao Feng's chest, he suddenly turned sideways and dodged with a spin using Snow-Treading Trace-less. Xiao Yan couldn't stop in time and stumbled straight into his arms. The two of them fell to the ground together. Laughter erupted across the arena. Xiao Yan climbed to his feet, red-faced, but Xiao Feng held him by the shoulder. "Don't be mad. You controlled the flames very well."

The boy's ears turned red. He muttered, "You could've dodged. Why did you let me hit you?"

Xiao Feng was about to answer when he caught sight of a shadow darting across the locust tree on the west side of the arena. It was the black-robed man from last night! His pupils contracted. His soul power shot out like an arrow, but the moment it touched the other man, he sensed a familiar energy fluctuation—the aura of a fellow transmigrator!

"Father, I'm going to step away for a moment." He spoke in a low voice, then slipped away before Xiao Zhan could reply. The system's warning sounded urgently:

Warning! A high concentration of soul power has been detected. Suspected subordinate of a parallel transmigrator!

"So it really is Hun Dan's man." Xiao Feng cursed under his breath, then leaped onto the wall with a tap of his toe. Beneath the moonlight, the black-robed man was muttering to a jade slip. Strange purple markings flowed across its surface—the Soul-Guiding Jade Slip, used by the Soul Clan to track Xiao Clan bloodlines.

"Hand over the jade slip." Xiao Feng landed without a sound. The wind pressure from his Heavenly Demon Wings made the leaves around him rustle. The black-robed man spun around, and three Soul Insects flew from his palm. They were the Soul Clan's secret Soul-Devouring Insects, which specialized in gnawing at cultivators' souls.

"A mere Dou Zhe dares meddle in the Soul Clan's affairs?" the black-robed man sneered, his voice as hoarse as metal scraping metal. But Xiao Feng noticed the tattoo showing at his sleeve: the mark of the Soul Clan branch called Blood Soul Hall. It seemed Hun Dan had already infiltrated the area around the Xiao Clan.

His soul power formed an invisible barrier that stopped the swarm, while crimson light gathered at his fingertips—the Fallen Heart Flame. He deliberately suppressed its power and swung it as though it were merely a Yellow Tier Dou Technique. But the instant it made contact, he suddenly activated Soul Movement Three Thousand.

The black-robed man grunted, and the jade slip slid from his palm. Xiao Feng picked up the weighty object and saw the clan mark carved into it: the character "Xiao." The chill in his eyes deepened. Another system notification rang out:

Ding! A secret Soul Clan jade slip has been seized. Devour System function activated. You have obtained the Soul Clan's basic secret technique, Soul Shadow Step.

"Who are you?" The black-robed man backed away, clutching his forehead. "Why do you have Xiao Xuan's aura?"

Xiao Feng raised an eyebrow and was about to reply when Xiao Zhan's shout suddenly came from far away. His gaze turned cold. Flames surged from his fingertips and instantly burned the black-robed man to ash. Soul Clan assassins often used substitutes anyway; the real body might not even be here.

When he returned to the martial arena, Xiao Zhan was holding Xiao Yan by the ear and scolding him. "Who told you to climb onto the platform without permission? What if you'd hurt your Third Brother..."

"Father, I was the one who asked Xiao Yanzi to spar with me." Xiao Feng came to the rescue in time, hiding the jade slip in his sleeve. "Your nephew just found this in a corner."

He opened his palm. The clan mark on the jade slip glimmered in the sunlight. The elders gathered around, and the First Elder's expression changed abruptly. "This is the Xiao Clan's secret jade slip, lost three hundred years ago! Where did you find it?"

Xiao Feng lowered his gaze, his tone half-true and half-false. "Under a locust tree in the back courtyard. It looked as though someone had deliberately left it there."

Xiao Zhan exchanged a glance with the Third Elder. The latter waved for everyone to disperse, leaving only the core elders in the martial arena. Xiao Feng noticed Xiao Zhan's fingers unconsciously touching the jade pendant at his waist. It was a keepsake left by Xiao Xuan, said to hold the secret of the Xiao Clan's Dou Di Bloodline.

"Feng'er," Xiao Zhan suddenly said, his voice low, "how did you cultivate the wind attribute Dou Qi you just showed?"

The air in the martial arena suddenly froze. Xiao Feng had prepared for this. He took a jade slip from his robe. "I found it in the library last night. It's called Green Mist Art, and it says it's suitable for cultivators with mutated attributes."

The First Elder took the jade slip and looked it over. His expression softened. "So it was a private collection from the First Elder's lineage back then. Never mind. Since you obtained it through your own opportunity, cultivate it well."

As everyone dispersed, Xiao Yan sidled up to him and lowered his voice. "Third Brother, your footwork was so fast just now. It was like you were flying!"

"Want to learn?" Xiao Feng chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair. "Once you break through to Dou Zhe, Third Brother will teach you."

Night fell. Xiao Feng sat on the roof, gazing up at the stars. On the system panel, the Billion-fold Gift Return function glimmered faintly. He tapped it with his fingertip, took out a second-grade Qi Gathering Pill from the system space, and tossed it toward the neighboring courtyard. Xiao Yan's friend, Xiao Yao, lived there.

Ding! The host gave away a second-grade Qi Gathering Pill. The billion-fold return has been triggered. You have obtained one Heaven Tier High Grade Pill, Sky-Breaking Pill.

"Interesting." He murmured, then stored the pill in the system space. In the distance, the night watchman's clapper rang out. It was a quarter past midnight, the Soul Clan's busiest time. He circulated Soul Movement Three Thousand, letting his soul power spread like a spiderweb until it reached a barren mountain thirty li beyond the Xiao Clan.

There stood an abandoned temple. The black-robed man knelt on one knee, bowing to a projection in the air. "Your Eminence, that boy from the Xiao Clan really is strange. His soul power..."

"That's enough." The man in the projection raised a hand to cut him off, his voice impatient. "He's just a low-level transmigrator. What trouble can he cause?"

Xiao Feng's pupils contracted. The man in the projection wore a modern hoodie and a smartwatch on his wrist. He was unmistakably a genuine Earthling—Hun Dan had finally shown himself.

"Your Eminence, he seems able to see through the Soul Insects' attacks..."

"I said not to worry about it." Hun Dan tapped his fingers on the table. In the background, the cover of the novel Battle Through the Heavens was faintly visible. "The Xiao Clan has a trump card left by Xiao Xuan. Let them bounce around for a few more days. Once I break through to Dou Di..."

The image abruptly cut off, and Xiao Feng clenched his fist. So Hun Dan had known the Xiao Clan's secret all along—and might even have read the original story! A system notification rang out:

Warning! The parallel transmigrator's cultivation level has been detected: Nine-Star Dou Sheng Great Perfection. The host is advised to advance to Dou Zong as soon as possible.

"Dou Sheng..." Xiao Feng murmured, looking down at the Fallen Heart Flame in his palm. The system's Devour function could convert Heavenly Flame energy into cultivation. Perhaps he could try fusing several Heavenly Flames?

He leaped off the roof and headed for the clan's forbidden grounds. The Xiao Clan's last fire pool was there; perhaps it could serve as a place to fuse Heavenly Flames. As he passed Xiao Zhan's room, he heard a quiet conversation from inside:

"...Before Father died, he said that if any clan member awakened wind attribute Dou Qi, it would be a sign of bloodline reversion..."

Xiao Feng paused, then smiled and shook his head. Bloodline reversion? More likely, the soul of a transmigrator had resonated with the Xiao Clan's bloodline. He pushed open the stone door to the forbidden grounds. A wave of heat rushed from the fire pool, reflected in the sharp gleam of his eyes. Hun Dan thought he had everything under control, but he had no idea that the real game of chess had only just begun.

He sat cross-legged beside the fire pool and took out three Heavenly Flames from the system space. The crimson Fallen Heart Flame surged forth first, followed by the ghostly blue Ancient Spirit Cold Flame and the emerald Green Spirit Earth Core Flame. The three flames spun in his palm, slowly merging into a strange purplish-black blaze.

Ding! The host has fused three Heavenly Flames. Devour System bonus activated. You have obtained the half-step Emperor Flame, Burning Heaven Purple Flame!

A burst of agony erupted from his palm. Xiao Feng grunted as cold sweat soaked through his clothes. But he gritted his teeth and endured, letting the flames spread along his meridians. This body had been transformed by the system and had already surpassed the limits of ordinary cultivators, not to mention that the Diamond Indestructible Dou Technique protected him.

When the purplish-black flame finally condensed into a vortex in his dantian, Xiao Feng felt his Dou Qi cultivation break through Nine-Star Dou Emperor and surge straight toward Dou Zong! He opened his eyes. A flicker of purple flame glimmered in his pupils. With a wave of his hand, the rocks beside the fire pool instantly crumbled to dust.

"Early-stage Dou Zong..." he murmured, feeling the surging power within him. "Hun Dan, do you think the Xiao Clan is still a lamb waiting to be slaughtered? Just wait. In our next clash, I'll show you what a real transmigrator is."

The system notification rang at just the right moment:

Ding! The host has successfully fused Heavenly Flames. New function unlocked: Plane Shop. Modern Earth items can now be exchanged.

Xiao Feng raised an eyebrow, a smile tugging at his lips. Modern items? Perhaps he could exchange for some high-tech weapons and catch Hun Dan completely off guard. He stood and gazed toward the brightening eastern sky, purple flames dancing at his fingertips. A new day had begun, and the Xiao Clan's road to rising up had officially started.