A Year as a Dou Zhe

"Dou Qi: Seventh Stage!"

"Xiao Mei, Dou Qi: Seventh Stage! Rank: High!"

"Yeah!" Hearing the examiner announce her result, the young girl's face bloomed with a proud smile.

A massive testing stele stood in the middle of the bluestone-paved training ground.

This was the clan's annual Dou Qi test, meant to determine whether the younger generation possessed sufficient talent and assign their future positions within the clan according to their ranks.

"Seven stages of Dou Qi—impressive. At this rate, she'll probably become a true Dou Zhe in three years at most, right?"

"As expected of one of the clan's seed talents."

As she stepped down from the bluestone platform, the girl listened to the envious voices rising from the crowd, and the smile on her face grew even brighter. Vanity was a temptation many girls could not resist.

"Next, Xiao Xun Er!"

The examiner's voice rang out once more amid the noisy crowd.

As that elegant name was called, the crowd suddenly fell silent, and every gaze shifted at once.

At the center of everyone's attention stood a young girl in a purple dress. Her delicate, lovely face remained calm, entirely unchanged by the attention focused upon her.

With graceful steps, Xiao Xun Er walked to the foot of the stele and extended her small hand. Her purple sleeve, embroidered with black-and-gold thread, slipped down to reveal a snowy-white, tender wrist, which she then lightly pressed against the stele.

After a brief silence, dazzling light blossomed from the stele once again.

"Dou Qi: Ninth Stage! Rank: High!"

"She's already reached the ninth stage? The younger generation truly is formidable. Miss Xun Er is surely the number one among the clan's young members."

After the silence, the surrounding youths, along with several observing clan elders, involuntarily swallowed, their eyes full of awe.

Looking at the information on the stele, even the otherwise impassive middle-aged examiner revealed a rare smile. He spoke to the girl with slight respect. "Miss Xun Er, in another half year, you should be able to condense a Dou Qi vortex. If you succeed, then becoming a true Dou Zhe at fourteen will make you the second person in the Xiao Family to do so in a hundred years!"

"Thank you."

The girl gave a slight nod. Her calm, pretty face showed no joy at his praise. She quietly turned around, then looked toward the boy waiting nearby beneath the crowd's fervent gazes.

"...Xiao Yan."

"Next, Xiao Yan!"

The examiner's call completely interrupted Xun Er's words. The boy, who had been resting with his eyes closed, finally opened his black eyes and let out a breath of turbid air.

He slowly rose to his feet, yet he did not hurry forward for the test. Instead, he looked toward the seats on the high platform where the elders and clan leader sat.

Noticing his son's gaze, Xiao Zhan nodded encouragingly and silently awaited the result.

Whispers continuously reached Xiao Yan's ears, most likely sighs over a fallen genius—or mockery.

"Go on."

Suddenly, Xiao Yan heard a familiar voice.

He turned his head and saw a slender figure wearing a bamboo hat that concealed her face.

Her plain-colored long dress and bamboo hat seemed utterly out of place together, yet that only made people unable to help but let their gazes fall upon her.

"Miss Wan...?"

"Miss Wan'er came today as well?"

Xiao Zhan and the elders froze for a moment. They had no idea when Yao Wan had appeared beside them, quietly watching everything unfolding on the training ground below.

Xiao Zhan subconsciously spoke to the young girl.

"Yes, it has been a long time, Uncle."

Yao Wan responded, sensing Xiao Zhan's current cultivation. "Congratulations, Uncle. Your cultivation has risen another level over these past six months."

"Hehe... not at all, not at all. It is all thanks to the pills Miss Wan'er generously gifted me."

Xiao Zhan, now a Seven Star Great Dou Shi, said with a smile.

Over the past six months, he had taken one Shi Ling Pill, and his cultivation had steadily improved. In just half a year, he had advanced from a Five Star Great Dou Shi to a Seven Star Great Dou Shi.

That was only because Xiao Zhan had not recklessly rushed his progress.

Once he completely refined the medicinal power within his body, he likely would not even need three Shi Ling Pills. Two would be enough for him to break through to Dou Ling.

At that time, the Xiao Family would have no rivals left in Wutan City, and within the Xiao Family itself, he would no longer be restrained by the several elders.

Whether within or beyond the clan, Xiao Zhan could finally hold his head high. How could he not be grateful to the girl who had bestowed such a tremendous opportunity upon him?

The Second Elder watched from the side with longing in his eyes. To claim that he did not care or feel jealous would only be deceiving himself.

Although their side had indeed benefited from the Shi Ling Pills this time, where had those pills come from in the first place?

Had they not been refined by her?

Receiving a benefit once merely meant obtaining pills, but Xiao Yan and his father had gained the favor of this Dou Wang alchemist herself. The difference between the two was like the bright moon and a firefly.

"...I am glad you like Wan'er's gift, Uncle."

Yao Wan did not say much else. Gifts for elders... weren't such things only natural?

"Then did Miss Wan'er come this time to see Yan'er?"

Xiao Zhan knew an old man like himself had little to discuss with a young girl, so the topic naturally turned to the boy below the platform.

"Yes. Xiao Yan has been silent for nearly three years. Now, it is time for him to take back everything he lost over those three years."

Yao Wan's gaze followed him down from the high platform. She watched as the boy slowly climbed the bluestone steps, placed his hand on the stele, and poured his Dou Qi into it.

The stele was silent at first, then erupted with intense light once more.

The fluctuations and intensity of the light almost instantly surpassed the strength expected of the previously tested Third Stage of Dou Qi, and it continued soaring at an unbelievable speed.

He ignored the idle remarks behind him, their initial disdain, and their shock and astonishment when the stele finally underwent its drastic change.

Dou Zhe: One Star!

As they stared at the four gleaming golden words on the black stele, the training ground fell briefly silent. Then, sharp gasps rose in waves like a sudden gale, and everyone's expressions froze in that instant.

With a crisp crack, the teacup in Xiao Zhan's hand—which he had been holding while chatting pleasantly with Yao Wan—was crushed into powder by his grip. Tea mixed with the fragments dripped down from his palm, soaking his clothes.

"Dou Zhe... a Dou Zhe!"

Xiao Zhan murmured unconsciously. He did not care about the tea on his clothes. Beyond shock, his heart held only relief and heartache.

Yan'er must have paid far too much for this day.