Though it was only One-Star, this was the Dou Wang realm!
You had to understand!
Across the entire Jia Ma Empire, the Dou Wang realm was already among the highest levels of combat strength. Someone at that level could wipe out Wutan City with ease!
Even the elders of the Misty Cloud Sect were only at the Dou Wang level, while the clan heads of Wutan City's three great families were merely Da Dou Shi!
This inexplicably surging power came far too fiercely, and Xiao Yan couldn't control it perfectly for a moment.
A trace of the terrifying aura of a Dou Wang expert leaked out—
Buzz!
Centered on him, an invisible pressure rippled outward!
The examiner standing closest to him turned pale and stumbled back several steps, as if an invisible giant hand had shoved him!
"W-what's going on..."
The examiner stared at Xiao Yan in bewilderment, his face filled with horror.
The laughter across the square abruptly stopped.
Everyone in the Xiao Family square felt an inexplicable pressure, as if something terrifying were awakening inside Xiao Yan.
And in that very instant—
"Hah..."
Xiao Yan took a deep breath, then poured all his strength into urging the inexplicable power within him and slammed it hard into the Test Magic Stone Stele.
He didn't try to control it at all, because all he'd heard just now was that he had to attack with all his might.
And so—
With a "boom"!!!
The pitch-black Magic Stone Stele erupted in a dazzling light unlike anything it had ever shown before!
Its brilliance was like the blazing sun overhead, illuminating the entire square as if it were broad daylight!
The words on the stele's surface began to flash wildly:
"Dou Qi: Stage One, Stage Two, Stage Three... Stage Nine!"
"Dou Zhe: One-Star, Two-Star, Three-Star... Nine-Star!"
When the display reached "Nine-Star Dou Zhe," the Test Magic Stone Stele began to shake violently, and countless cracks appeared across its surface!
"Oh my heavens..."
Th-this... how is this possible?"
The Xiao Family's Great Elder shot to his feet, his eyes filled with shock.
The examiner gaped, and the record book in his hand fell to the ground with a smack.
The entire square fell silent.
Everyone stared wide-eyed at the words flashing wildly across the stele.
Nine-Star Dou Zhe?
In just one year!
Xiao Yan had gone from Three-Stage Dou Qi... straight to Nine-Star Dou Zhe?
How was that possible?!
"Oh my god!"
"X-Xiao Yan... Xiao Yan has actually reached Nine-Star Dou Zhe?"
"That's outrageous!"
"I... I... I can't really be dreaming, can I?"
"Has the Xiao Family's once-in-a-century genius... r-really returned?"
At that moment—
Everyone in the Xiao Family felt their hearts shudder. Their eyes fixed on the thin yet resolute figure before the Test Magic Stone Stele, as though they were seeing that dazzling star from three years ago once more!
The Xiao Family's clan head, Xiao Zhan, had a faint shimmer in his eyes, as if he were moved, excited, and relieved all at once...
In short,
The words on the Test Magic Stone Stele struck everyone in the Xiao Family like a bolt from the blue.
And yet!
What was even more unbelievable came next.
After displaying "Nine-Star Dou Zhe," the Test Magic Stone Stele seemed nowhere near its limit. It appeared to be trying to show an even higher cultivation level!
But—
As a low-grade Test Magic Stone, the stele simply wasn't made of material capable of measuring a higher realm.
Under countless horrified gazes—
Crack!
Then—
A strained, mournful groan came from within the Test Magic Stone Stele!
Cracks spread like a spiderweb!
Bang—
An explosion loud enough to shake the heavens rang across the entire Xiao Family square!
No one had expected it.
The Test Magic Stone Stele had exploded!
Blown to pieces!
Shards flew everywhere as dust filled the air!
When the dust settled, everyone saw Xiao Yan standing quietly where he was, his palm still held against the stele.
Before him, the once indestructible Test Magic Stone Stele, which had endured for countless years, had been reduced to a pile of powder.
Silence.
A silence that lasted a long, long while.
"The Test Magic Stone Stele shattered? N-no, that can't be..."
"His... his Dou Qi... just how powerful is it?"
The examiner's voice trembled. His face was deathly pale, and his eyes were wide with shock.
On the high platform, every Xiao Family elder rose abruptly, trembling from head to toe!
Xiao Zhan charged straight down from the platform and stared fixedly at Xiao Yan. His lips quivered, but he couldn't say a word.
Even Xiao Xun'er couldn't help opening her mouth, her beautiful eyes full of shock and... deep confusion.
She couldn't understand what had happened to Xiao Yan. How could his Dou Qi have reached such a level?
At the same time—
The surging Dou Wang power inside Xiao Yan suddenly began to slip out of control!
It wasn't intentional. The power he had just obtained was simply too immense and had come too suddenly. He hadn't fully adapted to it yet.
"Boom!"
Then—
The space behind Xiao Yan rippled.
A pair of brilliant crimson Dou Qi Wings slowly unfurled.
Their wingspan exceeded three meters. They were formed entirely from incomparably pure Dou Qi, with every feather clearly defined, and radiated a pressure that made one's heart tremble!
Dou Qi Wings!
The hallmark of a Dou Wang!
This sight—
Left everyone in the Xiao Family utterly stunned, frozen in terror!
"T-this... this is D-Dou Qi taking the form of wings... Dou Qi Wings!"
The Second Elder's voice trembled. His old face was ashen, and even a hint of fear showed in his eyes.
A Dou Wang!
That was a Dou Wang!
Aside from Xiao Lin, the former clan head from the previous generation, the Xiao Family had yet to produce even a single Dou Ling expert—let alone a Dou Wang!
Most crucially—
How old was Xiao Yan now?
Fifteen!
"What? Young Master X-Xiao Yan... is actually a Dou Wang?!"
"A fifteen-year-old Dou Wang?"
The Third Elder swallowed hard. Thinking of Xiao Yan's age, he was so frightened that he dropped back into his chair, his whole body going limp.
A fifteen-year-old Dou Wang!
How outrageous!
How unbelievable!
If word of this got out, the entire Jia Ma Empire... would probably be turned upside down!
At that moment—
Every member of the Xiao Family stood there dumbfounded, as if they had seen a ghost, unable to believe what was happening before their eyes.
A fifteen-year-old Dou Wang?
Th-this really couldn't be a dream, could it?!
It was said that the youngest Dou Wang in the history of the Jia Ma Empire had broken through at the age of twenty-five!
A fifteen-year-old Dou Wang?
Unheard of!
Unprecedented!
He had set an entirely new record by a margin no one could hope to match!
Impossible to believe!
Impossible to accept!
You had to understand, before this, Xiao Yan had still been a good-for-nothing whose cultivation had inexplicably regressed!
And yet...
Seeing the pair of Dou Qi Wings behind Xiao Yan, the members of the Xiao Family had no choice but to accept the truth—
Their young master, Xiao Yan, really did seem to have become a Dou Wang!
Even—
Even Xiao Xun'er, whose background was extraordinary, stared at Xiao Yan in disbelief, her face full of astonishment.
Xiao Yan's outrageous cultivation had completely overturned the understanding of this Ancient Clan prodigy. Even across the Ancient Clan, he would be an unparalleled genius of the ages, wouldn't he? And he had achieved it in a place as lacking in resources as Wutan City!
"Brother Xiao Yan, how did he do it?"
"Could it... have something to do with that thing Father is looking for?"
Looking at the young figure before her, Xiao Xun'er gave the hem of her skirt a slight tug and couldn't help wondering nervously.
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