Heh heh heh, congratulations to the host for making Xiao Yan feel inferior through your invincible might!

In short!

At that moment, the entire Xiao Family square was eerily silent. You could hear a pin drop!

Everyone in the Xiao Family had been stunned by Xiao Yan's strength. Their minds had gone completely blank, and they felt as if they were dreaming.

Let alone everyone else.

Even Xiao Yan himself was taken aback.

He hadn't expected the full force of a Dou Wang's strike to get so out of hand.

Not only had he shattered the Test Magic Stone Stele with a single blow, he had even manifested Dou Qi Wings.

Just like that—

His cultivation as a Dou Wang was now indisputable. There was no way to hide it, even if he wanted to.

Still...

He hadn't planned to hide it in the first place, so it didn't matter.

At the very least, seeing the dumbfounded expressions on the faces of the Xiao Family members around him felt pretty satisfying.

After a pause,

Xiao Yan's thoughts stirred, and the Dou Qi Wings on his back began to flap slowly.

He rose from the ground, hovering three feet above it.

At that moment—

The young man's black robes billowed as his Dou Qi Wings unfurled. He looked like a god descending from the heavens.

"Gasp..."

A wave of sharp, collective gasps rang out, one after another without end.

Flight through the air!

A Dou Wang, without a doubt!

Now, no one in the Xiao Family dared question Xiao Yan's cultivation anymore!

[ Ding— ]

The system's notification rang out in Xiao Yan's mind, brimming with near delirious excitement:

[Host, well done!!!]

[With unmatched might, you shattered the stele with one palm and manifested Dou Qi Wings, revealing your Dou Wang cultivation and stunning the entire crowd!]

[Every member of the Xiao Family is deeply shaken, awestruck by the host's monstrous talent!]

[The Destined Protagonist Xiao Yan saw that the host was his age yet possessed such heaven-defying cultivation. His Dao heart suffered a heavy blow. Overcome with shame and indignation, he felt utterly inferior to the host! Destined fortune value -100!]

[You're winning big! The host is winning big!]

[Mission completion rating: SSS!]

[Rewards issued: Obtained the great villain's treasure—the "Ten Thousand Soul Banner"! Obtained +666 Super Villain Points! Obtained +100 fortune value!]

[Bonus reward: Due to the host's outstanding performance, you have received the special constitution "Innate Great Sun Sacred Body"!]

"???"

"I can really complete the mission like this? By putting myself down?"

Xiao Yan's mouth twitched despite himself.

System, system, as long as you're happy.

Still...

Feeling the tremendous, surging Dou Qi within his body,

maybe it wasn't so bad that the system had a bug like this?

Then,

Xiao Yan slowly descended. The Dou Qi Wings on his back became a streak of flame and vanished.

His gaze swept calmly across the crowd.

Every face was frozen, shocked, and disbelieving. Now they were all marked with fear and awe, especially those who had mocked Xiao Yan earlier. They were trembling with fright.

In front of a Dou Wang, they didn't even have the courage to resist.

"As you can all see..."

Xiao Yan spoke slowly. His voice wasn't loud, yet it carried clearly to every corner.

"I, Xiao Yan—"

"Recently came across a fortuitous opportunity and was lucky enough to break through to Dou Wang!"

After he finished speaking,

Xiao Yan's gaze seemed to pass over the group who had mocked him earlier, whether intentionally or not.

Whoosh...

In an instant!

The faces of those clansmen who had mocked Xiao Yan turned from white to red, then from red to blue. At last, they lowered their heads, not daring to meet his eyes.

Remembering how they had just called Xiao Yan a "good-for-nothing," they now wished they could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

That was a Dou Wang!

A supreme realm they would probably never reach in their entire lives!

"Y-Yan'er!"

Xiao Zhan finally came to his senses. He hurried over to Xiao Yan, his hands trembling as he gripped his shoulders.

"Your... your cultivation... what happened?"

Xiao Yan looked at the man who was his father in name, his face brimming with excitement and delight, and smiled faintly.

"Father!"

He said quietly, "I'll explain some things to you later."

"For now... let's deal with the Test Magic Stone Stele."

Xiao Zhan nodded emphatically, his tiger-like eyes brimming with tears. "Good, good! You're back. That's all that matters!"

He didn't care what secrets or opportunities his son had.

All he cared about was that, from this moment on, his Yan'er would no longer be a good-for-nothing whom anyone could bully and mock!

His genius Yan'er had returned!

And—

He was even more monstrous than he had been three years ago!

[ Ding— ]

[Congratulations, host! With your peerless talent, you have earned the trust of Xiao Zhan, the Xiao Family Patriarch, who now considers you his adopted son. This has left the protagonist Xiao Yan aggrieved yet helpless! Plundered +10 of his fortune!]

[Heh heh heh...]

[With this move, the host inadvertently suppressed this world's protagonist while further gaining the Xiao Family's trust. What a masterful stroke!]

[Obtained +100 Super Villain Points!]

That works too?

Xiao Yan shook his head to himself. As long as the system was happy.

"Great Elder."

Xiao Yan turned toward the raised platform and said calmly, "The Test Magic Stone Stele was destroyed because of me. I'll compensate you."

At that,

the Great Elder opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but his throat had gone dry. He couldn't get a single word out.

Compensate them?

How much could a Test Magic Stone Stele possibly be worth?

A Dou Wang!

You were a Dou Wang!

A fifteen-year-old Dou Wang! If word of this got out, forget a mere Wutan City—even the entire Jia Ma Empire would be shaken!

"Y-Young Master Yan..."

"N-No need to compensate us!"

The Great Elder's voice was hoarse. His gaze was incredibly complicated, and in the end he couldn't help asking with a hint of awe, "When... when did you break through to Dou Wang?"

He even used an honorific when addressing Xiao Yan, a Dou Wang.

After all—

Even if he racked his brains, he couldn't imagine what heights the Xiao Family might reach in the future with a fifteen-year-old Dou Wang...

It was no exaggeration to say that,

at that moment, Xiao Yan was the Xiao Family's god and its future!

Faced with the Xiao Family Great Elder's question,

Xiao Yan only smiled without answering.

There was no way he could tell him that the system had directly raised him to Dou Wang.

"Great Elder, you're... asking a few too many questions."

Xiao Zhan furrowed his brows and shot the other man a cold glance.

Seeing Xiao Yan and Xiao Zhan react that way, the Xiao Family Great Elder immediately realized he had overstepped. The secret behind Xiao Yan reaching Dou Wang at the age of fifteen was certainly not something a person like him had any right to know.

So,

the Xiao Family Great Elder took a deep breath and hurriedly cupped his hands. "Patriarch, please forgive my rudeness!"

From that moment on, he no longer had any desire to vie for the position of Patriarch.

Xiao Zhan gave a cold snort. In the end, they were still members of the same clan, so he wouldn't hold it too much against him.

He glanced at the shattered pieces on the ground, then slowly spoke in a booming voice.

"Because the Test Magic Stone Stele has been damaged, today's test ends here!"

"No member of the Xiao Family is to spread what they saw today!"

"Violators will be dealt with according to clan rules!"

The Xiao Family had produced a fifteen-year-old Dou Wang. Such news was simply too shocking; for now, they had to keep things under control.

Otherwise, the Xiao Family would likely find trouble coming its way.

After a pause,

Xiao Zhan's gaze swept over the crowd like lightning. "Now, disperse!"

The crowd began to disperse, but everyone glanced back at the young man in black as they left.

Their eyes were complicated.

Awe, fear, jealousy, envy...

How had a good-for-nothing with only three stages of Dou Qi somehow turned into a Dou Wang?

Xiao Yan ignored their gazes and turned toward his courtyard. What had happened today was far too sudden; he planned to sort it all out properly.

Unexpectedly—

Xiao Xun'er hurried after him.

"Brother Xiao Yan..."

She called softly.

"Y-You really are a Dou Wang?"