Ten Years

"Dou Force, third stage!"

"Xiao Yan, Dou Force, third stage! Level: Low!"

Beside the Test Magic Stone Stele, a middle-aged man glanced at the information displayed on the stone and announced it in an indifferent tone.

Off the stage.

Looking at the five characters shining so brightly on the Test Magic Stone Stele that they were almost blinding, Xiao Yuan was on the verge of tears, his heart and eyes filled with excitement!

Indescribable excitement!

It's here, it's finally here. I've finally waited for this day!

Ten years, a full ten years!

For these ten years, this day was all he had thought about day and night!

For no other reason.

Simply because he felt the plot had completely collapsed.

The first to bear the brunt was Xun'er.

Because he had rashly stepped in to help Xun'er perfectly control the Golden Emperor Incinerating Heaven Flame, she had poured her heart out to him.

There was no helping it; after all, he had paid a heavy price, giving his most precious Innate Fire Spirit Body to Xun'er.

That would have been fine on its own.

But Xiao Yan, for some unknown reason, had gone off the rails.

He began practicing Qi at four, reached the ninth stage of Dou Qi at eight, and condensed a Dou Qi cyclone at nine, becoming the third youngest Dou Zhe in the clan's history in a century.

By the age of eleven, Xiao Yan was already a five-star Dou Zhe!

Everything was due to Xiao Yan's unremitting efforts and his innate, outstanding talent.

Yet this only left Xiao Yuan more bewildered.

Did this guy eat some kind of miracle fertilizer?

How was he even stronger than in the original work?!

Although this was a good thing for him and the entire Xiao Clan, and he was happy for Xiao Yan, if things continued to develop this way, what would happen to the future plot?

Wouldn't he be unable to get rewards and lose his chance to just lie back and coast?!

It was the classic dilemma: fearing one's brother would suffer, yet fearing he would strike it rich.

Fortunately, three years ago, everything took a turn, and Xiao Yan's cultivation began to plummet.

From the verge of stepping into the six-star Dou Zhe realm, he instantly dropped to four-star, then back to the ninth stage of Dou Qi, and finally to his current third stage.

He had completely fallen from the pedestal of a genius.

Smashed into the mud, unable to climb back out.

And then came today; he, a transmigrator who had arrived at the wrong time, finally welcomed his first plot point!

[Ding, congratulations on obtaining one Marrow Cleansing Powder.]

[Yes! Another Marrow Cleansing Powder! Oh, oh, oh, oh!!!]

This should be the fifth Marrow Cleansing Powder he had obtained in these ten years.

In the past, occasionally complaining would also trigger rewards from time to time.

For instance, after complaining about Xiao Yan going to peek at Xiao Yu bathing and receiving a reward, he would incidentally find a way to warn Xiao Yu.

Letting Xiao Yu give Xiao Yan a sound beating.

His main goal was to do good deeds without leaving a name.

Through this, he also understood.

Even the minor details mentioned inadvertently in the original work were all part of the plot.

"Brother Xiao Yuan is at it again."

Beside him, Xun'er whispered in a voice only she could hear.

Listening to Xiao Yuan's clumsy inner voice and watching the joy overflowing from his expression, a charming and bright smile couldn't help but bloom on the corners of Xun'er's lips.

As long as Brother Xiao Yuan was happy, she would be happy too.

When the other members of the Xiao Clan saw this, they all wore expressions of anger, jealousy, and hatred.

Having good talent and being handsome was one thing.

But how did he manage to steal the heart of cousin Xun'er!

Damn it!!!

At this moment, Xun'er had already turned her head, her gaze falling upon the dejected youth walking down from the testing platform.

Xiao Yan... will he really achieve such greatness in the future?

She couldn't help but wonder in her heart.

Over these years, staying by Xiao Yuan's side, she had learned many things from his inner voice.

For instance, that she was the heroine of a certain novel, while Xiao Yan was the protagonist who would eventually ascend to become a Dou Di, and that she would become his wife.

Yet, Xiao Xun'er always maintained a skeptical attitude.

It was not that she didn't believe Xiao Yuan's inner voice, but rather, just as Xiao Yuan complained in his heart about the plot going off the rails.

She firmly believed that even if her entire existence might be nothing more than an unremarkable page under someone's pen, with her whole life summarized in a few sparse lines.

At this very moment, she was flesh and blood, not a character under anyone's pen!

Since everything Xiao Yuan knew could deviate, how could her own future be predetermined, destined to become a puppet in someone else's story?

Perhaps Xiao Yan would truly be formidable in the future.

But what did that have to do with her, Xiao Xun'er?

Even if Xiao Yan were to truly become a Dou Di, she would never regret the choice she made at this very moment!

"Next, Xiao Xun'er!"

The examiner had already called her name.

The noisy crowd quieted down, their gazes shifting in unison toward this direction.

"Brother Xiao Yuan, Xun'er is going."

"Mm, go ahead, good luck."

Under the converging gazes of the crowd, Xiao Yuan smiled as he sent Xun'er off.

The moment the two parted, the smile that had graced Xun'er's youthful, pretty face instantly returned to its usual calm.

Her cold and elegant temperament, paired with her purple dress, was like a lotus flower just beginning to bloom.

Her pace was neither hurried nor slow.

With light, graceful steps.

Xiao Xun'er had already arrived before the Magic Stone Stele.

Reaching out a jade hand, her purple sleeve embroidered with black gold thread slid down, revealing a segment of snow-white, delicate wrist as her palm lightly touched the stele.

After a moment of silence, a blinding light erupted from the stele once more.

"Dou Zhe: Nine Stars! Level: High-tier!"

Looking at the characters on the stele, the field fell into a dead silence.

"...To think she is already a nine-star Dou Zhe, it is simply terrifying! The number one person among the younger generation of the clan, I fear, belongs to none other than Miss Xun'er."

After the silence, whether it was the crowd off the stage or the examiner on it, everyone gasped, their eyes filled with awe.

To be a nine-star Dou Zhe at the age of fourteen, her future was simply limitless!

However, there were still a few gazes present that fell covertly upon Xiao Yuan.

As mentioned before, Xiao Yan was the third youngest Dou Zhe in the clan within a hundred years.

Those ranked ahead of Xiao Yan were Xiao Yuan and Xiao Xun'er.

Moreover, Xiao Yuan was even stronger; at seven years old, he had used the Qi Gathering Powder to condense a cyclone and enter the realm of a Dou Zhe.

One must know that in the cultivation of Dou Qi, the foundation is particularly difficult to build.

It is not uncommon for people to spend ten or even twenty years just to reach the tenth stage of Dou Zhi Qi.

To become a Dou Zhe in three years is already monstrous.

But Xiao Yuan paid no heed to those gazes; his attention was entirely focused on Xun'er on the stage.

Rubbing his chin.

What he thought in his heart was completely different from everyone else.

[Without the torment of the Golden Emperor Incinerating Heaven Flame, and with the blessing of the Innate Fire Spirit Body, entering the Dou Zhe realm so early, how is she only a nine-star Dou Zhe? No matter how I think about it, it shouldn't be like this...]

[Either she used a special method to hide her cultivation level, or she was just too playful and didn't work hard at her cultivation, which is why her level is so poor!]

At this moment, he was just like a stock investor.

Speculating on why the stock he invested in had such poor growth.

Ding, congratulations on obtaining one bottle of Improved Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid.