Yan Hao and Lin Xiuya were heading toward the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower. Yan Hao said angrily, "Damn it, when have the two of us ever suffered such humiliation?"
Lin Xiuya smiled and comforted him. "Isn't he just second on the Strong Ranking? Sooner or later, we'll replace him."
Lin Xiuya and Yan Hao were both three-star Dou Lings. They had originally been experts on the Strong Ranking and could cultivate on the sixth floor.
But they had offended the second-ranked expert on the Strong Ranking, and now they could only be forced down to the fourth floor to find a place to cultivate.
Xiao Yan had never expected that Lin Xiuya had suffered so many grievances before becoming second on the Strong Ranking.
When the two reached the fourth floor, they suddenly discovered that someone had already occupied their usual spot.
Lin Xiuya froze in place. Yan Hao clenched his fists and said furiously, "Don't tell me it's that second-ranked guy again? Does he really think us brothers are so easy to bully?"
Yan Hao was just about to smash the door when Lin Xiuya stopped him.
"If it were them, they wouldn't do this. They'd definitely stand at the entrance and mock us." Lin Xiuya analyzed the situation calmly.
Only then did Yan Hao let out a breath, then asked in confusion, "Then who would take our spot?"
"There have always been rules here forbidding people from occupying rooms. No one came before because they were wary of the two of us. But now that someone has really entered to cultivate, we can't force them out."
After saying that, Lin Xiuya pulled Yan Hao away to find another place to cultivate.
After the two had left, Yan Hao said, "Lin Xiuya, it seems our academy has a new elder. He's quite young, probably about our age. But he's a genuine Dou Wang expert."
Lin Xiuya paused, then nodded. "I think I heard about him. That elder also uses a sword, and like me, he has a wind affinity."
Yan Hao continued, "Why don't you seek guidance from that elder? Maybe if he gives you some pointers, you'll reach the peak of the Dou Ling realm faster. Then we can take our revenge."
Lin Xiuya gave a self-mocking smile. "I heard that elder is also a cultivation fanatic. He's currently cultivating on the seventh floor. With our strength, we aren't qualified to enter the seventh floor."
"Fine. In that case, we can only slowly look for an opportunity." Yan Hao sighed.
The two finally found an intermediate cultivation room and began cultivating.
Xiao Yan could sense that Yun Potian was cultivating somewhere in the tower, and it seemed he was close to reaching the bottleneck for another breakthrough.
So Xiao Yan did not disturb Yun Potian. In their current circumstances, all of them needed to continuously improve their strength.
In the original story, Xiao Yan had come to Jia Nan Academy after the Three-Year Agreement and participated in the Strong Ranking competition only after cultivating for another year.
That was when Han Feng had brought people to seize the Heavenly Flames. In other words, there were still three years before the Heavenly Flames completely erupted.
Logically speaking, there was still enough time for everything.
Xiao Yan shook his head and entered cultivation.
Since Xiao Yan had prepared a large quantity of pills before this period of closed-door cultivation, he planned to cultivate for a while longer before leaving.
He had even prepared Xun Er's share, but unexpectedly, after only two weeks of closed-door cultivation, Xun Er had broken through to the nine-star Dou Shi realm. Her speed astonished Xiao Yan.
The two cultivated on the fourth floor for a total of two months. At last, Xiao Yan felt that the bottleneck in his cultivation was about to break.
He quickly went to buy a Star-Adding Card and spent another 500 Summoning Points.
Finally, at noon one day, Xiao Yan successfully broke through to the eight-star Da Dou Shi realm. With the boost from the Star-Adding Card, he leaped straight into the nine-star Da Dou Shi realm.
Name: Xiao Yan Age: 16 years and 4 months Strength: Nine-Star Da Dou Shi Alchemist Level: Tier 3 Alchemist Cultivation Method: Flame Mantra (High Xuan Class) Dou Techniques: Eight Extremities Collapse (High Xuan Class) Mystic Divination Palm (Low Xuan Class) Heaven Collapsing Technique (High Xuan Class) Flame Splitting Wave-Devouring Ruler (Low Earth Class) Flame Cloud Fist (Low Earth Class) Summoned Experts: Hai Bodong (Seven-Star Dou Emperor) Eight-Winged Black Emperor Snake (Peak Dou Emperor) Yun Potian (Four-Star Dou Wang) Summoning Slots: 3/4 Heavenly Flames: Myriad Beast Spirit Fire Green Lotus Core Flame Item: Black Heavy Ruler Summoning Talisman: One Intermediate Summoning Talisman Summoning Points: 4000 (can be exchanged for various items in the System Mall)
When Xiao Yan looked at the panel, he had not expected Yun Potian to have broken through by another star as well.
"Looks like I need to hurry up and refine that Dou Ling Pill for Yun Potian. Don't let him reach the Dou Emperor realm before I'm even capable of refining it." Xiao Yan mocked himself.
Unexpectedly, Xun Er beside him also emerged from her cultivation state. Xiao Yan merely sensed the aura around her, and he was stunned.
"Xun Er, you've already reached the Da Dou Shi realm! Is breaking through major realms really this easy?" Xiao Yan gave a bitter laugh.
Xun Er's advancement through major realms was as effortless as other people advancing through minor realms. There was no pressure at all.
Xun Er smiled. "Brother Xiao Yan, you need to cultivate faster, or Xun Er will catch up to you sooner or later."
Xiao Yan smiled and nodded.
Xun Er's leveling speed was practically the same as Xiao Yan playing with cheats enabled. Was this the legendary official cheat?
"Xun Er, you're putting me under a lot of pressure." Xiao Yan said with a smile.
"Brother Xiao Yan, you've already reached the nine-star Da Dou Shi realm too. Your speed isn't slow at all. And Xun Er seems to have noticed that Brother Xiao Yan, your realm always skips levels when you break through." Xun Er looked at Xiao Yan in confusion. Even with her extensive knowledge, she had never seen this kind of advancement method.
Xiao Yan could only shake his head awkwardly and force out an explanation. "It's rather complicated. Maybe it's because I possess two Heavenly Flames, so I advance by two stars at a time."
"Oh, is that so?" Xun Er replied, half convinced and half doubtful.
Only then did Xiao Yan let out a breath of relief.
"All right, we've already been cultivating in seclusion for two months. We should go out for a while. After all, staying here and cultivating all the time isn't very efficient." After speaking, Xiao Yan opened the door.
The two walked outside hand in hand as usual, drawing the attention of a large crowd.
When Xiao Yan stepped outside, he had only just taken a breath of fresh air.
A large group of people immediately surrounded him. Someone even shouted from within the crowd, "This is the freshman king, Xiao Yan! He's also ranked forty-fifth on the Strong Ranking! Anyone who wants a spot on the Strong Ranking, come on over!"
Only then did Xiao Yan understand. It turned out that being an expert on the Strong Ranking meant having to accept challenges at any time.
Xiao Yan could only have Xun Er return first, while he followed the large crowd to the Inner Academy's arena.
Xiao Yan roughly counted them. There were actually dozens of people who wanted to challenge him.
Perhaps because he had obtained a spot on the Strong Ranking despite only being a Da Dou Shi, the others were not particularly wary of him.
Xiao Yan sighed. It seemed he would have to prove himself with his strength.
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