"Go to your room," Xiao Meng said at the fork in the road, without even thinking.
After closing the door, Xiao Meng skipped the small talk and directly told Xiao Yan to take off the ring on his finger.
"Third Brother, is there something wrong with this ring? This was left by Mother, after all," Xiao Yan handed the Storage Ring to Xiao Meng with a puzzled look on his face.
Xiao Meng took the ring and said, "I remember you saying before that the reason your cultivation keeps regressing instead of advancing is simply because the Dou Qi you absorb into your body vanishes before it can be refined, right?"
"That's right."
Xiao Yan nodded, asking with a bewildered expression, but what does this have to do with the ring?
Xiao Meng examined the ring in his hand and said, "Your problem lies right in this ring."
"The problem is in the ring?" Xiao Yan started.
Xiao Meng smiled and said, "Your talent hasn't vanished at all. In fact, the Dou Qi you absorb into your body has all been intercepted by an old fogey inside this ring."
"W-What? Intercepted... by something inside the ring?" Xiao Yan's expression froze, and then he shook his head resolutely. "Impossible, that's completely impossible! The ring is something Mother left me, how could Mother possibly harm me?"
"Of course Old Mother wouldn't harm you, it's just that the old fogey inside the ring used to be a formidable figure, so Old Mother didn't know he existed," Xiao Meng said.
"But can someone really live inside this tiny ring?" Xiao Yan found it somewhat unbelievable.
"Nothing is impossible in this world," Xiao Meng said calmly.
Xiao Yan paused for a moment before accepting this explanation. Indeed, in the Dou Qi Continent, nothing was impossible.
"Try cultivating right now, and you'll know whether what I said is true or false," Xiao Meng said.
Hearing Xiao Meng put it that way, Xiao Yan impatiently sat cross-legged, closed his eyes to focus his mind, and began to breathe in and refine Dou Qi.
Xiao Meng sat and waited to the side, at the same time mobilizing the Origin Force in his Heavenly Abode to nourish his right arm.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Yet right at that moment, the Chaos Green Lotus in his Heavenly Abode swayed, releasing chaotic gas that surged along his meridians and poured into his injured arm.
Xiao Meng froze slightly, and then his heart shook. The injuries on his arm were actually healing at a speed visible to the naked eye, though the process hurt a little.
Before long, Xiao Meng opened his eyes, his face full of disbelief. His arm had already fully recovered, as good as new.
Good grief, such a severe injury, and Boss just released a bit of gas to fix it for me? Xiao Meng felt it was somewhat surreal, so he violently swung his right arm—sure enough, it was already healed.
"As expected of the Chaos Green Lotus, it actually has such an astonishing effect. It seems that in the future, when I use supreme-grade bullets to shoot down Dou Emperors, I won't need to have any misgivings at all," Xiao Meng was ecstatic, his emotions stirred.
Through his research last night, he discovered that the AK-47 could actually merge with his arm. It had made him extremely happy at the time, because this way, he could unscrupulously use the AK-47, and who would suspect he possessed a special weapon then? Xiao Meng truly admired his own wild imagination.
However, the fusion of the AK-47 and his arm required his arm to be strong enough to support the recoil, otherwise his entire arm could be crippled.
According to the different grades of the bullets, the AK-47 would produce varying degrees of recoil, and the bullets in the AK-47 were divided into four grades: lower-grade (1,000 rounds), capable of killing Da Dou Shi; middle-grade (100 rounds), capable of killing Dou Ling; upper-grade (10 rounds), capable of killing Dou Wang; and supreme-grade (3 rounds), capable of finishing off Dou Emperors.
The fireball he used today to intimidate the Great Elder was a bullet fired from the AK-47, a lower-grade bullet.
To be cautious, he still had Xiao Yan and Xiao Xun'er close their eyes so Xiao Yan wouldn't spot any clues and grow suspicious of his identity.
Mainly, the Five Thunders Crashing Down from the system had caused him psychological trauma that was just too damn huge.
Actually, firing a lower-grade bullet only caused Xiao Meng's arm minor injuries, which weren't very serious, but pulling that fired bullet back in had nearly crippled his right arm.
Yet an arm that was on the verge of being crippled healed in the blink of an eye. Probably even fifth- or sixth-grade healing pills didn't have such miraculous effects.
Xiao Meng stared at the green lotus in his Heavenly Abode and muttered, "Legend has it that the Great God Pangu was nurtured by the Chaos Green Lotus, which later suffered destruction because it couldn't withstand the force of opening the heavens."
The four lotus seeds it bore: the mature one transformed into the Thirty-Six-Petal World-Cleansing Green Lotus (because it was intolerant to the Heavenly Dao, it split into three: the lotus flower transformed into the Three-Treasures Jade Ruyi, the lotus root into the Taiyi Whisk, and the lotus leaves into the Green Duckweed Sword).
The three immature lotus seeds respectively transformed into the Twelve-Petal Merit Golden Lotus, the Twelve-Petal Karmic Fire Red Lotus, and the Twelve-Petal World-Destroying Black Lotus.
The five petals transformed into the Wuji Apricot-Yellow Banner, the Green Lotus Treasure-Colored Banner, the Flame-Light Banner, the Plain-Colored Cloud-Realm Banner, and the Mystic-Origin Water-Control Banner.
The lotus leaves transformed into the Investiture of the Gods List, the Book of Earth, the Book of Life and Death, the Map of Mountains and Rivers, the River Chart and Luo Writing, the Seven-Treasure Wonderful Tree, and the Red Embroidered Ball.
The seedpod transformed into the Heaven-and-Earth Cauldron.
The lotus stem absorbed ominous and baleful Qi to transform into the God-Slaying Spear.
Every single one was a supreme treasure that shocked the Primordial Era. Then just how terrifying would a complete Chaos Green Lotus be?
Who in this world could withstand its might?
Xiao Meng's eyes flushed red, unable to even imagine it.
He made up his mind that he must spend more time exploring the mysteries of the Chaos Green Lotus. This gadget could be said to be the strongest innate supreme treasure, bar none.
At this moment, Xiao Yan's tightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open. He looked at Xiao Meng with a face full of excitement, his emotions surging as he said, "Third Brother, the Dou Qi I absorb into my body no longer vanishes. I can cultivate!"
"Without that old fogey making mischief, the Dou Qi in your body naturally won't vanish anymore," Xiao Meng said.
"Third Brother, do you have a way to deal with him? Get him out so I can hack him to death with a flurry of blades!" Xiao Yan sprang to his feet, his expression ferocious. The moment he thought of the grievances he had suffered over the past three years, he wanted nothing more than to drag the person inside the ring out and chop them into eight pieces.
"Calm down, why are you being so hot-headed?" Xiao Meng rolled his eyes and said.
"Calm down my ass! I can't calm down!" Xiao Yan said angrily.
Xiao Meng said, "He made you suffer grievances for three years, and you're just going to chop him up like that, purely to vent some anger?"
"Then what else can I do? Could it be that you expect me to wine and dine him?"
Xiao Yan's eyeballs rolled, and he said, "Third Brother, why don't we lock him up and I'll go beat him up every day? Since he sucked my Dou Qi for three years, I'll beat him up for three years, and then finish him off after three years."
"Hiss!"
Xiao Meng gasped. The hatred that this little brat Xiao Yan held for Yao Chen was simply too massive! Before finishing him off, he actually wanted to mess with him for three years?
If Yao Chen heard these words, he would probably be so enraged that his three souls would leave his body and his five spirits would ascend to the heavens.
By then, he could even save himself the trouble of getting that piece of Soul-Nourishing Wood.
"What, does Third Brother think my punishment is too light? Then we'll suppress him in the outhouse..." Seeing Xiao Meng daze off, Xiao Yan assumed his methods were too lenient, so he said viciously.
Xiao Meng hurriedly interrupted him, saying, "Fourth Brother, Bro tells you, you really need to properly treat this guy inside the ring like an honored guest. This—"
"What for? He harmed me for three years, and I'm still supposed to treat him like an honored guest? In your wildest dreams!" Xiao Yan refused to accept this.
"Slap!"
Xiao Meng rewarded him with a slap and said irritably, "I already told you, the old fogey in here used to be a formidable figure. If he can give you a bit of guidance, what does three years of humiliation even amount to? Besides, he had no choice either; he's a pitiful person too."
"Then you get him out first so I can rough him up for a bit first," Xiao Yan persisted, simply wanting to beat him up to vent his anger.
Xiao Meng was amused to the point of anger, saying, "After you beat the living daylight out of him, do you think he'll still sincerely guide you?"
Xiao Yan: "???"
Xiao Meng didn't want to talk. He spread open his palm, and right in his palm, a palm-sized purple piece of wood appeared out of thin air. It was precisely the Soul-Nourishing Wood he had fished up. Wearing it on one's body could nourish the soul and primordial spirit, slowly strengthening spiritual awareness, and furthermore, this wood had the function of housing souls while ensuring consciousness remained undissipated.
"Third Brother, what kind of wood is this? The fragrance exuding from it actually makes people feel spirited and has the effect of concentrating the mind and calming the breath," Xiao Yan widened his eyes and exclaimed.
Xiao Meng's little heart twitched violently. He truly wanted to pin Xiao Yan to the ground and beat him up severely. The Soul-Nourishing Wood was one of the three rare woods of the Mortal World, precious beyond imagination, yet now he had no choice but to take it out and give it away.
"That old fogey only has a wisp of residual soul left right now and has fallen into a slumber,"
Xiao Meng forced himself to maintain his big brother's demeanor, saying calmly, "This is a Soul-Nourishing Wood. It can help him recover his Soul Force sooner. Once he wakes up, you will take him as your master."
"What? Let me take him as my master?" Xiao Yan exclaimed, looking utterly unwilling.
"Without his help, three years from now, don't even go to the Misty Cloud Sect, lest you make a fool of yourself," Xiao Meng glared at him and said.
"With my talent, wanting to catch up to Nalan Yanran shouldn't be a difficult matter, right?" Xiao Yan muttered softly.
Xiao Meng immediately cursed angrily, giving him a scolding right in the face: "Does the Misty Cloud Sect have a sixth-grade alchemist? Does the Xiao Clan? Does the Misty Cloud Sect have many Xuan-tier advanced Dou Skills? Can the Xiao Clan compare to them on equal terms? Does the Misty Cloud Sect have Dou Emperors guiding her cultivation? Does the Xiao Clan? I just want to ask you, how are you going to compare to her three years from now?"
"Compare what bullshit do you have? And besides, does she have a chest? And two of them at that, you moron!" Xiao Meng chided angrily.
Xiao Yan: "..."
"Fine, fine, I'll take him as my master, okay!" Xiao Yan said with a mournful face.
Xiao Meng said, "Press the Soul-Nourishing Wood against the ring, and he will naturally absorb the power of the Soul-Nourishing Wood. In two or three days at most, he should wake up. That old fogey isn't a bad person, but he still holds grudges, so you need to be sharp. I'm heading back first."
"Right, once he wakes up, remember to return this piece of Soul-Nourishing Wood to me," Xiao Meng didn't forget to remind him as he turned to leave.
"Mn!"
Xiao Yan nodded, and then said sincerely, "Third Brother, thank you."
Xiao Meng's expression paused, and then he smiled. "You and I are brothers, what is there to thank each other for between brothers? Besides, since I'm your brother, helping you is only right."
"Of course, if you really want to thank me, then three years from now, at the Misty Cloud Sect appointment, you must defeat Nalan Yanran. The humiliation the Misty Cloud Sect inflicted on my Xiao Clan today—I want you to return it to the Misty Cloud Sect in front of everyone under heaven," Xiao Meng said earnestly.
"Third Brother, rest assured, I will not let you, Father, or the Xiao Clan down," Xiao Yan clenched his fists as if swearing an oath.
Ding! Completed hidden task, rewarding two fishing chances [Encourage Xiao Yan's cultivation, causing him to rapidly grow strong].
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