Xiao Zhan, Dou Spirit

The Xiao Clan's training ground was enormous, capable of holding several hundred people at once. At this moment, it was packed to the brim.

Many members of the Xiao Clan had gathered here because today's coming-of-age ceremony assessment was somewhat different from previous years. Everyone in the Xiao Clan knew that their young prodigies would be challenging the entire younger generation of Wutan City.

Despite this immense pressure, the younger members of the Xiao Clan showed not the slightest hint of nervousness. After two years of cultivation, their strength had risen by several levels, and nearly all of them possessed the confidence to look down on their peers.

"So the elders made us keep a low profile these past two years for today!"

"Exactly. Otherwise, we would have made the Xiao Clan's genius reputation known throughout Wutan City long ago."

"I wonder if I'll get to go up and fight in the arena later?"

"With your strength only just reaching the seventh stage, I'd say there's no hope. The clan leader said only clan members at the eighth stage or above are qualified to participate."

Amid the noisy crowd, discussions among the Xiao Clan's young men and women continued without end. Some were regretful, while others were excited, but everyone wore an air of confidence.

On the raised platform of the training ground, all the Xiao Clan's higher-ups had arrived. Beside them stood the clan leaders of Wutan City's other two great clans.

"The Xiao Clan certainly has courage, daring to set up an arena to challenge all the prodigies of Wutan City."

Jia Lie Bi, the Jia Lie Clan's leader, glanced at the Xiao Clan members below before turning to Xiao Zhan and saying in a strange tone, "Clan Leader Xiao Zhan, aren't you afraid these juniors will fail to deliver and disgrace the Xiao Clan later?"

The Ao Ba Clan, which had always been at odds with the Jia Lie Clan, unexpectedly joined in.

Ao Ba Pa was the Ao Ba Clan's leader. He said, "Indeed. If these juniors prove disappointing, the Xiao Clan will lose a great deal of face today. From then on, I fear the Xiao Clan will become a laughingstock in Wutan City."

"Clan Leader Xiao Zhan, why not just dismantle this arena?" Ao Ba Pa said, pretending to have the Xiao Clan's best interests at heart.

Xiao Zhan looked at the two without showing the slightest anger. He smiled lightly. "Thank you both for your concern. I believe in the Xiao Clan's juniors. Today, they will surely win their first battle and stand above all others."

Jia Lie Bi and Ao Ba Pa both snorted coldly and said nothing more.

Suddenly, a commotion rose from the crowd below.

Then, greetings rang out from the Xiao Clan's younger generation.

"Hello, Uncle Xiao Yun."

"Hello, Uncle Xiao Yun."

"Hello, Uncle Xiao Yun."

At the far end of the training ground, two figures slowly approached. They were Xiao Yun and Gu Xun'er.

Seeing that Xiao Yun had actually come, Xiao Zhan and several elders on the platform were somewhat surprised.

"My second brother actually came!"

Xiao Zhan was delighted. Xiao Yun rarely left the house, and as his elder brother, Xiao Zhan had worried himself sick over it.

Xiao Yun and Gu Xun'er walked side by side. The crowd automatically opened a path for them, and before long, the two reached the raised platform.

"Big Brother."

"Uncle Xiao Zhan."

Xiao Yun and Gu Xun'er greeted Xiao Zhan respectively. Xiao Zhan stepped forward with a broad smile. "Second Brother, Xun'er, you're here. Come, sit."

Whispers immediately rose from the crowd below.

"That girl just now was so beautiful!"

"There's such a stunning beauty in the Xiao Clan, and I never knew?"

The Wutan City prodigies who had come to the Xiao Clan for the upcoming arena matches immediately began asking the Xiao Clan juniors beside them about Gu Xun'er.

"You mean the girl beside Uncle Xiao Yun? That's Sister Xun'er."

At the mention of Gu Xun'er, the Xiao Clan juniors could not help feeling envious of their Uncle Xiao Yun.

Gu Xun'er was quite well-known in the Xiao Clan, yet despite being such a peerless beauty of their generation, they often went half a month without seeing her even once.

Many Xiao Clan juniors who liked Gu Xun'er knew that not only was she beautiful, but her strength also seemed quite impressive. Yet this moonlight in their hearts was close only to Xiao Yun. To them, she was merely a familiar stranger.

Most of the Wutan City prodigies asking about Gu Xun'er were men, while the female prodigies had set their sights on someone else.

"By the way, your Uncle Xiao Yun looks so young. He seems only around twenty. I wonder what he usually likes to eat?"

One Xiao Clan junior had originally seen a rather pretty young girl approaching him and begun indulging in fantasies, thinking his youth had finally arrived. But upon hearing her question, his face instantly filled with question marks.

"Miss, the gate is over there." The angry Xiao Clan junior directly pointed her toward the exit.

On the raised platform, the First Elder suddenly said, "Clan Leader, it's about time."

Xiao Zhan nodded, rose to his feet, and took a few steps forward. As he moved, the noise from the crowd below quickly faded, and the training ground fell silent.

After looking around, Xiao Zhan nodded in satisfaction before beginning his opening speech. "Young men and women of the Xiao Clan, today is an important day for the Xiao Clan. I am very happy that everyone can..."

"Since everyone already understands the rules, I hereby announce that the coming-of-age ceremony assessment begins."

As Xiao Zhan's words fell, the Second Elder suddenly leaped down from the raised platform and landed beside the Testing Magic Stone Tablet. He would personally preside over this assessment.

Jia Lie Bi and Ao Ba Pa were both stunned. They looked toward the Xiao Clan's Second Elder below. When Second Elder Xiao Ying had used his Dou Qi just now, they had sensed his cultivation realm.

Since when had Xiao Ying silently advanced to a Five-Star Great Dou Master?

Seeing their expressions, Xiao Zhan found it amusing. These two surely never imagined that because of Second Brother's return, the clan's strength had already undergone earth-shaking changes.

Xiao Zhan had now advanced to a one-star Dou Spirit. This was thanks to the resources Xiao Yun had previously given him. Otherwise, relying on his own cultivation, he would probably have needed another ten years to reach the Dou Spirit realm.

Under the Second Elder's supervision, the testing soon began. As time passed, Jia Lie Bi and Ao Ba Pa's expressions steadily darkened.

They had discovered that the Xiao Clan's younger generation seemed to possess exceptionally good talent.

The Xiao Clan members undergoing testing were all at least at the sixth stage of Dou Qi Force. There were dozens at the seventh and eighth stages, while even ninth-stage Dou Qi Force cultivators appeared in double digits within the time it took to burn a stick of incense. Most of them were only fifteen or sixteen years old.

Watching the tests below, Xiao Yun silently thought, These juniors have done fairly well.

Jia Lie Bi's expression turned somewhat ugly, and he could not help saying, "No wonder you dared to set up an arena. So the Xiao Clan's ancestral graves are giving off green smoke, producing so many geniuses all at once."

Xiao Yun looked at Jia Lie Bi, displeased by his words, and shot back, "If the Jia Lie Clan's ancestral graves gave off green smoke too, I wonder whether your clan could produce this many geniuses as well?"

"Pfft."

Gu Xun'er could not help laughing at his words, and the others were the same. They had not expected Xiao Yun, who looked so refined and gentle, to be so vicious with his retorts.

"You!" Jia Lie Bi looked at Xiao Yun, his old face filled with coldness. In the end, he snorted and said, "Sharp-tongued."