Xiao Clan Gathering

At that moment, Xiao Zhan and his group spotted a small group in the distance, with Xiao Yan, who had just recovered from his injuries, at the center.

It has to be said that Xiao Yan is quite popular among children. He has great talent and has only been practicing Dou Qi for half a year, yet he has already reached the second level of Dou Zhi Qi.

He is the third son of the clan leader, and his two older brothers are equally talented. He has delicate features and is quite a handsome young man.

Talented, good-looking, and from a good family, he is a perfect high-quality man who is often surrounded by many young girls.

This made many of the Xiao Clan boys very unhappy. "What's with this guy's arrogance! He's just a little more talented, a little more handsome, and comes from a better family..." But the voices grew softer and softer.

Damn! This guy is actually so good.

But perhaps because he often heard praise from his elders and flattery from his peers, Xiao Yan became a little arrogant.

As a result, Xiao Zhan and the rest of the Xiao Clan saw Xiao Yan's arrogant and disdainful demeanor, who ignored everyone else when they spoke to him. He was simply too irritating to bear!

Everyone stared blankly at Xiao Zhan, who was looking somewhat embarrassed.

From snippets of conversation, these people learned that Xiao Yan was the clan leader's son and possessed exceptional talent. Therefore, a bit of arrogance was perfectly normal, but Xiao Yan's behavior was certainly offensive!

"Clan leader, the Third Young Master's personality is rather unique!" Finally, a member of the Xiao Clan spoke up. He was still quite polite, only subtly mentioning Xiao Yan's current problems.

Having spent so many years training in Central Plains, their judgment has improved remarkably. Normally, a talented junior like Xiao Yan would be praised to the skies, and any minor flaws would be completely ignored.

But having experienced the cruelty of Central Plains, they all understood. If Xiao Yan couldn't change his annoying personality, no matter how talented he was, he could only become a hothouse flower under the Xiao Clan's wings.

If he were to venture out alone, not to mention the Central Plains, a place teeming with hidden talents, even in the Black-Corner Region, where the strength level was far inferior, he would find it difficult to survive for more than a year. He would offend people everywhere, and wouldn't even know how he died, let alone become a powerful figure.

At this moment, Xiao Zhan's expression was also not good. Without the clansmen's reminder, Xiao Zhan also realized the inappropriate aspects of Xiao Yan's personality.

Because he was always busy with family affairs, Xiao Zhan didn't have time to pay attention to Xiao Yan's life. It was already good enough if he could check on his cultivation progress.

Because of Xiao Yan 'Xiao Long presence at home, Xiao Yan had been behaving himself and hadn't noticed the problem. But now that he did, Xiao Zhan naturally wouldn't ignore it.

"Don't worry, Yan Er, I'll give Yan'er a good talking-to."

Since that's the case, the other members of the Xiao Clan didn't say anything more. After all, Xiao Yan's affairs were a family matter for the clan leader, and it was already a bit excessive for them to just touch on it. It wasn't a good thing to interfere recklessly, as that would be seen as overstepping their bounds.

And so, the Xiao Clan followed Xiao Zhan to the square. After saying goodbye to everyone, Xiao Zhan began to preside over the coming-of-age ceremony.

Although this Clan Gathering was grand, it was entirely a family reunion of the Xiao Clan family, and no other forces or individuals were invited as in the past. After all, the Xiao Clan is now the overlord of Wutan City, and has no need to demonstrate its power through any actions.

However, there was one extremely tedious ritual that drove everyone to the brink of collapse. According to incomplete statistics, over 90% of the Xiao Clan members were extremely annoyed by the rituals preceding the Clan Gathering.

The ideal process would be like this: measure strength, challenge, eat and drink, and end.

However, the current procedure is as follows: speech by the leader, ceremony,...

The response from the Xiao Clan leadership was: Life should have a little sense of ritual.

That's totally true!

For the younger generation of the Xiao Clan, the most anticipated part is the test of strength and the challenge segment.

The Xiao Clan no longer has any members sent out to manage or operate businesses. Are they simply not capable enough?

No problem, we'll just hand you over to the family's team heading to the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Failure to meet standards? Death? Which would you choose?

As a result, the younger generation of the Xiao Clan are extremely enthusiastic about cultivation, and with ample resources to support them, their cultivation levels are not bad.

The challenge phase has evolved into a place to showcase strength and settle scores. On the Battle Stage, you can achieve the following goals: unlock your character's screen, find a partner, seek revenge, or engage in friendly combat...

However, what the younger generation of the Xiao Clan family doesn't understand the most is why their elders shed tears, especially when they seem unusually agitated during their cultivation tests.

Isn't this level of strength abnormal? At sixteen years old, still not having reached the level of Dou Zhe, isn't that shameful?

Clearly, joy is not something that can be shared between people. Even back in the capital, the strength requirement for the Xiao Clan's Coming-of-Age Ceremony was only the Ninth Stage Dou Qi.

However, if you were to say that you are sixteen years old and have reached the Ninth Stage Dou Qi, you would definitely be met with ridicule from others.

Not to mention the two thirteen or fourteen-year-old Da Dou Shi from the clan leader's family, the majority of the younger generation in the Xiao Clan family are now at least Five Star Dou Zhe. There are quite a few Dou Shi, but Da Dou Shi are few and far between, but with the Xiao Ding brothers holding up the reins, it's not a problem.

As for Dou Zhi Qi, are you kidding me? Sixteen years old and still only having Dou Zhi Qi?

What these juniors, who take this for granted, don't know is that behind this "ordinary" strength lies a huge expenditure of resources.

The cultivation of Dou Zhi Qi cannot be aided by any external force; otherwise, the surging Dou Qi will instantly destroy all the meridians in the human body, rendering the person completely useless.

However, there are very few things in this world that money can't solve. So what if the meridians are weak? The family will foot the bill, pouring in all sorts of resources—medicinal baths, body tempering...

Therefore, the younger generation of the Xiao Clan strengthened their meridians at a speed far exceeding that of ordinary people, and their corresponding cultivation speed was naturally also extraordinary. They reached the average time of Dou Zhe several years earlier than expected. With the assistance of subsequent cultivation techniques, such achievements were quite normal.

However, it was precisely this extravagant and wasteful behavior that caused the Xiao Clan to pay a price in the Dou Zhi Qi stage equal to the total resource expenditure of the three major realms of Dou Zhe, Dou Shi, and Da Dou Shi. They were definitely money-guzzling tycoons.

Even some rare and hard-to-find medicinal herbs rely on Xiao Han's supply.

Meanwhile, in a place unseen by everyone else, a group of tough men, their eyes brimming with tears, were intently watching this scene.

"The Clan Gathering is over!"

As Xiao Zhan announced this, the Xiao Clan gradually dispersed. Those who had been hiding in the shadows also left and returned home.

"The Xiao Clan is doing quite well now!" Xiao Han appeared silently behind Xiao Zhan, his calm tone bringing Xiao Zhan immense joy.

"I owe all of this to my uncle's help." Xiao Zhan was very modest, but he couldn't hide the smile on his lips.

"The family's cultivation techniques and Dou Techniques should be enough, right?" Xiao Han asked.

"More than enough." Thinking about it, Xiao Zhan felt a pang of envy. Back then, he never had the chance to cultivate such good Cultivation Techniques and Combat Skills! A single Profound Rank Intermediate technique was his most prized possession.

"Then let's get rid of those deceptive Yellow Rank Cultivation Techniques and Combat Skills. Our Xiao Clan doesn't need them anymore," Xiao Han said.

"Uncle, I've already made this in advance." Xiao Zhan's answer surprised him somewhat.

"Oh? Why?" Xiao Han asked calmly, his expression unchanged.

"Uncle, this is how I see it..." Seeing that Xiao Han didn't intend to scold him, Xiao Zhan began to explain.

"The reason we concealed these High Rank Cultivation Method was to prevent the younger generation from showing them off and attracting attention."

However, after so many years, that group of people has grown up. The younger generation is used to such favorable conditions and doesn't think there's anything special about them. They won't talk about it, so there's no need to hide it anymore.

Moreover, the Xiao Clan's strength is no secret among the higher-ups of the Jia Ma Empire. Every family with a Dou Wang expert is vaguely aware that we have a Dou Zong ancestor, and no one dares to attack us because of that..."

Xiao Han knew this was true; the Xiao Clan's strength was almost impossible to completely conceal, nor was there any need to hide it.

Xiao Zhan's explanation was logical and well-founded.

"Very good..." Xiao Han praised, "You are already a mature clan leader."

Xiao Zhan's reasons were quite valid, and raising the level of the younger generation's cultivation techniques ahead of time would also benefit the improvement of the Xiao Clan generation's strength, which suited his wishes perfectly.