The Road Ahead

"Has Yan'er reached this stage so quickly?"

Xiao Zhan smiled at those words.

"Not bad. I'll tell you the key points of condensing a qi vortex later, and your two brothers can give you some pointers as well. They condensed theirs not long ago, so they remember the details more clearly."

Xiao Yan happily agreed, then noticed that Xiao Ding had put away his easygoing smile. Even Xiao Li, who was usually never serious, sat up straight. Then Xiao Ding spoke.

"Father, Second Brother and I want to go out and make our way in the world. We ask for your permission!"

The moment those words were spoken, the atmosphere at the table suddenly turned cold. Xiao Yan asked in surprise.

"Big Brother? Why so suddenly...?"

But Xiao Zhan raised a hand to stop Xiao Yan, speaking in an equally solemn tone.

"Tell me what you're thinking. With your temperament, this shouldn't be a decision made on a whim."

Xiao Yan was stunned. All he had ever received from Xiao Zhan was affection and favoritism. This was the first time Xiao Zhan had interrupted him.

Of course, it was no great matter, but what surprised him was the way his father and brothers spoke to one another. He had never experienced such a serious atmosphere before.

"Yes, Father."

"Father, Xiao Li has been a Dou Practitioner for three months and is now a two-star Dou Practitioner. I became a Dou Practitioner more than a year before him, yet I am only a five-star Dou Practitioner now. As a Great Dou Master, you must understand that this rate is somewhat slow for my talent."

"And the reason for this cultivation speed is precisely because I have lived under the clan's protection. Every day, all I do is guard the marketplace and watch over the household. I lack real combat, and that has slowed my cultivation as well."

"Without a doubt, Xiao Li will be the same in the future. If we keep living in such comfort, neither of us will amount to much in cultivation. That is why I want to leave, to step out from under the clan's protection and make my own way!"

Xiao Li could not help but chime in.

"That's right, Father. Every day, I'm stuck doing all that trivial nonsense. It's boring as hell. I'm either catching thieves or mediating disputes. If this keeps up, I'll end up sick with frustration!"

Xiao Zhan was so irritated by his second son that he laughed.

"Just shut up. You never act properly all day long. I receive at least three complaints about you every day. If I let you out, won't you turn the whole world upside down?!"

After scolding Xiao Li until he had nothing to say, Xiao Zhan turned to Xiao Ding, his expression becoming serious.

"Have you truly thought this through?"

"Yes, Father. The Xiao Clan has been established in Wutan City for more than a decade now and has gained a firm foothold. Unlike before, when every bit of fighting strength in the clan was critically important, Second Brother and I leaving will not have much impact."

"Besides, Third Brother's talent is so outstanding that our Xiao Clan will surely not remain confined to Wutan City in the future. Second Brother and I going out can serve, first, as a test of the Xiao Clan expanding its influence outward, and second, as training so that we may be able to help Third Brother in the future."

Xiao Ding spoke eloquently and methodically, and Xiao Zhan nodded again and again.

"Among you brothers, you are the one with the clearest ideas. Since you want to go out and make your way in the world, I believe in you. Sons of Xiao Zhan are no cowards. If I kept you trapped here, I would only be burying your talent."

"So be it. A true man's ambitions lie in all four corners of the world! I agree."

Xiao Li, who had just been sprawled there like a dead dog, immediately sprang to life.

"Dad, don't worry. Big Brother and I will make sure not to disgrace the Xiao Clan's name. Just wait for the two of us to become famous throughout the Jia Ma Empire!"

Xiao Zhan slapped Xiao Li back into his dead-dog pose and said through gritted teeth.

"You'd better obediently listen to your big brother! Famous throughout the empire? I'll be thanking heaven if you don't come running home naked after stepping out the door!"

"Also, I will give you two some travel money for this journey, but there will not be much support from the clan. Prepare yourselves mentally. Once you leave, you will truly have to rely on yourselves."

"Yes!" The two answered together.

Only then was that serious topic put aside, and the atmosphere between father and sons became more lively. However, Xiao Zhan clearly was no longer in high spirits, and soon began guiding Xiao Yan.

When it was over, Xiao Zhan indicated that he had work to do and sent the three of them away.

Only after the three brothers were alone did Xiao Yan impatiently raise his face and ask Xiao Ding.

"Big Brother, why are you suddenly leaving without telling me beforehand?"

Xiao Ding was eight years older than Xiao Yan. Though Xiao Yan was more mature than most children, he was only tall enough to reach Xiao Ding's abdomen.

Xiao Ding affectionately rubbed Xiao Yan's head.

"Little Yan's talent is too good. If your brothers don't go out soon, you'll catch up to us."

Xiao Li also spoke, still full of his usual nonsense.

"Exactly. If we don't leave now, are we supposed to wait for you brat to come beat me up? I'm running off, so you won't have anywhere to take revenge."

Xiao Yan forced out an ugly smile, but he was still a child. Tears were already threatening to spill from his eyes.

Although Xiao Yan was a genius, when he had first begun cultivating, people had often bullied him. Some did so because he was the clan leader's son, some because of conflicts between factions among the clan's higher-ups, and some because Xiao Yan had no mother—his mother had passed away after giving birth to him.

But whenever that happened, Xiao Ding and Xiao Li would rush out like madmen to protect Xiao Yan, then go accept punishment themselves. Only after Xiao Yan revealed his talent and was no longer bullied did such incidents gradually disappear.

Yet Xiao Yan had always remembered. He knew who truly loved and protected him without reservation, so when he learned that his two older brothers were leaving, he could not help but cry.

Xiao Yan desperately held back his tears, because he knew his brothers would not want to see him cry. Yet Xiao Ding and Xiao Li saw every bit of his expression. Neither comforted him again. Instead, they walked in silence, and before long, the three reached the fork where they had to part ways.

Just as Xiao Yan silently stepped onto his own path.

"Xiao Yan!"

Xiao Ding broke the silence. Xiao Yan turned back to look, and Xiao Ding and Xiao Li stared at him with sharp gazes.

"The Dou Qi Continent is wonderful. Beyond this place, there are oceans, forests, love, brothers, and stories we have only ever heard from others. This time, we want to try becoming the protagonists of those stories! We brothers refuse to turn into those old men in the clan without ever seeing any of it!"

Xiao Yan could not help laughing. His eldest brother had always been the most serious and earnest; he had never called the clan elders "old men."

"And, Little Yan!"

"Don't slack off! Your talent may be good, but if you stay home, you won't be able to compare to your second brother here. Once I'm out there, I'll live freely and settle grudges as I please. I'll definitely build up a great fortune, and as for cultivation resources, I'll have as much as I want. The next time we meet, maybe I'll even be able to spank you!"

Standing beneath the moonlight, Xiao Yan looked at the free-spirited smiles of his two brothers and suddenly understood the conversation his father and brothers had just had.

That was a cultivator's conversation, a conversation between men. He had lived within the clan for so long and had never thought about the future. He liked cultivating and liked becoming stronger, but he did not know why he cultivated or why he wanted strength.

But that day, Xiao Yan began to yearn for that wonderful world. He was no longer satisfied with the tiny Xiao Clan, no longer satisfied with hearing children's admiration, no longer satisfied with an unchanging life. He began looking forward to change, the unknown, and reunion.

Xiao Yan swept away his earlier dejection and smiled as he extended his fist toward Xiao Li.

"Then I'll make a bet with Second Brother."

"The next time we meet, I'll definitely be stronger than you. Then I'll beat you up for sure!"

Xiao Li immediately widened his eyes.

"You little brat, you've got some nerve! You really want to beat up your brother?!"

But Xiao Ding smiled and raised his fist.

"Good. Big Brother will be the witness!"

"Big Brother, why are you also...?"

Helplessly, Xiao Li raised his own fist.

The three raised their fists beneath the moonlight and completed that inexplicable ritual. From time to time, they let out laughter they could not hold back. In the end, the three burst into hearty laughter. It did not feel like a parting at all, but rather like a reunion.

One afternoon, Xiao Yan was cultivating in his room. As strands of pale white Dou Qi were absorbed into his body, Xiao Yan gradually sensed something different from before.

"Is this... a breakthrough?"

Xiao Yan's heart stirred. He had a premonition, then began carefully experiencing the feeling of this cultivation session.

By all rights, Xiao Yan should have needed more time to polish himself, but perhaps the departure of his two brothers had stirred him. That subtle change in his mindset had brought his breakthrough much earlier.

Under Xiao Yan's attention, the circulation of strand after strand of Dou Qi gradually accelerated. It was nothing like its usual snail's pace. Xiao Yan understood that the time had come.

Following what his father and brothers had taught him, he began guiding the Dou Qi throughout his meridians into the dantian in his lower abdomen. Only then could enough Dou Qi gather in the dantian while freeing the meridians to absorb even more.

When Xiao Yan felt pressure in his lower abdomen, which grew stronger and stronger until it became painful, he swiftly changed the hand seal he was using to absorb Dou Qi into another strange seal. Having practiced it before, he did so without much difficulty.

As the hand seal formed, the Dou Qi in his body began to contract, gradually changing from pale white to milky white. But as more and more was converted, Xiao Yan also felt increasing pressure, slowing his progress during the final stage of compression.

The milky-white mass of Dou Qi had already shrunk to the size of a palm, but compressing it further had become difficult. Xiao Yan secretly grew anxious.

Reaching this point could be said to be the hardest moment. This was a contest of endurance. If he failed to suppress the qi mass and it rebounded and exploded, not only would his Dou Qi cultivation regress, his body would be injured as well. But Xiao Yan was still young. Though he knew he could not rush this, he could not help becoming impatient.

Xiao Yan desperately compressed the qi mass. He understood that letting his thoughts wander was a great taboo in cultivation, so he kept repeating the word "compress" in his mind. He had become stubborn, pitting himself against the qi mass. Xiao Yan would never lose to the mass of Dou Qi he had condensed himself!

Just as he was focused on that one thing, Xiao Yan suddenly felt as though something was helping him. The qi mass, which had been nearly deadlocked a moment ago, abruptly shrank, and the immense resistance vanished without a trace, accompanied by a dull bang!

Xiao Yan had no time to consider what had helped him complete the compression at the final moment, but he clearly knew one other thing.

"From today onward, I, Xiao Yan, am a Dou Practitioner!"