Night Raid!

Facing Xiao Zhan's concerned gaze, Xiao Yan shook his head and said calmly:

"It's fine, Father. I was planning to stop and rest anyway."

"Did you come to see me about something?"

Hearing this, Xiao Zhan finally let out a sigh of relief and stroked his beard.

"That's good. I came to tell you that I asked Xiao Qing for a dose of Qi Gathering Powder for you."

"You needn't train so desperately from now on. Just come find me when you are about to break through to Dou Zhe."

As he spoke, Xiao Zhan's eyes were filled with heartache as he looked at Xiao Yan.

Ever since Xiao Qing's cultivation had become known to everyone, Xiao Yan had no longer been as proud and flamboyant as before.

Instead, he spent every day shut in his room cultivating.

Xiao Zhan was both gratified and worried by this.

He was gratified that Xiao Yan had finally grown up and become more steady.

But he also feared that Xiao Yan had suffered too great a blow and would never recover from it.

"Qi Gathering Powder?"

Xiao Yan looked somewhat dazed.

Once, that child had merely been an ordinary member of the clan in his eyes.

Yet now, he had already become a Fourth-Grade Alchemist capable of refining Qi Gathering Powder.

Meanwhile, he was still a cultivator in the Dou Qi stage, striving to break through to Dou Zhe.

The gap between them was as vast as heaven and earth.

At that thought, Xiao Yan clenched his fist, then slowly loosened it. In the end, he sighed inwardly as though resigned to it.

"I understand, Father."

Seeing that Xiao Yan seemed to have emerged from his inner turmoil, Xiao Zhan gently patted his shoulder and comforted him.

"Yan'er, a genius as monstrous as Xiao Qing is unprecedented in the Jia Ma Empire."

"Even across the entire Dou Qi Continent, his talent would rank among the very best. You need not burden yourself over it."

If he had not seen it with his own eyes, even he would have found it difficult to believe that there was someone in the world with talent even more monstrous than his son, Xiao Yan.

Xiao Zhan sighed inwardly.

Hearing this, Xiao Yan silently nodded. Only after a long while did he speak.

"I understand, Father. These past two years, I've been trapped in my own delusions. I won't be like this again."

As his words fell, his body relaxed, as though he had cast off some invisible shackles. A clear, tranquil calm settled over him.

Thinking back on everything he had done these past two years, Xiao Yan found it utterly laughable.

Looking at his father's concerned face, Xiao Yan could not help feeling guilty.

For the past two years, he had only used cultivation to numb himself, while ignoring the concern of those around him.

At that thought, Xiao Yan's nose stung, and he dropped to his knees.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Your son has been unfilial. I've made Father worry for the past two years."

Tears welled in Xiao Yan's eyes as he kowtowed three times before Xiao Zhan.

"Yan'er, don't do this! Get up, quickly!"

Seeing this, Xiao Zhan hurried forward and helped Xiao Yan up from the ground, then bent down to brush the dust from his knees.

Looking at Xiao Yan before him, Xiao Zhan's eyes were full of gratification.

"Yan'er, it's good that you've thought it through. Your father no longer needs to worry about this."

He patted Xiao Yan's shoulder with a smile, then added,

"Go see that girl Xun'er. She has worried about you no less than I have."

With that, Xiao Zhan chuckled and turned to leave.

"Xun'er..."

Thinking of that graceful, lotus-like girl who had blushed for him, Xiao Yan could not help murmuring her name.

Night fell, with a bright moon and few stars.

The night was quiet. A whistling cold wind swept past, and patches of dark clouds obscured the starlight.

At the gates of the Xiao Household, the two guards on duty wore weary expressions.

Just then, the guard standing on the left sensed that something was wrong and asked the guard on the right,

"Xiao Mu, have you noticed anything strange?"

Xiao Mu looked puzzled. He scanned the surroundings, then shook his head. "No. You're just too tired. Do you want to rest for a while?"

The guard on the left tightened his expression. "Don't you think tonight is a little too quiet?"

Only then did Xiao Mu notice the anomaly. The usual chirping of insects seemed to have vanished, leaving behind a terrifying silence.

Just then, a masked figure in black robes suddenly appeared before them. Dou Qi surged through his palm as he reached out to seize them both.

Xiao Mu jolted and reacted instantly. With a flash, he dodged the attack.

But the guard on the left was not so fortunate.

Pfft!

Xiao Mu looked over and saw that the guard who had just been speaking to him had already had his chest pierced through and collapsed in a pool of blood.

"Enemy atta—ck—!" The shrill roar rang out with startling clarity in the silent night.

"Damn it!"

The black-robed figure cursed under his breath, flashing directly before the shouting Xiao Mu and killing him with a single palm strike.

The next instant, several more masked figures dressed in black robes arrived together.

Jia Lie Bi, who led them, cursed, "What were you doing? You were discovered while dealing with just two guards?!"

That agonized scream had nearly echoed throughout the entire Xiao Household. Lights flickered on in room after room, and the pitch-black night instantly became brightly lit.

The black-robed man, his hands stained with blood after killing the two guards, spoke with some shame in his voice.

"Clan Head, these two guards were stronger than expected. Their cultivation was slightly higher than the intelligence we received."

Hearing this, Jia Lie Bi felt a faint sense of unease, but the situation left him no room to think further.

"Go! Kill our way into the Xiao Household!"

Jia Lie Bi took the lead, charging into the Xiao Household with several elders behind him.

However, before they had taken more than a few steps, a powerful voice rang through the night sky.

"Jia Lie Bi, I never thought you would dare to invade my Xiao Household in the dead of night. Do you think my Xiao Household has no one left?"

The next instant, Xiao Zhan leaped down from the rooftop and landed before Jia Lie Bi's group, blocking their path.

Seeing this, Jia Lie Bi sneered coldly. "Xiao Zhan, you alone cannot stop us."

Xiao Zhan clasped his hands behind his back and smiled lightly. "Whether I can or not isn't for you to decide. We'll know after a fight."

As he spoke, Dou Qi surged wildly within Xiao Zhan, forming a suit of Dou Qi armor around his body.

"Humph!"

Jia Lie Bi snorted coldly. A suit of Dou Qi armor likewise appeared around him. He drew a long spear from his Storage Ring and flashed toward Xiao Zhan.

Wave Overlap!

As Jia Lie Bi's furious shout fell, a massive blue wave formed from energy surged from the long spear glowing with intense blue light, smashing fiercely toward Xiao Zhan, who stood where he was.

The other black-robed figures did not stand idly by either. Each used their own methods to attack Xiao Zhan, who remained motionless.

For a time, Dou Qi of all colors illuminated the night.

The scene before him was reflected in Xiao Zhan's dark pupils, and he did not dare lower his guard.

Although his strength had improved somewhat thanks to the pills Xiao Qing had sent, facing so many attacks at once was still dangerous.

Furious Lion Berserk Force!

Xiao Zhan roared as Dou Qi surged within him, forming a furious lion behind him that dove toward Jia Lie Bi at the front.

Rumble!

As the two sides' attacks collided, a violent thunderous roar erupted.