Jia Nan Academy

In the days that followed, Xiao Qing's life began to grow orderly. Aside from eating and sleeping, he spent basically all his other time in cultivation.

Just like that, amidst day-after-day of bitter practice,

half a year hurried by.

At the edge of a remote waterfall in the back mountains of the Xiao Household, Xiao Qing's tender figure sat cross-legged.

Following half a year of cultivation, Xiao Qing's cultivation had now reached the sixth stage of Dou Qi.

During this period, he had also accidentally discovered this secluded place that nobody set foot in on ordinary days.

Xiao Qing was delighted, and on the spot designated it as his cultivation spot.

Whenever he had nothing to do on ordinary days, he basically always came here to cultivate.

The waterfall cascaded down like a silver river, water mist permeating the air and making the surrounding atmosphere exceptionally fresh.

Xiao Qing sat cross-legged atop a stone with his eyes lowered and closed, his hand seals forming. Between his breaths, it was as if it came naturally.

wisps of faint white airflow drilled through his nose and mouth into his body.

Time ticked by second by second. As wisps of faint white airflow continually converged into Xiao Qing's Dantian, his lower abdomen contracted slightly.

Xiao Qing's eyes suddenly snapped open. In his pitch-black pupils, a white light flashed by, and his mouth parted slightly as a somewhat turbid breath of air was exhaled...

The moment the turbid air left his body, Xiao Qing's small face instantly gained a bit more spirit.

Stunned for a long while, Xiao Qing stretched out his hand and clenched it into a fist. A sense of full strength surged over, causing the corner of Xiao Qing's mouth to hook up into a trace of joy.

Is this the seventh stage of Dou Qi?

Closing his eyes slightly, he sank his focus inward to sense the brimming Dou Qi within his body, and Xiao Qing muttered inwardly to himself.

What a pity, it's still a bit off from the eighth stage of Dou Qi required by Jia Nan Academy's enrollment conditions.

That was right, Xiao Qing intended to head to Jia Nan Academy to cultivate.

The Xiao Household of today offered him not the slightest bit of help, and continuing to stay here would only waste his time.

Moreover, if he exposed his own cultivation, the Xiao Household could not protect him.

The feat of Xiao Yan breaking through to a Dou Zhe at age eleven could spread all the way to the capital.

Who knew what freaks and monsters his own status as a four-year-old at the seventh stage of Dou Qi would attract if word got out.

Right now, there were still about two months left until Jia Nan Academy arrived to recruit students.

Xiao Qing rubbed his chin. In other words, within these two months, his cultivation needed to break through to the eighth stage of Dou Qi.

Even though, given his age and cultivation, as long as he went to apply to Jia Nan Academy, there was no way they wouldn't accept him.

Yet he still wanted to give it a try and see if he could break through to the eighth stage of Dou Qi during this period.

Seeing the sunset glow fill the sky, Xiao Qing raised his head, stood up, and headed down the mountain.

Following the bluestone-paved steps all the way down, he saw a figure walking up the mountain.

Drawing closer for a look, he discovered that the person walking up the mountain turned out to be Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan evidently also noticed Xiao Qing up above, and a trace of surprise flashed through his eyes.

He seemed not to have expected to run into someone in such a secluded place in the back mountains.

Xiao Qing nodded toward Xiao Yan without any intention of striking up a conversation, and continued walking down the mountain.

Xiao Yan turned it over in his head for half a day without recalling who Xiao Qing was, so he didn't pay it any mind and continued walking up the mountain.

Xiao Qing didn't care either; the present Xiao Yan had nothing worth him paying attention to.

Immersed in cultivation, time always passed extremely fast.

In the blink of an eye, two months' time passed.

"Hoo..."

Xiao Qing lightly exhaled a breath of turbid air and slowly opened his eyes, a white gleam flashing past within them and vanishing.

With a thought in his mind, a panel materialized.

[Host: Xiao Qing]
[Age: Four years old]
[Attributes: Fire, Wood]
[Cultivation: Eighth-Stage Dou Qi]
[Soul: Mortal Realm: Early Stage]
[Remaining Draw Chances: 0]

Having undergone these two months of cultivation, Xiao Qing's cultivation had also reached the eighth stage of Dou Qi a few days ago.

Today was the day of Jia Nan Academy's student recruitment, and he definitely couldn't miss it.

Stepping out of his quarters, he heard several young clansmen chatting and laughing loudly.

"Have you heard? Jia Nan Academy is coming to Wutan City to recruit students today!"

"Really? Did Young Master Xiao Yan go to sign up?"

"Of course he did! But Young Master Xiao Yan doesn't meet the requirements for Jia Nan Academy's recruitment yet."

"That's a real shame. With Young Master Xiao Yan's talent, if he could go to Jia Nan Academy for further study, his cultivation would definitely improve even faster!"

"What's so shameful about it? Failing to recruit Young Master Xiao Yan is Jia Nan Academy's loss!"

"That's true..."

Hearing the discussions around him, Xiao Qing almost laughed out loud, hurriedly quickening his pace as he walked toward the gates of the Xiao Household.

Although the recruitment team was stopping in Wutan City, their area of responsibility also included several surrounding cities. Therefore, when Xiao Qing hurried to the plaza designated for the recruitment and looked at the seemingly endless sea of people, he couldn't help but be dumbfounded.

Staring blankly at the sea of people, Xiao Qing let out a soft sigh. Since he had no one to guide him, he had to use all his strength to squeeze inside.

Although Xiao Qing only looked about four or five years old, he possessed the cultivation of Eight-Stage Dou Qi.

The cultivation of the surrounding crowd was generally below the Eight-Stage Dou Qi, with only a very few, excessively old individuals being above the Eight-Stage Dou Qi.

Therefore, Xiao Qing didn't use much effort to squeeze from the back of the crowd to the front of the recruitment team.

Looking at the open green tent not far away, Xiao Qing breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, he hadn't gone in the wrong direction; he didn't want to experience the previous scene again.

The crowd was separated from the tent by several pathways, and young men who looked like academy students held fist-sized red crystals in their hands to test people between the pathways.

Xiao Qing glanced around, and seeing that the number of people waiting in line for each pathway was about the same, he casually chose a pathway and joined the queue.

A teenager nearby had his gaze drawn to him.

Looking at Xiao Qing, who appeared to be only four or five years old, he felt somewhat puzzled inside. Which family's child was this coming over to cause trouble?

However, holding onto the mindset of watching the fun, the teenager didn't voice a warning, merely paying a little attention to Xiao Qing's situation while waiting in line.

Along the way, a few other people also noticed Xiao Qing's figure, but tacitly remained silent, clearly prepared to watch a joke.

Xiao Qing also noticed the gazes coming from all around, but he completely ignored them.

Although there was a sea of people outside, the number of people actually waiting in line was not quite as many.

Before long, it was Xiao Qing's turn.

The female student holding the red crystal couldn't help frowning when she saw that Xiao Qing looked only four or five years old.

"Whose child is this? Come claim him!"

She had already been somewhat irritable from being baked in the sun for half a day, and now, seeing Xiao Qing acting like he was here to cause trouble, an even greater trace of anger arose.

The surrounding crowd fell silent for a moment, and they all cast their gazes toward Xiao Qing.

"Little brat, where are your adults?"

"Are you here to make trouble?"

"Exactly, whose child is this?"

"Hurry up and leave, don't waste our time!"

Hearing the sounds coming from all around, Xiao Qing's expression remained calm. Without explaining anything, he stepped forward and snatched the red crystal right out of the female student's hand.

The female student was momentarily stunned, clearly not expecting Xiao Qing to make such a move, and a wave of anger followed right after.

Just as she was about to make a move to teach him a lesson, she saw the crystal in Xiao Qing's hand suddenly emit a dazzling light.

Dou Qi: Eight-Stage!