If You Do Not Despise Me, Yan Would Be Willing to Take You as His Godfather!

Misty Cloud Sect, Life-and-Death Gate!

Behind the Xiao Family's mountain,

Buzz—

As the fierce winds of heaven and earth swept through, the air above the cloud-shrouded mountaintop rippled slightly.

Qing Luo was the first to step out,

Behind Qing Luo,

The moment Xiao Yan stepped out of the spatial ripple, everything around him made his eyes widen.

Mist blanketed the surroundings,

He seemed to be standing amid the clouds, with an endless sea of forest stretching beneath his feet as far as the eye could see.

And he,

Was currently standing on a ridge covered in grass and trees,

Behind him stood the familiar Xiao Family.

It was just like the Xiao Family in his memories,

The entire Xiao Family had been transported here by some means he could not understand.

And the fierce winds of heaven and earth around them,

Seemed to fear and revere Qing Luo. Before they could approach him, they changed direction on their own, creating a ten-meter vacuum around him...

"H-How... was this even done...?"

Xiao Yan's voice was filled with shock and confusion.

"This is not difficult. You will understand in the future."

Qing Luo looked at Xiao Yan and said,

"I really can cultivate?"

Xiao Yan looked at Qing Luo expectantly,

"Give me the ring on your hand."

Qing Luo pointed at the black thumb ring on Xiao Yan's right hand and said,

Hearing this,

Xiao Yan lowered his head to look at the thumb ring on his right hand,

This thumb ring,

Was a keepsake his mother had left him...

After he had transmigrated here, his mother was already dead. Xiao Yan had no impression of the mother he had never met.

Only this ring remained.

Seeing that Qing Luo had done nothing to harm the Xiao Family, Xiao Yan removed the thumb ring and handed it to him,

"What do I need to do to cultivate again?"

After handing over the ring,

Xiao Yan could not help asking again,

Qing Luo took the thumb ring, examined it before his eyes, then looked at Xiao Yan teasingly.

"You can try cultivating now."

Xiao Yan: ???

He stood there in disbelief,

"Cultivate?!"

Seeing that Qing Luo said nothing more,

Xiao Yan found a flat spot and sat cross-legged, half-believing and half-doubting. Following the cultivation method mastered by the Xiao Family, he began trying to absorb the dense energy of heaven and earth around him.

Time slowly passed,

Strands of pure energy flowed through his meridians under Xiao Yan's control, gathering toward his dantian.

In the past,

The instant this energy entered his dantian, it would disperse completely,

But this time,

An endless stream of pure energy flowed gently into his dantian,

Slowly swirling and settling within it,

Condensing into a faint yet tangible strand of Dou Qi.

In only a moment,

A soft cluster of pale white Dou Qi accumulated within his dantian. As it circulated, warmth spread through his entire body,

Every bone and muscle in his body felt lighter and more comfortable than ever before.

Xiao Yan abruptly opened his eyes,

Staggering to his feet from the bluestone,

"It worked! It really worked! My dantian retained Dou Qi... I can cultivate!"

Xiao Yan's voice trembled uncontrollably, full of shock and joy,

Then,

Xiao Yan saw the black thumb ring in Qing Luo's hand,

As a transmigrator,

He instantly guessed why he had been unable to cultivate,

"It was that ring... That ring made me unable to cultivate?!"

Xiao Yan asked,

His tone was somewhat uncertain,

After all,

That ring had been left to him by his mother, and he had worn it ever since before his Dou Qi began disappearing.

Nothing had seemed wrong before...

It was only three years ago,

That he suddenly became unable to cultivate,

But that senior had merely taken the ring just now. He had done nothing else...

"A Dou Zun's soul is parasitizing this ring. You were able to cultivate before because that Dou Zun's soul was still very weak."

Noticing Xiao Yan's expression,

Qing Luo smiled faintly and said calmly,

"The reason you became unable to cultivate three years ago was because the soul gradually grew stronger. Every strand of Dou Qi you cultivated was absorbed by that soul to repair its weakened soul body!"

"A Dou Zun's soul..."

Upon hearing this information,

Xiao Yan froze for a moment, then uncontrollable anger appeared on his face.

"You mean I was being drained by a remnant soul for three years?!"

"Damn it! A Dou Zun draining me—does it have no shame...?"

For the past three years,

Xiao Yan had always believed that he had simply not worked hard enough,

That something had gone wrong with his body. He had never imagined that someone had been draining him for three years...

And it was a Dou Zun?!

"Thank you, Senior. If you had not reminded me, I would not have known how many more years that Dou Zun would have drained me!"

Xiao Yan looked at Qing Luo gratefully,

Qing Luo chuckled softly,

And said calmly,

"This is not entirely a bad thing for you. Although you were unable to cultivate these past three years, it tempered your character. The Dou Qi that disappeared also broadened your meridians,

It will make your future cultivation much easier!"

Xiao Yan: ???

Listen to that,

Was that even something a human should say?!

Was that not the same as saying that if you could endure hardship, then endless hardship awaited you?

However,

Given Qing Luo's terrifying strength, Xiao Yan could only grumble about it to himself,

"Thank you, Senior. This junior has learned much..."

Xiao Yan said respectfully,

"I am not merely trying to comfort you. That Dou Zun remnant soul is also an alchemist. Having absorbed your Dou Qi for three years, it will compensate you along your future cultivation path and let you achieve twice the result with half the effort!

This should have been the goodwill of the person who gave you the ring back then. It was simply that she had not expected this outcome."

Hearing Qing Luo say this,

Xiao Yan paused, recalling the origin of the ring and the remnant soul within it,

A Dou Zun,

As a transmigrator, Xiao Yan had a general understanding of the cultivation realms in this world,

They were divided into,

Dou Zhe, Dou Shi, Da Dou Shi, Dou Ling, Dou Wang, Dou Emperor, Dou Zong, Dou Zun, Dou Saint, and Dou God!

The Xiao Family of the past,

Had been one of the three great families of Wutan City,

Its strongest expert had only been a Da Dou Shi. In the Jiama Empire where he lived, there was a colossal existence like the Misty Cloud Sect.

Xiao Yan had only heard that the Misty Cloud Sect possessed Dou Emperor experts,

As for Dou Zong...

They were already legendary figures,

According to the elders of his family,

Reaching the Dou Zong realm meant one could swagger across the Northwest Continent. Even in the Central Plains, one would be considered a powerful expert.

Yet his ring actually contained a Dou Zun remnant soul...

That was a Dou Zun,

A terrifying existence among the final three cultivation realms of this world,

Even as a remnant soul,

The Cultivation Methods and knowledge it possessed were treasures beyond compare for someone like him, who had just stepped onto the path of cultivation.

Even the Misty Cloud Sect, where he currently was, could not possibly possess Cultivation Method inheritances that compared to that Dou Zun remnant soul.

And this ring had been left to him by his mother,

Which meant,

That Dou Zun remnant soul was an opportunity his mother had left for him. As for it absorbing his Dou Qi for three years, that was likely something even his mother could not have anticipated.

After thinking through all this,

Xiao Yan felt somewhat relieved and was no longer as angry as before.

"I understand. Thank you for the reminder, Senior. For the great kindness you have shown this junior and the Xiao Family today, this junior will surely repay you in the future."

Xiao Yan cupped his fists toward Qing Luo with utmost respect,

As a transmigrator,

Xiao Yan had received nine years of compulsory education and understood how to conduct himself around others,

He could tell,

That Qing Luo was not as Xun'er had claimed—someone plotting against the Xiao Family or harboring selfish motives,

Qing Luo could easily have concealed the matter of the Dou Zun remnant soul,

And Xiao Yan would never have noticed,

Yet instead,

Qing Luo had hidden nothing. He had even explained the purpose of the remnant soul's existence and its value to him.

Even as a transmigrator, Xiao Yan could not find a single fault in what Qing Luo had done,

If this were Blue Star, calling him godfather outright would not have been excessive at all.

If the implication were not so awkward,

Xiao Yan would have wanted to directly say that classic line: "If you do not despise me, Yan would be willing to take you as his godfather!"