Migrating to the Black-Corner Region?

The Desert Iron Mercenary Group.

Inside a noisy courtyard.

Mercenaries trained all around, many casting odd looks at the handsome young man who had just arrived.

"Little Yanzi! I've missed you to death."

Xiao Li threw an arm around Xiao Yan's shoulders and gave him a hearty pat, his eyes bright with the joy of reunion. "Let me look at you. Taller, thinner... What, isn't the food at home any good?"

Beside him, Xiao Ding smiled as he looked Xiao Yan over with a gentle gaze.

"The food at home... isn't bad." Xiao Yan smiled. At last, he had seen both his elder brothers again.

"Little Yanzi, why have you come here?" Xiao Ding's expression gradually turned serious. "Has something happened to the clan? At your age and cultivation level, it's too soon for them to send you out into the world."

Xiao Li's easygoing expression froze. He clenched his fists, a fierce glint rising in his eyes. "Eldest Brother and I chose to come out here on our own. We haven't used a single bit of the clan's resources, all for Little Yanzi's sake. Don't tell me... those clan elders wouldn't even give him this much time and kicked him out?"

"I'm going to settle this with those stubborn old fools!" Xiao Li's face hardened.

"Quiet!" Xiao Ding frowned slightly. One look silenced Xiao Li, who crouched in a corner of the courtyard, muttering complaints about Xiao Zhan.

"Little Yanzi, tell me what happened," Xiao Ding said gravely.

"Well..." Xiao Yan looked a little awkward. "I chose to come out and train. I passed the entrance exam for Jia Nan Academy, took a year's leave, and planned to train in the Black-Corner Region."

"What?!" Xiao Li sprang to his feet and stared at Xiao Yan in disbelief. "You passed the Jia Nan Academy exam? Then your talent has... come back?"

"Mm." Xiao Yan nodded with a smile.

"No wonder Father hasn't written in months. He must've been so happy he forgot about us!" Xiao Li chuckled, delight spreading across his face.

Xiao Yan's talent had been so terrifying that even his two elder brothers could not compare. If their little brother rose again, the Xiao Clan might truly flourish!

But...

"You said you're going to the Black-Corner Region?!" Xiao Li's eyes widened again. He hooked an arm around Xiao Yan's neck and growled, "Think you can do whatever you want now? Do you know what kind of place that is? Everyone who survives there fought their way out of a pit of corpses! Even I wouldn't dare say I could get by there."

"There are easier ways to get yourself killed!"

"You've gotten way too cocky!"

Xiao Yan grimaced under the chokehold and rolled his eyes.

Watching his younger brothers tussle, Xiao Ding smiled. He could tell Xiao Yan was serious. His third brother had been exceptionally sharp and steady since childhood, enough to astonish even him.

If Xiao Yan wanted to enter the Black-Corner Region now, he must have every confidence in his chances.

Still... however confident Xiao Yan was, Xiao Ding was his elder brother. He had to make sure.

Xiao Ding's gaze swept over Xiao Yi Xian, who idly played with her fingers, and the white-haired elder standing with his hands behind his back, his aura so mysterious that Xiao Ding could not discern a thing about him. His eyes narrowed.

"Second Brother, spar with Little Yanzi."

"Me?!" Xiao Li stopped fooling around and stared blankly at his elder brother, pointing at himself.

He was the Desert Iron Mercenary Group's second-strongest fighter and had only recently advanced to Two-Star Dou Shi. Having him fight Xiao Yan, whose talent had returned not long ago, would be...

"Yes." Xiao Ding gave a slight nod, his expression unchanged.

"Tsk."

Xiao Li broke into a bright grin. "Little Yanzi, don't say I'm bullying you. I'll lower my cultivation to match yours. Come on, what star Dou Zhe are you now?"

The surrounding mercenaries folded their arms and watched Xiao Yan with teasing smiles. They had seen how formidable Xiao Li was. This boy might be their second commander's little brother, but he was plainly about to get beaten.

"Seven-star." Xiao Yan smiled.

"Not bad. You've recovered to seven-star Dou Zhe in just one year." Xiao Li's eyes lit up. A woman in the distance tossed him a pale-cyan spear, which he caught casually before fixing Xiao Yan with an eager stare.

"Wrong."

Xiao Yan turned his palm, and a pitch-black Mystic Staff appeared in his hand. He grinned. "Seven-Star Dou Shi!"

With that, he stopped concealing his aura. Dark-Green Flame surged from his body, enveloping him and spreading several meters around him. An ink-green Dou Qi Mantle draped over him, rippling with the flames. He raised the Mystic Staff and brought it straight down on Xiao Li.

"Shit!"

Xiao Li stared in shock. With no other choice, he lifted his silver-white spear across his body as arcs of lightning sprang up around him.

Bang!

At the muffled impact, the silver-white spear snapped in half. The Mystic Staff stopped at Xiao Li's throat, a hair's breadth from piercing through it.

"You... you little monster!" Xiao Li stared in shock. His throat bobbed, and beads of sweat rolled down his cheeks.

Facing Xiao Yan was even more frightening than facing Luo Bu next door, a Peak Nine-Star Dou Shi.

The sheer force of that exchange left the mercenaries staring blankly. Weapons slipped from their hands and clattered across the ground.

"Clap, clap, clap..." A fervent light flashed in Xiao Ding's eyes as he gently applauded.

"Second Brother, anything else to say?"

"..." Xiao Li scratched his head.

"You didn't come all this way just to train in the Black-Corner Region, did you? Come inside and talk." Xiao Ding rose and pushed open the door.

Xiao Yan put away the Mystic Staff, grinned, and patted Xiao Li's shoulder. "You still need more practice, Brother."

Inside the room.

Xiao Ding glanced at Hai Bodong, who sat with his eyes closed, unruffled by what had happened, then at Xiao Yi Xian. He smiled.

"And these two are...?"

"This is Elder Hai, a Dou Huang expert. And this is Xiao Yi Xian, a friend I met on the road."

Xiao Yan kept the introductions brief.

"A friend?" Xiao Li looked doubtful. Leaning close, he teased, "Just a friend?"

"..." Xiao Yan smiled calmly and refused to take the bait.

Then he explained why he had come. "I want you both to go to the Black-Corner Region with me. We'll scout the way for the Xiao Clan to establish itself there in the future!"

The room fell silent.

Even Hai Bodong shot Xiao Yan a sidelong glance.

The Black-Corner Region was full of tangled factions, even more so than the Jia Ma Empire. Xiao Yan was gifted, certainly, but leading an entire clan to establish itself there would be no easy task.

"Go on, Little Yanzi." Xiao Ding tapped his fingers on the table, looking thoughtful.

Rather than speak, Xiao Yan took bottle after bottle of pills from his Storage Ring and set them on the table. Even its broad surface was soon crowded with them.

"I refined all of these pills..."

"These are Three-Rank Spirit Link Meridian-Penetrating Pills. Anyone at Da Dou Shi or below can raise their cultivation by taking one."

"And... I just passed the Three-Rank Alchemist assessment."

Xiao Yan fell silent for a moment. He could not tell them outright that the Xiao Clan would one day be targeted by the Misty Cloud Sect and even the Soul Hall behind it. Wutan City offered no safety at all now. He had to find protection elsewhere.

The Black-Corner Region?

No. Jia Nan Academy.

The chaos of the Black-Corner Region would provide cover, while Jia Nan Academy had formidable foundations of its own, including two Peak Dou Zong guardians. Unless the Soul Hall deployed an expert above Dou Zun...

And since the Black-Corner Region bordered Jia Nan Academy, the Xiao Clan's elders and children could live for a time in territory under the academy's protection. Xiao Li, Xiao Ding, and the others would then be free to lead the clan's elite into the Black-Corner Region and fight their way forward.