Dad, Wear This Ring for Three Years First!

When Xiao Yan woke up, he instinctively reached for the phone beside his pillow, but his fingers found nothing.

"Where's my phone?"

A moment later, he propped himself up and looked around. A flickering oil lamp stood beside the bed, surrounded by a wooden bed frame, blue curtains... and a half-open carved window.

"Where the hell have I ended up?"

The moment the words left his mouth, he fell silent.

Why had his voice changed??

Then unfamiliar yet familiar memories surged into his mind, one after another. Clothes soaked with sweat on the training grounds, words lighting up on a testing monument, his clansmen's sudden cries of astonishment, and a middle-aged man holding his shoulders, smiling so broadly that all the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes bunched together.

"Good! Good! My son has become a Dou Zhe at eleven! Dou Emperor Aptitude! There's hope for the Xiao Clan!"

Xiao Yan steadied himself against a bedpost and slowly lowered his head. The burning heat in his lower abdomen gradually subsided.

Then a strand of warm energy flowed through his meridians and finally entered his Dantian, where a tiny vortex hung, spinning quietly.

He tried clenching his fist.

Faint currents of energy hovered between his knuckles. With a gentle wave, the bed curtains billowed outward.

The room fell quiet for a moment.

"Did I... did I transmigrate?"

Xiao Yan began familiarizing himself with the memories in his mind, his eyes brightening little by little.

He discovered that the person he had transmigrated into was none other than Xiao Yan—the future Flame Emperor, a grandmaster alchemist, the very Xiao Yan who could make people regret being born with a casually tossed Fire Lotus!

In his previous life, he had squeezed onto subway trains while keeping up with novels. More than anything, he had hoped to open his eyes one day to a different world. Now the world really had changed, yet he could hardly believe any of it was real!

The boy jumped barefoot out of bed and paced around the room twice, unable to suppress the smile tugging at his lips.

Eleven years old. A Dou Zhe.

He was starting with a loving father, a clan, talent, and a...

At that thought, Xiao Yan stopped in his tracks. His gaze settled on his right hand, where an ancient, jet-black ring rested quietly on his finger.

The smile on his lips suddenly froze, and he grumbled:

"And an old man who eats my Dou Qi."

Xiao Yan slowly sat back down on the edge of the bed, raised his hand beneath the lamp, and studied it for a long while.

The ring's surface was not smooth. Its dark patterns bore traces of the years that had worn them down. As his fingertip brushed its inner edge, an indescribable attachment rose through his memories.

This was a keepsake his mother had left behind.

It was also where Yao Lao was hiding.

"I remember that in the original novel, not long after Xiao Yan became a Dou Zhe at eleven, his Dou Qi started disappearing for no reason. Eventually, he fell back to the third stage of Dou Qi and endured years of scorn..."

The more Xiao Yan thought about it, the straighter he sat.

He could not remember what happened in every chapter of the original book, but he could never forget this opening. Even after so many years, he could still recite that broken-engagement scene from memory.

"I haven't even been happy for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, and now I have to get ready to spend years as a useless good-for-nothing?"

Xiao Yan pinched the ring and gave it an experimental tug. It came off easily with a gentle pull. He placed it on the table, then stepped back.

Nothing happened.

He took another step back.

Still nothing.

"Yao Lao?"

He lowered his voice:

"Venerable Yao? Old grandpa?"

The oil lamp gave a soft pop.

Xiao Yan could not help glancing out the window before lowering his voice further. "If you're awake, let's talk this over. Taking a cut is fine, but you can't take all my capital too, can you?"

The ring gave no response.

"Looks like you're still asleep!"

Xiao Yan propped up his chin and stared thoughtfully at the tabletop. Throwing it away was out of the question. His mother's keepsake, his future teacher, an alchemical legacy—he could not bear to part with any of them.

Continuing to wear it himself was out of the question too.

He had only just gotten a taste of Dou Qi. He had barely warmed his seat as a Dou Zhe, and he really did not want to fall back down again.

"Then could someone else wear it?"

A thought suddenly sprang into his mind, and Xiao Yan's gaze gradually drifted beyond the courtyard wall.

His father Xiao Zhan's residence was over there.

His father was a powerful Da Dou Shi, two whole major realms above him.

He looked at the ring, then at the courtyard wall.

The sums in his head suddenly added up.

Given the same night of cultivation, his father would surely gather far more Dou Qi than a mere Dou Zhe like him. Letting Yao Lao stay with his father would be faster than leaving him here to scrape it together bit by bit.

His father would lose a little of his cultivation gains, he would keep his talent, and Yao Lao would awaken ahead of time. Once Yao Lao had recovered enough, he would take the ring back, kneel, offer tea, and become his disciple.

They were family; they had even divided up the work of supporting his teacher in advance. It was absolutely perfect!!!

"Doesn't that get everything sorted?"

With a chuckle, Xiao Yan had just slapped his knee when footsteps sounded outside the door.

"Yan'er, haven't gone to bed yet?"

His hand moved faster than his brain. He snatched up the ring and hid it in his palm.

The door opened, and a burly middle-aged man walked in. It was Xiao Zhan.

Up close, the Xiao Clan's leader had an even more imposing presence than Xiao Yan had imagined. He had a pronounced brow and broad shoulders. Standing before the lamp, he seemed to block half the light in the room.

Yet what he carried in his hand was a small food box.

"You went to sleep without eating dinner, so I had the kitchen save you some congee."

Xiao Zhan set the food box down. His gaze swept over Xiao Yan's bare feet, and he frowned.

"Isn't the floor cold?"

Xiao Yan smiled.

"Nope. I'm a Dou Zhe now."

Somewhat speechless, Xiao Zhan said:

"Does being a Dou Zhe mean you don't need shoes?"

Xiao Yan lowered his head to look for his shoes.

Xiao Zhan's gaze fell on his hand.

"What are you holding?"

"The ring Mother left me." Xiao Yan opened his palm and took the opportunity to sound him out. "Father, how has your cultivation been lately?"

Xiao Zhan teased:

"What? You've only just broken through, and you're already thinking of catching up to your father?"

Xiao Yan chuckled.

"I'm just checking on you."

Xiao Zhan sat down with a smile, had him hold out his hand, and sent a strand of Dou Qi into him to examine his condition.

That energy was broad and enduring. It circulated through Xiao Yan's meridians, steady from beginning to end, without leaving even the slightest discomfort.

Feeling the difference between their Dou Qi, Xiao Yan's eyes grew brighter still, and he thought:

With Father's foundation, keeping a Yao Lao fed shouldn't be hard, right?

"Your foundation is fairly stable." Xiao Zhan withdrew his hand, his expression relaxing. "There's no need to rush into cultivating tomorrow. Rest for a day first. I'll also arrange the cultivation resources the clan promised you."

Xiao Yan asked:

"The elders didn't object?"

Xiao Zhan snorted.

"If they object, let them produce an eleven-year-old Dou Zhe of their own."

Xiao Yan could not hold back his laughter.

Xiao Zhan laughed too. He uncovered Xiao Yan's bowl of congee, then suddenly glanced at the ring in the boy's palm. His smile faded a little.

"If only your mother could have seen today..."

He stopped there and raised a hand to ruffle the boy's hair.

"Eat while it's hot."

Holding his spoon, Xiao Yan found that the gift-giving speech he had prepared somehow stuck in his throat.

In his memories, Xiao Zhan had done this many times. Yet this was the first time the warmth of that palm on his head felt so real. Clearly, the sincere bond between father and son still remained within his original self.

He lowered his head and took a spoonful of congee.

It was a little hot.

Xiao Zhan still had clan affairs to handle. After a few reminders, he rose to leave. At the door, he looked back and said, "Keep the ring safe. Don't spend all your time before bed thinking about cultivation. There are plenty of days ahead."

The door closed, and the footsteps receded.

Xiao Yan sat holding the bowl for a while. After finishing the remaining congee, he looked at his palm again. Some of his earlier excitement had faded.

"No matter what, I have to make sure Yao Lao only absorbs Dou Qi and won't damage Father's foundation. If the effect really is too great, I'll take it back immediately. I can't let Father's cultivation suffer."

He reached out and stroked the ring's surface, then recalled that broad, steady strand of Dou Qi once more.

Damage to his foundation should be unlikely, right? The original Xiao Yan had been so young, and even after having his energy drained for three years, he had still been able to cultivate his way back. His father's cultivation should be able to withstand it even better. Besides, once Yao Lao awakened, he could ask for a few extra pills when he became his disciple and make it up to his father.

At that thought, his faint guilty conscience found some reassurance.

Xiao Yan found a clean, soft cloth and wiped the ring meticulously. He even made a point of finding a small Wooden Box to hold it. After all, a gift ought to look presentable.

Holding the Wooden Box, he paced around his room, preparing to rehearse what he would say tomorrow.

"Father, about this ring of Mother's, I was thinking..."

No, that was too roundabout.

"Dad, wear this ring for three years first. After three years..."

Even worse. Who set a return date before giving someone a gift?

Xiao Yan cleared his throat, adopted a sincere expression, and murmured to himself:

"I've been busy cultivating lately, and I'm afraid I might damage Mother's keepsake. I'd like to ask you to look after it for a while, Father. Once I've achieved something in my studies, I'll come and take it back..."

Before he finished speaking,

a sliver of extremely faint clear light suddenly shone inside the Wooden Box.

An aged voice drifted leisurely into his ears.

"Heh heh. It's been many years since I last saw such filial devotion."