The test

Xiao Xun'er's expression softened, and she nodded lightly. "Go on. Settle your breathing properly. There's no need to rush."

Xiao Yuan waved goodbye. His silver-robed figure turned and strode calmly out of the quiet Dou Technique Hall.

Sunlight spilled down outside the doors, and the boy's figure receded into the distance.

No one knew that this boy, who had emerged after three silent months of seclusion, already stood at the pinnacle of the Xiao Clan's younger generation.

His brilliance would soon blaze forth in full at the clan test a few days later.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed...

The Xiao Clan Training Ground bustled with voices that morning, waves of chatter rising one after another.

Today was the Xiao Clan's semiannual cultivation test, and almost every clan member under fifteen had gathered there.

At the center of the vast, bluestone-paved square stood a grayish-white Demon Testing Stone half a person's height. Fine markings covered its surface, allowing it to clearly display the strength of a cultivator's Dou Qi.

Around the square, many senior clan members and elders had already taken their seats on the raised platform, their gazes sweeping calmly over the boys and girls below.

Xiao Zhan sat beside the Great Elder, conversing quietly with him as his gaze occasionally wandered across the grounds.

"I heard Xiao Yuan spent three months in seclusion and came out yesterday. I wonder if he'll show up today."

"Of course he will! He's the most talented person in Wutan City. Who wouldn't want to see just how strong he's become?"

"And there's Miss Xun'er. She takes first place by a huge margin every time. No one can even catch up..."

Murmurs drifted constantly through the crowd, and many of the boys could not help glancing toward the entrance.

At the edge of the crowd, Xiao Yuan stood quietly in his silver robes.

He had not gone out over the past three days, spending most of his time in his courtyard familiarizing himself with the circulation pathways of Thunderclap Finger and Thunderflash, while refining his Five-Star Dou Zhe-level Dou Qi until it grew even more condensed.

The Dou Qi of his dual thunder-fire attribute flowed slowly through his meridians like a hidden undercurrent. He kept it tightly restrained, allowing not the slightest trace to escape.

Unless he deliberately activated it, others could only tell that his aura was robust; they had no way to discern his true cultivation.

"Xiao Yuan! You're finally here!"

A white-robed figure pushed through the crowd and hurried over. It was Xiao Ning. His wind-aspected Dou Qi rippled faintly around him, his ninth-stage Dou Qi aura fully released, and his face brimmed with irrepressible excitement.

Ninth stage... that makes sense.

In the original story, Xiao Ning had focused all his attention on Xiao Xun'er and behaved like a wastrel, yet even then he had managed to reach the eighth stage.

Now that Xiao Yuan was pushing him, breaking through to the ninth stage was only natural.

"I thought you were going to be late."

Xiao Yuan smiled faintly. "I wouldn't miss it."

Just then, the crowd parted of its own accord.

Xiao Xun'er approached slowly in a pale green dress, her long black hair loosely pinned up and a faint serenity resting on her lovely face.

Her gaze first went to Xiao Yan in a corner, then settled on Xiao Yuan, pausing almost imperceptibly.

After just three days apart, the faint aura of the Yan Clan bloodline around the boy seemed to have grown a little stronger.

"It seems everyone is here."

On the raised platform, the Great Elder slowly rose to his feet. His aged yet resonant voice carried throughout the training ground.

"I need not explain the rules. Step forward in turn, place your palm against the Demon Testing Stone, and activate your Dou Qi. The stone will display your result. Now, let the test begin!"

As the Great Elder finished speaking, the clamor gradually subsided, and the young clan members quickly formed a long line. No one stepped forward on their own. Each round, the Great Elder called a name from the clan register atop the platform, and only then did that person leave the line and approach the Demon Testing Stone.

"Xiao Wang!"

A slightly plump boy hurried forward and pressed his palm against the Demon Testing Stone, slowly circulating his Dou Qi. The markings lit up, and a line of faintly glowing words appeared in the air—fifth-stage Dou Qi.

"Fifth-stage Dou Qi. Acceptable. Next, Xiao Feng!"

The boy whose name had been called stepped forward. A moment later, the words appeared: fifth-stage Dou Qi.

The test proceeded in an orderly fashion.

"Xiao Qing! Fourth-stage Dou Qi."

"Xiao Yu! Sixth-stage Dou Qi."

"Xiao Jian! Fifth-stage Dou Qi."

Every name announced brought another ripple of discussion across the square, some quiet, some loud. Most of the young clan members remained between the third and sixth stages of Dou Qi. Very few had reached the seventh stage or above, and whenever one did, low murmurs of admiration rose around them.

On the platform, Xiao Zhan leaned forward slightly, his gaze occasionally passing over the slender, black-robed figure near the back of the line—Xiao Yan.

The boy stood with his head lowered and his expression calm, but his clenched hands betrayed the turmoil within. For three years, every roll call and every announcement of someone else's cultivation had been an ordeal for him.

An unknown amount of time passed.

"Xiao Ning!"

The Great Elder's voice rang out.

The white-robed boy perked up and strode out of the line, his steps swift as the wind. Drawing a deep breath, he planted his right palm firmly against the Demon Testing Stone, and the wind-aspected Dou Qi he had accumulated for so long surged out without restraint.

The stone trembled, and a clear line of words slowly appeared: ninth-stage Dou Qi.

"Good! Ninth-stage Dou Qi! Only one step away from becoming a Dou Zhe!"

Approval shone in the Great Elder's eyes, and his voice rose a little.

An immediate stir swept through the training ground, and many boys cast envious looks his way. Xiao Ning withdrew his palm, turned his head, and raised an eyebrow toward Xiao Yuan in the distance, his eyes brimming with an eagerness to fight.

"Next, Xiao Xun'er."

At that name, the square quieted almost instantly.

The graceful figure in pale green calmly stepped out of the line and approached the Demon Testing Stone with light footsteps. Her jade-white palm rested gently against its surface. There was no surging display of power, yet a line of words that made hearts tremble soon appeared on the stone: One-star Dou Zhe.

The entire crowd erupted.

"A one-star Dou Zhe... you probably couldn't find another talent like her in all of Wutan City," an elder on the platform remarked, stroking his beard.

Xiao Xun'er withdrew her hand and quietly stepped aside, her gaze drifting inconspicuously toward the silver-robed boy.

The Great Elder quieted the crowd and continued through the register. His aged voice once again rang across the square:

"Xiao Yuan!"

In an instant, countless gazes surged toward the edge of the crowd like a tide.

"Here he comes! Young Master Xiao Yuan is up!"

"Xiao Yuan tested at seventh-stage Dou Qi last year. What stage do you think he'll reach this year?"

"Young Master Xiao Yuan is only ten at most this year, right? He probably won't be above the ninth stage."

"Ha! You bunch of cowards. Be a little bolder, will you? I'm betting on one-star Dou Zhe!"

Discussion rose in waves, everyone's eyes fixed firmly on the silver-robed figure.

Xiao Yuan's expression remained unruffled as he slowly emerged from the crowd, the hem of his robe swaying gently with his steps.

He approached the Demon Testing Stone at an unhurried pace, raised his right hand, and pressed it steadily against the rough, cold surface.

Within him, the Dou Qi he had refined to exceptional purity was no longer deliberately suppressed. The power of a Five-Star Dou Zhe slowly flowed out.

Buzz!!

The fine markings across the Demon Testing Stone trembled one after another, and a line of exceptionally clear, faintly glowing words slowly appeared at its center:

Five-Star Dou Zhe.

When those words met everyone's eyes, a deathly silence first fell over the training ground. Even their breathing grew faint. The next instant, a thunderous uproar erupted like a collapsing mountain!

"F-five-star Dou Zhe?!"

"No way!! A ten-year-old Five-Star Dou Zhe?!"

"We were just guessing one star, and he went straight to five times that..."

On the platform, Xiao Zhan abruptly straightened in his chair, his eyes wide and his face filled with disbelief.

Beside him, the usually composed Great Elder clenched the register so tightly that its pages crumpled, muttering the same words over and over under his breath.

"A prodigy... a true prodigy! To think our Xiao Clan has produced a child like this!"

Xiao Ning stood off to the side, his mouth hanging open. The fighting spirit that had filled his eyes moments earlier was gone without a trace, leaving only utter bewilderment.

An almost insurmountable gulf lay between ninth-stage Dou Qi and a Five-Star Dou Zhe. His earlier desire to spar was shattered in an instant, vanishing like smoke.

Xiao Xun'er's long lashes quivered gently. A faint trace of surprise flashed through her eyes before serenity returned.

She had vaguely guessed that Xiao Yuan had made enormous progress, but she had never expected him to have reached such a terrifying level.

"Silence! Silence!"

The Great Elder waved his hands repeatedly, struggling to suppress the seething roar across the square. Taking a deep breath, he turned to the final page of the register, his voice carrying a barely perceptible hint of conflicting emotions:

"Next, Xiao Yan!"