Yao Lao

"Boy, do you want power?"

The evening breeze passed through the woods on the mountain behind the clan grounds, leaves rustling as though someone were sighing softly.

Xiao Yan shuddered and jerked his head up, looking around in alarm.

The mountain was deserted. Aside from swaying tree shadows and the cool mountain breeze, there was not a soul in sight.

"Who's there?!" he demanded warily, his voice a little hoarse as he suppressed the bitterness and resentment lingering after the test.

No one answered.

Only the black Storage Ring clenched tightly in his palm gave off a faint, almost imperceptible warmth, so weak that he nearly mistook it for the heat of his own hand.

"No need to look around. I'm inside the ring in your hand."

That aged, ethereal voice, as though coming through a thick veil of mist, sounded in his Consciousness Sea again. It echoed directly in the depths of his mind rather than entering through his ears.

Xiao Yan's pupils contracted sharply. Instinctively, he wanted to throw the ring away, yet his fingers seemed beyond his control and tightened around it instead.

All the humiliation and frustration of countless days and nights over the past three years, the mockery of others, his father's helpless gaze, and the glaring words "Three-Stage Dou Qi" on the Demon Testing Stone moments ago surged into his heart at once.

"Who... are you?" His voice trembled slightly with fear, but even more with a longing that was on the verge of spilling over.

"You may call this old man Yao Lao."

The voice inside the ring was unhurried, carrying a calm tempered by long years. "Boy, I asked you just now—do you want power?"

Xiao Yan's breathing suddenly quickened.

Power.

That word was what he had yearned for most whenever he awoke from dreams in the dead of night over these past three years.

If he had power, he would no longer have to endure those mocking looks, make his father worry about him, or watch helplessly as the radiance that had once belonged to him faded little by little.

But reason still tugged at him, and he bit his lower lip.

"There's no such thing as a free lunch. What do you want?"

"Heh heh... after absorbing your Dou Qi for three years, I ought to give you something in return, shouldn't I?"

The laughter in his Consciousness Sea held a hint of teasing, along with a trace of apology that was difficult to detect.

Xiao Yan felt as though lightning had struck him. His body went rigid, and his grip on the black ring abruptly tightened until his knuckles turned white. "Absorbed... you absorbed my Dou Qi for three years?!"

Scene after scene from the past three years exploded through his mind like flashes of lightning.

He had cultivated tirelessly every day, yet whenever his Dou Qi began to improve, it inexplicably dissipated. No matter how hard he trained, he remained trapped at Three-Stage Dou Qi.

Countless times, he had suspected that he had lost all his talent or that some hidden ailment lurked in his meridians. Never had he imagined that the root of it all was this ordinary ring he had worn since childhood!

An indescribable fury rushed to his head, almost burning his reason to ashes. He raised his arm sharply, ready to hurl the black ring that had harmed him for three years into the jumble of rocks below the mountain!

"Don't be so quick to throw it away." Yao Lao's voice remained composed, without the slightest panic.

"Someone plotted against me back then. Only a wisp of my remnant soul was left to dwell in this ring. Unconsciously, I absorbed the Dou Qi you released to sustain my soul. I did not deliberately scheme against you."

"Though those three years of Dou Qi are gone, if you become my disciple, I can not only restore you to the rank of Dou Zhe, but also let you surpass that genius on the platform today."

"Is... what you say true?" Xiao Yan's voice was dry and hoarse, each word seeming to squeeze through his clenched teeth.

"I, Yao Chen, was once a figure whose name resounded across the continent. I would hardly stoop to deceiving a boy with lies."

The voice in his Consciousness Sea grew more solemn. "I will teach you the Flame Mantra, an unprecedented cultivation method capable of evolving. As long as you find medicinal ingredients to help restore my soul, I will repay everything I owe you."

Moonlight filtered through the branches and leaves, scattering patches of light across the boy's tense face.

Xiao Yan lowered his gaze to the ancient, pitch-black ring in his palm. A faint warmth still emanated from it. For a long time, the only sound on the mountain was the rustling of leaves in the wind.

At last, he slowly lowered his raised right hand.

"All right."

That single utterance carried immense inner struggle, as well as the resolve to smash the cauldrons and sink the boats, leaving no path of retreat.

"I, Xiao Yan, am willing to become your disciple, Yao Lao. I can let what happened before go. But if you deceive me... no matter where you flee, even to the ends of the earth, I will demand an accounting!"

He bent his knees, kneeling on the cold, hard mountain rock. His back remained straight as he performed the ceremony of accepting a master.

"Ha ha! Good lad! You've got backbone!"

Yao Lao's laughter sounded considerably more carefree. "From tonight onward, you are my disciple, the disciple of Yao Chen."

Early the next morning.

A faint fish-belly white had only just appeared on the horizon, and thin mist still shrouded the Xiao Clan's courtyards.

Xiao Yuan rose early and began his morning training outside his courtyard gate.

His ability to get up so early was not due to any particular dedication to cultivation. It was purely a habit left over from three years of high school. Even after all these years, that habit remained carved into his bones.

Even after coming to the Dou Qi Continent, his body still woke naturally at daybreak, leaving him unable to sleep in.

The silver-robed youth stood on the open bluestone ground before the gate, his feet planted firmly apart as he slowly closed his eyes.

The Ten Thousand Transformations Source-Dividing Art quietly circulated within him. His dual thunder-fire attribute Dou Qi flowed like two rushing streams, slowly cycling through the meridians throughout his body.

The sparse yet pure Dou Qi of early morning seeped into his pores in fine threads. He continuously refined it, gradually battering the barrier to becoming a Six-Star Dou Zhe.

The morning mist slowly dispersed, and the rising sun crept above the courtyard wall, spilling golden light.

After roughly an hour, Xiao Yuan slowly brought his cultivation to a close and released a long breath of stale air. The Dou Qi throughout his body settled completely.

Just then, soft footsteps sounded from the covered walkway.

Xiao Xun'er approached slowly in a pale green dress. She, too, had finished her early morning cultivation, and her hair carried the coolness of the dawn.

"Good morning."

Xiao Xun'er looked at him, a faint smile in her eyes as she greeted Xiao Yuan.

"Morning."

Xiao Yuan nodded slightly and raised a hand to brush the specks of morning dew from the hem of his silver robe.

The rising sun gradually pierced the thin mist. Its gentle light fell upon the girl's pale green skirt, spreading into a faint halo.

"I heard from Uncle Xiao that some honored guests will be visiting the clan today. Apparently, they're from the Misty Cloud Sect."

Xiao Xun'er stood beside Xiao Yuan, gazing at his handsome profile, which still held a hint of youthful innocence. Her tone was casual as she mentioned it in passing.

Xiao Xun'er stood beside Xiao Yuan, gazing at his handsome profile, which still held a hint of youthful innocence, and casually brought the matter up.

At her words, Xiao Yuan's hand abruptly stopped brushing the dew from his robe.

The original story's plot flashed through his mind like lightning. With the current timing in mind, all the clues instantly connected.

Today, the Xiao Clan's test had concluded, and news that Xiao Yan had fallen to Three-Stage Dou Qi and become the clan's laughingstock had spread throughout Wutan City, coinciding perfectly with the Misty Cloud Sect's visit.