"System, you mean this is the Dou Qi Continent a thousand years later?"
Wutan City, northeastern Jia Ma Empire, Northwest Region, Dou Qi Continent.
A young man dressed in black-and-red robes woven with golden thread stood at the gates of the Xiao Clan in Wutan City, disbelief written across his face.
His name was Xiao Xuan, a Peak Nine-Star Dou Saint.
He was not a man of this era, but had come from the Dou Qi Continent of a thousand years ago.
A thousand years ago, Xiao Xuan had been the last patriarch of the Ancient Xiao Clan, one of the Ancient Eight Clans. At his height, his cultivation had reached Peak Nine-Star Dou Saint, leaving him only half a step from the legendary Dou Di realm.
At the time, the Xiao Clan's Dou Di Bloodline had already grown extremely thin. Unless a new Dou Di emerged within the clan, the Xiao Clan would decline completely.
Thus, Xiao Xuan had made a mad decision: to expend the Xiao Clan's entire Dou Di Bloodline, gathering the bloodline power of the whole clan and activating a grand formation in the Heavenly Tomb to charge toward the Dou Di realm. He had truly been a peerless, ruthless powerhouse.
Unfortunately, Xiao Xuan had failed. Worse still, Hun Tiandi of the Hun Clan had seized the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on the Xiao Clan. In the end, Xiao Xuan, already injured by his failed breakthrough, had been surrounded and killed by several Dou Sheng of the Hun Clan.
Though Xiao Xuan had died, he had slain several of the Hun Clan's Dou Sheng on the spot before his death. The Hun Clan had managed to sink its teeth into him, but its strength had suffered grievously in the process. Even Hun Tiandi had been severely wounded.
What Xiao Xuan had never expected was that, just before his death, a golden light would envelop him. He had thought himself dead, yet when he regained his senses, he was already in an unfamiliar place called Wutan City.
He had also been bound to an [Ultimate Dou Di System].
The system told him that this was the Dou Qi Continent a thousand years later, and that the Xiao Clan of a thousand years later lived here.
As Xiao Xuan looked at the cramped, tiny... Xiao Clan residence before him, with a plaque reading [Xiao Residence] hanging above its gates, his first reaction was that he must have come to the wrong place.
Xiao Xuan said, "How is this possible? My Xiao Clan is one of the Ancient Eight Clans. We lived in the Central Plains for generations, and our ancestral grounds are there too. How did my Xiao Clan end up like this?"
"This little residence isn't even as big as one of my palaces back then."
Xiao Xuan was so angry that he laughed.
He distinctly remembered telling his friend Gu Yuan before entering seclusion to attempt his breakthrough to Dou Di that, should he fail and perish, he hoped Gu Yuan would support the Xiao Clan.
And this was what Gu Yuan's support had brought the Xiao Clan to?
Or... had the Gu Clan, one of the Eight Clans, also ceased to exist after a thousand years?
Xiao Xuan found it difficult to accept. He could not understand how Gu Yuan could have died when he had severely wounded both the Hun Clan and Hun Tiandi before his own death!
With the Gu Clan's strength, surely even a casual strike while the Hun Clan was gravely weakened would have been enough to conquer it. Gu Yuan, do you even know how to play this game?
Just then, a notification sounded in Xiao Xuan's mind.
"Ding! Xiao Clan of a thousand years later detected. Host, please check in within the Xiao Clan to receive the reward [Emperor Grade Nascent Pill]!"
"The Emperor Grade Nascent Pill contains a trace of Origin Emperor Qi. Consuming it will allow you to break through to the Half-Emperor realm!"
"What? Origin Emperor Qi! An Emperor Grade Nascent Pill?!"
Xiao Xuan trembled all over upon hearing the notification.
The reason his attempt to reach Dou Di had failed back then was that the Dou Qi Continent had no Origin Emperor Qi. That had been the ultimate cause of his failure.
Yet he had never imagined that, after his rebirth and binding to a system, his beginner reward would be an Emperor Grade Nascent Pill.
How incredible was that?
Xiao Xuan was overjoyed.
Good, good, good! Heaven truly hasn't abandoned my Xiao Clan!
He looked at the Xiao Residence before him.
"Enter the Xiao Residence and check in?"
Xiao Xuan was just about to step inside when two people happened to emerge from the Xiao Residence, walking toward him.
One was male and the other female, both in their teens.
The boy and girl walked out of the Xiao Clan side by side. The two guards outside the residence nodded when they saw them.
"Young Master Xiao Yan, Miss Xun'er, heading out?"
Xiao Yan nodded. "Yes, we're going out for a stroll."
The clan's coming-of-age ceremony was only a few days away, and Xiao Yan had been in low spirits. Xun'er had therefore pulled him along for a stroll through Wutan City's Market District to clear his mind.
They had barely stepped outside when Xiao Yan noticed an unfamiliar young man standing at the gates of the Xiao Residence, who was now looking toward him as well.
The unfamiliar young man stood tall and straight at the Xiao Clan's gates, carrying an imposing air. His black hair fell loose over his shoulders. Though his face was not extraordinarily handsome, he possessed an intimidating presence all his own.
His black eyes were as unfathomable as black holes, his gaze wise and weighty. He faintly radiated the air of someone long accustomed to a lofty position, unlike an ordinary man.
Xiao Yan did not know why, but as he looked at the unfamiliar young man before him, he felt an inexplicable familiarity and warmth beneath that imposing presence. They were complete strangers who had never met, yet it felt as though they had known each other long ago.
Xiao Xuan looked at Xiao Yan too, sensing a faint connection through the Xiao Clan Bloodline within him.
Could this be a descendant of my Xiao Clan a thousand years later?
By then, Xiao Yan had already approached and taken the initiative to greet him. "Senior, how should I address you?"
Xiao Yan did not know what had come over him. He neither knew the man before him nor had ever seen him, yet he felt a warmth toward him. He had originally come out today to accompany Xun'er shopping, but instead found himself greeting this unfamiliar young man.
"Xiao Xuan."
Xiao Xuan gave his name. Looking at Xiao Yan before him, he too felt a strong sense of warmth.
He was glad to meet someone from his Xiao Clan a thousand years later. Moreover, judging by the Xiao Clan bloodline within this young man, he should belong to the clan's direct line.
"Xiao Xuan? Are you a member of our Xiao Clan?" Xiao Yan was taken aback by the name.
His surname was Xiao. Could he really be a member of the Xiao Clan? But Xiao Yan had grown up in the clan, so why had he never heard of anyone named Xiao Xuan?
Beside Xiao Yan, Xun'er also turned to look at him. After hearing that name, her expression changed slightly.
Xiao Xuan... haven't I heard that name somewhere before?
Xun'er looked at the stranger oddly. For some reason, she had a very peculiar feeling, and even the dormant Gu Clan bloodline within her seemed to stir.
Hearing Xiao Yan's question, Xiao Xuan nodded.
He confirmed that he too belonged to the Xiao Clan, but did not mention that he came from the Xiao Clan of a thousand years ago.
Xiao Xuan said, "I've come from very far away. Could you take me inside for a look?"
As Xiao Xuan looked at the Xiao Clan before him, he wanted to see how its people lived a thousand years later.
Looking at Xiao Xuan, Xiao Yan already regarded him as a fellow clansman.
He thought that this might be a member of some branch of the Xiao Clan, someone who had lived elsewhere for years and only recently returned.
Since they both bore the surname Xiao, there was no harm in letting him have a look inside. After all, the Xiao Clan was one of Wutan City's three great clans, with many experts within its ranks and four Da Dou Shi holding the fort, including his father, the patriarch Xiao Zhan, a five-star Da Dou Shi. There was no need to fear this Xiao Xuan causing trouble.
Xiao Yan said, "Of course, Brother Xiao Xuan. I'll take you inside."
With that, Xiao Yan led the way for Xiao Xuan, while telling Xun'er, "Xun'er, I'll take Brother Xiao Xuan for a quick look around inside, then come back."
Xiao Xuan followed Xiao Yan. The moment his left foot stepped into the Xiao Clan, the system's notification sounded in his ears.
"Congratulations, host, on completing the beginner mission: check in at the Xiao Clan!"
"Rewards obtained: [Emperor Grade Nascent Pill], [Dou Di Points +1,000]!"
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