Gu Yuan

"Gu Yuan, since you're here, why hide your head and show only your tail?"

Hun Tiandi turned his head, his gaze piercing through space toward a spot in the void.

A gentle breeze blew, fallen leaves danced, and Gu Yuan's figure slowly emerged.

"Heh, Hun Tiandi, a thousand years have passed, yet your senses are still as keen as ever."

Gu Yuan calmly regarded this old nemesis, who had vanished for a thousand years. He was no different from a millennium ago: beneath that refined, easygoing exterior beat a heart like a demon's.

"A thousand years have merely added a little wind and frost." Hun Tiandi chuckled.

"A little wind and frost? What an interesting way to put it." The wind stopped. The blazing sun hung overhead, yet the surroundings suddenly dimmed several shades. Gu Yuan's sleeves moved without a breeze, and a faint golden glow rose in his eyes as he summoned his earth-shaking power.

"Attacking the moment we meet? How dull." A composed smile rested on Hun Tiandi's face. With a turn of his hand, the Emperor-Slaying Blood Blade appeared in his grasp.

"Didn't you have the nihility devouring flame remove the seal precisely to tell me you were back? I haven't fought in a thousand years, so this is a fine chance to stretch these old bones!" Gu Yuan extended a finger. Golden Dou Qi surged from its tip, condensing into an enormous golden finger.

[Ancient Emperor's Heaven-Guiding Finger]

"Old bones? Gu Yuan, aren't you quite a bit younger than me?" Hun Tiandi slashed at him.

The slash startled the wind and stirred the clouds. Blood-red Dou Qi surged toward Gu Yuan like a towering tidal wave.

The enormous wave and finger collided in an instant, erupting in dazzling light. An all-enveloping energy storm shattered the surrounding space, exposing the void directly to the world as it ravenously devoured everything around it.

Had the two Dou Sheng not deliberately restrained themselves, more than half the Jia Ma Empire might have been reduced to dust.

At the foot of the mountain, Xiao Yan, who had not yet gone far, stared in shock toward the place where the two were fighting.

"Run! Another Dou Sheng has ambushed Hun Tiandi!" Yao Lao's urgent voice rang in Xiao Yan's ears.

Yao Chen was in a state of utter panic. He knew all too well the consequences of shattered space. At his peak, he would at least have had some confidence in facing the void.

Now, however, he was merely a soul, and the owner of the ring he inhabited was just a child at the third stage of Dou Qi. If they were sucked inside, even an ordinary Dou Sheng probably could not save them.

Xiao Yan immediately took to his heels and sprinted toward the Xiao Clan. His feet seemed borne on the wind the entire way; he was racing against life and death itself.

When he reached the Xiao Clan's rear gate, he found it tightly shut. The clan's senior members and a large number of clansmen held powerful crossbows, watching him tensely.

"It's Xiao Yan! Let him in!" Xiao Zhan recognized his son from afar and hurriedly ordered the clansmen to lower a ladder so he could climb up.

Only after climbing into the courtyard did Xiao Yan discover that all manner of explosives had been piled behind the gate. Anyone intending to break through it would be greeted by a massive explosion.

"Yan'er, don't be nervous. All the clan's experts are here. Those experts fighting on the mountain behind us won't dare act rashly."

Every Xiao Clan member at Dou Zhe or above who was still in Wutan City had gathered there as well. Thanks to the clan's assessment, most of its forces were present.

With three Da Dou Shi, twenty-seven Dou Shi, and over a hundred Dou Zhe, anyone who came would have to weigh the price.

Xiao Zhan reassured Xiao Yan confidently.

"Judging by the aftershocks, they're at least two Dou Wang experts." The First Elder gazed toward the mountain with a grave expression.

"Dou Wang experts?"

Everyone sucked in a sharp breath.

"Clan Chief, what are we supposed to do?"

"Can we hold off Dou Wang experts?"

"We're finished. Please don't let them fight their way over here."

Seeing everyone panic, Xiao Zhan snapped, "Look at you, all flustered! What kind of conduct is this? Even if they really are Dou Wang experts, I have my own means of dealing with them."

Xiao Zhan's composure was not without foundation. His confidence came not from his own strength, but from Xiao Xun'er, who was staying with them-or rather, Gu Xun'er.

Only he knew that the Gu Clan had assigned a Dou Huang expert to protect her personally. Moreover, if the Xiao Clan fell into peril, that esteemed Dou Emperor surely would not stand by and watch.

Xiao Zhan's composure steadied the others somewhat, and everyone continued watching the mountain tensely.

Only Xiao Yan knew that the two fighting on the mountain were no Dou Wang-they were two Dou Sheng!

"Yao... no, Master, should I tell Father the truth?" Though Xiao Yan had endured three years of bullying and neglect, deep down, he still did not want his clansmen to be harmed.

Especially his father and Xiao Xun'er, the two people who had never left his side.

"No need. Of the two fighting on the mountain, one is Hun Tiandi. Although I don't know why he wants to take you as his disciple, he probably means you no harm for now. As for the other..." Yao Chen hesitated, then voiced his guess.

"Since he can fight Hun Tiandi, he must also be one of the strongest experts in the world. Aside from the Ancient Clan Chief, Gu Yuan, I can't think of anyone else. But if it is Gu Yuan, he won't slaughter innocents indiscriminately."

"That's a relief." Xiao Yan let out a breath.

The disturbances from the battle on the mountain gradually faded. That evening, Xiao Zhan ordered some of the men to remain on guard, then sent the others back to rest.

"Xiao Yan, stay a moment," Xiao Zhan suddenly said.

He looked at his son, a jumble of emotions stirring within him. As Xiao Yan's father, how could he not know why Xiao Yan went to the mountain?

Whenever he suffered a blow, he would run up there alone and cry while holding the necklace his mother had left him. Since the mountain was, after all, Xiao Clan territory, Xiao Zhan had never interfered before.

But after what had happened, he had to have a proper talk with Xiao Yan.

Inside Xiao Zhan's bedroom, father and son sat together for a heart-to-heart for the first time in ages. Dim candlelight cast their shadows on the wall, and the atmosphere was heavy.

"Yan'er, in another year, it will be time for your coming-of-age ceremony..." After a moment of silence, Xiao Zhan suddenly spoke.

"Yes, Father. Before then, I'll advance to Dou Zhe as quickly as I can." A smile suddenly appeared on Xiao Yan's face. Though he had lived two lives, his respect for Xiao Zhan came from the heart. Especially after witnessing the warmth and coldness of the world over these past three years, he treasured this familial bond all the more.

Xiao Zhan smiled bitterly. Both father and son knew very well what the coming-of-age ceremony meant. Once it was over, Xiao Yan, who lacked cultivation potential, would lose the right to enter the Dou Qi Pavilion to seek a Dou Qi cultivation method. He would then be assigned to one of the clan's businesses to handle ordinary affairs.

This was a rule of the Xiao Clan. Even as clan chief, Xiao Zhan could not change it!

And the requirement for remaining in the clan to cultivate was to reach the seventh stage of Dou Qi or higher before turning sixteen.

Raising his Dou Qi by four stages in a year? Even if Xiao Yan regained his talent, that would be absolutely impossible.

Let alone as he was now...

"I'm sorry, Yan'er. As I said last night, if your Dou Qi hasn't reached the seventh stage in a year, I'll have no choice but to endure the pain and assign you to one of the clan's businesses. After all, your father alone doesn't have the final say in this clan. Those old fellows are always waiting for me to make a mistake..." Looking at the confident Xiao Yan, Xiao Zhan sighed guiltily.

As for Xiao Yan's claim that he would advance to Dou Zhe, Xiao Zhan took it entirely as an attempt to comfort him.

"Go back and get some sleep. Don't go to the mountain so often from now on. It isn't safe."

"Yes, Father."