Emperor's Son

Xiao Yan held the book carved from white jade in his hands, his delicate face filled with shock. His hands trembled slightly along with his body.

Four large characters stood boldly engraved on the smooth, lustrous surface of the jade book.

Battle Through the Heavens!

And that visitor from beyond this world-did Xiao Xuan know he had transmigrated here? At that thought, Xiao Yan's gaze turned wary as he looked at Xiao Xuan.

At that moment, even the experience and knowledge of more than forty years across both his lives could not suppress the terror in his heart.

"Heh, don't be nervous..."

Xiao Xuan seemed quite pleased with Xiao Yan's expression. He chuckled. "Since I called you here, I bear you no ill will.

Otherwise, do you think you would still be alive?"

At those words, Xiao Yan's taut body finally relaxed a little. He drew a deep breath. The flattery and admiration vanished from his gaze as he looked at Xiao Xuan, leaving only calm and loneliness.

"In that case, Ancestor, why did you summon me?"

With things having reached this point, he simply could not be bothered to keep up the act. Whether the man was a Dou Di or a Dou God no longer made any difference.

Rather than answer Xiao Yan directly, Xiao Xuan spoke with a profound look in his eyes. "Tell me, could there truly be different dimensions of space and time, each with its own worldline?"

"Perhaps."

Xiao Yan did not know the answer either.

Space-time and dimensions were not technical terms a Dou Di of the Dou Qi Continent should understand, nor were they subjects a poor student like him could thoroughly unravel.

"Then how do you explain your soul transmigrating here from another world? And how do you explain a story that clearly and completely describes the events of another Dou Qi Continent?"

Xiao Xuan smiled. "Do you think your transmigration from another world was truly an accident? Perhaps it was an arrangement of fate?" As he spoke, he raised his head toward the sky.

The blue-green roof of the great hall, the heavens above the Xiao Realm, and the atmosphere of the Dou Qi Continent could not obstruct his gaze. It pierced straight through, ignoring every barrier to look directly upon the star-filled sky.

Among the ancient paths of the stars, there seemed to lie glimpses of the universe's past, present, and future.

Xiao Yan remained silent. He had pondered these questions for fifteen years, but his limited education had left him unable to make sense of them.

Though he had lived comfortably throughout those fifteen years, a loneliness that did not belong to this world had always lingered in his heart.

"I'm entrusting this to you." After a moment's contemplation, Xiao Xuan suddenly took an ancient jade fragment from inside his robes.

"This is..." Xiao Yan stared at the ancient jade fragment for a moment as countless possibilities flashed through his mind again. Only then did he slowly ask, "The Tou She Ancient God Jade?"

"Heh, you do indeed know where this object came from. Then you should also know what this Ancient Jade is used for." Satisfaction at having his suspicions confirmed appeared on Xiao Xuan's face.

"I do," Xiao Yan said quietly.

"The Tou She Ancient God Jade is tied to a Dou Di's inheritance. Only by gathering all eight pieces of the Ancient Emperor Jade can one enter the Ancient Emperor's cave mansion and obtain his inheritance.

Although I am also a Dou Di, I still cannot open the Ancient Emperor's Cave Mansion without the Ancient Emperor Jade.

Even if I forced it open with a Dou Di's power, I would likely antagonize this Ancient Emperor whose legacy has endured since antiquity. That is not the outcome I want."

Xiao Xuan's gaze grew profound. "A thousand years ago, even after gathering the bloodline power of my entire clan, I failed to break through to Dou Di.

At the critical moment, this jade book descended from the heavens, carrying a strand of Heaven and Earth Origin Qi within it. Only then did I succeed by a stroke of fortune."

"Perhaps the story in this book depicts the changes in another Dou Qi Continent a thousand years later, while this worldline changed entirely because of its arrival."

"It brought the Heaven and Earth Origin Qi here." Xiao Yan's pupils contracted. He stared at the jade book on the floor for a long time without speaking, while towering waves surged deep within his heart.

"I wiped out the Hun Clan, but their piece of the Tou She Ancient God Jade was never found."

Xiao Xuan's indifferent words stunned Xiao Yan again. There were actually things even a Dou Di could not accomplish.

"Ever since this book appeared beside me, I have been making calculations, waiting for a visitor from beyond this world to arrive."

Xiao Xuan looked at Xiao Yan. "Your arrival means that a new Dou Di will soon emerge."

Xiao Yan swallowed.

"I cannot be certain whether that future Dou Di will be you, but you are destined to become embroiled in this struggle to attain that rank.

Although Hun Tiandi is dead, he left a contingency behind. Even I cannot deduce what it is.

The answer I glimpsed through the celestial signs was that descendants of the Hun Clan would inevitably take part in this struggle to become a Dou Di as well."

"Xiao Yan, I wish to grant you the status of the Xiao Clan's Emperor's Son. Are you willing to accept?" Xiao Xuan's voice suddenly became much more solemn.

"Emperor's Son?" Xiao Yan's breathing suddenly quickened.

An Emperor's Son was, in essence, a Dou Di in waiting, someone with the potential to become a Dou Di.

Over the past thousand years, the Xiao Clan had produced only two Emperor's Sons, and both were now nine-star Dou Sheng.

Becoming an Emperor's Son would make him a figure of extraordinary standing within the Xiao Clan, second only to the Ancestor and almost equal in status to the current clan leader.

Although he was currently only a lowly Dou Emperor, even a Dou Sheng Expert would have to treat him courteously.

"I'm only a lowly Dou Emperor. If I take on such a formidable position as Emperor's Son now, won't I draw covetous eyes?"

At last, a measure of calm passed through Xiao Yan's mind.

"Do not worry. You are the Emperor's Son I personally appointed. No one in the Xiao Clan dares defy my word."

Xiao Xuan's tone was relaxed, yet that very air of effortless ease revealed the composure and imperiousness of this Dou Di.

"Then thank you for your favor, Ancestor." After considering it for a moment, Xiao Yan finally recovered from the succession of shocks, and his customary playful smile returned.

Seeing Xiao Yan's almost habitual disguise, Xiao Xuan shook his head without concern. With an ease that left Xiao Yan no chance to evade him, he touched a finger to his forehead.

Buzz! Streams of information flowed along Xiao Xuan's finger into Xiao Yan's mind.

"Now that you have become an Emperor's Son, you may inherit my Heavenly Fire Three Mysterious Transformations."

The Heavenly Fire Three Mysterious Transformations was a secret technique Xiao Xuan had created himself. Ordinary members of the Xiao Clan could only learn a simplified version; only the clan's true core members were qualified to learn the complete version.

Once the streams of information had finished transferring, a mysterious, profound mark had appeared on Xiao Yan's forehead. It was the Emperor's Son Seal, which only an Emperor's Son of the Xiao Clan could possess.

"The cultivation method known as the Flame Mantra is destined to truly exist, and Heavenly Flames will also aid you on your path of growth.

Go. Temper yourself properly in the outside world. If you always hide beneath the sheltering wings of the Xiao Clan, you will struggle to become a true eagle."

Xiao Xuan smiled faintly and swept his hand.

The space before him suddenly enveloped Xiao Yan like flowing water, then carried him away beneath his astonished gaze.

Only a quarter of an hour after Xiao Yan had left did ten figures abruptly appear around Xiao Xuan.

These ten were none other than the heads of the ten great Emperor Lineages.