Xiao Yan

"Next, Xiao Yan."

"Dou Qi, third stage."

The boy on the testing platform remained expressionless, his nails digging deep into his flesh.

"Third stage? Our genius is still stuck in the same place this year."

"What a disgrace. That piece of trash has dragged the Xiao Clan's reputation through the mud."

In the crowd, Xiao Mo stared wide-eyed at everything unfolding before him and couldn't help swallowing.

An iconic scene!

This was way too sudden...

Xiao Mo had heard of transmigration and knew it could happen in all sorts of bizarre ways, but he had never imagined it could be this seamless.

One second, he had been lying in bed rereading Battle Through the Heavens. The next, he had become one of the spectators watching Xiao Yan's final moment of humiliation.

I... what should I do?

System, come forth!

System, come forth?

Where... where's my system!?

Meanwhile, Xiao Mei and Xiao Xun'er had already completed their tests one after the other on the testing platform.

"Next, Xiao Mo!"

Xiao Mo froze at the call, then strode toward the testing platform.

"It's Xiao Mo's turn."

"No need to watch. He's probably still at Dou Qi Second Stage, just like our genius."

"What a disgrace to the clan. One of these people would've been enough, but we've actually got a matching pair. A regular Crouching Dragon and Fledgling Phoenix."

The path to the testing platform wasn't long, but mocking laughter filled Xiao Mo's ears every step of the way.

Fragments of memory also slowly surfaced in Xiao Mo's mind.

Xiao Mo's father and Xiao Zhan, the Xiao Clan's leader, had been sworn brothers bound by a pact. The upheaval that had claimed Xiao Yan's mother had also swept up Xiao Mo's parents, so Xiao Mo had become Xiao Zhan's adopted son and changed his surname to Xiao.

By rights, with a dazzlingly talented sworn brother and an adoptive father who led the clan, Xiao Mo should have had an easier life even without the Xiao Clan's bloodline.

Unfortunately... his talent...

His former self might have struggled even to climb onto the testing platform at this moment, but the current Xiao Mo couldn't have cared less.

Xiao Mo's extraordinary adaptability allowed him to quickly accept everything that had happened.

Laugh all you want, you bunch of dumbasses. My cultivation might be low, but my connections are fucking awesome!

Even if I don't get a system today, I'll still have the future Flame Emperor as my sworn brother. Now that's one big, solid-gold thigh to cling to!

What's a little humiliation now? I'll go encourage Xiao Yan in a bit. Once he grows strong, I can ride pills all the way to the Great Thousand World!

[Detected that the host has successfully transmigrated. The Ultimate Best Bro System has successfully awakened!]

[This system is dedicated to making the host the best bro across all the heavens and myriad worlds!]

[The starter gift pack has been issued. Please use it with care!]

Whew...

Standing on the testing platform, Xiao Mo couldn't help letting out a long breath. It seemed he had jumped the gun.

No need to resign myself to fate so soon. See? My system's online now. There must've been a delay earlier.

"Xiao Mo, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and take the test!"

The steward in charge of testing Dou Qi frowned, his tone growing considerably harsher, as though the few moments Xiao Mo had spent in a daze had wasted his very life.

"What's there to test? With Xiao Mo's strength, he'd be better off settling down as a steward in one of the clan's shops."

"Why not stop wasting everyone's time? Trash is trash. Both those brothers are trash."

"Xiao Mo, just come down. You're at Dou Qi Second Stage every year. Why waste the time?"

Xiao Mo ignored them, raising his arm and pressing his palm against the Dou Qi testing stone.

"Dou Qi, second stage!"

The steward gave it a cursory glance and lazily announced the result.

At once, the surrounding Xiao Clan youths' jeers grew clearer, while the contempt on Xiao Mo's face for them deepened.

"Holy shit... where's Xiao Yan? He's already gone to the mountain out back?"

After leaving the testing platform, Xiao Mo searched the crowd for quite a while, only to discover that Xiao Yan had long since vanished.

So, amid everyone's mocking laughter, Xiao Mo also hurried toward the mountain behind the clan grounds.

"Fifteen years..."

Xiao Yan spat out the blade of grass in his mouth. "Pah! Did you bring me here just to play around with me as a piece of trash?"

His repeated roars rang especially clearly through the deserted mountain, reaching the ears of Xiao Mo, who had just arrived.

Heh...

Of course Xiao Mo knew that Xiao Yan was a fellow traveler from that same blue planet. Otherwise, he wouldn't have saved the good stuff he had gotten from his starter gift pack until now.

That's right!

While Xiao Mo had stood in a daze on the testing platform, he had already opened the starter gift pack issued by the system.

[Spirit-Gathering Pill: Raises the user's Dou Qi by three stages and continuously gathers Dou Qi after consumption. Increases the speed of refining Dou Qi by three hundred percent for six months after consumption!]

Admittedly, as a starter gift pack, this reward was rather shabby.

But there was no question that if Xiao Mo had used this Spirit-Gathering Pill on the testing platform, his result would immediately have reached Dou Qi fifth stage!

After all, Xiao Mo didn't even need to swallow pills produced by the system. He only had to silently command their use.

The reason Xiao Mo had preferred enduring ridicule to using the pill was that one line in the system's notification...

Please use it with care!

What did that mean? It meant the system was telling me plain as day that swallowing this thing myself definitely wouldn't yield the greatest benefit!

Xiao Mo was a smart man, too. Taking the name Ultimate Best Bro System into account, he had realized that giving this starter gift pack to Xiao Yan was probably the way to get the most out of it.

What was a best bro?

A best bro was someone you'd feed first even if you couldn't fucking feed yourself and only had a mouthful of leftovers!

And if the bro you're looking after happens to be Xiao Yan...

That's fucking value for money, isn't it!

"Who's there?"

As his emotions slowly settled, Xiao Yan suddenly turned toward Xiao Mo, panic immediately creeping onto his face.

He had been so absorbed in cursing that he hadn't noticed when Xiao Mo had arrived. How much had his sworn brother heard?

"Yan, I just got here, too. You're... feeling pretty down, huh?"

Seeing no confusion on Xiao Mo's face, Xiao Yan figured he probably hadn't heard anything. At the same time, a little warmth rose in his heart.

After all, both brothers were the laughingstocks of Wutan City. Being mocked hurt him, so could Xiao Mo possibly feel good about being ridiculed?

Yet judging by the way he looked right now, Xiao Mo seemed to be planning to comfort him...

"Brother Mo... did you come to comfort me?"

Xiao Mo laughed. "What's there to comfort? You're at Dou Qi third stage, and I'm at Dou Qi Second Stage. It's already a miracle we're not holding our heads and crying together."

Infected by Xiao Mo's mood, Xiao Yan also gave a wistful smile.

He had thought he was already quite resilient, but Brother Mo seemed even more optimistic than he was.

Then Xiao Mo gave a mysterious smile. "Yan, let me show you something good..."

"What?"

Before Xiao Yan could react, Xiao Mo revealed the Spirit-Gathering Pill and immediately stuffed it into Xiao Yan's mouth.

Xiao Yan shouted, "What the fuck!"

[Congratulations to the host for performing a best-bro act. The system will grant a critical-multiplier return based on the benefits obtained by the protagonist...]