"Mmm, I'm so full..."
Xiao Xun'er had eaten only half a plate of magical beast meat before leaning lazily against Xiao Qian, looking utterly sweet and adorable.
Her little hand gently rubbed her round belly, her eyes full of discomfort, like a kitten that had eaten too much.
Then, with a child's curiosity, she reached out to rub Xiao Qian's stomach and murmured, "It really hasn't gotten any bigger!"
She looked innocent and carefree, but Xiao Qian had no attention to spare for her antics.
He was wholly focused on the changes inside his body, keenly sensing an endless stream of Dou Qi spilling out of the magical beast meat he had just eaten. Like a surging tide, it poured wildly into his meridians with unstoppable force.
Almost in an instant, the Dou Qi spread rapidly through his limbs and every part of his body like billowing smoke.
It rampaged inside him, crashing this way and that, making his body seem like a balloon about to burst. Every inch of his skin bore immense pressure, as though it might explode at any moment.
"Hmph!"
Xiao Qian closed his eyes slightly, yet a proud expression appeared on his face.
He paid no heed whatsoever to the raging Dou Qi that could easily burst an ordinary Dou Zhe's body.
Steadying his mind, he focused all his attention on his peculiar nine dantians.
With the immensely powerful physique of an Ancient Void Dragon, what did this little bit of energy amount to? Even if there were hundreds or thousands of times more, he was confident he could digest it effortlessly.
He had not examined them closely before. Now, upon careful inspection, he discovered that the nine dantians were not entirely alike.
One dantian was clearly different from the other eight. Rings of golden chains surrounded it, radiating a mysterious light. They were identical to the chains that had flown into his body from Xiao Xun'er earlier, as though they concealed some secret.
The other dantians remained dim and gray, extremely difficult to sense. Like gemstones yet to be carved and blessed, they were shrouded in mystery and the unknown, seemingly waiting for someone to lift their mysterious veils.
Xiao Qian frowned slightly. After a moment's hesitation, he carefully guided a strand of refined Dou Qi toward one of the unlocked dantians.
Dong!
A sound like the tremor of bells and drums suddenly reverberated through his body. Grand and thunderous, it shook Xiao Qian from head to toe.
Immediately afterward, a thin trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, its vivid red stark against his slightly pale lips.
"Brother!"
Xiao Xun'er had eaten little. Though she also needed to refine the Dou Qi, she was not under the same urgency as Xiao Qian, much less inclined to begin cultivating in a restaurant full of prying eyes.
All her attention was on Xiao Qian. The moment she saw him cough up blood, she cried out in alarm, her voice filled with panic and concern. Her clear cry echoed through the restaurant, drawing many gazes.
Xiao Qian, however, paid her no attention.
With the immensely powerful physique of the Ancient Void Dragon Clan, he should theoretically have been impossible to injure with such a minor impact.
The only possibility, then, was that these newly formed nine dantians possessed their own unique fundamental rules.
That blow had clearly been a warning chime triggered by his violation of those mysterious rules.
He drew a deep breath, forced his mind to settle, and began sorting out the Dou Qi surging chaotically through his body once more.
If anyone could have seen such an enormous amount of Dou Qi filling the body of so young a boy-and seen that he had neither exploded nor even had his meridians completely torn apart-they would surely have been horrified, as though they had witnessed a monster.
My meridians are already extremely resilient, but the impact of that chime of the rules just now made them show signs of widening further. Could it be because... I'm still laying my foundations?
To his astonishment, Xiao Qian discovered that the meridians he had thought were already fixed in shape could be tempered again after his Magic Core had left him and his cultivation had fallen. The discovery filled him with both surprise and delight.
Interesting. Again!
A flash of resolve crossed Xiao Qian's eyes.
He separated another strand of Dou Qi and guided it toward a dantian once more, like a fearless adventurer challenging the unknown again.
Dong!
As expected, the bells and drums rang out together again.
The powerful sound waves pierced his body as easily as blades, injuring his internal organs. Cracks began appearing along his meridians, like fractures in shattered porcelain.
This time, blood did not merely seep from the corner of Xiao Qian's mouth. A stream gushed out like a spring, its alarming crimson flowing over his face in a particularly gruesome sight.
"What are you doing?! Let me help!"
Xiao Xun'er could no longer worry about anything else. Her heart burning with anxiety, she instantly ignited a wisp of golden light at her fingertip, dazzling and brimming with powerful energy.
She was about to touch that golden light to Xiao Qian's brow, hoping to use her own strength to stabilize the runaway Dou Qi inside him.
"Hahaha! Good, good, good! Stronger every time, is it? Again!"
A firm hand stopped her.
The young Xiao Qian laughed heartily.
Once more, he worked to smooth out the Dou Qi tangled chaotically throughout his body, using his powerful will to heal his injured meridians. Then he charged toward the dantian again, like a warrior who would never admit defeat.
On the third impact, the golden chains suddenly trembled with a dragon's roar.
Xiao Qian's pupils contracted sharply, and blood seeped from all seven openings of his head at once.
Xiao Xun'er stared at him in shock. The golden light at her fingertip flickered, while the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame churned uncontrollably inside her.
When the fourth mouthful of heart's blood stained Xiao Qian's robes red, a glistening droplet suddenly fell onto the bloodstain. She had bitten through her lip without even realizing it.
Her heart was filled with shock. She simply could not imagine what sort of person he was... no, what sort of dragon!
The people around them could no longer bear to watch. Their faces were filled with terror, as though the next moment would bring the gruesome sight of the boy beside them exploding.
The restaurant's owner was even more flustered, pacing back and forth like an ant on a hot pan, utterly at a loss. Beads of sweat rolled endlessly down his forehead.
Bloodstains silently crept across the sandalwood tabletop, and the wine in everyone's cups trembled without cease.
When the seventh peal of bells and drums shattered the window lattice, the restaurant doors burst open.
"Move aside! Hurry, move aside! The Xiao Clan is here!"
Amid several shouted calls, a group dressed in dark red entered.
Leading them were a middle-aged man and an elderly man: Clan Head Xiao Zhan and the Xiao Clan's Great Elder.
In this small, third-tier city, they were renowned figures of immense standing and prestige. Ordinary people naturally treated them with reverence and fear, not daring to offend them in the slightest.
"Uncle Xiao, Great Elder." Xiao Xun'er never took her eyes off Xiao Qian, merely rising to offer a quiet greeting.
Neither man felt slighted. Instead, they waved their hands, their expressions carrying a measure of deference.
After all, Xiao Xun'er's identity was special, and they dared not neglect her in any way.
"Xun'er, why didn't you tell me you were coming here to eat? A word from me would have put it on the Xiao Clan's account," Xiao Zhan said with concern. His gaze then shifted to Xiao Qian. "Who is he?"
Ever since Gu Yuan had arranged for Xiao Xun'er to enter the Xiao Clan, she had handled most matters requiring someone to appear in person. Xiao Qian generally stayed in his room cultivating, so few people in the Xiao Clan actually recognized him.
Xiao Xun'er took out a pristine white handkerchief, as pure and spotless as she herself was.
Gently and carefully, she wiped the blood from the corner of Xiao Qian's mouth. Her eyes filled with tenderness and concern, she said slowly, "He's my older brother."
At those words, Xiao Zhan and the Great Elder's hearts tightened.
Xiao Xun'er's older brother? Wouldn't that mean he came from that ancient, terrifying family too?!
They could not help becoming more wary of Xiao Qian's identity.
"Has he lost control of his Dou Qi?" The two hurried forward, reaching out to help restrain the raging Dou Qi inside Xiao Qian.
"There's no need." Xiao Xun'er showed her little-girl demeanor only before Xiao Qian. Facing Xiao Zhan and the Great Elder now, her quiet tone carried an unquestionable pressure that stopped their hands in midair.
She watched Xiao Qian silently, quietly sensing his condition and completely ignoring the strange looks around them. In her eyes, nothing mattered more than his safety.
I've reached my limit. Xiao Qian stopped guiding Dou Qi toward the other dantians. Instead, he slowly and cautiously sorted out the energy inside his body, beginning to channel it toward the last dantian he had yet to try-the one encircled by golden chains.
Hum. To his surprise, when the Dou Qi touched this dantian, no bells or drums sounded, nor did it encounter any obstruction. It gathered inside with extraordinary ease, like flowing water entering the sea, and quietly drifted through the dantian.
The first strand of Dou Qi had been successfully refined!
Xiao Qian let out a soft breath, feeling a little of the tension leave his heart.
At least one dantian was usable. As for the others, he could study them slowly later.
An hour passed like this.
When he finished refining the final strand of Dou Qi and gathered it into his dantian, his whole body trembled slightly. Then he slowly opened his eyes.
A faint wisp of white vapor escaped his mouth. His entire body felt light and refreshed, as though he had been reborn.
The meridians torn earlier had also recovered completely under the nourishment of his Dou Qi, leaving his body in even better condition than before.
"You've reached the first stage of Dou Qi?" Xiao Xun'er's eyes lit up, brimming with delighted surprise. The light sparkling in them was like the brightest stars in the night sky.
Xiao Zhan and the Great Elder looked astonished. They studied Xiao Qian closely. Judging by his appearance, he was no more than five or six, yet he had reached the first stage of Dou Qi so easily.
After all, in the entire Xiao Clan, only Xiao Yan, hailed as a favored son of heaven, had reached the first stage of Dou Qi at five.
The beginning of cultivation was the hardest, like groping forward through darkness. Only after passing through that stage would one's cultivation gradually accelerate.
Truly worthy of a boy from that mysterious family... Xiao Zhan and the Great Elder exchanged a glance, their hearts filled with wariness.
They knew full well that this boy was extraordinary. His mysterious origins and astonishing talent forced them to regard him in a different light.
The onlookers in the restaurant, by contrast, cheered one after another. They had no such reservations and applauded purely because they had witnessed a gifted young boy.
Coupled with the earlier terrifying spectacle of him spurting blood, his unyielding spirit impressed them all the more. Cheers rose and fell throughout the restaurant.
Xiao Xun'er lowered her little head and covered her mouth to hide a smile. Somehow, a sense of shared pride welled up in her heart.
She was so happy about Xiao Qian's breakthrough that it felt as though she had made one herself.
"You're amazing, Brother," she said sweetly, linking her arm through his.
After all, the others had no idea that this fellow had reached the first stage of Dou Qi over a single meal.
At this rate, wouldn't he become a Dou Zhe in nine days? What kind of monstrous speed was that? Even an Ancient Void Dragon in human form couldn't be entirely without limitations, could he?
"I can't keep eating like this."
Xiao Qian's words shattered her lovely imaginings, leaving her momentarily stunned, a trace of puzzlement appearing in her eyes.
Before you continue