Xiao Baichuan grew more and more puzzled as he watched.
At this moment Xiao Yan already walked up to the testing platform and raised his hand to press it against the pitch-black ancient monument.
The ancient monument lit up abruptly, its radiance a few shades more dazzling than Xiao Xun'er's just now.
The testing personnel looked down and his whole body trembled so hard his voice shook.
"Xiao Yan, Ninth Stage of Dou Qi!"
"Grade: Advanced!"
The plaza fell silent, then erupted with mountain-toppling, sea-overturning cries of shock.
"Ninth Stage of Dou Qi!"
"Xiao Yan actually only took two and a half years to recultivate back to the Ninth Stage of Dou Qi!"
"A genius, Xiao Yan is still that very genius!"
Xiao Baichuan stood at the back of the crowd, watching Xiao Yan who was surrounded by everyone, completely dumbfounded in place.
Ninth Stage of Dou Qi? Wasn't the plot written correctly, shouldn't he be at the Third Stage of Dou Qi?
This completely dumbfounded Xiao Baichuan.
Could it be that what he read during his junior high school days wasn't Battle Through the Heavens, but Dou Po Cang Qiong?
Where was the morality? Where was the conscience?
What the fuck, refund my money! They actually even sold pirated books to junior high school students!
No wonder back then there was a passage written about Medusa getting pregnant with a timed nuclear bomb of Fallen Heart Flame; so it fucking was a pirated book!
Xiao Baichuan cursed and muttered inwardly, feeling the more he thought about it that he had been cheated quite severely back then.
Three years ago, just as Xiao Baichuan got that Twin Fish Jade Pendant, he heard that Xiao Yan had lost all his Dou Qi overnight and become a good-for-nothing.
During the half year that followed, no matter how hard Xiao Yan tried to cultivate, his realm always remained at the Third Stage of Dou Qi.
This kind of situation continued until two and a half years ago.
Xiao Yan suddenly announced seclusion cultivation.
From then on, Xiao Baichuan never saw Xiao Yan again.
And today's family Dou Qi test was the first time Xiao Baichuan had seen Xiao Yan in two and a half years.
As a result, the guy went straight up to the Ninth Stage of Dou Qi.
And an advanced rating at that.
Before Xiao Baichuan could digest this side, on the testing platform, the testing elder had already opened the name roster and shouted out the next name.
"Next, Xiao Baichuan!"
Xiao Baichuan started, hurriedly pulling back his thoughts and walking through the crowd toward the testing platform.
The surrounding gazes fell upon him, sparse and lacking much anticipation.
He walked in front of the ancient monument, took a deep breath, and raised his hand to press it upon it.
The surface of the ancient monument lit up with light, and the testing elder glanced down and spoke in an even tone.
"Xiao Baichuan, Eighth Stage of Dou Qi."
"Grade: Intermediate."
The plaza quieted for an instant, then a few sparse discussions sounded out.
"Eighth Stage, intermediate, not bad."
"Not bad what, he's already eighteen, two years older than Xiao Yan even."
"Xiao Yan only took two and a half years to recultivate from the third stage back to the ninth stage, but look at him, taking all these years just to grind to the eighth stage."
"Sigh, talent is the kind of thing you can't compare with."
"Xiao Yan is a genius recultivating; he's originally an ordinary person, you can't compare them like that."
"But he's two years older than Xiao Yan; can the eighth stage at fourteen and the eighth stage at eighteen be the same?"
"Who knows what the Great Elder took a fancy to when he made him his foster son, insisting on adopting him."
"Needless to say, he definitely took a fancy to his face, so he can send him to the noblewomen of the Imperial Capital as a boy-concubine when the time comes."
"Not only can he help those lonely noblewomen in the Imperial Capital dredge their pipelines, he can also help our Xiao Clan dredge its connections."
Clearly, compared to Xiao Baichuan's realm, what attracted them more was Xiao Baichuan's appearance.
From the moment Xiao Baichuan stepped onto the stage, the gazes of quite a few female disciples never left his face.
Only those female disciples all wore expressions of heartache mixed with pity: "What a pity, born so handsome, yet his talent is utterly unremarkable."
The discussion wasn't loud, but Xiao Baichuan's ear-acuity was not bad, and he heard every single word without missing a single one.
His expression remained unchanged as he walked down from the testing platform, though he sighed inwardly in his heart.
With the precedent of Xiao Yan being a "genius who recultivated back to the ninth stage in two and a half years" set right in front, his intermediate rating of the eighth stage at eighteen truly looked a bit shabby.
But what could he do?
He had never been crippled, had no fortuitous encounter, and certainly had no Yao Lao giving him special treatment inside a ring.
Making it to the eighth segment of Dou Qi was already the result of two and a half years of diligent effort.
Xiao Baichuan walked back to the rear of the crowd and looked up at Xiao Yan, surrounded by everyone and brimming with confidence.
Then he looked at himself, standing all alone in a corner, without even someone to talk to.
They were both transmigrators. How could the gap between them be so huge?
He had been in the Xiao Clan for five years, and had been careful in everything he did. Naturally, he had no close friends.
After the Dou Qi test ended, Xiao Baichuan returned to his little room, feeling rather dejected.
He pushed the door open. The room was cold and empty: a bed, a table, a chair, a few changes of clothes in the cabinet, and not a single coin on the table.
He sat on the edge of the bed, both hands braced on his knees.
Bai Chuan tugged the corners of his mouth in self-mockery, reached up to press the Twin Fish Jade Pendant against his chest, and muttered to himself.
"Five years, and besides being handsome, I haven't amounted to anything. They even drove me out like some gigolo."
"Bai Chuan, Bai Chuan, what was the point of transmigrating?"
The moment the words left his mouth-
"Bai Chuan!"
A voice suddenly rang out in the room.
It was angry and icy, with a hint of the authority of someone long accustomed to being in a position of power. Its final note rose slightly, like a cat's tail brushing his ear.
It was as though the owner of that voice had a deep-seated grudge against him.
Bai Chuan jerked his head up and looked toward the door.
There was no one there.
The door was firmly shut. A sliver of light from the corridor came through the crack, but there wasn't even a shadow.
Bai Chuan frowned, got up, and opened the door, then circled around his lodgings.
The corridor was empty. No one was in the courtyard, and the grass by the wall stood still.
There wasn't a soul around.
Bai Chuan scratched his head, turned back into the room, and shut the door.
"Could I have been under too much pressure lately and started hearing things?"
He had just sat back down on the bed when the voice sounded again.
"Bai Chuan!"
This time, it was clearer than before, as if it were right beside his ear.
The hairs all over Bai Chuan's body stood on end, and he sprang straight up from the bed.
He was the only person in the room, and the doors and windows were shut tight, yet that mature woman's voice was unmistakably inside the room.
"Who? Who's speaking?" Bai Chuan spun around, his voice taut.
No one answered.
Just as he stood there, completely baffled, the Twin Fish Jade Pendant on his chest suddenly lit up.
A warm, lustrous glow seeped through his clothes, particularly conspicuous in the dim little room.
Bai Chuan looked down and pulled open his collar. The Twin Fish Jade Pendant pulsed with light, again and again, as if it were breathing.
Then a voice came from the Twin Fish Jade Pendant.
It was exactly the same mature woman's voice as before.
Only this time, there was no trace of the anger from earlier. Instead, it sounded like something spoken from the depths of utter despair.
"Whatever you do... don't forget..."
The voice was very soft, carrying a strange wistfulness, and its final note trembled slightly.
After she finished speaking, the light abruptly went out. The Twin Fish Jade Pendant turned back into a dull, gray stone and rested quietly against Bai Chuan's chest.
Bai Chuan stood stunned for several seconds before coming back to his senses.
"What was that? What do you mean, 'don't forget'? Forget what?"
He gripped the Twin Fish Jade Pendant and turned it over in his hands.
Its surface was smooth, its patterns indistinct, and there was nothing unusual about it.
Before you continue