Dou Zhe

"This Chen Xiao is rather interesting. If he revealed his cultivation at the Sixth Stage Dou Zhi Li, why would the Xiao Family ever let him keep doing odd jobs? They would definitely focus on training him. Yet he hasn't told anyone, and this time he stopped Xiao Yan in secret too, as if he were afraid of being noticed."

Sensing that the boy had already gone far away, Ling Ying said with a smile.

Thanks to Chen Xiao's help, Ling Ying had been spared a bout of hesitation, which gave him a bit of goodwill toward this boy whose presence in the Xiao Family was astonishingly low.

Xiao Xun'er also nodded. "Chen Xiao really is very low-key. I've seen him in the square several times, but every time, he just hurriedly greets Xiao Yan and leaves, as if he has endless things to do, yet no one knows what he's busy with."

Because Ling Ying had mentioned him in passing when they first arrived at the Xiao Family, Xiao Xun'er had paid some attention to Chen Xiao.

Unfortunately, several months had passed, and the number of times she had seen Chen Xiao could be counted on her fingers. On those few occasions, the two of them had never interacted at all. They were still strangers who merely knew of each other.

"This old servant does know a little. During this period, this old servant has investigated almost everyone in the Xiao Family. Chen Xiao's father was utterly ordinary, not worth mentioning. After his death, according to the Xiao Family's rules, Chen Xiao had to help handle some odd jobs, and only then did he gradually enter the public eye."

"Perhaps hardship makes one mature. At such a young age, he is steadier than others his age, and he does not fit in much. Aside from the tasks assigned by the Xiao Family every day, he spends nearly all his time cultivating. His strength at the Sixth Stage Dou Zhi Li certainly shows talent, but effort is indispensable as well."

"His movements changed somewhat a few days ago. Every day after dinner, he goes to the Back Mountain to practice his punches for two hours. This old servant once went to watch in secret. To be honest, what he was doing was somewhat neither fish nor fowl, but considering that no one is guiding him and he has no Dou Skills to practice, it is understandable."

"What is more interesting is that when this old servant watched the fist technique he was practicing, it alternated between fast and slow, with a faint sense of borrowing force and controlling force. In that regard, it does bear some resemblance to the Yan Return Strike."

The Mystic High-Rank Yan Return Strike was already top-tier in Wu Tan City.

However, in the wealthy and powerful Ancient Clan, this Dou Skill was simply not presentable. Even servants like Ling Ying were qualified to read it.

Even so, very few people in the Ancient Clan would spend time cultivating it.

To them, a Dou Skill of this grade could at most serve as a transition at the beginning of cultivation. It was not worth spending too much time on.

This was the first time Xiao Xun'er had heard about Chen Xiao's background. In an instant, she understood that unconventional personality of his.

Thinking of Chen Xiao fumbling around with Dou Skills in the Back Mountain with no direction, yet never managing to get on the right track, Xiao Xun'er could not help falling silent.

Never mind her—even the members of the Xiao Family had plenty of Dou Skills to choose from. Compared to Chen Xiao, who had no one to rely on, the contrast was simply too stark.

At this thought, Xiao Xun'er took a scroll from her Storage Ring and handed it to Ling Ying.

"Old Ling, think of a way to give this Dou Skill to him. Consider it repayment for helping us tonight. According to what you said, if he cultivates this Yan Return Strike, he should be able to get the hang of it very quickly."

Whether it was repaying a favor or pity.

It was only a Mystic High-Rank Dou Skill. Xiao Xun'er would not feel the slightest heartache over taking it out.

In her Storage Ring, Dou Skills and Qi Methods of this grade were everywhere.

After all, since she had been sent to the Xiao Family, she would not be returning to the Ancient Clan in the short term. The clan would not be stingy with these early-stage cultivation resources.

Ling Ying accepted the scroll and nodded in agreement.

Different levels of experience naturally led to different mindsets.

Using a Mystic High-Rank Dou Skill as repayment might seem extravagant to everyone in the Jia Ma Empire, but even Ling Ying, a servant, felt there was no problem with it.

Elsewhere.

Chen Xiao still did not know that the Dou Skill he had pre-paid for had already been made legitimate. He only knew that after stopping Xiao Yan from climbing the wall, the follow-up for pre-paying the Yan Return Strike had been half completed.

Next, he could devote himself wholeheartedly to cultivating this Dou Skill.

However, another seven days passed. That night, when he arrived at the Back Mountain to practice his Dou Skill, he discovered that the bluestone he usually sat on had been moved. It was no longer straight, but crooked and askew.

For someone with mild obsessive-compulsive tendencies, this was simply unacceptable.

Chen Xiao immediately walked forward and set the bluestone straight.

But as soon as he moved the bluestone, he discovered a scroll lying quietly beneath it.

"Yan~ Return~ Strike?!"

Seeing the three large characters on the scroll, Chen Xiao instantly came to a realization.

Pies did not fall from the sky unless someone deliberately made them.

And in this Xiao Family, the person who had both the ability and the motive to do this was obvious.

[Follow-up for pre-paying Yan Return Strike completed.]

[Current available pre-pay uses: One!]

He understood. He understood everything.

Thinking it through a hundred times was not as good as putting it into practice once.

This counted as the first pre-pay Chen Xiao had completed in the truest sense, unlike the mere nodding acquaintance on Xiao Yan's side.

Completing one perfectly had deepened Chen Xiao's understanding of pre-pay all at once.

At the same time, it also gave him a reminder.

This Xiao Family was not that "safe"!

Chen Xiao had known before that there was a strangely elusive Dou Emperor expert in the shadows, but because they had no dealings and no conflicts, he had ignored it most of the time.

Tonight, however, the appearance of the Yan Return Strike made Chen Xiao instantly realize that he needed to be more careful.

That Ling Ying even knew he had mild obsessive-compulsive tendencies. He had definitely been paying quite a bit of attention to him in secret.

Therefore, if Chen Xiao pre-paid again in the future, he had to be even more cautious whenever secrets were involved!

"My personal Dou Technique was now justified. Bite off more than you could chew and you'd choke. Before becoming a Dou Zhe, I only needed to focus on Yan Return Strike. There was no need to Pre-pay for more Dou Techniques. I'll use every chance to increase my cultivation speed!"

Having made his decision, Chen Xiao opened the scroll, wild joy flooding his young face.

He read it carefully for a quarter of an hour, then could not wait to start cultivating.

Beneath the shade of a large tree, Ling Ying smiled faintly.

When the deed was done, he brushed off his sleeves and left, hiding both merit and name.

Tiny Wu Tan City did not have so much chaos. Although the struggles between the three great families had never stopped, they still did not reach the young Chen Xiao.

And so, amid day after day of painstaking cultivation, Two and a half years hurried by!

Boom!

Chen Xiao, who sat cross-legged on the bed, trembled slightly. His tightly shut eyes opened, unable to hide his joy.

After letting out a long breath, Chen Xiao's mind gradually sank into his body.

Inner vision!

It was a support skill that only those at the Dou Zhe level could master. The stronger one was, the more thoroughly one could probe the situation inside one's body.

His mind sank to his lower abdomen. A palm-sized milky-white cyclone was slowly rotating there, and around the outer edge of the cyclone was a layer of milky-white energy gas that resembled a nebula.

This was the Dou Qi Cyclone!

Condensing a Dou Qi Cyclone meant officially stepping into the ranks of Dou Zhe. From now on, what flowed through his body was no longer the unpresentable Dou Zhi Li, but true Dou Qi!

[Current available Pre-pay chances: One!]

"Advancing to Dou Zhe at eight years old... my talent can't compare to that Demoness in the Central Plains who became an alchemist at seven, but I'm slightly stronger than Xiao Yan."

"Still, the Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid saved me a great deal of time, so it isn't fair to compare like that with Xiao Yan. And there was also the Qi Gathering Powder... I fleeced Xiao Xun'er again..."

On the Dou Qi Continent, the prerequisite for becoming a true Dou Zhe was condensing a Dou Qi Cyclone within the body, but condensing a Dou Qi Cyclone had no small failure rate.

And once one failed, ninth-stage Dou Zhi Li would fall back to the eighth stage!

Even more fatal was that this kind of condensation had no safety net. Some unlucky people might even fail more than a dozen times in a row, or even never succeed, falling into a vicious cycle.

As for Qi Gathering Powder, its effect was to allow someone at ninth-stage Dou Zhi Li to successfully condense a Dou Qi Cyclone with absolute certainty!

Therefore, even though Chen Xiao had already been quite confident that he could condense it successfully, to guard against the unexpected, he had still Pre-paid for a Qi Gathering Powder.

Just as he had expected, the follow-up condition for Pre-paying for Qi Gathering Powder was completely different from the very beginning. He only needed to become close friends with Xiao Xun'er.

He still remembered that when Chen Xiao first thought of Qi Gathering Powder, he had needed to join the Misty Cloud Sect and perform outstandingly.

Comparing the two, the difference was like a heavenly chasm.

Xiao Xun'er had a noble status, but unexpectedly, it had not taken Chen Xiao much effort to become friends with her. It was far easier than dealing with Xiao Yan back then.

This was thanks to the general environment of the Xiao Family. Chen Xiao kept to himself in the Xiao Family and had an extremely low presence. With Xiao Yan and the others his age, he was merely on nodding terms.

And Xiao Xun'er was likewise alone in the Xiao Family.

Moreover, Chen Xiao understood Xiao Xun'er extremely well, while Xiao Xun'er had also paid attention to Chen Xiao for a long time. Under these circumstances, once they came into contact, they naturally became friends.

"Today's cause is tomorrow's effect. I can only slowly repay what I've fleeced later. Right now, testing my attribute is what matters!"

Suppressing the sentimentality in his heart, Chen Xiao got up, smoothed the bedding, and headed for the Storage Room.

The Xiao Family's crystal ball for testing attributes had always been kept together with the Magic Stone Tablet used to test Dou Zhi Li. Chen Xiao had managed them for several years, so he knew this like the back of his hand.

He went all the way to the Storage Room. Chen Xiao closed the door, and without even needing to look, he relied on memory alone to walk to the testing crystal ball with perfect accuracy.

"I'm willing to use ten years of Oba Pa's life in exchange for a Fire Attribute, and add another ten years for a trace of Wood Attribute!"

Fire Attribute held a unique advantage on the current Dou Qi Continent.

Among the opportunities Chen Xiao remembered, many required Fire Attribute to obtain.

Therefore, those with Fire Attribute were unquestionably a cut above others.

If they also had a trace of Wood Attribute, then they possessed the qualifications to become an alchemist—absolutely three cuts above others!

After murmuring this, Chen Xiao, full of expectation, placed his hand on the crystal ball and circulated the Dou Qi within his body.