Xiao Yan's Great Legend

Xiao Yan swept his gaze over the densely packed army surrounding the building below. He pointed toward it, signaling the Crimson Feather Bird to fly over.

"Scree-!"

The Crimson Feather Bird let out a long cry and beat its wings rapidly, sweeping down like a violent storm.

Boom!

With an explosive crash, the giant bird plunged straight down, its talons shattering the stone ground. A cloud of dust rose as the troops fell back.

The young man leaped down from the bird and walked gracefully forward, casually brushing nonexistent dust from the shoulders of his robe. He smiled with an elegant air.

Yet that smile sent a chill down everyone's spine.

The mercenaries and city guards around him took another step back, their hands trembling around their weapons. None dared look him in the eye.

Xiao Yan remained unhurried. He glanced over them, then said mildly, "Who is the city lord here? Come out!"

His voice was not loud, but it was full of authority and pressure.

A moment later, a middle-aged man stepped out of the crowd.

He was burly, with a sharp gaze and a mohawk. Two scars crossed on the side of his face, giving him a fearsome appearance.

"That would be me!"

Trembling with fear, the man approached Xiao Yan and quickly bent to bow, though his movements were somewhat stiff, as if he were unaccustomed to it.

After all, this was the Tagor Desert, where mercenaries and Snake-People usually ran rampant. Few people paid attention to such so-called etiquette.

Xiao Yan did not insist on any particular show of courtesy and went straight to the point:

"Help me find two people. One is called Xiao Ding, the other Xiao Li. Remember, you must not hurt them. Understood?!"

The man nodded respectfully. "Yes!"

He dared not defy Xiao Yan's order, terrified that the giant magical beast beside him would attack the city.

With that thought, he immediately turned and entered the ranks to issue orders, setting the search for the two men in motion at once.

Before long, the man parted the crowd to make a wide path and bowed as he led two young men over to Xiao Yan.

The first was bare-chested and powerfully built, his black eyes tinged with dark blue. Lightning flickered faintly in the Dou Qi around him, giving him a dangerous air.

The second was tall and slender, dressed in white, with a calm bearing and a smile on his lips. He looked like a refined scholar, making it hard to fathom his thoughts.

"Little Yanzi... what are you doing here?"

"Third Brother, Father said you suddenly disappeared a week ago. What exactly did you go off to do?"

Indeed, the two were Xiao Li and Xiao Ding.

At the sight of Xiao Yan, their faces filled with astonishment.

Seeing them approach, Xiao Yan felt a stinging in his nose. He stepped forward and embraced them both.

His head squeezed between their shoulders, he said softly, his voice a little choked, "Eldest Brother, Second Brother, I've come to find you..."

Xiao Li and Xiao Ding exchanged a glance. Both smiled and patted Xiao Yan on the back, saying gently:

"As long as you're all right..."

Xiao Yan nodded and released them.

Xiao Li laughed. "What brings you here, kid? And why did you make such a grand entrance? You scared me to death!"

Xiao Ding was not so optimistic. Frowning at the giant bird behind Xiao Yan, he asked worriedly:

"Third Brother, this monster won't hurt anyone, will it?"

Xiao Yan shook his head and hurried to explain:

"No, they're all my friends. I brought them here to protect you, so don't worry!"

At this point, he added a question, asking proudly:

"Do you know how strong these fellows' Dou Qi cultivation is?"

At his words, the surrounding troops also pricked up their ears and listened with great curiosity.

After all, the strongest person in this city was only a Da Dou Shi. Their knowledge was limited, and not everyone necessarily recognized Dou Qi Wings, so naturally they could not judge the magical beasts' order.

"What cultivation? Could they be Third-Order Magical Beasts?"

Xiao Ding guessed in surprise.

"No, I think they should be second-order..."

Xiao Li chimed in.

In his view, Xiao Yan's cultivation was too low. Taming ten Second-Order Magical Beasts would already be astonishing beyond belief.

If they were third-order...

He simply could not imagine it!

But Xiao Yan let out a chuckle of derision and shook his head.

"How could it be that low? Add together the numbers you just said, and you'll have your answer."

"!!!!"

As soon as he said this, the area below the building erupted.

The mercenaries and soldiers closest to Xiao Yan went limp in all four limbs at the news and dropped to their knees with a thud.

Three plus two equaled five...

What did it mean to be a Fifth-Order Magical Beast...?

They were a match for Dou Wang experts!

Although they had never seen Dou Qi Wings, they had heard of the might of Dou Wang experts.

One had to know that above the Dou Wang was the Dou Huang. A Dou Huang expert had once entered the Chu Yun Empire alone and slaughtered ten thousand armored cavalrymen.

And the Dou Wang stood only below the Dou Huang, which gave some idea of their strength.

Xiao Ding and Xiao Li's expressions abruptly changed. They looked again at the ten giant beasts in the distance, finally gaining a whole new understanding of their fighting strength.

At that moment, Xiao Yan seemed in their eyes to have become a peerless demon god.

After all, one could well imagine Xiao Yan's background if he had befriended ten Dou Wang magical beasts.

If these magical beasts joined forces, perhaps they could even contend with Yun Yun, the sect master of the Misty Cloud Sect!

At the thought, Xiao Ding and Xiao Li exchanged a glance. The former thought about Xiao Yan's disappearance and asked in a voice full of curiosity:

"Third Brother, did you leave home during this time because of them?"

Xiao Yan was slightly taken aback.

He had not expected Xiao Ding to be so good at filling in the blanks.

He had immediately supplied the reason Xiao Yan had left the Xiao Clan.

Come to think of it, if a good-for-nothing suddenly disappeared and returned with ten Dou Wang magical beasts, anyone would find it unusual.

So Xiao Yan went along with the current, nodding as he replied:

"That's right, that's exactly what happened. Actually, the reason my Dou Qi regressed was that they were secretly absorbing my Dou Qi."

Xiao Yan was a man of learning. Not only was he a transmigrator, but he had also had plenty of experience in his previous life.

After meeting all sorts of people, he had honed a silver tongue that could patch up lies as well as a fox spirit, and he immediately used this excuse to cover up the truth behind his Dou Qi's regression.

Then he continued explaining:

"Do you remember the story of how I fought a black bear when I was little?"

"I had only recently become a Dou Zhe at the time, and I also saved Xun'er..."

"On that very day, I happened to discover some ruins in a cave deep in the mountain behind our home. There was a space inside, and they happened to be sleeping in it."

Then, with his hands behind his back, Xiao Yan paced back and forth before Xiao Ding and Xiao Li, leisurely recounting that long-buried past.

He spoke of how he had unwittingly formed a contract with them, supplying them with enough Dou Qi and blood essence to sustain their lives, while they had promised to keep the Xiao Clan safe for a lifetime...

And so, for the Xiao Clan's future, he had resolutely stepped forward and used his own Dou Qi to sustain them.

He had kept it hidden for three whole years.

Not long after Nalan Yanran broke off their engagement, he sensed through the contract that the magical beasts were about to awaken.

That was why he had left home, his purpose being to seek their help.

Now Xiao Yan had gathered these ten magical beasts under his command precisely to build a force large enough to protect his clan.

By the end of the story, Xiao Yan had painted himself as a great man of self-sacrifice, moving his audience to tears on the spot.

Xiao Ding and Xiao Li were visibly moved. The mercenaries and troops around them listened with tears welling in their eyes, covering them with their hands as they sobbed, two clear streams of tears slipping down their faces.

Xiao Yan had once been a gifted youth who reached the level of Dou Zhe at eleven, with a bright future ahead of him.

Yet for his clan's future, he had willingly given up his Dou Qi cultivation.

Even under the pressure of the entire clan's ridicule, he had persisted in nurturing these ten guardian divine beasts.

Now that the great undertaking was complete, they recalled Xiao Yan's description of the Xiao clansmen and the faces they had worn while looking down on him all that time. Filled with righteous indignation, they cried out:

"The Xiao clansmen are no sons of men!"

Meanwhile, inside Xiao Yan's pitch-black ring, Yao Lao sucked in a breath of cold air after hearing it all.

"Xiao Yan is terrifying indeed!"

Yao Lao understood that once this story spread, those people in the Xiao Clan would probably be so ashamed they would have nowhere to show their faces...