"This Chen Xiao is quite interesting. If he revealed his sixDuan Dou Zhi Li cultivation, the Xiao Family wouldn't have him doing odd jobs; they would definitely focus on nurturing him. But he doesn't tell anyone, and even stopping Xiao Yan this time was done quietly, as if he's afraid of being noticed by others."
Sensing that the boy had gone far, Ling Ying said with a smile.
Thanks to Chen Xiao's help, Ling Ying was spared some trouble, which made him develop a bit of a favorable impression of this boy who had an astonishingly low presence in the Xiao Family.
Xiao Xun'er also nodded, "Chen Xiao is indeed very low-key. I've seen him several times in the square, but each time he just quickly greets Cousin 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 when she first arrived at the Xiao Family, Xiao Xun'er still paid some attention to Chen Xiao.
Unfortunately, several months had passed, and she could count the number of times she had seen Chen Xiao on her fingers. In the few times they did meet, they never had any interaction and remained strangers who only knew of each other.
"This old servant knows a little. During this time, this old servant has investigated almost everyone in the Xiao Family. Chen Xiao's father was unremarkable and not worth mentioning. After his death, according to the Xiao Family's rules, he had to help with some miscellaneous tasks, which is how he gradually entered the public eye."
"Perhaps hardship makes people grow. At such a young age, he is more steady than his peers and doesn't socialize much. Every day, besides the tasks assigned by the Xiao Family, he spends almost all his time cultivating. His sixDuan Dou Zhi Li strength is certainly due to talent, but effort is also indispensable."
"A few days ago, his routine changed a bit. Every night after dinner, he would go to the Back Mountain to practice boxing for two hours. This old servant even secretly went to observe him. To be honest, his movements were a bit awkward, but considering he had no guidance and no Dou Techniques to practice, it's understandable."
"What's more interesting is that the boxing technique this old servant saw him practice was sometimes fast and sometimes slow, with a slight hint of borrowing strength to control strength. In this regard, it has a slight similarity to the Yan Return Strike."
The Profound High-Rank Yan Return Strike was considered top-tier in Wu Tan City.
However, this Dou Technique was completely insignificant in the wealthy Ancient Clan; even servants like Ling Ying were qualified to read it.
But even so, very few people from the Ancient Clan would spend time cultivating it.
For them, Dou Techniques of this rank could at most serve as a transition during the initial stages of cultivation and were 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 Chen Xiao's unique personality.
Thinking of Chen Xiao fumbling around in the Back Mountain trying to figure out Dou Techniques without ever getting on the right track, Xiao Xun'er couldn't help but fall silent.
Not to mention her, even the members of the Xiao Family had plenty of Dou Techniques to choose from. In contrast, the helpless Chen Xiao presented a stark contrast.
With this thought, Xiao Xun'er took out a scroll from her Storage Ring and handed it to Ling Ying.
"Elder Ling, find a way to give him this Dou Technique. Consider it a reward for helping us tonight. As you said, he should be able to pick up this Yan Return Strike quickly."
Whether it was returning a favor or out of sympathy.
It was just a Profound High-Rank Dou Technique; Xiao Xun'er wouldn't feel any heartache taking it out.
In her Storage Ring, there were plenty of Dou Techniques and cultivation methods of this rank.
After all, she was sent to the Xiao Family and wouldn't be returning to the Ancient Clan for a short time. The clan wouldn't be stingy with these early cultivation resources.
Ling Ying took the scroll and nodded in agreement.
Different perspectives naturally led to different mindsets.
Using a Profound High-Rank Dou Technique as a reward might seem extravagant to everyone in the Jia Ma Empire, but even Ling Ying, a servant, felt there was no problem with it.
On the other side.
Chen Xiao was still unaware that the pre-borrowed Dou Technique had been cleared. He only knew that by stopping Xiao Yan from climbing the wall, half of the follow-up for pre-borrowing the Yan Return Strike was completed.
Next, he could fully devote himself to cultivating this Dou Technique.
However, another seven days passed. That night, when he came to the Back Mountain to prepare to cultivate the Dou Technique, he found that the bluestone he usually sat on had been moved and was no longer upright, but tilted.
This was simply unacceptable for someone with mild obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Immediately, Chen Xiao walked forward and straightened the bluestone.
But as soon as he moved the bluestone, he discovered that a scroll was quietly lying beneath it.
"Yan~ Return~ Strike?!"
Seeing the three large characters on the scroll, Chen Xiao instantly understood.
Nothing falls from the sky unless someone deliberately does it.
And in this Xiao Family, the person capable and motivated to do this was obvious.
[Pre-borrowing Yan Return Strike follow-up completed.]
[Current available pre-borrowing count: One!]
He understood, he understood everything.
Thinking a hundred times is not as good as practicing once.
This was Chen Xiao's first truly completed pre-borrowing, unlike the nodding acquaintance with Xiao Yan.
Successfully completing it perfectly made Chen Xiao's understanding of pre-borrowing much deeper.
At the same time, it also gave him a reminder.
This Xiao Family is not that 'safe'!
Chen Xiao had known before that there was a mysterious Dou Huang expert secretly watching, but because they had no interaction or conflict, he often overlooked it.
The appearance of this "Yan Return Strike" tonight, however, made Chen Xiao instantly realize that he needed to be more careful.
That Ling Ying even knew he had mild obsessive-compulsive disorder, so he must have been watching him closely in secret.
Therefore, when pre-borrowing again in the future, he must be even more cautious when it involves secrets!
"My protective Dou Technique is now legitimate. Don't bite off more than you can chew. Before becoming a Dou Zhe, I'll just focus on cultivating the Yan Return Strike. There's no need to pre-borrow any more Dou Techniques. Use all the opportunities to improve my cultivation speed!"
Having made up his mind, Chen Xiao opened the scroll, his young face filled with ecstasy.
He read it carefully for half an hour, then, unable to wait any longer, began to cultivate.
Under the shade of a large tree, Ling Ying smiled slightly.
His task complete, he brushed his sleeves and left, his achievements hidden deep.
...
The small Wu Tan City wasn't filled with much turmoil. Although the struggles between the three major families never stopped, they didn't affect the young Chen Xiao.
Just like that, amidst the daily hard cultivation,
Two and a half years passed in a hurry!
*Boom!*
Chen Xiao, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed, trembled slightly. His tightly closed eyes opened, unable to hide his joy.
He let out a long breath, and Chen Xiao's mind gradually sank into his body.
Internal vision!
An auxiliary skill that only Dou Zhe level cultivators could master. The higher one's strength, the more thoroughly they could explore the conditions within their body.
His mind sank to his lower abdomen, where a palm-sized, milky-white cyclone was slowly rotating. Around the cyclone, a layer of milky-white energy gas, similar to a nebula, was wrapped.
This was the Dou Qi Cyclone!
Condensing the Dou Qi Cyclone meant officially stepping into the ranks of Dou Zhe. From then on, what flowed within the body was no longer the unrefined Dou Zhi Qi, but true Dou Qi!
Current Available Pre-draws: One!
"Advancing to Dou Zhe at the age of eight, my talent isn't as good as that monstrous girl from Central State who became an Alchemist at seven, but I'm slightly stronger than Xiao Yan."
"However, the Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid saved me a lot of time, so comparing myself to Xiao Yan like this isn't fair. And there's the Qi Gathering Powder, I've taken advantage of Xiao Xun'er again..."
In the Dou Qi Continent, to become a true Dou Zhe, the prerequisite was to condense a Dou Qi Cyclone within the body. However, condensing a Dou Qi Cyclone had a considerable failure rate.
And once it failed, the nine segments of Dou Zhi Qi would drop back to eight segments!
What was even more fatal was that this condensation process had no guaranteed success mechanism. Some unlucky people might even fail to condense it more than ten times in a row, or even never succeed, falling into a vicious cycle.
And the Qi Gathering Powder, its function was to allow a nine-segment Dou Zhi Qi cultivator to successfully condense a Dou Qi Cyclone with a hundred percent success rate!
Therefore, even though Chen Xiao had a high degree of certainty that he could succeed in condensing it beforehand, just in case, he still pre-drew a Qi Gathering Powder.
As he had expected, the subsequent conditions for pre-drawing the Qi Gathering Powder were completely different from the initial ones; he only needed to become a close friend with Xiao Xun'er.
He still remembered that the first time Chen Xiao thought about the Qi Gathering Powder, he needed to join the Yun Lan Sect and perform excellently.
Comparing the two, the difference was like a chasm.
Xiao Xun'er had a noble status, but unexpectedly, Chen Xiao didn't spend much effort becoming friends with her, which was much simpler than dealing with Xiao Yan back then.
This was thanks to the general environment of the Xiao Family. Chen Xiao was unconventional in the Xiao Family, with a very low sense of presence, and was only on nodding terms with peers like Xiao Yan.
And Xiao Xun'er was also alone in the Xiao Family.
Furthermore, Chen Xiao understood Xiao Xun'er extremely well, and Xiao Xun'er had also been paying attention to Chen Xiao for a long time. Under these preconditions, once they came into contact, they naturally became friends.
"Today's cause, tomorrow's effect. These few times I've taken advantage, I can only repay them slowly in the future. For now, testing my attribute is the priority!"
Suppressing the sentimentality in his heart, Chen Xiao got up, smoothed the bed, and headed towards the Storage Room.
The crystal ball for testing attributes and the Magic Stone Tablet for testing Dou Zhi Li in the Xiao Family had always been kept together. Chen Xiao had managed them for several years and knew them inside out.
He went all the way to the Storage Room, closed the door, and didn't even need to look; he could walk accurately to the testing crystal ball based on memory alone.
"I'm willing to trade ten years of Obapa's life for a fire attribute, and another ten years for a hint of wood attribute!"
The fire attribute was uniquely advantageous in the current Dou Qi Continent.
Many of the opportunities that Chen Xiao remembered required the fire attribute to be achieved.
Therefore, those with the fire attribute were undoubtedly superior.
If they also had a hint of the wood attribute, they would possess the aptitude to become an Alchemist, which was absolutely three levels higher!
He murmured, and with anticipation, Chen Xiao placed his palm on the crystal ball and circulated the Dou Qi within his body.
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