[Time Skip – three Years Later]
Age: 3 years, 5 days
Location: Xiao Clan, wutan city, gama empire
---
The once-flame-detonating infant had grown.
Not much in size—he was still short enough to be mistaken for a decorative gourd—but definitely in power.
Within a courtyard in the core of Xiao clan, Xiao Ranyu sat cross-legged, wrapped in a miniature training robe, blazing with fiery Dou Qi that danced around him like living serpents. The stone around him had scorched in a perfect ring.
> [Host Cultivation: 9 star Dou Fighter]
[Dou Qi Completion: 96.4%]
[Heavenly Flame Compatibility: Stable]
[Status: Smug Little Firelord]
[Casual destruction of furniture: 112 chairs, 9 training dummies, and 1 elder's beard.]
Xiao Ranyu opened one eye lazily.
"So I'm three years old and already stronger than most peers. "
The Sovereign Flame Scripture within him continued to pulse, endlessly absorbing ambient flame qi—even while he slept, snacked, or did toddler things.
He still remembered his baby days… barely. Mostly the trauma of explosive diapers and screaming maids.
---
Back in the real world, Xiao Ranyu yawned as a servant burst into the room holding a tray of snacks.
The servant's hand trembled. "Y-young master, I brought your post-morning cultivation snack…"
Xiao Ranyu accepted the fruit like an emperor granting mercy, and bit into it with slow, exaggerated elegance.
"Mmm. Not bad," he said. "Only slightly inferior to the ones from two days ago. Tell the snack chef I'll spare him—for now."
The servant bowed and ran.
> [Notice: Servant's mental stability -21. Fear level: High]
Ranyu grinned. "System, you know what the best part of being this strong at age two is?"
> [Query Not Recognized.]
"I can't legally be scolded yet."
> [Correction: You cannot physically be scolded. The last elder who tried has not yet regrown his eyebrows.]
---
> Three years since his rebirth.
Three years of silent growth.
Xiao Ranyu, once a nobody in another world, was now a rising monster in the Xiao Clan—a toddler-shaped flame demon in disguise.
And he was just getting started.
---
Age: 3 years, 1 month
Location: Xiao Clan,Xiao ranyus personal training field
Current Cultivation: Peak Dou Fighter (99.97% Core Saturation)
Weather: Clear skies… for now
---
"System," Xiao Ranyu muttered, lying flat on his cultivation mat like a smug baby Buddha, "status check."
> [Core Saturation: 99.97%]
[Flame Vein Compression: Stable]
[Breakthrough Conditions Met]
[Warning: Incoming spiritual resistance. Prepare for Flame Tide impact.]
He grinned. "Time to show the world what a three-year-old cheat code looks like."
Xiao Ranyu inhaled—and the entire courtyard's flame qi twisted toward him like bees to nectar.
His dantian swirled. His meridians boiled. The Sovereign Flame Scripture roared to life.
The very air ignited
--
Ranyu levitated off the ground, flames engulfing his body in concentric circles. His bones cracked with a deep, satisfying pop. Molten gold veins lit up under his skin. His hair lifted like he was submerged in divine fire.
> [Flame Meridian Conversion: 32%... 64%... 99%...]
[Success! Cultivation Rank: 1 Star Dou Madter]
[Dou Qi Compressed: 100% purity | Flame Attribute Locked: Sovereign Fusion-Type]
[Unique Trait Activated: Internal Flame Core Formation]
And then—
BOOM.
A miniature flame storm exploded around him in a perfect ring. Trees bowed. Rocks melted. One unfortunate bird turned into roast dinner midair.
Ranyu floated down gracefully… into a perfectly Ranyu-sized crater.
He stood up, smoking slightly.
"…Worth it."
---
Location: Xiao Clan, Main Hall
The solemn silence of the Xiao Clan's main hall was broken by the quiet rustle of luxurious robes.
Gu Yuan, patriarch of the ancient Gu Clan and one of the two strongest beings on the continent, stood calmly before Xiao Zhan, a sleeping girl cradled in his arms.
The child's golden eyes were closed, her face calm, the delicate beauty of the Gu bloodline unmistakable.
"She is…?" Xiao Zhan asked carefully.
Gu Yuan nodded. "My daughter. From today onward, she is your adopted child—Xiao Xun'er. Treat her as your own."
Xiao Zhan bowed deeply, arms trembling slightly under the weight of that trust. "Rest assured. I will guard her with my life."
Gu Yuan's expression didn't change. But inwardly, he sighed.
> "The once-mighty Xiao Clan… reduced to a single Nine-Star Dou Grandmaster."
He looked around at the ancestral walls—faded calligraphy, cracked pillars, and undertrained guards.
> "Even a Dou Sprite is not among them now… what a fall from grace."
Gu Yuan handed over the girl. "I won't stay long. I have… clan matters to handle."
---
He turned and walked out, vanishing like a breeze into the trees, but before departing fully, he gave a subtle signal.
A flicker in the shadows.
A cloaked figure shimmered into existence on a rooftop: a Dou Emperor class guardian, eyes glowing with vigilance.
> "Protect her from the dark. Never reveal yourself."
"Yes, Lord Gu."
Gu Yuan nodded and vanished once more.
But rather than leave the Xiao Clan completely...
He wandered.
---
He strolled beneath the peach trees blooming behind the East Courtyard, unseen, unheard. A peak Dou Saint could walk through an imperial palace and not disturb a speck of dust.
> "Let me see what kind of people this clan still raises…"
That was when he felt it.
A pulse. Not of danger—but power.
Subtle, coiled, but unmistakably divine in nature. A resonance of flame and soul. An aura that should not, could not, belong to anyone in this clan.
His feet carried him on instinct.
He turned a corner—and stopped.
---
There, in the middle of a small stone courtyard, sat a three-year-old child in a half-charred meditation mat. His robes steamed gently, hair glowing with soft golden-red strands. Flames circled him in faint runes, synchronizing with his breath.
His eyes were closed in focused cultivation.
But Gu Yuan wasn't looking at his posture.
He was staring at the fire dancing along the boy's skin—not burning him, but flowing through him.
> "This…" he muttered.
He swept his spiritual sense across the child. His expression twitched.
Natural Flame resonance—at three years old.
Cultivation realm: Dou Master
Gu Yuan's heart stirred for the first time in centuries.
> "This… is monstrous."
And just then, as if sensing the weight of a sovereign gaze, Xiao Ranyu's eyes opened.
The flames dimmed.
The boy looked directly at Gu Yuan.
He wondered aloud
"Was there someone looking at me?"
---
Gu Yuan blinked.
The child could sense him.
> "This… this boy—"
Before he could speak, a maid came rushing around the corner. "Young master Ranyu! Please don't melt the floor again—oh? Where are you looking?"
She looked right through Gu Yuan, completely unaware of his presence.
Xiao Ranyu said, "Nothing."
---
Gu Yuan lingered a moment longer, gaze solemn.
> "The Xiao Clan may have fallen… but it's flame… it hasn't gone out."
He vanished without a trace.
But in his heart, he marked the boy forever.