Utan City, Xiao Residence.
The moon was like a silver plate, and the sky was filled with stars.
A young girl stood on the cliff behind the mountain.
She was extremely beautiful, with skin like ice and bones like jade, her eyes like stars. She was as beautiful as a Fairy from heaven, untouched by the dust of the world.
The cold moonlight refracted in the girl's autumn-water-like eyes. When she turned back and smiled, she looked so wonderful.
Beneath that world-toppling beauty, she seemed to hide a solitude that stood apart from the world, so heartbreaking and yet so mesmerizing.
The girl suddenly turned her head and looked behind her:
"Brother, you're here."
Her voice was ethereal and clear, with a look of concern and a smile on her face.
"Hmm," Xiao Yan nodded in response, "Little sister, it's so late, why aren't you resting?"
"Brother, aren't you also not resting yet?" Xiao Xue walked down slowly, "Still thinking about today's test?"
"Heh, what's there to think about? It was just as expected." Xiao Yan shook his head with the maturity of an old man, though his smile was somewhat forced.
Xiao Yan looked up at his younger sister, seemingly recalling the past, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
Xiao Xue had been precocious since childhood, with a steady personality. She planned before acting in everything, and her Cultivation was step-by-step. Without nearly one hundred percent certainty, she would never easily attempt a Breakthrough.
"If the Breakthrough probability isn't ninety-eight percent, what's the difference between that and suicide?"
——Steady!
However, his sister seemed a bit too steady.
Three years ago, his sister had reached the Ninth Stage of Dou Qi at almost the same time as him.
And when he condensed his Dou Qi vortex and became a Dou Practitioner, his sister was still at the Ninth Stage of Dou Qi.
As a result, when he fell back from a Dou Practitioner to the Third Stage of Dou Qi, his sister was still at the Ninth Stage of Dou Qi.
Three years had passed, and when the test was conducted this morning, he was still at the Third Stage, and his sister was still at the Ninth Stage.
The twin stars of the Xiao Family back then—one with stagnant Cultivation, the other having fallen directly back to the Third Stage of Dou Qi—had become the laughingstock and gossip fodder for everyone in Utan City after their meals.
It was... quite awkward.
Yet, when her Cultivation stagnated, his sister became... even more confident, which left Xiao Yan puzzled.
His sister... why was she so confident?!
Exhaling deeply, Xiao Yan suddenly turned his head and smiled warmly toward the pitch-black woods: "Father, you're here?"
Although he only had Third Stage of Dou Qi, Xiao Yan's Soul Power was not inferior to that of a Dou Practitioner.
In the woods, after a moment of silence, came a man's concerned laughter, "Heh, Yan'er, Xue'er, it's so late, why are you still staying up here?"
The branches swayed, and a middle-aged man leaped out, his face full of smiles as he gazed at his children standing in the moonlight.
Looking at the middle-aged man named Xiao Zhan, the smile on Xiao Yan's face grew a bit wider.
Although he had memories of his past life, since birth, the father in front of him had doted on him in every way.
After he fell into decline, his doting did not decrease but increased instead. Such actions made Xiao Yan willing to call him Father.
"Father." Xiao Xue also saluted Xiao Zhan.
In fact, Xiao Xue was not from this world.
As for why she came here, she couldn't explain it either.
In her past life, she was a rich heiress, but her parents were only in a business marriage, each with their own careers, separated in heart though not in name, and they just hadn't divorced for various reasons.
To put it bluntly, her parents had that "each playing their own game" vibe.
However, her dad was still her biological dad; this had been confirmed by a DNA test.
As a girl, she was not valued by the elders in the Family, so from childhood to adulthood, she had hardly felt much warmth from a Family.
What she felt was only those cold banknotes.
"Heh, it's just a string of numbers."
Therefore, toward this "father" who gave her fatherly love, Xiao Xue also identified with him from the bottom of her heart.
"Sigh..." Looking at Xiao Yan's still somewhat immature and handsome face, Xiao Zhan sighed.
After a moment of silence, he suddenly said: "Yan'er, you and Xue'er should both be fourteen years old, right?"
"Yes, Father."
"In another year, it seems... it will be time for the adulthood ceremony..." Xiao Zhan smiled bitterly.
"Yes, Father, one more year!" Xiao Yan's palm tightened slightly, and he replied calmly.
He naturally knew very well what the adulthood ceremony represented.
"Although Xue'er's Cultivation has stagnated, passing the adulthood ceremony will be no problem at all, but..."
Xiao Zhan looked at Xiao Yan with a complex gaze.
"I'm sorry, Yan'er, if your Dou Qi doesn't reach the Seventh Stage after one year, then Father will have no choice but to endure the pain and assign you to the Family's businesses."
"After all, this Family is not something Father alone can decide. Those old fogies are always waiting for Father to make a mistake..."
"Father, I will work hard. One year from now, I will definitely reach the Seventh Stage of Dou Qi!" Xiao Yan smiled and comforted him.
"One year, four stages? Heh, if it were before, maybe it would be possible."
"But now... there's basically no chance at all..."
Although he was comforting his father with his words, inside, Xiao Yan smiled bitterly at himself.
Xiao Zhan, who also knew Xiao Yan's situation very well, could only sigh and respond.
After all, Xiao Zhan also knew how difficult it was to Cultivate four stages of Dou Qi in one year.
"Brother, I believe in you!" Xiao Xue, who was on the side, suddenly spoke up to cheer him on, "If heaven did not give birth to me, Xiao Huohuo, the continent would be like a long night for eternity!"
Xiao Yan couldn't help but cover his forehead. His sister was too young, still suffering from middle-school syndrome, and hadn't even developed a cringe reflex.
However, with Xiao Xue's words, the dull atmosphere between the three of them was indeed alleviated quite a bit.
Xiao Zhan patted Xiao Yan's head lightly and suddenly smiled, "Alright, it's getting late, go back and rest."
"Yan'er, Xue'er, there will be distinguished guests in the Family tomorrow, don't lose your manners."
"Distinguished guests? Who?" Xiao Yan asked curiously.
"You'll know tomorrow." Xiao Zhan winked at Xiao Yan and laughed as he left, leaving the helpless Xiao Yan behind.
And just at this moment, a System prompt that only she could hear suddenly came to Xiao Xue's ears.
[Ding! The plot is about to begin, System functions have been unlocked!]
Xiao Xue's expression didn't change in the slightest; there was no shock, nor was there overwhelming joy.
She just lowered her head slightly, then smirked and hummed softly: "Heh, as I expected."
—— —