Chapter 6: Inheritance

"Thank you, Little Clan Leader, thank you, Little Clan Leader, thank you, Little Clan Leader."

Xiao Ning continued to bow in gratitude. He would have knelt and kowtowed to Xiao Yan if not for the crowd around. Now, in Xiao Ning's heart, Xiao Yan was like a father to him!

The Second and Third Elders were green with envy. Even though they also had grandsons, in terms of potential, age, and cultivation level, Xiao Ning was indeed the best choice. If Xiao Ning could truly become a 9th-stage Dou Disciple within a year, he would be among the top ten in the history of the Xiao Clan in terms of cultivation speed.

The Grand Elder was inwardly beaming with joy, his smile almost reaching his temples.

The reason why the Grand Elder was able to identify the pill as a 4th-tier Qi Gathering Pill so quickly was because he had accidentally obtained a half-finished Qi Gathering Pill in his youth. This half-finished Qi Gathering Pill had allowed him to successfully break through to the Dou Practitioner realm.

Without the aid of a pill, the condensation of a Qi Cyclone could fail, which would cause one to fall back from the 9th-stage Dou Disciple to the 8th-stage Dou Disciple. This was not only a waste of time, but also a waste of a person's most precious golden years of cultivation.

Undoubtedly, with the Qi Gathering Pill, Xiao Ning's future advancement to Dou Grandmaster had become almost certain. Becoming a 9-star Dou Grandmaster was no longer a problem, and he might even have a chance to challenge the Dou Spirit realm.

No one in Wu Tan City had reached that realm!

If the Xiao Clan were to produce a Dou Spirit, the whole of Wu Tan City would belong to them, and even forming a sect might be within the realm of possibility.

Xiao Zhan clapped his hands to get everyone's attention and said with an expression that was neither angry nor authoritative, "Everything that happened today stays within these walls. Anyone who utters a single word about it will have to face severe punishment!"

Whether it was the Misty Cloud Sect, Nalan Yanran, or their own Xiao Clan, today's events were akin to airing dirty laundry. Any leakage of information could be the cause of unnecessary trouble.

"Understood, Clan Head!" everyone chorused.

"Alright, disperse now," Xiao Zhan waved his hand, and all the clan disciples dispersed in an orderly fashion like a well-disciplined army.

Just as Xiao Yan was about to get up and leave as well, a jade-like hand grabbed hold of his sleeve.

"Xun Er?"

Xun Er took out a bottle of healing ointment and gently applied it to Xiao Yan's wound while softly asking, "Xiao Yan ge-ge, you..."

"Hmm?"

Xun Er looked hesitant and shy. It was as if she wanted to ask something. In fact, she wanted to ask if Xiao Yan's earlier mention of someone in his heart was referring to her. However, she swallowed these words at the last moment.

"… When did Xiao Yan ge-ge start cultivating that Dou Technique? It's so impressive. No wonder you never wanted the Dou Techniques and Qi Methods offered by Xun Er..."

Xun Er's cheeks turned as red as a ripe peach. Her bashfulness was evident.

Xiao Yan paused, then feigned ignorance, "Ah? Dou Technique? What Dou Technique? I didn't use any Dou Technique. I just have a robust physique, that's all."

Xun Er rolled her eyes at him. Although Xiao Yan's use of the Dou Technique was subtle and his circulation of Dou Qi was incredibly fast, making it appear as if he had defeated Nalan Yanran with his physical strength alone, she was not fooled.

Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed slightly as he said, "Xun Er does the same thing, disappearing for a few days every month, and every time you return, your cultivation has increased significantly."

Imitating Xiao Yan's demeanor, Xun Er feigned ignorance, "Ah? Disappearing? Who is disappearing? Xun Er merely goes to the market to do some shopping…"

…

In the evening, after finishing his cultivation practice in the back mountain, Xiao Yan returned to his room exhausted. He sat on his bed, lightly touched the ring on his hand, and a Dou Technique scroll instantly appeared in his grasp.

This ring was a spatial ring known as a Storage Ring. It was a keepsake from his mother.

The two words "Octane Blast" were prominently displayed on the cover of the Dou Technique scroll.

"Octane Blast: High Xuan Dou Technique for close combat. It is known for its tremendous attack power. The attack contains eight layers of force when fully mastered. With each layer compounding on the last, its power is comparable to a Low Di Dou Technique!"

This was the Dou Technique that Xiao Yan used to defeat Nalan Yanran. In fact, this girl was bound to get defeated. With similar cultivation levels but an inferior Dou Technique and far less mastery than Xiao Yan, how could she not lose?

Xiao Yan stripped off his clothes. If one were to describe his physique in a single sentence, it would be "solid as steel."

His body wasn't characterized by bulging muscles like those of a bodybuilder. Instead, his muscles were incredibly firm, each one taut and defined.

Ever since he accidentally unlocked the ring at the age of four and obtained the Octane Blast Dou Technique, Xiao Yan had been practicing it almost every day in the back of the mountain. This was how he continuously strengthened his body.

After all, the Octane Blast didn't require an exceptionally high level of Dou Qi, but it did require great physical strength from the user.

From running, doing push-ups, and lifting weights in the beginning, to chopping down trees with his bare hands later, and now being able to leave fist marks on rocks without using Dou Qi. Xiao Yan's strength had been acquired step by step through a lot of hard work.

Yet, even after ten years of diligent practice, Xiao Yan had not fully mastered this technique.

After rereading the outline of Octane Blast, Xiao Yan shook his head with a bitter smile. To cultivate the eight layers of force, one could only rely on hard work. There was no such thing as shortcuts.

The ring didn't just contain one Dou Technique. The number of Dou Techniques and Qi Methods inside was astounding. The lowest class among them was Xuan Class, many were Di Class, and there were even a few legendary Tian Class Dou Techniques.

What made Xiao Yan, this genius boy, shake his head in frustration was that he couldn't understand them! He wanted to cultivate Di and Tian Class Dou Techniques as well!

Most of the Dou Techniques were as indecipherable to him as if they were arcane texts. They were filled with specialized terms and even ancient phrases that made his head spin. Moreover, many Dou Techniques had strict requirements for the user's cultivation level and even the class and attribute of their Qi Method.

It wasn't that Xiao Yan specifically wanted to cultivate Octane Blast, but it was the only technique that didn't require a specific Qi Method, didn't have any cultivation level requirements, and whose cultivation method Xiao Yan could understand. Hence, Octane Blast was his choice.

Xiao Yan had once considered asking his father for cultivation guidance, but after some thought, he decided against it.

'Innocent is the jade, guilty is the one who holds it.' This was a truth that Xiao Yan had understood in his previous life.

Should the existence of the Storage Ring become known, not just the Xiao Clan, but the entire Jia Ma Empire might be plunged into a bloody calamity.

"I finally have enough materials to try to refine a 2nd-tier Foundation Building Pill today."

With a thud, a medicinal cauldron for alchemy was released from the storage ring. This cauldron wasn't originally part of the ring's inventory. A low-grade medicinal cauldron like this didn't qualify to be included in the ring.

This was a cauldron that Xiao Yan had purchased himself from the largest auction house in Wu Tan City, the Miteer Auction House.

There were strict requirements to become an alchemist. First of all, one had to possess a fire attribute. Moreover, within the fire attribute, there had to be a tiny sliver of wood attribute to act as a catalyst for refining pills!

In the Dou Qi Continent, a person's attribute was determined by their soul. A soul would have only one attribute from birth. It would reject any other attribute. Therefore, it was virtually impossible for a person to have two attributes of varying strengths.

However, there were always exceptions. Out of a million people, there would always be one person whose soul was mutated. Among those people with mutated souls, some of them had the potential to become an alchemist!

On top of that, an alchemist also needed to have a strong spiritual perception!

Xiao Yan seemed like he was born to be an alchemist. He possessed all of these qualities!

Moreover, his spiritual perception was ridiculously strong.