Chapter 4: Nalan Yanran Has Arrived
The next morning, Xiao Yuan sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, placing his hands in strange hand seals in front of him. His chest rose and fell gently, and with each breath, a perfect cycle was formed. As his breath circulated, faint white airflow entered his body through his mouth and nose, dividing into five parts, which were absorbed by the five Yuan Qi Chambers.
After a moment, Xiao Yuan opened his eyes and carefully inspected the extent to which fighting energy had accumulated in his five Yuan Qi Chambers. A trace of disappointment flashed in his eyes as he muttered softly to himself:
"Sigh, the residual energy from the five magic cores, along with half an hour of absorbing fighting energy, has only raised each of my Qi Chambers to the third stage!"
But soon, Xiao Yuan cheered up again. After all, when he thought about it, he had no fighting energy just yesterday. To become a fighter overnight would certainly attract too much attention. Third stage is fine for now!
Moreover, after officially opening the five Yuan Qi Chambers, the scroll in his soul seemed to be unlocked a bit further. It recorded a secret technique: Five Qi Return to One. This technique could infuse the energy from four of the Qi Chambers into one of them, temporarily boosting strength drastically.
Of course, this method wasn't without cost. First, due to Xiao Yuan's current low cultivation, and because he was only just starting to practice the secret technique, the infusion process would consume some of his fighting energy.
Secondly, with the current strength of his Qi Chambers, the maximum he could handle was the energy from three Qi Chambers after the loss. If all four Qi Chambers' energy were infused into one, the result would be disastrous—before he could use the boosted strength to face an enemy, the Qi Chamber would burst, causing internal organ rupture, leading to serious injury or even death.
Lastly, the aftereffects of the secret technique would worsen depending on how many Qi Chambers' energies were infused.
Nevertheless, Xiao Yuan was quite satisfied.
He was just a small fry with only three stages of fighting energy, yet he could already use a technique that would massively boost his power. Even the effect could be so outrageous as to bring him to the peak of his current rank! He was very content with that!
"It's a pity... to deal with today's situation, it might still be insufficient."
Xiao Yuan massaged his temples, a headache starting to form. After sweating profusely last night, he felt sticky and uncomfortable.
"Never mind, no pressure, no motivation! At worst, Xiao Yan and I will head to Yun Lan Sect together. For now, I'll take a bath and tidy up."
Soon, Xiao Yuan stopped dwelling on it and started cleaning up the pile of gray-brown dirt and other useless, ineffective items on the floor, placing them by the door to throw out later when he left.
Then, he picked out a clean set of clothes, took a hot shower, and refreshed himself. Dressed in a spotless white robe, he carefully combed his hair in front of the mirror and put on a silver-white crown.
As soon as everything was prepared, a knock on the door sounded at just the right moment.
The familiar old voice followed immediately: "Third Young Master, the clan leader requests your presence in the hall."
"Oh, okay."
Xiao Yuan patted the small wrinkles on his clothes, glanced with satisfaction at the refined young man in the mirror, then opened the door and cheerfully greeted the steward, Mo: "Let's go, Mo!"
Although Mo had watched Xiao Yuan grow up, the boy's excessively handsome face, combined with the ethereal aura brought by the immaculate white robe, still made him sigh inwardly:
"If Third Young Master could cultivate, I'm sure even a princess from the Jia Ma Empire would want to take him as a husband!"
"Please, Third Young Master, go ahead. I'll go fetch Young Master Xiao Yan."
Mo replied respectfully.
"Oh, I'll call him myself."
Xiao Yuan waved his hand, signaling Mo to wait, then quickly walked over to Xiao Yan's room. Just as he was about to knock, he heard sharp cursing from inside:
"After all that effort to cultivate fighting energy, it's disappearing again… Damn it!"
Xiao Yuan smiled at the sound, knocked on the door, and called out loudly:
"Xiao Yan, we have a guest at home. Father wants us to go to the hall."
"Duang!"
The sound of something falling to the ground came from inside, followed by a somewhat embarrassed voice from Xiao Yan:
"Got it, brother, I'll change clothes. Wait for me!"
Moments later, Xiao Yan opened the door, now dressed in clean clothes, his eyes still wandering.
"Hehe, let's go!"
Xiao Yuan didn't say anything to embarrass Xiao Yan, but habitually patted his brother's arm and turned to walk toward the hall.
"Oh!"
Xiao Yan let out a quiet sigh of relief after seeing his brother's back, quickly following behind.
Soon, under Mo's lead, the two brothers walked through the backyard and stopped in front of the solemn guest hall. After a respectful knock, they were allowed entry by Xiao Zhan.
The hall was spacious, with several people seated inside. At the top sat Xiao Zhan and three other elders, their expressions indifferent, their authority nearly equal to that of the clan leader.
Below them, on the left-hand side, sat several influential and powerful elders, with some talented younger generation members seated beside them.
On the other side, three unfamiliar guests were seated—presumably the honored guests.
Xiao Yuan's gaze quickly scanned the room. Among the three guests, one was an elderly man dressed in moon-white robes, his face carrying a smile and a lively energy. His small eyes sparkled with sharpness. On the chest of his robe was an embroidered silver crescent moon, surrounded by seven golden stars.
A Seven-Star Dou Master.
He was two stars higher than Xiao Zhan. While he couldn't defeat him right now, he would definitely outclass him in the future. There was nothing to fear.
As for the five-star Dou Master next to him, who appeared to be nearly twenty but had just reached the five-star rank, Xiao Yuan didn't think much of him.
Earlier, some of the young women in the family had been paying attention to the good-looking, strong young man. But as soon as Xiao Yuan entered, their focus immediately shifted to him.
Clearly, although there was a noticeable strength gap between the young man and Xiao Yuan, the difference in appearance was enough to outweigh that.
It was the young girl beside him that caught Xiao Yuan by surprise. Nalan Yanran's beauty was outstanding. Among all the women in the Xiao family, only Xiao Xun'er could surpass her, though in front of Xiao Yuan, she still didn't compare.
However, her robe had three golden stars on the chest, indicating that she was a Three-Star Dou Master.
With a surprise attack, he could probably defeat her, but she was still his fiancée, so he couldn't fight her!
It seemed that Nalan Yanran noticed Xiao Yuan's gaze. Although she hadn't wanted to look at her useless fiancé, she turned her head toward him and was immediately struck with shock in her eyes.
Huh? How can he be this handsome?
(END CHAPTER)
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