With a goal in mind, Xiao Yan did not plan to set off so quickly.
He was not like the original Xiao Yan; the so-called Three-Year Agreement gave him no sense of urgency.
He could defeat Nalan Yanran now, and it would be the same in the future.
His true sense of crisis came from the hidden Soul Hall Protector of the Cloud Mist Sect.
Therefore, when his strength was weak, risking his life to seek opportunities to become stronger did not fit his plan.
With a talent and Cultivation Technique surpassing those of the original Xiao Yan, he could grow rapidly and seize opportunities with even stronger cultivation.
Especially with the cheat Yao Lao around.
He didn’t need to instantly advance to Dou Huang; as long as his own strength reached the Great Dou Master Realm, and he had Yao Lao possess his body, he would possess the strength to contend against a Dou Huang.
If he had Dou Ling cultivation, combined with Yao Lao, even a Dou Zong could be contended with.
Such strength was already enough for him to harvest opportunities in the Jia Ma Empire.
Therefore, Xiao Yan now had only one goal.
One year to maximize his cultivation and alchemical skills.
He did not want a narrow escape; he wanted absolute certainty!
After setting his goal, Xiao Yan utilized his time to the absolute limit.
Every day, his time was split into three parts: one part for cultivating Dou Qi, one part for learning Alchemy, and one part for learning Dou Techniques.
Due to cultivation restrictions, when it came to Dou Techniques, it was not yet time for him to learn those Heaven Rank and Di-rank Dou Techniques in his mind, so Xiao Yan specially asked Yao Lao for a Profound Rank Dou Technique.
Without a doubt, it was the high-tier Profound Rank Dou Technique with quite a lot of screen time in the original work, Eight Extremities Collapse!
…
Time flew by, and eight months passed in the blink of an eye.
Xiao Yan was about to turn sixteen, which was also the day of the Xiao Family coming-of-age ceremony.
In the Xiao Family residence, Xiao Yan sat cross-legged, and within his body’s Dou Zhi Qi vortex, nine stars shone brilliantly upon each other.
Nine-star Dou Practitioner!
Eight months of hard cultivation caused his cultivation to soar to the nine-star Dou Practitioner level, only a step away from a Dou Master.
This speed was even faster than Xiao Yan in the original work.
The reason for this was entirely because of his innate Fire Spirit Body.
Although there were no mutated flames for him to devour to enhance his cultivation,
the flame affinity had already taken effect.
He naturally possessed Fire-attribute Dou Qi and cultivated the Fire-attribute Burning Technique.
The flame affinity of the Fire Spirit Body directly exerted its maximum effect.
As a result, even though the Burning Technique was merely a low-tier Yellow Rank, in terms of cultivation speed, it was not inferior to a high-tier Yellow Rank Cultivation Technique at all.
At the same time, because of the Spirit-Devouring Body-Refining Technique, Xiao Yan often asked Yao Lao to make pills for him—not to eat, but to sell.
Then, using the money earned from sales, he purchased the corpses of various tier-2 and tier-3 Demonic Beasts to rapidly increase his physical strength.
During this period, some energy would be converted into Dou Qi, allowing his Dou Qi cultivation to improve somewhat as well.
Today, his physical strength was not inferior to a tier-3 Demonic Beast at all, and it was not much different from his Soul Power, which was already at the Peak of the 3rd Tier.
As for whether his Soul Power would be surpassed by his physical strength later on?
Xiao Yan did not worry about this at all.
Because up until now, he had not yet begun to actively enhance his Soul Power.
Just like that, his Soul Power also went from the ordinary 3rd Tier to the current Peak of the 3rd Tier, stepping half a foot into the 4th Tier.
It was not that he didn’t value Soul Power.
Rather, he didn’t need such high Soul Power right now.
In eight months, his alchemical skills had made remarkable progress, and he had now reached the Realm of a 2nd-tier Alchemist.
The Foundation Establishment Elixir sold within the Family was already being prepared by him.
The reason he was stuck at the 2nd Tier was simply because his Dou Qi cultivation could not keep up.
No matter how strong his Soul Power was, it could not change the reality of insufficient Dou Qi.
In the early stages, Soul Power did not boost combat power by much, and he was currently in a stage primarily focused on improving his cultivation strength and alchemical skills.
There were gains and losses; it couldn’t be helped.
“Brother Xiao Yan!” The young girl’s ethereal voice sounded.
The room door was knocked from the outside, and Xiao Yan broke away from his cultivation state.
Hearing this familiar voice, a smile appeared on his face.
He got off the bed and went to open the door.
Outside the door, Xiao Xun Er, wearing a purple dress, stood gracefully with skin fairer than snow, her eyebrows curved as she looked at Xiao Yan.
“Brother Xiao Yan, let’s go, the coming-of-age ceremony is about to start.”
“Mn, let’s go, let’s go quickly and return quickly.”
Xiao Yan did not hold much anticipation for the coming-of-age ceremony.
Previously, his Dou Zhi Qi cultivation was also stuck at the eighth stage instead of the third stage, and passing the coming-of-age ceremony was without any doubt.
Going through it again now was simply to display his talent and add to the prestige of the Xiao Family.
“Xun’er, you look so pretty today.” Xiao Yan praised straightforwardly.
Xiao Xun Er felt slightly shy and unnaturally smoothed her hair.
“Brother Xiao Yan, stop talking nonsense, hurry up and come with me.”
Xiao Yan only felt that Xiao Xun Er was truly cute, and said to her: “Xun’er, Cultivate well.
When you reach the Dou Practitioner Realm, I have a gift for you.”
“A gift?” Xiao Xun Er’s eyes lit up, and she smiled sweetly: “Then Brother Xiao Yan, just wait.
Xun’er will definitely give you a fright in a little while.”
“Alright, I’ll wait.” As Xiao Yan spoke, his gaze glanced downward, and he extended his hand, holding Xiao Xun Er’s slender, tender hand—as white as mutton-fat jade—in his palm.
Xiao Xun Er was stunned, her cheeks rapidly turning red.
“Xiao…
Brother Xiao Yan.”
Xiao Yan looked straight ahead bravely: “Xun’er, I’m afraid you’ll get lost.”
Xiao Xun Er lowered her head and let out a low “Mn”.
Inside the ring, Yao Lao watched this scene, only feeling that he had suffered ten thousand points of critical damage.
…
Xiao Family Square.
In front of the Black Stone Test Monument, many Disciples of the Xiao Family had been waiting here for a long time, and Xiao Zhan and the three Elders were already in place.
Even so, the coming-of-age ceremony still hadn’t started.
Everyone was waiting for the truly important person to make an appearance.
Soon, Xiao Yan, holding Xiao Xun Er by the hand, appeared in the square, and everyone’s attention immediately concentrated on them.
Facing the onlookers, Xiao Yan’s expression remained unchanged.
After nodding to greet his father sitting upright on the high platform, he casually brought Xiao Xun Er to find a place to stand.
On the high platform, seeing his precious son had arrived, Xiao Zhan nodded toward the Second Elder Xiao Ying, who was hosting the coming-of-age ceremony, indicating that it could begin.
The Second Elder raised a smiling face, having no objections to Xiao Yan at all.
After all, he knew very well that the medicinal baths and Foundation Establishment Elixir sold by the Xiao Family all came from this Third Young Master.
As for the opinions of the Disciples of the Xiao Family?
Who cared.
The strength Xiao Yan displayed when defeating Nalan Yanran a few months ago made them not dare to talk big at all.
Especially since they vaguely heard that the formulas for the medicinal baths sold externally by the Family and used by them were provided by Xiao Yan.
Let alone insulting Xiao Yan, it was already considered restrained of them not to kneel and kowtow.
The coming-of-age ceremony began.
Beside the Black Stone Test Monument, Xiao Ying called out the names of the Xiao Family Disciples who met the age requirement one by one.
Xiao Yan didn’t listen carefully at all, focusing on chatting with Xiao Xun Er, occasionally popping out a couple of jokes, causing the young girl to roll her pretty eyes with a smile.
Finally, after a while longer, Xiao Yan finally heard his name.
“Next, Xiao Yan!” shouted the elderly man of the Xiao Family in charge of hosting the coming-of-age ceremony.
(End of Chapter)