"Dou Strength: Stage Three."
Staring at the five large, glaring words on the magic testing stone, the youth's face remained expressionless. A self-deprecating look flashed across his face as he clenched his fists so hard that his fingernails dug deep into his palms, bringing waves of sharp pain to his heart...
"Xiao Yan, Dou Strength: Stage Three! Rank: Low!"
Beside the magic testing stone, a middle-aged man glanced at the information on the stone tablet and announced in an indifferent tone...
As soon as the middle-aged man finished speaking, as expected, a wave of mocking whispers erupted among the crowd on the plaza.
"Stage Three? Heh, exactly as I expected. This 'genius' has been stagnating for a whole year!"
"Sigh, this trash has truly disgraced the entire clan."
"If the clan leader weren't his father, a piece of trash like him would have been kicked out of the clan long ago to fend for himself. How could he still have the chance to freeload here?"
"Sigh... the once-famed genius youth of Wutan City, how did he fall to such a pathetic state today?"
"Who knows? Maybe he did something against his conscience and angered the gods..."
The surrounding mockery and sighs of pity fell upon the youth's ears like sharp daggers stabbing ruthlessly into his heart, causing his breathing to grow slightly ragged.
The youth slowly raised his head, revealing a delicate, youthful face. His dark eyes swept gently over the mocking peers around him. The self-deprecating curve of his lips seemed to grow even more bitter.
"Do these people really have nothing better to do? Perhaps because they used to show me such humble, fawning smiles three years ago, they want to take it all back now..." With a bitter smile, Xiao Yan turned around dejectedly and walked silently to the back of the line. His lonely figure seemed somewhat out of place with the world around him.
"Next, Xiao Mei!"
Hearing the tester call her name, a young girl quickly stepped out from the crowd. The surrounding chatter quieted down significantly, and many burning gazes focused on her face...
The girl was no more than fourteen years old. Although she could not yet be considered a peerless beauty, her youthful face already held a faint trace of coquettish charm. Purity and charm—a contradictory combination—made her the focus of the entire field even more...
The girl quickly walked up, her hand caressing the familiar magic stone tablet, and then she slowly closed her eyes...
As she closed her eyes, the pitch-black magic stone tablet lit up with a bright glow...
"Dou Qi: Stage Seven!"
"Xiao Mei, Dou Qi: Stage Seven! Rank: High!"
"Yes!" Hearing the tester read out her result, the girl raised her head and smiled triumphantly...
"Tsk tsk, Dou Qi Stage Seven. At this rate, in less than three years, she might become an official Dou Zhe..."
"As expected of a rising star of the clan..."
Hearing the waves of envious voices from the crowd, the girl's smile grew a few shades brighter. Vanity was something very few young girls could resist...
Recalling how she used to chat and laugh with her sisters, Xiao Mei's gaze suddenly pierced through the crowd and landed on a lonely figure...
Frowning slightly in thought, Xiao Mei dismissed the idea. The two of them were no longer in the same social stratum. Given Xiao Yan's performance over the past few years, once he grew up, he would at most become a low-level worker for the clan. On the other hand, with her great talent, she would become a key focus of the clan's cultivation, with a future that was practically limitless.
"Sigh..." With a soft sigh, the image of a high-spirited youth from three years ago suddenly flashed through Xiao Mei's mind. He had begun training his Qi at the age of four, reached the ninth Duan of Dou Qi at ten, and at eleven, broke through to the tenth Duan of Dou Qi, successfully condensing his Dou Qi cyclone to become the youngest Dou Zhe in the clan's century-long history!
Back then, the youth's confident demeanor and limitless potential had stirred the hearts of countless young girls—and Xiao Mei, of course, had been one of them.
Yet the path of a genius had always been fraught with obstacles. Three years ago, just as the young genius's reputation reached its absolute peak, he suffered a sudden and devastating blow. Not only did the Dou Qi cyclone he had painstakingly cultivated vanish overnight, but over time, his remaining Dou Qi also began to bizarrely drain away.
The consequence of his disappearing Dou Qi was a continuous decline in his strength.
Falling from a genius to someone inferior to even an ordinary person overnight, this devastating blow left the youth utterly despondent. The title of "genius" was gradually replaced by disdain and ridicule.
The higher one climbs, the harder one falls. And from this fall, he would likely never find the strength to stand again.
"Next, Xiao Xun'er!"
Amidst the clamor of the crowd, the tester's voice rang out once more.
As that elegant name echoed, the crowd fell into a sudden hush, and every gaze shifted.
At the center of attention stood a young girl in a purple dress. Her youthful face was serene and elegant, completely unfazed by the collective gaze of the crowd.
Her aloof temperament was like a newly blossomed lotus. Even at her tender age, she possessed an otherworldly grace; it was difficult to imagine just how breathtakingly beautiful she would become once she grew up...
In terms of beauty and grace, this purple-clad girl was clearly a cut above Xiao Mei. It was no wonder the crowd reacted this way.
Stepping forward lightly, the girl named Xiao Xun'er walked up to the Magic Testing Stone. She raised her small hand, her sleeve sliding back to reveal a patch of snow-white skin, and gently pressed her palm against the stone tablet...
After a brief moment of silence, a dazzling light erupted from the stone tablet.
"Dou Qi: Ninth Duan! Rank: High!"
Staring at the words on the stone tablet, the entire courtyard fell dead silent.
"...She's already reached the ninth Duan? How terrifying! The undisputed leader of the clan's younger generation is surely none other than Miss Xun'er." Once the silence broke, the surrounding youths involuntarily swallowed hard, their eyes filled with awe...
Dou Qi was the mandatory path for every aspiring cultivator. The initial stage of Dou Qi was divided into ten Duans. Once the Dou Qi within the body reached the tenth Duan, one could condense a Dou Qi cyclone and become a respected Dou Zhe.
Within the crowd, Xiao Mei frowned as she stared at the purple-clad girl standing before the stone tablet, a trace of jealousy flitting across her face...
Looking at the results on the stone tablet, even the usually indifferent face of the middle-aged tester cracked into a rare smile. He spoke to the girl in a slightly respectful tone, "Miss Xun'er, in another half a year, you should be ready to condense your Dou Qi cyclone. If you succeed, you will become a true Dou Zhe at the age of fourteen. You will be the second person in the Xiao clan to achieve this in the last hundred years!"
Indeed, the second. As for the first, it was none other than the genius who had long since lost his luster—Xiao Yan.
"Thank you." The young girl nodded slightly, her serene face showing no joy at his encouragement. Turning around in silence, she walked slowly through the crowd under their burning gazes, stopping in front of the dejected youth...
"Xiao Yan-gege." Arriving at the youth's side, the young girl stopped and bowed respectfully to him. A refined, elegant smile blossomed on her beautiful face, one that made all the surrounding girls burn with envy.
"Do I still have the right to be called that by you?" Looking at the girl before him, who had now become the brightest pearl of the clan, Xiao Yan said bitterly. Ever since his fall from grace, she was one of the very few who still treated him with respect.
"Xiao Yan-gege, you once told Xun'er that only by letting go can one truly grasp, and only by being able to pick up and put down freely can one be truly at ease!" Xiao Xun'er said with a gentle smile, her tender voice bringing warmth even to a dead heart.
"Haha, a person at ease? I only know how to talk. Look at me now—do I look like someone who is at ease? Besides... this world was never mine to begin with," Xiao Yan said with a self-deprecating laugh.
Seeing Xiao Yan's dejection, Xiao Xun'er frowned slightly and said earnestly, "Xiao Yan-gege, although I do not know why this happened to you, Xun'er believes that you will stand up again and reclaim your glory and dignity..." As she finished speaking, a faint blush appeared on the young girl's fair face for the first time. "The Xiao Yan-gege of back then was actually very charming..."
"Haha..." At the young girl's candid words, the youth gave an embarrassed laugh but said nothing. To not be wild and free is to waste one's youth, but he truly no longer had the right or the state of mind for such things. Silently turning around, he slowly walked away from the square...
Standing where she was, watching the youth's lonely figure recede, Xiao Xun'er hesitated for a brief moment. Then, leaving the jealous howls of the crowd behind her, she quickened her pace to catch up, walking shoulder-to-shoulder with him...