Chapter 3: Guests

A young man was meditating on his bed. In front of him, his hands were clasped in a weird yet relaxed manner. His chest peacefully rose and fell with the rhythm of his breath. Everything was just… so natural! With every breath he took, a pale white stream of what seemed to be air darted into the young man’s nose and mouth, squeezing into his body and reshaping it.

As the young man was meditating, a strange yet dim sparkle appeared for a brief moment on the plain black ring that he wore on his finger …

“Huuuu…” The young man slowly let out his breath and opened his eyes, blinking. A pale white light flashed across his black pupils, that was the Dou Qi that had just been absorbed but not yet completely refined.

“It took such great effort to get that Dou Qi, but… f*ck, it’s disappearing again! No, no please noooo…” The young man tried desperately to keep the disappearing Dou Qi from slipping away but to no avail. As the last sliver of Dou Qi left his body, the young man’s face changed from being calm to one of anger and despair and his voice rose with fury.

He curled his hands into fists and was rapidly clenching and unclenching them. Eventually, his visage transited from extreme anger to a forced grin. After all, there was nothing he could do about it. Wearily, he dragged his body off the bed and stretched his numb legs. With only Dou Qi of a 3rd Stage, such menial matters were always present.

After having done a few exercises in his plain room, an old, wizened voiced sounded outside of his door: “Young master, the clan leader has requested your presence in the hall.”

The young man was the third son of the clan header, Xiao Yan. Above him were two brothers, but they had already left the clan in search of adventure. Only at the end of each year would they come back and meet their family. Overall however, the two brothers were extremely nice to their little brother, Xiao Yan, even when he fell from being a genius to a piece of trash.

“Coming!” Xiao Yan changed his clothes and went out. Outside of his room was an elder in a green robe. “Let’s go!”

Looking at the young man’s fresh face, the elder nodded his head. But when he turned around, his eyes showed a flash of regret.If young master had his former talent, he probably would have been a great Dou Zhe, such a waste…

The elder and the young man crossed through the back yard and finally arrived solemnly at the welcoming hall. After politely knocking, the two softly went in.

The hall was quite large, but there were many people already in it. At the head of the hall were Xiao Zhan and three emotionless elders. They were the clan elders and had equal importance to the Clan leader.

On the left, below the four were other elders from the clan. These elders didn’t hold as much power as the clan elders but nevertheless, they had quite a bit of say and weren’t pushovers. Besides these elders were young men that had shown promise and talent.

On the other side was three strangers, looks like they were the people that Xiao Zhan foretold last night.

The young man’s eyes quickly swept through the strangers. Of the three, there was an elder wearing a moon white outfit. Although the elder was all smiles, his tiny eyes were full of energy, restlessly scanning the room. Xiao Yan’s sight dipped lower, stopping at the elder’s chest. On his chest was a silver moon and besides the moon were seven shiny stars.

7 Star Da Dou Shi! This guy’s a 7 star Da Dou Shi? Incredible. Xiao Yao could barely refrain from gasping at the elder. The elder was stronger than his own father, in fact, he was two whole stars stronger.

Anyone that became a Da Dou Shi was at least a power to be reckoned with. With that kind of strength, most places would probably rush for recruitment. To be able to see such a powerful person, it’s not surprising that Xiao Yan was shocked.

Beside the elder were a young couple. They were also wearing moon white robes. The male was about 20 years old and had a handsome face, coupled with a strong build. He was definitely the ideal type for any girl. Of course, the most important thing was, on his chest were 5 golden stars. This represented the strength of the young man: 5 star Dou Zhe!

To be able to become a 5 star Dou Zhe at the age of 20 definitely shows the exceptional talent of the young man.

With a handsome face and decent strength, this young man, not only became the target of stares from young girls in the clan, even Xiao Mei occasionally sent glances to him.

But, the looks that the girls gave had no effect on the young man. His entire focus was concentrated on the young girl beside him…

The young girl’s age was similar to Xiao Yan which made Xiao Yan flinch. Her beauty even rivaled Xiao Mei’s, no, she was prettier than Xiao Mei. In the entire clan, probably only Xiao Xun Er could rival her. No wonder the guys of Xiao clan chased girls outside of the clan.

On the intricate ear of the young girl was a green jade earrings. As she moved around, the pieces of jade clinked together, chirping a beautiful melody and adding a hint of royalty to the girl…

In addition, on the developing chest of the girl were 3 golden stars.

A 3-Star Dou Zhe, This girl… if she didn’t use any special methods, she must be an incredible genius! Xiao Yao’s heart fell, she had talent rivalling his former talent! But Xiao Yao forced his eyes away from the cold beauty. No matter what, beneath Xiao Yao’s immature appearance was a mature soul. Although the girl was very pretty, he kept himself from acting like a drooling slob.

Xiao Yan’s actions caused a slight tension within the girl. Although she wasn’t the kind that had an entire universe revolving around her, her beauty and appearance wasn’t bad. Xiao Yan’s random glance over her was a first for her.

“Father, three elders!” Walking quickly, Xiao Yan courteously greeted the Xiao Zhan and the three elders.

“Haha, Yan Er, you came! Here, come sit.” Seeing Xiao Yan arrival, Xiao Zhan stopped talking to his guests and nodded in the direction of Xiao Yan, waving his hand to indicate for Xiao Yan to take a seat.

With a slight smile, Xiao Yan ignored the lazy, almost hateful gazes from the three clan elders and searched for his seat. But, he was surprised at the result, he didn’t have a seat…

Hahhh, my position in the clan is just sinking lower and lower. It was better before, but now, they even embarrass me in front of guests, these old geezers… Xiao Yao ridiculed himself silently, in his mind, he shook his head as if it could block the emotions that welled up within him.

Looking at the motionless Xiao Yan, the young clan members let out soft, mocking laughter, showing their happiness at seeing Xiao Yan be made a fool.

Finally, Xiao Zhan realized Xiao Yan’s predicament. A look of anger flashed across his face before being replaced with a bent eyebrow: “Second elder, you…”

“Ohh, really sorry. I can’t believe that I forgot about young master. Hehe, I’ll go get someone to prepare a chair!” The yellow robed elder smiled at the staring Xiao Zhan. He patted his forehead in an act of self-criticism but the belittling look in his eyes didn’t fade.

“Brother Xiao Yan, come sit here!” The clear voice of a girl rang across the hall.

The three elders tensed, their gaze shifting to Xun Er in the corner. Their mouths twitched but none of them said anything…

In the corner, Xiao Xun Er closed the thick book in her lap, and blinked at Xiao Yan.

Looking at Xiao Xun Er’s smiling face, Xiao Yan froze for a second. Quickly, he recovered and after touching his nose, he walked towards Xun Er under the envious gazes of the surrounding clan members and after what seemed like the longest few seconds, he plopped next to Xun Er.

Xiao Yan whispered: “Thanks, you’ve rescued me again.”

Xiao Xun Er lightly smiled, two small dimples appearing on her face. Her slender fingers flipped open the book in front of her. Even though she was extremely young, there was an air of intellectuality around her. After scanning through the page, Xun Er suddenly complained: “Brother Xiao Yan, you haven’t sat beside me, alone, for three years now, right?”

“Uhh…you’re a genius in the clan, isn’t it simple for you if you want friends?” Looking at the resentful face of Xun Er, Xiao Yan drily laughed.

“But the thing is, a certain someone snuck into my room every night when I was 4 to 6. And then that certain someone used a clumsy technique and weak Dou Zi Qi to strengthen my bones and

meridians. Every time, the same person would get himself sweating profusely before leaving. Brother Xiao Yan, do you know who he is?” Xun Er paused for a moment and suddenly tilted her head, and smiled towards Xiao Yan.

“Uhh… how, how am I supposed to know? I was so young back then, in fact, I could barely walk, how would I know?” Xiao Yan’s heart began to beat violently. Forcing open a smile, Xiao Yan guilty turned his gaze to the center of the hall.

“Hehe…” Looking at Xiao Yan’s reaction, a slight smile floated on Xiao Xun Er’s face. Her sight moved back to the book on her lap and as if talking to herself, she said: “Even though I know that, that person did it in goodwill, I’m a girl right? How can I let someone carelessly touch me? If I ever find out who did it, hmph…”

Xiao Yan’s mouth began to twitch violently, keeping his sight straight, he shut his mouth tight…