Looking at the five glaring characters on the testing magic stone tablet, the boy's expression was emotionless, with a trace of self-mockery at the corner of his lips. His tightly clenched fist dug the sharply pointed nails deep into his palm due to the force, bringing waves of piercing pain...
"Xiao Yan, Fighting Power, Level Three! Rank: Low Level!" Beside the testing magic stone tablet, a middle-aged man glanced at the information displayed on the tablet and announced it with an indifferent tone...
As soon as the middle-aged man finished speaking, an expected wave of mocking commotion erupted in the crowded square.
"Level Three? Heh, as I expected, this 'genius' is just treading water this year!"
"Sigh, this useless piece of crap is really embarrassing the family."
"If it weren't for the fact that the clan leader is his father, this useless piece of trash would have been kicked out of the family long ago, left to fend for himself, with no chance to stay and enjoy free food and drink."
"Sigh, that once-renowned genius boy from Wutan City, how has he fallen to such a state now?"
"Who knows, maybe he did something shameful, provoking the anger of the gods..."
The disdainful laughter and regretful sighs from around him pierced the air like sharp thorns, stabbing into the boy's heart as he stood there like a wooden post, making his breath quicken slightly.
The boy slowly lifted his head, revealing a somewhat delicate and youthful face, his pitch-black eyes blankly scanning the mocking peers around him, and the self-mockery at the corners of his mouth seemed to grow even more bitter.
"Are these people really that cruel and powerful? Maybe it」s because three years ago they showed the most humble smiles in front of me, so now they want to take it back..." With a bitter smile, Xiao Yan turned away in desolation, quietly returning to the last row of the team, his lonely figure feeling somewhat out of place in the surrounding world.
"Next, Xiao Mei!"
Hearing the tester's call, a girl quickly dashed out from the crowd. As soon as the girl appeared, the nearby discussions quieted down a lot, and a pair of slightly fiery gazes locked onto her cheeks...
The girl was only about fourteen, and while she couldn't be called stunning, her youthful face contained a subtle allure. The contradiction of purity and seduction made her the center of attention for everyone present...
The girl quickly stepped forward, her small hand skillfully touching the pitch-black magic stone tablet, then slowly closed her eyes...
Moments after the girl closed her eyes, the pitch-black magic stone tablet once again lit up with brilliance...
"Fighting Qi: Seventh Stage!"
"Xiao Mei, Fighting Qi: Seventh Stage! Level: Advanced!"
"Yay!" Hearing the score shouted by the tester, a proud smile rose on the girl's cheeks...
"Tsk tsk, Seventh Stage Fighting Qi, really impressive. At this rate, it」ll probably take at most three years for her to become a true fighter..."
"As expected of a seed-level figure in the family..."
Listening to the waves of envy from the crowd, the girl's smile grew even wider; vanity, a temptation that many girls just can't resist...
While chatting and laughing with a few sisters as usual, Xiao Mei's gaze suddenly pierced through the crowd and landed on a solitary figure outside the throng...
Frowning for a moment, Xiao Mei still dismissed the thought of the past. The two of them were no longer on the same level; with Xiao Yan's performance in recent years, after coming of age, he could at most only be considered a lower-level member of the family, while she, with her excellent talent, would become a key figure nurtured by the family, and her future could be said to be limitless.
「Sigh…」 With a inexplicable light sigh, Xiao Mei suddenly recalled the spirited young boy from three years ago—practicing Qi at four, possessing nine stages of fighting spirit at ten, breaking through to ten stages at eleven, successfully condensing fighting spirit into a vortex, and leaping to become the youngest fighter in the family in a hundred years!
The boy back then was confident and had immeasurable potential, making countless girls' hearts flutter, and of course, this included the former Xiao Mei.
However, the road of a genius seems to always be winding. Three years ago, this young genius, who had reached the peak of his fame, suddenly received the most brutal blow of his life. Not only did the fighting energy he had painstakingly cultivated over more than a decade vanish overnight, but the fighting energy within him also became increasingly strange and diminished over time.
The direct result of the disappearance of his fighting energy was a constant decline in his strength.
From the pedestal of genius, he fell overnight to a point where he was even inferior to ordinary people. This blow left the young man in a daze, and the title of genius was gradually replaced by disdain and ridicule.
The higher you stand, the harder you fall. This fall might leave him with no chance to rise again.
"Next, Xiao Xun'er!"
Amidst the noisy crowd, the tester's voice rang out again.
As this somewhat elegant name sounded, the crowd suddenly fell silent, all gazes abruptly shifting.
At the focal point of everyone's attention stood a girl in a purple dress, elegantly poised, her calm and youthful face unchanged by the crowd's scrutiny.
The girl's cold and serene demeanor resembled a freshly bloomed lotus; despite her young age, she already exuded an otherworldly charm, making it hard to imagine how stunning she would be when she grew up…
This girl in the purple dress, in terms of beauty and grace, undoubtedly surpassed the earlier Xiao Mei by several notches, which is no wonder everyone present was so captivated.
With a slight movement, the girl named Xiao Xun'er approached the magic stone tablet, her small hand reaching out, the purple sleeve adorned with black and gold threads sliding down, revealing a delicate and snowy wrist, before she gently touched the tablet…
After a moment of stillness, a blinding light erupted once again from the stone tablet.
"Fighting Qi: Ninth Stage! Level: Advanced!"
Staring at the characters on the stone tablet, the arena fell into a moment of silence.
"...She actually reached the Ninth Stage, that's terrifying! In the younger generation of our family, it must be Miss Xun'er who stands out the most." After the silence, the surrounding young men couldn't help but swallow hard, their eyes filled with awe...
Fighting Qi is a path every fighter must take. The initial levels of Fighting Qi are divided into ten stages. When one's internal Fighting Qi reaches the tenth stage, they can condense a Fighting Qi vortex and become a respected fighter!
In the crowd, Xiao Mei furrowed her brows, staring at the girl in the purple dress in front of the stone tablet, a hint of jealousy flashing across her cheeks...
Looking at the information on the stone tablet, the middle-aged examiner beside her surprisingly showed a rare smile on his indifferent face, slightly bowing as he said to the girl, "Miss Xun'er, after half a year, you should be able to condense your fighting spirit. If you succeed, then at the age of fourteen, you will become a true fighter, the second person from the Xiao family in a hundred years!"
Yes, the second person. The first one is Xiao Yan, who has lost his genius halo.
"Thank you." The girl nodded slightly, her calm little face didn」t show any joy from his praise, she quietly turned around, and then, under the intense gaze of the crowd, slowly walked to the dejected boy at the back of the group…
"Brother Xiao Yan." As she passed by the boy, the girl stopped and respectfully bent down to Xiao Yan, a beautiful and graceful smile appeared on her face, which made the surrounding girls jealous.
"Do I still have the right to tell you how to call me?" Looking at the dazzling pearl that had grown into the brightest gem of the family, Xiao Yan said bitterly. She was one of the very few who still respected him after his downfall.
"Brother Xiao Yan, you once told Xun'er that to let go is to be able to take up. To move freely is to be truly free!" Xiao Xun'er said softly with a smile, her slightly immature voice was heartwarming.
"Heh, truly free? I can only say that; just look at how I am now. Do I look truly free? And... this world never belonged to me in the first place." Xiao Yan chuckled self-deprecatingly, his interest waning.
Faced with Xiao Yan's despondency, Xiao Xun'er slightly furrowed her delicate brows and said seriously, "Xiao Yan gege, although I don't really know what's going on with you, I believe that you will stand up again and reclaim your glory and dignity..." At this point, she paused for a moment, and for the first time, the girl's fair and charming face showed a faint blush: "The Xiao Yan gege from back then was indeed very attractive..."
"Hehe..." In response to the girl's unreservedly frank words, the boy let out an awkward laugh but said nothing more. A person should be romantic when young, but right now, he truly didn」t have the qualifications or the mood for that. Feeling dejected, he turned around and slowly walked away from the square...
Standing in place and watching the boy's lonely back as if isolated from the world, Xiao Xun'er hesitated for a while. Then, amidst the jealous howls from behind her, she quickly chased after him, walking side by side with the boy...