"Xiao Yan, you're not joking, right?" Ruo Ling's extremely full "headlights" trembled. She felt a little dizzy.
A Dou Spirit powerhouse who wasn't even sixteen yet—what kind of monstrous cultivation talent was that?!
Even the Headmaster and Outer Academy Headmaster, who traveled extensively, had never brought back a student this talented when they occasionally recruited directly into the Inner Academy.
If she could bring such a student back, the academy's rewards would be enough to overwhelm her.
She might even have a chance to break through to Dou Spirit before thirty and charge toward Dou King before forty.
"How could I joke about something like this?" Xiao Yan rubbed his nose and pointed at Xun Er. "They all know about it too."
"The Little Fairy Doctor used to be an ordinary physician in Qingshan Town. Qing Lin was a maidservant in the mercenary group my two older brothers established in Rock Desert City. Their cultivation talents were all discovered by my cousin. Half a year ago, none of them were even Dou Practitioners."
Xiao Yan was actually quite surprised that Xun Er was only at six-star Dou Practitioner. He had assumed this mysterious and powerful little sister would at least be a Dou Master, or even a Dou Grandmaster by now.
If Xun Er knew what he was thinking, she definitely wouldn't tell him that she had also begun cultivating the Flame Mantra, which had delayed her progress these past few months.
But now that she had successfully started the Flame Mantra, she had even more perfect control over the Gold Emperor Incinerating Heavenly Flame. Her cultivation would rise extremely quickly from now on.
If she didn't break through to Dou King within two years, she would basically be a waste.
"Hiss… All these geniuses from your Xiao Family were discovered by that Xiao Ting?" Ruo Ling's delicate body trembled again. She realized that her entire performance this time stemmed from Xiao Ting—one wave that completely blew her away.
Even though she hadn't met him yet, she already felt immense goodwill toward him.
At that moment, Xun Er's lips curved. "He's here!"
The Little Fairy Doctor and Qing Lin turned their heads in unison toward the entrance of the tent.
A gust of wind pressure appeared, lifting the curtains beside the tent.
A figure with dazzling purple wings on his back appeared, shrouded in a layer of purple flames.
When the flames receded and revealed his true appearance, it was a youth wearing luxurious dark-colored brocade robes.
His posture was tall and straight, giving off a reliable feeling. His handsome face carried a slightly lazy smile, his skin fair, his eyebrows thick, and his eyes large. A pair of peach-blossom eyes that were extremely captivating.
"So handsome!" A girl subconsciously exclaimed.
"Yu Er, is this your cousin?" Xiao Yu's best friend tugged her arm, eyes full of excitement. "Do I look like your sister-in-law?"
Xiao Yu: I think you just want to eat shit.
Xiao Ting belonged to the branch of the Xiao Clan patriarch. This generation was already five degrees of separation from them.
Many girls in the clan had their eyes on Xiao Ting, but with Xun Er around, none dared to show it. They knew they were unworthy.
Outsiders thinking of making a move? Pure wishful thinking.
"Don't blame me for being blunt—even if Xiao Ting ends up with a harem in the future, you wouldn't even make the cut for a concubine," Xiao Yu said calmly with harsh words.
Best friend: "..."
"I didn't come late, did I?" Xiao Ting walked over to Xun Er and the others. His gentle gaze made people unconsciously want to sink into it.
"No, we're all still here," Xun Er said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and revealing her delicate profile and earlobe. "Besides, with Big Brother Xiao Ting's talent, it wouldn't matter even if you were late. Instructor Ruo Ling would definitely accommodate you."
"Accommodate? Of course I'll accommodate," Ruo Ling said, eyes sparkling as she walked over, a blush on her fair cheeks. "I'd even give you the back door if you want."
"Hello, Instructor," Xiao Ting smiled and nodded, then got straight to the point. "The back door isn't necessary. I'll do it fair and square."
"May I ask how the assessment is specifically conducted?"
"You just need to state your age and cultivation level," Ruo Ling licked her dry lips. "As long as you preliminarily meet the criteria, you can immediately join the recruitment team and head to Jia Nan Academy with us. A formal assessment will be done there to classify your talent in detail and assign classes."
"Of course, if you truly have Dou Spirit cultivation as Xiao Yan described, you can directly enter the Inner Academy and receive various recruitment benefits."
"I see." Xiao Ting nodded slightly and answered with a faint smile, "Xiao Ting. My fifteenth birthday passed three months ago. My cultivation is six-star Dou Spirit."
Hiss!
A collective sharp inhale sounded throughout the venue.
"H-how much?!" Ruo Ling clenched her legs to keep from collapsing.
"Xiao Ting, you're already six-star Dou Spirit?!" Xiao Yan asked in disbelief.
Was there really someone whose cultivation advanced as easily as drinking water and rose as fast as a rocket?
But immediately after, Xiao Yan's expression turned serious. He was worried that Xiao Ting had taken shortcuts to raise his cultivation quickly, which might leave his foundation unstable.
Yao Lao had once said that before breaking through to Dou Ancestor, the impact of foundation and accumulation wasn't obvious, but after Dou Ancestor it became crucial.
At the Dou Venerate level, breaking through without deep enough accumulation basically meant one could forget about reaching peak Dou Venerate, let alone becoming a Saint.
"Yeah." Xiao Ting nodded calmly and spoke in a relaxed tone that made everyone's hearts ache. "If I weren't worried that blindly raising my cultivation would affect my foundation and accumulation, I would already be at nine-star Dou Spirit right now. Coming to Jia Nan Academy is perfect—I can use the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower to break through to Dou King."
Xiao Ting naturally understood Xiao Yan's concern.
When Xiao Yan had received a massive cultivation boost from bloodline power in the Heavenly Tomb and spoken to Xun Er about the importance of foundation, Xiao Ting had naturally taken note and would not make such a basic mistake.
After all, that was Xiao Xuan—the former number one under a Dou God. Even after failing to break through to Dou God and suffering backlash, he had still heavily injured Soul Emperor Hun Tiandi, forcing the latter to recuperate for a thousand years. What a peerless powerhouse.
"You…" Xiao Yan instantly suppressed his worry and said speechlessly, "I'm not talking to you for the rest of the day. We're breaking off relations."
"Really?" Xiao Ting took out a porcelain bottle. "I collected some thousand-year stalactite liquid in the Magic Beast Mountain Range. Even Dou Spirits can rapidly increase their cultivation with it. I was planning to give some to Cousin, but since you want to break off relations…"
"Who said that?!" Xiao Yan immediately stepped in front of Xiao Ting and reached for the bottle, arguing, "Whoever said that has a problem with their brain—and it definitely wasn't me."
Everyone: "..."
For a moment, they didn't know whether to be shocked by Xiao Ting's talent or by the fact that he could casually produce thousand-year stalactite liquid to give away.
Xiao Ting: Try having three large water jars' worth.
"Instructor Ruo Ling, stating age and cultivation is enough, right?" Xiao Ting looked at Ruo Ling for confirmation. She was staring heatedly at the thousand-year stalactite liquid in Xiao Yan's hand.
If she could obtain that bottle, her five-star Dou Grandmaster cultivation could also break through.
"Enough, enough." Ruo Ling took out a scroll and carefully recorded Xiao Ting's information stroke by stroke. Then she licked her lips and asked, "Xiao Ting, do you have any more of this thousand-year stalactite liquid? Instructor can trade you for it."
"Sorry, the little I have left is all needed to strengthen the Dou Grandmaster experts in the clan. I don't have any extra," Xiao Ting spread his hands.
Ruo Ling looked a little unwilling and asked again, "Really? You can't even spare one extra drop?"
Even a single drop would be enough for her to attempt breaking through a small bottleneck to six-star Dou Grandmaster!
…
…
PS: Please support me and read advanced chapters at patreon.com/AbsoluteCode