[Brain Storage Zone]
[Cerebellum Storage Zone]
[Sunflower Manual (Sealed)]
"Dou Zhe: Two Stars!"
At the Yunlan Sect's Dou Qi testing platform, a young man yawned lazily, his expression one of complete indifference, as if the proceedings had nothing to do with him.
"Little Junior Brother Yun Xian, not bad! You actually broke through by one star."
Great Elder Yun Leng glanced at the testing platform's display, his face brimming with undisguised mockery.
The bustling square was packed with Yunlan Sect disciples, their voices a chaotic buzz of gossip.
"Two-star Dou Zhe? Tsk tsk~ Didn't Little Martial Uncle reach one-star Dou Zhe ten years ago? After all this time, he's only progressed one star?"
"Heh, you don't get it. As the saying goes, 'ten years to sharpen a sword.' Little Martial Uncle's spent a decade sharpening one star—pretty reasonable, right?"
"I really don't understand why the old sect master took him as a personal disciple back then."
"Sigh~ The genius who once shook the Jia Ma Empire… how did he become so mediocre?"
"Who knows? Maybe he spouted nonsense and provoked a curse from an ascended Dou Di!"
Faced with the surrounding jeers and ridicule, Yun Xian expressionlessly dug at his ear. This stench of mockery is way too strong, he thought, exasperated.
Yun Xian was a transmigrator, his past life hardly worth mentioning. Orphaned as a mercenary, his parents perished during a hunt in the Magical Beast Mountain Range—a standard backstory for someone like him. He'd initially planned to head to Wu Tan City to latch onto the thigh of the future Flame Emperor, Xiao Yan. But fate had other plans. Through a twist of events, he ended up at Yunlan Sect and became the personal disciple of Yun Shan, the former sect master. Talk about awkward!
Having read the original story, Yun Xian knew all too well that Yunlan Sect, as the early antagonist, met a grim fate. Yun Shan, a mighty Dou Zong, was slain by Xiao Yan, a mere Dou Wang, in a shocking upset. The sect's elders were wiped out by Protector Wu, and the sect itself was ultimately disbanded. To alter Yunlan Sect's doomed trajectory, Yun Xian resolved to take action.
On the chief's platform, a woman stood, her graceful figure wrapped in a flowing, water-green dress. Her long hair was styled into an elegant phoenix ornament, and her stunningly beautiful face radiated calm serenity. This was Yun Yun, the current sect master of Yunlan Sect and the youngest Dou Huang powerhouse in the Jia Ma Empire.
Yun Yun's gaze settled on the young man at the testing platform, her cool eyes flickering with complex emotions. Fifteen years ago, while training in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, she'd stumbled upon a strikingly handsome boy and brought him back to Yunlan Sect. Not long after, the boy displayed astonishing talent, condensing a Dou Zhi Cyclone at the tender age of ten, making him the youngest Dou Zhe in Jia Ma Empire history.
The feat had caught the attention of her teacher, the former sect master Yun Shan, who took Yun Xian as his personal disciple. Thus, Yun Xian became Yun Yun's junior brother. She still recalled how her teacher had subtly hinted that Yun Xian, with his heaven-defying talent and clean background, was an ideal candidate to stand behind the future sect master… as her partner.
Back then, in her early twenties and naive about matters of the heart, Yun Yun had passively accepted her teacher's suggestion. From that moment, she paid extra attention to her little junior brother. The thought that this boy, ten years her junior, might one day become her husband stirred an inexplicable feeling in her heart.
How to describe it? Not entirely unpleasant, she admitted. She even dreamed of him sometimes…
But what followed shattered those dreams.
One day, Yun Xian boldly claimed he'd received a Dou Di inheritance, proclaiming, "I'm laying my cards on the table—I'm invincible!" From then on, he stopped cultivating Dou Qi altogether, choosing to lie flat.
This infuriated Yun Shan. A Dou Huang or Dou Zong inheritance might've been plausible, a Dou Zun inheritance somewhat believable, but a Dou Sheng inheritance? That was delusional. A Dou Di inheritance? Why don't you just ascend to the heavens while you're at it? Enraged, Yun Shan beat Yun Xian senseless.
Yet Yun Xian remained stubborn, insisting he was already invincible and had no need to strive. Exasperated, Yun Shan gave up on him, declaring he'd been blind to take such a disciple. He retreated into seclusion, washing his hands of Yun Xian.
At first, Yun Yun patiently inquired about this so-called "Dou Di inheritance." Yun Xian's solemn response? Emperor-Level Soul Power.
Soul realms were beyond Yun Yun's expertise. She consulted Gu He, the Pill King and a sixth-grade alchemist, about soul realms. Gu He admitted his knowledge was limited, explaining that soul realms were divided into Mortal, Spiritual, Heavenly, and Emperor. He himself was at the Mortal Realm. Legends spoke of Emperor-Level Soul Power rivaling a Dou Sheng powerhouse.
Ha! A Dou Zhe matching a Dou Sheng? The notion was absurd.
When Yun Yun voiced her skepticism, Yun Xian's confident "Yes" elevated the absurdity to an art form. She concluded he was lost in fantasy. After countless failed attempts to reason with him, she, too, lost her temper and gave him a thorough thrashing.
Even with a swollen face, Yun Xian kept ranting about his "terrifying Emperor-Level Soul Power" and how he "didn't want to hurt his little Dou Huang senior sister." In the decade that followed, he fully embraced his laid-back lifestyle, his Dou Qi progressing only from one-star to two-star Dou Zhe.
A ten-year-old Dou Zhe was a prodigy; a twenty-year-old Dou Zhe, while not a waste, was utterly ordinary. He was unworthy of the title "personal disciple of the old sect master." Even some younger disciples surpassed him.
Take, for instance…
A young girl stood out, her delicate earlobes adorned with green jade earrings that chimed crisply with each movement, exuding an air of refined elegance.
"Shut up!" she snapped. "Who gave you permission to gossip about Little Martial Uncle behind his back?"
Her eyes blazed with fury as she scolded the surrounding Yunlan Sect disciples.
"Yes, Junior Sister Yanran…" The crowd instantly fell silent.
The girl, about fourteen or fifteen, was a relatively recent disciple. Yet no one dared underestimate her, for she was Nalan Yanran, the personal disciple of Sect Master Yun Yun.
"Next, Nalan Yanran."
Under the crowd's watchful eyes, Nalan Yanran glided to the testing platform, her small hand emerging from the sleeve of her moon-white robe.
"Dou Zhe: Six Stars!"
After a moment of stunned silence, the square erupted in gasps of awe.
"Six-star Dou Zhe! She's leagues ahead of her peers!"
"Didn't Junior Sister Yanran just break through to Dou Zhe not long ago?"
"How long has it been? She's already jumped five stars!"
"Tsk tsk tsk~ That cultivation speed must be worth fifty years of Little Martial Uncle's effort, right?"
"Haha!"
While praising Nalan Yanran, the crowd didn't miss the chance to take a jab at Yun Xian.
Seeing the results, Yun Leng's demeanor shifted instantly. With a fawning smile, he said to Nalan Yanran, "Yanran, at this rate, you'll reach Dou Shi within a year. In three years, you could become a Da Dou Shi, truly the Jia Ma Empire's number one genius!"
He emphasized "truly the Jia Ma Empire's number one genius," a pointed jab that everyone understood was aimed at Yun Xian. Mocking gazes turned toward the young man.
Yun Leng's hostility stemmed from their nominal equality as sect brothers, despite the vast gap between his Dou Wang cultivation and Yun Xian's mere Dou Zhe. With his sharp tongue, Yun Leng couldn't stomach a lowly Dou Zhe standing on equal footing, even in name.
Yun Xian watched the scene, unimpressed. Whether in the book or reality, Yun Leng's just a spiteful fool who stirs up trouble, he thought.
"Great Elder flatters me," Nalan Yanran replied coolly, unfazed by the praise. "Little Martial Uncle once said, 'Beyond the heavens are more heavens, beyond the people are even more people.' My modest talent is nothing in the vast Dou Qi Continent."
She turned and left the platform, making her way through the crowd's fervent stares to the lazy young man at the back.
Yun Leng's face darkened. He'd just insulted Yun Xian, and Nalan Yanran had countered by elevating him, openly undermining his authority.
"Little Martial Uncle."
Nalan Yanran stopped before Yun Xian, bowing respectfully. Her cool expression melted into a sweet smile.
"Not bad, Yanran. You've worked hard," Yun Xian said, instinctively patting her head.
As a member of Yunlan Sect's faction, he naturally supported Nalan Yanran. Under his guidance from a young age, her once spoiled and willful personality had softened into one of grace and restraint. Her cultivation, too, far surpassed her original counterpart in the story at this stage.
"Hehe~" Nalan Yanran leaned into his touch, a faint blush coloring her youthful face.
The crowd shot jealous glances their way.
On the chief's platform, Yun Yun's cool expression flickered with a strange emotion. One's my little junior brother, who nearly became my husband. The other's my personal disciple. There's nothing going on between them… right?