Five years later,
"Hey, what's with all these carriages from different sects?" A passerby asked a man standing on the street as he gazed at the long line of carriages entering the Xiao city from various sects.
"Oh? Are you new here?"
"Yeah, I'm here to trade some goods."
"Then you must not know, but today is the young lady of the Xiao family's fifth birthday. Today is the day she starts cultivating!"
"...I get that the Xiao family is very powerful. But isn't this too much?" The passerby questioned as he gazed at the unending carriages, each representing a powerful sect.
"Heavens! Do you live under a rock or something?! Don't you remember the incident five years ago?!"
The passerby frowned, recalling his memories, when his eyes widened, "Wait, do you mean how the sky turned golden?!"
"Yes! That's caused by—"
"The young lady is the reason for the golden sky?!!" The passerby exclaimed out loud, cutting off the man.
Although a few people frowned and turned to the passerby for yelling out loud, when they realized they were talking about the young lady, their expressions turned to ones of pride.
"But wait, didn't the golden sky then turn black? And I also heard that the heavens had punished someone on that very same day!"
"T-That's…" The man explaining to the passerby stumbled, his expression turning into one of pity. Not only he, but the ones who were listening in on their conversation too, shook their heads in pity.
Noticing this, the passerby frowned and was about to ask what happened when a voice came from behind, "The heavens punished the young master of the Xiao family. The twin brother of the young lady, he was born without a dantian."
"That's…." The passerby didn't know what to say; one was blessed by the heavens, and the other…punished.
"What were the heavens thinking? Smiling upon one and abandoning the other…" one among the people commented.
The people continued conversing among each other while the carriages slowly moved towards the Xiao family's manor.
...
Inside the Xiao family's manor,
"I, Xiao Wei, thank all the esteemed guests who traveled from afar! It's an honor for the Xiao family to host you!" Xiao Wei greeted the guests as he cupped his fists.
"The honor is ours, Senior Xiao. Because of your daughter, we have witnessed a once-in-an-era phenomenon!" one among the many guests replied with a smile.
"What senior Bai said is correct…" The others, too, followed, praising the Xiao family for birthing a genius among geniuses.
Xiao Wei then began to greet each guest individually, surprising many with his humility. Yet, some could tell something was wrong with him; his smile felt hollow.
Of course, this didn't upset them; they knew why. And heck, half of them never had a true laugh, and the other never smiled in the first place.
"The patriarch of the Xiao family is sad…" A little girl with a monotone voice whispered to the woman beside her as she tugged her robe.
The woman then turned to look down at her daughter. "Yes, dear, I know. He is sad that only his daughter is able to cultivate and her twin brother is not."
The girl tilted her head for a moment before she nodded in understanding, and just then Xiao Wei approached them.
"Thank you, Senior Song, for coming all the way from your sect!" He said with a smile, although his smile wasn't real, there was a flicker of eagerness in his eyes.
"There is no need to call me senior, Patriarch Xiao. I'm still a junior to you in cultivation." The woman replied with a smile as she shook her head.
"Haha, while it's true that I have more cultivation than you, your expertise is far above mine!"
"Please, Patriarch Xiao, I insist."
"Very well then, I will call you Sect Leader Song then. Will that be fine?"
"Haa…okay." The woman wanted to insist further but relented; the Xiao family now wielded more power than ever before, so if the patriarch of that family called her senior even when her cultivation was inferior, it might result in some unnecessary problems in the future.
And it wasn't that she didn't think Xiao Wei wasn't aware of this. Yet, he still called her senior, because she was the sect leader of the medicine valley, from where almost 70% of the alchemy pills of this realm come.
"Sect leader Song, about Tian'er…." He asked.
"I'm sorry, Patriarch Xiao. But no matter what, I couldn't find a cure for young Master Tian." Sect leader Song said with a helpless sigh. It puzzled her; she had never heard a case where one had been born without a dantian. A crippled dantian? Sure, but never without one.
Xiao Wei's face darkened for a moment; although he knew there wasn't any cure for his son's condition, he never stopped searching.
But soon, he shook his head, "Well, please wait for a few moments. We are preparing the hall for Yu'er's cultivation." He mumbled before leaving them.
Sect leader Song could only sigh in defeat; she didn't want to be the bearer of bad news, especially about the twin brother of the lady that all the sects here wanted to recruit.
She then looked at her daughter, whispering, "Dear, I want you to become friends with the young lady and be nice to her brother if you meet him, okay? I heard that she is very close to her brother."
"...Okay." The little girl responded monotonically after a moment, nodding her head. She was curious about the young lady of the Xiao family.
After a couple of minutes, Xiao Wei appeared in front of the guests. "I apologize for the delay, but the hall is now ready. We can move there." He then led the group to a large indoor hall where the walls were filled with various arrays meant to attract the spiritual energy, qi, towards the center.
In front of the hall were large stands, shielded by a powerful transparent array so that they were able to have a view and also protect the one who was cultivating from any interference.
But as soon as they entered the hall, a childish voice echoed through the hall, "I won't cultivate!!"
The group frowned as they turned their heads simultaneously to the source of the voice, only to see a little girl glaring at a woman and an old man.
The little girl had jet-black hair, two bright golden eyes that resembled the sun, and a face that could even incur the envy of the heavens.
"Young lady, please. You mustn't—"
"No, Grandpa Lao! If my brother cannot cultivate, then I won't cultivate too!" The little girl exclaimed, cutting off the old man.
She then turned to the woman, her little golden eyes tearing up, "I-I don't want something I stole from my brother!!"
"Wh-Where did you hear that?!" The woman exclaimed, her eyes widening in surprise. She then turned to the old man, who was fuming in anger. Turning to the woman, he said, "I will take care of it, mistress!"
The group, along with Xiao Wei, reached the trio while the women kneeled in front of the little girl. "Tian'er, dear, you did not steal anything from your brother." Yu Hao tried to reassure her daughter. Her eyes moistened as she continued, "It's just that the heavens were cruel to your brother."
"That's right, young lady. You mustn't say that! You are a genius, young lady. A genius among geniuses, refusing to cultivate is disrespectful to the heavens who gave you the gift!" One among the group of guests said.
"That's right, young lady. You are too young; I'm sure your brother will understand." Said another. Some others too said their piece, but little Xiao Yu cut them all off.
"I don't care about the heavens! If my brother cannot, then neither will I!"
"Oh? Then what will you do when I leave you behind in cultivation, sister?"
The entire hall fell into silence as a young boy's voice pierced through the crowd.
The people turned their heads towards the newcomer. He looked almost exactly like Xiao Yu, with dark jet-black eyes and two golden eyes that were a shade darker than Xiao Yu's.
A confident look adorned his face as he walked towards his sister, who was surprised to see him there. "Brother!" she exclaimed loudly as she ran towards him and threw herself at him, hugging him tightly.
"Brother, I don't want to cultivate! I don't want something that I stole from you! Grandpa Lao and Mother say that I didn't do something like that, but I heard servants talking about it. They said you cannot cultivate. I don't want to leave you behind, brother!"
Xiao Wei's and Yu Hao's expressions softened at her daughter's cry, while Old Lao clenched his jaw tightly, a ruthless glint passing through his eyes. Even if it meant purging all the servants, he would do it. Who would dare to spread false rumors about the children of the Xiao family?!
Meanwhile, Xiao Tian pulled his sister off his body with a frown creasing his brows, "And you believed some servants over Mother and Grandpa Lao?" He asked.
"...." Xiao Yu was stumped; her expression froze as she didn't know how to answer him. "B-But—"
"No buts!" Xiao Tian exclaimed as he flicked her forehead, causing the little girl to whimper in pain.
He then wrapped his arms around his sister before pulling her into a hug. "Listen, Yuyu, you are not stealing anything from me. No one has ever stolen anything from me. Heck, even that heaven doesn't have the ability to steal from me!"
Xiao Yu's eyes flickered as she opened her mouth to say something, but Xiao Tian didn't let her., "Yes, it's true that I cannot cultivate and that I don't have a dantian. But that doesn't mean the end."
He then looked her in the eyes, his hand cupping her face, "Let me tell you a secret: I have a way to cultivate... even without a dantian!"
The group raised their eyebrows when they heard Xiao Tian, yet none of them raised any question about the impossibility of it. After all, they understood that he just wanted to convince his sister to cultivate and was lying.
Some of them began to pity the young man, while others showed a hint of respect for having maturity far surpassing his age.
"R-Really?!" Xiao Yu exclaimed, her eyes flickering with happiness.
"Have I ever lied to you?" Xiao Tian replied with a smile. "Give me ten—no, five years, and I will show you that I can cultivate even without a dantian."
A few in the crowd frowned at his words because of how sure Xiao Tian sounded. But then once again chalked it up to him trying to convince his sister.
"T-then I will wait until you can start cultivating!" Xiao Yu claimed.
But he shook his head, "Silly girl, do you think you can keep up with me once I start cultivating?! Are you looking down on your brother? Hmph, you need at least a five-year head start if you want to keep up with me!"
Some in the crowd began to chuckle at the ridiculousness of his words, but none stopped him.
Xiao Wei glared at them for laughing at his son, while Xiao Tian deftly ignored them. He looked at his sister. "So, don't feel bad about cultivating without me, okay?"
Xiao Yu pressed her lips into a thin line. She felt something was wrong and that her brother was tricking her. But he wouldn't do that! He hadn't lied to her once and always kept his promises.
"Mhhmm, Okay…" The little girl mumbled.
Xiao Wei and Yu Hao sighed in relief while smiles spread among the group. Xiao Tian then grabbed his sister's hand and led her to the center of the hall while the group, along with Xiao Wei and Yu Hao, walked towards the stage.
"Did you memorize the technique?" Xiao Tian asked her.
"Mhmm," Yuyu nodded her head with an embarrassed look on her face. Now that she had calmed down, her entire face had turned red.
"Good, don't think about anything else and just cultivate." He said before he, too, walked towards the stands.
Xiao Yu took a deep breath before she clenched her fists, her eyes shining with determination. 'I must keep up with my brother!'
She then sat in the middle of the hall. And just as she did so, the arrays surrounding her whirred to life, and a white mist began to flow towards Xiao Yu.
"Heavens! What a powerful array formation!" One among the guests exclaimed, surprised by how thick the qi was flowing.
The others, too, nodded their heads. Even they, as sect leaders of powerful sects, didn't have formations like that.
Xiao Yu stared at the white mist for a moment, feeling a sense of familiarity with it. But soon, she shook her head and closed her eyes and began to recite the technique in her head.
And in an instant, the qi mist around her reacted. It began to swirl around Xiao Yu, picking up its pace every moment. And before long, the qi mist formed a massive whirlpool above Xiao Yu's head as it entered her body.
Xiao Yu's whole body felt light as air, a warm sensation filling her body. She frowned for a moment as she felt something opening inside her body but then eased her brows when she recalled that these were just her meridians opening.
"I-I knew that her cultivation speed would be incredibly fast, but this is just ridiculous!" One of the guests muttered in astonishment while the others nodded.
When a child wishes to cultivate, they must start with opening their meridians, nerve endings that are connected to their dantian.
There are thousands upon thousands of meridians in one's body, but 108 of them are the most important, as they are the largest and widest.
For one to be able to cultivate, one must at least open nine of the meridians. But their cultivation would be too slow, and the output of their dantian would be minimal. That's why all cultivators wish to open as many meridians as they can.
But even the once-in-a-thousand geniuses cannot open every Meridian, with the highest record being 87. And even that takes years, as they must open each Meridian individually.
But as if to mock them, in a mere moment, Xiao had already opened 30, surpassing the average number.
37
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45
.
.
.
67
.
.
.
92
.
.
.
105
As people watched with gobsmacked looks, Xiao Yu had already opened 107 meridians, beating the record by a wide margin. And before one could even comment.
BOOM
A loud boom echoed from Xiao Yu's body as a massive qi wave flew out of her body—she had opened every major meridian!
But this isn't over yet.
Inside Xiao Yu's body, around her navel, all her 108 meridians glowed golden as they pumped qi into her golden dantian as it greedily sucked qi.
The mist, like qi turned liquid as soon as it entered her dantian. And her dantian sucked in qi until it was filled to the brim before it stopped…only for a moment though.
Once her dantian was filled with liquid qi to the brim, the qi shone brightly for a moment before I exploded outward, leaving behind a small solid core that radiated qi.
On the outside, the spectators looked at Xiao Yu with their mouths hanging agape. Their bodies trembled once in a while; their minds couldn't believe the ridiculousness of it all.
"F-Foundation establishment….she reached foundation establishment in one sitting!!"