Five years passed in the blink of an eye.
During this time, Xiao Lin remained sequestered, pouring every ounce of his being into the creation of a new Qi Method. In the Dou Qi Continent, creating a Qi Method is leagues more difficult than inventing a Dou Technique. A technique can be born from a flash of inspiration or the heat of battle, but a Method is the very foundation of life and power. It requires meticulous deduction, trial, and error.
This is why a Qi Method is always worth ten times more than a technique of the same rank. Most people spend their entire lives without ever touching the boundary of creation. For Xiao Lin, five years was a remarkably short window, made possible only by the processing power of his Heavenly State Soul.
He wasn't entirely a hermit, however. His past life's best friend, Nalan Jie, visited often. Having literally grown up in the same trenches, Nalan Jie understood the depth of Xiao Lin's love for his late wife and respected his mourning. Sometimes, silence is the greatest comfort.
But for Xiao Lin, his feelings toward Nalan Jie had become... complicated.
With his Suhui (awakened memories), he knew exactly how the original story played out. He knew about the "Broken Engagement" that would humiliate the Xiao Clan decades later. In the original timeline, fans blamed Nalan Jie, but Xiao Lin now realized he shared the burden. He was the one who had made that drunken pact.
I can't put all the blame on old Nalan, Xiao Lin reflected. In the original story, he fought tooth and nail against Yanran's decision to break the engagement. And during the final battle at the Yun Lan Sect, his neutrality was the best he could offer as the head of a family tied to the Sect. He didn't throw stones at us while we were down; that's more than most would do.
Accepting that Nalan Jie's character was honorable, even if his descendants were troublesome, Xiao Lin let the grudge go. For now, they were brothers.
While the current Clan Head, Xiao Dongcheng, continued to manage the clan's daily affairs, Xiao Lin focused on his son, Xiao Zhan.
Young Xiao Zhan was a sensible child. After the first two years of clinging to his father, he grew quiet and disciplined, training with the clan's youths without complaint. This peace allowed Xiao Lin the mental space to reach the finish line of his research.
And then, on a night where the sky was crowded with a sea of stars, it happened.
BOOM.
Invisible to the naked eye, a pillar of boundless Stellar Energy cascaded from the heavens, centering directly on Xiao Lin's meditation chamber.
Xiao Lin sat cross-legged on his bed, his eyes snapping open. He raised his right hand, staring in awe at his palm. Little flecks of azure starlight danced around his fingers, pulsing with a rhythmic, ancient power.
"So this is Stellar Energy... truly miraculous."
He felt the Dou Qi within his veins transforming. It was no longer the simple, fiery energy of the Xiao Clan; it was becoming something denser, colder, and infinitely more vast.
"Dou Qi fused with the power of the stars... Let's call it Star Dou Qi."
The Star Manual: A New Foundation
Xiao Lin's heart surged with joy. This "Star Dou Qi" was a variable that didn't exist in the original story—or rather, no one had the soul strength to harness it.
He knew that stellar energy existed in this world; after all, the Three Thousand Burning Flame was born from the essence of the stars. His original low-level method, the Starlight Record, had hinted at this potential, but it was too weak to do more than slightly increase cultivation speed at night.
Using that "trash" manual as a blueprint and his Heavenly State Soul as a forge, Xiao Lin had spent five years refining it into something legendary.
The Star Manual (Xing Chen Bao Dian). Rank: Mid-Level Earth Tier.
As its creator, Xiao Lin had the right to name it. This manual allowed the practitioner to perceive the constellations and draw their essence into the body, converting ordinary Dou Qi into the evolved Star Dou Qi.
In the Dou Qi Continent, most people were limited to basic attributes: Fire, Wind, Lightning, or Poison. But Xiao Lin had just introduced a new attribute to his lineage—one that drew power from the cosmos itself.
With a Mid-Level Earth Tier foundation and the combat boost of his Heavenly State Soul, Xiao Lin was no longer just a "Background Ancestor." He was the architect of a new era for the Xiao Clan.