The border of the Tager Desert was a line of sand that usually took weeks to cross. For Xiao Chen, it was now a matter of hours. With his 8x Physical Strength, every leap he took covered hundreds of meters, his feet cracking the very bedrock of the desert as he propelled himself like a living cannonball.
Inside his sleeve, the Seven-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python (Medusa) poked its head out, its serpentine eyes reflecting the blurred landscape. Even she, a 7th-tier beast in her new form, seemed startled by the raw, kinetic violence of Chen's movement.
"System," Chen thought, his hair whipping in the supersonic wind. "Scan Wu Tan City."
[Infinite Doubling System]
Proximity: 50 Kilometers.
Status: Multiple high-energy signatures detected within the Xiao Clan Estate.
Signatures: 3x Dou Ling (Spirit), 10x Da Dou Master.
Observation: The Xiao Clan's protective array is at 12% integrity.
Conclusion: The Clan is under siege.
Chen's emerald eyes darkened, the golden slits in his pupils glowing with a predatory light. "They really couldn't wait three years, could they? The Jia Lie clan and the Misty Cloud Sect... they want to pluck the flower before it blooms."
The Siege of the Xiao Clan
Wu Tan City was in chaos. The central plaza of the Xiao Clan, once a place of pride, was now a battlefield.
Xiao Zhan, the Clan Leader, stood at the front lines, his robes soaked in blood. His Dou Qi was erratic, his breath ragged. Beside him, Xiao Yan was fighting like a demon, his Heavy Xuan Ruler swinging with desperate ferocity, but even with Yao Lao's secret assistance, the gap in numbers was too great.
Opposite them stood Jia Lie Bi, the leader of the rival clan, accompanied by three elders wearing the pale-blue robes of the Misty Cloud Sect.
"Give it up, Xiao Zhan!" Jia Lie Bi laughed, his face twisted with malice. "The Misty Cloud Sect has declared your clan a nest of rebels. Hand over the Alchemist boy, Xiao Chen, and maybe we'll leave your son with his limbs intact!"
"Chen is not here!" Xiao Zhan roared, coughing up blood. "And even if he were, he would turn your bones to dust!"
"A brat who ran away to the desert?" One of the Misty Cloud Elders sneered, stepping forward. His Dou Qi erupted—a 5-Star Dou Ling. "I am Elder Yun Feng. I will personally tear the tongue from any Xiao member who mentions that orphan's name again."
He raised his hand, a massive blade of wind-attribute Qi forming above his head. "Die!"
The 8x Impact
The wind-blade never fell.
The sky above Wu Tan City suddenly turned a brilliant, violent emerald. A sound like the atmosphere being ripped in half echoed across the city.
BOOM!
A streak of green light slammed into the center of the plaza, directly between the Xiao Clan and their attackers. The impact was so great that a shockwave of pressurized air sent the surrounding mercenaries flying backward like autumn leaves in a hurricane.
The dust cleared, revealing a crater five meters deep. In the center stood a tall, broad-shouldered young man. He wore tattered silver robes that shimmered with a metallic luster, and his aura... it didn't just radiate power; it suppressed the very air.
"Who..." Elder Yun Feng gasped, his wind-blade dissipating into nothingness.
"I believe," Chen said, his voice a low vibrato that made the stones under his feet vibrate, "you were looking for the 'orphan'?"
The Slaughter of the Spirit
Chen didn't use a Dou Skill. He didn't even draw a weapon.
He looked at Elder Yun Feng. With his 8x Soul Perception, the 5-Star Dou Ling looked like a slow-motion puppet. Chen took a step. To the observers, he simply vanished. To the System, he had exceeded the speed of sound at ground level.
CRACK.
Chen appeared directly in front of Yun Feng. He grabbed the Elder's throat with one hand. The Elder's Dou Qi Armor—the pride of a Dou Ling—shattered like glass the moment Chen's fingers touched it.
"A 5-Star Dou Ling," Chen mused, lifting the grown man off the ground as if he weighed nothing. "In the desert, I ate beasts stronger than you for breakfast."
"Let... go..." Yun Feng clawed at Chen's arm, but his fingers felt like they were scraping against reinforced diamond.
"You wanted my tongue?" Chen's eyes flared golden. "I'll take your cultivation instead."
Chen tightened his grip. A pulse of 8x-Multiplied Green Wood Flame surged from his palm into the Elder's body. It didn't burn his skin; it targeted his Dantian. The Elder's Dou Qi was incinerated from the inside out in a matter of seconds.
Chen tossed the now-crippled Elder aside like a piece of trash.
The other two Misty Cloud Elders roared in fury and terror. "Slay him! Together!"
They lunged, their swords glowing with blue light. Chen didn't move. He simply activated the [Heavenly Green Armor].
A layer of jade-like scales materialized over his skin. The two high-grade swords struck his chest and shoulders.
CLANG! CLANG!
The swords didn't just fail to pierce him; they snapped in half. The recoil sent the Elders' arms into a state of shock, their bones fracturing from the sheer density of Chen's defense.
"Is that all?" Chen asked, a touch of his old wit returning, though now it carried a lethal edge. "I've had more interesting massages from the sandstorms."
The End of the Jia Lie Clan
Jia Lie Bi, seeing his patrons defeated in seconds, turned to flee.
"Going somewhere, Clan Leader?"
Chen didn't chase him. He simply stomped his foot on the ground.
[Skill: 8x Earth-Crushing Pulse]
A ripple of emerald energy traveled through the earth. When it reached Jia Lie Bi, the ground beneath him erupted upward in a spire of glassified sand and rock. The spire pierced through the traitorous leader, pinning him to the gates of his own estate.
The battlefield fell into a terrifying silence. The hundreds of mercenaries dropped their weapons, falling to their knees. They weren't just surrendering; they were being physically crushed by the 8x Soul Pressure Chen was emitting.
Xiao Zhan and Xiao Yan watched from the sidelines, their eyes wide.
"Brother Chen..." Xiao Yan whispered, feeling the aura of the old man (Yao Lao) trembling within his ring.
"Little Yan," Yao Lao's voice echoed in his mind, filled with a rare, genuine fear. "Do not ever... EVER... make this boy your enemy. He isn't a genius anymore. He is a Sovereign in a child's skin."
Chen turned back to his clan, the emerald glow fading from his eyes. He walked over to Xiao Zhan and placed a hand on his shoulder. A wave of 8x Wood-Attribute Life Energy flooded the Clan Leader, healing his shattered ribs and exhausted meridians in heartbeats.
"I'm back, Uncle," Chen said, his voice finally softening. "Sorry I'm late. The Queen was a bit of a slow learner."
Xiao Zhan could only weep, realizing that the Xiao Clan hadn't just survived; they had just become the most powerful force in the Jia ma empire