He sighed inwardly, his face twitched slightly, and he took a few materials needed for the ceremony from the stage behind him before walking towards Xiao Yan.
Seeing the Second Elder approaching, and recalling the tediousness of the previous ceremony, Xiao Yan couldn't help but feel a headache coming on. He gave a bitter laugh and closed his eyes resignedly.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, Xiao Yan stood there like an idiot for a full half hour before the tedious ceremony slowly came to an end.
Relieved, Xiao Yan opened his eyes, looked at the various spices scattered all over his body, and rolled his eyes in annoyance.
After finishing all these tedious tasks, the Second Elder wiped away his sweat, turned around, walked to the Black Stone Testing Stele, and shouted, "Ritual retest!"
The ritual retest is another test of fighting spirit. The test a month ago was just a prediction, and its purpose was to select the best seeds in the clan.
Only these outstanding seed members are qualified to hold a coming-of-age ceremony on this high platform, while those below the seventh level can only hold some simple ceremonies, which are quite meager.
The retest of the ceremony was much stricter and more meticulous than predicted. This retest was personally monitored and inspected by the Second Elder, who was a two-star Great Dou Master. This shows how much importance the Xiao family attached to the coming-of-age ceremony.
Hearing the Second Elder's loud shout, the crowd, who had been somewhat bored, immediately perked up and turned their gazes directly to the high platform.
In the VIP section, the eyes of those from various factions were also fixed on the black-clad youth on the stage.
Ignoring the intense gazes around him, Xiao Yan calmly walked forward and stopped in front of the black stone tablet.
Squinting at the young man before him, the Second Elder touched the black stone tablet with his withered hand, channeling a wisp of fighting spirit into it, and then stood aside expressionlessly.
But when his gaze swept over Xiao Yan, a hint of doubt still flashed across his eyes: "This kid, does he really have the eighth level of Dou Qi?"
It seems that the shock Xiao Yan caused this time dealt a heavy blow to this Second Elder. Even though he knew in his heart that the testing stele was extremely difficult to make a mistake, he was still somewhat stubbornly unwilling to believe it.
Therefore, he volunteered to personally monitor Xiao Yan's test!
Ignoring the doubt in his eyes, Xiao Yan slowly touched the stone tablet with his palm.
On the high wooden platform, the huge black stone tablet suddenly shone with light, and large golden characters appeared on the surface of the stone tablet in a graceful and flowing style.
"Battle Aura: Ninth Rank!"
Silence! Utter silence!
All eyes, after a slight pause, froze in disbelief on the black stone tablet that shone with golden light.
In the VIP section, the crisp sound of teacups falling to the ground could be heard repeatedly. The representatives from various forces in Wutan City were all dumbfounded, their faces filled with disbelief.
Their purpose in coming here was simply to confirm whether Xiao Yan had indeed, as rumored, jumped five levels of Dou Qi within a year.
However, the situation unfolding on the field not only confirmed the truth of the rumors but also greatly exceeded their expectations.
Five levels of fighting spirit in one year?
It seems that it should now be changed to six levels of fighting spirit per year.
This cultivation speed could only be described in four words by everyone: terrifyingly fast!
"The Xiao family has truly struck it rich this time..."
In the VIP section, everyone couldn't help but gasp and murmur to themselves.
With a clansman who has advanced six levels of Dou Qi within a year, one can imagine how bright the future of the Xiao family will be.
"At this rate of cultivation, perhaps... maybe in a few decades, the Xiao family will produce a super strong expert at the Dou Huang level."
The people in the VIP seats exchanged glances, and a somewhat horrified thought flashed through their minds simultaneously.
As long as any small family in the Jia Ma Empire produces a Dou Huang-level expert, that family's status will immediately rise, regardless of its limitations.
At that time, even the three major families of the Gama Empire will not dare to take a suppressive stance against them.
After all, in this vast empire, there are only a handful of powerful individuals at the Douhuang level.
Moreover, each of them possesses the power to overturn the world and fight against ten thousand enemies single-handedly. No rational empire would easily choose to offend a Dou Huang powerhouse!
More than three hundred years ago, the only Douhuang powerhouse in the Jia Ma Empire at the time, was caught in the crossfire of a war launched by a neighboring country, which resulted in the tragic deaths of his family members. In a fit of rage, he single-handedly slaughtered an elite 10,000-strong iron cavalry legion of the enemy.
That massacre, with its rivers of blood flowing, shocked the entire country with its infamous reputation.
From then on, few empires on the Dou Qi Continent dared to offend a Dou Huang powerhouse!
This shows just how ferocious a Douhuang-level expert is on this continent.
Therefore, after witnessing Xiao Yan's displayed talent, everyone felt extremely envious of the Xiao family.
Unbeknownst to them, the Xiao family already had a member with the strength of a Dou Huang, but Xiao Ning kept a low profile and did not reveal his cultivation level.
After witnessing Xiao Yan's talent, these people were all shocked and showed him goodwill. Their ardent gazes seemed to say they wanted to devour him whole.
After that, no one paid attention to the coming-of-age ceremony anymore; everyone's attention was focused on Xiao Yan, and they all wanted to curry favor with him.
As for what happened later, Xiao Ning's decision to be exiled to the countryside by his family due to the decline in his cultivation did not cause any ripples.
…………
The coming-of-age ceremony lasted from dawn until afternoon, finally coming to a slow close amidst gasps of amazement from the audience. As the ceremony ended, many eyes, still somewhat shaken, lingered on the composed young man in black standing in the audience.
Watching the coming-of-age ceremony come to a close, Xiao Yan breathed a sigh of relief. The stares around him were too much for him to bear. He shook his head, got up, and left.
"Brother Xiao Yan's performance today was truly astonishing."
A fragrant breeze wafted by, and Xiao Xun'er's light, melodious laughter rang out like silver bells.
Xiao Yan touched his nose, smiled, and said nothing.