Eternal madness

Chapter 157 Cultivating Clan Marks
"Li, is this what I saw last time? So it's called a clan mark?" Yun Yun took out a bronze mirror and handed it to Xiao Li.

Xiao Li took the bronze mirror and looked at himself, staring at the rune between his eyebrows: "A clan mark?"

Xiao Kong nodded: "It is indeed a clan mark, but your clan mark was forcibly activated through the Three Transformations of Heavenly Fire, so it is very unstable and incomplete. I will teach you how to activate the clan mark."

Unfortunately, the final step of the Heavenly Fire Three Transformations is to draw the clan emblem. At that time, I only studied the first three transformations, and I suppose only the clan leader knows this final step.

However, I have other methods for drawing clan markings. Our Xiao clan's markings have nine strokes, while the markings on your forehead have only two strokes, which is quite good.

"Listen carefully as I explain, and you two girls over there, listen carefully to how you draw the clan crest."

Xiao Kong began to teach Xiao Li and the Pei sisters how to draw their clan crests.

The difficulty of cultivating the clan mark was completely beyond Xiao Li and the Pei sisters' expectations. They originally thought that it would be a piece of cake for the three of them, who were powerful Dou Zun, to cultivate it, but they did not expect it to be so troublesome.

The seemingly simple strokes require an incredibly demanding level of skill and control in terms of fighting spirit. No wonder Ancestor Xiao Kong said that back in the days of the Eight Great Families, the geniuses of the Xiao Clan were often stronger than those of the other imperial clans.

Perhaps it's because of the Xiao clan's tradition that the Dou Di of other imperial clans left their clans with many good things, such as high-level Heaven-rank cultivation techniques and high-level Heaven-rank fighting skills.

The Xiao clan, however, was different. Apart from Emperor Xiao keeping a copy of his own preferred cultivation techniques and fighting skills, the rest of the techniques left to the Xiao clan were all low-level Heaven-rank.

In order to prevent the Xiao clan from running out of resources, the Xiao clan's powerful members throughout the ages have been able to create powerful Heaven-rank techniques and fighting skills. For example, Xiao Xuan created a high-level Heaven-rank fire-attribute technique that was unique to him, as well as the secret technique Heavenly Fire Three Transformations that complemented the technique.

Xiao Kong also created his own advanced Heaven-rank cultivation techniques and advanced Heaven-rank combat skills.

The original Xiao clan's inherited cultivation method was the low-level Heaven-rank "Berserker Saint Mirror". After that, they had to try to create their own cultivation method, which was a long process and there was even a possibility that they could not create it.

However, clansmen who can create their own Heaven-Rank Battle Techniques are extremely powerful! For example, Xiao Xuan, the cousin of the clan leader a thousand years ago, once defeated countless opponents with his self-created ultimate technique, "Sky Slash," but he mysteriously disappeared afterward.

Even when Xiao Xuan went to look for it himself, he couldn't find it.

Ultimately, the Xiao Clan's strength depends on their own cultivation. However, this strength is also a limitation, since not everyone can create their own cultivation techniques and fighting skills. But those who can create cultivation techniques and fighting skills are all exceptionally talented individuals!
The clan crest of the Xiao clan originated from Xiao Li and the Pei sisters.

Time flies, and ten months have passed in the blink of an eye.

In a secret room, Xiao Li sat upright. A strange purplish-red rune could be seen between his eyebrows. The rune looked very complete, and upon closer inspection, it had nine strokes.

Xiao Kong stroked his beard and said, "I didn't expect this child to activate the clan mark in just seven months. He's really amazing. Perhaps it's because he's an alchemist and has extremely strong control over battle qi."

Now he wants to use the insights gained from drawing his clan's markings to break through again and reach the Six-Star Dou Zun level. He's truly a talented little guy, but it's a pity he doesn't have the bloodline of a Dou Di, preventing him from unleashing the power of his clan's markings to their peak.

Having observed Xiao Li over this period of time, Xiao Kong realized that Xiao Li's talent was truly exceptional. If he were a thousand years ago, Xiao Li would definitely be considered to have a divine bloodline.

"Hehe, perhaps this child wouldn't have had a divine bloodline a thousand years ago. His bloodline might not have been high. After all, the Xiao clan's bloodline had already been depleted back then. If this child had been in a thousand years ago, he probably wouldn't have had such a good environment to cultivate."

Xiao Kong whispered that the bloodline of the imperial clan is supreme, and even the Xiao clan is no exception. Although the bloodline ranking is not as strict as that of other imperial clans, it is a consensus that an excellent Dou Di bloodline is definitely more powerful than an ordinary Dou Di bloodline.

A genius like Xiao Li would only appear once every few hundred or even a thousand years in the Xiao clan.

Xiao Kong watched as Xiao Li's battle aura fluctuated, indicating that he was about to break through. Xiao Kong then turned to look at the Pei sisters, Pei Yuhan and Pei Yurou.

"These two girls are quite talented. They have already sketched eight strokes of the clan's inscription in ten months. Their talent is quite remarkable. It seems that heaven has not forsaken our Xiao clan."

Xiao Kong sighed, looking at the three people who kept moving forward in front of him, and the Xiao family members who were working hard to cultivate in the Northwest Continent. One after another, young faces appeared in Xiao Kong's mind.

"That's right, this is how my Xiao clan should be. No matter what difficulties or setbacks we face, we must confront them head-on. Perhaps this is what the ancestor Emperor hoped for. Heh, I never thought that this old man, who's almost in the grave, would only just realize this now. Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh." Xiao Kong said self-deprecatingly. He was heartbroken by the destruction of the Xiao clan, but he was also grateful that the Xiao clan now had successors: Xiao Li, the Pei sisters, Xiao Ting, Xiao Lin, and a series of other young members of the Xiao clan. They were all working hard.

As the patriarch, he cannot be weak.

After ten months of recovery, Xiao Kong has completely taken control of his physical body, and his internal fighting spirit has recovered to about 70-80%. His current cultivation level has also recovered to the peak of the five-star Dou Sheng. In less than two years, Xiao Kong will be able to recover to the six-star Dou Sheng.

However, further advancements require time to hone one's skills. After all, at the Dou Sheng level, each minor advancement is extremely difficult. Fortunately, Xiao Kong started over and cultivated to the late stage of the Eight-Star Dou Sheng without any bottlenecks.

All he needs to do is restore his fighting spirit to that level, which will take about 30 to 50 years for Xiao Kong to recover to his peak condition.

. . . . . .

Northwest Continent, Gama Empire
Wutan City, Xiao Family

“Grandpa, there have been quite a few people spying on the family these days,” Xiao Lin said, frowning.

Standing before Xiao Lin, the tall, white-haired, and white-bearded Xiao Ting frowned deeply.

"I've already detected them; they're all Dou Huang level experts. There was a two-star Dou Zong who appeared before, but he escaped. These people have strange auras and should be from the Soul Hall."

Li'er told me about the Soul Hall's ranking system. The Douhuang level should be the lowest level of the Soul Hall's Soul Envoys, while that two-star Douzong should be a Soul Hall Protector, a Human-level Protector.

Besides these soul messengers, there were other people near the Xiao family residence, who appeared to be members of the royal family.

Xiao Ting recounted the auras he had sensed over the past few days. He also created a spatial barrier, making it impossible for anyone other than a Dou Zun expert to overhear his conversation with Xiao Lin.

"The royal family? Could it be that the royal family has sided with the Soul Palace?" Xiao Lin asked in surprise.

"Who knows? You saw Hai Bodong defeat Jia Xingtian before, and then fight the Dou Zun in the capital. You couldn't get involved at all. If you were the ruler of the Jia Ma Empire, would your Jia Ma Empire be disregarded by others?"

"Then a powerful person comes and tells you that he can give you power. What would you choose?" Xiao Ting said, clenching his fist.

"Then I'll go and kill Jia Xingtian, and that will end it all!" Xiao Lin said, clenching his fist. He was now a Dou Zong expert. After a long period of reflection and sparring with his grandfather Xiao Ting, he suddenly decided to go into seclusion one day.

After a year of seclusion, Xiao Lin emerged as a Dou Zong expert, adding another powerful member to the Xiao family.

Since Xiao Lin was preparing to let Xiao Zhan succeed him as clan leader after breaking through to the Dou Zong realm, he announced to the outside world that he was going into seclusion.

Xiao Ting shook his head: "No need, it's easy to alert them. But we'll deal with these spying people. Lin'er, you go and deal with the bugs around the house, and I'll deal with the ones in Wutan City."

"it is good!"

Xiao Ting and Xiao Lin acted simultaneously, swiftly eliminating those spying within Wutan City.

. . . . . .

Gama Holy City, Royal Palace
In a deep, secret room,
At this moment, an old figure sat cross-legged in the center of the secret chamber. The old man was dressed in a hemp robe and exuded an extremely powerful aura. However, the old man's face was gloomy.

"Hehehe, Jia Xingtian, how is your Dou Zong power?"

(End of this chapter)