|3rd Person POV|

Xiao Yan sucked in cold air through his clenched teeth and grunted from the pain that he was trying his best to endure. His shoulder felt numb from the sudden burst of fiery pain. Due to the brutal pain, Xiao Yan felt his legs weaken and almost lost his balance.

Under the 'torture' of Yao Lao's whip-like Dou Qi, the original weak Dou Qi within Xiao Yan became more animated than before and quickly flowed through the Qi paths and pressure points on Xiao Yan's shoulder. Strands of coolness slowly seeped into his bones and quietly strengthened them in the process.

When the pain on his shoulder began to fade away, Xiao Yan's young face was filled with determination and stubbornness as he yelled, "Again!"

He clenched his teeth as waited for another strike. If he didn't persevere, how could he get stronger? He looked up at his teacher in anticipation.

"Yao Lao, why did you stop? I can still go on!" Xiao Yan saw that his teacher had stopped.

"There's a ghost!" Yao Lao pointed a finger behind Xiao Yan's back.

"Haha, teacher, you're hilarious! You're in spirit form.. I guess you can be considered to be a ghost!" Xiao Yan thought that his teacher was trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"Who are you?" Yao Lao ignored his student and fixed his eyes on the figure that had appeared out of nowhere. This person naturally was Yang Lei.

"Haha-" Xiao Yan stopped mid laughter when he realized that his teacher was serious. He whipped around and saw a bewildered youth around the same age as him staring at them.

[There are two ways.. although the old man must have been an expert, he has fallen and can only take spirit form through the absorption of the youth's energy. The youth is talented and can reach great heights if he can survive long enough.. Therefore, I present to you two methods. One, kill them. Two, force them to become your subordinates. I can help you with the second option.] The system proposed.

"Uh, could you leave?" Xiao Yan interrupted his thoughts. "I can't focus if someone is watching me.."

[Get ready to capture these two! The youth is only a 3-star Dou Zhi Qi, which is roughly equivalent to a 4th stage Martial Apprentice! The ring is important to the old man; he cannot survive without it!] The system shouted excitedly.

"What do you want?" Yao Lao was helpless against Yang Lei and couldn't react in time.

"Come into this ring won't you?" Yang Lei took the ring off of Xiao Yan's hand and offered it to the elderly man/spirit. "Don't worry, I just want to make some new friends!"

"Sigh," Yao Lao acquiesced reluctantly. He had a feeling that the youth before him was not simple. He was around the same age as Xiao Yan, yet he had already surpassed him in terms of strength. Although Yao Lao didn't recognize the strange Qi that this young man was utilizing, he could determine that he had strength roughly equivalent to a 5-star Dou Zhe.

Even if Yao Lao were to possess Xiao Yan's body, he would still be unable to escape, much less defeat this strange youth. Besides, this young man was not associated with his enemy... He slowly went into the ring on Yang Lei's outstretched palm.

"Wow, that was easy!" Yang Lei for once agreed with the Staples Button that said, 'That was easy!' He didn't expect everything to go so smoothly.

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|Xiao Yan's POV|

My head.. it hurts so bad.. I opened my eyes slowly. My vision swam as I looked around in the darkness. What was going on? What happened? Wasn't I training with Yao Lao?

My head pounded and felt like it had been crushed by a bear. I tried to get up but discovered that I was tied up. What the hell? Which f*cker did this? The sound of a door creaking open woke me up from my daze. I looked over and a vague silhouette by a door as the moonlight shone around him from the night sky.

"You!" I shouted. It was him! That bastard! I remembered everything now! He knocked me unconscious!

"Shush!" The youth hurriedly covered my mouth with his hand. He looked around in worry that someone would hear us. He removed his hand slowly before he stared at me.

"What have you done to me?" I demanded. Suddenly, I realized something. My ring! It had disappeared! I shouted, "Give me back my ring!"

"Sorry, I can't do that yet.. I promise to give it back later though," the youth apologized. He then looked me in the eyes and asked me seriously, "What are the goals you have set for yourself in life?"

".. I must get strong! I will show everyone, including that b*tch Nalan Yanran, that I am strong!" I paused. There was no harm in telling this youth about my life goals, right? After I told him my goals, I realized how greedy I sounded, even to myself. So I added, "Also, I want to help my father build up the Xiao Clan and get rid of those greedy, fake, and stupid elders!"

"Alright, I respect those goals. My name is Yang Lei, by the way," the youth introduced himself and continued, "What if I told you that I was from a planet called Earth? What if I told you that I have a way for you to get stronger? What if I told you that I-"

"You are from Earth?" My eyes widened. All I heard was Earth. Earth! This Yang Lei was from Earth, too! I couldn't believe it. I asked him quickly, "What color is Earth?"

"Blue and a little green. Why?" Yang Lei frowned.

It's true! Yang Lei isn't lying! I began to cry. I had finally found someone that reminded me of my past life!

"Are you okay?" Yang Lei was bewildered. He didn't understand why I was crying.

"Earth.. I'm from Earth too!" I sobbed. All my grievances and grief exploded from me at that moment. I began to tell him my life story, "I don't even know how, but one day, I discovered that I was in this strange world! I was happy at first. Why wouldn't I be? I was talented, I was praised by my peers. Then, I fell!"

Yang Lei's face twitched as he listened to my story. It seemed like he understood what I was saying.

"I fell! They smiled humbly to congratulate me back then. Now they wanted to take it back! Then, I discovered Yao Lao. He said he would help me get stronger.."

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|Yang Lei's POV|

I knew there was a reason why this youth was crazy enough to undergo pain just to get stronger. So I introduced myself as a person from Earth, wanting to sound all mysterious and all. Then, I offered him an opportunity to get stronger. Although I didn't know how, with the system's help, I knew it was possible.

Then, he asked me what color Earth was. So I answered, "Blue and a little green. Why?"

The dude literally began to cry, talking about how he was from Earth too!

He told me that he was from Earth too! He even described it pretty accurately. Then, he told me his life story. It was pretty tragic, like one of those Wuxia novels that I read as a child. You know, transmigration, bullies, power, downfall, OP master, pills, etc. His name was Xiao Yan, he said.

I believed in him. So I offered to join me. I told him about the system. If it didn't work, I'll just...kill him.

[Here, I sent him a request] Immediately, a screen appeared before Xiao Yan. It was my first time seeing this, so I also looked at it curiously.

[Xiao Yan, are you willing to become Yang Lei's subordinate? Y/N] The screen read.

"What do I have to do?" Xiao Yan's face became wary when he saw the word 'subordinate'.

[Sorry. Here, let's try again: Xiao Yan, are you willing to become Yang Lei's brother? Y/N]

Even after I changed the conditions, Xiao Yan still seemed to hesitate. I asked curiously, "What's the matter? Is being my brother not enough?"

"Big brother Yang Lei, it's not that! It's just.." Xiao Yan struggled to explain himself. He had no problem accepting me as his brother. It seemed like something else was going on...

"It's that Xun Er of yours, eh?" The old man, who Xiao Yan called Yao Lao, popped out of the ring in my pocket and smirked.

"Xun Er? Girlfriend of yours?" I raised my eyebrows. To think that this boy was hesitating for his little girlfriend. Not that I had one. But, on the bright side, I had two gorgeous Goddesses as Familiars...

"X-Xun Er is not my g-girlfriend! She is.." Xiao Yan couldn't finish the sentence. Even he didn't believe what he was saying. How could the other two believe him then?

[If she truly loves him, she can become his wife. Then, she can become your sister-in-law and come along with Xiao Yan and you..] The system didn't hide this from Xiao Yan whose eyes brightened when he saw this. He accepted the contract and said, "Big bro Yang, let's go meet Xun Er?"

"Sure. Let's go meet my new sis-in-law, eh?" I cracked a smile and untied the ropes binding Xiao Yan. I have finally succeeded in recruiting this boy..