The entire Xiao Clan could see the radiance surging from the rear hall.
It shot straight into the sky.
The members of the Xiao Clan were greatly alarmed.
They all looked toward the direction of the pillar of light in unison.
"What happened?"
"That seems to be the direction of the Hall of Profound Inquiry."
"Such radiance only appears for a peerless genius with a Ninth-Grade Aptitude!"
"Could it be that a peerless genius with a Ninth-Grade Aptitude has actually emerged in our Xiao Clan?"
"Hurry and go take a look!"
"Let's go, quickly!"
...
A large crowd of Xiao Clan members hurriedly rushed toward the Hall of Profound Inquiry.
They were all incredibly excited.
They all believed that a genius with a Ninth-Grade Aptitude had appeared in the Xiao Clan.
That excitement was simply off the charts.
The Xiao Clan was already a first-rate family in Northern River, possessing immense power and experts as common as clouds.
But they had never been able to dominate Northern River alone.
They could only stand on equal footing with a few other families.
But if a genius with a Ninth-Grade Aptitude were to emerge in the Xiao Clan.
Then the situation would be completely different.
A genius with a Ninth-Grade Aptitude was destined to have a boundless future.
The Xiao Clan would very likely give birth to another Heaven-Reaching Realm powerhouse.
When that time came, the Xiao Clan would inevitably be able to suppress the other families and become the absolute overlord of Northern River.
Meanwhile, inside the Hall of Profound Inquiry.
Finn Guo looked at the halos of light beneath his feet, completely baffled.
He actually thought these halos looked quite pretty.
Outside, the Xiao father and daughter were completely dumbfounded.
This is fucking terrifying.
A Ninth-Grade Aptitude.
In the entire Northern River, a genius with a Ninth-Grade Aptitude had never appeared before.
Even over the past thousand years, the entire Northern River had only produced one genius with a Ninth-Grade Aptitude.
That person had once emerged out of nowhere, his prestige shaking the entire Northern River, but then he hastily disappeared, leaving no trace behind.
Although his whereabouts were unknown, his legends could still be found everywhere in Northern River.
And now.
They were looking at the second person to possess a Ninth-Grade Aptitude.
Finn Guo!
Zane Xiao was wild with joy.
"Excellent! This is absolutely excellent!"
"This child is destined to become a peerless powerhouse in the future. Although he is not a member of my Xiao Clan, if my Xiao Clan can establish a good relationship with him, we will inevitably rise to prominence in the future!"
Zane was so excited his hands were trembling.
Back then, it was because the ancestors of the Xiao Clan had established a good relationship with Cosmo Shen and forged that bond of friendship that Sia was able to be taken in as Cosmo's disciple.
And now.
It seemed their Xiao Clan could once again seize a massive opportunity and lay the groundwork for the clan's future.
"Could it be that my Xiao Clan's destiny is overflowing, and we are fated to prosper continuously?"
Zane looked at Finn as if he were looking at a hot property.
He wished he could hide Finn away immediately so that no one else could see him.
Sia's feelings, however, were extremely complicated.
At first, she had even thought about comparing herself to Finn.
Looking at it now.
She had been utterly ridiculous.
Finn Guo was a peerless genius with a Ninth-Grade Aptitude, while you, Sia Xiao, only had a Seventh-Grade Aptitude.
What do you even have to compare with him?
"No wonder..."
Sia had a bitter expression on her face.
"No wonder Senior Quinn accepted him as a disciple. I am truly far, far inferior to him."
Sia suffered a considerable blow.
When she thought about how she had just been secretly feeling smug, she felt utterly humiliated.
Oh man.
This is so embarrassing.
Just as the father and daughter were each lost in their own thoughts.
At Finn's feet.
All the halos completely vanished.
Immediately following that.
The Hall of Profound Inquiry began to shake.
"What's going on?"
The father and daughter were both startled simultaneously.
Rumble!!!
The Hall of Profound Inquiry trembled violently.
Even the main doors were shaken down.
Finn was also startled and turned his head to look at the Xiao father and daughter.
The Xiao father and daughter were equally panicked and at a loss.
Fortunately, the shaking only lasted for a brief moment.
It didn't continue.
Zane hurriedly rushed inside.
With one look.
Zane was stupefied.
The array formations inside the Hall of Profound Inquiry had actually completely collapsed.
It was as if they couldn't withstand some sort of formidable power and had directly disintegrated on their own.
"How could this be?"
Zane couldn't believe it.
The array formations in this Hall of Profound Inquiry had existed for so many years.
They had never collapsed before.
Why is it that the moment Finn Guo stands inside today, these formations break down?
Could it be because...
Thinking of this, Zane abruptly turned his head to look at Finn.
"It must be because of him!"
"Perhaps his talent is even more terrifying than a Ninth-Grade Aptitude, so the array formations of this Hall of Profound Inquiry simply couldn't withstand it and collapsed directly!"
The more Zane thought about it, the more he felt this had to be the case.
At the same time, he grew even more excited in his heart.
My Xiao Clan has truly picked up a treasure.
If my Xiao Clan doesn't keep a firm grip on such a remarkably rare genius, we would simply be fools.
We must hold on tight!
"Patriarch Xiao, what happened just now?"
"Nothing, nothing at all. This is a local specialty of Northern River. An earth dragon occasionally turns over."
"An earth dragon turning over?"
"It just means the earth will shake from time to time. There's absolutely nothing to worry about."
"Okay..."
At this time, the members of the Xiao Clan also rushed over.
"Hurry and see who is inside the Hall of Profound Inquiry!"
"Is it a new genius of our Xiao Clan?"
"I wonder which branch's disciple it is?"
...
The Xiao Clan members gathered outside the Hall of Profound Inquiry, each craning their necks, all wanting to see who was inside.
Unfortunately, none of them saw anyone.
Long before the Xiao Clan members arrived, Zane had already taken Finn and left.
He couldn't let too many people know about this.
Otherwise, if the news leaked out, the Xiao Clan's enemies would inevitably get ideas about the Xiao Clan.
Such a rare and peerless genius could not be allowed to die prematurely.
Especially when there was an unfathomably deep transcendent expert standing behind this genius.
If anything were to happen to Finn, it wouldn't just be a loss for the Xiao Clan; it would bring about a monstrous disaster.
...
The Profound Origin Empire.
The Imperial Palace Main Hall.
William Yang knelt below with a gloomy expression, his head lowered.
"Royal Father, that is exactly what happened. I implore Royal Father to seek justice for your son."
A middle-aged man wearing a purple dragon robe sat at the head of the hall.
This middle-aged man's appearance was quite similar to William Yang's, only much more imposing, with a hint of having experienced the vicissitudes of life between his brows.
This person was William Yang's father, the Emperor of the Profound Origin Empire—Arthur Yang.
"Does the Heavenly Martial Empire think my Profound Origin Empire has no capable people?"
Arthur Yang shouted angrily, a deep rage surfacing on his face.
"Your Majesty, please do not give in to anger."
Some of the ministers at the side spoke up to advise him.
Unexpectedly, the minister's persuasion only made Arthur Yang's fury rise even higher.
"That Dominic Su slapped my son's face. Is that not slapping the face of my Profound Origin Empire?"
Arthur Yang's eyes widened in anger.
"The Crown Prince went to the Heavenly Martial Empire to form an alliance, not to suffer humiliation. This matter concerns the dignity of my Profound Origin Empire; we absolutely must demand an explanation from Dominic Su!"
In the next moment, Arthur Yang stood up abruptly, his entire presence erupting with momentum.
"I recently obtained an ancient weapon, and I was just worrying about having nowhere to unleash its power. This time, I will use Dominic Su to test the might of this weapon!"