Jingchuan City, the Xiao family.
"Tian'er, you are a rare genius in Jingchuan in a hundred years. The future of our Xiao family depends on you."
"That goes without saying. Our Tian'er is a talent favored by the Misty Immortal Palace. From now on, even the Long family in Jingchuan City will have to bow and scrape when they see him."
Xiao Fan stood alone in the corner of the hall, watching his parents fawning over his younger brother, Xiao Tian, with obsequious expressions.
In the Xiao family, Xiao Fan's life was even worse than some of the better-off servants.
His parents only had eyes for his exceptionally talented younger brother and never treated him as a son.
"That's right, my talent is naturally much stronger than my useless older brother's." Xiao Tian sneered. At this moment, he was sitting in the main seat of the hall, a position only the head of the family could occupy.
But everyone in the Xiao family seemed to think that this position was only suitable for Xiao Tian to sit, and it was only right for him to be there.
Hearing his own younger brother say this, Xiao Fan's heart tightened.
Although he was used to the cold sarcasm from everyone in his family, it didn't mean he was immune. On the contrary, every time he heard such mockery, the sting in his heart was the same.
"Exactly, Tian'er, your aptitude is the best in our Jingchuan City. Of course, it's incomparable to your useless older brother."
Every time Xiao Tian looked down on him, his parents would follow Xiao Tian's words and insult him together!
Or perhaps in this family, no one cared about Xiao Fan's feelings at all, or even his life or death...
Xiao Fan didn't make a sound and stood silently to the side, listening.
"But the competition in the Misty Immortal Palace is also very fierce. The envoy from the Immortal Palace will arrive in half a month, and obtaining resources within the Immortal Palace is not a simple matter. I'm afraid the Xiao family won't be able to provide enough resources for my cultivation." Xiao Tian spoke, expressing his concerns.
Father Xiao patted his chest and laughed heartily, "Tian'er, don't worry. Your father has arranged all of this for you. As long as we form a marriage alliance with the Long family, they have already promised to give our Xiao family a sum of resources, and they can even give you their Long family's Profound-grade cultivation techniques to study."
"The Long family?" Xiao Tian frowned and said in a deep voice, "Although the Long family is considered the number one family in Jingchuan City, the strongest ancestor in the Long family is only in the Heaven-reaching Realm. And I am about to become a disciple of an immortal sect. How can I be associated with a family like this?"
"Hahaha... Tian'er, you're overthinking it. How could your father not consider these things you're talking about?" Father Xiao laughed heartily, then glanced at Xiao Fan, who was standing in the corner.
"Oh? Then what does Father mean?" Xiao Tian became interested.
"The object of the marriage alliance is naturally not you, but your brother. And the object of the marriage alliance on the Long family's side is the third young lady of the Long family. Let Xiao Fan become their live-in son-in-law."
Father Xiao explained with a smile, "The Long family just wants to establish a connection with our Xiao family. After all, Tian'er, your future is boundless. This is an investment for their Long family, and Father has already negotiated with the head of the Long family. The Long family is willing to provide a thousand spirit stones, as well as the Long family's ancestral secret technique. At that time, you won't have to worry about cultivation resources after you join the Misty Immortal Palace."
"Hahaha... Not bad, not bad. Father's idea is excellent. That third young lady of the Long family is good-looking, but unfortunately, she has a birthmark on the left side of her face. Half of her face is beautiful, but the other half is like a ghost. She usually doesn't dare to show her face and is subjected to ridicule in the Long family. Such a person is perfect for my useless older brother." Xiao Tian was ecstatic.
Since he could obtain so many cultivation resources, after entering the Immortal Palace, it would be the moment for him, Xiao Tian, to soar.
"Master is still wise. He actually came up with such a good idea. When Tian'er enters the Immortal Palace, he will definitely soar." Mother Xiao also had a fawning expression on the side.
Xiao Fan listened to his parents and younger brother chatting and laughing on the side. For the sake of his brother's future, they directly decided his fate and wanted him to become a live-in son-in-law? This made him feel despair.
"Xiao Tian, I am your older brother after all. How can you call me useless like that?" Xiao Fan spoke, breaking the silence in the originally noisy hall.
At this moment, the hall was completely silent. After a moment, Father Xiao was the first to recover and pointed at Xiao Fan's nose and cursed, "You useless thing, how dare you talk to your brother like that."
Xiao Fan didn't refute his father but stared at his younger brother with a pair of eyes.
"Hahaha... Older brother?" Xiao Tian mocked, then said coldly, "Someone like you doesn't deserve to be called my older brother. The reason I call you useless before calling you every time is to constantly remind you of the fact that you are a useless person."
"Your cultivation talent is so poor. After so many years, you are only at the second level of the Body Tempering Realm, and what about me? The fifth level of the Qi Transformation Realm. Do you understand the gap between you and me?"
After the Body Tempering Realm is the Qi Transformation Realm. Although they were biological brothers, Xiao Fan's cultivation talent was truly too poor, not even reaching a normal level.
And Xiao Tian, the number one genius in Jingchuan City, became the first disciple to be favored by the Misty Immortal Palace in decades throughout Jingchuan City.
"But, but even if my cultivation talent is not as good as yours, how can you decide my life like this? Make me marry into the Long family?" Xiao Fan was unwilling and said angrily, "Why should I be sacrificed to exchange for resources to help you succeed!"
"Succeed? Useless, you're probably thinking too much." Xiao Tian shook his head.
"In this world, the strong are respected, and the weak have no right to speak. You were born in the Xiao family, but what can you do for the Xiao family? You're still just a useless person. Letting you marry into the Long family is just a small sacrifice for you. What are you dissatisfied with? Moreover, the Long family is the number one family in Jingchuan City. You're marrying into a higher status, understand?"
Hearing Xiao Tian's cold voice, Xiao Fan's heart turned to ashes, or perhaps he should have faced this reality long ago.
This family was cold to him.
After a moment, Xiao Fan gritted his teeth, "I don't agree. No matter what, I will not agree to this marriage."
"You don't agree?" Xiao Tian snorted coldly, then threw a punch. A "hissing" sound of air breaking came from the air, and a huge wave of fist wind struck Xiao Fan's chest from a distance.
"Pfft!"
The moment he was hit by the fist wind, Xiao Fan vomited a large mouthful of blood and flew backward, flying a full five meters before stopping when he hit the wall of the hall. Half of his body was embedded in the wall.
Xiao Fan's body fell like a corpse, and a large pit was smashed into the wall behind him.
"See if this useless person is dead or not." Xiao Tian said coldly.
Xiao Fan fell into a coma. After a moment, he heard a cold, emotionless voice in his ear, waking him up.
"Zhou Tian Star Dou Diagram, acknowledge master."