Battle Through the Heavens · Chat

The Xiao family hall. Nalan Yanran stood in the center of the hall, her posture straight and her expression cold. Behind her stood the gray-robed elder, Ge Ye, and further back were several disciples of the Misty Cloud Sect. Xiao Zhan sat at the head seat, his face ashen. The members of the Xiao family stood on both sides, the atmosphere as oppressive as dark clouds pressing down. Ge Ye cupped his fists, his tone polite but leaving no room for doubt: "Clan Leader Xiao, the Sect Leader has high expectations for the Junior Sect Leader and is already grooming her as the next Sect Leader. Our visit this time is to ask Clan Leader Xiao to annul the engagement, so that Yanran may focus entirely on her cultivation." Saying this, he took out a jade bottle. "This is a Qi Gathering Powder refined by Grandmaster Gu He, the Pill King. Consider it compensation." Xiao Zhan didn't even look at the jade bottle. He asked in a deep voice, "Does Old Master Nalan know about this?" Nalan Yanran raised her head. "Grandfather doesn't know. This is my own decision." An uproar swept through the hall. The Xiao family members showed indignation, and whispers echoed endlessly. For a junior to come alone to break off an engagement was already a humiliation; to do so without her own grandfather's knowledge was sheer arrogance. Xiao Zhan's fists slowly clenched inside his sleeves. In the corner, the youth who had been silent all along suddenly laughed. Xiao Yan stepped forward. The fifteen-year-old youth had a thin frame, but his back was perfectly straight. Three years ago, he was the most dazzling genius in Wu Tan City; now, he only had the Third Duan of Dou Qi left, and everyone laughed at him for being a cripple. At this moment, he walked into the center of the hall, his pitch-black eyes staring at Nalan Yanran: "If you want to break off the engagement, I won't stop you. But you came today with such great fanfare, forcing my father to bow his head in front of the entire clan—by what right?" Nalan Yanran frowned. "This engagement was merely made casually by our elders—" "I do not agree," Xiao Yan interrupted her. Nalan Yanran's face turned cold. She, the Junior Sect Leader of the Misty Cloud Sect, had come in person and even brought a Qi Gathering Powder as compensation. How dare this piece of trash contradict her in public? Her voice turned icy: "Then let us make an agreement. In three years, you will come to the Misty Cloud Sect to challenge me. If you win, the engagement is voided; if you lose, the engagement will be publicly annulled." Dead silence filled the hall. For a youth with only Third Duan Dou Qi to challenge a genius of the Misty Cloud Sect in three years was tantamount to throwing his life away. Xiao Yan smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. He walked to the table, picked up a brush, and wrote with extremely steady strokes. After finishing, he drew a sword, the blade slicing across the palm of his left hand. Blood gushed out. He dipped his thumb in the blood, pressed down a fingerprint, and threw the paper in front of Nalan Yanran: "This piece of paper isn't a contract to annul the engagement—it's a notice of divorce from this young master, kicking you out of the Xiao family." Nalan Yanran's face instantly turned livid. Xiao Yan walked past her and knelt in front of Xiao Zhan. "Father, in three years, I will go to the Misty Cloud Sect to wash away today's humiliation." Xiao Zhan looked down at this son who had been mocked by everyone for three years. He didn't ask what he would rely on; he merely reached out and pressed a hand on his shoulder: "Good." One word. Xiao Yan rose and turned to Nalan Yanran. Half of his hand was still dripping blood, and his pitch-black eyes reflected the girl's icy face: "Miss Nalan, thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river; do not bully the young and poor." The hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Nalan Yanran stood there, looking at the bloodied youth, suddenly unable to speak. Ge Ye sighed and put away the Qi Gathering Powder: "Clan Leader Xiao, regarding today's matter—" Xiao Zhan raised his hand: "See our guests out." Nalan Yanran turned around, paused for a step at the door, but did not look back. She left. Xiao Yan still stood in the hall, blood dripping from his fingertips onto the floor tiles one by one. The Xiao clan members looked at him with complex expressions. Sunlight poured in from outside the door, falling on the youth's thin shoulders and stretching his shadow very, very long.