The Three-Year Agreement Begins

The final result of the Alchemist Convention was the same as in the original story. Xiao Yan turned the tide in a desperate situation and ultimately defeated Yan Li of the Chu Yun Empire with a Three-Pattern Qingling Pill, winning the championship of the Alchemist Convention.

With the Alchemist Convention over, the day of the Three-Year Agreement arrived in the blink of an eye.

The Yun Lan Sect's plaza buzzed with voices. All the sect's disciples and elders had gathered here to wait.

Everyone in the Yun Lan Sect was convinced that Nalan Yanran would win the Three-Year Agreement. Thus, the Yun Lan Sect elders had even invited quite a few experts from the Jia Ma Empire to come watch.

A few days later, at the Yun Lan Sect's plaza, many prominent figures from the imperial capital who had received invitations from the Yun Lan Sect—such as Nalan Jie, Hai Bodong, and Fa Ma—had arrived. Even the heads of some families with a bit of influence had been invited to the Yun Lan Sect.

At the upper end of the plaza stood rows of towering stone seats arranged along the steps. The higher the seat, the older its occupant generally was. The stone platform at the very top was empty at the moment. Below it sat over a dozen white-robed old men cross-legged, their eyes closed as they rested. Though they appeared unremarkable on the surface, their robes remained as motionless as iron no matter how the wind blew, making it clear that these old men were no ordinary people!

Below those white-robed old men was a solitary stone step. A woman dressed in a moon-white robe sat there with her eyes half-closed. As the breeze swept by, her robe clung tightly to her delicate body, revealing the flawless curves beneath. The view shifted to her calm, beautiful face—it was none other than Nalan Yanran!

Although there were nearly a thousand people in the plaza, the entire place was silent. Other than the howling wind, not a single other sound could be heard.

Occasionally, a stronger gust swept across the plaza. At once, white robes fluttered everywhere the eye could see, like clouds descending from the sky. The sight was truly quite breathtaking.

On the tips of several enormous trees around the Yun Lan Sect's plaza stood numerous figures: Hai Bodong, Fa Ma, Jia Xingtian, Nalan Jie, as well as the heads and younger members of several other families.

Standing atop the trees, Hai Bodong, Fa Ma, Jia Xingtian, and the others fixed their gazes on four figures atop a giant tree not far away, their expressions slightly grave.

Those four figures on that giant tree were Huo Xuan's group.

Not long before, something earth-shattering had happened in the Yun Lan Sect—at least, it was an earth-shattering matter to the Yun Lan Sect.

Yun Ling, the Yun Lan Sect's Great Elder, was dead. He had been killed by Huo Xuan.

When Huo Xuan had come to the Yun Lan Sect to watch the Three-Year Agreement, that Great Elder had apparently had something wrong with his head. Not only had he insulted Huo Xuan and told him to get lost, but he had even tried to attack him. The next instant, before everyone's eyes, the Great Elder exploded into a cloud of blood.

Yun Ling had been a Dou Wang! Anyone capable of instantly killing a Dou Wang had to possess strength at least at the Dou Emperor level. In the Jia Ma Empire, a Dou Emperor was unquestionably a regional overlord—no one dared provoke such an expert lightly.

Since the other party wanted to watch the Three-Year Agreement, the Yun Lan Sect could only welcome him. They did not even dare hold him accountable for killing their Great Elder.

"Brother Huo Xuan, Xiao Yan is merely the descendant of a fallen Xiao Clan. No matter how talented he is, he probably can't compare to people like us who possess the Dou Di Bloodline. So why do you care so much about him?" Huo Zhi asked.

Over the past few days, Huo Xuan had told Huo Zhi everything about Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan had begun cultivating Dou Qi at the age of four and become a Dou Zhe at eleven. Reaching that level without the Dou Di Bloodline was indeed impressive; calling him a genius would not be an exaggeration. However, starting at age twelve, his Dou Qi had begun mysteriously vanishing. Over the course of three years, he had fallen from a Dou Zhe to the third stage of Dou Qi.

Through Huo Xuan, Huo Zhi learned that Xiao Yan's Dou Qi had mysteriously disappeared because it had been absorbed by the soul of a Dou Zun expert. Moreover, that Dou Zun was renowned across the entire continent: Venerable Yao, Yao Chen!

Afterward, Xiao Yan had taken Yao Chen as his master. With Yao Chen guiding him, Xiao Yan would certainly become a regional overlord in the future. But compared to the Flame Clan, he was simply not worth mentioning. Huo Zhi did not understand why Huo Xuan cared so much about him.

"Those who appear to pose no threat are often the deadliest. Xiao Yan isn't as simple as you think."

"We have the entire Flame Clan behind us. He's just the descendant of a fallen Xiao Clan. Even if Yao Chen is his teacher, so what? What kind of waves can he possibly stir up? Could he really stand against our entire Flame Clan?" Huo Zhi said unwillingly.

"Girl, watch Xiao Yan's match against Nalan Yanran carefully in a while. You'll understand then."

Time passed second by second. Everyone waited anxiously for Xiao Yan's arrival, while the many Yun Lan Sect disciples in the stands spoke all kinds of disparaging words about him.

The broad plaza was utterly silent, and time slipped by quietly amid the stillness.

In the sky, the enormous sun slowly climbed to its peak. Warm sunlight poured down, spreading across the entire mountaintop.

At a certain moment, faint footsteps suddenly sounded from beneath the bluestone stairs outside the plaza. The soft sounds gradually traveled upward, causing a subtle change in the plaza's unified atmosphere.

High in the distant sky, sunlight suddenly streamed down through the veil of drifting clouds, falling precisely upon the final step. Xiao Yan, dressed in a black robe with the Mystic Heavy Ruler on his back, finally appeared slowly before countless gazes.

"Xiao Family, Xiao Yan!"