While Yao Wan was practicing, Xiao Yan slowly opened his eyes, and then gently exhaled a breath of turbidity.
"... Can you let me sit here for a while?"
The calm voice spread by itself. Xiao Yan raised his head in confusion and saw Nalan Yanran walking slowly.
"Miss Qing Ran?"
"My seat has been taken by her, and I won't be able to practice for a while."
Nalan Yanran crossed his arms, looked at the masked boy in front of him, and said.
"Wan Guniang?"
Xiao Yan was stunned for a moment, then thought about how she could take the initiative to steal someone else's seat to practice.
I guess it's another of those little problems that come out of geniuses like hers, right?
In this regard, Xiao Yan is somewhat worried.
After all, this was the first time Wan Guniang looked like this. Xiao Yan was lying to himself if he said he wasn't worried.
But he couldn't be of much help. His talents, which were already impressive in the eyes of others, were just insignificant in front of Wan Guniang.
Even Wan Guniang doesn't feel like there's anything wrong with him, so how can he help?
"... It's not like you don't know what her temper is like, yet you're still saying it's okay."
Nalan Yanran said a little irritably.
Xiao Yan shook his head helplessly, he had guessed this.
"In that case, Miss Qing Ran, please take a rest at my place for now."
Xiao Yan looked at her. Although Yao Wan admitted that she and the beauty in front of him were not sisters, but had some connection, he still couldn't help but wonder who the Miss Qing Ran in front of him was.
But now that Qing Ran is here, he has no intention of continuing to practice quietly.
"By the way, last time I mentioned to Miss Qing Ran my experience of meeting Wan Guniang. Where is Miss Qing Ran?"
"Don't you think of me as your sister-in-law now?"
Qing Ran smiled inexplicably, and his eyes and smile made Xiao Yan particularly embarrassed.
"Ahem, ahem, misunderstanding, all misunderstandings..."
Xiao Yan said with some embarrassment.
"——Hmph."
Nalan Yanran snorted coldly, but he didn't take Xiao Yan's apology to heart.
"... You really want to know that much?"
"Shouldn't this be said to be a courtesy exchange?"
Xiao Yan asked in reply, Nalan Yanran thought about it and found that it was indeed the case.
"Okay then."
Nalan Yanran exhaled a breath of thick air, and couldn't help but think about what to say so that Xiao Yan couldn't react.
"The relationship between me and her is quite simple. That was something I did in a hot head. At first I thought she was here to seek revenge."
"Huh?"
Xiao Yan blinked.
"So, when I first saw her, she used a name I had never heard of to treat my family members. I was scared at first..."
Nalan Yanran looked at Xiao Yan and said, "Then, she came to me."
"Although I experienced some twists and turns, she taught me when my teacher was away and taught me a lot."
"Teacher isn't here...?"
Xiao Yan was stunned. "I thought Wan Guniang was Miss Qing Ran's master."
"She did teach me a lot, and she even instilled a lot of principles into me. But I became a disciple early, and the teacher accompanied me a lot. Even if the teacher is not as good as her, I can't change my family because of her."
Nalan Yanran shook his head.
"That's a long way off... In short, after I did that thing, because of some personal factors of my own, I thought that what I did was clear and I just made the right choice."
"And she told me that there is no intrinsic conflict between right choices and wrong actions."
Nalan Yanran looked at Xiao Yan with complicated eyes, then sighed and said.
She didn't want to express her difficulties in front of Xiao Yan, and what was her reason for doing this? What was right was right, and what was wrong was wrong.
She didn't intend to confuse right and wrong. People always have to make up for the stupid things they did blindly.
"She taught me a lot of things, including martial arts, Dou Technique, fighting techniques, ways to deal with enemies... She would even tell me stories when I was exhausted."
Nalan Yanran said, "To be honest, sometimes I don't know what my life would have been like if I hadn't met her."
"Perhaps I should just stay in my own little world like myself before and immerse myself in the dream of soaring into the sky in the future."
"The promise of the sect and the flattery of the family, I have nothing to say about these things. Even if I had not been chosen by the teacher to become her disciple, I would not be able to decide on my own marriage in the future, and would have to be forced to marry a stranger I have never known or met."
"Family..."
Xiao Yan murmured something, whether he should say it or not. At this point, the words of the beauty in front of him actually entered Xiao Yan's heart.
He had already seen through the ingratiation he had received when he was a genius in the family in the past, and the loneliness he felt when he found out that he could no longer practice Dou Qi. He had already seen through the gossip, ridicule and ridicule from other people in the family, and the harshness of the world.
"Speaking of which, Miss Qing Ran's experience is similar to mine."
Xiao Yan breathed out, and immediately revealed his past silence, saying, "They are just puppets bound by the so-called family. If my father and two brothers had not been supporting me, I would not have been able to survive those two years."
"The family's puppet... that's an appropriate term."
Nalan Yanran rarely showed a hint of recognition, then nodded slightly, and immediately said, "Okay, no more words... I have said everything that needs to be said, are you satisfied now?"
Xiao Yan was slightly startled, shrugged and said, "I didn't expect that."
"Didn't expect that?"
Nalan Yanran snorted, seemingly disdainfully. "Do you think you are the only and special one to her?"
"... That's not necessarily the case."
Xiao Yan subconsciously denied this speculation without thinking about it, but both Xiao Yan himself and Nalan Yanran knew very well that he was just being tough.
Xiao Yan just feels that he may be the most special one in the eyes of Wan Guniang, and Nalan Yanran got to know Yao Wan because of Xiao Yan. Needless to say, Xiao Yan is definitely different from ordinary people in the eyes of Yao Wan.
It's just that Nalan Yanran himself doesn't want to admit it, while Xiao Yan is just being tough in front of others.
"... Sometimes I really don't understand."
After the awkward silence between the two lasted for a moment, Nalan Yanran looked at Xiao Yan's clean chin and cheeks that were exposed under the mask.
"She chose to help you because she took a fancy to you."
"How do I know this?"
Xiao Yan couldn't help but shook his head. "I guess we can only find out by asking her, right?"
Nalan Yanran looked at him quietly, and then nodded faintly.
It is impossible to just ask her, and even if she does ask, she may not be willing to tell the truth.
It's no use asking.
The conversation during the break came to an abrupt end. For this Miss Qing Ran, Xiao Yan felt more like a companion than a friend. It was just because of this time that her colleagues came into contact with her.
For Nalan Yanran, all relationships with him will come to an end on Three-Year Agreement.
Winning or losing with him is no longer important. If she has to find a reason to care about winning or losing, then the only one is the promise Yao Wan once gave her.
Regardless of right or wrong, in the end all disputes between them will end on Three-Year Agreement.
For her, this was actually a relief.
In the following time, Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran devoted most of their time to cultivation.
In nearly a year, the two made rapid progress.
Xiao Yan's cultivation was unstoppable. Supported by the almost inexhaustible and huge energy of Life Spirit Crystal around him, he became Nine Star Da Dou Shi in nearly a year without any bottlenecks.
Nalan Yanran is faster. She had a one-star small realm advantage over Xiao Yan and was promoted to Dou Ling before Xiao Yan.
This also spurred Xiao Yan invisibly, making him involuntarily step up his practice.
"I think the time is almost here."
"There are still two months until Three-Year Agreement, so it's almost there."
Yao Lao said, "When you break through to Dou Ling, you can almost go to the imperial capital."
Xiao Yan nodded, and then began to reverse the energy in his body.
The huge number of Life Spirit Crystal among Xiao Clan Ruins can be said to have given Xiao Yan a huge help.
Xiao Yan does not have any realm bottlenecks, so as long as he has enough energy, his cultivation speed can naturally be as fast as riding a rocket.
Now, he still needs to take advantage of the huge energy stored inside Life Spirit Crystal, so that he can work hard to move to a higher level of Dou Ling.
It is not complicated to break through to Dou Ling. For ordinary people to reach this point, it only takes a long time to accumulate. This accumulation time can even reach several years.
The process of accumulation itself is a process of transformation. When the energy in the body breaks through the limit of what Da Dou Shi can do, Dou Ling will naturally come into being.
But this also proves how huge the energy required to break through this barrier is.
It's just that Xiao Yan now has countless Life Spirit Crystal, so the energy problem has been easily solved.
The blazing wind gradually blew in the cave, and then turned into a huge whirlpool.
Xiao Yan's eyes were closed, and he was sitting in the center of the vortex. The countless pure energy in the cave began to approach Dou Qi, who was at the center of the vortex, and then poured into his body.
Xiao Yan Soul Power guides the energy to run along the circumferential route of Flame Mantra. The endless energy is like two cars running on the highway, whizzing past, and finally rushes straight into Dou Crystal.
Eventually, everything fell into place.
As Xiao Yan stepped towards Entering Dou Ling, the Dou Qi vortex was broken by Xiao Yan, turning into a violent shock wave that swept across the entire cave and shattered countless dimmed Life Spirit Crystal.