Nalan Yanran Seeks an Audience with Senior!

Su Qingyun was stunned.

In the mountain ravine, the moment he saw Xiao Yan take out the ring, his heart skipped a beat.

Though this ring looked plain and unremarkable, it concealed an entire world within! It was the source of the karma that shattered the Soul Heavenly Emperor's dreams, ruined his millennia-long scheme, and led to the death of the Soul Clan's final boss, Soul Heavenly Emperor!

It was the beginning that created the Flame Emperor who founded the Endless Fire Territory! It was the starting point of the Emperor Grade Alchemist who shocked the Entire Continent!

It could be said that obtaining it meant obtaining half of the Flame Emperor's karma!

The reason Xiao Yan's Dou Qi had regressed rather than advanced over the past three years was because the soul within the ring had been absorbing it, using Xiao Yan's Dou Qi to nourish itself.

And that soul was none other than Venerable Yao—Yao Chen—who had been murdered by his own disciple! Su Qingyun was indeed tempted for a moment. This was an enormous opportunity.

After all, the reason Xiao Yan had been able to rise against the odds and eventually become a Dou Emperor was because of Old Ya's help and the Fen Jue cultivation technique.

That was a path to becoming the Flame Emperor. Across the entire Dou Qi Continent, perhaps no one could refuse it.

Yet Su Qingyun still shook his head. Though this path was excellent, Xiao Yan was a loyal and righteous boy. Over the past few years, he had even taken the initiative to come to Falling Immortal Stream to fetch water and chop firewood for him, taking care of all the household chores. Su Qingyun was not the sort of person who forgot kindness and stole a friend's opportunity.

Besides, Su Qingyun's own Immortal Meridian had now completed its transformation. Before him likewise lay a path to becoming a Great Emperor! The Immortal Emperor was already the supreme path, so why should he borrow another's fire?

"If I remember correctly, this ring is the only keepsake your mother left you. A gentleman does not take what others cherish, much less a relic left behind by one's mother. I believe it will become your conviction and help you. Only in your hands can it display the value it ought to have. I cannot accept it."

Su Qingyun smiled faintly. Not only did he refuse Xiao Yan's ring, he even took out two rare Dou Qi Grasses from the damaged bamboo house and gave them to Xiao Yan. He had gathered them in the mountains over the years. "Take these two Dou Qi Grasses. Your Dou Qi has regressed, so this is precisely when you need replenishment. You can repay me once you become stronger."

Su Qingyun knew that to activate the soul within the ring, Old Ya needed enough Dou Qi to absorb. Therefore, whenever Su Qingyun found herbs that could improve Dou Qi over the years, he would always prepare a share for Xiao Yan.

"Brother Qingyun, you're so good to me... sob, sob, sob..."

Xiao Yan was so moved by those words that he was almost in tears. In this world, aside from Su Qingyun, only his father had cared for him so much!

He had long since sworn to himself that he would cultivate diligently, break and rebuild, and prove himself!

If he could one day become an overlord, he would be able to protect Brother Qingyun, as well as his father, Eldest Brother, Second Brother, and the others!...

Just then, a young girl's voice suddenly came from outside the mountain.

"I am Nalan Yanran, a disciple of the Misty Cloud Sect. I seek an audience with Senior!"

Outside Falling Immortal Stream, a girl with a cold and beautiful appearance, delicate and lovely features, and a graceful, curvaceous figure beneath a moon-white dress had been drawn here by the immortal spiritual phenomenon caused by Su Qingyun's breakthrough.

Green jade pendants hung from her tender earlobes. As they swayed gently, they gave off crisp jade chimes, suddenly highlighting her noble air.

A White-Robed Elder and a handsome young man stood beside the girl.

Seeing the lingering Dou Qi around the mountain peak that had yet to fully disperse, the elder said with emotion, "Young Miss, that heavenly phenomenon just now erupted from the mountain peak ahead?"

"Such a breakthrough phenomenon suggests that the expert living in this mountain ravine is at least a Dou Ling, perhaps even a Dou Wang!"

"Who would have thought that such a small Wu Tan City concealed such a reclusive expert? If we can bring him over to serve our Misty Cloud Sect, he will surely be no small asset."

"This can be considered an unexpected gain from our trip to the Xiao Clan."

As he spoke, the cold yet lovely girl leapt forward and stepped onto the stone path leading into the mountain ravine. The elder and young man followed close behind.

The moment that girl's voice reached his ears, Su Qingyun's starry eyes narrowed, and he froze for a moment.

Who? The Misty Cloud Sect? Nalan Yanran?! What was Nalan Yanran doing at my Falling Immortal Stream? "The Misty Cloud Sect? The one said to be the strongest power in the Jia Ma Empire?"

"Nalan Yanran? Nalan Yanran, granddaughter of Nalan Jie, the Lion Heart Marshal of the Jia Ma Empire? That... that fiancée I was betrothed to before birth? How did she find this place? Could she be here to find me?"

Xiao Yan's expression stiffened as well, his emotions extremely complicated.

"Could it be that she has reached marriageable age and came specifically to force me into marriage?"

"No, no, absolutely not! How could that be allowed? Given my current circumstances, I cannot marry yet! I need to strive, I need to cultivate diligently!"

Besides, all I want now is to follow Brother Qingyun's side. How could something like marriage disturb my Dao heart?!

Xiao Yan never spoke without dropping a bombshell.

Xiao Xun'er could not help covering her lips with a smile.

Even Su Qingyun's handsome face twitched. You're thinking a little too much, kid. Force you into marriage? Dream on! She specifically came to annul the engagement with you! And you're the one rejecting it first!

He was simply adorably naive!

After giving it some thought, Su Qingyun calculated from Xiao Yan's age that Nalan Yanran was most likely on her way to the Xiao Clan to annul the engagement. She had just happened to catch Su Qingyun completing his Immortal Qi cultivation, causing a heavenly phenomenon that drew her here.

Su Qingyun was helpless too. Who could have expected that merely breaking through to Level 1 Dou Qi would cause Heaven and Earth Resonance?! Xiao Xun'er remained calm. She did not care about Xiao Yan's Childhood Engagement, so long as it had nothing to do with Brother Qingyun.

Nalan Yanran and the elder moved quickly. In just a few dozen seconds, they had arrived inside the mountain ravine.

Sensing the lingering Immortal Qi within the ravine, both Nalan Yanran and Ge Ye were quite shocked.

They looked over the ravine and saw a clear spring waterfall dropping from above, forming a small pool and stream below.

Beside the bamboo house, only Xiao Yan, dressed in gray, was cleaning up. He had picked up the bamboo strips and bamboo window frames that had been broken by the earlier shockwave, repaired them, and reinstalled them.

"Young friend, This Old Man is Ge Ye of the Misty Cloud Sect. Was it perhaps one of your elders who broke through a bottleneck just now and caused that heavenly phenomenon? I ask that you introduce us."

Ge Ye stepped forward two paces and offered Xiao Yan a friendly smile.

Xiao Yan gave them an indifferent glance. "You should leave. We do not receive guests here."

"You little brat, how dare you be so disrespectful? Our Misty Cloud Sect is the foremost sect in the Jia Ma Empire. Even members of the imperial family treat us with great respect when they see us. What kind of attitude is this?!"

"A mere sweeping servant dares to slight us? Courting death!"

The other young man beside Nalan Yanran, around twenty years old, flushed with anger. He stepped forward several paces, Dou Qi surging all over his body as he threw a punch.

Misty Cloud Sect Yellow Rank Low-Grade Dou Technique: Green Wind Fist!

A forceful fist wrapped in green wind tore through the air.

Xiao Yan's entire body jolted, already startled by the force of the punch. Then, seeing the five stars on the other party's white robe, his heart filled with shock. This was clearly a Dou Zhe Stage Five expert! His Dou Zhi Qi Stage Three was no match for the other man at all! Once that fist wind reached him, he would likely be seriously injured on the spot! Under the pressure, Xiao Yan clenched his teeth tightly, his body trembling slightly against his will.

Yet his gaze remained resolute. Though he possessed only Dou Zhi Qi Stage Three, he still raised his guard.

Brother Qingyun had said that no matter what danger he faced, he only needed to keep a clear head and do his utmost to deal with it!

Seeing that his opponent had only Dou Zhi Qi Stage Three, the young man could not help but sneer. "So you're just trash with Dou Zhi Qi Stage Three. It seems the expert living in this mountain ravine doesn't have much of an eye."

"Can you block it?"

The young man intensified his fist wind, and Xiao Yan retreated again and again at the sight.

"Resorting to violence at the slightest disagreement—your sect's people truly are arrogant."

Just as the heavy Green Wind Fist was about to strike Xiao Yan, an ethereal voice sounded. A streak of pure white aura drifted out from the stream.

That Dou Qi collided with the Green Wind Fist. Though it was only a wisp, it caused the Dou Technique carrying the power of the Wind Element to gradually dissipate into nothingness. In the end, only a gentle breeze reached Xiao Yan, stirring his black hair.

This scene shocked not only Nalan Yanran and Ge Ye, but even Ling Ying, who had been watching from the shadows, widened his eyes and inwardly sighed. "Truly unheard of. Someone who has only just crossed the threshold of cultivation, with merely Level 1 Dou Qi, actually dissolved an Intermediate Dou Practitioner's Dou Technique attack so effortlessly. Young Master's Dou Qi can actually ignore elemental attributes as well. Interesting—truly interesting."

"I'm becoming more and more curious whether the perfected Immortal Qi Young Master has just cultivated can truly contend with a Dou Practitioner."

At the same time, Ling Ying heightened his vigilance. Should these people make any move that posed grave danger to Su Qingyun or Xiao Xun'er, he would immediately act: eliminate them!

The three visitors from the Misty Cloud Sect looked up.

They saw a graceful young man slowly approaching from the edge of the spring, a few drops of clear water still clinging to his face, lending his Immortal Spirit Aura an added freshness.

The instant he appeared, he drew everyone's attention.