The Misty Cloud Sect Submits!

"It seems you're somewhat tempted. That eager look on your faces is rather amusing."

Ao Qing did not bother concealing his mockery of the Misty Cloud Sect members. However, he did not keep them in suspense any longer.

"My demand is simple. From this day forward, the Misty Cloud Sect must obey my orders. What do you think?"

After speaking, Ao Qing swept his gaze over the crowd.

"This! This! This! ..."

Yun Yun felt utterly miserable. She had only just become the Misty Cloud Sect's leader today and had already resolved to devote herself to the sect from now on. Yet things had ended up like this. She did not know whether it was fortune or misfortune.

Seeing Yun Yun's disbelieving expression, Ao Qing grew somewhat angry.

"What? Sect Leader Yun Yun, do you disagree with this small request of mine?"

Yun Yun did not rush to agree to Ao Qing's demand, but Yun Shan beside her was truly tempted. Breaking through to the Dou Zong realm! With the help of this unfathomably powerful expert before him, perhaps he truly could fulfill his wish and glimpse the future of walking through the air!

"Yun'er, why aren't you thanking Senior for his grace? From now on, my Misty Cloud Sect is willing to serve Senior. Senior may rest assured."

Ao Qing did not particularly like Yun Shan's flattering manner, but neither did he find it disgusting.

At this moment, Yun Shan was being clever. Knowing something could not be done yet insisting on doing it did not necessarily make one a hero. If one wished to survive in this world where the strong preyed upon the weak, learning to endure was equally important.

"Since former Sect Leader Yun Shan has said so, I will not deliberately make things difficult for you. Gather all disciples and elders of your Misty Cloud Sect at the Dou Ling rank and above. I have instructions for you."

"We obey Senior's command!" Yun Shan and the others did not delay. They swiftly gathered the Misty Cloud Sect's experts at the Dou Ling rank and above, ready to await Ao Qing's orders.

Had Ao Qing not arrived today, the Misty Cloud Sect's eventual fate after falling under Soul Hall's influence would have been truly lamentable.

Yun Shan's temperament would have changed drastically. Once fond of quiet cultivation, he would have become wildly ambitious, expanding the Misty Cloud Sect's power on a grand scale, planting hidden agents in the empire's major cities, intending to seize control of its armies, completely dominate the empire, and reign supreme over the northwestern region of the Dou Qi Continent.

At the same time, Yun Shan would have lost his former refinement, becoming cold and sinister, lacing every word with profanity when addressing his enemies. He would no longer respect his disciples. In order to win Gu He over, he would force Yun Yun to marry him and use Yun Yun's wedding to lure Xiao Yan into a trap.

As a three-star Dou Emperor and Nalan Yanran's teacher, Yun Yun would be rescued by the protagonist while her strength was sealed. Later, she and Xiao Yan would accidentally consume aphrodisiac medicine and do something intimate. She would develop feelings for the protagonist and give him her personal armor, saving him from danger twice. Because she sided with Xiao Yan during the conflict between the Xiao Clan and the Misty Cloud Sect, Yun Shan would strip her of her position as sect leader.

After the sect was destroyed, she would leave the Jia Ma Empire amid inner turmoil and head for the Central Continent's Flower Sect. With Xiao Yan's help, she would become the Flower Sect's leader and completely refine the Dou Qi left behind by Flower Granny, reaching the eight-star Dou Zun realm. Yet in the end, the falling flowers might have feelings, but the flowing water had none. At the grand finale, Yun Yun would return to the Jia Ma Empire with Xiao Yan at his invitation.

As for Nalan Yanran, she was the eldest young lady of the Nalan Family and the young sect leader of the Misty Cloud Sect. She had once been betrothed to Xiao Yan before birth. Independent by nature, she deeply disliked having her life follow a path laid out by others, even if those people were her elders. She advocated free love and did not like marriages arranged by elders.

In order to possess her own happiness and the right to choose her fate, she went to the Xiao Clan to break off the engagement without her grandfather Nalan Jie's knowledge, causing the protagonist to lose tremendous face. Enraged, Xiao Yan made a three-year agreement with her. She was defeated in their battle after three years. During that time, she discovered Yan Xiao's identity and recognized her feelings for the protagonist, yet she still did not regret her decision to break off the engagement.

Nalan Yanran was also someone who dared to love and hate. But after meeting Xiao Yan, her life could be considered ruined.

Xiao Yan was no good man. He had transmigrated from modern society to this continent, and from childhood, he had used Dou Qi on Gu Xun'er to supposedly nourish her Meridians. One could only say that he was a pervert at heart, with extremely high criminal potential. Of course, Gu Xun'er was no simple character either.

Was Gu Yuan's daughter really so pure-minded? Did she truly know nothing of the distinction between men and women? Who knew what she was plotting? Still, Xiao Yan might have had the heart of a scumbag, but Gu Xun'er had a powerful clan behind her. By the time Xiao Yan became strong enough to make his own decisions, he had already become a Dou Di and was about to leave the Dou Qi Continent.

Nalan Yanran later entered the Misty Cloud Sect's Life and Death Gate to cultivate, raising her strength to the peak of the Dou Wang realm. After the Misty Cloud Sect disbanded, she traveled with Yun Yun, left the Jia Ma Empire, and went to the Flower Sect. With Xiao Yan's help, she passed the Rat Tide Sonic Wave Formation and obtained a spot to undergo the Heavenly Mountain Blood Pool's baptism, advancing to the Dou Zong realm.

At the grand finale, she returned to the Jia Ma Empire with Yun Yun. After going around in such a huge circle, had she not returned to where she started?

As for Yun Ling, the Misty Cloud Sect's Grand Elder, he was a Dou Wang expert. Because Xiao Yan suspected that his father's disappearance was connected to him, Xiao Yan killed him in a rage. He could be considered a dispensable character. There was nothing pitiful about him; one could only say that his fate was poor.

Cheng Mo, the Grand Elder of a major family in the northeastern Jia Ma Empire, had originally been a Misty Cloud Sect disciple. After leaving the Misty Cloud Sect, he became an outer sect deacon because he paid the sect an enormous annual tribute and was skilled at dealing with people. When Xiao Yan caused havoc in the Mo Family to reclaim Qing Lin, who had been taken by them, he killed Cheng Mo.

Ge Ye

A member of the Misty Cloud Sect, he was a Da Dou Shi when he accompanied Nalan Yanran to the Xiao Clan to break off the engagement. By the time he accompanied Nalan Yanran to the Mo Family's birthday celebration, he had advanced to Dou Ling. He also appeared during the three-year agreement. His eventual fate was probably not good either.

Gu He

An elder of the Misty Cloud Sect, later the Pill Hall's chief in the Flame Alliance, he liked Yun Yun. He once ventured deep into the snake-people territory in the desert to seek a Heavenly Flame, the Green Lotus Core Flame, only for it to be taken by Xiao Yan. He had an older brother named Gu Te. He had already formed an alliance with Xiao Yan. Known as the Pill King, he had once been a three-star Dou Emperor and a sixth-tier alchemist. Later, he became a high-grade seventh-tier alchemist, though he could not withstand pill lightning alone. He was the foremost figure in the Jia Ma Empire's alchemy world.

After the Misty Cloud Sect disappeared, he secluded himself in the mountains with his disciple. When Xiao Yan established the Pill Hall, Fa Ma of the former Alchemist Guild suggested that Xiao Yan personally invite him out of seclusion. Gu He proposed competing with Xiao Yan in alchemy. After losing, he agreed to help Xiao Yan and became the Flame Alliance Pill Hall's deputy chief. Gu He was free-spirited by nature and lacked management ability, which later led two Pill Hall elders to form factions, once threatening Medusa and the Flame Alliance's survival. When Xiao Yan returned, he killed a chicken to scare the monkeys, buying over Gu He and Fa Ma with a fragmentary scroll for soul cultivation. Neither appeared again afterward. It could be said that Gu He was one of the few Misty Cloud Sect members who met a fairly good end. However, at present, he had not yet become an elder of the Misty Cloud Sect.

In truth, ever since the founding patriarch Yun Potian fell, the Misty Cloud Sect had gradually declined over time. By Yun Yun's generation, it had fallen from one of the continent's top powers into a second-rate force where even a Dou Zong was difficult to find, though it remained the Jia Ma Empire's foremost faction. Yet like luck drifting without a trace, the momentum of decline surged onward, and no one could stop it, could they?

Ao Qing's arrival today could be considered a complete shattering of fate's curse. How the Misty Cloud Sect would develop in the future, and what heights it could reach, would depend entirely on their own efforts.

After Yun Shan gathered the sect's experts, Ao Qing began making his arrangements.

"From today onward, the entire Misty Cloud Sect must learn to conduct itself discreetly. Also, extend your sphere of influence further toward places like Wutan City. Establish an Information Hall to gather intelligence for me in ordinary times.

"As for everything else, let things remain as they are. Yun Yun will remain the sect leader. I will not interfere with your sect's affairs, and you are not my puppets. So long as you do your utmost to help whenever I need something, that will be enough. What do you say?" Ao Qing did not waste time and directly told the Misty Cloud Sect members that his purpose was to gather information.

Hearing this, Yun Shan and Yun Yun both breathed a sigh of relief. At least Ao Qing was not taking control of the entire sect; most of the authority remained in their hands. There would not be many other changes to the sect. They merely needed to help Ao Qing gather some intelligence, which was no great concern.

"Since Senior has spoken, my sect's disciples will immediately go to Wutan City to gather information for Senior. But what sort of information does Senior require?" Yun Shan spoke with a smile now, no longer as lifeless as he had been at the beginning.

"The Xiao Clan. But there is no need to investigate them deliberately. You only need to know if anything happens to the Xiao Clan."

Ao Qing gave his instructions.