Annulment of Marriage!

"Third Young Master, Third Young Master! The Patriarch has summoned you to the Main Hall."

Steward Mo pushed open Xiao Yan's door and burst into the room, which had already gathered a little dust, only then slapping his thigh.

He really was getting muddleheaded in his old age. How many days in a month did the Third Young Master even stay in his room? "Aiya... Third Young Master, where on earth did you go..."

Now the honored guests had already crossed all the way into the Council Hall, and he still had no idea where to find him.

"Xiao Clan Leader."

The old man in a moon-white robe bowed in greeting. Though he came from the Jia Ma Empire's number one sect, his words and bearing were proper and measured.

The young man and woman he led behind him, however, had rather subtle looks in their eyes. As their gazes swept around, an indescribable arrogance naturally arose.

"..."

The three elders exchanged glances and more or less formed a judgment in their hearts.

"Xiao Zhan."

The First Elder lowered his eyes and murmured while stroking his cane.

Xiao Zhan's eyes flickered, and he gave a slight nod. In an instant, he put on a warm smile. "Haha... You are honored guests from the Misty Cloud Sect. Why be so courteous? Please, take a seat!"

They came with ill intent, huh~ "Heh~ Xiao Clan Leader is too polite."

Ge Ye cupped his hands in thanks. As he took his seat, he covertly glanced at the girl beside him, and his movement paused halfway.

Only after the girl sat down calmly did he carefully lower himself, perching on just the edge of the chair.

With his superior at his side, who knew whether she would mind? It was never wrong to be careful.

In a direction he had not noticed, the Xiao Clan elders' gazes swept back and forth, stripping their party's information nearly clean.

"Three and Five Stars. These two Dou Zhe are exceptionally gifted..."

"That Da Dou Shi isn't simple either~ Seven stars, not far from eight. The Qi Method he cultivates isn't simple either; it must at least be Xuan class."

The Second Elder and Third Elder whispered together, finally glancing at the First Elder, who had yet to speak.

"Eldest Brother?"

"Don't you think that girl looks somewhat familiar?" The First Elder narrowed his eyes, hiding their sharpness, and lifted a finger toward Nalan Yanran.

"This?"

The Third Elder stared at her in thought for several seconds. Suddenly, he remembered something, and his expression changed in an instant. "Damn it, this isn't good!"

At that very moment, Ge Ye, who had been urged on by Nalan Yanran all along, could no longer hold out. He gave a light cough and opened the conversation. "Xiao Clan Leader, our visit this time is because we have an important matter to ask of you!"

On the surface, he still looked fairly calm and unruffled, but only Ge Ye himself knew how bitter he felt inside.

He was just an ordinary Da Dou Shi deacon! Even this status had only been gained through seniority.

For no reason at all, he had been personally drafted by the Young Sect Master. He really should not have come to meddle in another family's affairs...

What was even more despairing was that the sect leader had personally ordered this matter resolved. If he had not heard that the Xiao Clan had, at most, a five-star Da Dou Shi, he would long since have threatened to die just to force his way out of it.

Doing something this wicked, were they really not afraid of being detained? "Mister Ge Ye, if there is an important matter, please speak plainly. If it is within the Xiao Clan's ability, Xiao will certainly not be stingy with assistance." Xiao Zhan replied with a faint smile, utterly calm and composed, leaving Ge Ye stunned.

"Uh..."

This Xiao Clan Leader truly had bearing. If an ordinary Da Dou Shi were facing the Misty Cloud Sect, he would long since have been uneasy and unable to sit still.

"Uncle Xiao. Do you still remember me?"

Seeing that Ge Ye was stumbling and unable to get his words straight, Nalan Yanran could not hold back. She abruptly rose to her feet, and no matter how Ge Ye tried to stop her, he failed.

"I am the daughter of the Nalan Family, Nalan Jie's own granddaughter."

Nalan Yanran bowed in greeting. "All these years, your niece has never been able to come pay a visit. I am truly ashamed."

"So it is Nalan's niece... I heard you had entered the Misty Cloud Sect leader's tutelage, but I thought it was merely hearsay and not to be taken seriously. Seeing you today, it turns out your uncle was blind, failing to recognize such a young talent."

Xiao Zhan set the jade cup in his hand on the table and nudged it over, letting the maid refill the tea.

"Uncle is joking. Your niece was only lucky..."

Nalan Yanran shook her head slightly, and then her expression suddenly turned solemn. "But the matter arises precisely from this—the Misty Cloud Sect has sect rules restricting such things, and therefore Yanran cannot have entanglements with a man!"

"What my master means is... could this marriage agreement be dissolved?"

Crack!

The jade cup in Xiao Zhan's hand ultimately failed to survive the day, exploding into a cloud of powder.

The entire Council Hall fell silent in an instant. Gazes filled with different thoughts gathered on Nalan Yanran and Xiao Zhan, shifting back and forth between them.

"I knew this disaster would come one day~"

The First Elder closed his eyes and sighed faintly.

Ge Ye, who had been half-crouching, half-sitting and at a loss the entire time, collapsed back into the chair, his face full of helplessness and powerlessness.

Great. It was over.

"Xiao Clan Leader... I know this is truly forcing a difficult matter, and it is also a heavy blow to the Xiao Clan's reputation, but in the end, this is the sect leader's will. I hope you can forgive us."

Ge Ye took a deep breath. "Then this marriage agreement... shall be dissolved?"

"..."

The imagined outburst of fury never happened. Xiao Zhan merely wiped his hands in silence and changed to a fresh cup of tea.

Ge Ye's brows furrowed, and he was just about to speak again.

All of a sudden, the Da Dou Shi's pupils contracted sharply. He felt an intense sense of danger—one that threatened his life—rise without warning and surge in from every direction.

Boom—

A vast surge of Dou Qi erupted. Ge Ye crooked his fingers and palm, and fine strands of Sword Qi intertwined and gathered.

In his senses... Dou Shi, Dou Shi, Dou Shi! Every last one of them was a Dou Shi!

At some point, a full sixteen Dou Shi had appeared inside the Main Hall, their auras locking onto him in unison.

"Ge Ye?" Nalan Yanran cried in shock. "What are you doing?"

"Young Sect Master—"

Ge Ye's expression turned panicked, but he only had time to call out once...

Tap.

Seated high above, the First Elder paused his cane against the floor. In an instant, a torrent of Dou Qi swept through the Main Hall and engulfed Ge Ye in one stroke.

On the left and right, two elders quietly rose to their feet.

Three layers of pressure came crashing down in a dreadful wave, forcefully driving Ge Ye's Dou Qi back.

"Eight-star, and one of them is... a Dou Ling?!"

Ge Ye gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand straight under the pressure. The current situation was no longer something he could resolve.

If he had known earlier that things would become this dangerous, then even if he had to drag her, he would have dragged this little ancestor back to the Misty Cloud Sect! "Uncle Xiao!"

Nalan Yanran spoke urgently. "We don't want to escalate this!"

Xiao Zhan's hand trembled, and he nearly wrote off another teacup.

But before he could speak, a voice came from outside the hall. "Can I take that to mean you're threatening us?"

The frozen atmosphere shattered in an instant.

"Yan'er?" In the blink of an eye, Xiao Zhan regained a bit of his smile.

"Xiao Yan?"

The Third Elder raised an eyebrow, then put on an expression of watching a show. "You came at just the right time~"

The three elders looked at one another and smiled, withdrawing their pressure one after another. The Dou Shi hidden in the shadows, poised but not yet unleashed, also fell silent in an instant.

Ge Ye let out a breath of relief. "That young master...?"

"Xiao... Yan?"

Hearing everyone call out the name, Nalan Yanran frowned and turned to look outside the door, murmuring it with some hesitation.

Where all eyes converged, A young man carrying a heavy Black Ruler on his back walked over with the light behind him.