The Three-Year Agreement in the Opposite Direction

The adult world was just this shitty.

What could you do about it? No matter how much of a genius you were, you were not the one in charge, and what you did would be pinned on the one in charge.

Not to mention that the one in charge of the Misty Cloud Sect did not have much ability either.

They treated a disciple's lifelong marriage as pure child's play, and had not even realized how suffocating it was to send a Da Dou Shi to resolve the marriage affairs of the eldest Miss of the Nalan Family.

What?

The granddaughter of the empire's Lion Heart Marshal, the Young Sect Master of the Misty Cloud Sect, was only worth the price of one Da Dou Shi, only enough to be exchanged for one Qi Gathering Powder? This was the first time he had seen a world-shocking genius who trampled on her own face like this.

I really wonder if this person in front of me will start a fight with her Teacher once she thinks it through.

Only now did Xiao Yan look her over properly for the first time.

It was not that he looked down on her; before this, he had simply been afraid he would not be able to stop himself from cleaving her with the ruler.

If his father were not Xiao Zhan, and if the one behind Nalan were not the Misty Cloud Sect, then at the very least thirty shots of Flame Splitting Wave Slash would have already come smashing down.

How many lives did she think she had, daring to be this arrogant?

"I just wanted to..." Nalan Yanran explained in a low voice.

"You just looked down on the Xiao Clan, looked down on a cripple, that's all?"

"I didn't!"

"You really didn't?"

Xiao Yan sneered nonstop. "If I were a genius on the surface, would you have come to my door so ostentatiously? Would the Misty Cloud Sect have shown such contempt, like sweeping away an insect? I'll ask you one thing: if I really were an unrivaled genius, would you still have acted this way?"

Of course she would not.

Nalan's lips trembled slightly.

If Xiao Yan truly were a heavenly genius, then at the very least she would have discussed it politely, and perhaps even really married...

She did not dare think any further.

How could the Misty Cloud Sect's sect rules have that many restrictions? It was nothing more than saying there could be no entanglements before inheriting the position of sect master. If one wanted to get around it, there were naturally countless ways.

If it could truly be done, then even if they dug Old Ancestor out to ask him, the first thing he would do would be to flatly deny such a sect rule existed.

It was just that everyone felt...

Heh~ A tiny clan, a mere cripple.

"Didn't you want an Annulment of Marriage? I'll give you what you want." Xiao Yan's gaze carried a cold sneer. "One day, the world will understand who the clown is."

"Gk..."

Nalan clenched her fists and gritted out, "I'd like to know what you're relying on to make me the clown. Just the fact that you aren't crippled? That's still not enough!"

Since childhood, who had she ever lost to? Xiao Yan did not answer, merely took one step forward.

Clang!

The bracelet around his wrist broke free, and before it could hit the ground, it was swept to the side by a torrent.

"Hoo..."

Scorching Dou Qi leaped and surged out, churning and burning no differently from flames, roasting the air until it warped.

Nalan's pupils shook, and she could not help retreating half a step.

"Claaang..."

Xiao Yan walked forward, dragging out a sound as if he wore shackles.

Bang! Clatter~

A torrent.

As though a dam had burst, the Dou Qi residing in Xiao Yan's body turned into a torrent and rushed out, heavy and scorching like lava, almost condensing into substance!

Nalan, standing before him, collided head-on with the torrent, and for a moment even breathing became a challenge.

A shadow rose and covered the sun.

The massive Black Ruler, whose weight was unknown, was raised high. Xiao Yan lowered it slowly, as though he could not feel its weight at all.

Closer. Closer still.

She would die...

Nalan Yanran's eyes widened.

She would die, she would die, she would die, she would die!!

Her soul screamed warnings to the point of madness, yet her body could not move even half an inch.

"Tap."

In the end, the blade of the ruler was gently placed on her head, without the slightest pressure. The power that could crush her at any moment hovered there silently, calm as the sea.

It was like a terrifying beast staring straight at you. Perhaps the next second would bring slaughter; perhaps the next second, it would leave.

"Is this strength enough?"

Xiao Yan asked with utter sincerity.

He raised the Black Ruler. Seeing Nalan slump down without the slightest response, Xiao Yan lost the interest to keep teasing her. With a twitch of his fingers, the bracelets that had fallen to the floor returned one after another.

One lock.

A dam rose, holding back and binding the surging flood.

Another lock.

The steaming, violent flames turned into stagnant water, without letting out the slightest momentum.

The Black Ruler was carried on his back.

It was as if he were bearing a cliff on his shoulders, its shadow falling over him and enveloping him. An invisible pressure filled the space around Xiao Yan, as though it had been forcibly pressed into the air itself.

"Xiao Yan..."

Nalan lowered her head and suddenly asked, "Why are you doing all this? So many resources have nothing to do with you. Isn't that a waste of your talent?"

"Everyone can see a mountain's height, but few know the depth of an abyss."

Xiao Yan twirled the bracelet on his hand. "Of course~ a mountain can be seen, but an abyss is hard to fathom."

"Heh..."

Nalan Yanran gave a miserable laugh. "Who knows how many people have fallen into this abyss of yours."

"If you didn't go stepping on it so casually, how would you fall in? And now you're blaming me instead?"

Xiao Yan bent down, casting a shadow as he stared into Nalan's eyes. "I'm actually rather curious. Why do you lot act like idiots and think you're superior to others?"

"Could it be because of talent?"

Xiao Yan sneered. "In my eyes, you are no different from ordinary mortals! That was true in Wutan City, true in the Jia Ma Empire, and even if it were the Northwest Corner of the continent, or even Central State, it would still be true!"

"In the future, I won't blame you for the annulment of marriage, because I simply don't care! A roaming dragon should travel the heavens—why bother with the mortal dust?"

"As for you people? Heh... petty clowns."

If he stayed a cripple for life, then the Xiao Clan would become a laughingstock, its disgrace known throughout the world.

If he became a Dou Ling or a Dou Wang, the world would merely treat it as gossip between two people, an entanglement from youth.

But if he were to reign supreme over the world...

When that time came, who would be the one everyone laughed at?

"..." Nalan was struck speechless.

There was nothing she could say. Temperament, realm, talent, strength, vision, responsibility, maturity... which of these had she been qualified in today? What use would a few more words be? They would only invite further humiliation.

"Creak—"

The door of the Council Hall was pushed open. Inside the hall, only Xiao Zhan, the three elders, and the guests from the Misty Cloud Sect remained.

Xiao Zhan's expression was dark. He merely drank tea and poured more tea over and over again, watching as the tea was about to run dry once more.

"Uncle Xiao..."

Nalan Yanran hesitated for a long while before finally speaking softly.

"Smack!" The teacup was set down on the table, nearly slapped straight into it, making Nalan's body tremble.

Xiao Zhan rose, and the Second and Third Elders also left their seats with him.

When he reached the center of the hall, this old father still let out a heavy sigh in the end. "Yan'er... it is your father who is useless!"

Nalan looked toward the tabletop.

What lay on the table was precisely the contract dissolving the agreement between the two families.

The First Elder remained in his seat, eyes closed, both hands resting on his cane. "Take it with you on your way back. Eldest Miss Nalan... oh no, Lord Young Sect Master."

The only reason he had stayed here was to keep an eye on Ge Ye.

He still remembered what things had been like on the day the Xiao Clan suffered disaster.

"...I..."

Nalan reached toward the contract, but just as she was about to touch it, she drew her hand back as if shocked by electricity.

"What, do you have some other demand?" Xiao Yan tapped the tabletop.

"I want to challenge you!"

Nalan Yanran stared fixedly at him. "Three years... I only need three years! After three years, I will catch up to you! I will defeat you fair and square!"

"If I lose, I will let you do as you please."

"If I win... the annulment of marriage can finally be considered something I did alone, right?!"

Thinking about it carefully, explaining some things in the chapter might be more efficient, since this isn't a group chat where we can talk at any time.

To put it unpleasantly, or to put it more vividly.

Right now, it was like some brat had come over to smash things up and cause trouble, while the other side said nothing. To take it to an extreme, if Xiao Yan chopped her apart right now, what would the consequences be?

Would the Nalan Family turn against him and become enemies? Come looking for trouble? Before they even set out, their entire clan grounds could be wiped out.

The only constraint in the entire Jia Ma Empire was that protector who secretly contacted Yun Shan every three to five years. And would Yun Shan even show up unless someone attacked his sect? Nalan was the truly disadvantaged one—she just did not know it herself. From a third-person perspective, Xiao Yan was the one who truly held the stronger position.

Yet now, the weaker party was acting arrogantly and stirring up trouble left and right.

Xiao Yan was wary of that protector, but that was all it was—wariness. If they really jumped in his face and forced his hand, what would stop him from making thorough preparations, sneaking up the mountain, and killing that protector? He simply thought that one less problem was better than one more. If more trouble really came, it was not as if he had no way to deal with it.

Was the protagonist angry? No, he was just stewing with frustration! There were clearly so many ways to resolve it, yet he had to choose such an absurd course of action. From the very beginning, the protagonist had obviously liked lecturing people, liked preaching at them. That was exactly the kind of person he was.

Extreme, forceful, and utterly self-willed.

Like all transmigrators, he carried an innate attitude of looking down on the natives. It was only because of his feelings for the Xiao Clan that this did not stand out quite as much.