The Figurehead Sect Leader Woke Up, Bowing Her Head to Beg for Help!

"No... impossible!"

Yun Yun cried out in disbelief, her dignified, beautiful face filled with utter incredulity. She instinctively shook her head again and again, as though trying to fling this absurd notion from her mind.

"Senior Xiao... you... you must be joking." Her voice was thick with disbelief and a trace of trembling. "You must be the mysterious elder supporting the Xiao Family, right? That Xiao Family Xiao Yao is only... only fifteen or sixteen. How could he possibly... possibly be a Dou Zong expert like you?"

She would rather believe that the young man before her was some century-old monster with a youthful appearance than accept that he was the Xiao Family youth her disciple had described as "talented, yet arrogant and conceited"!

A fifteen- or sixteen-year-old Dou Zong?

A fifteen- or sixteen-year-old Seventh Grade Alchemist?

This was no longer genius. This was myth! An existence capable of overturning the common sense of the entire Dou Qi Continent!

Yet Xiao Yao could not be bothered to explain. He merely shot her a look as though she were an idiot. Then a dangerous glint flashed in his eyes. That little Nalan Yanran actually dared to slander me like this. I'll have to properly teach and discipline her someday.

"My master, my realm—how could either possibly be within your imagination?"

He turned away, no longer paying attention to the petrified Yun Yun, and began tidying up the Eight Trigrams Furnace on his own. That calm indifference, that air of utter naturalness, was more convincing than any words could have been!

Yun Yun stood there blankly, stormy waves raging in her heart.

He... he had no reason to lie to me...

If everything he said was true... if that appearance was truly his real age...

An incomparably terrifying thought began to grow wildly in her mind!

He had no reason to deceive me! With the strength to suppress a Sixth Grade magical beast with a wave of his hand and refine Seventh Grade pills with such mastery, why would he bother playing tricks on a mere Dou Emperor like me?

There was only one truth!

He really was that Xiao Yao!

Once she understood this, Yun Yun felt a chill shoot from the soles of her feet straight to the crown of her head!

In an instant, she understood why the Xiao Family had suddenly risen to prominence! Why a fallen clan could produce such a monstrous talent!

There was no so-called "Dou Emperor master" behind this! There stood a true god... one she was not even qualified to look up to! And the force and lineage behind someone capable of nurturing such an unimaginable prodigy had to be supremely terrifying!

Having pieced together the cause and effect, all color drained from Yun Yun's face!

She thought of how she had tacitly allowed her disciple to go to the Xiao Family and break off the engagement. She thought of Ge Ye's arrogance in the Xiao Family's main hall... What kind of terrifying existence had her Misty Cloud Sect offended?

Without the slightest hesitation, Yun Yun strode forward and bowed deeply to Xiao Yao's upright back.

"Young Master Xiao!" The way she addressed him changed instantly. "Regarding Xiao Yan's broken engagement, it was entirely due to the Misty Cloud Sect's poor discipline. I failed in my duty and allowed Yanran to act recklessly and disrespectfully! Yun Yun offers you, and the entire Xiao Family, my most sincere apology on her behalf! I beg Young Master Xiao to be magnanimous and not hold it against the Misty Cloud Sect!"

This apology flowed smoothly, delivered in one breath.

Upon hearing it, Xiao Yao gave a cold laugh full of pity.

"Heh. Sect Leader Yun Yun, you certainly know how to read the situation."

He slowly turned around, his gaze icy as he looked at her. "But do you think you can still represent the entire Misty Cloud Sect?"

"Young Master Xiao, what... what do you mean by that?" Yun Yun's heart tightened as a sense of foreboding arose.

"The Chu Yun Empire changed rulers overnight, and forces such as the Poison Sect all submitted. As the sect leader of the Jia Ma Empire's foremost sect, you should have heard of this."

Yun Yun nodded. This had already become the biggest news across the Northwest Continent recently. Just as she wondered why Xiao Yao had suddenly brought it up, a thought that made her entire body turn cold abruptly surfaced!

"Could... could that mysterious expert be..."

"That's right. It was me." Xiao Yao admitted it calmly, before his tone suddenly turned grim. "While in the Chu Yun Empire, I casually killed a Soul Hall Protector. That is a dark force beyond anything you can imagine. You may have heard of them—they are vile to the extreme, their influence everywhere across the continent. They support puppets in every region and carry out bloody schemes to harvest souls. Those rats lurking in the gutters have long extended their claws into every corner of the continent! The Misty Cloud Sect is one of the important pieces they have cultivated in the Northwest Continent!"

"H-how could that be possible?"

"You call yourself a Dou Emperor and a sect leader, yet have you noticed how your teacher, Yun Shan, changed in temperament? Why had his strength stagnated for years, only for him to suddenly break through to Dou Zong without reason? And why did those Dou Wang elders in your sect all choose to enter seclusion and challenge their bottlenecks at the same time, against all reason? Leaving only Yun Leng behind?"

Every word Xiao Yao spoke was like a heavy hammer striking Yun Yun's heart!

"They have long been corrupted by the Soul Hall's dark power! Their breakthroughs only turned them into puppets whose lives and deaths are no longer their own!"

"No!... That can't be! My teacher..." Yun Yun's face went deathly pale as she shook her head repeatedly. She had vaguely sensed the sect's strange changes and had occasionally discovered sinister, bizarre auras. She had noticed that the changes seemed beneficial and had not looked into them further, but she had never imagined matters had already become this serious!

She still wanted to argue, but Xiao Yao had already lost all patience.

"Believe it or not, that's up to you!"

A vast aura suddenly erupted from his body, crushing Yun Yun so completely that she felt as if she could not breathe!

"Since you are willing to remain a figurehead sect leader who knows nothing and can do nothing, then go back and keep dreaming your sweet dream! What a waste of good intentions!"

Before his words had faded, his figure flashed, and he was already before Yun Yun.

Before she could react, he gave her smooth, full forehead a crisp chop with the side of his hand—not too hard, not too light.

Thonk!

"Ugh..."

Yun Yun winced in pain. Her eyes instantly reddened, and tears nearly spilled from the pain.

Yet that chop also completely woke her up!

That was right! With his strength and status, why would he need to fabricate such lies to deceive her? She was not truly foolish; in her heart, she had already inferred and faintly accepted the cruelty of the truth.

This was the cruelest answer of all!

"B-but how do you know so much about what is happening within our sect?" Yun Yun asked in confusion, clutching her forehead with a sob in her voice.

Xiao Yao snorted. "Because the Soul Hall and I are mortal enemies!"

Upon hearing those words, Yun Yun's body jolted violently!

She looked at the mysterious yet powerful youth before her. His eyes brimmed with confidence and dominance. All her hesitation, confusion, and unwillingness vanished at that moment, leaving only one path ahead. Every thought in her heart transformed into an incomparably resolute conviction!

Thud!

The lofty, peerlessly graceful sect leader of the Misty Cloud Sect actually bowed without hesitation, paying Xiao Yao a great salute!

"Young Master Xiao!"

"Yun Yun begs you to save the Misty Cloud Sect!"

"Yun Yun is willing to give you... everything!"