Marriage Annulment and the Three-Year Agreement

Three days passed quietly beneath Wutan City's outward calm.

The Xiao Family estate still maintained the dignity of one of the Three Great Families, but discussions within the clan about Xiao Yan's stagnant cultivation had never ceased.

That day, the Xiao Family received a group of guests who seemed utterly out of place in Wutan City.

At their head was a young woman in a moon-white dress. She was pretty and delicate, yet her brows carried an arrogance she could not conceal.

Her posture was straight, and though she deliberately restrained her aura, the energy fluctuations of a three-star Dou Zhe still made the younger generation of the Xiao Family feel pressured.

She was none other than Nalan Yanran, the young mistress of the Misty Cloud Sect.

Behind her followed several disciples dressed in the same Misty Cloud Sect attire, all of them possessing considerable strength.

Yet the most eye-catching figure was the expressionless old man standing at Nalan Yanran's side.

Ge Ye, a deacon of the Misty Cloud Sect, a Da Dou Shi-level expert.

Such strength was enough to crush any family in Wutan City.

Upon receiving the news, Xiao Zhan immediately led several Elders to greet them in the main hall, wearing a polite yet cautious smile.

At this moment, he already had a faint sense that something was wrong.

"Niece Nalan, your arrival honors us. Forgive us for failing to welcome you properly. Please, take a seat," Xiao Zhan said with cupped hands.

Nalan Yanran merely nodded slightly without sitting down. Her gaze swept over the Xiao Family members with scrutiny before finally settling on Xiao Yan, who had rushed over upon hearing the news and now stood in the corner.

"Xiao Clan Leader, there is no need for courtesy. I came this time under the orders of my master, Sect Master Yun Yun, to settle an old matter."

Nalan Yanran got straight to the point. Her voice was crisp, yet carried an unquestionable authority.

Xiao Zhan's heart sank. "What old matter?"

Nalan Yanran took a deep breath, as though making up her mind, then declared loudly, "It concerns the marriage agreement between me, Nalan Yanran, and your son, Xiao Yan!"

The hall instantly fell silent. Every member of the Xiao Family focused their eyes on Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran.

Xiao Yan's face turned livid at once. His fists clenched tightly, his nails digging deep into his palms.

The scene he feared most, the most humiliating scene, had finally arrived!

"Back then, my grandfather and the former Xiao Clan Leader arranged this marriage agreement. It should have been a fine match. However..." Nalan Yanran's tone suddenly sharpened.

"Times have changed. Young Master Xiao Yan, forgive my bluntness, but your cultivation has now stagnated, and your future is uncertain.

"As for me, Nalan Yanran, I am the young mistress of the Misty Cloud Sect. In the future, I am destined to inherit the Misty Cloud Sect and rule over a region.

"Whether in status, standing, or the paths we will walk in the future, we are no longer suited to one another."

She paused, ignoring Xiao Yan's nearly flaming gaze, and continued, "Therefore, today, on behalf of the Nalan Family and under my master's orders, I formally propose—annulling the marriage agreement!"

The words "annul the marriage agreement" exploded through the hall like thunder.

Xiao Zhan's face instantly went pale, and his body swayed.

The Elders looked at one another, some furious, others sighing.

Among the Xiao Family's younger generation, some even revealed gloating expressions.

Over the past three years, Xiao Yan's strength had remained stagnant—outwardly stuck at the seventh stage of Dou Qi—yet he had continued consuming a considerable amount of the family's cultivation resources. This had made them immensely jealous!

What utter humiliation!

To the Xiao Family and to Xiao Yan, this was naked humiliation!

"Nalan Yanran! You have gone too far!"

Xiao Yan suddenly stepped forward. His chest heaved violently, his eyes bloodshot, and he wanted nothing more than to rush at her immediately.

The pressure of a three-star Dou Zhe was nothing to him, a five-star Dou Shi, but her condescending attitude and the humiliation of publicly annulling the engagement nearly made him lose his mind.

Just as he was about to explode, Han Feng's cold, urgent voice suddenly rang out in his mind:

"Kid! Hold it in! Don't be impulsive!"

Xiao Yan froze.

"Feel that old man's aura!" Han Feng's voice carried a trace of gravity.

"He is a Da Dou Shi! The disciples behind him are all Dou Shi as well!

"If you turn hostile on the spot, refuse the annulment, and anger the Misty Cloud Sect, they might not dare to openly wipe out the Xiao Family. But secretly using some methods to make a few Xiao Family members disappear without a trace, or even cause your father to die in an 'accident,' would not be difficult at all!"

Do you want to get your father and the Xiao Family killed?!

Han Feng's words were like icy water poured over his head, instantly cooling Xiao Yan's boiling blood.

As he sensed Ge Ye's faint but formidable aura and the indifferent gazes of the Misty Cloud Sect disciples, a chill shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

He did not doubt Han Feng's words in the slightest. To the Xiao Family of Wutan City, the Misty Cloud Sect was a colossal existence.

Since they had dared to come and annul the marriage agreement, they had surely prepared for every possibility.

If they clashed head-on, the Xiao Family would absolutely meet no good end.

Humiliation! Unbearable humiliation!

But for the sake of his family, for the sake of his father, he had to endure it!

Xiao Yan gritted his teeth so hard that his gums nearly bled.

He forcibly suppressed the towering fury and hatred in his heart, his body trembling slightly under the extreme restraint.

Seeing Xiao Yan's furious yet silent, agonized struggle, Nalan Yanran's eyes flashed with disdain, and she became even more determined to annul the engagement.

She said calmly, "Young Master Xiao Yan, forced melons are never sweet. This mismatched marriage agreement should be dissolved. The Misty Cloud Sect can offer the Xiao Family some compensation!"

"Compensation? Heh..." Xiao Yan suddenly raised his head and let out a hoarse, cold laugh, interrupting Nalan Yanran.

He stared at her coldly and said word by word, "Miss Nalan, I will remember what you have done today!"

He took a deep breath and used all his strength to make his voice sound steady. "The marriage agreement can be annulled!"

At those words, Xiao Zhan abruptly looked at his son, his eyes filled with pain and confusion.

The clan members also erupted into an uproar.

Nalan Yanran raised her brows slightly, somewhat surprised that Xiao Yan was so "sensible."

But Xiao Yan's next words left everyone stunned.

"But not now!" Xiao Yan's voice suddenly rose.

"Nalan Yanran! You look down on me, Xiao Yan, believing I am trash and unworthy of you, the young mistress of the Misty Cloud Sect! Fine! Then let us make an agreement!"

"Three years! Give me three years!"

Xiao Yan held up three fingers, his burning gaze fixed fiercely upon Nalan Yanran.

"Three years from now, I will personally go to the Misty Cloud Sect and fight you! If I lose, I, Xiao Yan, will willingly annul the marriage agreement and slit my throat on the spot to wash away today's humiliation! But if I am fortunate enough to win..."

He paused, his voice icy to the bone.

"I will not demand anything else. I only ask that, before everyone in the Misty Cloud Sect, you kneel and kowtow in apology to the Xiao Family for what you have done today!"

At this, the hall fell deathly silent.

Everyone was stunned by Xiao Yan's earth-shattering Three-Year Agreement.

Nalan Yanran's lovely face changed. Clearly, she had not expected Xiao Yan to propose such terms.

Looking into Xiao Yan's eyes, filled with stubbornness and hatred, her heart inexplicably trembled. But it was quickly replaced by even greater anger.

A piece of trash from some remote little city dared challenge her?

"Fine! I accept!" Nalan Yanran declared arrogantly.

"Three years from now, I will wait for you at the Misty Cloud Sect! I hope you do not disappoint me then!"

She simply did not believe that Xiao Yan could stir up any waves in a mere three years.

Ge Ye frowned, feeling that this had created unnecessary complications. But seeing that Nalan Yanran had already agreed, he said nothing further.

With the matter settled, Nalan Yanran had no desire to stay. Leaving behind some so-called compensation pills, she swept away with the people of the Misty Cloud Sect.

The atmosphere in the Xiao Family's main hall was terrifyingly oppressive.

Xiao Yan stood where he was, as though all his strength had been drained away, but his eyes burned with unprecedented fire.

He turned all his humiliation, anger, and unwillingness into an obsession with the Three-Year Agreement.

Nalan Yanran! Misty Cloud Sect! Just wait for me! he roared inwardly.

In the distance, by the window of a pavilion, Gu Long quietly watched everything unfold in the direction of the main hall.

Xun Er stood beside him, her little face filled with displeasure.

"That Nalan Yanran is bullying people too much!" Xun Er said with puffed cheeks.

Gu Long remained calm and unmoved.

Everything had unfolded as he expected. One could even say this was precisely what he wanted to see.

Once Xiao Yan came into conflict with the Misty Cloud Sect, it was destined to consume much of his energy, leaving him no time for anything else.

And the Three-Year Agreement was even more like a death warrant. Under Han Feng's misguidance, it would force Xiao Yan onto a more extreme path of cultivation and accelerate the ruin of his foundation.

"It is merely the farce of a petty clown," Gu Long commented indifferently. He turned away from the window. "Xun Er, let's go. Today's training is not finished yet."

To him, these disturbances in Wutan City were nothing more than insignificant ripples on a chessboard.

His gaze had long since passed beyond the Jia Ma Empire, toward an even broader world.

Xiao Yan's Three-Year Agreement was destined to be a tragedy with an outcome decided long ago.

And Gu Long's journey had only just begun.