Joyfulness showed everywhere in the Xiao Residence.
Because the Ao Cheng Family and Liu Family had shown their weakness, the Xiao Family's influence in Dongli City had visibly expanded.
All the marketplaces the Xiao Family had lost were reclaimed, and they had gained quite a few more besides.
After the Ao Cheng Family and Liu Family had knelt down, Dongli City had completely become the Xiao Family's domain. The Xiao Family had consequently reached the height of its prosperity in the past decade.
Everyone in the Xiao Family was constantly murmuring Xiao Huohuo's name. In their eyes, everything the Xiao Family now possessed had been brought by Xiao Huohuo.
However, only Xiao Zhan and the other higher-ups knew that the person who had truly and effortlessly changed the Xiao Family's situation was Xiao Huohuo's master, Chu Feng—the man who never casually showed himself or displayed his methods...
During this period, Huohuo had also refrained from interfering in the Xiao Family's affairs and calmly devoted himself to cultivation.
Every day, the Xiao Family disciples passing by Xiao Huohuo's courtyard could see him suspended in midair, his entire body wreathed in rosy glow as he immersed himself in cultivation.
However, no one in the Xiao Family, not even Xiao Zhan, had ever disturbed Xiao Huohuo's cultivation.
Everyone understood that, for Xiao Huohuo, the most important day had already drawn near without a sound...
In the blink of an eye, nearly another half a month passed.
At the Xiao Family's gate.
Xiao Zhan and the others saw Xiao Huohuo and Chu Feng off through the gate.
Joyful laughter filled Xiao Zhan's face, but when he looked at Xiao Huohuo's childish features, his expression became slightly solemn:
"Huohuo, just do your best in this tournament."
"Although you have an Immortal Master guiding you and your cultivation has advanced by leaps and bounds, the time is still too short."
"That Young Sect Master of the Misty Sect has been fed pills by the Misty Sect since childhood, her strength piled up with countless abundant resources."
"With an Immortal Master behind you, your future is far brighter than hers. Don't act recklessly."
Hearing this, Xiao Huohuo smiled easily:
"Dad, don't worry."
A deep light flashed in his eyes:
"This time, I will definitely win."
"With Master here, there is no possibility of Huohuo losing."
The First Elder beside them also spoke:
"Clan Leader, you're worrying too much about Huohuo."
"With an Immortal Master here, could the Misty Sect really turn the heavens upside down?"
Xiao Zhan looked toward Chu Feng. The slight crease between his brows relaxed at once:
"The First Elder is absolutely right. I was overthinking it."
Earlier, he had still been somewhat worried that if Xiao Huohuo defeated the Young Sect Master of the Misty Sect, the Misty Sect might be unable to swallow its pride and make things difficult for Xiao Huohuo.
After all, whoever lost such a tournament would be utterly humiliated.
But with Chu Feng there, everything would be easy to handle.
Behind Xiao Zhan, Aocheng Nan, Liu Qing, and Liu Cheng followed closely like lackeys.
When they heard the Xiao Family mention Xiao Huohuo's master, the three of them simultaneously looked toward the young man standing beside Xiao Huohuo.
Yet that young man appeared calm and unruffled, without the slightest air of an expert. Every movement of his looked just like that of an ordinary mortal.
But this very young man left them trembling with fear.
Aocheng Nan said in a low voice:
"Could this be the person who, some time ago, used that one finger..."
At the mention of that one finger, the three of them shuddered violently as if reacting on instinct.
Their gazes at the young man changed from scrutiny to terror, as though they had seen some vicious ghost.
The Xiao Family disciples present all had their eyes on Xiao Huohuo, their expressions complicated.
Three years ago, when the Three-Year Pact had been made, everyone had regarded him as nothing more than a pitiful good-for-nothing trying to salvage his dignity.
In those three years, not a single person had believed in him. Everyone in Dongli City had mocked him, and even his own father had deliberately wanted him to leave and hide until the Three-Year Pact was over.
But now, the three-year agreement was nearly at its end.
Xiao Huohuo's strength, however, had undergone earth-shaking changes.
With his own power, he had toppled the Aocheng Family and the Liu Family, the two top-tier families of Dongli City. No one would question the strength he had displayed anymore.
Moreover...
Everyone's gazes shifted to Chu Feng, and admiration appeared in their eyes.
With such a master presiding over the situation, the Three-Year Pact probably held no suspense anymore. Xiao Huohuo would certainly win, right?
The heads of the Ao Cheng Family and the Liu Family had both made up their minds to cling tightly to the Xiao Family's coattails!
Five days later.
Amid a vast mountain range shrouded in clouds and mist stood a massive sect.
Xiao Huohuo stood before the sect gate and looked up at the plaque hanging above the Vermilion Gate.
Misty Sect!
He clenched his fists tightly and drew a deep breath.
For a moment, his thoughts surged like a tide, and everything from the past flashed through his mind.
He had been a good-for-nothing who had made not the slightest progress in two and a half years.
When the Three-Year Pact seemed hopeless and a woman was about to trample his dignity into the dust,
he had unexpectedly encountered an Immortal God like his master after entering the Forbidden Forest, and thereafter defied fate and changed his destiny.
In this battle, even if it wasn't for himself, he had to make a name for his master!
Beside him, Chu Feng watched Xiao Huohuo's eyes constantly change—from complicated, to melancholy, and finally, when they turned toward him, inexplicably blazing with fire. He let out a somewhat speechless sigh:
"What is this Silly Disciple imagining again?"
But then he smiled lightly and thought:
"Still, it's fortunate that he can imagine things."
"If it had been any normal person, they would have noticed something amiss upon encountering that nonsense immortal art and thrown in the towel."
"Only Xiao Huohuo could calm his mind and cultivate earnestly. Otherwise, that immortal art would have been impossible to practice."
After drawing a deep breath, the two steadied their minds and walked toward the sect.
Suddenly, two disciples leaped down from atop the sect gate and blocked their path.
The two disciples wore white robes of the Misty Sect and held swords in their hands. Their gazes were sharp as they blocked the road and shouted angrily:
"Who goes there!"
"This is the Misty Sect's sacred ground! Idlers are forbidden to enter!"
Xiao Huohuo looked at the two gatekeeping disciples and raised his chin proudly:
"The Xiao Family—Xiao Huohuo!"
After he spoke, a trace of confusion appeared on the two disciples' faces.
They exchanged a glance, and both saw the incomprehension in the other's eyes.
One of the disciples said blankly:
"Xiao Huohuo?"
"Never heard of him!"
After saying this, their expressions immediately darkened:
"Where did this mountain savage come from? Hurry up and leave!"
Xiao Huohuo's vision went black when he heard this. He had arrived for the appointment brimming with fighting spirit, only to be unable to get through the gate?!
Could it be that woman from the Misty Sect had never taken this matter seriously at all?
At this thought, he coughed once and raised his head as he explained:
"Three years ago, Xiao Huohuo of the Xiao Family made a wager with your Misty Sect's Young Sect Master, Xu Ling'er, at the Xiao Family residence."
"Today, I've come to honor that wager!"
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