Xiao Family, the Story Begins!

Outside Wu Tan City

Dressed in white, Xiao Yi Xian stood outside the ancient city, her slender, fair fingers lightly winding around her long purple hair. No matter how many times she smelled that medicinal fragrance, it always remained so intoxicating.

Gazing at the towering city walls before her, old and worn yet steeped in the weight of time, she saw the three large words "Wu Tan City" written upon them.

Seeing those three ancient characters, she knew she had finally reached her destination.

Her previous battle with Mu Li had relied heavily on the Calamity Poison Body. Otherwise, fighting seven stars while only at two stars would have been unimaginably difficult. If her Poison Dou Qi had not entered Mu Li's body without his noticing, that final blow might not even have killed him.

Although that blade looked magnificent and its magic core was a third-tier fire attribute one, it still could not compare to her "You Su."

Moreover, she had gained quite a lot from that battle. Xiao Lan had also recovered its former state, though it had become even more eager to grow stronger.

Xiao Yi Xian entered Wu Tan City, this legendary beginner village. With its ancient walls and massive crowds, it truly deserved to be called a city, at least far better than Green Mountain Town.

There were also countless people around her, all sorts of individuals everywhere. Even in the side streets and alleys, she could spot little beggars.

Every face carried a different emotion, yet they were completely unlike the mercenaries of Green Mountain Town.

They looked utterly ordinary, without that vicious, murderous air. There were no scars on their faces either; they were just like normal people.

"Have you heard? Something big is happening in the Xiao Family?"

"Of course. How could I not know?"

"I heard the Nalan Family is involved..."

"Hm?"

Hearing about a major matter concerning the Xiao Family, Xiao Yi Xian quietly moved toward the voices. She appeared to be examining a hairpin at a stall, but her mind was entirely elsewhere.

"What is the Nalan Family doing at the Xiao Family?"

"You don't know?"

"Know what?"

"The Nalan Family has a marriage agreement with the Xiao Family's third young master!"

"What? With that trash?"

"Shh, keep your voice down..."

Hearing the surrounding discussion, she realized that the beginner village's story had only just begun. Did that mean she could witness that legendary scene as well?

"Hey, miss, you've been looking for ages. Are you buying it or not?"

An impatient voice by her ear pulled Xiao Yi Xian from her thoughts.

Xiao Yi Xian smiled awkwardly, took out three gold coins, and picked up the hairpin.

"Hey, miss, you gave too much. One gold coin is enough..."

Xiao Yi Xian paid no attention to what the stall owner said. She needed to go to the Xiao Family and watch the show.

As for overpaying, she did not care. As long as she had not paid too little, it was fine. She had barely spent any of the thousand gold coins she took from Mu Li anyway!

Besides, she still had her previous treasure. That was a whole pile of gold coins, tens of thousands of them ξ(?＞??)

Xiao Family

Wrapped in a black robe that she had obtained from who knew where, Xiao Yi Xian stood amid the crowded masses and watched the legendary opening of the Xiao Family and Nalan Family's tale.

The first person to catch her eye was the strongest figure at the start of this beginner story, a Seven-Star Great Dou Master. Judging from his appearance, he was already over fifty. Truly...

Trash...

Beside the old man sat a very beautiful girl. The young woman's features were breathtaking, and she carried an aura of nobility.

Green jade earrings hung from her delicate earlobes, giving off a crisp jade chime as they swayed gently, making her seem all the more exquisitely noble...

There was no need to look further. This had to be the legendary Nalan Yanran, the one who began the Three-Year Agreement.

She could understand breaking off the engagement. After all, who would want to marry someone they had never met?

Especially when it was a childhood betrothal?

Still, no matter what, breaking off the engagement was wrong, and humiliating the man was even worse. Yet if the engagement were not broken, the plot truly could not begin.

Neither side could even be said to be wholly right or wrong. Even the countless online commenters from her previous life had never been able to make sense of it.

Xiao Yi Xian glanced at the middle-aged man seated at the head. Wearing glasses, he looked like a scholar. His somewhat handsome face was quite pleasing to the eye.

He was Xiao Yan's father...

The father who had been taken away yet somehow had not died...

Beneath her black robe, Xiao Yi Xian's eyes swept about. In a corner, she spotted a girl who was no less beautiful than Nalan Yanran.

The female lead Xiao Xun'er, with her lotus-like aura of emerging unstained from mud and remaining alluring without being seductive, truly lived up to her reputation.

That temperament, that figure, that face, truly...

Before Xiao Yi Xian had seen enough, her eyes met Xiao Xun'er's for a second. She immediately looked elsewhere, doing her best to hide herself within the black robe.

"How strange?"

Xiao Xun'er looked doubtfully at the crowd outside. She had clearly sensed someone watching her just now.

With the Nalan Family drawing everyone's attention, and with her sitting in the corner, who could possibly have noticed her?

Xiao Yi Xian hid beneath her black robe and did not dare look at anything. She had not expected Xiao Xun'er to be so perceptive. She had only taken one glance. An Ancient Clan truly was no joke.

After who knew how long...

The protagonist finally arrived late and stepped onto the stage of the story...

Beneath her black robe, Xiao Yi Xian studied the last black-clad Youth to enter with great interest.

He looked around fifteen or sixteen. His handsome face still bore traces of childishness, while the faint self-mockery at the corner of his lips added a hint of despondence. Yet flames remained hidden within those dark eyes, and his fighting spirit had not faded.

Feeling his standard Three-Stage Dou Qi and considering the Youth's age, Xiao Yi Xian had no difficulty guessing his identity. He was the Xiao Family's third young master, Nalan Yanran's nominal fiancé, Xiao Yan.

The protagonist of this incident, and the beginning of the protagonist's rise...

"Father, Three Elders!" Xiao Yan suppressed the stirrings in his heart, quickly stepped forward, and respectfully bowed to the four people seated above.

"Hehe, Yan'er, you're here. Come, take a seat." Seeing Xiao Yan arrive, Xiao Zhan, the Xiao Family patriarch, stopped chatting and laughing with the guests. He nodded at him and waved his hand.

Smiling as he nodded, Xiao Yan pretended not to see the impatience and faint disdain cast at him by the Three Elders. He turned and scanned the hall, only to discover in astonishment that there was no seat for him.

It seems my status in this family is truly getting lower and lower. It was fine in the past, but now they're humiliating me in front of guests. These three old fossils... Xiao Yan laughed bitterly to himself and shook his head.

Seeing Xiao Yan standing there without moving, the younger members of the clan could not help but laugh mockingly. They clearly enjoyed watching him embarrass himself.

Xiao Yi Xian watched the farce unfold just as it had in the original story, her expression blank as she secretly shook her head.

The patriarch had no authority, the elders acted without restraint, and the clan's younger generation mocked one another. They did not even hold back before guests. Quite a few outsiders had even slipped in to witness this scene, yet no one cared in the slightest about the family's reputation. It was no wonder such a family had declined to this extent.

Moreover, this Xiao Family third young master seemed to hold an even lower position in the clan than she had imagined. After losing his talent and cultivation, he was not merely ridiculed and despised; he was even hated and humiliated.

Watching Xiao Yan stand motionlessly, Xiao Yi Xian saw no hysterical rage or despondent self-pity in him, only a trace of awkwardness and self-mockery.

Having gone through such great rises and falls, he possessed such temperament. If he ever seized an opportunity, he would surely soar into the heavens.

However, the calmer Xiao Yan appeared, the more troublesome Xiao Yi Xian found the situation. They said honest people were the most frightening when angered. If Xiao Yan's three years of pent-up resentment erupted all at once because of her breaking off the engagement, the consequences were easy to imagine. Both the Nalan Family and the Xiao Family would surely lose all face.

And this was also the beginning of Xiao Yan's path toward becoming the Flame Emperor...