Xiao Yan had just walked out of the hall when hurried footsteps sounded behind him.
Nalan Yanran caught up and blocked his path.
"Xiao Yan, stop right there."
Xiao Yan stopped and looked at Nalan Yanran.
"What else?"
"You think killing the Fourth Elder is the end of it?" Nalan Yanran said coldly. "The Misty Cloud Sect won't let you get away with this."
Xiao Yan said nothing.
"Your strength is indeed formidable. I admit I underestimated you," Nalan Yanran said. "But so what? You killed an elder of the Misty Cloud Sect. The sect will take revenge, and then you'll know what regret feels like."
Xiao Yan looked at Nalan Yanran and said indifferently, "Are you finished?"
Nalan Yanran froze.
"If you're finished, then get lost."
Nalan Yanran flew into a rage. "You!"
Smack.
A sharp sound rang out.
Xiao Yan slapped Nalan Yanran across the face.
Nalan Yanran was completely stunned. She covered her cheek and stared at Xiao Yan in disbelief.
"You... you hit me?"
"With a mouth that filthy, who else should I hit?" Xiao Yan said indifferently.
Nalan Yanran trembled with rage. Her cheek burned with pain, but her heart hurt even more.
Nalan Yanran was the Sect Master of the Misty Cloud Sect's personal disciple and one of the most outstanding young people in the Jia Ma Empire. Yet before Xiao Yan, she hadn't even had a chance to fight back.
He had divorced her, slapped her, and humiliated her again and again.
"Xiao Yan, just you wait," Nalan Yanran gritted out. "The Misty Cloud Sect won't let you get away with this."
Xiao Yan ignored Nalan Yanran and turned to leave.
Nalan Yanran stood there, stamping her feet in fury as she watched Xiao Yan walk away.
Nalan Yanran hated Xiao Yan to the bone, but there was nothing she could do to him now.
Nalan Yanran gritted her teeth and turned to walk in the opposite direction.
Nalan Yanran was going back to the Misty Cloud Sect. She would tell her teacher that Xiao Yan had killed the Fourth Elder and make the sect get justice for her.
Two days later, at the Misty Cloud Sect.
In the great hall, Yun Yun sat in the Sect Master's seat.
Several elders stood on either side, discussing something.
Yun Leng stood at the front, his expression grim.
" Sect Master, the Fourth Elder went to the Xiao Clan two days ago. Why haven't we heard anything from him yet?" Yun Leng asked.
Yun Yun furrowed her brow. "Let's wait a little longer."
"Could something have gone wrong?" the Second Elder asked.
"What could have gone wrong?" the Third Elder said. "The Fourth Elder is a Dou Wang expert. What could a little Xiao Clan possibly do to him?"
"The Third Elder is right," the Fifth Elder said. "The Xiao Clan is just a minor clan. The Fourth Elder went there, so surely they'll obediently hand the person over."
Yun Leng nodded. "He should be back soon."
Footsteps sounded outside the great hall.
Nalan Yanran walked in. Her face was pale, and she looked visibly exhausted.
Two days of travel had left Nalan Yanran looking rather disheveled.
Seeing Nalan Yanran, Yun Yun spoke. "Yanran, you're back."
Nalan Yanran walked to the middle of the hall and knelt.
"Teacher."
Yun Yun looked at Nalan Yanran and furrowed her brow.
"What happened? Where's Xiao Yan? Where's the Fourth Elder?"
Nalan Yanran lifted her head, her eyes reddening.
"Teacher, the Fourth Elder... is dead."
The great hall fell silent at once.
Yun Yun's expression changed, and the elders froze as well.
"What did you say?" Yun Leng was the first to react. "The Fourth Elder is dead?"
"Yes," Nalan Yanran said.
"How did he die?" Yun Leng asked urgently.
"Xiao Yan killed him," Nalan Yanran said.
Her words set off an uproar in the great hall.
"Impossible," the Second Elder said. "The Fourth Elder is a Dou Wang expert. How could a useless nobody like Xiao Yan kill him?"
"The Second Elder is right," the Third Elder said. "Yanran, could you have seen wrong?"
"I didn't," Nalan Yanran said. "Xiao Yan really did kill the Fourth Elder. I saw it with my own eyes."
The elders' expressions all changed.
Shock flashed in Yun Leng's eyes.
"A Three-Stage Dou Qi nobody like Xiao Yan could kill the Fourth Elder?" Yun Leng said. "That's impossible."
"First Elder, Xiao Yan isn't useless," Nalan Yanran said. "He's incredibly strong."
"How strong?" Yun Leng asked.
"I don't know," Nalan Yanran said. "I only know the Fourth Elder didn't even have a chance to fight back against him. It took just one move. The Fourth Elder couldn't withstand even a single move."
The great hall fell silent again.
The elders looked at one another, their eyes full of shock.
The Fourth Elder was a Dou Wang expert. Anyone who could defeat him in a single move had to be at least a Dou Emperor. A fifteen-year-old Dou Emperor? How could that be possible?
"Yanran, are you sure you didn't see wrong?" Yun Yun asked.
"Teacher, I'm sure," Nalan Yanran said. "I saw it with my own eyes. The Fourth Elder struck first, and Xiao Yan sent him flying with a single palm strike. The Fourth Elder refused to accept it and attacked him from behind, but Xiao Yan turned around and killed him with a palm strike."
Yun Yun fell silent.
A tempest surged in Yun Yun's heart. A fifteen-year-old who could kill a Dou Wang expert—there were only a handful of talents like that on the entire Dou Qi Continent.
"Sect Master, we can't let this matter go," Yun Leng said angrily. "The Fourth Elder was killed. The Misty Cloud Sect must demand an explanation."
"The First Elder is right," the Second Elder said. "By killing the Fourth Elder, Xiao Yan has shown utter contempt for the Misty Cloud Sect."
"Destroy the Xiao Clan," the Third Elder said. "Avenge the Fourth Elder."
"Exactly, destroy the Xiao Clan," the Fifth Elder added. "How dare a mere little clan lay a hand on someone from the Misty Cloud Sect?"
The elders clamored for revenge and the destruction of the Xiao Clan.
Yun Yun raised her hand, signaling for them to quiet down.
"Enough."
The elders fell silent and looked at Yun Yun.
"Sect Master, you're not thinking of letting the Xiao Clan off, are you?" Yun Leng asked.
"I never said I would let the Xiao Clan off," Yun Yun said. "But we can't act rashly."
"Why not?" Yun Leng asked indignantly. "The Fourth Elder was killed, and we're supposed to put up with it?"
"First Elder, calm down," Yun Yun said. "If Xiao Yan could kill the Fourth Elder, then he may well be at the peak of the Dou Wang level or even a Dou Emperor. Do you understand what it means for a fifteen-year-old to be a Dou Emperor?"
The elders fell silent.
"It means a major force must be backing and cultivating him," Yun Yun said. "We can't afford to offend someone like that lightly."
"Sect Master, aren't you overthinking it?" Yun Leng said. "The Xiao Clan is just a minor clan. What major force could it possibly have behind it?"
"The Xiao Clan may not have one, but that doesn't mean Xiao Yan doesn't," Yun Yun said. "How could Xiao Yan have reached the Dou Emperor level at fifteen without a force backing him?"
Yun Leng opened his mouth, but no words came out.
"Let's investigate this matter before deciding what to do," Yun Yun said. "Until we know the truth, no one is to act rashly."
The elders were unhappy, but the Sect Master had spoken, and they didn't dare disobey.
Yun Leng gritted his teeth and said nothing.
Nalan Yanran remained kneeling, deeply dissatisfied.
Nalan Yanran had thought that once she returned to the Misty Cloud Sect, her teacher would immediately take her side and send people to destroy the Xiao Clan. Instead, her teacher had said they shouldn't act rashly.
"Teacher," Nalan Yanran said.
"What is it?" Yun Yun asked.
"Are we just going to let the Fourth Elder die for nothing?" Nalan Yanran asked.
"I never said he died for nothing," Yun Yun said. "But we can't rush into this."
Nalan Yanran was unhappy, but she didn't dare say anything more.
"You may all leave," Yun Yun said.
The elders exchanged glances, then turned and left.
Nalan Yanran got to her feet and followed them out.
As she left the great hall, Nalan Yanran glanced back, her heart filled with resentment.
Xiao Yan, just you wait. One day, I'll make you pay.
Before you continue