The Two of Them, Dou Huang Experts??

Yun Yun watched Xiao Ding and Xiao Li block her path, her thoughts turning.

She needed to confirm one thing: were these two really Dou Huang experts?

A person could disguise their aura, but their moves could not lie.

"Since you insist on protecting Xiao Yan, then let me, the Sect Master, see what you're capable of."

As soon as Yun Yun finished speaking, she shot forward and struck at Xiao Li with her palm.

A Peak Dou Emperor's speed was astonishing.

Xiao Li's expression changed. He dodged sideways, and her palm brushed past his shoulder. The force of it roared against the wall behind him, splitting it with a crack.

Xiao Ding struck at the same time, sending a palm toward Yun Yun.

Yun Yun turned and met Xiao Ding's palm with her own.

"Bang!"

A muffled impact rang out.

Xiao Ding staggered back three steps before steadying himself.

Yun Yun hadn't moved an inch, but her expression changed.

She had used seventy percent of her strength in that palm strike. By her estimate, anyone below the One-Star Dou Emperor level wouldn't have been able to withstand it.

Yet Xiao Ding had not only blocked it, he'd been forced back just three steps.

As expected, he really is a Dou Emperor, Yun Yun murmured to herself.

Though he was only a One-Star Dou Emperor, he was undoubtedly one.

Both young masters of the Xiao Clan were Dou Emperors. How was that possible? It far exceeded Yun Yun's initial expectations.

How could a place like Wutan City's Xiao Clan possibly raise two Dou Huang experts? Even a One-Star Dou Emperor was an extraordinary existence.

Nalan Yanran stood to the side, eyes wide. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Back in Wutan City, Xiao Ding and Xiao Li had been nobodies. After just a few years apart, they had become Dou Huang experts.

"Teacher, this is impossible—" Nalan Yanran couldn't help saying.

Yun Yun ignored her and looked at Xiao Ding and Xiao Li.

"How did you do it?"

Xiao Li wiped the corner of his mouth and replied coolly, "What's it to you?"

"I'm just curious. The Xiao Clan is only a small family. There's no way it could raise Dou Emperors."

"Who said the Xiao Clan raised us?"

Yun Yun frowned. "Then who did?"

Xiao Li smiled. "My third brother. What, is that not allowed?"

As he spoke, Xiao Li turned to Nalan Yanran and mocked her coldly. "Some people are so shortsighted they look down on my third brother. It's truly laughable."

Yun Yun was stunned.

"You mean Xiao Yan? Xiao Yan helped raise your strength to the Dou Emperor level?"

"Who else? My third brother refined pills for us. We took them and broke through straight to the Dou Emperor level. So what?"

A storm surged through Yun Yun's heart.

Pills that could let someone break through straight to the Dou Emperor level—those had to be at least seventh-grade.

Xiao Yan was a seventh-grade alchemist? A seventh-grade alchemist at fifteen? That was impossible. Absolutely impossible.

Not a single person across the entire Dou Qi Continent had reached the seventh grade as an alchemist at the age of fifteen.

"You're lying."

"Believe it or not."

Nalan Yanran stepped forward, her eyes full of scorn.

"That good-for-nothing Xiao Yan can refine seventh-grade pills? If you're going to lie, at least come up with something believable."

Xiao Li looked at her without replying.

"Xiao Yan may have been a genius once, but what about later? In three years, he became a good-for-nothing with Three-Stage Dou Qi. How could someone like that be a seventh-grade alchemist? Stop trying to bluff us."

Xiao Ding replied coolly, "Believe it or not, that's your business. We don't need to explain ourselves to you."

Nalan Yanran gritted her teeth. "Don't meddle in this. Xiao Yan killed an elder of the Misty Cloud Sect and insulted our sect. If you keep protecting him, the Misty Cloud Sect won't let you off. You won't like what happens next."

"If you want to take our third brother away, then step over our corpses first. Enough with the nonsense."

Nalan Yanran's expression changed. "You—"

"That's enough." Yun Yun cut her off.

Nalan Yanran shut her mouth, unwillingly.

Yun Yun looked at Xiao Ding and Xiao Li and fell silent for a moment.

"Since you refuse to hand over Xiao Yan, I'll have to find him myself."

Dou Qi surged inside her as she struck with her palm. This time, she held nothing back.

A Three-Star Dou Emperor's full-force strike carried terrifying momentum.

Xiao Ding and Xiao Li didn't dare take it lightly and joined forces to block her.

"Bang!"

After the thunderous impact, all three of them staggered backward.

Blood trickled from the corners of Xiao Ding and Xiao Li's mouths.

Yun Yun wasn't in good shape either. Her arm trembled slightly.

She hadn't expected two One-Star Dou Emperors fighting together to actually injure her.

"Again," Xiao Li gritted out.

The two attacked at the same time, one on each side, closing in on Yun Yun.

Yun Yun didn't retreat. She advanced, striking again and again with her palms.

The three figures crossed paths throughout the hall as the sound of Dou Qi colliding rang out without pause.

The walls cracked and the tables and chairs were sent flying, leaving the entire hall in ruins.

Nalan Yanran retreated to a corner, her face pale. She couldn't possibly interfere in a battle between Dou Emperors.

"Bang!"

Another deafening impact rang out, and the three separated.

A trace of blood also trickled from the corner of Yun Yun's mouth.

Xiao Ding and Xiao Li were more badly injured, covered in blood from head to toe, yet they still stood.

"Big brother, you holding up?" Xiao Li gasped.

"I'm not dead yet."

Yun Yun looked at the two of them, shocked.

Two One-Star Dou Emperors had actually fought her to this point.

"You—"

Yun Yun was about to speak when a voice came from the distance.

"Big brother, second brother!"

Xiao Ding and Xiao Li both looked up, excitement flashing in their eyes. They knew that voice all too well.

"Third brother's back."

Xiao Ding nodded firmly, murmuring to himself, Third brother's back. He must have gotten the Heavenly Flame.

Two figures were approaching from afar.

Xiao Yan walked in front, with Qing Lin following behind him. They crossed the street toward the entrance of the Desert Iron Mercenary Group.

Xiao Yan's expression was calm and unreadable. Qing Lin followed at his heels with a light step.

When they reached the entrance, Xiao Yan stopped and saw the state of the hall.

The wrecked floor, the cracked walls, and Xiao Ding and Xiao Li, both covered in blood.

Xiao Yan's expression darkened. His gaze passed over Xiao Ding and Xiao Li and settled on Yun Yun and Nalan Yanran.

Nalan Yanran saw Xiao Yan too. Her eyes were filled with hostility, so much hatred that it seemed ready to spill out of them.

"Xiao Yan," Nalan Yanran spat through gritted teeth.

Xiao Yan ignored her and looked at Xiao Ding and Xiao Li.

"Big brother, second brother, are you all right?"

"We're fine."

"Just flesh wounds."

Xiao Yan nodded, then turned to look at Yun Yun.

Yun Yun looked at him too.

So this was Xiao Yan, the one who had killed Ge Ye, the Fourth Elder, and Yun Leng.

He looked no older than fifteen or sixteen, yet his eyes were terrifyingly calm.

"You're Xiao Yan?"

"Mm."

"I'm Yun Yun, Sect Master of the Misty Cloud Sect."

Xiao Yan looked at her, his expression unchanged.

"What's someone from the Misty Cloud Sect doing here?"

"Don't pretend you don't know. I came here to demand an explanation from you on behalf of the Misty Cloud Sect. You killed three of our elders. Everyone in our sect deserves an explanation and an account."

Xiao Yan replied coolly, "An explanation? What kind do you want?"

Seeing how indifferent he was, Nalan Yanran furrowed her brow.