Don't Bully a Young Girl in Her Poverty, Become a Disciple to Yao Lao, and Prepare to Take Off

When Xiao Yan arrived at the Xiao Clan main hall, Misty Cloud Sect elder Ge Ye had already arrived with Nalan Yanran.

Because of the butterfly effect stemming from the original work, his social standing was not all that bad, and when he reached the main hall, there was still a stool waiting for him.

Yet coincidentally, the seat happened to be right beside the girl in purple.

Under the gazes of everyone present, Xiao Yan calmly walked over, sat down, and smiled. "Xun'er."

Xiao Xun'er's originally cold face also blossomed with a faint smile. "Big Brother Xiao Yan, you're here."

"Yeah, after all, I'm the protagonist." Xiao Yan's gaze swept over Nalan Yanran.

Xiao Xun'er nodded, then spoke in a low voice. "Big Brother Xiao Yan, you need to mentally prepare yourself. They've come with bad intentions."

"Don't worry." Xiao Yan flashed a reassuring smile.

"Isn't it just breaking off an engagement? It's no big deal."

Xiao Xun'er felt a slight trace of surprise. "How did Big Brother Xiao Yan know?"

Xiao Yan explained. "I'm just a good-for-nothing whose talent vanished and whose cultivation remains stuck at the Dou Qi Eight Stage. Yet she is the young sect master of the Misty Cloud Sect with a bright future ahead of her. Now that she's suddenly showing up uninvited, aside from dissolving the betrothal, I imagine there's nothing else."

Xiao Xun'er nodded in agreement with this guess, feeling somewhat indignant. "This Nalan Yanran has no vision whatsoever; she will definitely regret this matter in the future!"

While Xiao Yan and Xiao Xun'er were conversing, in the center of the hall, Nalan Yanran saw that Ge Ye and Xiao Zhan had been dawdling for ages without broaching the main issue, so she simply stepped forward herself.

"Clan Leader Xiao, this niece has come to the Xiao Clan today to settle a matter." Nalan Yanran wore a solemn expression.

Xiao Zhan's heart gave a sudden thump, a bad premonition washing over him.

"What matter, Niece Nalan?" Xiao Zhan asked.

Nalan Yanran glanced at Xiao Yan's indifferent expression, then turned back and spoke coldly. "Clan Leader Xiao, this niece is already the young sect master of the Misty Cloud Sect."

"As you must know, major sects usually have certain rules."

"According to what my master stated personally, the young sect master of the Misty Cloud Sect is not permitted to entangle herself with men, and so..."

Nalan Yanran paused slightly, preparing to spit out those two words in the very next moment.

Inside the hall, everyone could guess the two words Nalan Yanran was about to utter.

Xiao Zhan's complexion turned ashen in an instant.

Breaking off an engagement was an insult to Xiao Yan, to him, and to the entire Xiao Clan, leaving them unable to hold their heads high.

"Enough!"

Just a second before Nalan Yanran was about to spit out the words breaking the engagement, Xiao Yan rose from his seat and spoke with a calm expression. "You don't need to say those two words."

"I already understand your intent."

"As for this betrothal, you look down on it, and I haven't cared for it either."

"Now that you wish to cancel it, naturally I will not obstruct you."

"Yet you should not, in any way, have used such a humiliating method!" Reaching this point, Xiao Yan had already furrowed his brow.

"Fight a match with me. If you win, this betrothal will be considered broken by you. If I win, then you will..."

He tore off a strip of his robe, bit open his fingertip, and wrote a large character of annulment across the fabric.

"Accept my letter of annulment!"

The flying strip of fabric landed on Nalan Yanran's face. Nalan Yanran bit her silvery teeth together and cried out. "Annul... you're annulling me?"

"Xiao Yan, do you think you're still that Xiao Clan genius whom I need to look up to?!"

"Since you're so confident, then take my sword!"

Nalan Yanran gripped her treasured sword tightly and thrust it toward Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan's physical body was comparable to a Rank Two Magical Beast, and his strength rivaled a Dou Master. Nalan Yanran was merely a puny Three-Star Dou Zhe; how could she possibly be his match?

He merely reached out two fingers, aiming straight at the sword Nalan Yanran had thrust forward, and clamped down with pinpoint accuracy.

Instantly...

"Clang!"

The longsword snapped in two at the sound, and before a single person in the hall could react, the piece of the broken sword caught between Xiao Yan's fingers was directly flicked back by him like a flying dart.

The broken sword tore through the air, moving at blistering speed.

Nalan Yanran's eyes constricted nearly to the size of pinpricks as she retreated in a panic.

"Whoosh!"

The broken sword brushed past her cheek, severing a few strands of dark hair.

Nalan Yanran collapsed onto the ground, waves of a lingering chill creeping up her spine.

Xiao Yan withdrew his hand, swept his gaze across the room, and stated. "You used to look up to me, and now you still look up to me, and in the future you'll look up to me just the same."

"Work hard, and don't end up unable to even see my retreating figure in the end."

Nalan Yanran trembled all over, her hair disheveled as she glared fiercely at Xiao Yan. "Xiao Yan, for thirty years the river flows east, for thirty years the river flows west—don't bully a young girl in her poverty!"

"You are nothing more than a good-for-nothing whose cultivation is stuck at the Dou Qi Eight Stage, whereas I will continue to grow."

"Three years from now, I will come to the Xiao Clan once again to challenge you! I'll wash away today's humiliation!"

With those words, Nalan Yanran scrambled to her feet and fled as if escaping for her life.

Xiao Yan's mouth hung slightly open, his gaze carrying a look of bewilderment.

Wait, was something not quite right here?

How did Nalan Yanran end up challenging him, and why did she steal his famous line?

He hadn't received any copyright fees.

This Nalan Yanran really lacked any copyright awareness.

At this moment, Ge Ye finally recovered from the shock of witnessing Xiao Yan's strength and hastily grabbed the other Misty Cloud Sect disciple to follow closely behind.

Today, the betrothal had indeed been dissolved, but they had lost every shred of their face—what an absolute loss that outweighed the gain.

Once the three members of the Misty Cloud Sect departed, only Xiao Yan remained standing alone in the center of the hall.

Xiao Yan cupped his fists in a salute toward Xiao Zhan. "Father, the matter is settled, so this child will take his leave."

"Good, good, go ahead and tend to your own matters." Xiao Zhan's eyes were filled with incomparable astonishment. He never expected that Xiao Yan, with an eight-stage Dou Qi cultivation, could effortlessly defeat the three-star Dou Zhe Nalan Yanran. He truly was worthy of being his son!

Leaving the Xiao Clan main hall, Xiao Yan walked alone to the back mountain, gazing in a daze at the distant Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Why isn't Yao Lao coming out yet? Xiao Yan muttered inwardly.

As he pondered, his soul force, which had reached the Third Tier, suddenly detected a trace of soul fluctuation.

Joy blossomed in Xiao Yan's heart, and he immediately understood this was a prime opportunity. His expression instantly turned stern as he shouted toward the ancient ring on his hand. "Who is it? Come out!"

No one responded.

Xiao Yan kept his gaze fixed on it without moving away.

A few seconds later, an aged, illusory soul body drifted out from within, smiling wryly. "Little fellow, your soul force is truly extraordinary. Old man here only showed the slightest flaw and you managed to spot it."

Maintaining a vigilant expression on the surface, Xiao Yan asked. "Why are you inside my mother's heirloom? Did my cultivation vanishing have something to do with you?"

Yao Lao awkwardly stroked his beard and chuckled. "Little fellow, about that... due to certain circumstances, old man here fell into a deep slumber inside your ring, and so I absorbed some of your Dou Qi."

"Rest assured, though, since I've absorbed your Dou Qi for so many years, old man here will naturally compensate you."

"Hehe, in my lifetime I was the continent's number one Alchemist, you know." Yao Lao proudly tilted his head up.

Amused inwardly, Xiao Yan feigned deep shock on the outside. "No wonder you can survive in the form of a soul body; Senior is truly formidable."

Becoming even more pleased with himself, Yao Lao continued. "That's right. Little fellow, I've been observing you for quite some time now."

"Resources are scarce in this place of yours, and your cultivation methods and Dou Techniques are of even lower grades."

"Become my disciple, and I can give you high-grade cultivation methods and Dou Techniques. Coupled with the wood-attribute Dou Qi infused with fire that you displayed when breaking through to Dou Zhe previously, you have every possibility of becoming an Alchemist, and I can teach you."

Knowing how responsible this unseemly old man actually was and what an capable, excellent teacher he made, Xiao Yan smoothly took the opportunity to step down from the wall, feigning excitement as he spoke. "Please accept this disciple's bow, Teacher!"

At the same time, he thought to himself. Prepare to take off!