At her words, Nalan Yanran had no choice but to let it go.
She smiled and said, "The teacher is right. Even if Xiao Yan had ten times the guts, he wouldn't dare come to our Misty Cloud Sect!"
The Misty Cloud Sect was a powerful clan with deep roots, and the one thing it had no shortage of was strong fighters.
Never mind that her teacher was a Dou Huang expert. Every elder in the sect was a Dou Wang. What could the Xiao Clan possibly use to stand against them?
Besides, Xiao Yan was just a good-for-nothing, and Xiao Ze was even worse—a king among good-for-nothings, a total lung cancer.
The Xiao Clan really was something else, producing nothing but good-for-nothings to waste the air...
Yun Yun shook her head. "Yanran, things aren't always as you imagine them. There's nothing wrong with the Xiao Clan."
"Your temper is still too impatient. Let this matter end here, and don't bring it up again."
"I'm sorry, teacher. It was my fault." Nalan Yanran lowered her head.
"It's all right. Let the matter with the Xiao Clan serve as a lesson. From now on, focus on your cultivation and don't let outside things affect you. I'll personally train you to become the next sect master," Yun Yun said earnestly.
"I understand, teacher." Nalan Yanran nodded.
The day was bright and clear, a beautiful day by all accounts. Yet inside the imperial capital, the winds of change were already blowing.
With the Mittel Family at its head, Great Elder Mite'er Tengshan stepped forward and summoned every warrior in the family, looking very much as if he meant to rebel.
The news soon reached the Imperial Family.
"What! The Mittel Family is rebelling? Against the Misty Cloud Sect?"
Hearing the report from his subordinate, Jia Xingtian, the true power behind the Jia Ma Empire, stared in shock.
Had the Mittel Family gone mad?
How could a mere Dou Wang dare?!
"Is there someone else with him?" Jia Xingtian thought that something was off. Given Mite'er Tengshan's disposition, he would never rebel unless...
"It seems there's a third young master of the Xiao Clan with him, Xiao Ze. They say he's already a Dou Huang expert!"
"I knew it!" Jia Xingtian immediately understood.
The matter of Nalan Yanran, the Misty Cloud Sect's young sect master, breaking off her engagement had caused a huge stir. Almost everyone in the Jia Ma Empire knew about it.
He hadn't expected the one to come wouldn't be Xiao Yan, but the Xiao Clan's supposedly useless young man.
Still, the fact that the Xiao Clan had produced a Dou Huang expert was truly unexpected.
News of the Mittel Family's rebellion soon spread through every street and alley of the imperial capital. The Nalan Family was no exception.
"Good fortune cannot be avoided, and disaster cannot be escaped. What's coming will come." A sense of foreboding stirred in the heart of Nalan Jie, the leading figure of the Nalan Family and Nalan Yanran's grandfather.
He had strongly opposed the engagement being broken off back then. He hadn't expected the retribution to arrive so soon.
"Father, what should we do?" Nalan Su asked anxiously.
After all, Nalan Yanran was his daughter. If anything happened to her, he wouldn't want to go on living either.
"Look at you, you coward. Do you even look like a father?" Nalan Jie gave him a scornful glance.
"Besides, Nalan Yanran has the Misty Cloud Sect behind her. She's the young sect master. Even if the Xiao Clan threw everything it had at her, it wouldn't lay a finger on my granddaughter."
Things had come to this. There was no point saying more.
Even if they had been in the wrong, did the Xiao Clan really have no fault of its own?
As soon as word of the rebellion got out, the entire imperial capital erupted. Everyone waited eagerly, though the news had yet to reach the Misty Cloud Sect.
Everyone knew the Xiao Clan was coming to demand justice. Eager to watch the spectacle, they had bought their sunflower seeds and were ready for the show.
As the saying went, when something didn't concern you, you could watch from a lofty perch.
Still, they knew how powerful the Misty Cloud Sect was. Could a small clan like the Xiao Clan really take it on?
Even with the Mittel Family joining them, it would be no more than a drop in the bucket.
The Imperial Family of the capital was the best proof. The ruler of an entire empire was still forced to bow its head to the Misty Cloud Sect.
Yet there was nothing it could do, for the Misty Cloud Sect's power was beyond imagination.
"Senior sister, why has the sky gone dark?"
At that moment, the disciples of the Misty Cloud Sect were practicing swordsmanship outdoors, with Nalan Yanran overseeing them.
But the sky, which had been clear and cloudless, had turned gloomy. It looked as if dark clouds were pressing down on the city, ready to crush it, and the oppressive sight was frightening.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Nalan Yanran frowned, about to report it to her teacher, when urgent whistling suddenly rang out from the horizon.
Everyone's gaze was drawn toward the sound.
Nearly ten figures came flying from the horizon, each with dazzling Dou Qi Wings on their backs. It was a truly astonishing sight.
That meant the weakest among them had reached the Dou Wang level.
Most shocking of all, the two people at the front stood on empty air, flying without relying on Dou Qi Wings. They were unmistakably two Dou Zong experts!
Two Dou Zong experts—not just the Misty Cloud Sect, but the entire Jia Ma Empire might not be able to produce a pair.
And yet, at that moment, two Dou Zong experts had appeared above the Misty Cloud Sect.
The only words for the sight were: terrifying beyond belief.
The man at the front was a young man, handsome and aloof.
Beside him stood a woman of peerless beauty, whose every gesture carried an imposing authority that made people afraid to meet her eyes.
There was no doubt that the young man was Xiao Ze.
The supposedly useless young man of the Xiao Clan—said to be even more useless than Xiao Yan. After all, Xiao Yan had at least had a proud legend in his childhood, while Xiao Ze had nothing.
But reality had proved otherwise. That supposedly useless young man had come, making the grandest possible entrance to prove that the Xiao Clan had no good-for-nothings.
"Terrifying beyond belief. Two Dou Zong experts—where did the Xiao Clan find them?"
"With Xiao Ze bearing down on them like this, I doubt things will end peacefully today."
"I wonder if the Misty Cloud Sect can hold them off..."
"Wait, could that be the Ice Emperor? One of the empire's Ten Great Experts from back then?"
"That woman looks a little familiar..."
At that moment, all the influential people in the imperial capital had arrived. There was no doubt that today's battle might change the entire balance of power in the Jia Ma Empire. They couldn't afford to ignore it.
What shocked them was that Xiao Ze had somehow brought so many experts with him. Even the Dou Wang fighters were reduced to mere background.
"I'll go get the teacher..."
Nalan Yanran was dumbfounded.
This was beyond her ability to handle.
She simply couldn't understand how the supposedly useless Xiao Clan had managed to produce so many powerful fighters. Regret filled her heart.
If she hadn't broken off the engagement, none of this would have happened. But it was too late for that now.
She had to find her teacher, quickly.
"What's going on?" Yun Yun asked, bewildered.
"Teacher, this is bad! The Xiao Clan—the Xiao Clan is here! They say they're going to destroy the Misty Cloud Sect!" Nalan Yanran was terrified.
"Destroy the sect?" Yun Yun frowned. They had some nerve, thinking they could destroy the Misty Cloud Sect just like that.
Yet unease stirred faintly in her heart.
When she reached the plaza, she saw that the other side had come in force.
She sensed two Dou Zong experts, three Dou Huang experts, and several Dou Wang experts among them.
This lineup far surpassed that of the Misty Cloud Sect, and her spirits sank to the depths.
But when she saw who had come, the usually composed Misty Cloud Sect Master was struck dumb with astonishment.
"Sect Master Yun, it's been a long time," Xiao Ze said with a smile.
"Xiao Ze, how could it be you?"
Yun Yun's lovely face was filled with shock.
When she heard the Xiao Clan was coming, she thought Xiao Yan was coming to break off the engagement. She never imagined it would be him.
"Why couldn't it be me? Sect Master Yun, yesterday's cause has borne today's fruit. I'm sure you know how your disciple humiliated my Xiao Clan back then. Now I'm here."
"Why put yourself through this?" Bitterness showed on Yun Yun's face.
If she had known Xiao Ze was coming, she would never have given herself to him during their time in the Magical Beast Mountain Range—not even if it meant being killed by the Amethyst Winged Lion King.
"Sect Master Yun, I'm not here because of the matter between Nalan Yanran and my fourth brother. I've come for someone else."
Xiao Ze looked toward the rear mountain of the Misty Cloud Sect.
That was the real purpose of his visit.
This time, he absolutely would not allow his father to be taken by people from the Soul Hall again.
"As the sect master, I have to take responsibility for every disciple in the sect. If you insist on this, then you'll have to step over my dead body." Yun Yun's expression was resolute.
Xiao Ze shook his head. "You know I would never hurt you. Call Yun Shan out. Today, I'm taking his dog's life!"
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