Nalan Yanran's Change

There was no need to say anything about Xiao Xun'er. In the eyes of a lover, the beloved could do no wrong.

To Xiao Xun'er, Xiao Feng was simply the finest man in the world.

Even the talented young men of the Gu Clan could not compare to him, much less a mere Nalan Yanran.

Xiao Yan's confidence mainly came from Yao Lao. With the Xun Dragon Nine Transformations Yao Lao had given him, Xiao Feng's cultivation technique had already far surpassed Nalan Yanran's.

Once Xiao Yan became an alchemist himself, he would also find a way to refine some pills that could raise cultivation for Xiao Feng, ensuring his older brother would not fall behind Nalan Yanran in terms of cultivation resources either.

After saying goodbye to Xiao Yan and the others, Xiao Feng left the Xiao Family and headed to the market to buy supplies for surviving in the wild, such as food, water, and tents.

Fortunately, Xiao Xun'er had given Xiao Feng a Storage Ring a few days ago. Its Storage Space was hundreds of cubic meters in size; otherwise, he would have had to carry countless bags with him during his travels, which would certainly have caused no small amount of trouble.

Given Xiao Xun'er's intelligence, she had probably anticipated that Xiao Feng would be going out to gain experience. That was why she had given him both Mystic High-Rank Dou Skills and a Storage Ring.

She really was the perfect candidate for a virtuous wife and loving mother!

Capital of the Jia Ma Empire

More than ten li outside the capital stood a majestic mountain peak a thousand zhang high, known as Misty Cloud Mountain.

Misty Cloud Mountain was steep, with cliffs on three sides and only a single path leading to its summit. It was a typical strategic location that was easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Two li from the foot of Misty Cloud Mountain, fifty thousand imperial cavalry were stationed there.

Though those cavalry appeared to be guarding the capital, anyone with eyes could see that they were actually keeping watch against the ferocious tiger outside the city—Misty Cloud Sect!

Meanwhile, in the dense forest behind Misty Cloud Sect, a sword-wielding young woman clad in black was fiercely battling five Iron Claw Wolves with grayish-black fur.

Iron Claw Wolves were fairly common first-rank magical beasts. Their combat strength rivaled that of three- or four-star Dou Zhes, and they were pack-dwelling beasts particularly skilled at attacking in groups.

Faced with the encirclement of five Iron Claw Wolves, the girl in black remained remarkably calm, using agile footwork to evade attacks aimed at her vital points.

Whenever she truly could not avoid an attack, the girl in black would trade injury for life, suffering minor wounds in exchange for killing the Iron Claw Wolf attacking her.

After more than ten minutes of fierce fighting, all five Iron Claw Wolves, which had been starved for two days, died beneath the girl in black's sword. Several savage claw marks had also appeared on her arms and thighs.

"Gulp!"

Breathing somewhat heavily, the expressionless girl in black took out a healing pill and swallowed it. Then she sat down directly on the ground to recover her injuries and strength.

"Alas..."

Ge Ye, who stood nearby, could not help letting out a helpless sigh at the sight.

Ever since Nalan Yanran had returned from Wutan City, she had seemed like an entirely different person. Her dedication to cultivation had become downright frightening.

Nalan Yanran had once liked wearing white, but now she preferred black, because bloodstains did not show as easily on black clothes.

After losing to Xiao Feng in Wutan City, Nalan Yanran had deeply realized how lacking her practical combat experience was.

Therefore, after returning to Misty Cloud Sect, Nalan Yanran had specifically asked the sect elders to capture many first-rank magical beasts alive for her, all to improve her practical combat experience.

At first, Nalan Yanran could barely handle a single Iron Claw Wolf. But after this period of Practical Combat Training, she could now face the joint assault of five Iron Claw Wolves at once. Her combat strength had increased by at least several times.

Of course, for Nalan Yanran to undergo such a complete transformation in less than a month, she had also endured a great deal of suffering.

If Nalan Yanran had not been the Young Sect Master of Misty Cloud Sect, with enough pills to heal her wounds and remove her scars, then even if she had not exhausted herself to death, she would have become hideous.

The higher-ups of Misty Cloud Sect had also witnessed all of Nalan Yanran's changes during this time, causing the elders who had originally held many complaints to shut their mouths one after another.

Although Nalan Yanran had brought considerable disgrace upon Misty Cloud Sect by losing to Xiao Feng, whose cultivation was lower than hers, at the Xiao Family, it was still a good thing that she had recognized her shame and worked harder afterward.

Just as Nalan Yanran closed her eyes to heal, a female disciple dressed in the uniform of a Yun Lan Sect Disciple hurried over.

"Greetings, Elder Ge Ye."

The female disciple first bowed to Ge Ye, then cupped her hands toward Nalan Yanran. "Senior Sister Nalan, Nalan Su has come to Misty Cloud Sect. He says he wants to see you."

"Understood."

Nalan Yanran slowly opened her beautiful eyes and said expressionlessly, "Lead the way."

"Yes!"

Led by the female disciple, the three of them headed for the reception hall together.

Inside the spacious, brightly lit reception hall, a middle-aged man with a gloomy expression was frowning irritably, tapping his fingers impatiently against the tea table.

Nalan Su was in an awful mood. His own father had beaten him and practically chased him up Misty Cloud Mountain with a stick.

Nalan Su had never expected that his precious daughter, whom he had doted on since childhood, would screw him over so badly. While he was away, she had secretly run to the Xiao Family to break off the engagement.

Those who knew the truth were one thing; they knew that Nalan Yanran had willfully gone to the Xiao Family to break off the engagement herself, and that it had nothing to do with the Nalan Family.

But in the eyes of those who did not know the truth, it clearly looked as though the Nalan Family had become snobbish, seeing that the Xiao Family had fallen on hard times and wanting to renege on the marriage agreement.

Worst of all, Nalan Yanran had even lost to the person whose engagement she wanted to break off. It would have been bad enough if the engagement had failed to end, but she had also utterly disgraced the Nalan Family.

Who in the Jia Ma Empire did not know that Nalan Jie cared deeply about face? Those rumors reaching his ears were more unbearable than killing him. He was so furious that he flew into a rage, smoke practically pouring from all seven orifices.

If not for the problems with Nalan Jie's health, he would have personally come to Misty Cloud Sect long ago to teach Nalan Yanran a lesson.

"Father, why have you suddenly come to Misty Cloud Sect?"

When Nalan Yanran saw Nalan Su's irritated face, a faint smile also appeared on her beautiful, frost-cold face.

"You think I wanted to come to Misty Cloud Sect? Isn't it because of you—"

Just as Nalan Su was about to lose his temper, he suddenly noticed the wounds on Nalan Yanran's arms and thighs. His expression changed drastically. "Yanran, how did you get hurt? Could it be that someone in Misty Cloud Sect dared to bully you? What kind of teacher is Yun Yun?"

"Father, don't worry. No one bullied Yanran."

Seeing Nalan Su's anxious, concerned expression, a trace of warmth flowed through Nalan Yanran's heart. Smiling, she explained, "These injuries were accidentally left behind when I was fighting Iron Claw Wolves in actual combat just now. They're only minor flesh wounds. I've already taken healing pills, so there won't be any lasting problems."