Battle Through the Heavens: Flame Emperor, Please Restrain Yourself, Your Brother Is Truly Quite Simple

It was just that Yun Yan, who clearly seemed somewhat interested in him, turned out to be Nalan Yanran. He would have to slightly alter his original plans.

"I heard outside that you came to the Xiao Clan to break off an engagement?" Zhang Yuan asked with a cold expression.

"Yes!" Nalan Yanran nodded, not daring to look at Zhang Yuan.

He did not know whether she felt that she had done something wrong or if there was some other reason.

"And you even brought out Qi Gathering Powder. What generous compensation." Zhang Yuan swept his gaze over the pills on the table and lightly waved a hand. A box appeared on the table beside Xiao Zhan.

Inside the box lay three pills identical to those Ge Ye had produced.

Then, in a mocking tone, he said, "My Xiao Clan will offer three Qi Gathering Powders as compensation to you. Today, my cousin Xiao Yan will repudiate you and grant you the freedom you desire. How about it?"

"You want him to repudiate me?!" Nalan Yanran raised her head and stared at Zhang Yuan in disbelief, her face as pale as a ghost.

In the corner, Xiao Yan watched this unfold and felt immensely satisfied.

Although they had not met in two years, Zhang Yuan was still that good cousin who "loved" him, just as important to him as Xiao Zhan.

Zhang Yuan was one year older than Xiao Yan. Both had begun cultivating Qi at four, reached Nine-stage Dou Qi at ten, successfully condensed their Dou Qi Vortex at eleven, and became the youngest Dou Zhes in the Xiao Clan's century-long history at twelve. They were known as the Twin Pride of the Xiao Family.

But heaven had played a joke on him. After breaking through to Dou Zhe, his cultivation regressed for three consecutive years, leaving him stuck at Three-stage Dou Qi and turning him into useless trash. Meanwhile, Zhang Yuan became increasingly dazzling, breaking through to Four-star Dou Zhe at thirteen and becoming a Six-star Dou Zhe at fourteen.

With Zhang Yuan's brilliance before him, Xiao Yan, despite being a transmigrator and inwardly proud, had never looked down on others. He even cultivated harder than most, so after becoming useless trash, he was not hated by the younger generation of the clan.

One year after Xiao Yan became useless trash, Zhang Yuan, like his biological brothers Xiao Ding and Xiao Li, left to gain experience and tried to find a cure for him.

Half a year ago, a Second-grade Alchemist visited the Xiao Clan, saying he had come at Zhang Yuan's request to treat Xiao Yan. Unfortunately, he had been unable to identify the source of the illness.

His cousin was still the same good cousin. He would repay him even with his life!

"How ridiculous." Zhang Yuan calmly met Nalan Yanran's gaze and said coldly, "You should know how much humiliation your act of coming here to break off the engagement would bring to my cousin, my Uncle, and the Xiao Clan, yet you still stubbornly pressed on. Do you not allow my Xiao Clan to repudiate you?"

"What choice did I have?" Nalan Yanran's eyes reddened with tears. With a trace of grievance, she said, "I mentioned this to my grandfather, but he was unwilling to agree because of his pride. Should I then marry a stranger I have never even met?"

Hearing this, Zhang Yuan frowned. "Wasn't it because my cousin's talent disappeared, and you felt he was unworthy of you, the personal disciple of the Misty Cloud Sect's leader, that you came to break off the engagement?"

Xiao Yan stared fixedly at Nalan Yanran, his hands clenched so tightly that veins bulged.

That was what he thought as well.

"Is that how you see me?" Nalan Yanran said, her voice carrying a hint of tears. "If I, Nalan Yanran, were the kind of person who fawned on the powerful and trampled the weak as you claim, would my master have accepted me as her disciple? Do you think the Misty Cloud Sect would take in a snob?"

"I simply do not want to marry a stranger. Why should a moment of whim by our ancestors determine the rest of my life, Nalan Yanran's life?!"

This question was deafening, leaving Xiao Zhan and many of the younger members of the Xiao Clan speechless.

Putting aside the disparity in status and strength between Nalan Yanran and Xiao Yan, from Nalan Yanran's personal perspective, arranged childhood engagements truly had many drawbacks.

But when family interests and political marriages were taken into account, such sacrifices were common.

One could only say that if one enjoyed the benefits provided by the family, one ought to make sacrifices in return.

Yet Xiao Zhan and the others were not suited to say such words.

"Why?"

Zhang Yuan took a step forward and said seriously, "Because you were born into the Nalan Family."

"While others fought desperately for a mouthful of food, you lived a life clothed in silk and fed whenever you opened your mouth."

"While others fought desperately for a Yellow-tier low-grade cultivation method, you had a Mysterious-tier high-grade cultivation method prepared by your family."

"You think your talent is quite good, but if you had not been born into the Nalan Family and had instead come from a minor clan or even a commoner's household, do you think you would have had the chance to display your talent and be accepted as Yun Yun's disciple?"

"Tell me, then. Why?"

Nalan Yanran staggered back several steps until she hit the wall, all color draining from her face.

She was only fifteen. She had truly never considered the issues Zhang Yuan had raised before.

So, had she been wrong?

"Yuan'er." Xiao Zhan felt deeply gratified.

The child he had raised with his own hands had indeed not become an ungrateful wretch.

"Han Feng should really come hear these words." Within the ring on Xiao Yan's hand, a soul sighed inwardly.

"So you mean I should simply accept my fate?" Nalan Yanran revealed a bitter smile.

"I did not say that." Zhang Yuan shook his head.

Nalan Yanran:?

The Xiao Clan members:?

"You are not wrong either. One's life should not be decided by others." Zhang Yuan said seriously, "Based on what I know of Yan, he would not want to marry a strange woman either, even if she were outstanding and beautiful."

"Right, Yan?"

Zhang Yuan turned to look toward the corner.

"That's right!" Xiao Yan strode over to Zhang Yuan's side and said with a serious expression, "Regarding the marriage between us, I spoke with Father about it long ago. If possible, I wanted to quietly dissolve the engagement."

"Setting aside whether I, Xiao Yan, might remain useless forever and hold back a favored daughter of heaven like you, I also did not want to marry a woman I knew nothing about."

"But Father said that our Xiao Clan could not compare to the Nalan family. If we took the initiative to raise the matter, it would surely damage the Nalan family's dignity, so we pretended not to know."

"If your Nalan elders came to dissolve the engagement, we would agree. If the Nalan family elders did not mention it, then after you and I became adults, we would tacitly avoid bringing it up and act as though nothing had happened."

"But now, as a junior, you have relied on the Misty Cloud Sect's influence to come break off the engagement. This is not only slapping the Xiao Clan's face, but also slapping the Nalan family's face."

"I, I..." Nalan Yanran could not find the words.

She finally realized what her problem was.

There was nothing wrong with wanting to end the engagement, but she had gone about it the wrong way.

She had been self-righteous and used Yun Yun's favor to play clever little tricks.

"I'm sorry, I didn't... I didn't..." Nalan Yanran wanted to apologize, but did not know how to say it.

Seeing this, Ge Ye wanted to speak up and smooth things over. After all, Nalan Yanran was the personal disciple of the Misty Cloud Sect's leader.

However, Zhang Yuan suddenly glanced at him, making him feel as if a Third-tier Magical Beast had locked onto him. A chill ran down his back.

"Saying sorry is useless. The mistake has already been made, and you must pay the price for it." Zhang Yuan withdrew his gaze and said to Nalan Yanran, "You can repay what your family gave you through other means, rather than only by obeying them and marrying.

"But before you have repaid even a fraction of your family's kindness, you have caused both the Xiao Clan and the Nalan family to lose face. How you explain yourself to the Nalan family is none of the Xiao Clan's concern. As for the Xiao Clan..."

Zhang Yuan looked at Xiao Yan, meaning that it was Xiao Yan's matter to decide.

Xiao Yan blinked, examined Nalan Yanran a few more times, and asked, "How about changing the marriage partner to Cousin? Then we can pretend Nalan Yanran never came to break off the engagement?"

Zhang Yuan:?

Nalan Yanran inwardly: +ω+

That was not impossible. This Xiao Yan was actually a decent person.

Xun Er: "."

My Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame wants to burn something.

(End of Chapter)