"Teacher, you're not joking with me, are you?"
"That good-for-nothing Xiao Yan, who only has Three-Stage Dou Qi, what kind of strength could he possibly have?"
"No one understands that better than I do."
"Otherwise, I never would have broken off our engagement."
"With his strength and talent, how could Mr. Yao possibly take him as a disciple?"
"Teacher, could the information our sect's disciples gathered be wrong?"
"I don't believe it."
Nalan Yanran shook her head.
She chose not to believe what Yun Yun had just told her.
Because, in Nalan Yanran's eyes,
Xiao Yan was nothing but a good-for-nothing whose strength had regressed and who now had only Three-Stage Dou Qi.
Who was Mr. Yao Chen?
He was a Rank 7 Alchemist of the Jia Ma Empire.
And the only one, too.
Now, all the great factions were vying to win him over.
They couldn't wait to curry favor with him.
How could such a major figure take that good-for-nothing Xiao Yan as his disciple?
Wouldn't that just be a burden?
Nalan Yanran shook her head.
No matter how it was put, she didn't believe it.
Xiao Yan had somehow gained the fortune to join Mr. Yao's tutelage and become his disciple and student.
"Yanran, you may not believe it, but this is the truth."
"The intelligence brought back by the disciples we sent out can't be wrong."
"Whether or not you believe it, Xiao Yan is Mr. Yao's disciple. That's an indisputable fact."
Yun Yun sighed as well.
She suddenly felt a little regretful.
She really shouldn't have indulged Yanran back then, letting her do whatever she pleased.
Now Mr. Yao Chen had already taken Xiao Yan as his disciple.
Given Mr. Yao's talent and strength,
wouldn't it be a piece of cake for him to train Xiao Yan?
And the situation now was this:
Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran had agreed to fight in three years.
If Xiao Yan beat Nalan Yanran three years from now,
the Misty Cloud Sect would surely lose face.
The entire Misty Cloud Sect would be disgraced as well.
After all, the future sect master had gone to the Xiao Clan to break off her engagement in person.
Then she had made a Three-Year Agreement, only to be defeated.
That would be nothing but bringing humiliation upon herself.
People would surely laugh at her.
And the Misty Cloud Sect wouldn't escape the fallout.
The sect would also be ridiculed and mocked by the public, becoming a topic of gossip over tea.
But beyond that,
the most important reason was this:
Given the situation now,
Xiao Yan was Mr. Yao Chen's disciple,
while Yanran was her own student.
Wouldn't that mean she had taken a stand against Mr. Yao Chen?
Yun Yun grew worried at the thought.
No wonder, before this,
she had kept trying to build a good relationship with Mr. Yao Chen.
Yet Mr. Yao had never been willing to meet her.
It seemed this was the crucial reason.
Nalan Yanran spoke up,
then looked at her teacher, Yun Yun, and said,
"Teacher, no matter what, that good-for-nothing Xiao Yan..."
"I absolutely won't lose to him in the Three-Year Agreement."
"Forget Mr. Yao taking him as a disciple—that's impossible."
"Even if it really is true, I still don't believe he can beat me."
"With a good-for-nothing like him, I just don't believe it."
"The one who loses the fight three years from now definitely won't be me."
Nalan Yanran sounded stubborn,
but inside, she couldn't help feeling shocked and curious.
Had that good-for-nothing Xiao Yan really been taken on as Mr. Yao's student?
If so, wouldn't she have no chance at all?
But for the sake of her pride,
Nalan Yanran remained haughty, unwilling to soften her stance.
"In any case, since we've learned that Mr. Yao is heading toward Shi Mo City,"
"why don't the two of us go pay him a visit?"
"Mr. Yao is a Dou Zong powerhouse of the Jia Ma Empire."
"Our Misty Cloud Sect absolutely cannot let the Jia Ma Imperial Family"
"or the other clans and factions get ahead of us."
"We must be the first to win Mr. Yao over."
Yun Yun spoke,
her expression extremely grave.
Nalan Yanran wasn't someone who failed to see the bigger picture.
She knew perfectly well how important it was for the Misty Cloud Sect to befriend a Rank 7 Alchemist.
If the Imperial Family got there first,
the Misty Cloud Sect's influence in the Jia Ma Empire
would drop considerably from then on.
"All right, Teacher. I'll go with you."
"But I still don't believe that good-for-nothing Xiao Yan"
"is worthy of being taken in by Mr. Yao. I just can't believe it."
Seeing how stubborn and obstinate Nalan Yanran was,
Yun Yun sighed again.
For now, she could only say,
"Very well. Since you don't believe it, I won't say anything more."
"In any case, once we reach Shi Mo City and you see Xiao Yan, you'll understand."
Nalan Yanran and her teacher, Yun Yun,
made some simple preparations
and got ready to leave the Misty Cloud Sect.
Just then, Gu He, an honorary elder
and the man known throughout the Jia Ma Empire as Pill King,
also arrived at the Misty Cloud Sect.
When he learned that the two of them were going to Shi Mo City,
where Mr. Yao would arrive in a few days,
Pill King Gu He immediately grew extremely interested.
Then he spoke up at once.
"Since Mr. Yao will arrive in Shi Mo City in a few days,"
"I'll go with you."
"A Rank 7 Alchemist like Mr. Yao"
"is certainly someone I, a Sixth-grade Alchemist, should pay a proper visit to."
"Even just chatting with him for a few words"
"might help me advance to Rank 7."
Although Pill King Gu He's reputation in the Jia Ma Empire was dazzling,
and he had long been the empire's number one Alchemist,
now that a Rank 7 Alchemist had appeared,
overshadowing his reputation,
Gu He wasn't petty and felt no jealousy.
Instead, he felt that a Grandmaster Alchemist like Yao Chen
must have the backing of some extraordinary power.
The more that was the case, the more he wanted to get to know him.
It could only benefit him in the future; there was no downside at all.
So he decided to accompany Nalan Yanran and Yun Yun.
In about a day or two,
the three of them had left the Misty Cloud Sect.
Before long, they arrived in Shi Mo City.
The city was surrounded by desert.
Quite a few mercenary groups were based there.
Besides the Desert Iron Mercenary Group,
there was also the Sand Mercenary Group and other factions.
But factions at the Master Fighter level
were nothing at all compared with the Misty Cloud Sect and its sect master, Yun Yun, a Dou Emperor.
At that moment,
inside the Desert Iron Mercenary Group's quarters,
Xiao Ding and Xiao Li were drinking
and talking about their third brother, Xiao Yan.
They were also furious about the recent incident when someone had come to break off his engagement.
Just then,
a mercenary walked in.
"First Captain, Second Captain, several mysterious powerhouses"
"have appeared to the north of our Desert Iron Mercenary Group!"
Xiao Ding and Xiao Li were both taken aback.
They left the room
and went outside.
Across the vast desert,
they could just make out three figures in the distance, near its center.
A few days later,
Yao Chen, Xiao Yan, and Xiao Yi Xian
had also just arrived in Shi Mo City.
They found the place where the Desert Iron Mercenary Group was based.
"Teacher, we're here. This is Shi Mo City!"