Nalan Yanran's Grievance

Although the battle on Cloud Mist Mountain that day had not spread completely, every family in Jia Ma Holy City with even a little influence had learned more or less of what had happened.

For a time, undercurrents surged throughout Jia Ma Holy City and even the entire Jia Ma Empire.

The Nalan Clan, once the center of attention because Nalan Yanran had been accepted as Yun Yun's disciple, suddenly found its doorstep deserted. It was said that Old Master Nalan Jie had even fiercely reprimanded his only son, Nalan Su.

Several days passed in the blink of an eye.

Nalan Yanran, who had gone to Wutan City to break off the engagement, finally arrived at the foot of Cloud Mist Mountain. As she looked upon the familiar, towering mountain before her, her originally uneasy heart gradually settled.

The Yunlan Sect was the strongest sect in the Jia Ma Empire. Even across the Northwestern Continent, it was a renowned force, while her teacher, Yun Yun, was a Dou Emperor expert.

However, as Nalan Yanran walked up the stone steps of Cloud Mist Mountain with Ge Ye, she keenly sensed that something was off about the atmosphere on the mountain. Those fellow disciples who had once treated her with every imaginable respect and flattery now avoided her one after another.

She could even hear whispers around her. Quite a few disciples pointed at her and murmured among themselves, their gazes carrying traces of disgust and reproach.

It seemed that all of this was related to her trip to the Xiao Family to break off the engagement.

The accusations and curses around her filled Nalan Yanran with grievance. She could not understand why, after only a few short days, those fellow disciples had changed their attitudes toward her so drastically.

Before breaking off the engagement, what Nalan Yanran heard most often had been their praise and flattery, along with their indignant claims that they were standing up for her as they spoke of the unfairness of her engagement.

They said things like:

"The Xiao Family has no sense of propriety. They've already declined, yet they still dream of marrying into the Nalan Clan."

"Junior Sister Nalan, it isn't that we senior brothers and sisters are saying your fiancé is no good, but how could a mere cripple be worthy of a heavenly maiden like you?"

"Junior Sister Nalan, someone as fairy-like as you—are you really willing to marry a worthless man?"

"That Xiao Yan is nothing more than a toad lusting after swan flesh. If I were you, Junior Sister, I would have gone to the Xiao Family long ago and broken off that engagement."

"And Old Master Nalan, too—why should he sacrifice your happiness?"

"Junior Sister will lead our Yunlan Sect in the future. If you were to marry beneath yourself and wed such a worthless man, how could you face anyone afterward?"

Words like these had constantly echoed in Nalan Yanran's ears. It was as though that engagement was her shame, her sin; if she did not dissolve it, she would bring disgrace upon the Yunlan Sect and every disciple within it.

Those rumors were like invisible blades, falling upon Nalan Yanran in the fervor of her youth and tormenting her day and night.

Later, as her status in the Yunlan Sect steadily rose, Nalan Yanran gained confidence. After failing to persuade her grandfather, Nalan Jie, to dissolve the engagement, she acted in anger and personally led people to the Xiao Family, fulfilling their wishes by forcefully breaking off the engagement.

But why, after achieving what they wanted, did they turn around and condemn her, as though she had committed some monstrous crime?

At last, after climbing the long stone stairway, Nalan Yanran arrived before the jade plaza. Looking at the plaza, still wrecked beyond recognition, she understood everything.

Xiao Yan's biological uncle had personally attacked the Yunlan Sect. By himself, he had overwhelmed the entire sect and stripped it of all dignity.

The disciples of the Yunlan Sect had always taken pride in being members of the sect. In their hearts, the Yunlan Sect was a sacred land that could not be violated.

Yet now, the vast Yunlan Sect had been trampled beneath one man's feet. To these disciples, it was undoubtedly a tremendous blow.

But none of them dared vent their hostility or resentment upon Yang Chen. Naturally, they placed all the blame on Nalan Yanran, the so-called "chief culprit."

Having figured everything out, Nalan Yanran's eyes instantly reddened. She clenched her teeth without saying a word, then rushed into the Yunlan Sect's main hall amid the strange looks around her.

The moment she entered the hall and saw Yun Yun sitting alone in the empty chamber, Nalan Yanran threw herself into Yun Yun's arms. The next instant, her tears burst through the dam and streamed fiercely down her cheeks.

Seeing Nalan Yanran looking as pitiful as an injured little beast, Yun Yun reached out and gently patted her shoulder, softly comforting her disciple.

"It's all right, Yanran. Your teacher is here."

As she spoke, Yun Yun could not help but sigh. She had naturally seen the changes within the sect over the past few days, but there was nothing she could do.

Though Yun Yun was Yun Shan's personal disciple, she was still young and held little prestige within the sect. Before she had succeeded to the position of sect leader, Yun Leng had already managed the Yunlan Sect on Yun Shan's behalf for many years.

Moreover, Yun Yun preferred peace and quiet and disliked fighting for supremacy. Her temperament was somewhat weak. After becoming sect leader, she devoted most of her time to cultivation; otherwise, she could not have reached the Dou Emperor realm at such a young age.

One had to know that even within the same realm, the gaps could be enormous. Some Dou Emperors advanced quickly only because they single-mindedly pursued higher realms. Though their breakthroughs seemed fast, they had actually exhausted their potential and built unstable foundations, making it exceptionally difficult for them to break through to the Dou Sect realm in the future.

Others cultivated steadily and patiently, never in a rush. They broke through purely because the Dou Qi in their bodies had overflowed, forcing a breakthrough beyond their control. Yang Chen was one such person.

Yang Chen had only barely broken through to the Dou King realm at twenty because, without deliberately pursuing advancement, the Dou King realm was merely the lower limit of his cultivation at that age. For some people, however, the Dou King realm was the upper limit of their entire lives.

Though Yun Yun was not like Yang Chen, her foundation was still solid. Otherwise, despite lacking combat experience and knowing nothing about her opponent, she could not have fought a magical beast of the same cultivation level to a standstill before ultimately losing through underestimating it.

And it was precisely Yun Yun's temperament that led to her current situation. In the Yunlan Sect, she appeared to possess extremely high status and was revered by the younger disciples as a goddess. Yet in reality, as the events of that day had already revealed, she was a sect leader stripped of all power, with virtually no real authority.

Perhaps Yun Yun's comfort had worked, or perhaps being beside her teacher gave Nalan Yanran a sense of support. At that moment, she finally poured out the grievances in her heart.

"Teacher, why? Yanran doesn't understand. Why is everything like this? They were the ones who wanted me to break off the engagement from the beginning, but now they've pushed all the blame onto me alone."

"Yanran, don't overthink it. You did not make some great mistake. Your teacher is the one at fault."

Yun Yun did not understand either. Neither teacher nor disciple had experienced much of the world, and both were filled with confusion at this moment.

"At least Young Master Yang did not blame you, did he? And he promised that the marriage between you and Xiao Yan would be decided by the two of you. No one else would interfere."

"As for everyone else's gazes..."

After a long silence, Yun Yun finally withdrew her lonely, desolate gaze from the empty hall and sighed softly.

"Treat them as though they no longer have anything to do with either of us."