Nalan Yanran's "Capture" Plan vs. An Yi's "Loach" Footwork: The Whole Crowd Went Wild

On the arena, An Yi cleared his throat, held up three fingers, and began laying out his terms:

"Since you want to challenge me, let's make the ugly stuff clear first. We need to set a few rules!"

"First! Absolutely no hitting the face! I make my living with this face!"

Nalan Yanran's eye twitched as she gritted her teeth. "...Fine."

"Second! No heavy blows, and no attacking vital points!"

"Agreed."

"Third!" An Yi pointed toward the edge of the arena. "The conditions for victory are this: if one side voluntarily admits defeat, or if either side falls off the arena, then it's completely over! Once it's over, no one is allowed to make another move!"

Nalan Yanran nodded. "I agree."

Seeing this, Ge Ye and Xiao Zhan beneath the stage desperately wanted to stop this absurd match. But since the two involved parties had already publicly agreed on the rules, any forceful intervention would only make the elders look like they were bullying juniors. They could only grit their teeth and accept it.

An Yi swept his gaze across the crowd below, and his eyes instantly locked onto Xiao Yan, who was leisurely watching the show.

His eyes lit up, and he shouted, "Brother Yan! Get up here! Be your brother's referee!"

Whoosh—

Everyone's attention instantly shifted from An Yi to Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan froze for a moment, then rolled his eyes and loudly mocked him.

"You're a Sixth-Stage Qi Disciple fighting a Three-Star Dou Practitioner. Why not just raise your hand and surrender? What do you need a referee for?"

Hearing this, An Yi suddenly puffed out his chest and roared with righteous indignation:

"Bullshit! I'm a seven-foot man, a tough-boned fellow—how can I surrender without a fight?! I, An Yi, may usually be a little lazy! I may be a little useless! But!"

"I am absolutely not a coward!"

The entire crowd was shaken.

Many Xiao Household disciples who had looked down on An Yi now unconsciously showed a few traces of respect in their eyes.

Knowing he would lose, knowing his opponent completely outclassed him, yet still daring to draw his blade!

Such courage, such integrity—he truly was worthy of being the orphan of a martyr!

At the same time, when everyone looked at Xiao Yan below the stage, who had just suggested "surrendering directly," their expressions instantly changed, filled with undisguised contempt.

"Exactly. An Yi might be weak, but at least he has backbone!"

"Pah! Coward!"

Some bolder people in the crowd had even begun muttering curses outright.

Xiao Yan's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

Damn it! You bastard! Even at a time like this, you still have to drag me out and use me as a punching bag!

Under the strange looks of the crowd, Xiao Yan climbed onto the arena with a dark face, gritting his teeth as he stood between them.

"Both sides, prepare!" Xiao Yan said stiffly.

Nalan Yanran took a deep breath and immediately assumed an attacking stance. Pale green wind-attributed Dou Qi began circulating around her body, bringing with it a sharp sense of pressure.

And An Yi?

He casually twisted his waist, halfheartedly stretched his chest to loosen his muscles, and then...

He turned around and strode straight to the absolute edge of the arena. One of his heels was even hanging off the platform.

With his current position, let alone taking a hit, anyone only needed to push him a little harder—or if the wind happened to be slightly stronger today—and he could simply tumble straight off the arena.

Watching An Yi pull this ridiculous stunt, Xiao Yan's eye twitched violently. "What the hell are you standing there for?"

An Yi looked at him as if he were an absolute idiot. "What nonsense! I said I wasn't a coward, but that doesn't mean I'm mentally disabled! She's a Three-Star Dou Practitioner, and I'm a Sixth-Stage Qi Disciple. Did you expect me to stand in the middle of the arena and fight her head-on? Did water get into your brain?"

The little bit of admiration the crowd had just developed instantly vanished without a trace.

This guy's shamelessness truly had no lower limit!

Below the stage, Xiao Xun'er watched An Yi take shamelessness to such extremes and could not help covering her mouth. She held back her laughter so hard that her little face turned red.

Xiao Yan's face was full of black lines. Suppressing his urge to beat someone up, he said in an official tone:

"Enough nonsense! According to Xiao Household match rules, before a fight begins, both sides must stand in the center of the arena and bow to each other!"

An Yi blinked in surprise. "There's such a troublesome rule?"

Xiao Yan was speechless. "Have you never once stepped onto the training ground's arena?"

An Yi shook his head with an innocent expression. "Nope."

Xiao Yan nearly choked on his own breath. "...Well, you know now! Get over here and bow!"

An Yi sighed helplessly and could only slowly shuffle back to the center of the arena.

The two perfunctorily exchanged bows.

Xiao Yan raised his right hand, then swung it down sharply. "The match begins!"

The instant his words fell!

Whoosh—

Without the slightest hesitation, An Yi spun around and sprinted toward the edge of the arena!

However, a Three-Star Dou Practitioner's speed was astonishing, not to mention that Nalan Yanran cultivated wind-attributed Dou Qi, renowned for its agility.

With a light tap of her toes, she performed a clean forward flip, directly crossing half the arena and landing steadily on An Yi's only escape route, blocking him.

Seeing the green Dou Qi beginning to surge in Nalan Yanran's palm, An Yi's eye twitched. He suddenly realized that something was wrong.

"Hey, hey, hey! Pinkie, don't tell me you're planning to beat me half to death, then forcibly pack me up and drag me back to the Cloud Mist Sect?!"

Nalan Yanran stiffened, but did not answer.

An Yi had guessed correctly. This really was her backup plan.

Since An Yi had too many concerns and was unwilling to go with her voluntarily, while forcibly taking him away lacked justification, she had simply arranged this grand public match.

As long as she could, in front of everyone present, legitimately beat him into being "seriously injured."

Then, as the "culprit," she would have the most legitimate reason to take An Yi back to the Alchemy Hall of the Cloud Mist Sect for the "best treatment."

Furthermore, from an outsider's perspective, it would appear that she, the young sect master of the Cloud Mist Sect, had used her strength to bully and injure someone.

With that layer of guilt and justification weighing on her, even if she took special care of An Yi everywhere in the Cloud Mist Sect afterward, no one in the sect would be able to gossip about it!

Then, as long as she begged her teacher for mercy, An Yi staying in the Cloud Mist Sect would be as good as settled.

With An Yi's clever, crafty mind, even if his Dou Qi cultivation was mediocre, becoming a well-provided-for outer sect steward in the Cloud Mist Sect would be more than easy. It was a hundred times better than remaining in this Xiao Household, where no one welcomed him!

Watching Nalan Yanran remain silent, An Yi felt like he was about to collapse.

Could an innocent little girl her age really come up with such an elaborate chain of schemes?!

Someone definitely taught her this!

Before An Yi could think any further, Nalan Yanran had already moved.

She did not use a Dou Technique. She merely covered her palm in green Dou Qi, took a swift step forward, and reached for An Yi's shoulder. The move looked fierce, but she was actually holding back considerably.

Swish!

An Yi twisted aside in a miserable dodge, narrowly brushing past her.

Even so, the sharp wind-attributed Dou Qi carried in Nalan Yanran's palm strike instantly tore a huge gash across the shoulder of An Yi's outer robe.

After her first strike missed, Nalan Yanran immediately followed with another grappling move.

An Yi was like a slippery loach. While wailing for help, he scrambled left and right with both hands and feet, never forgetting to continue retreating toward the edge of the arena.

After several exchanges, Nalan Yanran became more and more alarmed—and more and more anxious.

Although every one of this guy's dodges looked incredibly pathetic, and several times he even seemed to be rolling and crawling across the ground, damn it...

Every single time, he managed to evade her attacks by the narrowest possible margin!