The Arrogance of Youth!

Xiao Clan's back mountain.

Xiao Yan sat alone on a bluestone, gazing in the direction of the Misty Cloud Sect.

His fists clenched until they crackled. Nalan Yanran's humiliating words from yesterday—"A good-for-nothing like you isn't worthy of me"—still echoed through his mind again and again.

The Three-Year Agreement.

Those three words weighed on him like a mountain, nearly crushing the breath from his lungs.

Within three years, he had to defeat Nalan Yanran, the young sect mistress of the Misty Cloud Sect, with only three stages of Dou Qi.

It sounded like the greatest joke in the world.

"Xiao Yan, you really are worthless..."

The youth muttered to himself, his voice terribly hoarse.

Just as despair filled his heart, a gentle voice suddenly sounded behind him.

"Little Yan, sulking here all alone?"

Xiao Yan whirled around and saw a middle-aged man in gray robes standing behind him with his hands clasped behind his back, a warm smile on his face.

He recognized the man. It was Xiao Chen, an elder from a collateral branch of the Xiao Clan.

An ordinary elder with almost no presence within the clan.

"Elder Xiao?"

Xiao Yan frowned slightly, his tone carrying a hint of wariness.

"What brings you here?"

"I was passing by, saw you here, and came over to take a look."

Xiao Chen made himself at home, walking over to Xiao Yan and plopping down on the bluestone beside him. Looking into the distance, he said leisurely,

"The scenery in these back mountains is nice. It's a good place to clear your mind."

Xiao Yan gave a cold laugh but said nothing.

He did not believe there was such a thing as kindness without reason in this world.

Especially when he was at the center of the storm over the broken engagement. Logically, aside from his old man and that girl Xiao Xun'er, no one in the Xiao Clan would possibly want to get close to a good-for-nothing like him.

So why had this elder, who normally had nothing to do with him, suddenly appeared here?

"Little Yan, what you said yesterday—'Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river; never bully the poor youth'—that was damn good!"

"A youth should have the arrogance of youth!"

Xiao Chen suddenly said.

Xiao Yan's body stiffened, and his expression immediately darkened.

"If you came here to mock me, there's no need."

"Mock you?"

Xiao Chen shook his head, then suddenly turned to stare seriously into Xiao Yan's eyes.

"Why would I mock you?"

"Everyone knows I'm worthless, unworthy of the Nalan Family's favored daughter."

Xiao Yan laughed bitterly. "Elder Xiao, if there's nothing else, please leave."

"Worthless?"

Xiao Chen suddenly laughed.

He slowly pulled a smooth jade bottle from his robes and held it out before Xiao Yan.

"Little Yan, take a look at this."

Xiao Yan froze, then instinctively accepted the jade bottle and gently removed its stopper.

In an instant, a rich medicinal fragrance rushed toward him. His entire body felt refreshed, and even the gloom that had weighed on him for days seemed to dissipate somewhat.

"This... this is Spiritual Liquid?"

Xiao Yan's pupils contracted. Although his cultivation was low, he still had the discernment expected of a Xiao Clan disciple.

"At least second-grade Foundation-Building Spiritual Liquid?!"

"That's right."

Xiao Chen nodded, that gentle smile still resting on his face.

"This is a little welcome gift from yours truly."

"For me?"

Xiao Yan's brows drew together, his gaze becoming even more guarded.

"Elder Xiao, we have never had any dealings. Why are you giving me something so precious?"

"Precious?"

Xiao Chen smiled and shook his head.

"A mere bottle of second-grade Spiritual Liquid is nothing precious. But..."

He paused. His gaze suddenly deepened as he looked straight at Xiao Yan and said, word by word, "Little Yan, remember this: this bottle of Spiritual Liquid is an investment from yours truly."

"An investment?" Xiao Yan looked utterly confused.

"That's right."

Xiao Chen slowly rose to his feet, clasping his hands behind his back as he looked down at the outline of the Xiao Clan below.

"I, Xiao Chen, have lived most of my life and met plenty of people. I'd like to think I have some eye for judging them. Everyone else saw yesterday's broken engagement as humiliation, but I saw it as nothing more than fate testing you."

"Just like the protagonist of a novel, anyone who truly wishes to grow into a towering figure must endure countless hardships."

"As long as you cross this hurdle, the road ahead will lead straight to the heavens. But... if you fail to cross it, then you'll remain worthless forever."

"I've always been accurate in judging people. I never look at temporary highs or lows. I only look at whether someone has that ruthless drive in their bones."

Xiao Chen turned around and smiled at Xiao Yan.

"You, Xiao Yan, have that ruthless drive in your bones. That's why yours truly is willing to bet—"

"Bet that, three years from now, you'll stand proudly before the gates of the Misty Cloud Sect and win back everything you lost."

"Consider this bottle of Spiritual Liquid uncle's first wager on you."

"Little Yan, do you dare accept it?"

Xiao Yan stared blankly at the gray-robed elder before him, unable to speak for a moment.

He had seen too much mockery and too much pity, but never had anyone spoken to him so seriously: I believe in you. I'm betting you can win.

A scorching current suddenly surged through his chest.

"Uncle Xiao Chen! I accept!"

Xiao Yan abruptly raised his head and gripped the bottle of Spiritual Liquid tightly.

"Three years from now, I, Xiao Yan, will definitely win!"

"Good! That's the Xiao Yan I had my eye on!"

Xiao Chen clapped his hands and laughed heartily, a satisfied gleam flashing through his eyes.

Almost at the same moment, the system notification suddenly exploded in Xiao Chen's mind.

[Ding! Angel Wheel Investment successful!]

[Investment target: Xiao Yan (Heavenly Mandate Gold Fortune)]

[Investment item: Second-grade-Building Spiritual Liquid ×1]

The corner of Xiao Chen's mouth curled into an imperceptible smile.

It worked.

"Kid, soar high for me!"

Xiao Chen watched the youth's figure.

If he had not known the plot, then given Xiao Yan's current circumstances, it was no wonder the Xiao Clan people did not think highly of him.

Who could have imagined that this guy was a transmigrator—and even a kid in the Author Realm?

Moreover, even without his investment,

These three years

Would still be the three years in which Xiao Yan underwent a complete transformation. Yao Lao, Heavenly Flames, the Flame Mantra... each of those heaven-defying opportunities would fall into this youth's hands over the next three years.

And all he had to do was continuously offer Xiao Yan help.

"By then, even without the system, who could say there wouldn't be a place for me, Xiao Chen, in the Endless Flame Territory?"

"After all, under Jia Ma's skies in Battle Through the Heavens, who wouldn't offer me, Xiao Chen, a cigarette when they saw me?"

He turned to leave, but suddenly stopped and said to Xiao Yan, "Little Yan, remember what yours truly said. The most valuable thing in this world has never been charity handed out by others, but respect earned with your own hands."

"Three years from now, be arrogant for yours truly too."

"Don't embarrass me!"

With that, Xiao Chen no longer lingered and strode away.

Xiao Yan held the warm bottle of Spiritual Liquid and did not move for a long time, but the light in his eyes gradually brightened.

He suddenly felt that the road ahead over these three years did not seem so difficult after all.

Even if the entire world stood against him, he still had uncle backing him up!