Role Reversal Reveals What Cruelty Really Means!

Seeing this,

Although Yun Yun was puzzled,

she suppressed her hesitation and quickly descended from the high platform at the head of the hall. With a respectful bearing, she said,

"I am Yun Yun, Misty Cloud Sect Leader. Greetings, Senior. I was unaware of your arrival and failed to welcome you from afar. I hope you will not take offense!"

Hearing this,

Mo Tian Xing glanced at Yun Yun and said,

"My Alliance Leader asked me to inform Sect Leader Yun that the Xiao Family is temporarily residing within the Life-and-Death Gate to cultivate in peace. The opportunities within the Secret Realm may be used by the Xiao Family as they please. From this day onward, the Misty Cloud Sect and the Emperor Alliance shall share a bond of goodwill. Should the Misty Cloud Sect encounter difficulties in the future, the Emperor Alliance may lend its aid."

"Alliance Leader... the Life-and-Death Gate?!"

Upon hearing Mo Tian Xing's words,

Yun Yun's gaze grew even more bewildered.

Could it be that he had not come to the Misty Cloud Sect for the first time, or perhaps he had arrived here long ago?

But why?

She had never heard of him, nor had she sensed his aura before...

Noticing her master's confused expression,

Nalan Yanran hurriedly told Yun Yun about how she had gone to the Xiao Family, encountered Qing Luo and the others, learned of the Xiao Family's identity as an Emperor Clan, and how they had moved into the Life-and-Death Gate.

Of course,

Nalan Yanran concealed her purpose in going there to break off the engagement, as well as matters involving an Emperor Clan princess.

In truth,

before Nalan Yanran could even bring up breaking off the engagement, Qing Luo and the others had already arrived.

In other words,

the broken engagement never became a reality.

Nalan Yanran's reason for breaking off the engagement had been simple. Neither she nor the Misty Cloud Sect would accept a useless cripple incapable of cultivation as her fiancé.

But now, the Xiao Family was an Emperor Clan, and Xiao Yan could cultivate again. Nalan Yanran no longer had any reason to insist on breaking off the engagement.

"An Emperor Clan..."

"The Emperor Alliance?!"

Hearing these terms from Nalan Yanran, Yun Yun's expression became exceptionally vivid.

Even though she was a well-traveled Dou Emperor powerhouse,

at this moment,

she felt as though her mind simply could not process it all.

Even though Nalan Yanran had said it herself, Yun Yun still found it absurd.

Who could have imagined

that a third-rate family from a third-rate city in the Jiama Empire was actually one of the Northwest Continent's most powerful Emperor Clans from the past?

And it was even connected to a mysterious organization—the Emperor Alliance. That Emperor Alliance Leader was even a Dou Saint...

And her disciple

was the fiancée of that fallen Emperor Clan's young master?!

And now,

that fallen Emperor Clan had found an opportunity to rise again, and it was within the Misty Cloud Sect's Life-and-Death Gate Secret Realm?!

All of this

felt unreal to Yun Yun.

However, after seeing this suddenly arrived Dou Zong powerhouse,

Yun Yun forced herself to accept the truth...

"Please inform your Alliance Leader that if the Xiao Family requires anything, my Misty Cloud Sect is willing to provide assistance. May I enter the Life-and-Death Gate?"

Yun Yun took a deep breath and looked at Mo Tian Xing as she spoke.

"What does Sect Leader Yun intend to do inside the Life-and-Death Gate?"

Mo Tian Xing asked.

"It concerns Yanran. I heard from her that she has an engagement with Xiao Yan of the Xiao Family. Now that the Xiao Family is an Emperor Clan, Yanran may not be worthy of them. I wish to meet the Xiao Family Patriarch and discuss the engagement. If the Xiao Family wishes to break it off, the Misty Cloud Sect will have no objections whatsoever!"

Yun Yun said respectfully.

"I will need to ask the Xiao Family for their opinion."

Mo Tian Xing said hesitantly.

Although he was a Dou Zong,

Mo Tian Xing knew his place. At Qing Luo's side, he was merely an errand runner and had no authority to make any decisions.

"Of course. No matter the outcome, the Misty Cloud Sect is grateful for everything you have done, Senior."

Yun Yun bowed as she spoke.

As Yun Yun's words fell,

Mo Tian Xing's body gradually turned transparent before vanishing from the hall.

"Master, Xiao Yan and I were betrothed before we were born. This is also an opportunity for the Misty Cloud Sect to rise. Must we really break off the engagement?"

Nalan Yanran asked in confusion.

Hearing this,

Yun Yun took a deep breath and looked at Nalan Yanran.

"Do you think this is an opportunity for the Misty Cloud Sect?"

"Isn't it?"

Nalan Yanran asked in return.

Yun Yun shook her head and said,

"You are still too young. There are many things you cannot see clearly."

"If you could marry into an Emperor Clan, it would naturally be an immense blessing. But how could a power like that possibly think highly of a girl from a small sect on the Northwest Continent?"

"Moreover, Xiao Yan is the son of the Xiao Clan Patriarch. With the Xiao Family on the verge of rising again, they will surely use marriage alliances to bind the interests of every side together. By then, your identity as an Emperor Clan young master's fiancée will no longer be a blessing, but a stumbling block in the Xiao Clan's path!"

Hearing this,

Nalan Yanran's face suddenly turned pale.

She thought of how she had once intended to go to Wutan City to break off the engagement.

And now,

wasn't she the very Xiao Yan she had once looked down upon?

Such a reversal of status was cruel, but that was reality.

Even if the Xiao Family had no need for marriage alliances,

to an Emperor Clan,

marrying a woman like her would likely be a humiliation...

"Master, this disciple understands. I will follow Master's arrangements in all things."

Nalan Yanran lowered her head, her voice revealing neither joy nor sorrow.

"You may leave. This matter is too important. I must seek your Grandmaster's instructions."

Yun Yun said with a deep breath.

"Yes!"

After Nalan Yanran left,

Dou Qi wings emerged from Yun Yun's back, and she flew directly toward the Misty Cloud Sect's rear mountain.

At the Misty Cloud Sect's rear mountain,

"Master, this disciple has something to report!"

Before an ancient, unadorned pavilion,

Yun Yun, the Misty Cloud Sect Leader and a six-star Dou Emperor, was unusually kneeling outside the hall.

Buzz—

As Yun Yun's voice fell,

a trace of supreme aura rippled out from the pavilion.

After a long while,

accompanied by the creak of an opening door, the tightly shut hall doors slowly opened.

Yun Yun rose and entered the room.

A scent of dust and decay greeted her.

The furnishings within were covered in a thick layer of dust, while tangled cobwebs hung from the beams and corners.

This place had clearly not been opened for a very long time.

Bang—

The moment Yun Yun entered the room, the doors behind her shut again.

In the dim light,

a figure sat cross-legged atop the stone tiles. It was Yun Shan, who had been in secluded cultivation for years.

His dry, coarse silver hair hung loosely over his shoulders.

His skin was shriveled and slack, layers of wrinkles crawling across his face. His complexion was the ashen, waxy yellow of one gravely ill.

At this moment,

a faint gray-black aura seeped from the meridians around Yun Shan's body.

The life force around him was nearly exhausted. Flesh sagged from his body, and his figure was thin and withered, like a piece of deadwood on the verge of rotting away.

The decaying deathly aura of one at the end of his life lingered around him.

His vitality was so weak that it seemed a gust of wind could scatter it.

Seeing this,

Yun Yun's eyes instantly moistened. She knew that her master had entered seclusion to break through to the Dou Zong realm.

She had never expected

that her master had declined to such a state...

"Master..."

Yun Yun pressed her lips together, her eyes reddening as she spoke.

Yun Shan slowly lifted his eyelids. His cloudy gaze fell upon Yun Yun with difficulty, and a hoarse, dry voice like rusted iron scraping against itself emerged from his throat.

"Why have you come?"

"Did I not tell you before entering seclusion that, unless the Misty Cloud Sect faced a life-and-death crisis, you were not to disturb me? Have you forgotten?"

"This disciple would never dare forget Master's teachings. It is only... this disciple encountered some matters and did not dare make decisions on her own, which is why I disturbed Master's seclusion."

Yun Yun said with a troubled expression.

"Oh..."

Yun Shan drew out his hoarse, low response.

A faint trace of scrutiny flickered in his clouded eyes.

He had spent half his lifespan forcibly entering a death-seclusion. Most of his origin vitality had long been depleted, and even circulating Dou Qi now took immense effort.

He slowly straightened his withered back, dust falling in soft streams from his shoulders and white hair.

"What matter could be so grave that it forced you to defy my prohibition and enter this place? Tell me everything."