Sect Master Yun, I'm here to break off the engagement!

Several days later, in the Imperial Capital.

Xiao Yan found an inn to stay at, entrusted someone with a letter home to let his family know he was safe, and noted the locations of several large medicine shops. Only then did he take out the Misty Cloud Sect's invitation.

Bodhi sat by the window, a teacup in his hand.

"Have you made up your mind?"

Xiao Yan nodded.

"Once the engagement is dissolved, I'll travel with you to gain experience, Master. I can't keep wondering, everywhere I go, whether the Misty Cloud Sect will set a wedding date for me."

Bodhi smiled and said:

"Make your own decisions about your own affairs. But once you've spoken, don't shift the responsibility onto anyone else."

"I understand."

Xiao Yan put away the invitation and touched the sword hilt behind his back.

On this trip up the mountain, he would start with reason.

Whether the other side was willing to listen would only become clear when they met.

The next day, on Misty Cloud Mountain.

The disciples guarding the mountain checked the invitation and treated him quite courteously, immediately sending someone up the mountain to announce his arrival.

Before long, an old man in green robes came down the stone steps.

"You must be young Xiao Yan? I am Ge Ye. The sect master is already waiting in the hall. Please, come with me."

"Thank you for the trouble."

Xiao Yan cupped his hands and followed him up the long stairway.

Inside the gates, pavilions and halls stood along the mountainside. Disciples in moon-white robes passed by from time to time, casting curious looks at the unfamiliar youth beside Ge Ye.

Xiao Yan did not look around, and his pace remained steady throughout.

Ge Ye stole a few glances at him, his approval growing.

Young people from ordinary small clans usually showed some trepidation on their first visit to the Misty Cloud Sect. This boy, though, looked as relaxed as if he were dropping in on a neighbor.

His teacher, however, did not seem to have appeared.

Ge Ye asked no further questions and led Xiao Yan into the great hall.

Several gazes immediately turned toward him.

The woman seated at the head of the hall had delicate, beautiful features. Her plain dress trailed to the floor, and her expression held the composure of someone long accustomed to authority.

Beside her stood a girl in a moon-white dress, a sword at her waist, quietly studying the newcomer.

Yun Yun.

Nalan Yanran.

Xiao Yan matched each face to a name in his mind, but his expression betrayed nothing as he cupped his hands.

"Xiao Yan of Wutan City pays his respects to Sect Master Yun and the elders."

"No need for such formalities. Please, sit." Yun Yun raised a hand. Once a disciple had served tea, she smiled and said, "I've long heard that the Xiao Clan has produced a brilliant young talent. At last, I get to meet you today."

Xiao Yan smiled.

"You flatter me, Sect Master. The rumors outside aren't to be taken as truth."

Yun Leng's gaze shifted slightly.

"Oh? Then the rumor that you've already advanced to Dou Ling is false as well?"

Xiao Yan's hand paused as he lifted his tea, and a somewhat helpless look crossed his face.

"If I really had that kind of ability, I wouldn't have needed to pay for a carriage on the way here."

Ge Ye could not help smiling at that.

Xiao Yan set down his teacup and said frankly:

"I am currently a Six-Star Dou Shi."

The relaxed atmosphere in the hall suddenly fell still for a moment.

A Six-Star Dou Shi?!

Yun Lei and Yun Sheng exchanged a glance, each seeing the surprise in the other's eyes. Though it fell far short of the rumored Dou Ling, how much time had passed since he became a Dou Zhe at eleven?

That speed was already astonishing.

Nalan Yanran unconsciously pressed her lips together.

I've only just become a Dou Zhe, yet he's already a Six-Star Dou Shi?

Yun Yun's gaze lingered on Xiao Yan for a moment.

His aura was solid, without any hint of instability.

At least on the surface, his cultivation had certainly not been piled up by recklessly swallowing pills.

"It seems you really have put considerable effort into your daily cultivation."

"It's all thanks to my teacher's guidance."

Xiao Yan answered earnestly.

Something stirred in Yun Leng's mind.

So he does have a teacher!

"May I ask which esteemed master teaches you?"

Xiao Yan said, "My teacher has always preferred peace and quiet and dislikes being disturbed. Without his permission, I cannot reveal his name. Please forgive me."

Yun Yun nodded and did not press him further.

"Since you already have a renowned teacher guiding you, my letter was rather presumptuous. I had thought that, if you were willing, you could come cultivate at the Misty Cloud Sect."

Xiao Yan rose to thank her.

"Thank you for your kindness, Sect Master, but I already have a master."

"That's quite all right." Yun Yun looked at the girl beside her and smiled. "Besides, you and Yanran are still engaged. This meeting is a chance for the two of you to get acquainted."

Nalan Yanran met Xiao Yan's gaze and nodded slightly.

He was more composed than she had imagined, and his cultivation was far above hers. All her earlier guesses about him finally took on a clear shape.

Yet Xiao Yan did not follow that topic into polite conversation.

Standing beside his seat, he paused briefly, then took out a letter from home and two folded documents.

"Sect Master Yun, besides accepting your invitation, I came here for another matter."

Yun Yun gestured for him to continue.

Xiao Yan looked at Nalan Yanran, his voice ringing clearly through the hall.

"I'm here to break off the engagement."

The smile that had yet to fully bloom on Nalan Yanran's lips abruptly froze. The teacup Yun Leng had just lifted also stopped in midair.

"What did you say?"

"I wish to dissolve my engagement to Miss Nalan." Xiao Yan placed the letter and documents on the small table before him. "My father already knows, and he agreed to let me come here in person to make things clear."

Yun Leng set down his teacup, his voice turning graver.

"How can an engagement arranged by the elders of two families be annulled with a single word from you?"

"Grand Elder."

Yun Yun raised her hand, stopping him from saying more.

She looked at Xiao Yan, the smile now gone from her face as well.

"Surely you have a reason?"

Xiao Yan nodded and explained:

"The Xiao Clan will not forget the friendship between our forebears. But when this marriage was arranged, neither Miss Nalan nor I had any say in it. Today is the first time we've formally met."

"We don't know each other, nor do we have any feelings to speak of. Yet we're expected to let a written agreement between our elders decide the rest of our lives. I am unwilling to do that."

Nalan Yanran's fingers slowly clenched.

Xiao Yan continued:

"I've decided to travel with my teacher to cultivate. Where I'll go and when I'll return may both be uncertain. I want to decide for myself when it comes to marriage."

"Miss Nalan likewise has her own cultivation and plans. She need not be tethered by this engagement either."

His reasoning was not difficult to understand.

But as Nalan Yanran listened, the warmth in her face faded little by little.

She had never intended to marry immediately, much less said she would cling to him and refuse to let go. She stood here today simply because she wanted to meet the fiancé she had never seen.

And yet he had come in, sat down, taken a sip of tea, and pulled out the documents to dissolve their engagement.

"Is this your teacher's decision?"

The girl suddenly asked.

"It is my own decision."

Xiao Yan did not hesitate.

"I will also explain the reasons for breaking off the engagement to others. I won't shift the blame onto Miss Nalan."

As he spoke, he took out two jade bottles.

"I came rather abruptly. This bottle of Origin-Nourishing Spirit Liquid and this Origin Condensation Pill are gifts I prepared by way of apology. If the elders of the Nalan Family need an explanation as well, I will visit them in person."

The jade bottles settled gently on the table.

The sound was soft, yet it made the rims of Nalan Yanran's eyes abruptly redden.

The engagement, the documents to dissolve it, the pills.

He had actually prepared everything.

The girl raised her head, her gaze passing over the two jade bottles to land squarely on Xiao Yan's face.

"So you think giving me a few pills will make me agree as though nothing happened?"