You want a match? One move is enough!

Looking at Nalan Yanran's reddened eyes, Xiao Yan fell silent for a moment. He suddenly began to understand why his counterpart in the original story had been so furious upon hearing about compensation.

With those things laid out before her, no matter how politely he spoke, it still seemed to tell her—the matter had already been decided; she only needed to accept it.

"I didn't think this through." Xiao Yan reached out and took back the two jade bottles.

"The pills can be taken back. But I truly don't want to keep this engagement." Nalan Yanran stared at him and said, "Because you're already a Six-Star Dou Shi, while I've only just become a Dou Zhe?"

Xiao Yan explained:

"It has nothing to do with your cultivation."

Nalan Yanran countered:

"Then why did you choose today, of all days, to say this in front of my teacher and all the elders?"

Xiao Yan glanced at the invitation on the table and explained:

"The Misty Cloud Sect's letter mentioned the engagement, so I thought I would use this meeting to clear things up. If what I did just now embarrassed you, I can apologize."

"But I can't keep putting off something I don't want just because saying it aloud sounds unpleasant."

Nalan Yanran's chest rose and fell slightly. She wanted to say that she might not want to marry him either, but once the words reached her lips, they felt like nothing more than a spiteful retort.

Yun Leng frowned. "Did the Xiao Clan send you here to treat an agreement between your elders like this?"

Xiao Yan turned to him, his tone growing serious as well.

"I will naturally respect the friendship between our elders. But I'm the one getting married, not that marriage contract."

"Neither Miss Nalan nor I have ever promised anything. If even dissolving the engagement is beyond discussion, then was I invited up the mountain today as a guest, or to obey orders?"

"You..."

Yun Leng's expression darkened slightly.

Yun Yun glanced at him. "Let them speak for themselves first."

Nalan Yanran raised her head. The shame and anger in her eyes gradually gave way to stubborn resolve. "You keep saying you have your own path. In that case, I want to see just how far you've traveled along it."

She gripped the sword hilt at her waist.

"Xiao Yan, fight me."

Ge Ye's expression changed.

"Yanran, don't act on impulse."

The gap between a Six-Star Dou Shi and someone who had only just become a Dou Zhe was far more than a few stars.

There could be no suspense about the outcome of this match.

Yun Yun also frowned slightly.

"You just heard what his cultivation level is."

"This disciple knows." Nalan Yanran did not look away as she said coldly, "But I don't want to just stand here, listen until he's finished, then nod and accept that document dissolving the engagement."

She looked at Xiao Yan and said, stressing every word:

"If I win, you must apologize for laying out those pills and expecting me to accept your arrangements."

Xiao Yan asked in return:

"What about the engagement?"

"I'm not fighting you to force you to marry me!" The girl's voice abruptly rose.

The hall fell silent for a moment.

Xiao Yan looked at her hand clenched around her sword hilt and finally nodded.

"All right. We'll stop short of injury."

Seeing that Nalan Yanran had made up her mind, Yun Yun slowly rose.

"Go outside the hall. I'll watch from the side. Neither of you is to endanger the other's life."

Outside the great hall lay an open space paved with bluestone.

The two stood several yards apart. Ge Ye had the nearby disciples move back and marked out the boundaries of the match.

The sect leader and several elders appearing together soon drew the attention of more than a dozen passing disciples.

"Who's that boy?"

"Xiao Yan from Wutan City. Apparently, he's engaged to Junior Sister Nalan."

"If they're engaged, why are they fighting?"

The hushed murmurs reached Nalan Yanran, making her expression tighten further.

She drew her longsword, its gleaming blade catching a sliver of sunlight.

Xiao Yan also took the Taiji Liangyi Sword from his back and held it in his hand.

Within its simple, archaic guard, the twin fish of yin and yang curved around each other, head to tail. No dazzling radiance blazed from the blade; only the clear and black hues along its ridge appeared and vanished as the angle changed.

For the first time, Yun Yun studied that sword carefully.

"A fine weapon, at least."

Yun Leng glanced at it, then turned back to Nalan Yanran.

Though her cultivation put her at a disadvantage, the Dou Techniques she had learned were the orthodox teachings of the Misty Cloud Sect, and she had received personal guidance from the sect leader. As long as she brought her swordplay fully into motion, she ought to last at least a few exchanges.

Losing was nothing to fear. She still had to let this boy witness the abilities of a sect disciple.

In the arena, Nalan Yanran drew a deep breath.

Pale green Dou Qi surfaced along her blade, and the currents swirling around her gently lifted her sleeves.

She made no more bold declarations. Her gaze remained fixed on Xiao Yan's sword-wielding right hand.

Seize the chance to strike first.

That was the only method she could think of at that moment.

Xiao Yan stood where he was and circulated the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts, steadying his mind.

Every change in those strands of green air before him fell within his sight. He could see with perfect clarity where they were condensed and where they had yet to connect.

When the Grandmaster had made him shave the corners off rocks and rein in his sword energy, all those flowers and plants he had cut down had not been sacrificed in vain after all.

"Please."

As the word fell, Nalan Yanran pushed off with her toes and abruptly surged forward. Her longsword swept diagonally upward, and several strands of wind skimmed along the stone, merging into a green sword shadow that shot straight toward Xiao Yan's right shoulder!

Xiao Yan did not retreat.

He turned his wrist, drawing the Dou Qi within him into a single thread and sending it along the Taiji Liangyi Sword to its edge.

Hiss!

A thread of clear light met the green sword shadow. The wind that had still been swirling a moment before was severed down the middle in an instant.

Nalan Yanran saw a flash before her eyes, then an overwhelming force suddenly traveled through her sword. The web of her hand went numb, and her fingers could no longer hold on to the hilt.

Clang!

The longsword flew from her hand and lodged at an angle in a crack between the stones outside the arena.

The remaining sword force immediately dispersed, turning into a shove that struck her protective Dou Qi.

The girl staggered back several steps, lost her footing, and fell seated beyond the boundary.

Before the dust rising from the stone had settled, Xiao Yan's sword tip was already lowered toward the ground.

The entire exchange had taken no more than a single breath.

The murmurs around them stopped dead.

Nalan Yanran stared blankly at her numb right hand. A breath remained trapped in her chest, and for a long while she could not recover.

She had not even had time to use the follow-up moves she had prepared.

She had not even managed to see Xiao Yan's second movement clearly.

And she had already lost.

The expression on Yun Leng's face froze completely.

One sword strike!

Only moments ago, he had thought Yanran could at least hold out for several exchanges, yet she had not even touched the hem of Xiao Yan's clothes!

Yun Yun had already reached the girl's side. She placed a hand on her shoulder and examined her briefly before her brow relaxed.

Her breathing was disturbed and her right arm numb, but her meridians had not been injured.

That sword force had clearly been restrained after knocking her weapon away.

His control over his strength was even more surprising than his cultivation.

Xiao Yan put away his sword and said:

"Thank you for the match."

Those words, however, were like a fine needle, stinging the corners of Nalan Yanran's eyes.

Bracing herself against the ground, she slowly stood without reaching for her teacher's offered support.

The gazes around her carried surprise, disbelief, and a sympathy that left their owners unsure what to say.

The girl raised her hands and brushed the dust from her palms. She stared at Xiao Yan, her voice trembling slightly yet growing clearer with every word.

"I lost today, but don't think I'll always lose to you!"

"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—don't scorn a girl because she is poor!"