The Misty Cloud Sect was full of freaks

Although Yun Congxin had strengthened the protective barrier around the Misty Cloud Sect disciples, he had left the two duelists alone.

Xiao Yan did not need his help; he could handle this little bit of trouble himself. As for Nalan Yanran, Yun Congxin simply did not want to help her.

"The disciples of this Misty Cloud Sect have lousy characters, too. Careless, reckless, and full of themselves."

Watching the Misty Cloud Sect disciples still whispering among themselves, Yun Congxin felt deeply uncomfortable—they had not realized in the slightest that, without his intervention, the shock wave would already have shattered their protective barrier.

"Wait, why do I keep looking at things on the Misty Cloud Sect's behalf?" Yun Congxin muttered, belatedly catching on. "Tss... looks like Yun Shan has influenced me after all..."

"Oh, forget it. Once you've eaten someone's food, your tongue grows short; once you've taken their gifts, your hands are tied. Since I've become the Misty Cloud Sect's former sect master, I ought to spare a thought for the sect..." Yun Congxin sighed. Knowing the outcome was already decided, he stopped watching Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran on the stage and instead tried hard to recall exactly what had made Yun Leng blow his top, and how he had stirred up trouble.

"Xiao Yan, I hope you'll show some consideration for the Misty Cloud Sect..."

Just as Yun Congxin was racking his brains, he suddenly heard Yun Leng transmitting his voice to Xiao Yan through Dou Qi. He seemed to be trying to persuade Xiao Yan to stop and go easy on Nalan Yanran.

"You disgraceful fool! Haven't you embarrassed the Misty Cloud Sect enough already?!"

Yun Congxin flew into a rage. Before he could work out why Yun Leng had blown his top, he had blown his own first.

He personally shattered that Dou Qi voice transmission, then turned a hostile gaze on Yun Leng atop the stone platform.

Forget finding a pretext. Once the Three-Year Agreement is over and Xiao Yan leaves the mountain, I'm going to beat a lesson into you with my own hands!

"It's over... Nalan Yanran!"

Xiao Yan's voice was slightly hoarse. The Purple Cloud Wings spread behind him as he moved before Nalan Yanran.

The Misty Cloud Sect's plaza immediately fell silent. Everyone could see that Nalan Yanran was barely managing to keep herself suspended in midair, while Xiao Yan still had strength to spare.

The winner of the Three-Year Agreement had been decided!

The Misty Cloud Sect disciples watched Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran in midair with mixed feelings. They all knew perfectly well that their junior sect master had lost, yet they still could not accept it. A sliver of unrealistic hope lingered in their hearts: they hoped Nalan Yanran still had a trump card that could turn defeat into victory, and prayed that Xiao Yan might suddenly plummet from the sky!

"Is this your revenge...? You invented an illusory persona that even I found captivating, then shattered him with your own hands. You made me see that the worthless boy I once looked down upon really could make me, Nalan Yanran, see him in a different light."

Although the Misty Cloud Sect disciples still clung to their unrealistic fantasies, Nalan Yanran had accepted her fate. Having recognized Xiao Yan as Yan Xiao, her eyes were slightly unfocused, and her words carried a note of self-pity.

Yun Congxin covered his face. He felt that the Misty Cloud Sect might as well rename itself the Valley of Freaks. They were either overheating Rambos or narcissists—there was not a single normal person among them!

Xiao Yan stirred up wind and rain in the imperial capital for Yao Lao and Cai Lin. The one thing he never did it for was revenge on you! From beginning to end, all he wanted was to defeat you, Nalan Yanran, fair and square, and reclaim the dignity the lofty junior sect master of the Misty Cloud Sect had trampled underfoot.

As for revenge, hah. Xiao Yan might not be all that broad-minded, but he wasn't so petty that he would go out of his way to get revenge on you, Nalan Yanran!

How did that saying go again? An average woman with sky-high confidence—what a turnoff!

Forget all this junior sect master business. Why not just return her to the Nalan Family? Yun Congxin pondered helplessly.

"Xiao Yan, back then, I did look down on you because you were weak. The facts have already proven that I was shortsighted in that regard. But!"

Nalan Yanran abruptly raised her head and stared straight at Xiao Yan, whose palm was already sweeping toward her. At last, a trace of fierce stubbornness appeared on her pretty face.

"But I also said long ago that no one else gets to decide my marriage! I can't marry a stranger and spend my whole life with him! So even if I could do it all over again, I would still go to the Xiao Clan to break off the engagement!"

...Did Nalan Yanran actually have a line like this?

Yun Congxin lowered the hand covering his face. At long last, Nalan Yanran had shown a little of the mettle expected of the Misty Cloud Sect's junior sect master.

Her thinking might be immature and her behavior foolish, but at least she had some backbone and refused to be a puppet.

Yun Congxin gave an almost imperceptible nod and abandoned the idea of returning Nalan Yanran.

"I never said you were wrong to break off the engagement! It was the way you chose to do it that was wrong... unfortunately, in your arrogance, you never once considered that..."

The chopping palm that should have struck down viciously came to a gentle stop before Nalan Yanran's chest. Weariness colored Xiao Yan's voice. He no longer wanted to waste words on this woman.

"But none of that matters anymore. From now on, our paths won't cross again. You can remain the lofty junior sect master, and I'll continue my life as an ascetic cultivator. The Three-Year Agreement is over, Nalan Yanran!"

A fierce wind howled from Xiao Yan's palm. Nalan Yanran was blown downward like a fallen leaf swept up by an autumn gale, dropping onto the plaza.

She landed right before the stone stele engraved with the names of the Misty Cloud Sect's successive sect masters.

Nalan Yanran coughed up blood and struggled to her feet, finding herself facing the illustrious names of the Misty Cloud Sect's past sect masters. Her gaze traveled over them, from Yun Potian all the way to Yun Yun, before Xiao Yan finally descended slowly to the ground.

Nalan Yanran gritted her teeth, and resolve once again replaced the self-pity in her eyes. She took a neatly folded white object from inside her clothes and tossed it to the weary Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan, whose thoughts had already flown to a certain adorable girl's side, instinctively caught the white object. It was a neatly folded sheet of white paper, bearing the immature handwriting he had scrawled in anger years ago, along with a conspicuous bloody handprint.

It was the divorce letter from three years ago.

With nearly a thousand Misty Cloud Sect disciples gathered around, the sect's elders watching, and the great figures of the Jia Ma Empire sighing with emotion, Nalan Yanran spoke.

"According to our agreement back then, if I lost this match, I was supposed to become your slave or servant."

"But for the sake of the sect's reputation, please forgive me for being unable to keep that promise. You must already see me as an unreasonable, arrogant woman anyway, so... let me be willful one last time!"

"What happened at the Xiao Clan back then was indeed my fault. Please convey my apology to Uncle Xiao in the future."

Though Nalan Yanran's voice carried bitterness, it was remarkably firm. Before she had finished speaking, she reached out and made a grabbing motion, drawing a Misty Cloud Sect disciple's sword into her hand.

Is this girl about to kill herself?

Quite suddenly, a strange thought popped into Yun Congxin's mind. He felt that this woman, with bubbles for brains, really was capable of doing something like that.