The Xiao Clan (41k)

As wave after wave of fine energy ripples spread out from the Purple Cauldron and faded away, a thumb-sized, pale-purple pill gradually took shape beneath the Green Flame. At one particular moment, a deep-purple pill fragrance suddenly wafted out of the Purple Cauldron, filling the hall and lingering for a long time.

"Is it about to form?" Yun Yun murmured beside him, gently inhaling the purple-tinged fragrance. A spreading pill fragrance was generally the sign that a high-grade pill was about to take shape.

Moments later, a smooth, round pill appeared inside the Purple Cauldron, thumb-sized and pale purple throughout, with a faint sheen.

The instant the purple pill appeared, a fierce wave of energy erupted from within it. The Purple Cauldron blocked part of the surge, but the rest seeped through and charged out in every direction, carrying the momentum to destroy everything in its path!

A mere Sixth-Grade Pill, daring to show off your axe before a master carpenter like me!

At a thought from Liu Yu, a mass of green fire erupted from the Purple Cauldron like a volcano, instantly forming a fiery barrier of green interwoven with blue.

The energy ripples were mercilessly devoured the moment they touched the fiery barrier. In the end, all of them became food for the Green Lotus Earth Core Flame.

Dispelling the fiery barrier, Liu Yu beckoned toward the Purple Cauldron, and the purple pill obediently landed in his palm.

Pill in hand, Liu Yu walked over to Yun Yun and offered it to her.

But Yun Yun did not take it. Her beautiful eyes rested on Liu Yu as her red lips parted slightly. "Feed me!"

Liu Yu froze, then asked, "You want to take it here?"

"Can't I?" Yun Yun blinked, looking rather playful.

"As long as you're happy!" Liu Yu chuckled, then took the Green Lotus Seat from his Storage Ring and motioned for Yun Yun to sit on it.

Yun Yun sat cross-legged on the lotus seat and tilted her head back slightly. Liu Yu gently placed the purple pill in her mouth, and felt a light lick against his finger!

Was she teasing me? Liu Yu's expression turned unreadable. He had never expected Yun Yun to be this sort of person!

After swallowing the Breaking-Affliction Pill, Yun Yun began to earnestly refine it.

Soon, waves of energy rippled out of Yun Yun's body, and Liu Yu released the fiery barrier again to devour them.

On the lotus seat, Yun Yun's brows drew together slightly. Strange, dusky-green energy rapidly gathered on her smooth forehead. Moments later, it formed a tiny, dusky-green snake marking made of energy. Meanwhile, pale-purple energy appeared around her neck and curled upward, coming into contact and clashing with the little green snake.

The two remained locked in a stalemate. Their struggle over such a vital area as her head caused intense pain, making Yun Yun's brows knit tightly, but her expression barely changed. She presumably did not want Liu Yu to see this unpleasant side of her, so she kept her face under control.

After nearly half an hour, the dusky-green snake marking finally lost to the purple energy and began to dim. Taking advantage of its suppressive properties, the purple energy forcibly squeezed the snake marking out of Yun Yun's head.

The moment the snake marking left her, it shuddered violently, then dissolved into green smoke.

Yun Yun slowly opened her beautiful eyes as well. A powerful aura burst out of her, only to be withdrawn an instant later, and she rose from the lotus seat.

"Congratulations! Your strength is restored!" Liu Yu said with a smile as he watched Yun Yun stand. He had sensed that fleeting aura of a Three-Star Dou Emperor. Her strength had apparently not declined because she had not been under the Seal for very long.

"Mm!" Yun Yun was delighted too. She had become a Dou Huang expert again. In this world, only powerful strength could put a person's heart at ease!

The Nalan Family's main hall.

Nalan Yanran was confronting her grandfather, while her father, Nalan Su, looked rather helpless. One was his father, and the other his daughter. Whose side was he supposed to take?

Nalan Su also found his father, Nalan Jie, somewhat "unreasonable." Since the engagement had already been broken off, why stage this whole "regretting the broken engagement" affair?

His father's plan was admittedly flawless. First, they would spread the story that when Nalan Yanran went to break off the engagement, he had already been afflicted with the Branding Iron Poison Seal Python's brand poison and was occupied with suppressing it. Nalan Yanran had acted without permission, leaving him no time to respond.

Afterward, his anger had caused the brand poison to "attack his heart," forcing him to drive Nalan Yanran out of the family first, then devote himself entirely to suppressing the poison, leaving him unable to attend to the Xiao Clan.

Fortunately, he had met Elder Liu, who had not only removed the brand poison from his body and saved his life, but also given him a chance to make amends for the harm Nalan Yanran's rash actions had brought upon the Xiao Clan!

The whole account was half true and half false. Moreover, Nalan Su felt his father was completely removing himself from the entire broken-engagement affair and casting himself as a "victim," while everyone else in the Nalan Family became the villains!

What a golden cicada shedding its shell! Nalan Su could not help marveling. Old ginger truly was the spiciest!

"Father, if we do this, Yanran will lose all face. She's the Misty Cloud Sect Master's disciple now, and she might well become the next sect master someday. How is she supposed to establish her authority in the Misty Cloud Sect after this? What will everyone in the sect think of her?"

Seeing Nalan Yanran on the verge of tears, Nalan Su could not resist speaking up for her.

"Hmph! You think I don't understand? You brat, you're still too green! Yanran becoming the Misty Cloud Sect Master's disciple is something for our family to celebrate, but the Imperial Family isn't happy about it! All these years, they've said nothing on the surface, but behind the scenes, they've grown deeply dissatisfied with us! If not for my standing as the empire's Lionheart Marshal, and their need for our family to keep the Mu Family and Mittel Family in check, do you think the Nalan Family would still exist? Don't assume the Imperial Family wouldn't dare touch us just because we have the Misty Cloud Sect behind us. If that old fellow in the Imperial Family truly wanted to act, the Misty Cloud Sect couldn't protect us!"

Nalan Jie unleashed a torrent of abuse at Nalan Su. He truly hated that iron would not become steel! As the head of the Nalan Family, his son cared only about long-term benefits, yet could not see the reality right before him!

Seeing long-term benefits was valuable, but one had to account for the actual circumstances. If you could not even survive the present, what future was there to speak of?

Dying before the campaign could achieve victory—that was exactly the principle at work here!

The scolding left Nalan Su speechless, but also brought a sudden realization. Indeed, he had only considered the tremendous benefits Yanran's joining the Misty Cloud Sect could bring to their family, never thinking of the "sword" still hanging over their heads! One moment of carelessness, and that "sword" would fall! What awaited the Nalan Family then would be annihilation!

With a soft sigh, Nalan Su turned to his daughter, reluctant to hurt her. "Yanran, for the sake of the Nalan Family, why don't you listen to your grandfather and visit the Xiao Clan?"

Now that he understood, Nalan Su increasingly felt that his father's plan was highly feasible. If it went smoothly, the Nalan Family would be "able to attack when advancing and defend when retreating, standing in an unbeatable position from the outset"!

Nalan Yanran stared at her father in disbelief. Even he was doing this!

"Yanran, I know what you're worried about, but you must understand that you're the Misty Cloud Sect Master's disciple. This cannot fundamentally shake your position. As long as you remain her disciple, with your talent, the position of future sect master will still be yours! Besides, I'll find a way to discuss this with your teacher too, all right?" Nalan Jie appealed to her feelings and reason, his voice "incomparably gentle"!

"Am I supposed to spend my whole life with that useless trash? Why should I?"

Tears filled Nalan Yanran's eyes and spilled uncontrollably down her cheeks.

"Yanran! Have you forgotten how dazzling the Xiao Clan's young master's talent once was? Some other cause must have made him this way. I'll ask Elder Liu to visit Wutan City and examine him. Elder Liu is a Grade Six Alchemist, and he's even more capable than your Misty Cloud Sect's Elder Gu He. Xiao Yan's talent will be restored then!"

While Nalan Jie was painstakingly trying to persuade Nalan Yanran, an old man dressed like a steward hurried inside and said, "Master, Elder Liu is here!"

Hearing that Elder Liu had arrived, Nalan Jie forgot about persuading his granddaughter and hurried out to welcome him.

Moments later, Nalan Jie entered the hall laughing heartily, accompanied by Liu Yu and Yun Yun, whose face was covered with a light veil and whose arm was linked with Liu Yu's.

Noticing the faint tear tracks on her disciple's face, Yun Yun's delicate brows furrowed. She could not help asking, "Yanran, what's wrong?"

"Teacher, I'm fine!"

Nalan Yanran's voice was rather subdued. Seeing this, Yun Yun turned her gaze toward Nalan Jie. Even if he was Yanran's grandfather, he could not bully her disciple!

Nalan Jie smiled bitterly and gave a rough account of what had happened. However, he focused on the harm Nalan Yanran's unauthorized breaking of the engagement had caused both families, and his wish to ask Elder Liu to examine Xiao Yan and cure him.

Yun Yun fell silent. Yanran had broken off the engagement with her approval, because she too had felt at the time that useless trash was unworthy of her disciple, and had thought little of it. But hearing this now, perhaps she should not have let Yanran break it off so "openly and publicly." Then the "three-year agreement" would never have happened.

Beside her, Liu Yu was thoroughly enjoying the spectacle. He truly had not expected Nalan Jie to make such a decision. This was quite a reversal!

But it also gave Liu Yu another idea. Perhaps he ought to help bring this about and use the opportunity to get acquainted with Little Yanzi, laying the groundwork for the future. Besides, he remembered saying he would give Little Yanzi a wife. He had always been a man of his word. How could he not seize this opportunity to arrange it? Heh heh!

"I think Old Master Nalan has a point. The way this engagement was broken off was far too humiliating. Besides, I heard Xiao Yan was originally a genius who lost all his Dou Qi for some unknown reason, only then becoming useless. I've seen similar symptoms in ancient texts before. Most resolved themselves after three or four years. Xiao Yan might be the same; his cultivation talent may already have returned!"

Liu Yu offered his analysis from the side, sending Nalan Jie into ecstasy. Even Elder Liu agreed with him, so Sect Master Yun... He could not help stealing a glance at Sect Master Yun, whose arm was linked with Elder Liu's.

Yun Yun had not expected Liu Yu to speak up for Nalan Jie either. She had originally leaned toward Yanran's side, but Liu Yu's words made her waver.

"Miss Yanran, there are only a few reasons you don't want to go to the Xiao Clan. First, you can't swallow the loss of face, but you made the Xiao Clan lose all face too. Especially Xiao Yan—after having a woman break off his engagement, he could spend his whole life unable to hold his head up! Second, you don't want to spend your life with someone you don't like, particularly someone useless. But affection can be cultivated, and a useless person can become a genius again! The last reason should be the Misty Cloud Sect. I believe Yun'er is certainly someone who understands reason!"

Liu Yu addressed Nalan Yanran, then looked at Yun Yun with considerable "affection."

Yun Yun rolled her eyes at Liu Yu. After a moment's thought, she agreed with him as well. She certainly had not changed her mind because Liu Yu had called her "Yun'er" in public, but because Yanran really had handled this matter somewhat poorly!

Then she said gently to Yanran, "Yanran, why don't you visit the Xiao Clan? As for the engagement itself, if you don't want it in the end, simply cancel it!"

In the end, Nalan Yanran agreed too. Even her teacher had said this; what else could she do? Besides, her teacher had left the choice in her hands, and she had indeed been at fault in this matter!

One month later, at the Xiao Clan in Wutan City.

The entire Xiao Clan was in an uproar, because a piece of "earth-shattering" news had spread throughout the Jia Ma Empire, and their clan had finally heard it too!

They could scarcely believe it. The Nalan Family, one of the Imperial Capital's three great families, was coming to apologize! Moreover, their old master, Nalan Jie, whose brand poison had been removed, would come in person. They had even invited Elder Liu, renowned throughout Jia Ma, to examine Xiao Yan! They might even honor the engagement between the two families again!

Outside the little room where Xiao Yan was diligently cultivating, Xiao Zhan wore a complicated expression. In the end, he knocked on the door. He had to tell Yan'er about this sooner or later!

Inside, Xiao Yan was fully immersed in cultivation. Hearing the knock, he frowned slightly, rose from his bed, and opened the door.

When he saw his father, the displeasure in his heart vanished like smoke. But the complicated expression on his father's face made his heart skip a beat. Could something bad have happened? He hurriedly asked, "Father, what happened?"

Looking at that youthful face with its unmistakable resolve, and the once-fair skin that had become slightly sallow, Xiao Zhan opened his mouth, but for a moment did not know how to begin.

Under Xiao Yan's anxious gaze, Xiao Zhan finally told him what had happened recently.

After hearing his father's account, Xiao Yan was stunned! Are you sure you aren't joking with me? The humiliation Nalan Yanran brought me has been my greatest motivation for training so hard all this time, and now you're telling me the Nalan Family is coming to "regret breaking off the engagement"!

"Father, is this true?!" Xiao Yan stared fixedly at his father, fists clenched, making the turmoil in his heart plain to see!

"It should be true. The news has already spread throughout Jia Ma. Our Xiao Clan was among the later ones to hear of it. Besides, Old Master Nalan was your grandfather's closest friend and places tremendous importance on keeping his promises. He personally agreed to the marriage back then. During those years when your Dou Qi was dissipating, he never sent anyone to cancel the engagement. Later, he was afflicted with the brand poison of that fifth-rank magical beast, the Branding Iron Poison Seal Python, and was at death's door. Only then did Nalan Yanran come to break off the engagement behind her family's back..."

Xiao Zhan sighed softly as he spoke.

Thank you to Mingxin Ruoxiangyi for the tip.

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