The moment Lord Ling Ying released his Dou Emperor aura, Nalan Yanran turned deathly pale with fright.
Ge Ye, who stood beside Nalan Yanran, also paled drastically. Both retreated several steps, and even Chu Hong, who had remained seated all this time, was frightened into standing up.
"Your Excellency is a Dou Huang expert?" Ge Ye swallowed, unable to believe his eyes.
He could rack his brains until his skull cracked and still never understand why a Dou Emperor had appeared in the insignificant Xiao Clan of Wutan City today.
What Dou Emperor had nothing better to do than come running to the Xiao Clan?
Ling Ying sneered, ignoring both Ge Ye and Nalan Yanran.
He had originally had no intention of intervening. After all, Xiao Xuan now presided over the Xiao Clan.
With Xiao Xuan yet to speak, how could it possibly be his turn to intimidate this insignificant Misty Cloud Sect?
He had only released his Dou Emperor aura because Nalan Yanran had first spoken disrespectfully to Xun'er, the young lady of his Gu Clan.
Had Ling Ying still been hidden in the shadows, that would have been one thing. But since Xiao Xuan had already dragged him out into the open, he certainly could not watch people from this backwater act so insolently toward his young lady.
Ling Ying glanced at Xiao Xuan. Seeing that Xiao Xuan had no intention of speaking, he spoke up on Xun'er's behalf.
"You're merely a disciple of the Misty Cloud Sect Master. Don't get too arrogant. The Misty Cloud Sect might amount to something within the Jia Ma Empire, but outside it, it's nothing special.
"For someone of my young lady's status and standing, being willing to speak to you like this is already a considerable courtesy."
Ling Ying's words sent a chill through Nalan Yanran's heart, while Ge Ye's hair stood on end.
Neither Ge Ye nor Nalan Yanran had expected a Dou Huang expert to stand behind the girl before them. And judging by his words, she might well have come from beyond the Jia Ma Empire.
A major power from beyond the borders?
A young lady from a foreign power who traveled with a Dou Emperor bodyguard? That entourage far, far outclassed Nalan Yanran and her Da Dou Shi escort, Ge Ye.
Their attitude toward Xun'er changed noticeably.
Ge Ye said, "Senior, we had eyes but failed to see. We offended your young lady, and I, Ge Ye, apologize to you both. Yanran, apologize as well."
Ge Ye knew full well that their Misty Cloud Sect could not afford to offend people like these. He backed down instantly and made Nalan Yanran apologize along with him.
Nalan Yanran's expression soured at his words. She looked at the girl before her, who was about her own age.
Nalan Yanran was the pride of the Nalan Family, a prodigy of the Misty Cloud Sect, and the sect master's disciple. Her life before the age of sixteen had been as smooth as smooth could be. When had she ever bowed her head to anyone?
Yet now she had to lower her head and apologize to a girl her own age? Nalan Yanran felt as though Xun'er had trampled her pride underfoot. She clenched her fists, still wanting to put up a fight.
Seeing Nalan Yanran remain motionless for so long, Ge Ye urged her again.
"Yanran, what are you doing? Hurry up and apologize to the young lady!"
Nalan Yanran raised her head and looked at Xun'er. "I apologize, but what's so impressive about using your influence to bully others?"
Nalan Yanran was clearly unconvinced, and Xun'er laughed when she heard her words.
Xun'er put down the ancient book in her hands and chuckled at the defiant Nalan Yanran. "Using my influence to bully others? Miss Nalan, I don't believe I was the one who started that. Wasn't it you who used the Misty Cloud Sect's backing to come to the Xiao Clan and break off your engagement to Brother Xiao Yan?"
At these words, Nalan Yanran and Ge Ye instantly flushed crimson. Nalan Yanran could no longer find anything to say.
Indeed, if they were going to discuss using influence to bully others, she, Nalan Yanran, had been the first to use hers against the Xiao Clan.
Nalan Yanran said, "I only came to break off the engagement. I never intended to bully anyone with my influence. Don't make things up."
Nalan Yanran was still stubbornly digging in her heels. She did not want to keep arguing about this with Xun'er.
Since she had already come today, she had to achieve her goal of ending the engagement.
Xun'er was merely an uninvolved outsider. Presumably, neither she nor her Dou Emperor bodyguard would interfere in the Xiao Clan's affairs today.
Having already apologized, Nalan Yanran stopped speaking to Xun'er.
She turned to Xiao Zhan and said, "Uncle Xiao, let's get back to the matter at hand. I hadn't even been born when my grandfather arranged this marriage with the Xiao Clan. I never agreed to it myself, and I think your Xiao Clan should show some respect for my wishes.
"I'm now a personal disciple of the Misty Cloud Sect Master, and at just fifteen, my cultivation has already reached the Three-Star Dou Zhe level. I have a much greater, brighter future ahead of me.
"I have no intention of marrying anyone, and my master doesn't approve of me fulfilling the engagement and marrying Xiao Yan either. For the sake of both our families, I believe it would be best to call off this marriage."
Then Nalan Yanran continued, "Of course, I also know that what I'm doing is unfair to the Xiao Clan. So, to make amends, I've brought some things that I'd like to give your clan as compensation. Please accept them as a small token of my sincerity."
Nalan Yanran also knew that coming to break off the engagement today might damage the Xiao Clan's dignity. Before coming, she had therefore specifically asked her teacher for some things to bring as compensation.
Then Nalan Yanran took the gifts of apology that the Misty Cloud Sect had prepared for the Xiao Clan out of her Storage Ring.
Nalan Yanran brushed a hand over a ring on her finger, and an antique jade box, green all over, appeared out of thin air in her hand.
She carefully opened the box. A peculiar fragrance immediately filled the hall, refreshing the spirits of everyone who smelled it.
The Xiao Clan's three elders craned their heads curiously to look inside the jade box. Their bodies jolted, and they could not help exclaiming, "Is this... Qi Gathering Powder?"
Even Xiao Zhan was startled.
Inside the antique box Nalan Yanran had produced lay an emerald-green pill the size of a longan fruit. That enticing, peculiar fragrance came from it.
Qi Gathering Powder could allow a cultivator at ninth stage Dou Qi to successfully condense a Dou Qi Vortex and advance to Dou Zhe with a hundred-percent success rate.
The item Nalan Yanran had brought would presumably be of considerable help to the Xiao Clan.
After all, with this Qi Gathering Powder, the Xiao Clan could produce another young Dou Zhe.
Seeing Nalan Yanran bring out the Qi Gathering Powder, Ge Ye spoke. "Clan Head Xiao, esteemed elders, this Qi Gathering Powder was personally refined by Lord Gu He, our sect's honorary elder. Surely you've all heard his esteemed name?"
Watching the three elders lose their composure, Ge Ye could not help feeling a little smug as he spoke with a smile.
Nalan Yanran had originally wanted to bring a higher-grade pill, but both Gu He and Ge Ye had felt there was no need.
For the Xiao Clan as it was now, a single Qi Gathering Powder would be enough to shock them.
They were only breaking off an engagement. Why bring an even better pill?
Now, it seemed they had been right. The moment the Qi Gathering Powder appeared, the expressions of the Xiao Clan's elders, and even Xiao Zhan, had changed.
Ge Ye could not help thinking, People from a backwater really haven't seen the world.
Yet no sooner had that thought crossed Ge Ye's mind than the three elders, who had just looked so shocked, spoke again.
"I wondered what compensation you meant. It's just Qi Gathering Powder?"
"Are you looking down on our Xiao Clan? You call this compensation?"
"This pill's fragrance is lacking, too. Its quality doesn't look high at all. It's nowhere near the pills our guest elder Yao Lao casually refines. Who are you trying to fool?"
The three of them had been shocked because they had never imagined that the gift of apology Nalan Yanran spoke of would actually be Qi Gathering Powder.
This stuff would indeed have been precious to the old Xiao Clan, but to the current Xiao Clan, it was utter trash.
After his resurrection, Yao Lao had become the Xiao Clan's dedicated guest alchemist. As a peak eighth-tier alchemist, he could not even be bothered to refine Qi Gathering Powder. The things he brought out were more than a hundred times as precious as Qi Gathering Powder.
If he took out any pill at random, the Misty Cloud Sect would never even have heard of its name or effects.
Over the past few days, these three Xiao Clan elders had taken plenty of pills refined by Yao Lao. They had already grown accustomed to the exquisite pills of an eighth-tier alchemist. How could they possibly think much of this inferior Qi Gathering Powder refined by Gu He that Nalan Yanran had brought out?
The three Xiao Clan elders thought, Sure enough, a sect from a backwater. They've never seen the world, and even the things they bring out are worthless.
Xiao Zhan had also been startled because the Misty Cloud Sect and Nalan Yanran's so-called apology and compensation amounted to... just this?
Xiao Xuan, who had sat beside Xiao Zhan without saying a word all this time, also laughed in anger.
Qi Gathering Powder? What kind of junk was this?
Was Nalan Yanran just like Gu Yuan, treating his Xiao Clan as a junkyard? Did they think they could send any old garbage to the Xiao Clan?
An apology? Then bring out something fucking worthwhile!
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