"What I want is for her... to spar with me."
"What do you think, Family Head, Miss Nalan?"
As his words fell, the hall sank into a brief silence.
Nalan Yanran's heartbeat, which had abruptly quickened at the words "I need her," faltered when she heard the rest.
The mingled surprise and embarrassment on her cool face froze, replaced by a blank stare.
Then a blush spread swiftly up her fair neck, staining even the roots of her ears a faint pink.
"You..."
She lightly bit her red lip, an indescribably complicated emotion flickering in her eyes.
There was the relief of a burden lifted, mixed with something even she had not noticed... disappointment?
"Spar?"
Nalan Su also paused, a trace of astonishment flashing through his tiger-like eyes.
He looked at Xiao Yan's serious expression, then at his daughter's faintly flushed face, thoroughly puzzled.
"Young friend Yan Xiao, this..."
Nalan Su hesitated, a hint of awkwardness in his voice.
"You saved the old master's life. How could Yanran be disrespectful toward you? If sparring were to damage our goodwill..."
"That won't be a problem."
Xiao Yan's voice was hoarse and calm, his gaze beneath the black robe unruffled.
"I don't need any other gifts of thanks from the Nalan Family."
He paused. A wisp of red-cyan flame quietly rose from his fingertip, then swiftly vanished, as though he were demonstrating something.
"Miss Nalan is a mysterious inheritor, the young sect master of the Misty Cloud Sect, and one of the central figures in the Three-Year Agreement, who will face that fellow named Xiao Yan from the Xiao Clan in a decisive battle a few days from now."
When he said "Xiao Clan," Xiao Yan's voice paused almost imperceptibly before returning to normal.
"Against a genius renowned throughout the Jia Ma