The tables turned

The words "repudiate my wife" struck like thunder, deafening everyone!

The entire hall fell utterly silent.

Xiao Yan strode to the table, picked up a brush, and put ink to paper. In mere moments, he had written a simple letter of repudiation.

Rip!

As Xiao Yan pressed a bloody thumbprint onto the letter, everyone knew...

From this day forward, Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran had nothing more to do with each other!

Seeing the letter bearing that bloody thumbprint, Nalan Yanran turned pale and staggered a step backward.

"You..."

Nalan Yanran pointed weakly at Xiao Yan, burning with shame and anger, as though she had suffered an enormous humiliation.

Xiao Yan merely shook his head.

He looked at Nalan Yanran and asked, "Are you furious now?"

Nalan Yanran remained stubbornly silent.

Xiao Yan stepped into the center of the hall and looked around, his gaze sweeping over Ge Ye and Nalan Yanran in turn. His tone grew heavier.

"But let me tell you, you have no right to be furious!

I'm merely giving you a taste of your own medicine."

At those words, Nalan Yanran's deathly pale face flushed red at a visible speed.

"Enough!" Just then, Ge Ye could no longer stand by and shouted.

But in the next instant, four powerful auras locked onto him, and the rest of the Xiao Clan members in the hall, young and old alike, rose to their feet.

In an instant, the entire hall bristled with drawn swords and taut bows.

The nondescript disciple beside Ge Ye trembled at the knees in the tense atmosphere. Every trace of arrogance vanished from his face, exposing all his cowardice.

Ge Ye's face darkened as he silently cursed the disciple for being useless. Then he turned toward the grim-faced Xiao Zhan and stressed in a low voice,

"Clan Leader Xiao, Yanran is the young sect master of our Misty Cloud Sect. She represents our sect's honor."

Xiao Zhan retorted without a shred of courtesy, "What, you're allowed to come to our door to break off the engagement, but we're not allowed to repudiate her? This is a matter between the youngsters. I'd advise you to keep your hands out of it."

The Xiao Clan members, young and old, also showed their indignation at Ge Ye's veiled threats and double standards.

Even Xiao Ning disliked the way Ge Ye behaved.

The Xiao Clan in this life was far, far more united than in the original story.

Nalan Yanran's eyes reddened, but her expression remained stubborn.

"Xiao Yan, you may repudiate me, but before that, let me see what you're capable of.

Fight me. If you lose, you have no right to repudiate me, and you must agree to dissolve our engagement."

At those words, Xiao Zhan and the three elders secretly breathed sighs of relief.

Although they did not know Xiao Yan's exact strength either, he was undoubtedly much stronger than Nalan Yanran.

Xiao Yan glanced at Nalan Yanran and could not help shaking his head.

Only a Three-Star Dou Zhe!

"You're too weak. You can't even stir my desire to fight."

Nalan Yanran's expression shifted slightly, and anger flared within her.

She had never expected Xiao Yan to look down on her so much.

Although she had heard of Xiao Yan's reputation as a genius, wasn't she a genius herself, as the Misty Cloud Sect Master's disciple?

Besides, rumors over the past two years claimed that Xiao Yan had already sunk into mediocrity, his cultivation still stuck at the Dou Qi stage.

There was no reason she would lose!

"Xiao Yan, we'll only know whether I'm weak after we fight!"

Nalan Yanran snapped, then attacked without hesitation.

Green Dou Qi surged from her palm as she thrust it toward Xiao Yan.

She moved so quickly that the Xiao Clan's younger generation in the hall could see nothing but a blur.

Yet to Xiao Yan, that speed was far too slow, as though he were watching each movement broken down in slow motion.

"Slow. Far too slow!"

"Is that all you've got?"

Xiao Yan shifted slightly to the side, slipping past Nalan Yanran's fierce attack. Only the robe over his chest fluttered noisily in the wind from her palm.

What quick reactions!

A flash of alarm crossed Nalan Yanran's eyes. She spun around swiftly and swung a backhand palm strike at the back of Xiao Yan's neck.

Green light flashed, and her strike whistled through the air.

Nalan Yanran was certain that if this strike landed squarely, no one below the Dou Zhe level could withstand it.

Yet Xiao Yan seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. He tilted his head and effortlessly avoided Nalan Yanran's chopping palm once again.

Just as Nalan Yanran prepared to continue attacking, her pupils suddenly contracted in disbelief. For a moment, she even forgot to strike.

Before her eyes, Xiao Yan had somehow already turned around and placed two fingers against her smooth, fair forehead.

Although his fingers merely touched her skin without exerting any force, Nalan Yanran had still felt the crushing pressure of death in that instant.

So...

Had Xiao Yan not shown mercy, she would have died!

"You lost!"

Xiao Yan's calm voice reached Nalan Yanran's ears. Like a walking corpse, she nodded instinctively, still muttering to herself.

"I lost!"

"I actually lost!"

Tears spilled uncontrollably from Nalan Yanran's reddened eyes, and she began to sniffle.

But even then, Xiao Yan did not forget to twist the knife. "Don't forget what you just said. Since you've lost, accept the fact that I've repudiated you."

A moment later, everyone in the hall came to their senses and erupted into enthusiastic cheers.

"He won!"

"Cousin Xiao Yan won!"

"Cousin Xiao Yan, well done! Let the Misty Cloud Sect's young sect master see what the men of our Xiao Clan are made of!"

Seeing this, Xiao Ning shrank back slightly, thinking, Xiao Yan really is faking the cultivation level he shows. Otherwise, how could someone at the Dou Qi stage defeat a Three-Star Dou Zhe so easily?

Can't afford to provoke him. Absolutely can't!

Although Xiao Ning resented Xiao Yan for surpassing him in everything and constantly being held up by his grandfather as an example to lecture him, he was no fool.

Xiao Yan was clearly on an entirely different level from him now.

Ge Ye was equally stunned by Nalan Yanran's defeat.

He had considered that Nalan Yanran might lose, but he had never expected her to lose so completely.

Most importantly, even with his strength as a Seven-Star Great Dou Master, he could not see through Xiao Yan's cultivation level.

This brat had hidden himself far too deeply!

He was terrifyingly strong, yet insisted on pretending to be a novice at the Dou Qi stage.

To possess such cunning at such a young age... if he did not fall before reaching maturity, his future would surely know no bounds.

"I accept my defeat!"

"From this day forward, you and I have nothing more to do with each other!"

"Once I return to the Misty Cloud Sect, I will keep my promise and announce publicly that I was repudiated, rather than having broken off the engagement myself."

At that moment, Nalan Yanran's slightly bitter voice rang out through the hall.

Although she was proud, she had the courage to own her actions.

A loss was a loss!

Xiao Yan nodded at her words, his impression of the pampered girl before him improving considerably.

Nalan Yanran's actions also eased the atmosphere in the hall considerably.

"Elder Ge, let's go!"

After what had happened, Nalan Yanran naturally could not remain at the Xiao Clan. After giving Xiao Zhan a slight bow, she turned and left with Ge Ye and the other nondescript disciple.

However, just as she stepped over the threshold to leave, she suddenly turned around.

Sunlight shone upon her, stretching her shadow long behind her.

Her delicate, pampered face wore a resolute expression.

"Xiao Yan, although I lost to you today, I will never spend my entire life losing to you!"

"Three years!"

"In three years, I will return to the Xiao Clan and fight you again!"

"For no other reason than to win back the dignity I lost today!"

Xiao Yan froze for a moment!

Seriously? Even with the plot turning out like this, there was still a Three-Year Agreement?