Three years passed in the blink of an eye.
Over those three years, one rumor after another about Xiao Yan spread through Wutan City.
Some said his genius had faded. He had failed to break through to Dou Zhe for several years running, and sooner or later, his peers would catch up with him, leaving him to sink into mediocrity.
Others claimed he was hiding his true abilities, that the cultivation level he displayed was a sham, and that he had long since broken through to Dou Zhe.
Truth and falsehood mingled in these rumors, leaving everyone unsure what to believe.
The reason for that was simple: both rumors had come from the same person.
Xiao Ning, the grandson of the Xiao Clan Grand Elder!
Although Xiao Yan was not as arrogant as the young Xiao Yan in the original story, plenty of his peers still secretly disliked him.
Xiao Ning was the prime example!
That was especially true after he learned that Xiao Yan had gone years without breaking through to Dou Zhe, while his own elder sister, Xiao Yu, had joined Jia Nan Academy.
His ego swelled considerably as a result, and whenever Xiao Yan was absent, he readily spread the tale of the fallen genius.
As Xiao Xun'er grew older, he even began setting his sights on her.
Later, Xiao Yan gave him a lesson in reason, and he became much better behaved.
Mainly because even his grandfather refused to stand up for him and instead gave him another thrashing in private.
The reason was simple: the First Elder was one of the few people in the Xiao Clan who knew the inside story.
He also knew that Xiao Yan had an incredibly mysterious alchemist as his teacher.
Because of that, the entire Xiao Clan had benefited, and it now firmly held the top position among Wutan City's three great clans.
Meanwhile, far away in the imperial capital, inside the Misty Cloud Sect Main Hall...
A delicate-featured girl with a pampered air tugged at an exquisitely beautiful, poised, and elegant woman beside her, pleading coquettishly:
"Teacher, please! Just let me go to the Xiao Clan and break off the engagement.
"My grandfather and that Xiao Yan's grandfather arranged this engagement privately. I've never even met him.
"Whether he's a genius or not, I don't like him, and I certainly don't want to marry him.
"Teacher, just grant Yanran this one request."
Nalan Yanran shook Yun Yun's arm. In front of her, she was just like a little girl.
After a long while, Yun Yun finally gave in to Nalan Yanran's pleas. She cast a helpless glance at her beloved disciple and let out a long sigh.
"All right. But breaking off the engagement will undoubtedly make the Xiao Clan lose face. Go discuss it with the First Elder. Observe all the proper courtesies, and take along some extra gifts as an apology."
The moment Nalan Yanran heard her teacher agree, she excitedly kissed Yun Yun on the cheek and giggled. "Thank you, Master!"
Then she happily left the hall to find Yun Leng.
Watching Nalan Yanran's cheerful retreating figure, Yun Yun shook her head with an amused smile.
"That girl."
"I really hope she'll be a little more mature when she comes back after breaking off the engagement."
Elsewhere, Yun Leng frowned when he heard that Nalan Yanran wanted to break off her engagement with the Xiao Clan.
"The Xiao Clan?"
"The clan Xiao Lin once belonged to?"
Xiao Yan's grandfather, Xiao Lin, had once been a Dou Wang expert renowned throughout the Jia Ma Empire.
When Xiao Lin made his name, Yun Leng had only a modest reputation.
Nalan Yanran nodded. "That's right. But after Grandpa Xiao Lin passed away, the Xiao Clan left the imperial capital and moved to Wutan City."
Upon hearing that, Yun Leng realized it was merely a little clan that had fallen into decline!
That makes things easy!
We can just brush them off!
With that thought, Yun Leng smiled and said, "Rest assured, Young Sect Master. Leave the arrangements to me."
At his words, a smile spread across Nalan Yanran's delicate, pampered face.
With First Elder Yun Leng's assurance, the matter should be settled.
Thus, three days later, a party from the Misty Cloud Sect departed for Wutan City, led by Nalan Yanran and Deacon Ge Ye, a seven-star Da Dou Shi.
Xiao Yan, a thousand miles away, knew nothing of this.
In the hills behind the Xiao Clan estate.
Xiao Yan stood with his muscular upper body bare, letting Yao Lao lash him from a distance with soul power.
Although his cultivation had already reached the thirty-eighth stage of Dou Qi, and he had cultivated the Hundred-Forged Golden Sun Body to major completion, Yao Lao's soul-power attacks still placed him under immense pressure.
His skin, gleaming gold, was now mottled with bruises, and there were plenty of places where the flesh had split open.
Of course, Xiao Yan was no masochist.
His main reason for doing this was to cultivate the Hundred-Forged Golden Sun Body more effectively.
According to Yao Lao, with his current strength, even using every trick at his disposal, he could only challenge a five- or six-star Dou Shi.
But with his formidable physique and his Hundred-Forged Golden Sun Body at major completion, even a Da Dou Shi could do nothing to him.
The reason was simple: once he activated his golden body, they could not break through his defenses!
Xiao Yan was fairly satisfied with that. The only blemish on the picture was how inflated his cultivation level was.
Judging purely by the strength of his Dou Qi, he could, at best, rival someone who had just entered the Dou Shi level.
What fucking garbage!
After finishing his training, Xiao Yan frowned and complained to Yao Lao, "Teacher, the Tiger Bone Body-Tempering Pill is getting less and less effective for me. I think it's time you upgraded the formula again."
The corner of Yao Lao's mouth twitched. He snapped, "Change it, change it, change it! This is already the third time I've improved the Tiger Bone Body-Tempering Pill formula. You brat, I swear you couldn't survive without this old man.
"I tell you to study alchemy properly, but you won't. Isn't that a waste of all your talent?
"Tell me, how long has it been since your alchemy improved after you became a third-tier alchemist?"
Xiao Yan awkwardly rubbed his nose and gave a sheepish smile.
"Teacher, even if I become a fourth-tier alchemist, I still won't be able to modify formulas on my own anytime soon, will I? I'd still have to ask you to do it."
Although he possessed only Dou Qi, its attributes were the same as in the original story: fire with a trace of wood.
Coupled with soul power that seemed even stronger than in the original story, his talent for alchemy went without saying.
But Xiao Yan soon discovered that refining pills himself took time and effort, and his work could not hold a candle to Yao Lao's. Wasn't that simply wasting his cultivation time?
So Xiao Yan could only choose to make Yao Lao suffer a little.
After all, a little extra activity was good for an elderly person's health.
Xiao Yan certainly knew how to care for the elderly.
This left Yao Lao full of resentment, but what could he do? He had only this one disciple now.
Indeed, a year earlier, he had removed the "nominal" from Xiao Yan's title of nominal disciple.
"Hmph, I really don't know what to do with you, brat. But there's no need to change it this time. Your current condition is just right for a pill formula I collected long ago," Yao Lao said irritably.
Delighted, Xiao Yan chuckled and joked, "Teacher, that's not very fair of you. Why didn't you bring out the good stuff sooner?"
Yao Lao rolled his eyes at Xiao Yan.
"With your previous constitution, taking that pill wouldn't have harmed you, but you would have suffered quite a bit more."
Xiao Yan shrugged indifferently.
"Haven't I suffered enough over these years?"
Yao Lao fell silent.
How could he not know how much Xiao Yan had suffered to grow stronger?
He knew this disciple's capacity to endure better than anyone.
Yet, as his teacher, Yao Lao did not want Xiao Yan to suffer.
So what if his cultivation progressed a little more slowly? Occasionally slowing down to admire the scenery along the way was not a bad thing.
"All right, enough of that!"
"That little girlfriend of yours is here!"
Yao Lao teased him with a laugh, and his illusory, translucent figure instantly slipped back into the Bone Flame Ring.
Xiao Yan shook his head and muttered helplessly to himself.
"What a shameless old man!"
No sooner had he spoken than a lovely, delicate girl in a purple dress quietly appeared in the distance, like a lotus rising unstained from the mud.
She called softly, her voice as sweet as a nightingale's.
"Brother Xiao Yan!"
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