The clouds and mist over the Jia Nan Mountains had yet to disperse, but a murderous chill already filled a secret chamber behind the Misty Cloud Sect. Elder Yun Leng stood with his back to the entrance, his dark green brocade robe casting a twisted shadow in the candlelight. His fingers tapped softly against the stone table, each dull knock seeming to strike the hearts of the disciples present.
"Useless! Every last one of you!" He spun around, and the pressure of a Dou Wang expert erupted, making the black-clad disciples kneeling on the floor tremble. "You couldn't even stop Xiao Yan, and you let him ruin our Misty Cloud Sect's reputation in the square!" The surge of energy overturned a teacup on the stone table, splashing scalding tea onto the floor, where it steamed.
The lead disciple kowtowed. "Please calm your anger, Elder! Xiao Yan is already a Six-Star Dou Wang. He was so fast that we lost his trail at the foot of the mountain..." "Shut up!" Yun Leng kicked him over. "If you can't catch Xiao Yan, can't you find another target?" Malice flashed in his eyes. "Isn't the Xiao Clan still in Wutan City? Doesn't Xiao Yan treasure that clan of his above all else?"
Understanding dawned on the black-clad disciple, and a vicious gleam flashed in his eyes. "You mean..." Yun Leng sneered and took a black token from his sleeve. "Take this token and mobilize every outer sect disciple and the elite forces of the Three Halls. Head to Wutan City at once. Remember, make it clean and swift. Tell outsiders only that the Xiao Clan colluded with the Soul Hall, and that our Misty Cloud Sect is carrying out Heaven's justice!"
"If they resist..." "Kill without mercy!" Yun Leng cut him off, his voice cold enough to pierce bone. "But that Xiao Clan head, Xiao Zhan, must be captured alive! I'll show Xiao Yan what happens when he crosses our Misty Cloud Sect!" The disciple rose after receiving his orders and vanished into the secret passage like a phantom, leaving only flickering candlelight and Yun Leng's sinister laughter in the chamber.
At that same moment, morning was just awakening in Wutan City. Dozens of youths practiced Dou Qi on the Xiao Clan estate's training grounds, their punches and kicks whistling through the air in quick succession. Clan elder Xiao Bo stood beside the training platform with his hands behind his back, smiling with satisfaction as the young clansmen sweated freely. Ever since Xiao Yan had distinguished himself in the Jia Ma Empire, the Xiao Clan's standing in Wutan City had risen like a boat on a swelling tide. Even their former formidable rival, the Aoba Family, had reined in its aggression.
"Put some spirit into it!" Xiao Bo called. "The Family Competition is only a few days away. Whoever takes first place will have me personally ask our young friend Xiao Yan for a dose of Qi Gathering Powder!" The youths burst into cheers, fighting spirit kindling in their eyes. Xiao Yan was not merely the clan's pride, but their role model. The humiliation of his broken engagement had long since been washed clean by his present glory.
Xiao Zhan stood at his study window, watching the lively training grounds with a gentle smile. He rubbed an ancient Jade Pendant in his hand, an ancestral Xiao Clan heirloom said to conceal the clan's secrets. Over the years, he had carefully managed the clan's affairs and watched Xiao Yan grow from a boy with Three-Stage Dou Qi into a Dou Wang expert. Pride and worry mingled in his heart-a tall tree caught the wind, and Xiao Yan's rise was bound to invite trouble.
"Clan Head, breakfast is ready." The steward knocked softly on the door. Xiao Zhan put away the Jade Pendant and turned. "Have the kitchen prepare more meat soup. The children on the training grounds burn through plenty of energy." He had barely left the study when a guard came running up in a panic. "Clan Head! Something terrible has happened! Unidentified men in black have been spotted outside the city. They're approaching the estate!"
Xiao Zhan's expression changed sharply. "How many? How strong are they?" The guard panted. "At least two hundred. Every one of them has a steady aura, and even the weakest are Da Dou Shi. The few leading them... are probably Dou Ling experts!" Xiao Bo hurried over upon hearing the news. His brows knitted as he listened. "When did so many experts gather around Wutan City? Could the Aoba Family have joined forces with outsiders?"
Xiao Zhan shook his head, an ominous premonition rising within him. "No. The Aoba Family doesn't have that kind of influence. Pass down my orders: close the estate gates and activate the Defensive Formation! Every clansman is to gather in the inner courtyard immediately. The able-bodied young men will meet the enemy with me!" Dou Qi erupted around him, his early-stage Dou Wang aura steady as solid rock-he had never neglected his cultivation over the years and had long since broken through to Dou Wang.
The estate's Defensive Formation quickly activated, enveloping the entire manor in a pale golden barrier. It came from the Spirit Gathering Formation Disk Xiao Yan had left before departing and could withstand attacks from Dou Ling experts. But when the black-clad figures appeared outside the estate, everyone sucked in a cold breath-their leader was an outer sect deacon of the Misty Cloud Sect, the Cloud-Pattern Token at his waist gleaming coldly in the sunlight.
"They're from the Misty Cloud Sect!" a Xiao Clan elder exclaimed. "What are they doing here? Our young friend Xiao Yan only just returned from their sect. Could it be..." A cold gleam flashed in Xiao Zhan's eyes. "They're here for the Xiao Clan! That old dog Yun Leng is vicious. He couldn't beat Xiao Yan openly, so he came to bully our clan!"
"Listen well, members of the Xiao Clan!" The Misty Cloud Sect deacon stood outside the formation, his voice booming like thunder. "The evidence of Xiao Zhan's collusion with the Soul Hall is irrefutable! You have one hour to open the gates and surrender. Otherwise, we'll raze the Xiao Residence and spare neither chickens nor dogs!" His words landed like a boulder hurled into a lake, throwing the Xiao clansmen into an uproar-the Misty Cloud Sect was turning black into white!
"Bullshit!" Xiao Bo roared. "Our Xiao Clan has been loyal and honorable for generations! How dare you slander us! Our young friend Xiao Yan just suffered every indignity at your sect. You don't dare settle accounts with him, so you come to bully the old, weak, women, and children. What kind of prowess is that?" Dou Qi surged around him as he pointed his saber outside the formation. "Break through and come in if you have the ability! The men of the Xiao Clan aren't afraid to die!"
"You don't know what's good for you!" The deacon sneered and addressed the disciples behind him. "Attack! Break this pathetic formation! Whoever captures Xiao Zhan will be richly rewarded!" Two hundred Misty Cloud Sect disciples struck together, their green Dou Qi flooding toward the golden barrier like a tide. Boom! Boom! Boom! Explosions sounded one after another. The barrier shook violently, its runes flickering erratically. Clearly, it could not hold much longer.
Watching the assault outside the formation, Xiao Zhan grew desperately anxious. Although Xiao Yan had left the Defensive Array Disk, it could not last half an hour against two hundred Da Dou Shi and several Dou Ling. He turned to Xiao Bo. "Uncle Bo, take the women and children out through the secret passage. Go to Jia Ma City and seek help from the Spirit Gatherer Association! I'll hold the main gate with the young men and buy as much time as possible!"
"Clan Head!" Xiao Bo said urgently. "If we leave, we leave together! Staying behind is too dangerous!" Xiao Zhan shook his head, his gaze resolute. "I'm the head of the Xiao Clan. I must defend this place! Go, quickly. Preserving the clan's embers matters more than anything!" He pressed a Communication Jade Talisman into Xiao Bo's hand. "This is Xiao Yan's emergency communication talisman. Activate it as soon as you reach the association and let him know what's happened!"
Xiao Bo nodded tearfully and turned to organize the evacuation of the women and children. Xiao Zhan drew a deep breath and addressed the young men who remained. "Men of the Xiao Clan, today we stand at the brink of life and death! The Misty Cloud Sect wants to destroy our clan. Will we allow it?" "No!" they roared in unison. Swords and sabers left their sheaths, and Dou Qi shone in the sunlight. Even before such powerful enemies, they showed no fear.
Boom! The defensive barrier finally gave way, its runes shattering into specks of light that filled the sky. The Misty Cloud Sect disciples lunged in like starving wolves, and green Dou Qi collided instantly with gold. "Kill!" Xiao Zhan led the charge, his spear striking like a dragon straight at the deacon. Its tip screamed through the air, and his early-stage Dou Wang pressure made the deacon's expression shift slightly. "I didn't expect you to have some ability!"
The two clashed in an instant, spear shadows weaving through sword light. Shock waves of Dou Qi made the surrounding buildings shudder. Though the Xiao clansmen resisted valiantly, the disparity in strength was enormous, and they soon fell into a losing position. The Misty Cloud Sect disciples were all well trained and coordinated seamlessly. Xiao clansmen kept falling, their screams rising one after another.
"Clan Head! The east side is about to fall!" a young clansman bellowed. Surrounded by three Misty Cloud Sect disciples, he was already covered in wounds. Xiao Zhan glanced over, distracted, and saw that the eastern courtyard wall had been breached. Dozens of disciples poured in and rushed toward the inner courtyard. His heart tightened. He wanted to rush to its defense, but the deacon kept him firmly tied down.
"Keep him occupied!" The deacon signaled two Dou Ling elders beside him with a glance. "Hurry and seize Xiao Zhan's family. Force him to surrender!" The two elders obeyed and shot toward the inner courtyard like lightning. Xiao Zhan's eyes nearly split with rage. "Don't you dare hurt my family!" His Dou Qi erupted, golden light blazing from his spear tip. He forced the deacon back and turned to race toward the inner courtyard.
"Stop him!" the deacon roared. Several Da Dou Shi immediately lunged forward, blocking Xiao Zhan's path with their bodies. "Get out of my way!" Xiao Zhan swept his spear across, his golden Dou Qi blasting several men away. Yet that brief delay was enough for the two Dou Ling elders to reach the inner courtyard entrance. "Wife! Take the children and run!" Xiao Zhan screamed, his eyes bloodshot.
Just then, a white figure dropped from the sky like lightning and blocked the two Dou Ling elders. "Stop!" Nalan Yanran's face was pale as paper as she looked at the chaos before her. Unable to set her worries aside, she had secretly followed them, never expecting to witness such a horrific scene-the Misty Cloud Sect disciples were like jackals and wolves, Xiao clansmen lay in pools of blood, and the once-flourishing Xiao Residence was in ruins.
"Young Sect Master?" The two Dou Ling elders froze. "Why are you here? The elder ordered us to capture the Xiao Clan remnants..." "Who told you to come?!" Nalan Yanran shouted, her voice trembling. "Why drag his clan into the grudge between Xiao Yan and the Misty Cloud Sect? How are you any different from bandits?"
Dou Qi surged around her as she readied Extreme Wind: Meteor Kill. "Order a retreat immediately, or don't blame me for showing no mercy!" The two elders looked troubled. "Young Sect Master, these are the Grand Elder's orders. We..." "I said retreat!" Nalan Yanran roared. Green Wind Blades shot out, forcing the two elders to retreat again and again.
Seeing this, the deacon outside the formation turned livid. "Nalan Yanran! You dare defy the Grand Elder's orders?!" She looked at the blood on the ground, tears gathering in her eyes. "I won't allow you to slaughter innocents! Xiao Yan was right. The Misty Cloud Sect has long since lost the bearing of a great sect!" She stood before the inner courtyard entrance, her white robes painfully stark amid the blood. "As long as I'm here, no one is allowed to harm a single member of the Xiao Clan!"
Looking at Nalan Yanran standing before the inner courtyard entrance, Xiao Zhan felt a jumble of emotions. The woman who had once broken off the engagement had now become the straw the Xiao Clan clutched at to save its life. But he knew that, though she was the Young Sect Master, she might not be able to stop these elders whose heads had been clouded by self-interest.
Sure enough, the deacon sneered. "Since our Young Sect Master insists on being obstinate, don't blame us for being discourteous! Seize her. The Grand Elder will take responsibility afterward!" Several Dou Ling experts attacked at once, their green Dou Qi spreading over Nalan Yanran like a massive net. Though she was a peak Da Dou Shi, she was powerless against several Dou Ling. Before long, their Dou Qi bound her, leaving her unable to move.
"Yanran!" Xiao Zhan roared. He tried to rescue her, but the deacon kept him pinned down. He could only watch Nalan Yanran being subdued and the Dou Ling elders charging into the inner courtyard. His family's cries reached his ears, cutting through his heart like knives. "Xiao Zhan! Surrender!" The deacon grinned savagely. "Your family is in our hands. Keep resisting, and they'll die with you!"
Xiao Zhan's movements slowed. His spear drooped to the ground, and his golden Dou Qi gradually dimmed. He looked at the fallen clansmen around him, at his family being marched out under guard, and at the despair in Nalan Yanran's eyes. Endless helplessness welled up within him. Was the Xiao Clan's century-old foundation truly going to be destroyed in his hands today?
Just then, a dark figure descended from the clouds like a phantom, appearing silently above the inner courtyard. Shrouded in black robes, his face was hidden, and he exuded a heart-stopping aura several times more powerful than that of the Misty Cloud Sect's Dou Ling elders. "Who's there?!" Sensing something wrong, the deacon barked the question.
The dark figure did not answer. He merely extended a sharply jointed finger and pointed lightly at Xiao Zhan. An invisible force instantly enveloped Xiao Zhan. He felt as though the Dou Qi within him had frozen; he could not even move a finger. "Who are you?!" Xiao Zhan screamed, fear filling his eyes-this power was at least at the Dou Huang level!
Ignoring the surrounding Misty Cloud Sect disciples, the dark figure grabbed Xiao Zhan's shoulder and lifted him like a chick. "You stranger! Release our clan head!" Xiao clansmen rushed forward, roaring, only to be hurled back by the waves of energy around the figure, blood spilling from their mouths. Both shocked and delighted, the deacon began, "Sir, are you..."
The dark figure cast him a cold glance, looking at him as though he were already dead. The deacon instantly fell silent. Holding Xiao Zhan, the figure transformed into a streak of light and flew toward the Jia Nan Mountains, disappearing into the clouds in the blink of an eye. Only after he had vanished completely did earth-shaking cries erupt inside and outside the Xiao Residence-the Xiao Clan head had been abducted by a mysterious stranger!
Nalan Yanran slumped to the ground. As she stared in the direction where the figure had vanished, her tears finally broke their banks. In the end, she had failed to stop any of it. Not only had she failed to save the Xiao Clan, but Xiao Zhan had fallen into an even more terrifying predicament. Who was that stranger? A helper Elder Yun Leng had enlisted, or someone from another faction? With Xiao Zhan in his hands, the consequences were unthinkable...
The Misty Cloud Sect disciples exchanged uncertain looks. Staring at the wreckage strewn across the ground and the empty inner courtyard, the deacon did not know what to do. Without capturing Xiao Zhan, killing these Xiao Clan remnants would accomplish nothing and would only thoroughly enrage Xiao Yan. He gritted his teeth and ordered the disciples, "Retreat!" The two hundred Misty Cloud Sect disciples withdrew like a tide, leaving only the ruined Xiao Residence and bloodstains everywhere.
The sun sank in the west, its blood-red dying light spilling over the Xiao Residence. The surviving Xiao clansmen knelt on the ground, staring at their relatives' bodies and the clan head's empty place, sobbing too hard to speak. Xiao Bo returned through the secret passage with the women and children. At the sight before him, tears streamed down his aged face. Nalan Yanran stood, her white robes covered in dust and blood. She approached Xiao Bo, her voice hoarse. "Uncle Bo, I'm sorry... I couldn't stop them..."
Xiao Bo shook his head, his eyes full of exhaustion. "It isn't your fault. The Misty Cloud Sect was too ruthless, and we were too weak..." He tightened his grip on the Communication Jade Talisman, tears dripping onto it. "Young friend Xiao Yan, you must come back... The Xiao Clan can't be without you. The clan head is still waiting for us to save him..."
The evening wind swept through the ruined Xiao Residence, stirring dust and traces of blood from the ground. Lights began to glow in distant Wutan City, yet they could not illuminate the darkness over the estate. News of Xiao Zhan's abduction by a mysterious stranger spread through Wutan City like a plague. Everyone knew a greater storm was about to come. Far away in Jia Ma City, Xiao Yan knew nothing of it. He was holding a map from the Purifying Spirit Hall, studying the route to the Fog Forest, utterly unaware that his clan had suffered a catastrophe and his father had fallen into a mysterious stranger's demonic clutches. Deep within the clouds and mist of the Jia Nan Mountains, the dark figure held Xiao Zhan, an uncanny smile curling his lips. A plot targeting Xiao Yan had only just raised its curtain.
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