"You and Xiao Yan have been acting strange lately. Did something happen?"
A few days later, a solemn atmosphere filled the Xiao Clan's assembly hall.
All the clan's important members had gathered there, a clear indication of their visitors' distinguished status.
As usual, Xiao Qian and Xiao Xun'er sat near the door, where the sunlight spilled in.
It was bright there, warm and comfortable. Neither of them ever took part in discussions of the Xiao Clan's affairs; they simply sat quietly to one side.
"Nothing much. He just doesn't want me standing up for him anymore."
Xiao Qian tilted his head slightly toward the girl beside him.
Dressed in a pale purple dress, she quietly turned the pages of a book. Her serene bearing resembled an orchid blooming in a secluded valley, soothing the heart and refreshing the mind.
Quite a few boys in the hall unconsciously turned their gazes toward them. Their eyes lingered on Xiao Xun'er, brimming with admiration, before flicking toward Xiao Qian beside her with a touch of jealousy.
From Xiao Qian's angle, however, he could clearly see the contents of the book in Xiao Xun'er's hands.
Its pages were actually filled with diagrams breaking down the anatomy of human faces. The drawings were so meticulous that anyone who knew no better would probably think she intended to study medicine!
The corner of Xiao Qian's face twitched. This girl really is taking face-sculpting seriously.
"So, have you two broken off your friendship?" Xiao Xun'er suddenly turned to him, her eyes sparkling.
Xiao Qian's face twitched even harder. "We all grew up together. Is it really right for you to look forward to that?" he asked helplessly.
"Well, he's always monopolizing your time," the girl whispered, wrinkling her dainty nose. "I've been jealous for ages!"
Xiao Qian stared at her flowerlike smile and felt as though a feather had brushed across his heart, leaving a soft, tingling sensation. For a moment, he was so dazed that he almost forgot where he was.
"Do you know who those three are?"
Sensing the warmth in his gaze, Xiao Xun'er felt her cheeks grow slightly hot.
She gently squeezed his hand, then turned toward the center of the assembly hall and softly reminded him, "If you still consider Xiao Yan a good brother, then your good brother might suffer a monstrous humiliation today."
Her tone was perfectly calm. Had she not been worried that this would upset Xiao Qian, she probably would not have paid it so much attention.
Only then did Xiao Qian turn his gaze toward the hall.
Three figures in moon-white robes sat in the guest seats. Their leader was a middle-aged man, flanked by a boy and a girl around their own age.
Both youths carried themselves arrogantly, radiating an overbearing air.
"They all have the same cloud-and-sword pattern on their cuffs. They must be from the Jia Ma Empire's Misty Cloud Sect, right? What are they here for?" Xiao Qian frowned in puzzlement. "And what does any of this have to do with Xiao Yan?"
Seeing his frown, Xiao Xun'er grew a little more serious and explained slowly, "The prettiest girl, on the left, is the granddaughter of Nalan Jie, head of the Nalan Family in the Imperial Capital. She's also the disciple of Yun Yun, the current Misty Cloud Sect Master. She's already a Three-Star Dou Zhe at such a young age. Talent like that could be called earth-shaking in the Jia Ma Empire."
"A darling of heaven like her, showered with affection from every side, naturally wants control over her own destiny. But her grandfather arranged a marriage for her when she was little. Now, she sees her engagement to Xiao Yan as the greatest stain on her life, something she has to erase."
A trace of pity surfaced in Xiao Xun'er's eyes as she continued, "Xiao Yan used to be a genius, but now he's fallen into being a good-for-nothing. And now someone's coming to his door to break off their engagement. They're practically trampling his dignity underfoot..."
"As expected of the Flame Emperor. He's certainly lived through a lot," Xiao Qian suddenly remarked with a soft sigh.
A string of question marks promptly appeared over Xiao Xun'er's head.
That's what you think when your brother faces something like this? Where's your righteous indignation? Your empathy? How can you be so calm?
Seemingly noticing the odd look in her eyes, Xiao Qian spread his hands and explained, "Honestly, I don't think he'll stay at rock bottom forever. Everything that's happening will only help him grow faster."
"You certainly have faith in him." A faint sourness tinged Xiao Xun'er's voice.
Xiao Qian chuckled and turned his attention to the girl in the moon-white robe.
Her fitted outfit was crisply tailored, hugging her figure and perfectly blending her youthful air with supple grace.
The lines of her shoulders were smooth and elegant. Her waist was neatly cinched, while beneath it her silhouette softened into natural curves, every inch possessing an unpolished liveliness.
Her lovely face wore an indifferent expression, giving her a cool, aloof air. Yet the diamond-shaped earring on her left earlobe caught the light in brilliant glimmers, complementing the faintly visible lines of her collarbones beneath her fair neck.
Just then, the nine dantians within Xiao Qian suddenly resonated together for an instant.
His brow rose as an inexplicable intuition stirred within him. The disturbance in his dantians seemed connected to the girl sitting a short distance away.
Nalan Yanran?
Xiao Qian narrowed his eyes slightly, studying her without betraying anything, his gaze lingering.
At that very moment, the girl seemed to sense something. Her gaze shot toward him like lightning, and she gave him a cold stare.
Deacon Ge Ye had been exchanging empty pleasantries with Xiao Zhan for quite some time now. She was growing impatient, and a trace of frost seemed to linger in her eyes.
"Pretty domineering," Xiao Qian muttered, curling his lip.
"Is she really that pretty?" The girl's calm voice sounded beside his ear.
Xiao Qian answered reflexively, "She looks all right. Her temper isn't great, though."
Xiao Xun'er's breathing grew a little heavier. "She looks all right?"
"Yeah, fairly pretty."
Still absorbed in pondering the disturbance in his dantians, Xiao Qian had no idea that his answers were akin to dancing wildly on a tightrope.
"Then would you like to get to know her?" The girl's voice carried a chilly draft.
However slow Xiao Qian might have been, he finally caught on. Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, he said, "What are you talking about? However pretty she is, could she possibly be prettier than you?"
Xiao Xun'er gave him a charming little roll of her eyes.
"Are you Xiao Qian, the Xiao Clan's renowned young genius?"
Yet no one had expected Nalan Yanran to rise from her seat in the guest area and walk toward them just as Xiao Qian and Xiao Xun'er leaned close, whispering intimately.
"Ah, Yanran..." Ge Ye froze. Feeling that this was terribly discourteous, he hurriedly said to Xiao Zhan, "Xiao Clan Chief, this is our sect master's disciple, Nalan Yanran. She is also the Nalan Family's granddaughter."
"Uncle Xiao." Nalan Yanran turned back and bowed to Xiao Zhan.
"Nalan Yanran, the Nalan Family's granddaughter..." Xiao Zhan paused, then broke into delight. "Hahaha! So it's my niece from the Nalan Family. So many years have passed in the blink of an eye, and you've grown so much."
The joy on his face only made Nalan Yanran feel more vexed.
It was Ge Ye who rescued her from the situation, stepping forward to ask, "Yanran, did you just say he's that Xiao Qian with forty-five stages of Dou Qi?"
Finding himself suddenly the focus of the hall's conversation, Xiao Qian was utterly baffled.
How did Nalan Yanran recognize me?
"That's right. He is our Xiao Clan's genius, Xiao Qian." Xiao Zhan, on the other hand, felt greatly honored and stepped forward to introduce him, his face full of pride.
Helplessly, Xiao Qian rose and met the three visitors as Xiao Zhan introduced him.
But the young man accompanying Nalan Yanran was openly hostile toward him, and Xiao Qian could not be bothered to put on a false show of courtesy.
"Would you like to join the Misty Cloud Sect?"
At that moment, Nalan Yanran startled everyone with her words.
"What?!"
Unsurprisingly, an uproar swept through the hall.
The Misty Cloud Sect held an extraordinarily high position in the Jia Ma Empire, with faint signs of becoming its dominant power. It was a sacred haven that young cultivators throughout the Jia Ma Empire dreamed of entering.
Now, such a sacred haven had actually extended an olive branch to Xiao Qian. How could everyone present not be dumbstruck, their expectations shattered?
"Yanran, this..." Ge Ye had not expected this turn of events either. It was nothing like his original plan. Lowering his voice, he said, "The sect master allowed you to come here to break off your engagement, but she never mentioned this, did she?"
Nalan Yanran shook her head slightly and said softly, "Martial Uncle Ge, I'm following orders in this matter too. You'd best not inquire. It won't do you any good."
Ge Ye shuddered in alarm and immediately lost the nerve to ask another question.
In the end, he was merely a deacon of the Misty Cloud Sect with little prospect of advancing in cultivation. He might remain a Da Dou Shi for the rest of his life.
Nalan Yanran was different. Given her talent, the sect master was plainly grooming her as her successor. Her future as the leader of the sect was as certain as a nail driven into a board. He could only curry favor with her; how would he dare say anything more?
Before you continue