"Father!"
"Uncle Xiao!"
"Clan Leader!"
The hall instantly descended into chaos as countless people crowded around.
Xiao Ce was the first to rush forward, quickly helping Xiao Zhan up. "Father, are you all right?"
He looked around and ordered the nearest attendant, "Go fetch the Clan Physician!"
"No... there's no need." Xiao Zhan's vision had merely gone black for a moment. Having recovered now, he hurriedly stopped Xiao Ce.
Xiao Ce hesitated, then withdrew his order and called the attendant back.
Xiao Zhan sat back down in his chair and looked at the people gathered around him. Xiao Ce and Xiao Yan stood at the front, with Xiao Xun'er right behind them, followed by the faction within the clan that was friendly toward him.
The clansmen belonging to factions such as the First Elder's and Second Elder's all remained motionless, watching the spectacle with a hint of mockery in their eyes.
Xiao Zhan sighed in weary resignation, looking as though he had aged ten years.
He looked at Nalan Yanran. The girl wore a trace of panic on her face after what had just happened, as though she had never expected this outcome.
Xiao Zhan slowly closed his eyes, his voice filled with indescribable exhaustion. "Nalan Yanran, do as you please."
Hearing this, Xiao Ce felt his heart clench. For Xiao Zhan to utter such words of resignation showed just how devastating the broken engagement was to him.
After all, in the original story, however humiliating it had been, it had only involved one son.
Now, however, his third and fourth sons had both fallen on hard times. As their father, the pressure he bore could only be greater.
The broken engagement was like the final straw, crushing this father who had stood tall enough to hold up the heavens.
Xiao Ce clenched his fists in anguish. He had clearly foreseen this scene long ago and had long since prepared himself for it, yet actually seeing his father Xiao Zhan suffer such humiliation still inevitably stirred anger within him.
Turning to face Nalan Yanran, he spoke to the girl for the first time.
"Nalan Yanran, you're breaking off our engagement because I'm eighteen and only at the fifth stage of Dou Qi, and you think I'm unworthy of a favored daughter of heaven like you!"
"Yes, I admit that right now, I'm not even a tenth of what you are, but what makes you think I can't turn things around in the future?"
"Hardship only steels my resolve; my ambition to soar into the clouds will never fall!"
"Being stronger than me now doesn't mean you'll be stronger than me for life.
You want to dissolve the engagement? Fine!
But you won't be breaking off our engagement. I'll be repudiating you!"
Xiao Ce tore a strip of cloth from the hem of his clothes, bit his finger, and wrote a large word on it in blood-"Repudiated"-before throwing it at Nalan Yanran.
Nalan Yanran caught the cloth in a daze. As she stared at the large word "Repudiated," humiliation, disbelief, anger, and all manner of emotions tangled in her heart.
"How could you? How dare you!"
"What right does trash like you have to repudiate me? How dare you repudiate me!"
Nalan Yanran clenched her fists, as though she were the one whose fiancé had come to her door to break off their engagement.
"Xiao Ce! You're merely at the fifth stage of Dou Qi. The gap between us is as vast as heaven and earth. How are you worthy of repudiating me?" Nalan Yanran said through gritted teeth.
Xiao Ce's gaze was icy. "Whether I'm worthy isn't for you to decide!"
"Three years. Just give me three years, and I'll personally ascend the Misty Cloud Sect and return today's humiliation!"
Nalan Yanran immediately agreed. "Fine, then I'll be waiting!"
As she spoke, she had Ge Ye take the Qi Gathering Powder out of his Storage Ring, then said, "This Qi Gathering Powder was personally refined by Pill King Gu He. Consider it compensation for breaking off the engagement."
"Don't go telling people that our Misty Cloud Sect bullied the Xiao Clan!"
Nalan Yanran placed the Qi Gathering Powder on a nearby table, bowed to Xiao Zhan, and left the hall with Ge Ye and the male disciple of the Misty Cloud Sect.
Inside the hall, Xiao Zhan, Xiao Xun'er, Xiao Yan, and the others close to Xiao Ce looked at him with relief, some worry, and admiration in their eyes.
As for everyone else, they all fixed their gazes on the Qi Gathering Powder, making no effort to conceal the greed in their eyes.
"Ce, don't put too much pressure on yourself. Your father is still here." Xiao Zhan straightened his back, shouldering the pressure once more.
Xiao Ce remained silent, bowed, and left.
With the system, he was confident he could turn things around.
No amount of words now could compare to the strength he would display in the future!
"Third Brother... Father." Xiao Yan looked at Xiao Ce, then at Xiao Zhan. The anger in his heart was no less than Xiao Ce's.
If my talent hadn't disappeared, Father wouldn't have to bear so much pressure, and Third Brother wouldn't have suffered such a humiliating broken engagement. Xiao Yan clenched his fists in frustration and left the hall as well.
On the mountain behind the Xiao Clan.
Xiao Ce sat back down on the large rock and looked at the system panel before him.
[Deployments available: 1] [Begin deployment: yes/no.]
"Yes!" Xiao Ce pressed it without hesitation.
[Random identity: Nihility Devouring Flame · Fire Spirit] [Random timeline: ten thousand years ago] [Deployment begins.]
The next instant, the panel before Xiao Ce changed. The words vanished, replaced by a completely shapeless, formless space.
Looking into the void, Xiao Ce could clearly sense a shapeless, formless flame slowly burning within it. Its aura was so powerful that even the void rippled in ways it should not have.
[Year 1: You awaken in the void with the strength of a Seven-Star Dou Saint. With your devouring power unleashed, you can contend with a Late-Stage Seven-Star Dou Saint. You know full well where you stand in the timeline: Tou She Ancient God is about to become a Dou Di, and you will most likely be the last Heavenly Flame he devours. To avoid being devoured, you choose to leave Void Space and head to the Magma World at the earth's core, following Tou She Ancient God's example by devouring Heavenly Flames to grow stronger. In the Magma World at the earth's core, you devour the Green Lotus Core Flame, Fallen Heart Flame, Mysterious Yellow Flame, and many other Heavenly Flames, but your cultivation increases only marginally. You realize that these low-ranking Heavenly Flames contain far too little energy for you.] [Year 2: You leave the Magma World at the earth's core, preparing to put your devouring nature to use by consuming all kinds of spiritual treasures. You plunder the Dou God Clan named Stone, devouring most of its resources. The Stone Clan summons a Dou Di's remnant soul, which gravely wounds you. You escape with your life hanging by a thread.] [Year 3: You rest and recuperate, digesting the energy from the Stone Clan's resources, and begin studying the cultivation methods and Dou Techniques you plundered from the Stone Clan.] [Year 4: You rest and recuperate, continuing to study cultivation methods and Dou Techniques.] [Year 5: You rest and recuperate...]
[Year 38: Your injuries have fully healed, and your cultivation breaks through to the middle stage of Seven-Star Dou Saint. You have mastered all the Stone Clan's Cultivation Methods and Combat Skills, bringing them to perfection. Combining the human cultivation methods preserved by the Stone Clan with your own characteristics, you create a cultivation method: the Spirit Refining Art. You expect this method to allow you to devour all spiritual treasures of heaven and earth and make their energy your own. The burden is heavy, and the road ahead is long. After emerging from seclusion, you continue searching for Emperor Clans. This time, you set your sights on the Spirit Clan. You sneak inside in search of a cultivation method from its Dou Di Inheritance. After obtaining it, you devour all the Spirit Clan's resources and leave. The Spirit Clan has yet to decline, and its clan leader is an Early Eight-Star Dou Saint. You are hunted down...] [Year 39: You are hunted down...] [Year 40: You are hunted down...] [Year 41: The Stone Clan joins the fray. Its current clan leader, an early-stage Seven-Star Dou Saint, also begins hunting you down.] [Year 42: You are hunted down...]
[Year 56: While fleeing for your life, you devour every resource you come across, while also partially improving the Spirit Refining Art based on the Spirit Clan's cultivation method.] [Year 57: You head to the Lei Clan, steal its cultivation method, and devour a large quantity of its resources. The Lei Clan is furious. Its clan leader, an Early Eight-Star Dou Saint, joins the pursuit. You hide in the Void Lightning Pool. The Stone and Spirit clan leaders balk at entering, but the Lei Clan's leader continues pursuing you.] [Year 88: You finish digesting the Spirit and Lei clans' resources, and your cultivation breaks through to Early Eight-Star Dou Saint. You improve the Spirit Refining Art once again based on the Lei Clan's cultivation method. You defeat the Lei Clan's leader, seize the Void Lightning Pool, and begin devouring Black Devil Lightning.]
Before you continue