(⊙o⊙) What?
A Great Emperor? Senior?
Having recovered, everyone sank into bewilderment once again.
The Ancient Phoenix Clan! An ancient clan like that was even more powerful than an ancient lineage.
If these men before them were elders, then they were absolutely powerhouses! There was no question about it.
Yet now, they were addressing Chen Fan as a Great Emperor... and even as Senior!
Hiss. How was that possible!
The shock in their hearts was beyond words. Of course, they had no right to speak now, either.
Chen Fan paid it no mind.
"So you are elders of the Ancient Phoenix Clan. In that case, do you two still have any objections to me taking a disciple?"
He did not relent, because the Ancient Phoenix Clan's powerhouses were no soft persimmons for anyone to squeeze.
Elder Chen and Elder Gu suffered unspeakably. They felt as though they had sunk into a mire. If Chen Fan wanted their lives, they absolutely would not survive.
"Senior, we were presumptuous. Since this is the divine maiden's choice, we dare not object. Please be magnanimous and overlook the faults of insignificant men like us."
They conceded.
If their earlier words had been an attempt to invoke their backing and politely intimidate Chen Fan, now they truly feared he would kill them.
After all, regardless of their backing, every Great Emperor possessed an inviolable imperial might. They absolutely could not defy him. They could only sell out the divine maiden to preserve themselves.
Uncle Fu, Meng Tianya, and Chen Luoyu felt as though they were dreaming, their eyes wide and round. Unbelievable!
Even the Ancient Phoenix Clan's elders were no match for the young master? A Great Emperor, hiss~
Something utterly impossible was happening before their eyes. Their minds buzzed, leaving them no room to wonder just what had happened to the young master. Then wild joy filled their hearts, and they exchanged glances...
Hearing this, Chen Fan casually waved a hand and withdrew his imperial might.
"Since neither of you objects, sorry for the trouble, but please return and inform the Ancient Phoenix Clan's chief that Feng Yao is my disciple!"
Taking her in had been somewhat slapdash, but that was no great problem. So long as the little girl was willing to deliver herself to his doorstep, that would do.
Elder Chen and Elder Gu felt a great burden lift and wiped away their sweat. Looking again at their divine maiden, who had been taken as a disciple right under their noses, they stared at each other, wanting to cry but having no tears.
Elder Chen said, "Senior, my name is Chen Fengnian, and he is Gu Fengsheng."
"Senior, just call us Little Chen and Little Gu," Elder Gu said with a smile.
"As for this matter, we will certainly report it truthfully to the clan chief. Please do not worry, Senior."
The divine maiden had chosen this herself anyway. They had no other option and could only sell her out. Besides, they were not bitter, mortal enemies. And befriending a Great Emperor offered nothing but gains! They believed the clan chief would understand.
Pfft. These two old men were so thick-skinned, and their enormous change in attitude nearly threw everyone's backs out.
Su Chanyue's pretty face went deathly pale. How could... Chen Fan already be in the Emperor Realm? Pfft, she spat blood. But no matter how she refused to believe it, how could what was happening before her eyes be false!
So the clown was me.
The repudiation letter clenched in her hand became unbearably hot, and she trembled all over.
Chen Fan hummed in acknowledgment. "Since you are Feng Yao's clansmen, there is no need to be so courteous. And I will certainly keep Feng Yao safe."
Bai Fengyao leaned beside her master. "Little..."
No, I'm not Master. She hastily corrected herself. "Elder Chen, Elder Gu, you needn't worry about Feng Yao." It took me so much effort to find a master whose engagement was being broken off.
How could I have gotten it wrong? Master was a Great Emperor! Sure enough, everything the books said was the truth!
Chen Fan lowered his head to look at his disciple. She had a rebellious streak, huh? What else had she wanted to say? Why stop halfway?
Chen Fengnian and Gu Fengsheng nearly bristled their beards and glared.
They said awkwardly, "With Senior protecting her, we can rest assured..."
Su Chanyue felt utterly miserable at that moment. Her pride had suffered an unprecedented blow! These two Ancient Phoenix Clan elders were surely no weaker in cultivation than her master, yet they bowed their heads so low before Chen Fan?
She immediately wanted to retreat, to leave first and discuss breaking off the engagement with her master. She quietly prompted, "Uncle Fu, Meng..."
"Big Sister, aren't you going to break off your engagement to my master and give him the repudiation letter yet?" Unlike everyone else's restraint, Bai Fengyao was not the least bit intimidated.
She looked at Su Chanyue to the side, her eyes sparkling with starlight.
It was all thanks to this big sister.
She had been thinking about this all along. You absolutely had to succeed in breaking off this engagement!
At those words, silence fell, not even a crow or sparrow calling.
Su Chanyue froze on the spot, becoming the focus of every gaze. She was so embarrassed she could have clawed out a luxury villa with three bedrooms and a living room.
Only then did Chen Fengnian and Gu Fengsheng look at the utterly unremarkable Su Chanyue. Breaking off an engagement? With a Great Emperor? Were women's standards for husbands actually this high these days?
They shook their heads. She was either a fool or had something wrong with her brain. But it had nothing to do with them.
Chen Fan was very much "thank Q," but he did not care.
"Miss Su, I agree to break off this engagement. I will sign the repudiation letter. Are you satisfied?"
So what if I signed it for you? Could a dignified Great Emperor like me take it so hard that I never recovered?
Su Chanyue did not dare speak at all. Cautiously, trembling, she handed over the repudiation letter... She gritted her teeth and steeled her heart!
Get this settled quickly and leave immediately. She could not stay here another second.
"Senior, you mustn't." Chen Fengnian could not bear to watch and immediately intervened.
"Senior, if anyone is to be repudiated, you should repudiate her! How can you sign a repudiation letter!" Gu Fengsheng was quite furious.
How could the divine maiden's master be repudiated!
Su Chanyue was struck straight through the heart. Her hand shook, and the repudiation letter fell toward the ground. Perhaps she should give Chen Fan a little face...
"Elder Chen, Elder Gu, don't say anything!" Bai Fengyao widened her big eyes and directly stopped the two men. Today, I absolutely had to watch Master have his engagement broken off!
Chen Fengnian and Gu Fengsheng nearly died of her "filial piety" on the spot.
"You little girl, ah..." How strange. They could hardly say anything more.
"It's fine." With that, Chen Fan caught the repudiation letter...
Su Chanyue's gaze sharpened. Don't. At this moment, her state of mind instead began to waver. Something had gone awry, her mind tangled into a mess, and she found it difficult to make a decisive choice.
Hesitation, anxiety, conflict.
She hurriedly spoke.
"Young Master Chen, thirty years. Give me thirty years. If I can... perhaps we needn't come to this." She forced the words through gritted teeth, setting herself a small goal on the spot.
If she missed out on this fiancé, she might never have another. What use was face at a time like this?
And the Chen Lineage truly was not much. Chen Fan alone could not prove anything, but he was a Great Emperor...
A Great Emperor in his twenties!
Bai Fengyao nearly thought it was all over and was about to break them apart herself, only to hear...
"Miss Su, I have no patience." With that, Chen Fan casually made a few strokes, then handed the repudiation letter to Su Chanyue.
"This began with you and ends with me. From now on, we have nothing more to do with one another. Furthermore, in view of the friendship between our two families, I will not pursue the matter."
"Also, I will personally visit your master and explain this matter, lest it create a rift."
He had agreed to cast a wide net. As for his requirements for a wife... Su Chanyue's master was a Saint Realm mighty figure. She could go on the shortlist.
He would reluctantly give Su Chanyue a way down, so they could meet again in the future. Ah, completing a mission was far too difficult.
His disciple Bai Fengyao hurriedly patted her chest. Good, good.
Su Chanyue looked at the large characters on the repudiation letter. They were unbearably glaring.
Her expression was extremely ugly. Every sentence Chen Fan spoke stabbed her heart! It seemed she was breaking off the engagement, but in truth, she had been repudiated! He had returned her words to her completely unchanged!
This was...
The unwritten rule that the strong were supreme.
She gave a miserable smile of acceptance. "In that case, Young Master Chen, until we meet again."
A missed chance was a missed chance. This was the karmic price she should bear!
Not only that, Senior Brother Wang had died for nothing, implicated by her. Because the Falling Cloud Sect, even her master, would not make trouble... and provoke a Great Emperor! She trembled at the very thought.
Then she resolutely turned. "Uncle Fu, Senior Brother Meng, let's go..."
However.
Uncle Fu did not even listen. His gaze burned, his heart already an arrow speeding home. He no longer concealed it at all.
He dropped straight to one knee before Chen Fan, his voice becoming extraordinarily sonorous. "Si Fu, a disciple of the Chen Lineage bearing an outside surname. This old servant pays respects to the young master and requests permission to return to the lineage! These are the gifts of apology prepared by the Su Lineage's head..."
He took out ninety-nine bottles of pills with a turn of his hand! He offered them with both hands and lowered his head in respect. There was no need to give them secretly anymore.
At the same time, Meng Tianya swept his robes aside and dropped to one knee. "Chen Tianya, disciple of the Chen Lineage's seventh branch, pays respects to the young master and requests permission to return to the lineage!"
"Chen Luoyu, blood relative of the Chen Lineage's main branch, pays respects to the young master and requests permission to return to the lineage!" Chen Luoyu was exceptionally spirited, but she did not drop to one knee. She was... Chen Fan's aunt!
"..."
Everyone could only exclaim that absurdity's mother had opened the door for absurdity!