Chapter 169: Nalan Yanran

Wei Yang nodded slightly, looked at Jia Xingtian, and gave a small smile as a greeting, "Old Jia."

Jia Xingtian had a smiling face. He didn't mind Wei Yang's indifferent attitude at all; haste makes waste, after all. He looked at Hai Bodong and Fa Ma and laughed loudly, "Who would have thought that the three of us would have the chance to gather again? Truly fate."

"Indeed, quite fateful," Fa Ma chuckled, implying, "Old devil, I didn't expect you to come watch the tournament today. I remember you didn't like such competitions."

"Retired for decades, it's good to come out and see occasionally," Jia Xingtian laughed, then turned his head to look at Xiao Yan, greeting him in a friendly manner.

Xiao Yan quickly stood up to return the greeting.

Jia Xingtian chatted with Xiao Yan a bit, and particularly pointed out that Princess Yao Ye was the security overseer for the event, controlling an army of fifty thousand.

He glanced at Wei Yang, suggesting with his words that Yao Ye was no mere decoration.

Wei Yang lowered his head and observed the lines on his palm.

After a short chat, everyone found their own seats and sat down.

On the massive square below, more and more alchemists began to enter as time passed.

In the audience stands, a sea of people formed a dense mass, impossible to count.

Countless lively girls occasionally let out admiring cheers, cheering for the alchemists entering.

The VIP seats grew more crowded, mostly filled with influential figures from the empire or their families.

At this time, another group of people walked towards the front seats, causing a slight commotion in the rear.

This group, entering the VIP seats, was from the three major families of the imperial capital.

The commotion was primarily due to Nalan Yanran and Ya Fei walking in the middle. 

The two had different temperaments but were both stunningly beautiful. Walking side by side, they naturally attracted a lot of attention, no wonder some noble offspring in the back were suddenly so excited.

The group walked along the corridor to the front row, smiling and greeting acquaintances.

Then, the leaders of the Nalan family, Nalan Jie, the Mittel family, Mittel Tengshan, and the Mu family, Mu Chen, came over to Wei Yang's side.

After greeting President Fa Ma, Jia Xingtian, and Hai Bodong, they approached Wei Yang.

They slightly bowed, speaking respectfully, "Nalan Jie, Mittel Tengshan, Mu Chen, greet Mr. Wei."

"No need for formalities, please take your seats," Wei Yang nodded, his tone calm, seemingly not caring much.

The three family heads didn't mind, bowed again, and then each took their places.

Today, numerous true big shots gathered here. For them, being Dou Kings in this gathering meant not being high-ranked; just being able to greet and get familiar was good enough.

Ordinary Dou Kings didn't even have the qualification to come over and greet here.

Did you notice that even though the ten major families of the Jia Ma Empire all have Dou Kings, only the three families of the imperial capital can come over to greet?

The other seven families were just gazing eagerly from the back, not daring to come over.

Without instruction, if they rashly ran over and were ignored, it would be extremely embarrassing and annoying.

Dou King was quite a delicate position.

Most of the time, indeed high above, but in some situations, quite low at the bottom.

...

At this moment, Ya Fei secretly sneaked over with Nalan Yanran again.

Ya Fei first winked at Xiao Yan sitting to the side and then looked at Wei Yang, laughing coquettishly, "Mr. Wei, this is Miss Nalan Yanran. She's quite an admirer of you and always wanted to meet you face to face."

Around them, those sitting in the front row, upon seeing this, instantly perked up their ears. Though their mouths kept chatting, their peripheral vision was tightly focused on here.

Wei Yang raised his eyes to glance at the two women, expressionless, finally resting his gaze on the rather reserved Nalan Yanran.

Three years had passed. The once slightly naive beautiful girl had grown even more charming.

His gaze inadvertently landed on Xiao Yan sitting aside.

At this moment, Xiao Yan was sitting quietly in his seat, eyes slightly closed, seemingly resting. In reality, his slowly clenched fists indicated that his heart was not calm.

Nalan Yanran also looked complicatedly at Xiao Yan.

The big shots around were too lazy to pretend and were all staring directly, looking intrigued.

Some people's gazes also carried a hint of mockery or teasing as they looked towards Nalan Jie.

Nalan Jie sighed softly, closed his eyes, and pretended not to see anything, overwhelmed by various emotions.

Actually, three years ago, when Nalan Yanran led people to break the engagement in Wutan City, claiming Nalan Jie knew nothing beforehand would certainly be false.

He just pretended not to know.

Wasn't this, in a way, an approval?

But not long ago, the young man whom his granddaughter had broken the engagement with personally had cured the poison on him.

In just three years, he didn't just restore his cultivation talent but also became a genius alchemist with considerable alchemy talent.

Regret?

Perhaps.

...

Nalan Yanran quickly withdrew her gaze and no longer paid attention to Xiao Yan, turning again to look at Wei Yang.

She chuckled softly, speaking respectfully, "Mr. Wei, we met three years ago, do you still remember me?"

She didn't expect that the handsome young man she met at the Xiao family would now turn into a renowned sixth-grade alchemist in the imperial capital.

"To think Mr. Wei could become an alchemist at such a young age, I couldn't believe it at first... truly admirable," Nalan Yanran praised, eyes full of respect and admiration.

The gazes of the big shots became somewhat ambiguous. Some faintly looked at Nalan Jie, slightly squinting.

Impressive, not a small ambition...

"You flatter me," Wei Yang's brow twitched, feeling somewhat helpless. He really didn't want to deal with Nalan Yanran.

Your former fiancé is right there; ignoring him is one thing, but seeking a conversation with me publicly? Are you really treating Xiao Yan as invisible?

Even a Buddha would get angry!

Please, don't involve me, geez.

And today's occasion? If you want to reminisce, couldn't you pick a different time and place?

Besides, I was just a guest at the Xiao family back then, an observer and witness at best, with no particular relationship with you, right?

And Ya Fei.

Wei Yang slightly frowned, glancing at Ya Fei.

This woman was becoming more presumptuous.

Also losing her usual keen insight, where had all her smartness gone?

Wei Yang felt slightly dissatisfied, even annoyed with Ya Fei now.

She seemed a bit clueless.

To the side, Xiao Yan's forehead had veins faintly bulging.

Ya Fei noticed this and felt a thud in her heart, realizing she had played too far.

The atmosphere momentarily became awkward.

"Ahem." At this moment, Hai Bodong, sitting not far away, coughed lightly.

Mittel Tengshan was also startled, quickly scolding softly, "Ya Fei, aren't you coming back?"

A trace of bitterness and grievance flashed in Ya Fei's eyes. She glanced at Wei Yang, lightly biting her red lips, bowed slightly, voice slightly trembling, "Mr. Wei, sorry for disturbing you."

She knew she had overexerted herself, resulting in a counterproductive effect.

To the side, Nalan Yanran also wore a somewhat downcast expression, bowing slightly, "Sorry, Mr. Wei, I was presumptuous."

Wei Yang smiled helplessly, completely devoid of the desire to speak, and waved his hand, signaling them to hurry up and leave.

Just leaving without saying anything would have been fine. Why the need for pointless apologies?

Under these circumstances, where does that leave Xiao Yan?

The big shots were slightly frowning too.

The slap was too heavy-handed, leaving no room.

"Uh," realized Ya Fei, smiling bitterly, wishing to slap herself hard.

She tugged Nalan Yanran's sleeve, quickly dragging her away.

Now, anything said would be too late. The more said, the worse it got, better to stay silent, say nothing.

Yet Nalan Yanran seemed stubborn, perhaps not even considering or caring about Xiao Yan's feelings.

Stopping in front of Xiao Yan, she lightly spoke, "Should I call you Sir Yanxiao, or just Xiao Yan?"

Wei Yang's face twitched.

The big shots' mouths twitched too.

Nalan Jie's face instantly turned as dark as the bottom of a pot.