Chapter 237: The Battle Begins

In the square, after Nalan Yanran stood up, Yun Leng, who was standing in the middle of the dozen white-robed Elders, raised his eyes to look at Xiao Yan and after a long while, he slowly spoke.

"You are Xiao Yan?"

As his eyes scanned Yun Leng, Xiao Yan discovered that this Elder should not have a low status in the Misty Cloud Sect, as those Elders around him wearing the same robes had been silent since he had opened his mouth.

Because he had reported his name earlier, Xiao Yan only nodded slightly.

"I am the First Elder of the Misty Cloud Sect, Yun Leng. Today, this three-year agreement will be presided over by me, and this competition is meant to compare and learn from each other. Stop when you-"

Because Yun Yun was accompanying Xiao Ming, it was Yun Leng who presided over the competition, but before he could finish his words, a voice suddenly rang out, interrupting him.

"Life and death are dictated by the heavens." Xiao Yan said indifferently, one would not know how Xiao Zhan would have felt if he had been present to hear these words.

Many people did not expect Xiao Yan to say such words, knowing that his opponent was the successor of the Sect Leader, and that he himself was previously only a three-star Dou Disciple.

Nalan Yanran's expression fluctuated for the first time, and it was one of surprise. She nodded her head slightly, and her voice was clear and cold as she said, "As you wish! However, I will leave you alive."

Hearing Nalan Yanran's reply, Yun Leng frowned slightly, Xiao Yan's sudden interruption made this First Elder of the Misty Cloud Sect feel a little unhappy.

He had only wanted the two of them to compete casually, with the goal that the two parties' faces could look good, but Xiao Yan had said so, and Nalan Yanran had also agreed, so what could he do?

Although Yun Leng was not necessarily a bad person, his temperament was not very good.

"Young man, you should always leave some leeway in everything you do. But since you want it to be this way, let it be as you wish, life and death are dictated by the heavens."

With these words, Yun Leng raised his head and looked at Xiao Ming who was beside Yun Yun, muttering to himself, 'I am not the one who mentioned that life and death are dictated by the heavens, and if something really happens, I believe that Master Xiao Ming will have no reason to blame our Misty Cloud Sect.'

Xiao Yan sneered, his palm grabbed the hilt of the ruler and shook it, causing the Heavy Xuan Ruler to kick up a strong wind as it pointed diagonally to the ground, his gaze fixed on Nalan Yanran.

"Today, let's settle all of our past grudges. Please repay today all the humiliation you brought upon us, father and son, three years ago!"

With the longsword in her hand, Nalan Yanran drew the blade slowly, causing the sunlight to ripple and reflect a cold glint. Her voice was serious as she said.

"Humiliation? After defeating you, I will apologize to Uncle Xiao, but I will never approve this marriage contract that your grandfather made with my grandfather before I was born, I will make my own decision about my own marriage, although three years have passed, I still don't think I did something wrong back then, I have the right to choose my own destiny."

"There's no point in saying more, let's begin!"

A fierce Dou Qi burst out around Xiao Yan's body, the surface of the Heavy Xuan Ruler seemed to be coated in flames, and his clothes rippled up and down with waves of Qi as he coldly shouted.

Hearing this, Nalan Yanran raised the longsword and tapped her toes on the stone platform. Then, her body jumped to the height of a willow tree and slowly landed in the center of the square.

A whirlwind of light green Dou Qi surrounded her atop the longsword, while a white glow illuminated the sharp edge of the blade.

"The three-year agreement is complete, your previous grudges will be completely settled today, I hope that after today, all your disputes will be-"

On top of the stone platform, Yun Leng looked at the two people who were already facing each other and coughed slightly. However, before he could finish his words, his face turned ugly again and he stopped talking. At this moment, under countless gazes, Xiao Yan in the square ignored his words and began the competition on his own. He waved his heavy ruler, turned into a black shadow, and mercilessly charged at Nalan Yanran.

"Let's fight, Nalan Yanran, I've been waiting for this day for three years!" A low growl escaped from Xiao Yan's mouth.

Xiao Yan thrust forward and waved the Heavy Xuan Ruler as he charged towards Nalan Yanran like an arrow, the air around him was being squeezed and the sound of sonic booms was incessant.

Nalan Yanran's face remained calm as she watched the black shadow charging straight towards her. As a practitioner of the wind attribute, speed and agility were her strengths. When Xiao Yan was about ten meters away, Nalan Yanran finally made her move, tapping her toes on the ground and fluttering like a falling leaf in a gale. In an instant, she intersected with the black figure.

As they crossed paths, the longsword in Nalan Yanran's hand sliced horizontally with natural ease. With the momentum from her agility, a few tiny wind blades had already flown ahead of the sword, aiming at Xiao Yan's neck.

Xiao Yan's pupils shrunk as he quickly shifted the Heavy Xuan Ruler one inch to use its broad surface to protect his neck from the sword covered with wind blades.

Clang!

The longsword struck the black ruler with a clang, but not even a scratch was left on it.

Facing each other, Xiao Yan's eyes were furious and stern like those of a bloodthirsty beast, while Nalan Yanran remained calm as ever, unfazed by the speed and strength displayed by Xiao Yan.

The black ruler and the longsword parted at the first contact, and along with them, the two figures, one black, and one white, also parted and, in the blink of an eye, turned back into shadows, colliding again.

At this moment, neither of the two was using any Dou Technique, they were only using their swords to fight with speed, and the sound caused by the clash between the black ruler and the longsword could be heard constantly in the arena, as the waves of Qi continued to surge.

The many Misty Cloud Sect disciples present were quite surprised that Xiao Yan could fight with their Little Sect Leader to such an extent.

"This little guy seems to have... quite a personality; and his strength is not bad either." At the top of the giant tree, Jia Xing Tian observed Xiao Yan before shaking his head and continuing, "However, as fierce as his attacks may be, they don't seem to be causing much damage to Nalan Yanran. The Misty Cloud Sect's Qi Method certainly lives up to its name."

"Hm." To the side, Hai Bodong nodded slightly, his gaze fixed on Nalan Yanran in the square as he laughed softly, "That girl from the Nalan family is not weak, it seems like the Sect Leader has done their best to train her during these three years."

With both of their perception, they could see that Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran had yet to bring out their true strength, so at this moment, they were only commenting briefly, and Yun Yun who was close to them only smiled at their words.

She had put a lot of effort into cultivating Yanran over the years, so how could she only be at this level?

Yun Yun's pretty eyes turned to look at Xiao Ming, wanting to hear his thoughts.

However, she soon realized that he didn't seem to care much about the competition between the two.

Of course, Xiao Ming had little interest in the competition itself. To him, whoever won between the two of them was of no consequence.

What really mattered to him was the major battle that would take place after the competition - that was his ultimate goal for coming to the Misty Cloud Sect.