"Hey! Have you heard? There was a big commotion at the Ning Chun Tower yesterday!"

"What happened?"

"I heard that it was Xiao Ning, the grandson of the Xiao Clan first elder was beaten at the Ning Chun Tower! Both of his leg was even crippled!"

"What? Who would dare to do such a thing? That's the Xiao Clan!"

"Who did it?"

"I heard... it was two little girls from the Xiao Clan?"

In the bustling city of Wutan, several residents gathered together to drink tea and chat about yesterday's interesting events.

Meanwhile, in the Xiao Clan's training ground, Xiao Yan was leading the young members of the family in physical training as usual.

During this process, Xiao Yan frequently looked over at his cousing, Xiao Ning, who was lying on a wooden chair next to him.

The young man has a brace on his neck, one of his arm were wrapped in bandages hanging in front of his chest, one of his leg is in a cast suspended on a support, and numerous bruises of all sizes on his face, there was no doubt that he was in a miserable state.

"Um... cousin," Xiao Yan looked at Xiao Ning's miserable appearance and weakly asked with concern, "Are you really okay?"

After all, Xiao Ning ended up in such a miserable state because of him. Xiao Yan couldn't help but feel guilty.

"It's nothing, it's nothing~ It's just a few small injuries... ouch!" Xiao Ning waved his hand with a carefree attitude, but the way he waved his hand caused a spurt of pain from his wound, causing the corners of his mouth to twitch and making Xiao Yan feel apprehensive.

At this moment, Xiao Yan heard Xiao Ning's murmuring to himself.

"These two little girls are really watching me like a hawk lately, looks like i need to be more careful when trying to bring Xiao Yan along next time."

Well, he had worried about this cousin of him condition for nothing.

Xiao Yan's guilt towards Xiao Ning vanished instantly.

Despite being beaten by the two lioness this hard, he still hasn't learned his lesson yet, he clearly deserved the beating.

Ignoring his murmuring cousing, Xiao Yan turned around and went back to the group of Xiao Clan member around them who are still engorsed in their daily physical training, and clapped his hands heavily.

"Alright, all of you, this much is enough for now. It's time for some real combat training."

Watching Xiao Yan's back as he helped the younger generation of the Xiao Clan in their combat training, Xiao Ning sighed deeply in his heart while leaning on the recliner.

The heavens are truly unfair...

When Xiao Yan cultivation progress and talent was not yet in decline, he actively requested his father to give him the permission to help the Xiao Clan juniors in their training to improve their strength.

Every time, he led each one of them person by person, striving to find and improve the strengths and fix the weaknesses of each clan member, never giving up on anyone no matter how weak their talent and how bad their figthing aptitude are.

At the same time, he also taught them what it means to be a family, and what it means to have human virtue and emotions.

As a result, the overall strength of the Xiao Clan juniors was incomparable to the other two major families combined, and their family cohesion was several times stronger than the other two families combined.

After Xiao Yan encountered his setback, he realized that his abilities and strength were no longer sufficient to be the teacher of the younger generation and was ready to resign from his position as coach to his father, but stayed on after being requested by the Xiao Clan juniors.

In their hearts, Xiao Yan was the backbone of their younger generation! No one else, not even the clan patriach, could replace him!

Since then, Xiao Yan's supervised training became even more serious, and he worked harder than anyone else in his physical training.

If he couldn't use Dou Qi, then he would train his body instead!

With this determination, although Xiao Yan was only at the level of 3 star Dou Zhi (Battle Practicioner), amongt the younger generation of the XIao Clan, even Xiao Ning could barely turn their fight into a draw despite having a higher cultivation level, among the younger generation. Only Xiao Xun'er, the most outstanding figure among the younger generation, could suppress him, and that's barely.

If Xiao Yan's Dou Qi recovered, not even Xiao Xun'er would be able to match him.

Thinking of this, Xiao Ning felt a little sad.

Although Xiao Yan really worked hard to train his body, the body itself still had limits. Without the boost of Dou Qi, Xiao Yan would always be inferior to others, and this was an undeniable fact.

As everyone's strength gradually improved, this gap would become even more apparent.

Now, Xiao Yan could still rely on his strong body to compete against those whose Dou Qi wasn't too powerful. But what about in the future?

When his peers' Dou Qi grew to a level that Xiao Yan could no longer compensate for with physical training, he would really be nothing.

Although the Xiao Clan wouldn't look down on him because of this, they would gradually distance themselves from him until Xiao Yan became a complete outsider.

Xiao Ning's sister, Xiao Yu, worked hard to gain admission to the Jia Nan Academy, hoping to find clues about Xiao Yan's loss of Dou Qi in the academy.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

However, there had been no news so far.

Perhaps...this was fate.

The heavens gave Xiao Yan fleeting talent, but took it away when he was most expected to deliver. If it were someone else facing this gap, they might have been unable to bear it and committed suicide long ago.

(Now that I think about it, where did those two girls go?)

Xiao Ning didn't see the figures of Xiao Mei and Xiao Xun'er among the Xiao Clan's younger generation, which made him wonder.

These two little girls would love to tie themself to Xiao Yan every day. Xiao Ning was very certain that if not for the strict rules of the clan, these two little girls would dare to climb onto Xiao Yan's bed in the middle of the night!

And how could these two little girls not come to the daily training supervised by Xiao Yan?

Are they too embarrassed to participate in the training because of his bruised appearance from having beating him up?

Don't be ridiculous~

Xiao Ning knew very well the character of Xiao Mei and Xiao Xun'er.

Regarding taking Xiao Yan to the Ningchun Tower, far from feeling guilty, they would only regret not being harsher on him!

(Maybe they're plotting somewhere, thinking about how to get back at me...)

Xiao Ning speculated, then leaned on his crutch and stood up from the recliner, saying to Xiao Yan:

"Xiao Yan, I'm going back now."

"Okay, be careful on your way."

Xiao Yan instructed, and Xiao Ning waved his hand lightly before hobbling away from the training ground on his crutch.

However, as soon as he left the training ground and arrived at the Xiao Clan's courtyard, Xiao Ning heard a loud noise of drums, gongs, firecrackers, and celebrations outside the Xiao Clan's gates, which made him raise an eyebrow in confusion.

What's going on?

Is there a festival today?

Hobbling on his crutch, Xiao Ning arrived at the gate of the Xiao Clan and immediately saw a long procession outside, carrying a large flag with the word "Yun" engraved on it.

The Yunlan Sect! (Cloudy Misty Sect)

As the most powerful sect in the Jia Ma Empire, everyone in the Jia Ma Empire was familiar with this sect.

But why would such a major sect come to their small Wutan City?

At this point, Xiao Ning noticed an old man leading the procession, the old man was being followed by a young pink-haired girl.

Although the young girl was beautiful, she faintly exuded an aura of haughtiness, and it was easy to see that she wasn't easy to get along with.

Then Xiao Zhan and three elders came out to greet the old man and the young girl, welcoming them into the reception hall. Xiao Ning also sneakily listened at the door, overhearing their conversation.

"Hey! Xiao Ning!"

Hearing this greeting, Xiao Ning's body instinctively trembled, and he turned his head around abruptly, seeing Xiao Mei and Xiao Xun'er standing behind her, though she didn't know when they had arrived.

"Ah... Aren't these my two beloved younger sisters..."

Seeing these two little devils, all of Xiao Ning's wounds suddenly throbbed with pain, and his body instinctively moved away from them.

"Hmph~ remember today pain very well, next time I won't let you off so easily."

Xiao Mei looked at the fearful Xiao Ning with a cold smile, causing him to nod repeatedly. Xiao Mei smiled satisfactorily and then looked towards the reception hall.

"There are guests today?"

"Ah... it's people from the Yunlan Sect." Xiao Ning replied solemnly, glancing slightly at the reception hall. "I just don't know why the renowned Yunlan Sect would come to our Xiao Clan."

Although he had heard from the elders about how glorious the Xiao Clan used to be, their current power was not even worthy of carrying the Yunlan Sect's shoes. The two should not have any intersection.

At this moment, Xiao Xun'er's face became somewhat unpleasant for some unknown reason as she gazed at the spoiled young lady in the reception hall and slowly spoke.

"I have heard from Uncle Xiao before that Grandfather Xiao and the head of the Nalan family were sworn brothers on the battlefield. It so happened that when Xiao Yan brother and their granddaughter were born, the two grandfathers arranged for them to be engaged as children."

"And that young lady is the fiancée that Xiao Yan brother had a finger-betrothal with. She is the young mistress of the Nalan family who was taken as a direct disciple by the Yunlan Sect's main sect leader, Nalan Jie."

Upon hearing Xiao Xun'er's words, Xiao Ning was slightly taken aback, while Xiao Mei immediately shouted in a hurry.

"Fiancée?!"

But then it seemed like she realized her voice was too loud and covered her mouth hastily. Seeing that no one in the reception hall had noticed, she let out a sigh of relief and looked at Xiao Xun'er anxiously.

"Could it be that they came this time to complete the marriage contract with Cousin Xiao Yan?!"

"That's impossible..." Xiao Ning's face also darkened, showing some anger in his eyes. "The basic rule on this continent is survival of the fittest. We are kind to Xiao Yan because we understand his every bit of accumulation and his excellent personality besides his Dou Qi. But outsiders only view him as a useless waste. "

Hearing Xiao Ning's words, Xiao Mei gradually understood and her face became even uglier.

"Is she trying to break off the engagement?!"