Chapter 20: Breaking Off the Engagement
Inside the Xiao Family's council hall, several bronze flood-dragon lamps lit the chamber as bright as day.
The moment Xiao Chen stepped over the threshold, he heard a silver-bell-like voice filled with undisguised disgust. "So this is my so-called 'fiancé'?"
The hall fell silent.
Looking up, he saw a girl in a pale-golden flowing celestial dress standing to the left of the main seat.
She appeared about sixteen or seventeen years old, her skin as smooth as congealed cream, brows like distant mountains, and almond-shaped eyes brimming with disdain.
A golden phoenix hairpin swayed slightly as she turned her head, casting dazzling reflections under the lamp's glow.
Xiao Chen narrowed his eyes. Before him stood his fiancée, Lin Qingyue, to whom he had been betrothed since childhood.
A fleeting image crossed his mind—ten years ago, she was like a little tail following him everywhere, calling him "Brother Xiao Chen" at every turn.
He gave a faint inward laugh, and that image instantly dissipated.
"Miss Lin."
Xiao Chen cupped his hands in greeting, his voice unnervingly calm. "It has been a long time."
"Don't call me so intimately." Lin Qingyue gave a cold snort. "I believe you know why I'm here today."
"I ask that Miss Lin make it clear."
Xiao Chen's tone was neither humble nor arrogant as his gaze swept lightly over the Xiao family elders around them.
Most of their faces bore expressions of amusement.
His eyes darkened, and a cold smile rose in his heart.
Heh, so this is the Xiao Family—the one his father was so proud of, even willing to give his life for.
"Junior Sister Qingyue." A clear voice sounded beside her.
Only then did Xiao Chen notice the white-robed young man standing next to Lin Qingyue. He looked to be in his early twenties, with a jade-like face and a crystal-clear jade sword hanging at his waist, the sky-blue tassel at its hilt swaying without wind.
Taking a step forward, the white-robed man's cuffs shimmered with gold-threaded cloud patterns under the lights. "I am Bai Mufeng, a direct disciple of the Tianyun Sect, ranked eighty-seventh on the Human Ranking." With each word he spoke, the faces of the Xiao family members grew darker.
Eighty-seventh on the Human Ranking! Xiao Chen's pupils contracted, his fists tightening involuntarily.
In the entire Qingzhou City, no one had made it onto the Human Ranking in five hundred years.
And five years ago, he himself had been hailed as the youth most likely to achieve it.
"You are Xiao Chen, correct?" Bai Mufeng looked down at him condescendingly. "Junior Sister Qingyue has passed my Tianyun Sect's inner sect assessment. We are here today to dissolve your engagement."
A sharp crack sounded as an elder of the Xiao Family crushed the armrest of his chair.
At this moment, even several elders who had been indifferent now wore expressions of anger.
If Lin Qingyue's earlier words were merely seen as a quarrel between juniors—not to be taken seriously unless her clan's head spoke—then having an outsider come here to break off the engagement was an open slap to the Xiao Family's face.
Patriarch Xiao Yuanshan—Xiao Chen's grandfather—slowly rose to his feet. The peak Returning Origin Realm pressure he exuded dimmed the candlelight in the hall. "Young Master Bai, this engagement was personally arranged by the head of the Lin Family. Even if it is to be broken, the Lin Family head should come himself."
"Patriarch Xiao." Bai Mufeng smiled faintly. "I am the personal disciple of the current Tianyun Sect master, backed by a Longevity Realm True Person—the Tianyun Sect's sect master himself. Do you mean to say that my sect, one of Qingzhou's foremost powers, is beneath a second-rate clan head?"
This was naked coercion by force of status.
The Xiao Family members' expressions grew uglier.
After a long silence, Xiao Yuanshan suddenly turned toward Xiao Chen. "Chen'er, what do you think? If you are unwilling to break the engagement, the Xiao Family will fight to the bitter end…"
Xiao Chen sneered inwardly.
The old fox's tactic of retreating to advance was nothing more than shifting the burden of offending the Tianyun Sect squarely onto him.
"Fine, since you disregard family ties, don't blame me for digging a big pit for you!"
He stepped forward slowly, the hem of his blue robe still stained with dust from the road.
"Grandfather, there is no need to make things difficult," the youth's voice was clear. "Your grandson agrees to annul the engagement."
The hall erupted in commotion. Lin Qingyue revealed a victorious smile, but saw Xiao Chen suddenly look straight into her eyes. "However, I have one condition."
Bai Mufeng frowned. "You…"
"Ten years from now," Xiao Chen said, pausing after each word, "I will personally go to Tianyun Sect to seek instruction from Miss Lin. If I win…" His gaze swept over the hair ornaments atop Lin Qingyue's head. "I want that phoenix gold hairpin on your head as my prize."
"Arrogant!" Lin Qingyue's delicate face flushed red with anger. Using a young lady's hair ornament as the wager was clearly meant to humiliate her. "Just relying on you, a useless person who hasn't made the slightest progress in five years?"
Bai Mufeng, however, looked Xiao Chen over with interest. "Interesting. But…" He suddenly joined two fingers like a sword, and a strand of sword qi instantly grazed Xiao Chen's left shoulder, leaving a deep mark on the iron-forged floor. "What guarantee do you have that you will dare to come for the duel ten years later?"
Blood seeped through Xiao Chen's blue robe, yet he didn't even frown. "This."
He pressed his fingers together, and a breath suddenly connected with the Tiandao.
"A Tiandao oath!" Xiao Yuanshan's face changed, and Lin Qingyue also frowned. Although she did not believe Xiao Chen possessed anything that could threaten her, the feeling of being targeted still made her uneasy.
"I, Xiao Chen, hereby swear upon the Tiandao—ten years from now I will go to Tianyun Sect to challenge Miss Lin Qingyue. If I break this oath, may I die beneath the strike of heavenly lightning!"
"Wait." Bai Mufeng suddenly interrupted. "Since we are gambling, why not make it bigger?" As he spoke, he actually removed the sword at his waist and set it before him. "This sword is called 'Thousand Years.' It is a supreme flying sword my master gifted me after I ascended to the Human Ranking a few days ago. In our battle ten years later, if you win, this sword will be yours. If you lose…" His gaze turned cold. "I want your Xiao Family's 'Xuantian Cauldron.'"
The Xiao family members' expressions all changed. That cauldron was the foundation of the Xiao family's establishment!
Before they could react, Xiao Chen had already bitten his finger, the blood oath turning into a ray of red light that sank into the void. "Agreed."
Lin Qingyue left in disgust, flicking her sleeves. Before leaving, Bai Mufeng gave Xiao Chen a deep, meaningful look. "I hope ten years from now you can withstand a single strike from my junior sister."
After the Tianyun Sect group left, Xiao Yuanshan finally erupted in fury. "Unfilial son! Who allowed you to wager the Xiao family's greatest treasure?"
"Grandfather, be at ease." Xiao Chen's expression was calm as he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "Your grandson has his own plans."
With that, he turned and left, the angry curses of the elders echoing behind him.
Returning to his own simple courtyard, Xiao Chen finally could not hold on and spat out a mouthful of blood. For someone like him now, merely making a Tiandao oath nearly cost him half his life.
The voice of Yao Lao sounded from within the ring. "Good lad, now you've tied the entire Xiao family to your chariot. But you'd better think clearly—Tianyun Sect is a top sect guarded by the Changsheng Daoist."
"Yao Lao." Xiao Chen wiped away the blood, revealing a delighted smile. "So what? I have nothing to lose. Ten years later, if I win, I profit greatly. If I lose, I lose nothing."
At that moment, a soft chuckle suddenly sounded behind Xiao Chen.
"Lose? Impossible!"
"Who!?" Xiao Chen suddenly turned his head, and saw the gentleman he had encountered earlier at the restaurant, now leisurely sitting on a chair, looking at him with a relaxed air.
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