Douluo Dalu: My Martial Spirit is the Worm of Time

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Yun Leng was still annoyed about being ignored, but when Xiao Yan's aura burst forth, he was completely stunned.

"Four-Star Dou Grandmaster?"

Yun Leng cried out in surprise.

Yun Shan, who was secretly observing the developments from deep within Cloud Mist Mountain, asked indifferently, "Did you tamper with the Soul Enhancement Pill you gave him earlier?"

Beside him, Yun Meng sat on a bluestone, a faint smile on his face:

"No... I thought about it at first, but then I decided his value wasn't high enough to warrant me sacrificing my precious 'capacity quota', so I dropped the idea...

"Also, Parasites are subject to reverse influence from their hosts; the deeper the Parasite, the more severe the reverse influence, so Parasites don't like to Parasite idiots.

"That Yun Leng is surprisingly stupid... Sometimes I wonder if he's a spy planted in the Yunlan Sect by an enemy force... But then, three years after three years, he accidentally became the Great Elder."

Yun Shan shook his head: "No need to doubt, he's always been like that."

...

A commotion erupted among the Yunlan Sect disciples in the square.

"How is that possible? A Dou Grandmaster? And he doesn't seem to be a newly advanced Dou Grandmaster either!" This disciple's rank wasn't high, so he could only tell that Xiao Yan was a Dou Grandmaster, but couldn't determine his star level.

"Has Senior Sister Nalan advanced to the Dou Grandmaster realm?" A disciple asked worriedly.

Nalan Yanran's cultivation was a mystery to these ordinary disciples; they were also unsure of her situation.

"Four-Star Dou Grandmaster... I heard that three years ago, he was only at Dou Qi Stage Three? Is this possible?" Jia Xingtian's face showed a hint of doubt.

Fa Ma, the President of the Jia Ma Empire Alchemist Guild, shook his head: "Either his talent is truly astonishing, or he cultivated some secret technique that caused his Dou Qi cultivation to be sealed or temporarily decline... I lean more towards the latter scenario."

"Secret technique? If that's the case, it makes sense... Hehe, no matter the situation, it shows that this kid is not a simple character." Jia Xingtian said with interest.

He was pleased to see the Yunlan Sect fall out with such a genius.

He glanced at Hai Bodong, and seeing that he was calm and didn't seem surprised by Xiao Yan's performance, he asked:

"Old Hai, did you foresee this? Do you know him?"

Hai Bodong chuckled: "You'll know if you keep watching."

Mu Chen gloated as he looked at Nalan Jie... Kicking such a genius son-in-law out of the family, someone's guts must be turning green with regret...

Nalan Jie glared at Mu Chen resentfully, his heart filled with unspeakable bitterness.

The most shocked, of course, was Nalan Yanran. Three years ago, when she went to the Xiao Family, didn't she know what Xiao Yan was like? But in just three short years, he had actually surpassed her...

"Let's begin." Xiao Yan pressed his left hand against the top of his head and gripped the hilt of the ancient ruler with his right, drawing it from behind his back.

Bang!

The ancient ruler slammed onto the ground, causing faint cracks to appear in the stone-paved surface.

The sheer weight of it made many Yunlan Sect disciples' hearts skip a beat.

Nalan Yanran took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in her heart. With a solemn gaze and a steady tone, she said, "Your cultivation has indeed greatly exceeded my expectations, but combat isn't just about cultivation level."

The emerald space ring on her right index finger shimmered, and a light green longsword appeared in her hand. The wind-attribute energy swirling around the sword body showed its extraordinary nature. This was a magic core weapon inlaid with a not-low-grade magic core.

The aura of a Dou Grandmaster surged from her, but it was noticeably weaker than Xiao Yan's.

Seeing that Xiao Yan had no intention of attacking first, Nalan Yanran lightly stomped her foot on the ground, thrusting her longsword forward, wind-attribute Dou Qi surging.

"Wind Spirit Splitting Sword."

Facing the powerful Xiao Yan, she dared not be careless in the slightest. Even if it was just a test, she used a Profound-tier Mid-grade Dou Technique.

The longsword vibrated slightly, and as it thrust forward, it actually split into five energy sword shadows.

The sword shadows only consisted of a large section of the sword body, without the hilt, appearing somewhat illusory. However, judging from their sharp aura, these five sword shadows were not a deceptive trick to fool the eye, but genuinely possessed destructive power, and none of them were weak.

"As expected of the Young Sect Master of the Yunlan Sect, such high-level Dou Techniques are used with ease." Xiao Yan praised, yet he simply swung his heavy ruler, repelling the aggressive Nalan Yanran.

His light green Dou Qi enveloped the heavy ruler, encasing an even inner layer of light green flames, making it difficult for people to clearly see the anomaly on the ancient ruler.

Fa Ma's eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at Xiao Yan's ancient ruler, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Nalan Yanran, using the force of the ancient ruler colliding with her longsword, floated into the air like a willow catkin.

At this moment, she was already covered in a faint green armor. This was the hallmark of a Dou Grandmaster, the Dou Qi Armor.

Facing Xiao Yan's brute force, she had no choice but to use her Dou Qi Armor to resist, so as not to be injured in the collision.

Nalan Yanran in the air did not fall, but floated quietly, at first glance, as if she could stay suspended.

"The Yunlan Sect's Wind Willow Fluttering Movement Dou Technique truly lives up to its reputation. It's rare for niece Nalan to cultivate it to such a degree at such a young age." Mu Chen exclaimed in admiration.

However, Nalan Jie's expression remained grim. In the initial exchange, Nalan Yanran was clearly at a slight disadvantage.

She tapped her toes, as if stepping on air, and shot towards Xiao Yan.

"Wind Thousand Geng!"

The longsword thrusting towards Xiao Yan was merely a feint; the true attack was the Dou Qi she emitted from her hand.

Five wisps of sword aura, condensed from wind-attribute Dou Qi, silently formed at her fingertips, then burst forth, intertwining with each other to form a thin green line that shot towards Xiao Yan with a sharp whistling sound.

This was an extremely tricky finger-style Dou Technique!

Just as the thin green line was about to strike Xiao Yan, it strangely re-divided into five sword auras, targeting Xiao Yan's five vital points.

Upon seeing such a fierce move, Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow. His powerful soul force keenly captured the trajectory of the sword auras.

He spun his body, blocking three with his ancient ruler. With green flames coiling around his hand, he slapped away the remaining two closely spaced ones.

The flames flashed and vanished, making it so that many people could only sense that he was using a fire-attribute technique. Only Fa Ma, Jia Xingtian, and a few others who had watched the Alchemist Grand Competition and were at or above the Dou King level could confirm that this was a type of flame.

Why does it feel a bit like a Heavenly Flame? In Fa Ma's eyes, Xiao Yan's figure gradually overlapped with Yan Xiao, who had won the Alchemist Grand Competition previously.

Speaking of which, to refine a top-tier Fourth-Rank pill like the Three-Pattern Azure Spirit Pill, even with the power of a Heavenly Flame, the demands on one's own rank wouldn't be low... At the very least, one would need the strength of a Dou Grandmaster or a high-star Dou Master.

Since he was unclear about the assistance Heavenly Flames provided to alchemy, Fa Ma's estimate was rather vague.

From this perspective, it seems his Dou Qi cultivation also matches... Wait, Xiao Yan, Yan Xiao... Isn't that just reversing the name?

He also recalled that Hai Bodong and Yan Xiao seemed to have some connection before, and today he showed a thought-provoking attitude towards Xiao Yan...

Thinking of this, Fa Ma was almost certain that this Xiao Yan in front of him was the Yan Xiao who had suddenly risen and then disappeared at the Alchemist Grand Competition!

He couldn't help but cast an inquiring glance at Hai Bodong, who noticed his gaze and nodded slightly.

Fa Ma took a deep breath, slowly calming the shock in his heart.

Four-Star Dou Grandmaster, Fourth-Rank Alchemist. The achievements Xiao Yan had made, no matter which one was taken out alone, could make him proud of the younger generation of the Jia Ma Empire.

When both of these converge on one person, then it can only be described as terrifying. The rest of the people couldn't even hope to catch up to him.

Jia Xingtian noticed their unspoken eye contact and raised an eyebrow. Why did it feel like these two old guys understood something, and only he was completely confused?

The battle on the square continued, with two streams of green light constantly intertwining and colliding.

Xiao Yan's left hand occasionally pressed against his head, and his right hand wielded the ancient heavy ruler with powerful might.

Nalan Yanran displayed the Yunlan Sect's Wind Willow Fluttering Movement Dou Technique, her posture light and agile, moving with the wind, constantly releasing various Dou Qi, but all were blocked by Xiao Yan's ancient ruler, which was wrapped in Azure Lotus Core Flame and green Dou Qi.

Seeing that Xiao Yan's left hand remained on top of his head, a hint of anger appeared on her face:

"Xiao Yan, are you looking down on me? Do you think you can defeat me with just one hand?"

You're really hitting where it hurts... Do you think I like fighting you with one hand? It's not like I have a hand free... Xiao Yan grumbled inwardly.

Xiao Yan wanted to end the battle as quickly as possible, to make Nalan Yanran taste the bitter fruit she had sown three years ago, but he didn't want to expose too many of his trump cards, so he fought steadily, accumulating advantages little by little.

Xiao Yan chuckled and said:

"You're allowed to look down on others, but others aren't allowed to look down on you? If you have a way, then make me use both hands. Is this all the Young Sect Master of the Yunlan Sect is capable of?"

Nalan Yanran floated backward, and with just a light tap of her foot on the ground, she flew far away.

After careful consideration, she found Xiao Yan's movements very strange.

Rather than him looking down on her by not using his left hand, it felt more like he was intentionally protecting the top of his head... Could that be his weakness?

With this guess, Nalan Yanran immediately took action, tentatively launching an attack towards Xiao Yan's head.

"Holy crap!" Xiao Yan was startled by her, retreating for the first time.

Nalan Yanran, seeing that her guess seemed correct, continued her fierce assault without hesitation.

Xiao Yan retreated steadily. Although his cultivation was higher than his opponent's, because he could only use one hand, his performance was greatly restricted, making it difficult to resist Nalan Yanran's attacks, which, though not very damaging, were extremely dense.

The tide of battle seemed to turn. From Nalan Yanran being unable to break through Xiao Yan's defense, she was now chasing and attacking Xiao Yan.

Seeing such a scene, the Yunlan Sect disciples cheered: "Senior Sister, keep it up!"

The faces of the Yunlan Sect Elders on the high platform were not very good. Although Xiao Yan was constantly retreating, he remained steady. Nalan Yanran, on the other hand, was consuming a lot of energy due to the high frequency of her Dou Technique usage.

"Does he have some injury on his head?" Fa Ma wondered.

Hai Bodong suppressed a smile and calmly shook his head: "I don't know either."

Feeling the pressure increase significantly, Xiao Yan decided to reveal some of his trump cards. The green flames on his ruler flared, and the air around him was scorched and slightly distorted.

The green flames were exposed to everyone without reservation, and many people found these flames somewhat familiar.

"Indeed, Xiao Yan is Yan Xiao!" Fa Ma sighed softly and said.

"What?!" Jia Xingtian's expression changed slightly, "They're the same person?"

Nalan Jie was no stranger to the Azure Lotus Core Flame; he had experienced this flame, which purged the fiery poison from him, several times. The expression on his face became even more bitter.

An eighteen-year-old Four-Star Dou Grandmaster, a Fourth-Rank Alchemist, what heights could such a young man reach in the future?

A Dou King expert? A Six-Rank Alchemist? Or even higher! But this opportunity to make the Nalan Family more prosperous was just given away for nothing!

Xiao Yan is Yan Xiao? No wonder I felt like I had seen his eyes somewhere before. Nalan Yanran was greatly shocked.

She never expected that the first peer who made her feel inferior and admire him was actually the Xiao Family's waste, whose dignity she had once trampled underfoot.

"It's time to end this." Seeing Nalan Yanran's condition decline rapidly, Xiao Yan hurled the ancient ruler, wrapped in Azure Lotus Core Flame, forward.

Nalan Yanran gracefully dodged, but then heard the sound of wind and thunder by her ears.

"Surprise Thunder Flash!"

Without the suppression of the Profound Ancient Ruler on his Dou Qi, Xiao Yan's Dou Qi circulation speed and his own movement speed both suddenly increased by a large margin.

Xiao Yan's feet were wrapped in wind and thunder energy, and in an instant, he appeared behind Nalan Yanran, catching her off guard.

"Eight Extremities Collapse!"

Xiao Yan showed no mercy, an elbow strike shattering Nalan Yanran's green Dou Qi armor, only retracting two points of strength at the very last moment.

Nalan Yanran spat out fresh blood and stumbled forward.

She didn't know that Xiao Yan had held back. Tapping her toes, her body floated into the sky, preparing to make one last desperate move with her strongest technique.

"Aerial combat?"

A cold smile played on Xiao Yan's lips. The Purple Cloud Wings on his back unfurled, and with a flap of his wings, he quickly appeared behind Nalan Yanran.

Her Dou Technique had yet to fully form, and in the air, she was far less agile than Xiao Yan's flying Dou Technique. She could only close her eyes helplessly.

Xiao Yan's right hand was in a palm shape, about to strike. Yun Leng's voice sounded in his ear:

"Young friend Xiao Yan, could you please show some deference to the Yunlan Sect and go easy on Yanran? The Yunlan Sect will certainly give you a satisfactory reward afterwards."

A hint of mockery appeared on Xiao Yan's face. The Yunlan Sect wanted face, but didn't he, Xiao Yan, want face?

This humiliation, after all, had to be borne by someone!

Nalan Yanran's willful act had already made him, and the Xiao Family, bear three years of humiliation. From now on, it was time for someone else to bear it!

Dou Qi surged from his palm, and he pressed it firmly against Nalan Yanran's back.

Nalan Yanran fell helplessly downwards, crashing heavily onto the ground, another mouthful of fresh blood spurting out.

This time, she could clearly feel that Xiao Yan had held back, and her physical injuries no longer allowed her to continue fighting. She let out a bitter laugh: "I lost."

Xiao Yan landed on the ground, looking at her expressionlessly, and said calmly, "That's right, you lost."

Nalan Yanran propped herself up with her longsword, swaying as she stood:

"According to our previous agreement, I should have become a slave, but..."

"There's no need. Xiao Meng knows you want to take her place, she'll kill you..." Before she could finish her "but," Xiao Yan coldly interrupted her.

Nalan Yanran couldn't help but recall the black-clad young girl who had protected Xiao Yan three years ago, whose talent was no less than her own, and who claimed to be Xiao Yan's maid. Her expression froze, and her resolve to die faded considerably.

After a long while, she sighed softly and said: "Yes, perhaps I don't even have the qualifications to be a slave by your side. One must always take responsibility for their mistakes.

"The Nalan Family is disgraced because of me, and the Yunlan Sect's reputation is damaged because of me..."

Nalan Yanran looked in Nalan Jie's direction and whispered, "Grandfather, I'm sorry."

Then she looked towards the Yunlan Sect Elders on the stone steps: "Please tell Teacher I'm sorry on my behalf."

Having said that, she held her sword horizontally and brought it to her neck, intending to commit suicide to atone for her sins.

"Yanran!"

"Young Sect Master!"

Nalan Jie and Yun Leng cried out in alarm, their faces paling.

But because of the distance, they were too late to stop her, and could only watch helplessly as the sharp longsword drew closer and closer to her neck.

A whistling sound cut through the air, followed by the clinking sound of a longsword falling to the ground.

It was Xiao Yan, who was closest to her, who had acted, knocking the longsword from Nalan Yanran's hand with a burst of energy.

He shook his head and said softly, "There's no need to be so extreme. If something happens to you here, how am I supposed to explain it to your teacher?"

"Huh?" Nalan Yanran blinked, her expression appearing somewhat bewildered and confused.

Explain to my teacher? What does that mean?

Seeing the longsword fall to the ground, Nalan Jie and Yun Leng finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The former quickly went to Nalan Yanran's side to prevent her from doing anything foolish again.

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