"Cough, cough."
Yun Yun was startled by Gu Han's words.
Why was this young man's tone so harsh?
She cleared her throat lightly and asked Nalan Yanran, "Your senior sister Yanran has never thought this way."
"Then she should," Gu Han interjected. "The Xiao Family, with their strongest member being merely a Dou Grand Master, can't even dominate the small Wutan City."
"I've heard from Mo Qing about Senior Sister Yanran's fiancé. He was once exceptionally talented, but now his cultivation has regressed. At fifteen, he's only a three-star Dou Disciple and hasn't improved."
"If he can't break through to the seven-star Dou Disciple by sixteen, he'll be exiled by his family, losing all prospects in career, status, strength, and realm."
"Meanwhile, Senior Sister Yanran is not only the eldest granddaughter of the patriarch of an empire's Dou King family but also a direct disciple of the Cloud Mist Sect's leader. How can a dragon and a snake coexist?"
"The Xiao Family should have taken the initiative to write and annul the engagement long ago. Do they really expect to climb high relying on an old promise?"
"Soon, everyone will say that the Young Sect Master of the Cloud Mist Sect, the future leader, has a useless fiancé, or even husband."
At this point, Gu Han fell silent, as if the person who had just spoken so much wasn't him.
Yun Yun and Nalan Yanran exchanged a glance, feeling that what he said made perfect sense.
From this perspective, the Xiao Family and Xiao Yan truly deserved to die!?
"What if we consider Xiao Yan's standpoint?"
Yun Yun didn't dare to dwell on it and changed the subject.
"Senior Sister Yanran, she deserves to die!" Gu Han replied.
Yun Yun: !
Nalan Yanran: ?
"On the Dou Qi Continent, breaking off an engagement is seen as a great humiliation. If the woman initiates it, the man will never be able to hold his head up again."
"If the Nalan Family goes to annul the engagement, the Xiao Family will be ridiculed throughout the Jia Ma Empire, and Xiao Yan's father won't be able to maintain his position as patriarch."
"Whether for himself, his father, or his family, Xiao Yan would utterly despise Nalan Yanran."
Master and disciple: "..."
"The Cloud Mist Sect, which facilitated this, also deserves to die."
"The Nalan Family is equally hateful."
Gu Han answered honestly, "If I were Xiao Yan, that's how I'd feel."
"But Xiao Yan isn't me. Perhaps he's grown cowardly from being a waste for so long and wouldn't think this way."
Master and disciple: !
"Then let him hate me. I refuse to go through with this marriage," Nalan Yanran clenched her fists, her eyes filled with determination. "I can't wait for the Xiao Family to gain self-awareness and write to annul it themselves."
"Senior Sister should also consider the Nalan Family's position," Gu Han looked at Nalan Yanran seriously. "I believe Old Master Nalan isn't unreasonable or unable to make trade-offs, yet he insists on marrying you, now the Young Sect Master of the Cloud Mist Sect, into the Xiao Family. There must be concerns and hidden reasons."
"Otherwise, he'd earn the hatred of his own granddaughter and offend the Cloud Mist Sect—not the action of a family patriarch."
"I actually know the reason for this," Yun Yun spoke up. "Xiao Lin, the former Dou King of the Xiao Family, once saved Nalan Jie's life. It was after that incident that Nalan Jie proposed the marriage to strengthen ties between the two families."
"It was Nalan Jie's way of repaying the favor and a move for mutual benefit between the two clans."
"So I have to be sacrificed?" Nalan Yanran's eyes welled up with tears of frustration.
A flicker of surprise crossed Yun Yun's eyes; she had assumed Nalan Yanran was aware, but it seemed not.
"This is fate." Gu Han's voice rang out without emotion. "Others struggle to survive, yet you live in luxury—that is fate."
"Others cannot cultivate, but you had a Dou Spirit guiding your cultivation since age four—that is fate."
"Others fight desperately for Yellow-Rank Skills, yet you started with a Mystic Level Cultivation Method—that is fate."
"Others spend their entire lives gazing up at the Cloud Mist Sect in awe, yet you directly became the sect master's disciple—that is fate."
"Then your grandfather arranging your marriage to Xiao Yan to repay a life-saving grace—that too is fate."
Nalan Yanran slumped into her chair as if struck by lightning.
Gu Han's words made her feel like an ungrateful wretch who only enjoyed privileges without giving anything in return.
So... was she wrong to insist on breaking off the engagement?
Yun Yun also realized the situation was more complicated than she had thought.
If only she were an Aura Ancestor, able to dictate terms throughout the Jia Ma Empire.
When reason fails, one could rely on fists, enforcing the iron rule of might makes right.
"Can't I just resolve this peacefully!?" Nalan Yanran choked back frustration and regret.
Instead of answering, Gu Han looked at Yun Yun.
Somehow understanding his intent, Yun Yun asked, "Do you have a solution?"
"If you can resolve this matter, I, as sect master, will certainly reward you."
Hearing the commitment he wanted, Gu Han didn't hold back. "Actually, solving this is quite simple."
Both master and disciple: ?
"First, the Cloud Mist Sect cannot be the one to break off the engagement with the Xiao Family."
"Second, to untie the bell requires the one who tied it—the elders of both the Nalan and Xiao families must speak together."
"I don't know what the Xiao Family is thinking, but anyone with sense would know a mere marriage contract can't make them climb up to the Nalan family, let alone the Cloud Mist Sect. Most likely they're waiting for the Nalan family to make the first move, hoping for compensation."
"As for the Nalan side, Old Master Nalan values his promises and won't speak lightly, but that's because you haven't used the right approach."
Here, Gu Han turned to Nalan Yanran. "Senior Sister Nalan, are there any suitable young women in your clan with status comparable to yours, possessing either beauty or talent?"
"A few," Nalan Yanran nodded.
"Any from the Direct Lineage? Preferably with outstanding looks and decent cultivation talent," Gu Han prompted.
"Then there's only one," Nalan Yanran answered instinctively. "My second uncle's daughter, a few months younger than me. Her talent once surpassed mine, but... she was poisoned when visiting her maternal relatives with my uncle."
At this point, Nalan Yanran frowned as realization dawned. "You want me to push the marriage onto someone else? Make them bear this for me?"
"One's poison is another's treasure. What you desperately avoid, others might eagerly seek." Instead of answering directly, Gu Han addressed Yun Yun. "There are three steps to resolve this."
"First, the sect master personally visits the Nalan family head, offering resources as compensation. This partially repays Senior Sister's upbringing debt to her family, allowing her to serve the Cloud Mist Sect more freely. Whether she continues supporting her family afterward will be her own decision."
"Second, propose having someone replace Senior Sister in the marriage alliance. Of course, if Senior Sister feels guilty, we can adopt a voluntary principle."
"With these two conditions, Old Master Nalan has no reason to refuse. If he still does, he'd be overly stubborn, and the sect master need not spare his feelings."
"Third, both the Nalan Family and the Cloud Mist Sect must provide compensation to Xiao Yan—specifically to Xiao Yan, not the Xiao Family, as he is the party involved."
"The Xiao Family will certainly not be angered by this arrangement, for they are well aware of their limitations, especially with Xiao Yan having become a waste."
"It is highly likely they will take the opportunity to propose the annulment of the marriage, and we can simply go along with it."
"This is my suggestion."
After speaking, Gu Han bowed once more.
Yun Yun's gaze held a new layer of complexity as she looked at him.
Without much deliberation, she made the decision: "Very well, we shall proceed with your suggestion for now."
"If it succeeds, I, as the sect leader, will surely reward you handsomely."