43: You used to ignore me, now you can't afford to miss me.

The wind stopped.

That terrifying pressure, which made it hard to breathe, receded like the tide.

Xiao Chen slowly withdrew his aura, his eyes, which had been as sharp as knives, returning to their calm, unruffled state.

He descended slowly from mid-air, his footsteps light, not kicking up a single speck of dust.

The entire Yunlan Sect plaza remained dead silent.

Everyone was still immersed in the shock that had just overturned their understanding, unable to extricate themselves.

Peak Golden Core!

A Peak Golden Core under twenty years old!

What kind of concept is this?

Even looking at those immortal Holy Lands in the Central Plains, he would definitely be a Prodigy at the Saint level!

And their Eastern Wasteland... had actually produced such a true Dragon?

And furthermore, he had transformed from that "Trash" they had treated like dirt?

Countless gazes converged on the young girl slumped on the ground.

Schadenfreude, disdain, mockery...

Nalan Yanran felt as if she had been stripped naked and thrown onto the street, enduring the pointing and whispering of thousands of passersby.

The talent she was so proud of had become a joke.

The Sect she relied on for survival had become mere background scenery.

The engagement she had torn up with her own hands had become the greatest stain of her life.

"No... it shouldn't be like this..."

Nalan Yanran was disheartened, tears mixed with the blood at the corner of her mouth, looking utterly disheveled.

Just then.

A pair of black cloth shoes stopped in front of her.

She lifted her head with difficulty.

She saw that face which once haunted her dreams, but now felt incredibly foreign.

Xiao Chen looked down at her from a high vantage point, his eyes without a ripple.

There was no showing off of a victor, nor the pleasure of revenge.

Only a kind of...

Indifference.

As if looking at a stranger completely unrelated to him.

"Plop."

A piece of paper fluttered down in front of her.

It was not the annulment letter she had thrown out three years ago.

But... a divorce letter.

Not an annulment, but a divorce.

A difference of one character, a difference of heaven and earth.

This meant that in this relationship that had long existed in name only, the initiative had completely changed hands.

"Sign it."

Xiao Chen's voice was very flat, so flat it carried no emotion.

"Three years ago, you came to my Xiao Family to annul the engagement, publicly humiliated my father and me, and cut off my path of cultivation."

"Today, I come to your Yunlan Sect."

"Not to prove I am stronger than you, but just to take back the dignity that belongs to my Xiao Family."

"From now on, our engagement is void, all ties are severed, and we have no further connection."

These words were like sharp knives, ruthlessly stabbing into Nalan Yanran's heart.

She looked at the glaring divorce letter on the ground, then at the youth in front of her who was as cold as ice.

The figure who had stubbornly shouted "Do not bully a young man into poverty" three years ago slowly merged with the powerhouse before her who looked down upon the world and dominated the entire scene.

Regret.

Endless regret gnawed at her insides like a venomous snake.

She suddenly made a move that no one expected.

She struggled to get up, threw herself at Xiao Chen's feet, and grabbed the corner of his garment.

On that pretty face, tear-stained like pear blossoms in the rain, there was no longer any arrogance, only humble pleading.

"Xiao... Brother Xiao..."

She used the nickname from their childhood, her voice trembling, looking pitiful.

"I was wrong... I was really wrong..."

"Back then, I was blind, I was possessed... Won't you forgive me?"

"We... let's not break off the engagement... let's go back to how it was before, okay?"

She started playing the emotional card.

She tried to use tears, to use their past affection, to salvage this one-in-ten-thousand chance.

After all, a Peak Golden Core Prodigy was enough to make any woman go crazy.

As long as she could hold onto him, everything she had lost could be regained twofold!

The surrounding guests were stunned.

This reversal was too fast, right?

Just moments ago she was calling for blood, and now she's crying and begging to get back together?

As expected of the Young Sect Master of the Yunlan Sect, this thickness of skin is beyond what an ordinary person can achieve.

However.

Facing Nalan Yanran's tearful pleas and begging.

Xiao Chen's eyes showed not the slightest stirring.

He just looked at her quietly, as if watching a clumsy one-woman show.

Until Nalan Yanran cried until she was hoarse.

He then slowly opened his mouth, his voice cold and bone-chilling:

"Call me, Young Hero Xiao."

Nalan Yanran's crying stopped abruptly, and she lifted her head in disbelief.

"Xiao... Brother..."

"I said."

Xiao Chen spoke word by word, his voice not loud, but carrying an unquestionable majesty.

"Call me, Young, Hero, Xiao."

"After today, there will be no more connection between us."

After saying this.

He gave his sleeve a gentle flick.

A gentle yet irresistible force shook Nalan Yanran's hand away.

Then, he turned around without looking back and walked toward the black coffin in the center of the plaza.

That back view was so resolute, without a trace of attachment.

You ignored me before.

Now, you can't afford me!

"No—!"

Nalan Yanran let out a shrill scream, slumped on the ground, completely despairing.

The surrounding guests, watching this scene, could no longer suppress their discussions.

"Tsk tsk tsk, the tides really have turned."

"Back when the Nalan Family went to annul the engagement, how arrogant and domineering were they? Now they know regret? Too late!"

"Blind! To kick away a true Dragon for some Prodigy from the Central Plains, this Nalan Family... deserves it!"

"The Yunlan Sect has really lost face to the extreme this time."

These discussions, like steel needles, pierced into the ears of every high-ranking member of the Yunlan Sect present.

Their faces burned with pain.

Humiliation!

This is an unprecedented, shameful disgrace since the founding of the Sect!

If they really let Xiao Chen walk away so brazenly today.

Then tomorrow, the Yunlan Sect will become the laughingstock of the entire Eastern Wasteland!

"We cannot let him leave!"

An Elder with a fiery temper suddenly stood out.

He looked at Xiao Chen, who was preparing to put away the coffin, his eyes surging with Killing Intent.

"This brat must not be left alive!"

"If he can come to humiliate our Sect today, he can come to exterminate our entire Sect another day!"

"He must die here!"

As soon as this was said, it immediately received the agreement of all the Elders.

Jealousy and fear had already caused them to lose their rationality.

Since he cannot be recruited, then... destroy him completely!

"That's right! Kill him!"

A trace of ruthlessness flashed in the eyes of the Yunlan Sect Grand Elder.

He waved his hand violently, his voice, like ice, spreading throughout the entire Yunlan Sect.

"Want to leave just because you won?"

"There is no such cheap thing!"

"Leave your life with this old man!"

"Activate the Sect-Protecting Formation! All Disciples, obey orders! Form the Sword Formation!"

"Today, even if it means the Sect suffers heavy damage to its Origin Qi, we must not let this brat leave Yunlan Mountain alive!!"

"Rumble—!!!"

Following the Grand Elder's order.

The entire main Peak of the Yunlan Sect trembled violently.

A huge cyan light curtain, like a giant inverted bowl, instantly rose from the mountain, enveloping the entire Sect.

The Sect-Protecting Formation was fully activated!

At the same time.

Thousands of Yunlan Sect Disciples drew their long swords, Sword Qi soared into the sky, converging in mid-air into a huge cyan Sword Dragon, letting out a heaven-shaking roar, locking firmly onto Xiao Chen in the center of the plaza.

That aura of Killing Intent made all the guests present change color, and they retreated one after another.

"Crazy! The Yunlan Sect is crazy!"

"They are tearing off all pretenses, bullying the few with the many!"

Xiao Chen slowly turned around.

Looking at the Sect-Protecting Formation that covered the sky and sun, looking at those thousands of Yunlan Sect Disciples filled with Killing Intent.

On his face, there was not the slightest fear.

Instead, he revealed a...

Cold smile.

"Finally stopped pretending?"

"Just right."

He lifted his head, his gaze piercing through the layers of the Sword Formation, landing on the tightly closed gate deep in the main hall.

His voice was like ten-thousand-year-old ice.

"Old dog Yun Shan."

"You've watched the show for so long, it's time to come out... and meet your death, right?"