Chapter 33: Alliance of Two Families

"Father."

Not having seen him for several years, Xiao Zhan's temples seemed to have more white hair than before. Xiao Yan frowned almost imperceptibly, as if he had caught a whiff of something unpleasant.

"Yan'er, you've returned." Seeing his youngest son, who had not been home for many years, return, Xiao Zhan's heart was filled with joy. He even cast aside the vexing matters of this period. With a concerned gaze, he looked Xiao Yan up and down, and only after confirming that he was a healthy, spirited young man did he feel at ease.

The current Xiao Yan was vastly different from two years ago. If one were to say that the Xiao Yan of two years ago possessed an unstoppable sharpness, the current Xiao Yan had an added layer of confidence born from strength and a composure honed over the last three years.

"Father, I have returned," Xiao Yan said with a smile, nodding.

"Good, good, good, er—" Although his heart was filled with endless emotions and words, father and son had always rarely expressed affection directly. At this moment, both were frozen there, not knowing what to say.

"Greetings, Uncle." Seeing the father and son just standing there frozen, Little Fairy Doctor found it amusing. She stepped forward from behind Xiao Yan and bowed respectfully.

"This is—" Xiao Zhan's eyes lit up. Although the family letters sent back by Xiao Ding and Xiao Li had not mentioned it, Xiao Zhan reacted quickly and looked at Xiao Yan with anticipation.

Xiao Yan smiled slightly, reached out to hook his arm around her slender waist, and pulled Little Fairy Doctor directly to his side. He said quite proudly, "Her name is Little Fairy Doctor, my wife!"

Little Fairy Doctor leaned into Xiao Yan's embrace, feeling somewhat shy, which counted as acknowledging her relationship with Xiao Yan on the spot.

"Good! Good lad! You have the bearing your father had back in the day!" Xiao Zhan laughed heartily and turned to instruct the people behind him: "Go tell the kitchen they can serve the dishes, hurry!"

Xiao Zhan turned his head back, intending to bring his son and daughter-in-law inside, when he noticed another figure behind Xiao Yan. Although she was a bit young, she was also a genuine little beauty. This lad, he wouldn't have brought two daughters-in-law back at once, would he? But this little girl looked quite young; Xiao Yan couldn't have learned bad habits outside these past two years, could he?

"Who is she?" Xiao Zhan asked, pointing at Qing Lian behind Xiao Yan.

"She is a young girl that Big Brother and Second Brother took in at the Tagor Desert. When I went, I saw she had great talent for cultivation, so I kept her by my side." As he spoke, Xiao Yan pulled Qing Lian to the front: "Come, Qing Lian, call him Uncle."

"Hello, Uncle." Qing Lian bowed somewhat shyly.

"Good, good. Oh my, Xiao Yan, you should have let your two brothers mention these things in their letters beforehand. It left your father completely unprepared; I don't even have a gift for a first meeting." Xiao Zhan looked at Xiao Yan with some reproach.

"Father, what are you saying? If there is to be a gift for a first meeting, shouldn't it be us juniors giving it?"

"Hey, you—"

"Clan Head, Cousin Xiao Yan, perhaps we should go inside to talk. We've been standing at the gate for quite a while now," Xiao Ning suddenly stepped forward to say.

"Oh, right. Look at my brain. Let's go, let's eat first."

In a large hall of the Xiao Clan, besides Xiao Zhan, Xiao Yan, Little Fairy Doctor, Qing Lian, and others, many of the Xiao Clan's elders and talented juniors had gathered.

"May I ask what cultivation level Young Master Xiao Yan has reached after being away from home for over two years?" Amidst the clinking of glasses, the Third Elder was the first to ask the question everyone cared about.

Instantly, the gazes of everyone present focused on Xiao Yan. There were looks of envy, anticipation, and longing, as well as jealousy, wariness, and even skepticism.

Xiao Yan swept his gaze around, taking in everyone's expressions, and finally met the gaze of his father, Xiao Zhan, which was filled with anticipation.

A vast aura erupted from Xiao Yan's body, rapidly enveloping the entire Xiao Clan hall, pressing down so hard that everyone's expressions changed drastically.

The younger generation of the Xiao Clan was fine; they only felt that Xiao Yan was very strong, far beyond what they could compare to. But the older generation of the Xiao Clan all had their expressions change drastically. Even Xiao Zhan, though he had been mentally prepared, felt extremely shocked. Compared to the younger generation, they were more aware of what kind of realm Xiao Yan's strength had reached, and one by one, they looked at Xiao Yan in disbelief.

"Yan'er, you, could it be that you have already—" Xiao Zhan struggled to swallow, speaking the realm that made everyone feel as if they were in a dream: "Great Master—Peak level?!"

A smile curled at the corner of Xiao Yan's mouth, and he said generously, "That is so, Father."

Although Xiao Yan's voice was calm, to the ears of the Xiao Clan members, it was no less than a thunderclap!

"What were the Clan Head and the Young Clan Head just saying? I don't think I heard clearly."

"It seemed to be 'Great Master'..."

"Great Master? Is it the Great Master I'm thinking of? Who is a Great Master?"

"It seems to be Young Clan Head Xiao Yan!"

Xiao Ning was naturally present as well. Upon hearing Xiao Zhan's words, his first reaction was disbelief. He turned his head to look at his grandfather, the First Elder of the Xiao Clan, wanting to confirm his own thoughts.

The result was that all he saw was his grandfather, who was so shocked he had become sluggish. His slightly parted lips moved up and down unconsciously, and from time to time, sounds like "er" and "ah" escaped his mouth; he looked exactly like someone who had been scared silly.

Only the Second Elder was the first to react. He immediately stood up, bowed to Xiao Yan, and said, "The Young Clan Head has heaven-defying talent. Not yet sixteen and already at the peak of Great Master! You are truly the Xiao Clan's number one genius and number one powerhouse! How fortunate for the Xiao Clan! How fortunate for the Xiao Clan!"

With the Second Elder stepping forward to endorse it, the Xiao Clan juniors finally believed the fact.

"Heavens! The Young Clan Head is actually already a Great Master! With such cultivation at this age, I'm afraid becoming a King Fighter, or even an Emperor Fighter, is not a dream!"

"What King Fighter or Emperor Fighter? Be bolder! The Young Clan Head will at least be a Sect Fighter in the future! Our Xiao Clan will soon be a family of Sect Fighters!"

"I don't care about any Sect Fighters or Emperor Fighters. I just want the other two families to die! During this period, those two families have inexplicably joined forces and snatched away quite a lot of our Xiao Clan's business!" said the person in charge of managing the Xiao Clan's industries.

"The other two families joined forces to snatch our family's business?" Xiao Yan said, somewhat stunned, and turned to look at the person who had just spoken.

"Yes. You wouldn't know, but about three months ago, the Jia Lie family and the Ao Ba family, who were ranked with our Xiao Clan as the three great families of Wutan City, suddenly joined forces for some reason. First, they started a price war against our Xiao Clan's shops, and that would have been fine, but later they even sent people to smash up the streets managed by our Xiao Clan. Young Clan Head, you know that in terms of numbers, our Xiao Clan is definitely fewer than the other two combined, so even if we sent people to retaliate, we couldn't outplay them. Just in this half year, our Xiao Clan's profits have fallen by at least seventy percent compared to the past!"

"Seventy percent!" Xiao Yan frowned, feeling quite angry, and said, "Father, why didn't you say anything about this earlier?"

"Sigh, you just got back, why talk to you about this? Besides—" A trace of embarrassment flashed across Xiao Zhan's face, and he said with some difficulty: "Besides, actually, I am partly to blame for this."

"

Xiao Yan was stunned and said in disbelief, "What?"