The Martial Drill Ground wasn’t far from the main hall, about twenty li away, which was just a flash for those at the Transcendent stage.
i Jiubao led a group of people to the Martial Drill Ground, but found that the atmosphere was not as intense as expected, with most people sitting in the stands.
The i Family’s Martial Drill Ground had seating on only one side, which was the typical layout for most Martial Drill Grounds on the Kunhao Plane, unlike sports stadiums on the Earth Plane. Most of the ti, the grounds were used for training and didn’t require a large audience.
Currently, seven or eight people were sitting in the stands, seemingly divided into two camps, each with five or six people standing beside them.
i Jiushan was seated as well, but it was obvious that he wasn’t the one in charge of the i Family. Beside him was a lean middle-aged man at the eighth level of the Transcendent stage, who was the current head of the i Family, i Qinglian.
Opposite i Qinglian was a cold-faced woman in palace attire, at the seventh level of the Transcendent stage. Beside her stood a skinny old man and a dignified man at the Interdiate Level of Transcendent, alongside a woman at the initial stage of Transcendent.
Feng Jun’s gaze landed on the skinny old man, narrowing his eyes slightly. This was... a Golden Core?
He wasn’t the only one who noticed the Golden Core. Apart from their group of four, Gan Qingfeng and others also turned their attention to that old man.
The lady in palace attire, seeing so many people arriving in a swarm, narrowed her eyes and sneered, "i Qinglian, is this the extent of your ability, using even outsiders?"
"This was never my intention," i Qinglian replied expressionlessly. "These people ca for Jiu Shan, and his delayed appearance is no way to treat guests... Might as well let others know what’s happening."
"Hmph," the woman in palace attire scoffed disdainfully. "If you’re not afraid of embarrassnt, I’m certainly not. Since everyone’s here, let’s have everyone weigh in on this..."
This woman was Qi Peiyu, a concubine-born daughter of the Qi Family from Sword Forging Peak. From a young age, she had liked i Qinglian and even wanted to marry him.
However, i Qinglian was the direct descendant of the i Family, and the Qi and i Families were among the Seven Major Families, so it wasn’t reasonable for the direct descendant of one family to marry a concubine-born daughter from another.
Qi Peiyu focused solely on cultivation, hoping to change her fate through her own efforts.
For a considerable ti, her cultivation level was on par with i Qinglian’s.
However, it was all for naught, as she eventually married a direct descendant of the Huang Family.
The Huang Family was also from Sword Forging Peak but wasn’t among the Seven Major Families. Although their combat strength wasn’t weak, their population was small, totaling only about four thousand people. They were relatively close to the Qi and Jie Families.
Qi Peiyu gave birth to a son and a daughter. Later, her husband unexpectedly passed away, and she beca the de facto leader of the Huang Family.
She was always bitter about not being able to marry i Qinglian and was determined to strike up a marriage alliance with him.
As for her son... since it wasn’t possible to marry into the i Family, i Qinglian didn’t have a daughter, but he did have four sons...
i Qinglian’s first three sons married early, and the fourth was an illegitimate child. However, Qi Peiyu didn’t mind—after all, the Huang Family was a second-tier family on Sword Forging Peak, and having her daughter marry the illegitimate son of the i Family Head wasn’t considered disgraceful.
Although i Qinglian’s fourth son was illegitimate, he was a cultivation prodigy. i Qinglian didn’t mind his son marrying a Huang Family girl, but he didn’t want to delay his son’s cultivation, so he arranged with the Huang Family to wait until his son reached high-rank before marrying Huang Wanqiu.
Waiting to get married until reaching the Transcendent stage was a normal request. In the end, when the fourth son advanced to the Transcendent stage, Huang Wanqiu was at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer.
Qi Peiyu negotiated again with i Qinglian, saying they should wait for her daughter to advance to the Transcendent stage. Regardless of success, they would marry afterwards.
This was also a reasonable request. If a husband and wife’s cultivation levels were too far apart, their living conditions would not be harmonious—and their lifespans could even differ.
Unfortunately, by the ti Huang Wanqiu advanced to the Transcendent stage, i Qinglian’s fourth son was already at the fourth level of the Transcendent stage.
i Qinglian began having second thoughts—his fourth son showed promise to beco an outstanding talent in the i Family!
Huang Wanqiu... was sowhat unworthy of his son!
However, he was embarrassed to refuse directly and said his fourth son was on a rapid trajectory, and as elders, they shouldn’t interrupt his montum, so... why not wait until he reaches the high-rank Transcendent stage to discuss marriage?
Qi Peiyu wasn’t a fool; she understood that he wanted to go back on his word, but she had her pride and decisively said... fine, my daughter can wait, but the marriage agreent must be settled first!
Previously, their discussions relied on mutual trust, so they hadn’t formalized the marriage agreent early—especially since the Huang Family’s direct descendant had been alive, and Qi Peiyu couldn’t fully liberate herself.
This ti, she was adamant about finalizing the agreent. If the other party refused, she insisted on imdiate marriage!
i Qinglian had no reason to decline—after all, marrying late would better aid his son’s cultivation breakthrough.
But unfortunately, his fourth son died at the fifth level of the Transcendent stage in the Bewildering Soul Forest.
With this, the marriage agreent between the two families couldn’t proceed, and Qi Peiyu didn’t say anything further.
However, a few years later, i Qinglian’s cousin advanced to the sixth level of the Transcendent stage. Qi Peiyu approached again, saying if he could reach the seventh level, he must marry her daughter.
Back when they sealed the marriage agreent, Qi Peiyu, fearing he might renege, had specifically added a clause that if i Qinglian’s fourth son couldn’t marry Huang Wanqiu, the Huang Family reserved the right to offer her to the next high-rank Transcendent in the i Family, and the i Family could not refuse!
i Qinglian’s cousin... actually was already married, but Qi Peiyu didn’t care about that and wanted the i Family to divorce that woman.
i Qinglian argued based on reason, and the final result was only that... his cousin would marry Huang Wanqiu and treat her as an equal wife.
This was because his cousin was marrying a daughter from the Feng Family, one of the Seven Great Clans, otherwise, this matter would have been even more troubleso.
To fulfill the promise of equal wives, they even signed a supplentary marriage agreent, which was truly unprecedented.
However, Qi Peiyu seed to be poisonous. Those whom she set her eyes on never had a good outco.
Not long after, i Qinglian’s cousin was poisoned while collecting materials to protect family mbers. Although he was cured, and neither his life nor cultivation was affected, his foundations were severely damaged, leaving no possibility for further advancent.
Qi Peiyu didn’t ntion this matter again, and i Jiushan reached the sixth layer of the Qi Refinent stage. She didn’t say anything about it either—because she knew he wasn’t married.
But what i Qinglian thought was that she probably knew Jiushan was cultivating the Seven Yang Snow lting Technique. This cultivation technique made advancing to a higher stage easier and more convenient, but had a high failure rate, so it wouldn’t be too late to ntion it when Jiushan was in seclusion.
Anyway, if Qi Peiyu didn’t ntion it, he definitely wouldn’t. He truly thought this woman was toxic, and anyone in the i Family she set her eyes on t no good end.
He didn’t even tell i Jiushan about this matter—with so concerns, it was best to avoid discussing it if possible.
However, this ti, i Jiushan took Feng Jun’s suggestion and went into seclusion for ten months, planning to complete 3,600 Grand Circulations. Being in Interdiate Level seclusion for so long was quite rare.
So in the eighth month, Qi Peiyu heard so rumors and ca to i Qinglian: i Jiushan is about to reach High-Rank. Do you rember our arranged marriage?
i Qinglian wished he could cover her mouth—Gracious , can you please stop with the divine skills.
So he expressed his displeasure: it’s not set in stone yet, don’t make a fuss, let’s wait until he successfully advances.
Qi Peiyu could also guess what i Qinglian thought of her. So, although she had to leave, she asked the Qi Family mbers who married into the i Family to help keep an eye on i Jiushan’s breakthrough situation.
These Qi Family won, even though they had married into the i Family, still gathering such information wasn’t considered inappropriate—the Seven Great Clans of Sword Forging Peak were closely connected, and anyone advancing would be beneficial for Sword Forging Peak.
Especially since i Jiushan also affected Qi Peiyu’s cause and effect, their inquiries were justified.
So, just as i Jiushan successfully broke through and was stabilizing his cultivation level, Qi Peiyu received the news.
Then she ca to i Qinglian again, saying we should settle this matter.
This ti, no matter what, i Qinglian didn’t want to agree.
Firstly, i Jiushan was quite far from him, and it was inappropriate for him to overly concern himself with Jiushan’s marriage—he had elders too.
If he were to assu the role of the Family Head, he would have the authority to speak, but at the sa ti, he was really quite annoyed... or perhaps a bit afraid of Qi Peiyu. This woman was truly too overbearing!
Secondly, i Jiushan was an unmarried young High-Rank especially rare for still being quite young. With such conditions, finding a partner in the Four Sects and Wutai was not out of the question. Why force him to marry Huang Wanqiu?
So the answer i Qinglian gave was, you should discuss this with Jiushan yourself, I can’t help.
When i Jiushan was stabilizing his cultivation, he heard this news, feeling extrely annoyed. He had no interest in won from the Huang Family, and more importantly, he already had a marriage target in mind.
So he stabilized his cultivation for nearly two months, waiting until the celebration was about to begin before coming out of seclusion.
Upon exiting seclusion, he ran into two sisters-in-law—both from the Qi Family married into the i Family, passing a ssage from Qi Peiyu: What kind of dowry does he expect when marrying Huang Wanqiu?
i Jiushan didn’t bla the two sisters-in-law, since they were trying to help him get a good dowry. He earnestly stated that the marriage promised by the i Family head of the Huang Family was unrelated to him. His branch had its own elders, and moreover... he already had soone he loved.
Qi Peiyu was furious upon hearing this and went to find i Qinglian to seek justice, but the i Family head expressed he couldn’t help—you should go discuss with i Jiushan.
Qi Peiyu then went to i Jiushan, hearing him say he had soone he loved, she simply thought it was an excuse, demanding he reveal who this person was—if it was so insignificant woman, she wouldn’t even mind getting rid of her.
i Jiushan was reluctant to answer—he couldn’t answer either.
Because he was experiencing unrequited love, previously too shy to speak, now that he’d reached High-Rank, he finally had the courage to propose.
Qi Peiyu, seeing that he refused to disclose the person’s na, beca more convinced it was an excuse, bluntly stating: whether you want to marry my daughter or not, you have to marry her!
She even thought of causing a scene at the celebration, but unfortunately, at i Jiushan’s celebration, the Qi family also sent people to attend. If she really made a fuss, the Qi Family wouldn’t agree either.
Even though the Qi Family might secretly support her, they absolutely wouldn’t allow a married daughter to cause disturbances publicly.
(Updated till here, summoning monthly tickets.)
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