"Wang Jiu, you... you’re too much!"
At the sa ti, in a secret underground training room in the Shen City Lord’s Mansion, the blushing bride-to-be, Shen Qingming, protested loudly.
A short distance in front of her stood a long sword, completely white, which ignored the girl’s protests, dropped a white piece in the center of the chessboard, instantly forming a line of five white pieces.
"I won."
"I’m done playing!" Shen Qingming flipped the board over without hesitation, pointing at the Celestial Divine Sword, "What exactly are you here for!? I’m asking you to save , not to humiliate !"
Wang Jiu explained, "When soone is extrely anxious and irritable, playing chess can effectively activate rational thinking, suppress emotional impulses, distract attention, and thus overco pre-marriage anxiety."
"I’m not afraid of marriage!" Shen Qingming grabbed a handful of chess pieces and threw them out, "And even if we’re playing chess, you should let win a ga or two, right!? Losing 92 tis in a row, what rational thinking is left!?"
Wang Jiu corrected in a tily manner, "It’s 98 tis..."
"Well, sure you rember!" Shen Qingming threw the pen holder and inkstone on the desk out of sheer frustration, valuable artifacts worth tens of thousands of Silver shattered in her anger.
Shortly after the pen holder and inkstone were smashed, there was a knock on the door. Shen Qingming imdiately composed herself, turned her back, closed her eyes, and presented the appearance of a suicidal recluse.
The next mont, the door opened, and two female guards dressed in Golden Armor entered silently, dutifully cleaning up the broken pieces on the ground — True Flas emitted from their helts’ visors, vaporizing the fragnts instantly. They glanced around the room, then took identical pen holders and inkstones from their storage bags and placed them on the desk.
Once everything was restored, the two soldiers bowed to Shen Qingming in silence, then left with their heads lowered.
After they left, the girl let out a long sigh. "Annoying."
"Indeed, they even forgot to restock the chess pieces." Wang Jiu looked at the empty chesspiece box that Shen Qingming had tried to grab, shaking his head in pity.
"I’m not playing anymore!" Shen Qingming shouted, "And I don’t care about these servants at all, whether they’re polite or indifferent doesn’t matter to ; what annoys is Shen Ruoshi!"
With that, the girl’s voice sank a little.
"It will cause a war."
Regardless of Shen Qingming’s current status in Cyan Cloud City, rely the way her diplomatic mission was treated was enough to cause a diplomatic dispute. If it were a weaker force, they might file a solemn protest, issue stern condemnations, or at most, appeal to the Saint Sect for justice. But Cyan Cloud City is on par with Shen City in terms of power, and the Li Family stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the Shen Family as one of the Seven Great Noble Families; they definitely won’t let it slide.
Shen Ruoshi’s reckless actions at his birthday feast might lead to widespread devastation. Thinking of this, Shen Qingming couldn’t even muster the energy to feel anger, only finding it absurd.
"Why would he do such a thing, is he truly mad?"
Wang Jiu said, "From what I’ve overheard in their conversation, they’ve already considered the possibility of war, with the worst-case scenario being facing the Saint Sect’s sanction."
Hearing Wang Jiu ntion the Saint Sect, Shen Qingming beca even more annoyed. While Shen Ruoshi was having his insane episode at the feast, the Saint Sect Envoy was sitting at the sa table, and yet turned a blind eye to such blatant marital coercion!
Wang Jiu added, "I heard in conversations between Shen Ruoshi and Shen Jinghai, if it cos to the worst, Shen Ruoshi is prepared to accept Heaven’s tribulation to atone for his sins."
"Is he truly mad!?" Shen Qingming exclaid incredulously.
What does Heaven’s tribulation an? The might of Heaven and Earth borne by a single person; only a legendary True Immortal, capable of ascending beyond the void, could contend with the heavens alone. In the contemporary Xiangzhou Continent, even the top cultivators have yet to even get close to reaching such a level. Shen Ruoshi, mighty as he might be in the Southeast, is only at the Sea Overturning Realm. Should the tribulation actually descend, unless all of the millennia-old Shen City is sacrificed as a magical artifact to resist it, he would be turned to ashes in an instant.
Wang Jiu said, "He claims it’s worth sacrificing an old set of bones for the happiness of his children."
"...He’s insane, right!? What kind of children’s happiness is this!?" At this mont, Shen Qingming genuinely couldn’t comprehend the mindset of this old man.
When she was first subjugated by Shen Ruoshi, she felt more anger and despair. But once Wang Jiu arrived in ti to stay by her side, that fear and despair dissipated, and even her anger... started to redirect more towards Wang Jiu.
Regarding Shen Ruoshi’s bizarre antics at the feast, she mainly felt confusion and bewildernt.
Wang Jiu said, "Objectively speaking, it’s not hard to see that this marriage indeed holds many benefits for you. After the marriage, you’ll have the resources of three major families, unprecedented across the entire Xiangzhou Continent..."
"I don’t care!" Shen Qingming interrupted fiercely, "Even with the backing of seven great families, I absolutely won’t marry that blockhead!"
With that, the girl shook her head, then asked, "Ah Jiu, let’s not discuss that. What should I do now? Can you find a way to get out?"
Wang Jiu said, "Currently, no. This place is still within the City Lord’s Mansion territory, protected by the Four Instrunts Thirteen Arrays, with an outer layer of the Banner of Invincibility. If it were alone, I could barely co and go freely, but if I were to bring you along, your Immovable Tyrant Body would need to reach beyond Tenth Heaven."
Shen Qingming asked curiously, "What happens beyond Tenth Heaven?"
"You could then be disassembled and packaged, moved piece by piece like an ant carrying its load, first disassembling you into twenty-seven pieces, then transporting you out of the City Lord’s Mansion in twenty-seven separate trips, and sewn back together; you’ll be as good as new in about a month."
"..." Shen Qingming felt a twitch at the corner of her mouth.
"But with your potential, pushing your Immovable Tyrant Body beyond Tenth Heaven will take at least ten more years."
"Even if I were at Tenth Heaven now, there’s no way I’d let you ant-move !"
Wang Jiu felt a bit regretful: "Indeed, even if you use ants for relocation, there’s always a risk of losing so precious organs during transport. But if you can cultivate to the Twelfth Heaven, with the ability to transform all things, you could compensate for the missing parts by transplanting and then assimilating animal organs."
"...Let’s stop this topic here. In any case, I understand that you can no longer stop this absurd wedding with force. But... do I really have to marry that perverted blockhead? Just the way he looks at is nauseating to even think about."
Wang Jiu said: "That kind of gaze was sothing you were always bathed in when you were the Spirit Cat idol..."
"I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you!" Shen Qingming covered her ears forcefully.
"However, you did get one thing wrong. Although I can’t save you by force, I do have a way to stop this wedding with force."
Shen Qingming’s eyes widened: "Huh?"
This sounded awkward, unable to rescue soone but able to stop the wedding? Isn’t this completely contradictory...
The White Sword on the desk swayed slightly, using its bladed form to assu a posture of contempt.
"Truly foolish, what is an essential elent of marriage?"
Shen Qingming thought for a mont: "Love?"
"It’s the two parties getting married."
"..." Shen Qingming lowered her head and covered her face, unwilling to speak.
Wang Jiu continued: "In the general sense, you can’t get married without both a man and a woman. Even if the other party is a corpse, a poster, or a pillow, both parties to the marriage must exist for it to be valid. So, if I can’t save you, I just need to find a way to eliminate Zhao Jincheng, and the marriage can be thwarted just the sa."
"...That’s right." Shen Qingming gasped softly, then cursed herself for being so muddled, unable to grasp such a simple truth.
Wang Jiu said: "As long as Zhao Jincheng is dead, you won’t need to worry about this wedding."
"But, killing him would cause trouble... Even if he dies, what if Shen Ruoshi still wants to marry soone else?"
Wang Jiu was also a bit helpless in the face of such a foolish question.
"Then just keep killing."
——
anwhile, Zhao Jincheng, already listed on the Celestial Divine Sword’s kill list, was hurriedly walking under the moonlight, his square face full of anxiety and regret.
Just what had he done? It’s one thing to be directionally challenged, but how could he lose his reason at such a critical mont and do sothing so utterly foolish?
Now, recalling the scenes from the birthday banquet, Zhao Jincheng’s mory was sowhat fuzzy, but clearly rembering his impulsive agreent to marry Shen Qingming... that was sothing he couldn’t forget.
Not to ntion that the marriage of the Golden Jade City’s young master couldn’t possibly be so rushed, it had to gain the approval nod from the City Lord’s elder sister... Even if he could decide his marriage alone, he’d at least have to consider the other party’s feelings. Shen Qingming had already expressed her opposition so decisively, there was just no need to insist on sothing that’s one-sided.
He couldn’t understand what he was thinking at the ti, his mind filled with nonsense.
With strong self-reproach, Zhao Jincheng paid Shen Ruoshi a night visit, hoping the other could retract the decision. Even... even if Shen Ruoshi insisted on pushing the marriage forward, he would try everything to stop it.
He had an unobstructed path.
The most mysterious and hardest-to-enter inner hall of the Shen City Lord’s Mansion had its doors wide open for him, even passing servants addressed him as ’son-in-law,’ making Zhao Jincheng want to grind his facial features flat with a file—he was too embarrassed to face anyone.
But the advantage was that he t Shen Ruoshi faster than he expected, this Great Cultivator of the Sea Overturning Realm no longer needed to rest like ordinary humans, still energetically plotting his granddaughter’s marriage late at night.
Upon seeing Zhao Jincheng, Shen Ruoshi enthusiastically said: "Jincheng, what brings you here?"
Zhao Jincheng wasted no ti, stepped forward, and said straightforwardly: "It’s about the marriage with Qingming."
Shen Ruoshi chuckled: "Haha, I didn’t expect that the famously refined young master of Golden Jade City would be so eager upon seeing our granddaughter. But it’s fine, this ti not only you are eager, I’m eager too, so everything will be expedited, no need to worry."
"No, I’m not worried about it being too soon..." Zhao Jincheng shook his head with a wry smile, sighed at Shen Ruoshi’s enthusiasm, whose elusive reputation had left even Sect Envoys with ungranted audience over the years, yet now he was being so warm and courteous—it was simply flattering.
But on the other hand, this warmth was sothing he really couldn’t handle, so after slightly calming down, Zhao Jincheng prepared to put forth his request.
And at that mont, Shen Ruoshi suddenly patted him on the shoulder: "Speaking of which, I just had soone design your wedding outfits, see if they suit your liking."
With the wave of Shen Ruoshi’s hand, the Projection Immortal Technique was deployed.
Zhao Jincheng saw a girl standing bashfully before him, adorned in a phoenix coronet and red dress, with curved eyebrows and bright eyes, appearing especially charming and enchanting in the grand wedding attire, so beautiful it was dizzying.
In the next mont, Zhao Jincheng was silent for a bit, then knelt on one knee.
"Everything will be at Grandfather’s discretion!"
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