Wedding Night

The clamor after the banquet gradually died away. Slightly tipsy, Li Shuidao walked into the bridal chamber, hiccupping as he went. "Hic... All those tedious formalities are such a nuisance. We should've gone straight to bed. Hic..."

When Li Shuidao entered the room, the bride in red, sitting upright at the head of the bed, visibly tensed. She lifted her veil herself, revealing a face of peerless beauty. Though still young, she already possessed the faint, unmistakable allure unique to a mature woman.

Li Shuidao's eyes lit up when he saw his beautiful wife.

Not bad!

The Lineage had done right by him.

Just as Li Shuidao was about to lay hands on her, Xia Ruoxue stood up. With a gentle expression, she said, "Husband, you're drunk. Have some sobering tea first."

She handed him a cup of red tea. Li Shuidao took it and drank it down with a smile.

"Hm? Why is this tea a little sweet?" Li Shuidao's voice suddenly grew indistinct, and his body began to sway.

He struggled to steady himself, but to no avail. Staggering, he lost his balance.

He hit the ground with a thud and passed out.

Xia Ruoxue reached out and checked Li Shuidao's breathing.

There was none.

He was dead.

This was Crane's Crown Red, a deadly poison from the martial world. A single drop of blood was enough to kill.

Having poisoned her husband with her own hands, Xia Ruoxue reached for the teapot with a trembling hand and poured herself a cup of Crane's Crown Red as well.

Ever since Li Tianxi had captured her, Xia Ruoxue had already been prepared to die.

But she didn't want to die so miserably. She had to take someone down with her, or she'd never be able to vent her rage.

The cup slowly approached her lips. Xia Ruoxue's expression grew more and more fearful, and her hand trembled...

After all, there was great terror between life and death!

She had no choice but to drink the poison!

Xia Ruoxue knew full well that she had killed the husband she'd just married. The Li Family was a den of bandits; there was no way she could escape.

She could only end it all...

"Xiaoxue..." A man's low call came from outside.

Xia Ruoxue, still wracked by the struggle between life and death, whipped around to look at the window. "Lin Yunzhi?!" She hurried over and saw a man dressed in a servant's clothes.

"You finally made it." Xia Ruoxue burst into tears.

"Everyone outside has cleared out. Let's go, quickly." Lin Yunzhi grabbed Xia Ruoxue by the arm.

With nimble movements, Xia Ruoxue leaped out the window. Under cover of darkness, she and Lin Yunzhi fled together.

After the woman had fled, Li Shuidao, who'd been lying on the floor pretending to be dead, opened his eyes and gazed quietly in the direction they'd gone. He sighed softly.

Even if two ordinary people knew a few martial arts from the mundane world, they could never escape the Li Family.

This was a Cultivation Family, after all!

The man had been lucky to sneak in disguised as a servant, but there was no way he could get the bride out.

"Who's there!" a thunderous shout rang out.

The sounds of a fierce fight followed, along with a woman's desperate, anguished screams.

"Ha!" Li Shuidao shook his head, his expression saying he'd known it would come to this. He took off his red wedding robe, leaving only a thin nightshirt, then went straight to bed.

He still had to cultivate tonight. He'd take a short nap and gather his strength first...

As for his new wife, Xia Ruoxue, if she wanted to play, he'd go straight for the mouth. If she didn't, then so be it. He didn't care if she ran away.

Meanwhile... Lin Yunzhi and the bride, Xia Ruoxue, were caught by members of the Li Family as they tried to escape.

A short while later.

The runaway bride, Xia Ruoxue, was escorted back by members of the Li Family.

Her clothes were in tatters, her hair disheveled, and her twisted expression showed endless pain and helplessness. Exhausted, she stood at the bridal chamber's entrance, not knowing what to do.

Li Shuilang's father, Li Haoyun, who had officiated the wedding, stood at the bridal chamber's entrance and called out, "Nephew, your disobedient wife got away, but I brought her back for you. A single moment of spring night is worth a thousand gold coins, so get to it!"

"Hahahaha..." The Li Family members around them roared with laughter, not about to miss this chance to make fun of Li Shuidao.

"He's already dead. You expect me to share a room with a corpse?" Xia Ruoxue gritted her teeth.

Li Haoyun and the others were stunned.

Li Shuidao knew he couldn't keep pretending while resting on the bed. If he did, things would get out of hand. So he called out, "Thanks, Uncle Haoyun. Let Ruoxue in."

Only then did the look on Li Haoyun and the others' faces relax.

"Xia Ruoxue said she killed you. How did she do it?" Li Haoyun asked curiously.

"She poisoned me." Li Shuidao stepped down from the bed and explained with a smile.

"Hahahaha... She poisoned you?"

"Shuidao is a top disciple of the Five Poisons Sect. Why would he be afraid of your poison?"

"Let's not keep Shuidao from enjoying his wedding night."

"That's right. He still has to tame his wife." The Li Family members laughed as they left.

As Li Haoyun departed, he lifted a leg and kicked Xia Ruoxue into the room. "A single moment of spring night is worth a thousand gold coins. Take your time enjoying her, nephew."

Bang!

The door slammed shut.

Xia Ruoxue struggled to her feet, in a pitiful state.

Seeing Li Shuidao sitting on the bed with his legs spread wide, Xia Ruoxue frowned and asked, "Where am I supposed to sleep?"

Li Shuidao moved farther onto the bed, leaving half of it free.

"I won't sleep with you," Xia Ruoxue said, shaking her head.

"Then sleep on the floor," Li Shuidao replied coldly.

"Y-you can't even show a little consideration?"

Li Shuidao had been lying on the bed with his eyes closed, resting. Now he opened them, rolled over, and sat up, his expression dark.

Without a word, he went to the table and flung the cup of poisoned tea straight into Xia Ruoxue's face.

"Bitch! You still think you can push me around?" Li Shuidao said coldly.

"Th-this is Crane's Crown Red..." Before Xia Ruoxue could finish her sentence, her eyes rolled back and she collapsed unconscious.

Then Li Shuidao tipped the teapot upside down and opened his mouth. Tea streamed down in a gurgling torrent.

After drinking his fill, he smacked his lips and remarked, "Not bad. It really does sober you up."

"Want some too?" Li Shuidao turned to the windowsill. There was no one there, but a palm-sized Jade Toad crouched on it.

The Jade Toad didn't answer. It only croaked twice, then hopped out the window and disappeared into the night.

Li Shuidao set down the teapot and left the bridal chamber. He went out into the quiet courtyard and began practicing the Jade Toad Qi Cultivation Art. This was the foundation of Daoist cultivation; it had to be practiced every day. Without taking small steps, one could never travel a thousand miles.

He crossed his hands and lay down on his side. The first form, Golden Toad Embracing Carp, gathered Mana;

The second form, Water Toad Dragon, stored up Mana, then released it like water through a floodgate, sending it coursing through his entire body;

The third form, Jade Toad Gazing at Moon, was a strange, indescribable sublimation.

At that moment, a faint moonlight seemed to drift over Li Shuidao's body.

The bright full moon in the sky seemed drawn by Jade Toad Gazing at Moon, sending its light down.

The moonlight sublimated the water-element Daoist arts within Li Shuidao.

This was a gradual process, accumulating day by day.

In a hazy state, Li Shuidao seemed to feel the pure essence of the moon washing over his body and sublimating his Mana.

Now!

Maintaining this feeling, Li Shuidao began circulating another method at the same time.

"Water clear and free of taint, moon bright as a mirror; gather and disperse at will, flowing on without end. Spiritual Energy blends together, inside and out connected..."

The Jade Toad Qi Cultivation Art and the Water Moon Flowing Pearl had somehow linked together in an uncanny way.